Selected quad for the lemma: life_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
life_n	death_n	eternal_a	wage_n	6,951	5	11.2154	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A61294	A discourse concerning the devotions of the Church of Rome, especially, as compared with those of the Church of England in which it is shewn, that whatever the Romanists pretend, there is not so true devotion among them, nor such rational provision for it, nor encouragement to it, as in the church established by law among us.	Stanley, William, 1647-1731.	1685 (1685)	Wing S5244; ESTC R1838	44,628	70

strengthen their Resolutions of amendment for it is our amendment and not our punishment which God is pleased with And we take care that all these things be performed in a due measure proportionably to the strength of the Person and the Nature and Design of the Duty but are afraid of straining them too high lest men should be altogether deterred from them or acquiesce only in the outward Action or render our selves and our Cause ridiculous by an imprudent management We have the Sacraments duly administred as our Saviour commanded them we reckon our Baptism with Water perfect without Oyl or Spittle We grutch not the Cup to the Laity nor celebrate solitary Communions nor admire whispering to God in the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ but as we have received from Christ so we teach and administer without Addition or Diminution of any thing essential or material In short in the holy Offices themselves and the behaviour which our Church requires they be celebrated with there is always a great propriety observable agreeable to the Command of God in Scripture and the Practice of the Apostles and first Ages of the Church proper to the several parts of divine Worship expressive of our Sense consonant to Reason and the use of the World especially respect being always had to the exciting of Piety and Devotion in the minds and carriage of our People Thirdly All useful Helps Motives and Occasions are here plentifully afforded and pressed on Men. For we not only have all our Service in a Language which the meanest People understand but have it so contrived by frequent Responses that every Person bears a part in that Worship which he is so much concerned in and doth not only hear the Priest speak to God Almighty but prays for himself and is required to joyn his assent to every short Prayer by a distinct Amen With us the same Service and Rules of Life are enjoyned to all all Men having the same Concern in another Life however different their Circumstances and Cocerns are in this Life We have constant Prayers in every Parish weekly at least in many dayly with the blessed Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ frequently administred nay every Sunday not only in Cathedrals but in several Colledges and private Parish Churches And we appeal to all Men whether there be any where more practical Sermons fitted to the Cases of Men without Vanity and Superstition than among us Whether good and free Learning be any where more encouraged or where better care is taken for the due Instruction of the People The Scriptures being in every one's hands with us and other excellent Books made according to the Doctrine of the Holy Scriptures instead of Legends and Lives of Saints St. Bonaventure's Psalter and other such Books which are really Libels against Christianity and yet are the principal Books which the Priests of the Church of Rome commend to their People For as for the Bible if any one of them hath happened to read in it who is not licensed to that purpose he must own it as a Sin to his Priest at his next Confession And as there are such blessed Opportunities afforded so constantly and such Prudent Provision made for all Cases Ordinary and Extraordinary so I thank God we can say that our People are generally very diligent in the use of these Means or would be more so were it not for the Divisions which they of the Church of Rome especially raise among us For they may easily perceive that we urge no more on them than their own good and the commands of God require of them though our Church knows her Power very well yet she makes use of it only to enforce the Laws of God to explain illustrate and apply them to particular Cases but never to set up her own Commands in Opposition to them as the Church of Rome doth and therefore though we teach our People to dread an Excommunication it being summum futuri Judicii Praejudicium as Tertullian calls it a foretast or forestalling of the last Judgment and not for a World to lye under it though it were inflicted only for Contempt yet we warn them in the first place to avoid the Cause and Occasion of Excommunication and therefore not to value what Censures of the Church of Rome we are under they being so very unjust and Groundless Fourthly and lastly as only the true Object of Devotion is here worshipped only proper Expressions allowed all useful Helps afforded so also the greatest stress is laid on the Practise of it agreeable to the true Nature End and Design of it The Principal ends of Devotion are to pay a Homage to God our great Creator and Benefactor to get his Blessing and to work our selves up to a better temper of Mind And to this end we are in our Service Importunate without Vanity or Impertinency long without Tediousness or Idle Repetitions Only we use the Lord's Prayer often that no part of our Service may be without that perfect form and also in Consideration of the great Comprehensiveness of it and of the Distraction of Men's Minds which seldom can attend to the full Sense of it all at one time And we teach our People that every Man must work for himself for he that prays only by a Proxy it is very just that he should be rewarded only by a Proxy too we put our People in mind that an unfeigned Repentance is absolutely Necessary and not a Verbal one only That it is out of our power and of any Man 's in the World to turn Attrition into Contrition We pretend not to dispense with any for not obeying the Command of God We have no Taxa Camaerae by which the Papists are shown how all Sins are fined in their Church for in that Book Men see at what Charge they may kill a Father or comit Incest with their Sisters But we assure all that the Wages of Sin is Death Death Eternal if indulged and not most earnestly repented of And we tell all that Devotion is necessary for all though the Church of Rome hath ways of gratifying every Inclination so as they that will not lead a strict Life need not and yet may have hopes of Salvation We own their Policy in this Contrivance but do not so much admire their Religious regard to the Salvation of Mens Souls And to conclude though we thus forcibly press all Christian Duties on all Men yet at the same time we warn them not to pretend to Merit Heaven at God's Hand but after they have done their best to confess they are unprofitable Servants Wersay of our Charity or whatever else we do in Obedience to God that of his own we give to him and we are bound to thank him both for the Will and the Ability to give The most that we pretend to is only to make a small Acknowledgment by way of Sacrifice for what we have received we beg of God to accept it as a Testimony of a grateful Mind and we know that his Goodness is so great that he will abundantly reward an honest and sincere Servant though he hath done no more than was his Duty And we hope that what we offer though mingled with many Imperfections he will be pleased to accept for the sake of Christ as if it were perfect These are the Grounds that we go on in our Devotions and whatever we do for the Honour of God and thus designing and thus acting and persisting we need not doubt but the good Providence of God which watcheth over his whole Church will in an especial manner watch over this which is so pure a Member of it that he will accept of the Devotions which are offered to him in it and hear the Prayers that are made unto him for it and defend it against all its Enemies on every side which God of his Infinite Mercy grant for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. FINIS