Selected quad for the lemma: saint_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
saint_n	church_n	communion_n	fellowship_n	1,870	5	10.0945	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A34991	An epistle of tender love and brotherly advice to all the churches of Christ throughout the world who are gathered into the one living faith, and walk in the light, and therein have their fellowship one with another. From a friend and brother in the same fellowship, who hath long travailed, and still travails for Zion's prosperity, and for the gathering Zion's children out of Egypt and darkness, that they may walk and dwell in the light of Zion's Saviour, which is Christ the Lord; whose outward name is Stephen Crisp.	Crisp, Stephen, 1628-1692.	1690 (1690)	Wing C6929; ESTC R215184	11,866	17

clear of such in the sight of God for its unreasonable to feed them that will not be ruled by you they break the obligation of Society by their disorderly walking for our Communion doth not stand only in frequenting Meetings and hearing Truth preached but in answering the blessed Principle of Truth in Life and Conversation and therein both the Rich and the Poor have fellowship one with another There is another sort that are made Poor by the Oppressions and Cruelties of others These oppressed Poor cries loud in the Ears of the Almighty and he will in his own time Avenge their Case but in the mean time there is a tenderness to be extended to them not knowing how soon it may be our turn and if there be need of Counsel and Advice or if any Applications can be made to any that are able to deliver them from the Oppressors in such Cases let all that are capable be ready and willing to advise relieve and help the distressed and this is an acceptable Work of Charity and a great comfort to such in their sharp Afflictions and their Souls will bless the Instruments of their Ease and Comfort And my Dear Friends as God hath honoured you with so high and holy a calling to be his Servants and Workmen in this his great and notable Day and to work together in his Power in setting forth his Praise and Glory in the Earth and gathering together in one the scattered Seed in this and other Nations Oh! let the dignity of your calling provoke and incourage you to be diligent Attenders upon his Work and Service you are called to and let not your concerns in the World draw you from observing the times and seasons appointed to meet together but you that are Elder set a good Example to the Younger sort by a due observation of the Hour appointed that they that come first one time may not by their long staying for others be discouraged so as perhaps they may be last another time but when the time is come leave your business for the Lord's Work and he will take care your business shall not suffer but will add a Blessing upon it which will do more for you then the time can do that may be saved out of his Service And when ye have to do with perverse and froward or disorderly Persons whom ye have occasion to Reprove and to Rebuke for the Truth 's sake and you find them stout and high and reflecting upon ye then is a time for the Lamb's meekness to shine forth and for you to feel your Authority in the Name of Christ to deal with such a one and to wait for the pure and peaceable Wisdom from above to bring down and confound the earthly Wisdom And in this frame of mind you labour together to pull the intangled Sheep out of the Thicket and to restore that which is gone astray to the Fold again if you can but if you cannot yet ye save your selves from the Guilt of his Blood and if such do perish his Blood will be on his own Head But on the other hand if ye suffer their perverse Spirits to enter and their Provocations to have a place in you so as to kindle your Spirits into a Heat and Passion then you get a hurt and are uncapable to do them any good but Words will break out that will need Repentance and the Wicked will be stiffened and strengthened thereby and you miss the Service that you did really intend Therefore dearly Beloved keep upon your Watch keep on your spiritual Armour keep your Feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace and the God of Peace will be with you and crown your Indeavours with good success to your Joy and Comfort and will bring up his Power over your Adversaries and Opposers more and more to which many shall bow and bend in your sight and will bring Shame and Confusion upon the Rebellions who harden their Heart and stiffen their Necks against the Lord and his Christ and Kingdom which he will exalt in the Earth notwithstanding all that Satan and all his Evil Instruments can do to hinder the growth and progress of his blessed Truth for of the increase of the Government and of the Peace of the Kingdom of Christ there shall be no end And now Friends I having cleared my Conscience of what lay upon me for some time to write unto you by way of Remembrance and as the Exhortation of my Life unto you I remain travailing in Spirit for the well-fare of Zion And although the outward man decays yet in the inward man I am comforted in beholding daily the great things that our God hath done and is still doing for them that have their sole dependance upon him So committing you to the Grace of God for your directer and preserver in these and all your several Services unto which God hath called you that by the operations of his mighty Power ye may be kept blameless and unspotted of the World to his Honour and your Comfort and to the universal Comfort and Edification of the Church that so Praises and Thanksgiving may fill your Hearts and Mouths your Families and your Meetings for he is worthy who is our Tower our Support the Lord of Host the King of Saints to whom be Glory Honour and Renown through this and all Generations forever and ever Amen London the 15th of the 7th Month 1690. From your Friend and Brother in th● Communion and Fellowship of the Gospel of Peace and Purity Stephen Crisp

