Selected quad for the lemma: prayer_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
prayer_n	form_n	minister_n	set_a	2,081	5	10.7228	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A57650	Gods house made a den of theeves delivered in a second sermon in Southampton / by Alexander Rosse ...	Ross, Alexander, 1591-1654.	1642 (1642)	Wing R1954; ESTC R16607	12,168	16

these were our first reformers holy men learned divines blessed martyrs who seal●d these prayers with their blood they had the honour once to weare the crowne of Martyrdome and now they are crowned with glory s●all any then be so thanklesse as to spurne at their prayers And so gracelesse as to retaliat their blessed paines with flow●es and jeeres I hope they are not offended that these prayers are established by so many acts of parliament under 3. gratious and religious Princes Edward 6. Qu. Elizabeth and K. Iames all of blessed memorie What is it then that they dislike in thes● prayers I thinke they know not themselves onely they dislike them Non amo te volusi nec possum dicere quare Hoc tantum possum dicere non amo te Indeed it 's no new thing to establish by authoritie s●tt formes of prayers in the Church for avoyding confusion babling tautologies impertinencies tediousnesse and absurdities to which extemporarie and unpremeditate prayers are subject God himselfe u●der the law prescribed a set forme to Aaron and his sons So did Christ under the Gospell to his Apostles Mat. 6.9 Luke 11.2 so did Constantine the first Christian Emperour to his souldiers as ●usebius recordeth It is ordered in the 3. Councell of Carthage that no man shall use such prayers as are not approved by the choysest of the Clergie Instructioribus fratribus and in the Milevitan Councell held under Innocent 1. in the time of Honorius and Arcadius it is expresly commanded that no other publicke prayers shall be used in the Church but such as are approved of by the Councell Nec aliae nisi quae a Prudentioribus tractatae vel comprobatae in Synodo fuerint Least by ignorance or in advertencie some wordes may be uttered against the true faith I doe not remember that there is at this day any publicke Congregation of private conventicles I speak not which hath not their set forme● of prayers The Iews in their Synagogue● Turks Persians Arabians in their Mosques Christians in their Churches have all set formes the Greeke churches have their divers Liturgies of Saint Basil and St. Chrys●st Not to speake of these antient Liturgies which beare the n●mes of Saint Peter Saint Iames Saint Marke and the Apostles The latine Church●s have their set formes some after the order of Saint Ambrose a● at Millaine and ot●ers of Saint Gregorie as at Rome So all the Christian sects have also their set Prayers as the Georgians in Iberia the Cophti in Egypt the Iacobits in Ethiopia the Melchits in Syri● the Armenians in Turcomania and Cilicia the Maronits in mount Libanus the Christians of Saint Thomas the Muscovits yea all the reformed churches beyond seas have some set prayers before their Sermons and shall our Church onely be quarrelled with for her set service or shall her Ministers be disliked for vsing rather her formes and words then their owne It 's too much temeritie to come before God with rash and extemporarie prayers h●arken to Solomons counsell be not rash with thy mouth and let not thy heart be hastie to utter any thing before God for God is in heaven and thou upon earth therefore let thy words be few But I will detaine you no longer in viewing of the temple as it is the house of prayer let us looke on it now as it is a den of theeves I will but onely point at them that you may beware of them and then I will end Our Saviour alludes here to the Pharisees name in Hebrew Ph●rusim are Pharisees and Perutsim are theeves they were like in name and so they were in concition for they were theeves indeed They stole from God his glory whilst they attributed many things to Fate and Destinie They stole from the Commandements their dignitie in preferring their traditions to Gods precepts They robbed Religion of it's life whilst they placed it in washings and other supe●fl●ous ceremonies They robbed the Temple of it's hol●n●sse in ●aking it a shop of Merchandise therefore Christ tells them that they were theeves and robbers that w●nt before him mean●ng the whole ●abble of theeves as Pharisees Saduces Essenes Gaulonits o● Galileans Herodians Scribes Disputers Nasarites Rechabites and even the co●rupted Priests and Levites and the false Prophets such as Iudas Galileus and Thaddeus with all these theeves was the temple pestered and their Synogogues but this was onely Manipulus furum a handfull to compare to the legion o● theeves with which the poore Church of Christ is vexed robbed and wounded I will onely poynt at some of the chiefe and will begin first with Sacriledge a notorious theefe having most rapatious hands sparing neither holy places nor holy things nor holy persons making no conscience to breake 5. commandements at once which is the one halfe As it prophanes Gods honour it breaks the third commandement As it robbs spirituall parents of their maintenance it breaks the fifth as it is a murtherer of soules for want of the Ministers food it breaks the ●●●th As it is theft it violats the eighth and as it covets other mens goods it breaks the tenth commandement The Athenians did so much abhorre the sacrilegious theefe that they denied him the honour of buriall Si quis res sacras clepserit in Artica non sepeliatur The second theife which useth to creep● into Church and State when men are not warie and carefull to prevent is Faction which in the Church is called Schisme in the State sedition this is a dangerous theefe and a bad guest where he is intertained requiting his hosts kind intertainment as Paris did Menelaus who stole away his wife Helena from him So where this theefe comes he will be sure to steale away wives from their husbands children from their parents servants from their masters people from their Ministers and neighbours one from another now he steales away not their bodyes but their hearts and affections from each other which is worse then Plagiatus beware of this theefe which cunningly begins to creepe in amongst you Remember Christs words the theife commeth not but for to steale to kill and to destroy to steale that which is neerest and dearest to you your wives loyaltie which they owe to their husbands childrens duty to their Parents servants obedience to their masters and our neighbours love to one an other and to steale away the sheep from their sheepheards There are but two golden pillars that support Church and State viz. Vnitie and Order this theife steales them both away Who stole the h●arts of Israel from David the ten tribes from Roboam the peoples affections from Moyses and Aaron and who steales the peoples respect and obedience from the Magistrate and Minister but this thiefe Prometheus stole away fire from the Sun but faction steals away the fire of love from mens hearts and not onely is he a theefe but a murtherer too he cuts mens throats as Ionothan did Godoliahs under

