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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
sense_n	church_n	invisible_a	visible_a	2,874	5	9.2871	5	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A46900	Three sermons preached the first in Richmond Church, August 17. 1690. on the most happy accession of Their Majesties, King William and Queen Mary to the Crown. The second in Mortlake Chuch in Surrey March 3. 1694. on the death of our late most gracious soveraign lady the Queen, of blessed memory. The third in Mortlake Church, April 16. 1696. being the day of Thanksgiving unto Almighty God, for discovering and disappointing the horrid and barbarous conspiracy to assassinate His most gracious Majesty's royal person: and for delivering this kingdom from an invasion, intended by the French. By Christopher Johnson, M.A. and school-master of Richmond in Surrey. Printed to prevent mistakes concerning the author.	Johnson, Christopher, b. 1657 or 8.	1696 (1696)	Wing J770BA; ESTC R216574	43,561	66

THREE SERMONS PREACHED The First in Richmond Church August 17. 1690. On the Most Happy Accession of Their Majesties KING WILLIAM and QUEEN MARY to the Crown The Second in Mortlake Church in Surrey March 3. 1694. On the Death of Our Late Most Gracious Soveraign Lady the QUEEN of Blessed Memory The Third in Mortlake Church April 16. 1696. Being the Day of Thanksgiving unto Almighty God for Discovering and Disappointing the Horrid and Barbarous Conspiracy to Assassinate His Most Gracious Majesty's Royal Person And for Delivering this Kingdom from an Invasion intended by the French By CHRISTOPHER JOHNSON M. A. and School-master of Richmond in SVRREY Printed to prevent Mistakes concerning the Author LONDON Printed for Samuel Buckley at the Dolphin over against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet 1696. TO THE READER THE Reason of Printing these Sermons is this Mr. Abiel Borfet the late Minister of Richmond in Surrey having written and suffer'd to be dispersed some Scandalous and Ill Notions concerning the Present Most Happy Government for which he is Deprived of his Cure some Persons by Mistake did apprehend the Author of these Sermons being a Clergy-man and living in Richmond to be the said Minister thereof and the Author of those Ill Notions To obviate which and rectifie the Errour and to prevent for the future any the like Misrepresentations of this Author He thought it convenient to make the following Sermons publick ERRATA PAge 11. l. 9. calamnities r. calamities p. 12. l. 2. are the cause r. are often the cause l. 29. in r. on p. 13. l. 24. flames r. a flame p. 14. l. 15. Dioclesian's r. Diocletian's l. 17. almost r. for almost p. 18. l. 1. Nay r. Yea l. 10. a r. the. p. 21. l. 26. the first of r. for p. 22. l. 27. after Faith put l. the last in r. as appears by p. 23. l. 37. born by r. born of p. 25. l. 18. into his place r. unto his place p. 30. l. 7 and 8. r. threatned their total destruction and in part at least wrought it p. 31. l. 17. Her Houshold r. the ways of her Houshold l. 26. which r. as p. 48. l. 1. Proposition r. Particular Where you find rejoice you may read rejoyce And if there be any more Errata's over looked the Reader is desired to Correct them The Deliverance of GOD's Church SERMON I. Preached in Richmond Church in SVRREY August the 17th 1690. On the Happy Accession of their Majesties King William III. and Queen Mary II. to the Crown NUMB. xxiii 23. Surely there is no Enchantment against Jacob neither is there any Divination against Israel AS God hath a Church Triumphant in Heaven pure and undefiled clean from all Sin and free from all Sorrow Glorious without Spot and Joyful without the allay of but one Moments Affliction out of all danger of any Enemy and Eternally blest with Crowns and Palms of Victory So hath he a Church Militant on Earth his Delight and of him greatly Beloved Holy Catholick or Universal full of good Works but yet not perfect some True and though their Lights shine in one sence invisible Members thereof because none knows the Heart of a Man yet these not without Sin though their Errours and Failings are pardonable and shall be forgiven them Others visible Members only and Hypocrites who make a bare outward shew in the World and whose Sins shall not be remitted unto them without the special Grace of Repentance and Amendment whereby a timely Conversion may through the Merits of Christ obtain Salvation But the Church of God on Earth not being perfect is subject to Sufferings Her own Sins arm and make her Enemies powerful against her Her Shame eclipseth her Glory and causeth Sorrows which often exceed her Joys whilst always Fighting she is Victorious but in part by reason of Sin that doth so easily beset her Yet her