Selected quad for the lemma: lord_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
lord_n	church_n	elder_a	pastor_n	13,408	5	11.7920	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A66623	A winding-sheet for the Anabaptists & Quakers; or The death and burial of their fanatick doctrines Being a discovery of their dangerous designs, wicked practises, and malitious indeavours, to subvert all civil government, both in church and state. As also, the strong bulwark, and banners of loyalty; for all loyal subjects, against the fanatick gunpowder reformations, within these his gratious Majesties realms, and dominion. Likewise, a Christian summons to all persons whatsoever, to submit to the Church of England, and chearfully to comply with the rites and ceremonies of the vvorship of God, commended to, ... by our gratious soveraign Lord King Charles, whom God long preserve, being the Defender of the Faith. And the laws, orders, and statutes for the punishing all Anabaptists and sectaries that shall presume to meet, ... Ordered to be published throughout the several countyes in England and VVales.		1660 (1660)	Wing W2979B; ESTC R221110	5,752	12

the guilt of singular irreverence and pertenacy Mark the wotds of St. Ierom in his Ep. 85. The Presbyters of Alexandria ever since St. Mark the Evangelist having chosen one from amongst themselves and exalted him to a higher place stiled him Bishop for 't is observable that St. Mark died in the eighth year of Nero about the year of our Lord 62. Whose Successors St. Iohn the Apostle yet living was Amianus to him succeeded Abilius to Abilius Certo After the death of St. Iames Simon succeed him in the Bishoprick of Ierusalem After St. Peters departure Linos Anacletus and Clement or as some St. Peter yet living sate in the Episcopal Chair of Rome as Evodius and Ignatius did at Antioch A Record of such Antiquity confirmed by Ignatius the Disciple of St. Iohn cannot be refuted by any save such only who have no faith for any thing that themselves saw not and may as well deny that ever there was a Philip of Spain or Lewis of France or Henry King of England as that the persons before-mentioned were Bishops of their respective Sees Thus have you an account of these Governours in the Church the Reverend Bishops in respect of the great and external things of the splender and purity of the Church now a word of their Mission even from the Holy Ghost in respect of the internal preaching Administering Sacraments Ordaining Binding and Loosing and such like Since then prelacy is not contrary to the Scriptures since the Church Catholick hath embraceed and received it since it is of very Reveren● Antiquity and approved of by Divine Right this one would think● should be enough to prepare a Room for it in the heart of any pious an● 〈…〉 ●●●ugh to beget in us a Reverend esteem of the Calli●●● of Bishops to work in us a chearful submission to and ready compliance with the Rites and Ceremonies in the worship of God commended to and required of us by such persons delegated to that end by our gracious Soveraign whom God long preserve being Defender of the Faith And for the better reconciling this Order to the affections of some men give me leave to add a word or two viz. First the Conveniency and Expediency of Conformity and Agreement between the Ecclesiastical and Civil Government There is such an affinity between these two that in Common-wealths where the Government is by many they always commend the Affairs of the Church to the Clergy or Presbytery but where the Government is Monarchical in the State Episcopacy in the Church is only conformable to it Presbytery no way comporting with Monarchy Hence that Proverbial saying No Bishop No King A saying that may be ●asily derided but not so easily refuted Our late sad experiences have engraven it in such Capital Characters upon the understanding of all sober and unprejudiced persons that it will not easily be defaced Secondly the utility and advantages that redound to the Church by Episcopacy I might entertain you upon this Head with the unanimous consent of all Historians but I shall select his testimony only who of all the Antients had the least affection for Bishops St. Ierom. ad Tit. c. 1. It is universally decreed that for the prevention of Schisms and differencies one chosen out of the Presbyters be set over the rest And again The safety of the Church consists in the dignity of the High-Priest that is the Bishop to whom if there be not a peculiar power distinct from all others annexed there will be as many Schisms as Priests in the Church Our own Chronicles tells us that King Edward the Elder by constituting five new Bishops stopped an Inundation of Paganism ready to break in on the West for want of Pastors And that excellent Order of the Lords and Commons Assembled in Parliament in the year 1646. put a great stop to the licentious Anabaptists in those days for taking into consideration that divers Sectaries had disturbed the Ministers in their publique Exercises both in England and Wales to the great disturbance of the publick peace and disparagement of the Laws Statutes and Government of this Realm Ordered That the Constables ●nd Headboroughs within the several Parishes in the Countyes of Eng●●nd and Wales should arrest the Bodyes of all and every such person ●nd persons as aforesaid who should disturb any Minister in Holy Or●rers whil'st he was in the place or places of exercising his publick Cal●ing by speaking to him or using unreverent gesture or actions and to carry the Bodys of such offenders before some Justice of Peace of the same County to be proceeded against according to