Selected quad for the lemma: nation_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
nation_n	lord_n	mountain_n	top_n	1,666	5	9.5413	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A78369	The Catholick mirrour. Or, a looking-glasse for Protestants Wherein they may plainly see the errours of their church, and the truth of the Roman Catholick. Which is divided into seventeen chapters, containing the principle points in dispute between Catholicks and Protestants, and all proved by their own Bible, for the satisfaction of those that desire to imbrace true religion.		1662 (1662)	Wing C1494A; ESTC R229524	59,266	156

so I will first show it you by the Infallible Prophesies of the Prophets of God Isa 2. v. 2. and first of Isaiah And it shall come to pass in the last dayes that the Mountain of the Lords house shall be established in the top of the Mountains Christs Church and shall be exalted above the hills and all Nations shall flow unto it so here is one true testimony that the Catholick Church shall be spread in all parts and all Nations shall partake of her holy Doctrine and not to lye hid in a corner as in one Kingdome or City or Congregation or this mans Church or that mans Church as all Sectaries do by which I shall plainly prove they cannot be any thing like Gods Church And again the same Prophet saith speaking of the many benefits that we shall enjoy under Christs Church That the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord Chap. 11 v. 9 10. as the waters cover the Sea Now as we know they are spread in all parts of the world so is the knowledge of Gods truth spread by his Church in the same manner which quality agreeth to no other Church but the Roman Catholick The same Prophet declares further Chap. 49. v. 22 23. That Kings shall be thy nursing Fathers and Queens thy nursing Mothers and to show the great reverence they should bear to this Church of God saith he They shall bow down to thee with their faces toward the earth and lick up the dust of thy feet Now I would demand what Church or Sect in the Christian world that hath Kings and Queens for their nursing Fathers and Mothers but the Roman Catholick and so by consequence cannot be the Church of God but are as wandering sheep having no true shepherd and so are daily exposed to the rage and fury of that ravening wolf John 10. v. 12. the Devil Again the same Prophet speaking how largely Gods Church should be stretched forth under the Gospel Isa 54. v. 2 3. saith Enlarge the place of thy Tent let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitation spare not lengthen thy Cords and strengthen thy stakes for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles and make the desolate Cities to be inhabited Now let the understanding Reader judge where this Prophesie is fulfilled in Protestants and Sectaties or in the Roman Church which is thus stretched out and hath her Members in the West-Indies and East-Indies in China in Tartary in Egypt in Assyria in Africa and Asia in Turky and all parts of Europe as the Empire of Germany the Kingdoms of Spain France Poland England Dominions of Italy and every Land in Christendom is either all or a considerable part of this Church which none in the world can say besides and so are very far off from fulfilling this Prophesie And in another place he saith Chap. 66. v. 18. And it shall come to pass that I will gather all Nations and Tongues and they shall come and see my glory Thus hath this holy Prophet by Gods inspiration foretold clearly the Universal or Catholick State of the Church of God in the time of the Gospel and Jeremiah the Prophet hath not been silent in Prophesying the fame for saith he Jer. 31. v 37. If heaven above can be measured and the foundation of the earth searched out beneath then will I cast off the seed of Israel and the measuring line shall go forth from Gareb to compass about Goath all which do declare the large extent of Christs Church And for confirmation of these Prophesies and what else hath been said I shall produce now the words of our Blessed Saviour himself who telling his Disciples of all the troubles they were to suffer for his name before Kings and Judges Ma k 13. v. 10. but saith he The Gospel must first be published among all Nations which plainly shows that Gods Church must be Catholick or Universal and I would fain learn from our Adversaries what Church hath taken the pains to publish the Gospel to all Nations and so fulfil these Prophesies but the Pastors of the Church of Rome for this may be urged to the shame of all Sects that if none took more pains in converting of Heathens Jews and Infidels then they do many millions of souls might perish for want of the knowledge of the living God but they instead of labouring to convert forreign Nations and so make the Church Universal lie at home in a corner of the world jangling one with another and sleeping on beds of Doun in Ladies bosoms and yet by all means theirs is the true Church and they the onely Pastors sent to convert the world and yet never intend to go about any such matter It is a wonderful thing to consider that men that read the Bible and all these Prophesies can be so ignorant to think that Gods Church should be pinn'd up in so narrow limits as any one Sect or Congregation did Christ himself preach for that and command his Apostles to publish the Gospel to all Nations who did so and lost their lives in that work was all this done I say to have his Church thrust up in a corner and to be no where else how then shall all Nations come to know God how shall they be Baptized in the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost how shall they partake of any Sacraments how shall the Church hear their differences Mat. 18. v. 17. and decide them as our Saviour saith it shall how I say shall all this be done if it were so straitned but since she is a Catholick Church she is every where and so all persons inspired by God in all places may receive if they will the foresaid benefits which otherwise can never be done And thus is plainly shown you that there is an Universal Church and that it is the Roman Catholick is as plain in its agreement with Gods Word according to Saint Paul who highly commends the same Faith Rom. 1. v. 7 8. in these words To all that be in Rome beloved of God called to be Saints grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ First I thank my God for you all that your Faith is spoken of throughout the whole world from which words we may gather that if the Faith of the Romans was so inlarged in the world sixteen hundred years ago that now it is much more for then Gods Church was but in her Infancy and now she is in her flourishing State she was then under most cruel persecutions by Tyrants and now praised be God she is at rest with her friends so that now we may clearly see that all those that are shut up in such narrow Corners are meerly Sects and Heresies and are clean shut out from the bosom of the Spouse of Christ which is his Holy Catholick Church

