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	militant_a	triumphant_a	2,791	5	11.4510	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A87871	A discourse of praying with the spirit, and with the understanding. Where of extemporary premeditate set forms of prayer. Preached in two sermons at Hillsborough anno 1659. By Henry Leslie (maugre all antichristian opposition) Bishop of Down and Conner. And now published for the redresse of the great abuse of prayer in that diocesse, whereof he had, and ought to have a charge. Whereunto is annexed a letter of Jer. Taylor, D.D. concerning the same subject.	Leslie, Henry, 1580-1661.; Taylor, Jeremy, 1613-1667.	1660 (1660)	Wing L1162; Thomason E1041_4; ESTC R207928	28,259	45

Sine indecore non potest Seneca as wise a man as he said nihil ordinatum est quod praecipitatur properat There can be no order in sudden conceptions Since therefore it is undecent unorderly let it be consider'd how such persons can observe the precept of the Apostle let all things in the church be done decently and in order If it be asked by any man whether it be unfit to use in private forms of our own composing I answer it may be very fit but this is because this rule of the Apostle which wholly relates to the publick is not a provision for the private for decency is a relative term so is order in private we may deliberate upon our knees but in publick we cannot although we must neither in publick nor in private speak hastily rashly or without sufficient deliberation yet we may do that in private which in publick we may not there we are only to avoid rashness hastiness but in publick we must take care of order also of decency of edification of others all which by extempore prayers cannot be well provided for but my Lord I forget the purpose of my letter which is to pay to your Lordship that just acknowledgment of your care of the Churches good the instruction of souls which you have expressed in this material plain easy religious discourse which I pray God may prove as profitable as it is rational as useful as it is pious My Lord I am Your Lordships most affectionate Brother and Servant J. T. I COR. XIV.XV. What is it then I will pray with the Spirit and will pray with the understanding also THis Text is much abused in this age to justifie praying ex tempore whereby they have destroyed the right use of Prayer and indeed have left us nothing which can truely and properly be called the publick worship of God And it is the highest pitch of sacriledg to make the Scripture it self patronize impiety which we are all bound to oppose and to contend for our most holy faith against them who now under pretence of the Spirit do but cheat you out of your Religion Therefore knowing that I must shortly lay down this my earthly Tabernacle and that I am not like to speak again in publick I desire now to discharge my Conscience as touching that practise and to undeceive the World if it be possible or at least to vindicate this text from being guilty of such prophanation of prayer by shewing the true sense and meaning of it which by the help of God I shall make appear clearly out of the context it self which is the surest way of expounding Scripture And first I desire you to look into the scope and drift of the Apostle who throughout this whole Chapter speaketh of spirituall gifts shewing that all of them are to be referred unto edification as to the right and proper end and therefore he preferreth prophecying or the gift of expounding Scripture before the gift of speaking with tongues because it tendeth more to the edification of the Church ver 3 4 5. And upon the same ground he preferreth prayer in a language that is understood before prayer in an unknown tongue for saith he in the words going before my text If I pray in an unknown tongue my Spirit prayeth that is my minde inspired with that gift doth its part but my understanding is unfruitfull because I do not profit others and so in the words which I have read he resolves what is to be done What is it then that is what is then to be done and he makes answer I will pray with the Spirit and will pray with understanding also Where he expresseth what is to be done by his own resolution which he propounds as a direction for others For when he saith I will pray with the Spirit it is as much as if he had said and I would have you to pray with the Spirit but to pray with understanding also In the words we have two things to consider 1. the duty to be performed is to pray I will pray 2. The manner how it is to be performed exprest in two things first with the Spirit I will pray with the Spirit and then With the understanding also The duty is to pray whereby we are to understand the whole worship of God by invocation I cannot better define what prayer is then the School-men have done in few words calling it desiderium piae mentis ad Deum the unfolding of the desires of an holy mind unto God The Apostle 1. Tim. 2.1 brancheth it into four parts supplications prayers intercessions and giving of thanks 1. Supplication or deprecation for the averting of evil all evill both of sin and of punishment and so it relates to the confession of sin and presupposeth an humble acknowledgment of our offences and of that miserable estate wherein we stand by reason of sin 2. Prayers are the petitions which we make for the good which we want even for all things necessary as well for the body as for the soul for this life as for that better life which is to come 3. Intercessions are the prayers which we put up in behalf of others 4. Giving of thanks when we praise God for his mercies and benefits conceived these four make up a compleat Office of prayer And the Apostle in that place will have Timothy and the rest of the Bishops within his Province to keep a constant publick Office of devotion consisting of these four and so they did for St. Chrisostome tells us that all these were used in the Church in his time and long before And so it appeareth by the Antient Greek Liturgies yet extant Thus you see what it is to pray This is the first and chiefest of all duties The Apostle doth challenge a priority unto it saying I exhort that first of all Supplications and prayers be made he will have that done first of all because it is the first and chiefest for dignity for we honour God by prayer more then we can any other way acknowledging him to be the knower of our hearts the giver of all good and so the stay of our faith and hope in whom only we do trust and we are highly honored for by prayer we have commerce and conference with God we enter into acquaintance and familiarity with him and even walk with God as Enoch did prayer is the first thing wherewith a godly life beginneth and the last thing wherewith it doth end The Saints and Angels in Heaven continually pray and praise God singing Hallelujahs unto God and to the lamb that sitteth on the throne and therefore seeing it is a work common to the Church triumphant as well as militant common to Men with Angels we may well reckon so much of our time as is spent in this holy exercise to be Celestial and Divine And as prayer is the chiefest of all duties for dignity so it is