Selected quad for the lemma: sin_n

Word A Word B Word C Word D Occurrence Frequency Band MI MI Band Prominent
sin_n holy_a power_n remit_v 3,131 5 10.5945 5 false
View all documents for the selected quad

Text snippets containing the quad

ID Title Author Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) STC Words Pages
A70099 An exact enqviry after ancient truths, both in scripture and fathers touching the subsistence of the Church of God, digested into three parts : viz. I. True worship. II. Dominion, or divine jurisdiction. III. Discipline, reduced from our father Adams time, through all ages, to these present times ... / by W. Fenwick ... Fenwick, William, 1616 or 17-ca. 1682. 1643 (1643) Wing F724; ESTC R21240 51,760 74

There are 3 snippets containing the selected quad. | View lemmatised text

he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men As Ephes 4 11. he gave some to be Apostles some Prophets some Evangelists and some Pastours and Teachers In this place of Scripture he onely setteth forth the principall functions in the Church whereof the first paire as namely Apostles and Evangelists were of immediate calling and appropriated to the time ordained by Christ onely for the propagation and first progression of the Gospell the gifts of prophecie and working of miracles attending the confirmation of their doctrine As the necessitie of those times required and as Christ had promised Marke 16. 17 18. And these signes shall follow them that beleeve in my Name they shall cast out devils they shall speake with new tongues they shall take up Serpents and if they drink any deadly poyson it shall not hurt them they shall lay their hands on the sicke and they shall recover The second paire are Pastors and Teachers distinguished by their ordination for these were ordained internally by the outward dispensation of hearing the Word preached by the Apostles then externally chosen by the Church as Acts the sixth after consecrated by the Apostles by prayer and laying on of hands of the Apostles and Elders Acts 14. 23. This order of ministers is ordinarie and to continue in the Church unto the comming of our Lord to Judgement Both these paires are but one and the same function and office and have but one and the same Commission which was given by the immediate ordination of Christ to his Apostles For as God the Father sent his beloved Sonne to bee a light unto the Gentiles and the glory of his people Israel in declaring unto them the glad tydings of salvation in his death unto the remission of sinnes So Christ sayd to his Disciples As my Father sent me so send I you John 20. 21 22. The power and authority committed unto them by this commission is the breath of life out of the mouth of Christ proceeding from the Father and the Sonne as it is said Man lives not by bread onely but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God Therefore he breathed on them and said Receive ye the holy Ghost For the word which Christ spake or breathed out of his mouth hee affirmed to be spirit and life saying John 6. The flesh profiteth nothing but the word that I speake is spirit and life The substance of this Commission is mandatory Matt. 28. 19. Goe teach all Nations baptizing them in the name of the Father of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost The doctrinall part of their commission is teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you and Marke 26. 15. hath it in these words Preach the Gospell to every creature Now the summe of the doctrine which Christ taught is set downe more plainly by St. Luke 24. 44. These are the words that I spake unto you whilst I was yet with you that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law and the Prophets and in the Psalmes concerning mee And he who was spirit life and light opened their understandings that they might understand the Scriptures and said Thus it is written and thus it behoved Christ to suffer and rise from the dead the third day And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his Name among all Nations beginning at Ierusalem And after this manner doe the Pastors and Ministers blesse teach and sanctifie the people Thus Christ by preaching and teaching unto them the word of God out of his mouth he opened their understandings in the Scriptures and thereby they received the holy Ghost for this is Christs manner of breathing upon them Iohn 20. when hee said receive yee the holy Ghost But in Luke he saith Behold I send the promise of my Father upon you Which is to say I will send a visible token of the Spirit upon you or the efficacie of the Spirit upon you Therefore he sayd Tarry yee in the Citie of Ierusalem untill you bee endued with power from on high Not but that they had received the holy Ghost before but not the manifestation and evident power thereof as afterwards it did fall upon them in the similitude of fiery cloven tongues Acts 2. The fruites and operative effects of ministration of the Spirit is set forth Iohn 2. 