Council Nice We do not offer worship to the matter as Wood or Stone or painting in colours but through these being brought to the person represented by them we give due honour to him knowing accordingly that the respect to the Image passes to him who is represented by it Chap. 9. Proving that Man hath Free Will to do Good or not to do it contrary to the Opinion of Protestants DId those men which deny this point of Faith but admit in the height of their passions either of reason or consideration they would blush for shame when they shewed them what Traytors they are to themselves in robbing their natures of one prime quality which God hath given them for an ornament to the same for take from man his free-will and you may turn him like a Nebuchadnezzar amongst the beasts for God by Miracle can make him do good actions in that form and nature but for the want of prudent considering the actions of their lives they run into as many disorders as their giddy fancies pleases to suggest to them but this is the misery of most men that when the Devil tempts them to these evils they will not resist but entertain all and amongst al his hellish deceits he hath none that takes more with weak understandings then this sly trick of his seeming to attribute all to God as he tempts Hereticks to believe that Angels must not be reverenced nor Saints respected nor prayed too but all to God which is his devillish slight to hinder that service to God as I proved before and that all mens good works done by Gods holy Grace are sinful and merit nothing onely to hinder and make men carefuless to do such good works and that man hath no free-will onely to make man idle and not strive to imploy those graces that God hath been pleased to bestow upon us so that did all men but once discover these tricks of Satan we should easily see that God is honoured by these things because they are his gifts and benefits which he hath been pleased to bestow on us to enrich our souls and make us more capable of serving him The truth of this shall be as plainly proved by Scripture and Reason as any thing before treated of that so we may lay open the shameful hypocrisie of those that work their self-ends from ignorant people meerly through the blinde pretence of Scripture which being so done you will finde hem rotten at the very heat And first of all concerning Cain where God tells him Gen. 4. v. 7. If thou do well shalt thou not be accepted and if thou dost not well sin lyeth at thy door so here it is plain that God left it to his choice to do well or not to do it Again God said unto Moses Behold I will rain bread from Heaven Exod. 16. v. 4. and the people shall go out and gather it every day that I may prove them whether they will walk in my way or no now if they had not had a free-will why should God say he owuld try them so that you see God left them to their free-will to see whether they would serve him better or no. Again God saith to them in Deuteronomy Deut. 11. v. 26. Behold I set before you a blessing and a curse a blessing if you will obey the Commandments of your God and a curse if you will not obey Now consider that as this is plainly and truly Gods word so plainly and truly doth it show free-will to be in man Again God saith to them in the same Book Chap. 28. v. 1.2 If you will hearken diligently to the voice of the Lord thy God to keep all his Commandments I will set thee on high above all the Nations and so tells them how many sorts of blessing he will bestow upon them if they will keep his Commandments but if they would no Ver. 15. he tells them how many curses should light upon them And in the same Book again he saith to them in a very strange manner I call heaven and earth to record this day against you Chap. 30. v. 19. that I have set before you life and death blessing and cursing therefore choose life that thou and thy seed may live I might justly stand amazed here at these Texts of Gods word and admire with what face men can say they believe the Bible and not tremble when they say so considering how they deny this free-will in man which God hath given him and other principles of Christian Religion proved before for here we see God himself layes it before us and leaves it to us and what would we have God do more unless he should work Miracles daily and we lye like beasts or stones and do nothing The same did God offer to David by his Prophet Gad saying 2 sam 24. v. 12. God and say unto David thus saith the Lord I offer thee three things choose the one of them that I might do it unto thee Now here God would not execute his Justice on David till he had chosen what punishment he would himself that might be most for his good And to his Son Solomon God saith likewise 1 King 6. v. 12. If thou wilt walk in my Statutes and execute my Judgements and keep all my Commandments then will I perform my word with thee by all which is still more plain that Solomon had a free-will Now though this that hath been said might serve sufficiently to convince those that have held the contrary and desire to imbrace the truth of Gods word in reality yet I will proceed for their further satisfaction and knowledg of the truth in this point and first out of the Gospel of Saint Matthew where our Saviour cryes out Mat. 23. v. 37. O Jerusalem Jerusalem how often would I have gathered you together as a hen doth her Chickens but you would not see here how Christ complains of them because they would not imploy their wills in his holy service as he would have had them done for saith he I would but you would not and in another place he saith I thou wilt enter into life keep the Commandments so that in every place it is referred to our free-will to do and not to do any good action as is plain by all these places of Scripture by which you may see what folly they are guilty of that say we have none or that it takes away the honour from God which can no wayes be for since we say that free-will in us is a gift from God and the good actions we do by that will is inspired into us by God then is God the Original of all and we onely the instruments of doing it or not doing it for we all know that God often inspires us to good actions which we never do to our shame we may say it and that he would have us to do them is clear or else he would not inspire us