Infirmities do not annul God's Favours towards her but when the Reins are let loose and Provocations encrease to a great height Divine Justice is concern'd in Vindication of it self to unsheath the Sword and brandish it at least if not strike for the Amendment of those who will be healed and for the Terrour and Astonishment if not present Confusion of obstinate Offenders Neither is Justice alone here but Love and Mercy are Concomitant therewith because the Design of God in the whole is that all may work together for the good of that Mystical Body of which Christ is the Head and therefore it is that when a Lenitive will not Cure he applies a Corrosive Plaister to the Sore For various have been the Methods of the Almighty to keep his People in his Favour and at one with him And not this only but what I am chiefly to insist upon God hath in a most Eminent Manner upon all Occasions appeared in the Cause of his Church for the Preservation thereof against all her Foes in the Patriarchal and Jewish as well as Christian Oeconomy and Government for such we read have been in Ancient time besides what our Fathers have told us and we next after them do now know and hope further to see the Mighty Deliverances of God's People as declare them to be the only Immediate Care of his Watchful and All-seeing Eyes of Providence for whom Omnipotence it self hath and doth stretch forth its Mighty Arm to work Wonders Which great things very much need required to be done all along from the beginning of the World unto this Day for the Salvation of God's Church For in the Infancy thereof when there were only two Adam and Eve to gather together in God's Name to Adore him and perform their Duties of Piety and Religion even then the grand Enemy of Mankind set to work for their Destruction by Hellish Enchantments added unto the subtilty of that Serpent which though not the Devil himself in that form yet at least was possest with and spake by him and so by the Voice and Language of Satan drest up with many Artifices of pleasing words the Temptation became so strong that the Woman soon beguiled thereby caught at the deadly Bait and did eat and gave also unto her Husband and be did eat And then so far even in Paradise it self Satan accomplished his Design and as Fishes that are taken in an evil Net and as Birds that are caught in the Snare so were they both snared in an evil time by that Evil One the Tempter But although our First Parents had the Misfortune to fall from such an high and lofty Sphere of Primitive Purity to which they or their Posterity might never think to ascend again in this World yet was not Satan able to pursue and gain a compleat Victory over them because God in Mercy reinforced them with such strength by virtue of his Promise that the Seed of the Woman should bruise the Serpent's Head according to the Covenant of Grace wherein it was promised that the Messias should come into the World to Redeem

Heaven hath with all Choler and Wrath vomited out of his Mouth whole Floods of Persecutions one rolling incessantly upon the back of another to overwhelm the Church in final Ruin and Destruction And to make the Ocean of her Miseries as it were incomprehensible and beyond thought how have many of the Roman Emperors and greatest Potentates of the Earth added a Red Sea thereto by shedding the Blood of the Saints without end or measure The Primitive Christians felt the smart first and their Fellow-servants have been partakers of their Sufferings frequently unto these Days And those who would come out of Babylon that they might not be partakers of her Sins nor receive of her Plagues have had a restraint put upon them that they should not so that when persecuted in one City or Kingdom they could not enjoy the Priviledge given them by Christ in his Gospel to flee into another Now if we hear Zion bemoaning her self thus over all the Evils and Calamnities brought upon her for all the hurt and havock that the Church of God hath suffer'd from the beginning of the World unto this Day besides what she fears may yet happen and by some diffidence arising thereby she should question whether her Basis or Foundation be so strong that it shall remain perpetually firm for the time to come against the force and fury of her implacable and restless Foes For her Comfort and to resolve her Doubts herein let her know that all her Loss is Gain Those that die for their good Faith go from Warring and Fighting here in the Church Militant unto the Mother Church of all Triumphant in Heaven Those that amidst a World of Miseries below were Faithful unto Death ascend into Regions of Bliss above to receive Crowns of Eternal Life Neither is the number of her Members extenuated or diminished on Earth by their departure from us for the