Selected quad for the lemma: power_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
power_n	ceremony_n	church_n	rite_n	2,845	5	10.3412	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A24306	Sober and useful reflections upon a treatise of Mr. Richard Baxter's stiled, (Sacrilegious desertion of the holy ministry rebuked, and tolerated preaching of the Gospel vindicated) with a most serious preface to the same, out of the said Mr. Baxter. ...	Baxter, Richard, 1615-1691. Sacrilegious desertion of the holy ministry rebuked.	1680 (1680)	Wing A18; ESTC R14153	72,472	84

Change of times doth not change the Truth nor will warrant us to change our Religion He that saith our Preaching is Evil may tempt men to think that the Gospel which we Preach is Evil or that Infidelity Atheism Sensuality and Wickedness which we preach against is good or harmless If you turn to them that Calumniate us of Preaching Error or Sedition the Law is open Our Writings and Doctrine are easily tryed If we say Evil bear Witness of the Evil. Blame us not then for using upon occasion this Liberty and Freedom which you invite us to and stand in some need of whilst you remain so securely Confident of your own Innocencies Too much Evil hath been said and Printed And some Witness hath been born of it too in the Rebels Plea the Evangelium Armatum the Bishop of Worcesters Letter c. And somewhat is added farther for the satisfaction of your desires here in these Reflections which I have not yet done with The Presbyterians distinguish between a Parish-Church that imposeth nothing on the Ministers or people that God forbids and one that doth And between a Parish-Church that is reformable in that which notoriously needeth Reformation and one that Solemnly covenanteth against Reformation The intimation here is that our Parish-Churches impose on the Ministers or People what God forbids and do solemnly Covenant against Reformation even in that which notoriously needeth it And this he often glanceth at For my self I have long been of Opinion which one day you will pardon that Perjury Perfidiousness and Persecution Proud contending who shall be greatest and Covenanting never in certain points to obey Christ against the World and the Flesh is not the way of God And again speaking to some of the Conformists whom he calls Godly and sober Plain dealing is not the Sign of Enmity but Love I must tell you that we cannot but think that you need Repentance Great Repentance for Sinning more and that by Publique Deliberate chosen Covenanted ministerial Sin Protesting against Repentance This is plain enough and the Charge high and home Covenanting Solemnly Covenanting against Reformation and that not for a time only but for ever nor in some one thing but several ' Never in certain points to obey Christ against the World and Flesh and this Ministerially Publiquely Deliberately upon Choice and this besides other horrid Sins of Perjury Perfideousness Persecution and Proud contending who shall be greatest adding that unto all which makes them most unpardonable ' Protesting against Repentance There had need be good proof giv'n of this Accusation whereof yet none is offered or we must record the Accuser for a shameless Slanderer and admonish him in his own words to ' Repent of such Calumnies and not study to aggravate his fault by Excuses And after all this we must still believe that he loves us and spares us and is extremly loth to say what evil he knows by us unwilling to frighten others from our Parish-communions and loth to provoke us more then needs or to meddle with our Consciences Is not here a Compositian of hainous crimes sufficient enough to scare men from our Communion Is not here enough to brand us for a sort of the most flagitiously wicked wretches under Heaven For who can lay on greater loads of aggravation And that Preaching which can reconcile such Immoralities as these with the attributes of Godly and Sober dishonours Christianity and debauches the World He that is fallen under such Drunken Readers as I was bred under in my youth that were Drunk many times ofter then they Preached I am ready to prove it for they never Preached but were Drunk-oft This poor man and his Family must venture their Souls on this sottish Drunkards conduct because it is a True Church What a trick hath the Devil found to bind men to constancie in his service so it be done in a True Church Bating the spitefulness of the Reflection and subtilty of the Demonstration ' Many times oftner Drunk than they Preached for they never Preached The Church of England Sir hath better provided for all her Children in the necessaries to Salvation than to leave them barely to the private Discretion or conduct of the Best much less of sottish Drunkards And if any such there be it were a greater charity to the Publick to complain of them to those unto whom it belongs to admonish suspend and remove them than propagate idle stories as the manner is from hand to hand to the prejudice even of the innocent But as there are more ways of Preaching in a true sense than that which is vulgarly cried up for such so there are more ways also of being drunk than those two common ones by Wine and strong Drink Isa 29.9 We could easily tell you of Men drunk with Passion and Self-conceit and Error and a Spirit of Giddiness Mr. B. can tell you at another time That certainly Pride is a greater Sin than Whoredom or Drunkenness c. And Dr. Pierce hath formerly recommended this useful Remark to your Consideration Many are no Drunkards who are yet more scandalous than if they were The Devil himself is no Drunkard but he is proud and envious and hypocritical rebellious sacrilegious and many other ways worse than a common Drunkard His frequenting the Church and transforming himself into an Angel of Light appearing like a Saint and putting on Godliness for a Disguise doth make him much more scandalous in the true importance of the word than he could possibly be if he could be drunk And altho a Drunkard is so detestable a thing as not to deserve a Toleration in the meanest of the People much less Impunity or Connivance in any Priest yet I would not have him punished more for his Judgment than his Life as I can prove many have been because a Drunkard may be Orthodox and a dry Man may be an Heretick a Drunkard may be loyal to God's Anointed whilst one who never was drunk may be a Rebel Nor can I think it praise-worthy Ad Rempublicam perdendam aut Ecclesiam sobrium accedere Tho we differ not at all from the Doctrine of the Church of England till the new Doctrine about Infants was brought into the new Rubrick yet it is not in minutioribus that we differ from the Conformists Gather from it what you can God knoweth we think the Matters in difference very far from things indifferent We differ not at all from the Doctrine of the Church of England What not at all from Artic. XX where it is declared That the Church hath Power to decree Rites and Ceremonies Not at all from Artic. XXXIII where it is declared That that Person who by open Denunciation of the Church is rightly cut off from the Vnity of the Church and excommunicated ought to be taken of the whole multitude of the Faithful as an Heathen and Publican until he be openly reconciled by Penance