Selected quad for the lemma: honour_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
honour_n	abundant_a	body_n	member_n	1,662	5	10.0159	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A23668	A perswasive to peace & unity among Christians, notwithstanding their different apprehensions in lesser things	Allen, William, d. 1686.	1672 (1672)	Wing A1068; ESTC R38421	62,276	166

their contrary wayes And if the Lord in such a case will not despise or judge such an one so as to condemn him though under a mistake but of that Nature as certainly he will not but pity and pardon him for he hath compassion on them that are ignorant and out of the way much less should we who are fallible our felves and compassed about with infirmities Who art thou that judgest another mans Servant saith our Apostle to his own Master he standeth or falleth every one of us shall give an account of himself to God Let us not therefore judge one another any more ver 4.12 13. for that is a judgment belongs not unto us There is one Law-giver and one Judge who art thou that judgest another Jam. 4.12 That is what dost thou make thy self to be that darest to undertake such a thing And as we should be afraid to judge one another so we should of despising one another in any case like that before mentioned for our Saviours serious caveat against it argues it to be both much against his mind and of dangerous consequence to our selves and others Take heed that ye despise not one of these little Ones Mat. 18.10 He knew that his little Ones because but little Ones in knowledge and grace that have little of these to render their fellowship much desirable are apt to be neglected and slighted and to be thereby discouraged and turned aside he therefore cautions those that are stronger to take heed lest they should be betrayed into any carriage towards them as signifies their slighting of them Our Saviour had shewed before how sad a thing it would be for any Man to be instrumental in turning any weak Christian aside by any undue carriage towards him when he said in ver 6. Wo be to the World because of offences c. and wo be to him by whom the offence cometh And it would be far more Christ-like of whom it is said He shall not break the bruised Reed nor quench the smoaking Flax to use more care pains and tenderness towards the weak and feeble to preserve and increase that little spark of Christianity in them though it be no more and though there be no more appearance of it than there is of fire when only smoak can be discerned then towards those that are strong and do not stand in so very much need of tenderness in our carriage and applications to them Which also agrees excellently well with St. Paul's Metaphorical Discourse in 1 Cor. 12.23 24 25. Those Members of the Body which we think to be less honourable upon these we bestow more abundant honour and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness For our comely parts have no need but God hath tempered the Body together having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked that there should be no Schism in the Body implying that certainly there will be where such care tenderness of proceeding is not used towards such as are least accounted of in the Church Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down and the feeble knees and make straight paths for your feet by removing all discouraging impediments out of the way lest that which is lame be turned out of the way but rather let it be healed looking diligently lest any fail of the grace of God Heb. 12.12 13 15. How far all parties of Men among us have made themselves guilty of breaking the Peace and Unity of the Church by this unchristian despising and judging one another concerns them to consider and the guilty to repent of what is past and to reform for time to come that they may not be judged and condemned by God for what they have done That 's the second Direction III. Direction Those that would keep the Unity of the Spirit in the bond of Peace must be careful to forbear all hard speeches and ill reflexions on them that differ from them especially tale-bearing backbiting and whispering They must make no ill representation of one another behind their backs by raking up and then scattering abroad all the evil they can or whatever may tend to the disparagement or reproach of such as differ from them Because if they should be guilty herein though they may think thereby to weaken the Reputation of the Cause they oppose yet in truth they will be so far from reconciling their Opponent to their Cause as that they will thereby dishonour it and render it the more suspected and Communion with themselves so much the less desirable and all their own arguings the less available and by-standers the readier to fall in with those of a better behaviour as judging thereby their Cause to be better though in it self it should be worse for a good Cause may be spoiled in the handling All such unchristian carriage tends to exasperate imbitter and provoke the Spirits of their Opponents both against them and their Cause and to widen the breach more and more and to set them at the greater distance and to make them the more irreconcilable A froward Man soweth strife saith the Wise man Prov. 26.28 Grievous words stir up anger and the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife and the words of a tale-bearer are as wounds Prov. 15.1 and 26.22 and 30.33 So true it is that the wrath of man doth not work the Righteousness of God Jam. 1.20 It is not for the interest of the Truth nor doth it any wayes advantage the cause of God No if any Man would see any good effect of his endeavours towards the Uniting of Men if he would see the Seed he sows come up let him be sure to avoid all harsh and unpeaceable proceedings therein The Fruit of Righteousness is sown in Peace of them that make Peace Jam. 3.18 The Servant of God must not strive but be gentle to all 2 Tim. 2.24 As we must follow Peace with all Men Heb. 12.14 So in order thereto we must speak evil of no Man Tit. 3.2 IV. Direction In Order to our keeping the Unity of the Spirit in the bond of Peace we must study rather to agree with than to differ from one another and be more sollicitous to find out what will bring us nearer together than what will set us at a greater distance And this is one way of following after the things which make for peace and of studying to be quiet to both which we are exhorted Rom. 14.20 1 Thes 4.11 And to this end I shall recommend these three things 1. To make Conscience of endeavouring as truly and sincerely to find out what may make us of their mind that differ from us if it be to be found out as what may tend to make them of our mind We should be as much afraid of offending against the publick Peace and Charity of the Church as against Truth of being guilty of Schism in practice as of error in judgment and take as much pains to keep our selves from a causless differing from others