the Laws of this Kingdome And since the happy Restauration of our gracious and dread Soveraign excellent Laws have been enacted for the preventing of disorders and unwarrantable meetings but like a Stiff-necked people and perverse Generation they refused to submit to Regal Authority so that had not his Royal Majesty with the Advice and consent of his great Councel put forth their hands to restrain them in a short time probably they might have grown so numerous as to have diffused their poyson throughout these his Majestyes Realms and Dominions for indeed many of them were as pestiferous in their Doctrine as dangerous in their seduction and so ought of all men to be avoided But many of them now are sensible of their erroneous ways and reduced from their former practises others have engaged to live conformable to the present Laws and some through their great infidelity and obstinacy remain as yet in several Goals But to return to the Antiquity of the Church If any man question or doubt of the Utility of this Reverend Order let him look back upon the Torrent of Confusion Heresie and Blasphemy that brake in upon us while these Banks were by violent hands thrown down and they will find that the extirpation of Episcopacy in these Kingdoms is the first born of the Popes desires that which his soul longs for as for the first ripe fruit you know the Apologue how the Wolves would make peace with the Sheep upon the condition they would hang up all their Dogs Let but Episcopacy and the Liturgy be abolished and the Papists I assure you shall promise peace upon any terms Since therefore through the goodness of God and his Majesties gracious Resolution the Reverend Bishops are restored to the Church and sent 〈◊〉 Governours by the King if you be Members of this Spiritual House you must submit to their directions and Injunctions in all Rites Ceremonyes and Circumstances of Religion which leads me to this Inference that he who shall pretend to take one or a few Bricks out of th● Wall because they are not well burnt that the persons of that persw●sion and importunity would if they had power to their Wills t●●● leave to pluck them out one by one till they left no Wall at all I hope the persons in Authority ' over us have learned by a de●● bought Experience to take heed of Root and Branch-men and not 〈◊〉 consent to pull down the whole Fabrick because a Window or Chim●●● 〈◊〉 it may be a Tile onely is misplaced It is an unpardonable Errour in any to think that the Act of Reformation consists in the taking away things together with the abuse of the● if any be for that cannot be said to be Reformed which is made N●w Reformation is properly Repetitio vel restitutio facti antiqui The Repetition or restitution of an a●ient Custome Thus let our Liturgie if it stand in any need be reformed but God of his Mercy grant that neither our Liturgie nor the Administratours of it fall again under a Gunpowder-Reformation It is said of Rome that she never understood what Cato was aright till she had lost him Catonem non intellexit civitas nisi cum perdidit the loss we sustained through the abolishing our Liturgie by that Ordinance which was discharged against it will have I hope such an impression upon the Spirits of all those that have good will for the Church of Engeland that it will not for the time to come be an easy matter for those that rise up against it to cast it down a second time To prevent which 1. Do not provoke God through your want of Diligence in assembling your selves together to deliver up the Liturgie into the hands of violent men skilful to destroy If the God of heaven once perceive by your negligence in frequenting it that it is a matter of Indifferencie to you whether you enjoy it or enjoy it not he will have a just occasion Administred to take that from you upon which you set so little value 2. Let your Ardour and Fervency in performing this prescribed Service testifie to God Angels and Men that your Souls are delighted ●ith it that it is not the labour of your Lips onely but the devout ●reathings of your pious Souls If you do thus God will delight to ●stablish it and make it appear that it is a Plant of your Heavenly Fa●●er's Planting which no mortal hand shall be able to pluck up And if any person to conclude be offended at it because it is an●●●nt or solemn or sober or charitable you may be sorry for their weak●●ss and labour to inform them but be sure you choose rather to dis●●●se one or a few peevish Servants in the Family then to offend the ●●ole Hous-hould and incurre the displeasure of the great Master of 〈◊〉 word House God himself FINIS

A Winding-Sheet FOR THE Anabaptists Quakers OR The Death and Burial of their Fanatick Doctrines Being a Discovery of their dangerous Designs wicked practises and malitious Indeavours to subvert all Civil Government both in Church and State As also the strong Bulwark and Banners of Loyalty for all Loyal Subjects against the Fanatick Gunpowder Reformations within these His gratious Majesties Realms and Dominion Likewise a Christian Summons to all persons whatsoever to submit to the Church of England and chearfully to comply with the Rites and Cetemonies of the VVorship of God commended to and required of us by such Reverend persons delegated to that end by our gratious Soveraign Lord King Charles whom God long preserve being the Defender of the Faith And the Laws Orders and Statutes for the punishing all Anabaptists and Sectaries that shall presume to meet and disturb the Ministers in their publick Congregations Ordered to be Published throughout the several Countyes in England and VVales LONDON Printed for G. Horton and are to