23. Whose soever sinnes ye remit they are remitted unto them and whose soever sinnes ye retaine they are retained For this is the power and efficacie of the ministeriall Word as hath beene formerly showne which floweth from the absolute power of Christ which was given unto him of the Father as he affirmed to his Disciples Matt. 28. 18. All power is given me in heaven and in Earth And this ministration of the Gospell is that key of David committed unto Christ by which he should open and no man shut and should shut and no man should open And in the 16. of Matthew 16 17. 18. ver. it is evident that this power of the keyes is onely the power of the Gospell of Christ or rather as Peter confessed the Lord Jesus to bee that Christ that Sonne of the living God which he received not by the intelligence of flesh and blood but by Revelation from God the Father this power changeth the whole corrupt nature of man and gives him another denomination or qualitie making him a strong and immoveable rock turning Peter to Petra Thus after this manner is the revelation and power of the Word given in generall to every one that receiveth the knowledge of Christ to beleeve that he is that Christ that Sonne of the living God God himselfe against this rocke the gates of hell the powers and principalities of darknesse and worldly Governours cannot prevaile But the particular and publicke ministration thereof is committed to the Pastors and teachers of the Church of God by whose ministration and publicke dispensation of the Word the hearts and consciences of men are opened and shut bound and loosed every day as Lydia and others in the Acts in which the Word becomes the savour of life unto some and the savour of death unto others And this ministeriall power is also given unto them for divine censure and publicke correction to roote out abominable and unsufferable vices in the Church and Congregations as shall be shewed in his proper place Of the nominations under the Law and under the Gospell Under the Law it is undeniable that the Ministers and Governours of the Church were called Priests Levites and Elders Also in the Christian Church leaving out the extraordinary functions of Apostles and Evangelists they are called Pastors Teachers Helpers and Governours As these rankes are expressed in the 1 Cor. 12. 28. Of helpers wee reade they were added to the Christian Church in the sixth of the Acts whose office seemes to be in the place of the Levites as they are called Deacons And
free spirit and cleere judgement not inthralled with prejudicate opinions nor darkned with the more then Egyptian mists of Rome they might here behold the virgin puritie of the Church of God both in her Worship Jurisdiction Doctrine Government and Discipline to have beene from the beginning of the world one and the same Thus have I adventured to present unto the eyes of men the true face of the Christian Church shining in her spirituall Iustre and Christ Jesus our Lord raigning and ruling over the soules and consciences of man not intrenching upon the temporall power of Kings and Princes Now the Lord give unto us understanding in all things and with the holy Apostle Paul I will bow the knees of my soule unto the Father of my Lord Jesus Christ of whom is named the whole Family in heaven and in earth that he may grant us according to the riches of his glory that wee may be strengthened by his Spirit in the inner man that Christ may dwell in our hearts by Faith that wee being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height and to know the love of Christ which passeth all knowledge that we may be filled with all fulnesse of God Unto him therefore that is able to doe exceeding abundantly above all that we can aske or thinke according to the power that worketh in us be praise in the Church by Jesus Christ thorough all Generations for ever Amen Eph. 3. 14. Soli Deo Gloria FINIS Prov. 1. 8. Iohn 18. 26. Math. 20. 25. Col. 1. 26. 27. Col 1. 15. 16. 18. 19. 1 Chro. 12. 12. Ephes 4. 7 8. Ephes 4. 11. The subsistence of Gods Church threefold The nature of God is the rule of divine worship 1 Sam 5. 22. Ephes. 3. 10. Rom. 12 1. The law required a bloudy sacrifice the Gospell a contrite heart A Caveat The domesticall Church 1 King Prophet 2. Gen 2. Ioh. 16. Priest V●●●… 1. The primitive worship Circumcision The nationall Church Passeover The word first ministred by God himself to Adam in the Garden then by Adam Seth Enoch Noah then by Moses Aaron and by the Prophets The publike worship under the law Acts 1. 13. 14. They avoyded Rites and Ceremonies as burdens not lawfull to be layd on the people of God Iustinus Martyr Apolo 2. about the yeare 130. Tertullian The faigned and false originall of the Masse Platina To tie the Ministers people of God to set uniform prayers is to incarcerate the Spirit of God In the whole time of the primitive Church we find no other uniform prayer save the Lords prayer used in administration of the Sacrament Why God used no sacramentall signes Why God shortned the dayes of mans life The reason why the second age was clogged with Ceremonies Why Christ did institute no new worship but approved and practised the old 1 Cor. 2. Why man studies to invent new worship The first in-let of set prayers compiled into a Service-book Mans invention in the worship of God is of dangerous consequence to the Church Eph. 4. 