did all eat the same Spiritual meat and drank the same Spiritual drink By whose example he would have them take warning and not be flattered into a good opinion of themselves meerly upon account of their Baptism and holding Communion with the Church in Holy Administrations and being numbred among the Saints or Christians 1 Cor. 10. And truly they seem to be much more in danger of being betrayed into such a self-flattery who are not admitted to Church-fellowship upon their Christian profession unless besides that they can give such a satisfactory account to the Church of their conversion after they have been first received into the Church Catholique by Baptism in which there may be great mistake in them that so receive them And therefore the New-England Ministers in their Answer to Mr. Davenport's Apologetical Preface p. 43 44. say thus Indeed when Men confound these two and do tye visible Church-Member-ship unto such Conditions and qualifications as are reputed enough to Salvation this may tend to harden Men and to make them conceit that if once they be got into the Church they are sure of Heaven whenas alas it may be they are far from it But in all this there is nothing against the great usefulness and defirableness of Discipline in the Church for the Cure or Excommunication of the notoriously scandalous But yet a neglect of this in them to whom it belongs is no sufficient ground of separation from that Church where it is so neglected For though Discipline be necessary for the better being of the Church yet it is not of the Essence of the Church it doth not cease to be a true Church for want of it And the neglect of it in a Church is so far from being a reason why the better part in such a Church should separate from the worse as that it is indeed a reason against it why they should not Because where publick Discipline is wanting there is the more need of private application to delinquent Members which separation takes Men off from or at best puts them under a great disadvantage of doing that good among them thereby which otherwise they might Such a separation rather puts those separated from under a temptation of Making a party against them as is frequently seen and the division made and heightened thus on both sides tends more to weaken the Christian Interest in the main then all the exercise of Discipline in separate Congregations tends to promote it It s true if Christians were to mind only the pleasing of themselves it would be a pleasant thing for the good indeed to converse and hold Communion with such only as themselves But it will turn to a better account at last if by denying their inclination in this they help and bring on a worser sort and gain their Master ten Talent There should be more abundant honour given to that part which lacketh that there may be no Schism in the Body 1 Cor. 12.24 Our Saviour himself was chiefly for the bringing home of straying Sheep and as a Physitian to be among the sick rather then the whole Not because he loved them better but because they had more need and because he could thereby be more serviceable as to the main end of his coming into the World He came not to call the Righteous but sinners to Repentance to minister and not to be ministred to And to be this way employed seems to be more acceptable to God then to have to do only with the Righteous There is joy in Heaven over one sinner that repenteth more then over ninety and nine just Persons which need no Repentance And thus much I think may suffice to shew how unlikely yea how impossible it is to prove that the mixture of the bad with the good in the Parishes makes Communion with them unlawful 3. They cannot prove the constitution of parochial Congregations to be bad upon account of that distribution by which the whole Nation is divided into parts into so many Parishes which they are wont to call humane institution For first they are of the same institution in the main as those were which were planted by the Apostles themselves For from what were those called Churches but from the Christians usual Assembling together for Communion in Gospel-Ordinances The Greek word Translated Church properly signifying an Assembly And if the Parishioners in a Parish do usually Assemble together upon the same account are not those Gospel-Churches as well as the other and of the same institution Secondly for the Christians that live within the same Precincts or Parish-bounds to Assemble together for Communion in Gospel-Ordinances and so to be of the same particular Church and not of another is a thing which best answers the ends of particular Church-ship and the primitive patern For vicinity of Neighbour-hood and cohabitation which generally are not to be had so well in any other way as in that of parochial distribution do best accommodate those in Church-Relation with the knowledge of each others Condition and Conversation and with opportunity and advantage to watch over confer with and to admonish exhort and comfort one another and to Assemble together for publick Worship which are the ends of particular Church-association And accordingly the primitive Christians which lived together within the same civil bounds of Cities and Towns as of Corinth Cenchrea c. were constantly of the same Church and as such were still denominated by the places where they did reside And if some such distribution of the Christians in a Nation into several particular Worshipping Congregations as is now made by humane Authority is necessary of it self in reference to the Church-Association though no humane Authority had required it then certainly the command of humane Authority that it should be so cannot make it unnecessary much less unlawful 4. They cannot prove the Worship now used in our parochial Assemblies to be such as may not lawfully be joyned in The Lawfulness of Communion in the Worship of the English Lyturgy is the thing in question And if they cannot prove Communion in it unlawful neither 1. Because it is a set Form nor 2. Because it is such a set Form as it is nor 3. Because it is imposed then I shall take it for granted they cannot prove it unlawful any other way And whether ever they are like to prove Communion in that Worship unlawful upon any of those accounts consider what I have to offer and then judge 1. They cannot prove Communion in that Worship unlawful upon account of its being a set Form because they cannot prove all set Forms of Worship fotbidden We have Prayer several times commanded in Scripture but no where determined that it shall be extemporary that ever I could learn And therefore if the want of an express precept for praying in a set Form made praying in a set Form unlawful the same thing would make extemporary prayer unlawful too When God hath in Scripture plainly