to give a Sentence of right between Friend and Friend take heed that neither Party get possession of your Spirit aforehand by any way or means whatsoever or obtain any Word or Sentence from you in the absence of the other party he not being yet heard there is nothing more comly among men than Impartial Judgment Judgment is a Seat where Interest nor Affection nor former Kindnesses may come we may make no difference of the worthiness or unworthiness of Persons in Judgment as we may in Charity but in Judgment if a good man being mistaken hath a bad case or a bad man a good case according to his case must he have Sentence It was a good saying He that judgeth among Men judgeth for the Lord and he will repay it Therefore let all be done as unto the Lord and as ye are willing to answer it in his presence and although some may for a time be discontent thereat yet in time God shall clear up your Innocency as the Sun at Noon-Day and they that kick at sound Judgment will find but hard work of it they do but kick against that which will prick them and however such through their wilfulness and their abounding in their own sence may hurt themselves yet you will be preserved and enjoy your Peace and Satisfaction in the discharge of your Consciences in the sight of God And as concerning practical Charity ye know it s supported by Liberality and where Liberality ceaseth Charity waxeth cold yea so far ceaseth where there is no Contribution there is no Distribution where the one is sparing the other is sparing and therefore let every one nourish Charity in the Root that is keep a Liberal Mind a heart that looks upon the Substance that is given him as really bestowed upon him for the support of Charity as for the support of his own Body and where People are of this mind they will have a care of keeping back any of God's part for he hath in all Ages in a most singular manner espoused the Case of the Poor the Widow and Fatherless and hath often signified by his Prophets and Ministers a special charge upon Rich Men that had this World's Goods that they should look to it that they were faithful Stewards of what they possest and that they might be found in good Works and might not suffer their Hearts to so cleave to uncertain Richs as to neglect the Service God had given them the things of this Life for either to give them up when called for in a Testimony for his worthy Name or to Communicate of them to those that were in necessity Now as concerning the necessities of the Poor there is great need of Wisdom when ye meet together about that Affair for as I said before tho' the worthyness or unworthyness of Persons is not to be considered in Judgment yet in this it is and you will find some that God hath made Poor and some that have made themselves Poor and some that others have made Poor which must all have their several Considerations in which you ought to labour to be unamious and not one to be taken up with an affection to one Person more then another but every one to Love every one in the universal Spirit and then to deal out that Love in the outward manifestations thereof according to the measure that the Lord in his Wisdom working in you shall measure forth to them And as to those who by Sickness Lameness Age or other Impotency are brought into Poverty by the Hand of Providence these are your peculiar care and objects pointed out to you to bestow your Charity upon for by them the Lord calls for it for as the Earth is the Lord's and the fulness of it he hath by his Soveraign Power commanded in every Dispensation that a part of what we injoy from him should be thus imployed The Israelites were not to reap the Corners of their Feilds nor to gather the Gleanings of the Corn nor Vintage it was for the Poor and in the time of the Gospel they were to lay a part on the first Day of the Week a part of what God had blessed them with for the Relief of those that were in Necessity nay they did not Confine themselves in their Charity to their own Meetings but had an universal Eye through the whole Church of Christ and upon extraordinary occasions sent their Benevolence to relieve the Saints at Jerusalem in a time of need and all that keep in the guidance of the same Universal Spirit will make it their Business to be found in the same Practice of Charity and Good Works to do Good and to Communicate Forget not saith the Apostle So they that forget not this Christian duty will find out the Poor's part in the Corners and Gleanings of the Profits of their Trades and Merchandizings as well as the old Israelite did the Corners and Gleanings of his Field and in the distribution of it will have a regard to comfort the Bowels of such who are by the Divine Providence of God put out of a capacity of Injoying those outward Comforts of Health and Strength and Plenty which others do injoy for while they are partakers of the same Faith and walks in the way of Righteousness with you submitting themselves patiently to the dispensation of Gods providence towards them they are of your Houshold and under your care both to visit and to relieve as Members of one Body of which Christ Jesus is Head and he that giveth to such Poor lendeth to the Lord and he will repay it But there is another sort of Poor who make themselves poor through their sloth and carelesness and sometimes by their wilfulness being heady and high-minded and taking things in hand that are more than they can manage and make a flourish for a season and then through their own neglects are plunged down into great Poverty these are a sort the Primitive Churches began to be troubled withal in the early days of the Gospel for the Apostle took notice of some that would not work at all and sharply reproved them and said They that would not work should not eat and these are commonly a sort of Busie-bodies and meddlers with others matters while they neglect their own and runs into a worse way than the Unbelievers while they profess to be Believers yet do not take a due care for those of their own Houshold The Charity that is proper to such is to give them Admonition and Reproof and to Convince them of their Sloth and Neglience and if they submit to your Reproof and are willing to amend then care ought to be taken to help them into a way and means to support themselves and sometimes by a little help in this kind some have been reclaimed from the Snares of their Soul's Enemy But if they will not receive your wholsom Counsel and Admonitions but kick against it either in their Words or Actions Friends will be