qui novit bene orare you say that one Sermon of Peters converted 3000. in one day and I say that one prayer of Moses saved a●ove six hundred thousand in one day A far greater number sure neither had that Sermon bin so effectu●●l had it not bin first consecrated and sanctified by the prayers of all the Apostles for before Peter began his Sermon they all unanimously continued in prayers and supplications which custome wee yet retaine in the Church giving to prayers the first place and the last too as being both the Alpha and Omega of divine worship A te principium tibi desinet standing both in the front and in the reere and like the 2. Cherubins at the two ends of the Arke or the two Angels the one at the head the other at the foot of Christs Sepulchre and such is the excellencie of prayer above all other divine exercises that the whole worship of God {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} is called prayer or invocation And Saint Austin confesseth that the Church may want sometimes preaching but it can never want prayer deficit aliquando in ser monibus nunquam in oratione Therefore are we so often exhorted to pray continually I must tel you that you were as good heare a tinckling Cymball or a sounding brasse as to heare a Sermon not Sanctified by prayer for as seed cast into the ground without Sun and rain cannot fructifie so the Sermons which wee Preach in your eares without prayers and supplications will not edifie Was there ever since Christ a more powerfull Preacher then St. Paul and yet knowing his Preaching without prayer to be in-effectuall desires the Colossians to pray for him that God would open to him a dore of utterance to speake the mysterie of Christ that he might make it manifest as he ought to speake so then prayer is the key that opens the doore of vtterance it is indeed the key of the whole worke yea the very soule li●e of preaching which without it were but a dead soun● for as the Prophet by praying over the dead child restored life to it againe so the prayers of Minister and people doe inlive and animate our Doctrine you 'l say that Preaching is the sword that kills sin and Sathan c. I grant it but without prayers it is a blunt sword Prayer is the whe●stone that gives it the edge prayer makes it s●arpe and keene to devide between the soule and Spirit c. prayer and Preaching are like the sling and sword that David vsed against Goliah the sword indeed cut off his head after he was downe but it was the stone out of the sling that knockt him downe and killed him It 's easie to master the great Goliah with the sword of the Word when we have strook him in the forehead with the sling stone of fervent prayer Preaching is the sword that woundeth neere at hand but prayer is the arrow that kills a far off melior jaculo longe fallente sagitsa Preaching is a good weapon that can overcome Satan but prayer is a better that can overcome God himselfe therfo●e wee are {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} wrestlers with God by prayers as Iacob was who both wrestled and prevailed Preaching is like the Angell that smote Peter on the side and unloos●d his chaines when he was in prison ●ut the vnc●ff●nt prayers of the Church for Peter were they that both gave wings to the Angel to fly down and hands to unloos● his chaines and strength to break open the prison doores A powerfull S●rmon may make a guilty heart to tremble but the prayer of Paul and Silas made the very earth tremble and the prison doores fly open A Sermon may informe us of the ioyes of heaven but an eff●ctuall prayer is able to ravish us with St. Paul up to the third heaven Christ Preached many excellent Sermons which made no change in him but when he prayed upon mount Thabor his face did shine as the Sun and his garment was white as the light Not whilst he was Preaching but whilst he wa● praying the Angel came comforted him and a white cloud conveyed his Fathers testimonie to him In a word prayer is the impenetrable armour the inexhausted wealth and the most pretious treasure of a Christian therfore prefer it above all things for on it depends the health of thy body the welfare of thy soule the prosperitie of thy family the increase of thy wealth the loyaltie of thy Wife the duty of thy Children the obedience of thy Servants the love of thy Neighbour the purity of Religion the wisdome of the State the holinesse of the Church and the hapiness● of the whole Kingdome Prayer will be thy best Physitian when thou art sicke thy best advocate when thou art sued thy best Pilot when thou travellest by Sea thy guide when thou travellest by Land thy watcher when thou sleepest thy comforter when thou art sad thy companion when thou art alone and thy patron when thou art wronged what force was ever able to resist the power of prayer which hath opened and shut heaven commanded the Sun and Moon shaken the earth troubled the elements procured thunder lightning hailstones raysed the dead driven away divells stopped the mouths of Lions quenched the violence of fire appeased stormes overcome mighty armies broken Iron chains blown open prison doores and prevailed with God himselfe in all which you may see the excellencie of prayer ●bove Preaching and yet I derogate nothing from the worth of preaching when I prefer prayer to it two things may be both excellent in their kinde and yet the one more excellent then the other Preaching and prayer are not like the two bucketts of a well that the rising of the one must needs be the falling of the other when I commend gold I despise not silver nor will any man say that the Moon hath no beautie because the Sun is brighter By prayer we speake to God by preaching he sp●aks to us by prayer our hearts ascend to God by Preaching his knowledge descends to us by prayer our Preaching is Sanctified by Preaching our prayer is directed and yet stil prayer is before Preaching for the excellencie of the action depends from the excellencie of the object man is the object of Preaching but God is the object of prayer Now pe●haps all that I have sayd of prayer will be granted but that which some men most stumble at and that is but a straw are the set prayers of the Church These be the scar-crowes that keepe them back● from the house of prayer and yet I know not what it is that they disl●ke in them is it the matter why that is consonant to Scripture is it the forme that is plaine methodicall and easie are they the words they are significant intelligible and without affectation Are they the compilers of them that they dislike why