Selected quad for the lemma: kingdom_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
kingdom_n	bind_v	heaven_n	key_n	5,660	5	10.7585	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A81829	The povver of the Christian magistrate in sacred things Delivered in some positions, sent to a friend, upon which, a returne of his opinion was desired. With some considerations, upon the answer; and a digression concerning allegiance, and submission to the supreame magistrate. By Lewis du Moulin, History-reader of the University of Oxford.	Du Moulin, Lewis, 1606-1680.	1650 (1650)	Wing D2551; Thomason E1366_4; ESTC R209267	40,736	161

Pastors or society of Christians get an increase of power of Jurisdiction and Legslation if they be a Law unto themselves and practise the duties of piety and exhort one another so to do Plinius the younger in the 97 Epistle to Trajan and the tenth book where he speaks of Christians saith that one of their crimes was that they joyned themselves in a covenant to live unblameably not to steal not to commit fornication not to defraud his neighbour and the like I believe that none will from that practise of the Christians argue that they took upon them more power for so doing then they durst under a Christian Magistrate except he were of the mind of some of late in Authority in England who disliked and endeavoured to suppresse all godly private meetings under pretence of Factions Sure if I mistake it not it will be found that the Pastors power of the Keyes had no life to compell the disobedient to Gods ordinances till they received it from the Soveraigne Magistrate when he gave his name to Christ who both more honoured and exalted Gods ordinances raising them from the dust and added weight to the heavenly messages by the mouth of the Ministers by being a terrour to the evil and punishing the ungodly To the power of persuasion and declaration he addeth that of coaction in which the Pastors have nothing to do The Bishop saith Saint Paul must not be a striker 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And hereupon Chrysostome saith well If a man is drawn from the faith the Priest must undertake with patience to exhort him for he cannot redresse him by force onely he must strive to perswade him to bring him to the right Faith Pastors saith the same Father are appointed to preach 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not to rule or command with authority Letter HEre I dare say that the Reformers of the Doctrine of the Pope have not retained the Keys that were under Popery In reforming the Doctrine they have also reformed the abuses cleaving to the Keyes which are abominable for in the Romish Church they extend the power of the Keyes so farre as pardoning sinnes in a judiciall way saying to the sinner I absolve thee from thy sinnes The Priest renders himself Judge in a cause wherein God is the party offended By vertue of these Keyes the Pope drawes souls out of Purgatory he looseth those he never bound and which are none of his flock he doth loose under earth because Jesus Christ hath said what ever you shall bind on earth he doth loose and dispence with oaths and vows and freeth Subjects from the obedience due to their Soveraigne Prince he separates marriages exempting also children from the obedience they owe to their Father and Mother These holy men of God who have reformed the Doctrine have left off those Keyes and kept those which Jesus Christ hath given to his Disciples and their successors I will give thee the Keyes of the Kingdome of heaven it was also impossible to reform the Doctrine without reforming the Keyes since those Keyes are a part of the Doctrine they have retained to themselves the power to bind and loose which Jesus Christ gave to his Disciples Math. 16. Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth c which power goeth no further then Ecclesiasticall censures as the Lord Jesus Christ teacheth in the same place giving to understand that by this binding the rebellious sinner is put among the Publicanes and sinners who were excluded from the Communion of the Church Thus we must understand the power of remitting or reteining sinnes given by Jesus Christ to his Disciples The faithfull Pastors do remit sinnes when they release men of Ecclesiacall penalties and receive to the Communion of the Church the repenting sinner who was excluded Consideration THe Reformers have done as Richard the third in usurping a power which yet he exercised with moderation and making of good Lawes so did Augustus Caesar and some more Thus the Reformers have reteyned the Keyes to which they had no more right then the Pastors of the Romish Church but have taken away those adjuncts of abuses and abominations adhering to the power of the Keyes In that sence as Richard the third may be said to have usurped the Crowne as well as he who to usurpation hath added a tyrannicall Government and making of wicked and unjust Lawes so may it be said that the Reformers in reforming the Doctrine have reteined the power of the Keyes the Article thus speaking having no further meaning then to say that the Reformers in reforming the Doctrine have still challenged to themselves an Ecclesiasticall Iurisdiction not belonging to the Civil Magistrate even as the Pastours of the Romish Church have donc though not the same for qualifications As for the meaning of the words dic Ecclesiae tell it unto the Church it cannot have much strength what ever interpretation one may give to the words whether by the word Church we understand a Synagogue or judicatory as was that of the Iewes amongst which there was no difference between Church and State or Common-wealth or a society of faithfull men and though by the Church Pastours should be understood I do not see here any Iudiciall sentence binding him that trespasseth against his neighbour but still he may if he will hearken without fear of any coercive power seated in the Ministers and the words Let him be to thee a heathen or a publican have no further meaning then have him for such a one in thy thoughts and estimation a Publicans office was lawfull neither yet could he be excluded from the communion nor from the congregation the very heathen not being excluded from the latter for how else could they have been converted Letter THE Reformers then in reforming the abuses in the Doctrine and Keyes have retained the Keyes and power to bind and unbind committed to them by Jesus Christ The Author of the Articles acknowledgeth that the Pastors of the Church have well done to retain that power under the heathen Emperors that is almost for the space of 350 yeares from Christ to Constantine the first Christian Emperour since which Emperour the said Author thinks that the Bishops and Pastors were to part with that Power and that the Soveraigne Power of the Keyes did no longer belong to them but that they were to desert it in obedience to God which yet they have not done for all the ancient Councels although convened by the will of the Emperours are full of penitentiall canons prescribing the forme time and degrees for publique pennances in the execution of which canons the consent of the Emperours nor of their Lieutenants was never expected Consideration WE have seen before that the power of the Ministers is neither increased nor diminished whether the Magistrate be Orthodox or no and that the power of the keyes given them by God hath more lively actings under the Orthodox Magistrate To that part of the Letter which saith that in

