Selected quad for the lemma: prayer_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
prayer_n	church_n	hand_n	imposition_n	2,100	5	10.5630	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A41783	The Pædo-baptists apology for the baptized churches shewing the invalidity of the strongest grounds for infant baptism out of the works of the learned assertors of that tenent, and that the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins is a duty incumbent upon all sinners who come orderly to the profession of Christianity : also the promise of the Spirit [b]eing the substance of a sermon on I Cor. 12, I, to which is added a post-script out of the works of Dr. Jer. Taylor in defence of imposition of hands as a never failing ministery / by Tho. Grantham.	Grantham, Thomas, 1634-1692.; Taylor, Jeremy, 1613-1667.	1671 (1671)	Wing G1541; ESTC R39521	38,200	120

excluding himself that they ●ee but darkly prophesie but in part know but in part so that perfection ●erein is not to be pretended 2. That the Apostles did deliver infallible and undoubted verities for all to submit to as the very word of God c. proceeded not hence viz. because they were gifted men But as being the chosen witnesses of God purposely ordained to that very end for which cause they saw that just one heard the words of his mouth and by infallible proves were assured of the Resurrection of our Lord and of his will concerning his Kingdom John 15 16. Ye have not chosen me but I have chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remain that whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my Name he may give it you see Acts 10. 40. 41. and Acts 22. 14. 15. The God of o●r Fathers hath chosen thee that thou should kn●w his will and see that just one and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth FOR thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast SEEN AND HEARD These are the Fathers of the Churches the Foundation layers the Master-builders in such an elevated consideration as that the authority of one is to be valued above the authority of ten thousand subsequent teachers which is a greater number then ever yet convened in a generall councell 1. Cor. 4. 15. 16. These were such Fathers as laid up such a stock of doctrine for their Children as whoso bringeth not along with them is not to be received 2. John 8. 9 10. And whosoever corrupteth by adding takeing away or perverting is to be held accursed to be nameless in the City of God and the book of Life The conclusion is this gifted persons on whom the Holy Ghost fell as it did on the Apostles were not thereby impowered to propose new Oracles or to be the Apostles Competitors and if any presume to these things as some did in the Apostles dayes they shall fulfill that sentence 2. Tim. 3. 9. They shall proceed no further for their folly shall be made manifest to all men as theirs also was Ob. 2. If the gifts of the spirit 1. Cor. 12. Have continued in the Church as you teach 't is strange we have no account of them since their days unless we regard the papacy who have claim'd the gift of Miracles in every age which they urge as an undoubted proof that they only are the Church of Christ Ans 1. It is true that people do pretend as 't is said in the objection and it is now my business to examine the goodness of that pretence only this I say they cannot find their Church to have had a being in every age since Christ and therefore very unlikely to prove what they say in the case of Miracles But put case that since they have had a being in the world some signs or wonders have been done among them yet hence to infer the truth of their Church state is very unsafe sith before an equall judge others will be found to have as clear a claim to Miracles as themselves Mat. 7. 22. Many w●ll say unto me in that day have we not prophesi●d in thy Name and in thy name have we cast out Devils and in thy name have done many wondrous works And then will I profess un●o them I never knew you depart from me ye workers of iniquity And though our Saviour saith no man can do a miracle in his Name and lightly speak evil of him yet that very speech supposes the thing possible It doth not follow therefore that wheresoever miraculous gifts are there is the true Church but she is only known by her Conformity to the Doctrine of God our Saviour chiefly in the principles of Religion Heb. 6. 1. 2. For we are his House if built upon that foundation of Repentance faith c and pa●takers of him IF we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast to the end otherwise not Heb. 3. 6. 