Testimony of Christ according to that common saying Sanguis Martyrum est semen Ecclesiae the bare Letter whereof is That the Blood of Martyrs is the Seed of the Church which the sence and meaning construes thus That the more the Church of God is persecuted the more at last she multiplies Like good Seed cast into good Ground it brings forth Thirty Sixty and an Hundred sold And often not only is the number augmented but their Faith is the more vigorous and active too for Marcet sine adversario virtus sed crescit sub pondere their Faith doth fade and fail and is not so lively and brisk as when quickened by the Power and Trials of the Enemy as Rome when Carthage was destroyed fell to Luxury But under the pressure and weight of Sufferings it gets ground and becomes of a more diffusive Nature and therefore the Exercise and Trials of the Faith of the Best Men are meant of God for good And furthermore the Church is to remember that her Sins are the cause of all her Sorrows without which she would have neither Pain nor Grief nor any Enemy could Molest or Trouble her For it is still with her as it was in the Days of the Judges of Israel And we read in the second Chapter of their Book that the People feared the Lord all the Days of Joshua and all the Days of the Elders that out-lived Joshua and so long it was well with them but afterwards it is said The Children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served Baalim And they forfook the Lord God of their Fathers c. The ill Consequence whereof was this The Anger of the Lord was hot against Israel and he delivered them into the hands of Spoilers that spoiled them and he sold them into the Hands of their Enemies round about So that they could not any longer stand before their Enemies Whithersoever they went out the Hand of the Lord was against them for Evil as the Lord had said and as the Lord had sworn unto them and they were greatly distressed Now Sin was the cause of all this Trouble and so it hath been and will be the Origin and Fountain of all Misery And therefore it is the Duty of the Church and People of God to submit unto his Chastisements without complaint or murmuring because they deserve them and it may be want Correction to make them better And then also we are to bear the Cross patiently as did Christ the Author of our Salvation that so having our share with him in Sufferings we may be partakers of his Glory But yet could not all these Enemies nor all the mighty numbers of them since the World began root out the true Church of God from having a Being in the face of the Earth neither shall they so prevail so long as the Sun and Moon endure but when they have done all they can they shall themselves bear the Punishment They shall reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken Man and be at their Wits-end when the Mischief intended by them to others shall fall on their own Heads And therefore though they should seek to destroy Jacob by Inchantments and Israel by Divination and also to that end should use Pious Frauds and Religious Stratagems against the Church with many fair and specious pretences outwardly build Altars and offer Sacrifices even whole Hecatombs without number on them Though they should present Heaven with never so many Gifts and Dedicate all the Gold of Ophir unto it and pray Night and Day unto God unto Angels and Saints and join thereto never so many Ave Maries unto the Blessed Virgin and Court her with never so many Titles of the greatest Honour and Power in Heaven creating her Queen Regent there with full Authority over her Son to make him do whatsoever she shall command him Yet not all this nor much more that they can do shall any whit prevail Nothing thereof shall serve their turn against that Holy Church they would destroy but she shall stand firm against all the Attempts of her Enemies whatsoever they be though their Folly that is so great be Converted into Fury and their Malice be thereby the deeper yet in their fiercest Rage shall they be weak and like Water spilt on the ground or as the Dust before the Wind so shall the Angel of the Lord scatter them For surely there is no Enchantment against Jacob neither is there any Divination against Israel which introduceth my Second Proposition That the Church hath been and shall be enabled to abide in safety by the Protection and good Providence of God For it is He that keeps her as the Apple of his Eye It is the Eternal God that is her Refuge It is he that beateth down all her Enemies and beareth her on Eagles Wings above them all and brings her unto himself And it is God that maketh his Angels Spirits and his Ministers Flames of Fire in their order to attend on every good Member of his Church and surround them all with Horses and Chariots of