viz. first for conscience sake and for wrath that is the tye of every Christian in all the commands of the Magistrate is to obey God and doe whatsoever just and honest thing lies in ones power then for feare of punishment for any precept though morall and never so just although it bindes the conscience yet 't is no Law binding to obedience in foro humano till it be reduced into a Law by the Legislative Power of the Soveraigne Magistrate for even the supream power though Christian and godly cannot punish a theife for transgressing the commandement Thou shalt not steale except this Law be also a Law of the State But againe it may be demanded what authority and power doe you entitle on the Ministers of the Gospel to whom the Scripture committeth the power of the Keyes and giveth high Titles Names and Eloges I answer that still they have the highest honour in the world even higher then the Magistrates and Kings higher then Judges for all men shall be judged by their Gospel they are Ambassadours from Christ to earthly powers as the Kingdom committed to them is not of this world so their weapons are not earthy but spirituall and sharper then any two edged sword they condemn when they doe denounce the judgments of God to impenitent sinners they pardon declaring the mercies of God to penitent and mourning sinners they rebuke all kinds of men teach exhort admonish and have a kind of power and authoritie binding as much or more to obedience then the commands of the Soveraigne Magistrate for a man once convinced by the preaching of the word the word of of the Minister apprehended to be the truth of God or a command from God will be like the Intellect which being enlightened doth more powerfully work upon the will to act then when it is compelled by an externall agent and even civilly the respect one hath to an Artist binds in a manner to follow his prescriptions 'T is no marvell then if Theodosius being rebuked sharply by Ambros yielded to a censure rather coming from God which he was willing to undergo being conscious of his sinfulnesse and deserts then that it proceeded from a man endowed with a coercive power of excommunication to which not to yield had been a rebellion against God as Christ alone is the true spirituall Legislatour so he alone doth either withold or remit sinnes Solus saith Hilarius the Deacon peccata dimittit qui solus pro peccatis nostris mortuus est and the words of Lombard are very expresse to shew the extent of the power of the Keyes Sacerdotibus tribuit Deus potestatem solvendi ligandi id est ostendendi homines solutos vel ligatos God giveth the Priests power to loose and bind that is to make known they are either tied or loosed li. 4. dis 18. Saint Hierome upon the 26. of Matth. teacheth us what this potestas Clavium is as the Priest makes the Leprous either clean or unclean so doth the Bishop or Priest bind or unbind and saint Cyprian lib. de lapsis and other where saith that by the preaching of Ministers men receive not forgivenes of sins but are brought by it to be converted by getting a Knowledge of their sins And saint Augustine in many places saith that the Minister is some body in the administring of the Sacraments and dispensing the word but no body for the Iustification of a sinner and for working inwardly except he that made man worketh in the man Were the nature of Christs Kingdome well understood I suppose that the power of the Keyes would be easily stated I mean that Kingdome and power by which Christ worketh by his word and spirit upon the spirits of men inclining them to do his will by perswading and not constraining them by any coercive power delegated to the Apostles and their successors in the Ministery Christ himself saith he is not come into the world to Iudge the world but that the world should be saved by his preaching And the comparing of Christs Kingdome to a grain of Mustard seed and to leaven hid in the dough sheweth manifestly that this Kingdome is propagated by secret perswasions and workings and not by a Iudiciall external power seated in the Ministers constraining to obededience upon bodily or pecuniary penalties Were the visible Kingdome of Christ a different Kingdome from that of the Christian Magistrate we should read in the Gospel of some Lawes besides those about the sacraments for the regulating of the said Kingdome The precepts to believe to repent and to be baptised are no such Lawes that for the non-performance of them men should incurre punition or damnation for the not obeying of the Evangelicall precepts is an argument that the wrath of God is upon the transgressors and not an effect following upon the transgression He that doth not believe in Christ is condemned already man refusing to accept of the remedy in the Gospel is left to his former miserable estate and the Law onely takes hold of him Now this Law denouncing both temporall eternal punishment to the transgressors it is evident that the power to judge in the world according to that Law in ordering all causes and punishing all kinds of persons transgressing doth belong only to one Soveraigne power subaltern not to Christ as the Soveraigne Preacher and Mediatour but as God in Trinity and Trinity in unity or as God Creatour and Supream Governour over all causes persons estates and conditions temporall or eternall Letter A Midst all these difficulties it will be a work pleasing to God to find a mean to keep the caling of the Ministery of the Gospell in the posture and condition as it was established by Jesus Christ without any abating and diminishing of the dignity and power of the Soveraigne Magistrate and I believe that just and easie means may be found out Consideration THere is but one means which is that of Queene Elisabeth King James and of Hooker in his book of Ecclesiasticall polity wherein under the words of Royall power Crown and dignity he teacheth us that all power and Iurisdiction Ecclesiasticall is derived from the Supream power of England and is upholden and defended by him The words of the Act Elizab. 1. cap. 1. are very expresse omitting nothing which can be of Pastours and Synods cognizance which be not mentioned to be of the Iurisdiction of the Supream Magistrate All Ecclesiasticall and spirituall Jurisdiction is annexed to the Crown to visit reform redresse order correct and amend all such heresies schismes abuses offences contempts and enormities whatsoever which by any manner spirituall or Ecclesiasticall power authority or Jurisdiction can or may be lawfully reformed In the same statute it is enacted and ordained that no opinion shall be judged or determined to be heresie but by the high Court of Parliament of the Realm Letter WE have already laid down for a firme and constant ground and ordained by God that all Ecclesiasticall