14. If any come unto you and bring not this doctrine receive him not to house no though he work miracles for thus saith the Lord. If there arise among you a Prophet or a Dreamer of Dreams and giveth thee asign or a wonder and the sign or the wonder come to pass whereof he spake unto thee now note if he do this saying let us go after other Gods which thou hast not koown and let us serve them thou shalt not hearken to the words of that Prophet For the Lord your God proveth you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your Soul And hence learn this one thing that Gods Truth is not to give place to any gifts but all gifts are to subserve to the furtherance of his Truth To conclude as we ought not to be ignorant of the gifts of the spirit so neither of the means ordain'd of God to obtain those gifts The primitive Churches are herein our best guide as the word directs T is well known and I think granted on all hand● that they used the solemn Ordinance of prayer and imposition of hands for obtaining the promised Spirit at least with respect to these gifts Now be it so though I say for the Graces or Fruits also then seeing these gifts are promised to us as well as unto them and are attainable and in part at least attained by many what should hinder the Churches but that now they should tread in this path with faith and full assurance that a blessing is in it As in holy baptism we are placed as it were among those whose sins are washed away in the blood of the Lamb. So in this Holy Ordinance of prayer and imposition of hands we are in a solemn manner ushered into the promise of the holy spirit and as the pardon of our sins signified in baptism doth not prevent but better capaciate us to pray daily forgive us our ●●espasses so imposition of hands doth put us into a better capacity to seek dayly for the gifts and graces of the spiri● b●cause now solemnly intercessed in the promise by that very way the primi●ive Saints were intercessed therein Acts 8. 15 17. Acts 19. 2. 6. 2 Tim. 1. 6. Heb. 6. 12. Who when they were down prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost then laid they their hands on them and they receithe Holy Ghost Have they received of the Holy Ghost since the believed And when Paul had laid his hand is on them the Holy Ghost 〈◊〉 on them Wherefore I put th●e in rem●mb●ance that thou stir up the gift of God which is in thee by the putting o● of my hands The foundation of Repentance and of faith towards God of the D●ctrine of bap●ism and of laying on of hands of the resurrection of the dead and of Eternal Judgement What shall I 〈◊〉 the Scriptures are evidence sufficient that this Ordinance is of

only you but your Children too not of this ●eneration only sed nati natorum et q●i n●centur ab illis but your Children for ever For the promise is to you and to your Children and to all that are affar off even to as many as the Lord your God shall call now then let it be considered 1. This gift is by promise by a promise not made to the Apostles alone but to all to all for ever 2. Consider here at the very first as there is a verbum a word of promise so there is a sacramentum too I use the word in a large sence only and according to the stile of the primitive Church It is a rite partly morall and partly cerimoniall the first is prayer the other is laying on of the hands and to an effect that is but transient and extraordinary and of a little abode it is not easily to be supposed that such a solemnity should be appointed I say such a solemnity that is it not imaginable that a solemn rite annexed to a perpetuall promise should be transient and temporary for by the nature of relatives they may be of equall abode the cerimony or rite was anexed to the promise and therefore also must be for ever 3 This is attested by St. Paul who reduces this argument to this mistery saying In home after that you believed ye were sealed with the holy spirit of promise He spake it to the Ephesians who well understood his meaning by remembring what was done to themselves by the Apostle Act. 19. 6. But a while before who after he had baptised them did lay his hands upon them and so they received the holy spirit of promise for here the very matter of fact is the clearest comentary on St. Pauls words But fourthly What hinders any man from a quick consent at the first representation of these plain reasonings and authorityes is it because there were extraordinary effects accompanying this ministration and because now there are not that we will suppose the whole oeconomy must cease if this be it and indeed this is all that can be pretended in opposition to it it is infinitely vain 1. Because these ex●raordinary effect did continue even after the death of all the Apostles St. Frenoeus saies they did continue even to his time even the greatest instance of miraculous power et infraternitate sap●ssimc propter aliquid necessarium c. When God saw it necessary and the Church prayed and fasted much they did miraculous things even of reducing the Spirit to a dead Man 2. In the days of the Ap●stles the spirit did produce miraculous effects but neither always nor at all in all men are all workers of miracles c. No the spirit bloweth where it listeth and as he listeth he gives gifts to all but to some after this manner and some after that 3. These gifts were not necessary at all times any more then to all persons but the promise did belong to all and was made