4. Rom. 12. 1. Iam. 1. 17. Colos. 1. 15. Dan. 7. 13. The kindome of God is threefold Providence Grace Glory * God the anointed man Of God the only proper Saviour Iesus God by his Incarnation hath united himselfe to his creatures and supporteth and preserveth all things by his mighty power The word of God is the patterne and rule of all goodlawes Dominion was by God given first to Adam the first-borne of man Gen. 1. 28. This Dominion lost by the sons of Adam Then to be conferred upon Christ the Son of God and man Restored in Christ to man Dan. 2. 21. A digression Civill government is to cut sin by the middle but supernaturall is to pull it up by the rootes The Church of God is the soule of a good Common-wealth and as a sensitive soule is bestial without the rational so is a body politique without the Church bestiall and tyrannicall 2 Psal. The Trinitie a true patterne to a Christian King Prov. 34. When God withdrawes the love of subjects Ioh. 18. 26. Math. 20. 25 26. As the Scriptures were first given so are they to be interpreted by inspiration A way to know the interpretation to be of the holy Ghost The Papist confesseth Christ in name but denieth his power in the flesh in that they say his death is not sufficient for actuall sins thence are pennance pardons satisfactions Purgatory The Church of God considerable in a twofold aspect Ioh. 16. 15 16. The first ordination of the ministration of the Word Pastors ought before their admission to be well known to the Congregations where they are to reside The Priest Numb. 3. 10. The Levite The Elder Apostles and Evangelists Pastors and Teachers Their Commission The Authority committed The substance of the Commission Blessing them The doctrinall part of it Helpers in government Governours The good effects of this government in the primitive times Elders derived Episcopus unde quid sit The office of a Bishop delineated by Scripture The primitive government twofold The Pastors function Pet. 1. 5. 1 2 3. 2 Tim. 4. 2. Matt. 20. 25 26 27 28. * With those that are drunk with the desire and coveting of power and riches The Deacons office The office of Elders Ambrosius * Thus the Church is incorporated in the Common-wealth the Common-weale in the Church A cleare difference and remarkeable distinction betwixt Elders of the Church and Common-wealth 1 Tim. 5. 17. The necessity of Church Elders Rules of private admonition Another duty of Pastors and Elders Bishop our superintendent Verse 23. The Apostles practise is the best of patterns Ordination * Or superintendour Die Ecclesie non Episcopo non Pastori tantum The private admonition by Elders The Assembly or Synod of Presbyteries within a shire or Wapontake The generall Synode
him debarred from the holy Communion of the Supper of the Lord and continue him upon the stoole of repentance with much exhortation patience and long forbearing till they convince him or otherwise separate him from the Congregation for a time if after hee continue in his foulenesse of sinne then hee is againe called to the Congregation and admonished which if then it take no effect her is excommunicated by laying on of the hands of all the Elders after that hee is accounted as an enemie or as Paul saith Anathema to the Church and wholly and finally given over to Satan according to the words of our Saviour the 18. Matth. 18. Whomsoever yee bind on earth shall bee bound in heaven and whom yee shall loose on earth shall bee loosed in heaven Judge I pray you if all the politicke wits in the world could ever have devised such a pure and subtile discipline as should spie into the inward secrets of the thoughts and intentions of the heart and should purge the conscience and should cut off the consuming cankers and rotten members from the body of the Church What Romish Apothecary could ever have composed such a soule-saving medicine Observe how the holy Spirit hath commanded this discipline to bee alwayes practized in the Church When Achans covetousnesse troubled the Congregation by moving Gods wrath against them a diligent search was commanded to bee made and being found out Achan and his house were cut off Josh. 7. And also if there bee a scorner or contentious person saith Solomon cast out the scorner and so strife will goe out and so contention shall cease Also Rom. 16. 17. 18. Now saith Paul I beseech you brethren marke them diligently which cause division and offences contrary to the doctrine which yee have learned and avoid them And more plainly in the 2 Thess. 36. 