be sold at the Royal Elchange in Cornhill A Winding-Sheet For the ANABAPTISTS c. IS it not to be admired that so many worthy and learned Divines for some years past should be so much metamorphiz'd as to deny their Mother Church of England and the purity of it who so transparently flourished in the dayes of the never to be forgotten Queen Elizabeth blessed King James our late glorious Martyr King Charles the first and now blessed be God under our Gracious Soveraign King Charles the second and shall they dare to represent themselves Serpents amongst innocent Doves such Monuments of these are not without the Calculation of time when we consider the faction they arose from whose chief Rise was disorder and the whole Kingdome made a rude Chaos of Confusion there was no beauty in the Holy Temple 't was converted into a Den of Thieves nay which is worse if possible a Stable for Horses which forc'd an Italian to vent this bitter speech seeing that famous Cathedral of St. Pauls so much abus'd and the beauty thereof so much defac'd Horses and men said he amongst you English serve God alike now adayes the Surplice was turn'd into Scotch-Cloth and the white sheet of Pennance into the stool of Repentance I am perswaded there was not one of a hundred at the first that gave their consent for the utter abolishing of the Divine Service-Book and true it is it may well be so term'd when we consider what Reverend and Antient Fathers they were that had a hand in the composing and contriving of it being indued with Gods holy and blessed Spirit and laying down their lives to ride in Chariots of fire to maintain that worthy Book which some giddy-headed Sectaries since the beginning of our late unnatural Wars so much despised renting and tearing of it in pieces like so many Bedlams and meer time-servers blown about with every blast of light doctrine that will be Anabaptist to day a Brownist to morrow and in a word any thing the next day O lamentable what times did we then live in when the Church was without true discipline Gods Lawes quite taken from us no Lords Prayer allowed but Master Separate to doe as his fickle braine served him the Sacrament of the Lords Suppe● not administred once in halfe a yeare and when it was delivered wonderfull out of order it was the Sacrament of Baptisme celebrated as any would have it that was in fee with Master Parson the dead body buried with five or six words at the most no decency in the Churches no manners nor order forgetting that God is the God of order I doe not speake against praying by the Spirit for I know that Gods people alwayes prayed as they felt their wants but for poore ignorant people who have not the spirit of prayer what provision were made for them the answer is Just none What shall become of them Your answer must bee you must leave them to Gods mercy But I and many more would have thought you had some charity in you but in leaving poore ignorant people quite without any way to know God or his will I thinke you have done worse then the superstitious Papist ever did to the Heathen where they conquered Was there ever any Kingdome in the Christian world that flourished more for almost fourscore yeares then this Kingdome did all the reigne of queene Elizabeth King Iames and sixteene yeares of our glorious Martyr'd King Charles his reigne As for the order of reading the Old and New Testament once a year what a comfort must it needs be to those who can not read What an excellent order is that of reading Davids Psalmes once a moneth in due place and order which is not to be parellel'd by any Reformed church in the Christian world with many other excellent passages of great note and worth But now that a company of shuttle-brain'd fellowes who for their understanding and knowledge can scarce hold argument with a Schoole-boy that these I say must have that good Book quite taken away as a great Idoll in the Church what a kinde of madnesse is it let all wise men judge I doe not write so much in the applause of the Booke of common Prayer so to magnifie it as to put downe preaching and to ease some Ministers of their paines in studying no my earnest desire is that there may be praying with the whole congregation together and preaching too that the Word may be taught plentifully among the poor people and ●hat wee which are the inhabitants of England may goe hand in hand that God may have his due praise and glorie among us and you with us may ●ive God his due praise and honour both together which God in his mercy ●rant and that we may sit together every man under his owe Vine and ●●gtree And to you the Bretheren of the Separation which have the spirit so much at command and know Gods Word so well that you need no teacher take from you the exposition of the ancient Fathers and other mens workes which you so much despise and then take the bare Bible and fall to expounding the Scriptures and I dare pawne my life for six pence you shall have as good nonsense as you would desire to heare Goe back goe back thou foolish man or woman whatsoever thou art and returne to thy mother the Church of England who first brought thee up to know God in Christ and come out of these puddles and light-headed fooleries and know he that takes hold of the Plough and looks back is unmeet for the Kingdome of God And as touching Episcopacy it is of venerable Antiquity in the Church having its rise in the Apostles time in proof of which we can give no better Evidence then the Catalogue of Bishops who begin from the Age in which the Apostles lived And shall any man deny his assent to such grave Authority so unanimously conspiring in matter of Fact without incurring