to all and was performed to all And therefore if the grace be given to all there is no reason that the ritual ministration of that grace should cease upon pretence that the spirit is not given extraordinarily Other arguments he hath many to the same purpose and a● I conceive well worthy the consideration of all Christians specially those that are doubtfull in this principle of religion but I shall sh●t up all with a few of his citations out of the works of antient writers in behalf of this point of faith And first noteing How that originally it came from the Apostles In the second Century he brings Thophilus Antiochenus and ●ertullian the latter saith thus D● hinc manus imponitur c. After baptism the hand is imposed by blessing calling and inviting the holy spirit Being cleansed by baptismal water we are dispos'd for the holy spirit under the hand of the Angel of the Church and to this effect the rest c. For the third Century he brings Origen Cyprian Dionis and Eusebius The first Testimony set down is out of Cyprian who Writing upon the passage in Acts 8. 14. saith which custome is also descended to us that they who are baptized might be brought by the rulers of the Church and by prayer and imposition of hands receive the Lords signature c. For the Fourth hundred he brings Melchiades Optatus Civil and others speaking very highly of the use of this ministration and then brings Urba● the first as more plainly setting down what the rest delivered more siguratively in these words Omnes Fideles c. All faithful people ought to receive the holy spirit by imposition of the Bishops hands after baptism And having added yet more witnesses of this kind he alleadges six Counsells to evince the same thing viz. That this Ordinance of prayer laying on of hands were received together with the other principles by Christians generally The decree of one of these Counsels concerning such as had received baptism in a regular form is in these words manus ●antum eiis imponatur ut accipiant spiritum sanctum Let there be imposition of hands that they may receive the Holy Ghost Afterwards the Dr. concludes thus So many Fathers testifying the practice of the Church and teaching this Doctrine and so many more Fathers as it were assembled in six Councells all giving witness to this holy Rite AND THAT IN PURSUANCE OF SCRIPTURE are too great a blood of witnesses to be despised by any man that calls himself a Christian FINIS Gal. 3. 27. Heb. 6. 2. Act. 2. 38. Mark 1. 5. Acts 8. 12 Acts 18 8. Libert proph● p 228. to pag. 246. * Which yet the Baptists do not grant * It is a saying of Augustin De trahe verbum quid est aqua c. Take away the word and what is water nothing but water joyn the word to the Element and it is made a Sacrament This consideration is very concluding against Paedo Baptism for to the Infant the word is as it were taken away from the Element a●d cons●quent y accordirg to Aug. it can be no Sacrament to them at all Ex manu controv● under the probation of divers of their Doctors Professors and Students in Theology p. 372. to 377. S. N. Antid Se Diod te in act 2. * a thing wholy unknown that they have any such receit of the Spirit Eras. parrap ●n 1 Cor. 7. Eraz. par on Math. 28. Ludovicus Vives Fabian Hugo Grotius Anno 315. Con Ne●caes * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tertul. lib. de Bap. cap. 18. Tertull. lib. de baptis cap. 18. * 〈◊〉 to quest in ● Baptisma Mark 6. Perseverence in Faith must here be understood with the Fruits of Faith a●so * For they do ●●t only deny such Infants the Act but the ●ight to baptism because the children of ●nbelievers Verse 4. Litturgy Marq. of Worcest Certam Relig. * Secundum Fisher * for Gods ways are not to be left to mans will be commands and t is mans duty to obey Ex opp Perk. S●e the Scholast discourse against Symbol with Antichrist The poynt to be proved 1 From the Apostles scope * 1 Cor. 3. 16. 2 Cor. 6. 16. 2. From the extent of the promise 3. From the Nature of the duties of the Church 4. From the nature and perpetuity of the exhortations to seek for the spirit 5. From the continuation of spiritual gifts in the Church to this day It is probable that Paul made use of his education in speaking divers Languages as may be perceived by his discou●ses in the acts of the Apostles and by the Epistles which he wrote to severall Churches useing therein as 't is confessed frequently the Greek Tongue 6. From the silence of the Scriptures as to the privation of the gifts of the Spirit c 1. Cor. 2. 4. * Which yet shall avail them nothing because they wanted truth with their gifts * Me●ning that laying on of hands used by some at the absolving penetents * I think this wi●l abide tryall sith we may not expect a change of the dispensation we are under otherwise the promise might continue under some other rite or elce without it * Who know how to read men without being scandi ized if they meet with phraises and some nothing which are doubtful as its the case of most that write ● Con. Arles c. 8.