10. Wee command you brethren in the Name of Christ that yee withdraw your selves from every brother that walkes inordinately and not after the instructions which yee received of us And in the foureteenth verse he saith If any man obey not your saying note him by a letter and have no company with him that hee may bee ashamed yet account him not as an enemy but admonish him as a brother But if he come to the last degree Excommunion then saith our Lord Christ let him be anathema But if you would see the Apostles practice in this discipline See 1 Cor. 5. chap. 4 and 5. verses Paul having certaine intelligence that there was odious fornication among them hee writ thus unto them When yee are gathered together and my spirit in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ that such a one I say by the power of our Lord Jesus Christ bee delivered unto Sathan for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit may bee saved in the day of the Lord Jesus And out of this text make a profitable observation that Paul will not have Excommunication though but in the second degree executed in any private manner but by the publicke assembly gathered together neither doth hee allow it to be done in any name but in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ Neither doth hee attribute the power either to himselfe or the Church but onely to the Lord Jesus Now and lastly I must conclude with the last part of Discipline that is Synodicall assemblies which are of three degrees The first is particular to every Congregation which consists of the Pastors the Deacons and the Elders of that Church whose customes is the best reformed Churches to meet once a weeke or as need requires to take an account of all things that concerne the duties of the Elders and the Church-revenues the Pastor being their chiefe guide Those things about which they chiefly busie themselves are first to catalogue the Professors of their Congregation their Catechuminists distinguished from those that are thought fit to be admitted to the Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ their Baptized their penitents their Excommunicates their number of Elders and Deacons Pastors and Teachers one or two as the place requires In this their assembly they consider the spirituall estate and condition of the flocke examine the revenues of the Church and the necessities of the poore and what things soever they find meet to edification The Pastor exhorting the Elders to diligence care and zeale in the worke of the Lord the Deacons to honesty compasson and a good conscience The second order of Synodes is in the reformed Churches called the assemblies of the Presbyteries held monethly or quarterly under which they comprehend the Pastors and Church Elders for every Pastor brings with him two or three Elders after the quantity of the Congregation and this Synode is a company of Pastors and Elders of a shire or wapontake In these Assemblies they examine the spirituall condition of every parish take view of their order diligence doctrine and manners as well the doctrine and manners of the Pastors and Elders as of the younger people And there they proceed to such further order and censure as by the holy Scriptures they are taught And in these Synodes all errours in opinion heresies and Schismes that are found noysome to the Congregation are reproved and the parties exhorted and admonished In these their Synodes they alwayes from time to time choose one President to guide the affaires and thus they avoyd that preheminence which Episcopacie greedily hunts after The third degree is the superlative assembly of Presbyteries which is either Nationall or Provinciall which in some Churches are held yearely or otherwise as occasions fit over which the prince and Soveraigne is the Principall Elder and the Presbyters and Elders appoint one Pastor for the time President of the assembly who moderates and guides the affaires The matters handled in this Synode are a generall review of both the former Synods and specially to take care of the preservation of the puritie of Doctrine and suppressing of Heretickes and errours and all misdemeanours and Schismes in the Church And whatsoever is done in any of these Synods is certified from one to another and through the Nationall Church of all their most materiall censures which may concerne them in generall wherby the Church is preserved in a sweet and pleasant decorum unitie puritie and peace The unerrable patterne of these Synods is taken from the practise of the Apostles Acts 15. shewing by what rules of temperance and wisedome they ought to judge and give sentence taking the Scripture for their rule the holy Ghost for their guide not laying any burden on the Church by Lawes Decrees or Canons as I have before spoken And this Divine rule and patterne was kept and observed throughout all the Primitive times till the great Councell of Nice as by the Chronography of Socrates scholast. may be observed yet the earthly glory of Babel hath so long dazeled the eyes of most men that they call the truth novelty But if men were of a