Selected quad for the lemma: soul_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
soul_n	body_n	chapter_n	verse_n	9,803	5	9.7759	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A46968	The true mother church, or, A short practical discourse upon Acts II, concerning the first church at Jerusalem	Johnson, Samuel, 1649-1703.; Johnson, Samuel, 1649-1703. Second five year's struggle against popery and tyranny.	1688 (1688)	Wing J847; ESTC R39039	9,628	23

Imprimatur Hic Libellus cui Titulus The True Mother Church Nov. 15. 1687. Io. Battely The TRUE Mother Church Or a Short Practical Discourse upon ACTS II. Concerning the FIRST CHURCH AT JERUSALEM LONDON Printed for Brabazon Aylmer at the Three Pigeons against the Royal Exchange in Cornhill 1688. Price Two Pence THE True Mother Church Or a Short PRACTICAL DISCOURSE UPON ACTS II. c. Acts 2. 41 42. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls And they continued stedfastly in the Apostle's doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayers IN this Chapter we have an account how the first Christian Church was gathered The former part of the Chapter is spent in relating to us the miraculous descent of the Holy Ghost which filled the Apostles and enabled them to speak with other Tongues And the first use which the Apostles made of these Languages wherewith they were so strangely endued was to publish the Gospel that mixt multitude which consisted of a confluence of Strangers from all Parts did every man hear them speak in their own Native Language the wonderfull works of God. And upon this occasion St. Peter made such an effectual Discourse proving that Jesus was both Lord and Christ and exhorting them to repent and be baptized in the name of Iesus that it won three thousand Souls to the Christian Religion This great Body of men added to the Disciples made the first Church at Ierusalem And accordingly the first mention of a Church actually in being is after the account given of these new Converts in the last verse of this Chapter And the Lord added daily to the Church such as should be saved In the words I have chosen we have these two things I. We have an account how these men came to be Christians and the means of their Conversion Then they that gladly received his word were baptized II We have an account of their Religious Assemblies and the way of Worship used in this First and most Primitive Church And they continued stedfastly in the Apostle's doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayers I. First How these men came to be Christians and the means of their Conversion Then they that gladly received his word were baptized They were wrought upon by St. Peter's Sermon they were convinced by his Discourse that Jesus whom they had crucified was the Messias and therefore according to St. Peter's direction they resolve to oppose him no longer but to cast themselves down at his feet and to own him for their Lord and Master by undertaking the Profession of his Religion Now if we observe the Heads of St. Peter's Discourse whereby he thus convinced them we shall find that he brings his Arguments either from the Miracles which our Saviour wrought which are a proof to all Mankind or from the Prophecies of the Old Testament which were an acknowledged Principle among the Jews 1. The Miracles which our Saviour wrought which were so many Divine Testimonies to the Truth of what he delivered Every true Miracle is a Testimonial from Heaven it is God's Seal to warrant our belief in that Person who is furnisht with such an extraordinary power It is an assurance to the minds of men that a Person is sent by God when he does those things which never man did as the People said of our Saviour and God does plainly own and approve that Doctrine which such a one delivers because he employs his own Almighty Power to gain credit and belief to that Person By a Miracle I mean whatsoever is above or contrary to the course of Nature and exceeds the power of it For that must needs be done by a Superior Power and cannot be attributed to any other than the God of Nature Now to say That we cannot know a Miracle when we see it because we cannot tell how far the power of Nature reaches how far natural Causes can act and no farther is a very poor and weak Objection For though we cannot assign the just bounds and limits of natural Causes how far they can act and no farther though we cannot just describe the sphere of their activity and draw a line about it yet we can tell what is out of the sphere of their activity and clearly see when an Effect does far surpass the virtue and efficacy of the natural Cause As for instance I know not how far the power of natural Causes may go to fetch a man who in all appearance is dead to life again There may be rare Spirits and Elixirs of greater virtue than I know of in this kind But I know that Talitha kumi the words that our Saviour used to the dead Maid are none of those Preparations and Restoratives we speak of I see there is no proportion at all betwixt the Means and the End betwixt the Cause and the Effect To say Lazarus come forth will not raise a man who has been dead four days and is turning to corruption That is such a Sleep out of which men cannot be awakened with a call There may be natural Causes for ought any man knows sufficient to stop the course of the Sun But it is demonstrable that the Voice of a Man can be none of those Causes Sun stand thou still in Gibeah is a very weak and incompetent means to produce such a mighty Effect This is a way of working peculiar to God alone to say Let there be light and there was light So that these are true Miracles they cannot possibly be put upon the score of Natural Causes Now our Saviour wrought a great many of these in his life time as St. Peter puts them in mind verse 22. That he was a man approved of God by miracles wonders and signs which God did by him in the midst of them But then his own Resurrection was clearly the finger of God. For when a man dies whatever strange power or skill he may be imagined to have they then leave him and it is impossible that he should contribute any thing towards his rising and coming to life again And this St. Peter insists upon in the 32d verse This Iesus hath God raised up whereof we are all witnesses This they were ready to justify and did afterwards with their Bloud 2. His other Arguments are plain Inferences and Deductions from several Passages of David which he undeniably proves cannot be meant of David himself though he spake them in his own person but that they were clear Predictions of Christ's Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven As you may see in the rest of his Discourse So that these men did not embrace Christianity but upon good grounds they were driven out of their unbelief by force of Argument and brought to the acknowledgment of the Messiah by clear and evident Proofs And then they readily closed with St. Peter's offer to repent and be baptized for the remission