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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	church_n	pillar_n	timothy_n	1,922	5	11.6090	5	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A29122	A sermon ad clerum at the visitation of the deane and chapter there, holden the 19th day of November, anno Dom. 1662 : by the Most Reverend Father in God Acceptus, by Divine Providence Lord Arch-Bishop of York his Grace, Primate of England and Metropolitan / preacht by Thomas Bradley ...	Bradley, Thomas, 1597-1670.	1663 (1663)	Wing B4137; ESTC R36506	23,744	42

Golden Candlestickes are the seven Churches Quest But we have-not yet Examined Why the Churches are set forth unto us under the Name and Notion of Candlestickes Sol. It is certain that in this simile the spirit of God doth allude to that famous Candlesticke which was set up in the Tabernacle of which we Reade Exod. 25.31 From it then we must fetch light to understand what is meant by comparing the Churches to it And herein the Apprehensions of Expositors have been very luxurious in taking hold of variety of particulars from whence to rayse severall Observations not impertinent but especially from these three things First From the Matter and the Mettle whereof they are made Secondly From the Forme of them Thirdly From the Use of them Frist From the Matter and the Mettall of them thus When Christ resembles the Churches by Golden Candlestickes his meaning is That they are Per sanctitatem pura per dona gratias spiritu● sancti pretiosa per sinceritatem solida per bona opera splendentia per morum gravitatem ponderosa per persecutionem probata per obedientiam facilè ductilia per praedicationem verbi sonora By their holinesse they are pure by their Gifts and Graces they are pretious by their sincerity they are solid by their wisedom and gravity they are weighty by the fire of temptation and persecution they are tryed by the Preaching of the word they ring and give a sound by their charity and obedience they are easily drawne forth as Gold out of the Lumpe into Leafe Gold All this From the Matter of them and the Mettle whereof they are made Secondly From the Forme of them It is observed that they are erected they look upward toward Heaven such Candlesticks should the Churches be Erecta per rerum divinarum contemplationem Erecta per spem fidem in Christo ad dextram Dei in coelo sedent Erecta ad lucem celestem recipiendam Erecta ad lucem illam aliis prebendam circumquaque communicandam They must be Candlesticks erected and tending upward by their Contemplation of Divine things and setting their Hearts and Minds on the things that are above erected by Faith and Hope in Christ sitting at the right Hand of the Father erected to receive the Heavenly Light from the Father of Lights and erected that it being set up on high in them might the better and the farther be Communicated to others this from the Forme of the Candlestickes Thirdly From the Use of them and that was touch't in the last to hold forth the Light Men doe not light a Candle to put it under a Bushell but to set up in a Candlesticke that it may give Light to all that are in the House Such a Candlesticke is the Church to hold forth the Light of Truth to all her Children called therefore The Pillar of Truth Timothy 3.15 because as the Pillar holds forth the Kings Proclamation fixt upon it that all that are Concerned in it may take notice of it and he that runneth may Reade it So should the Church hold forth the Truth that it may be visible and audible to all her Children and Members as the Pillar doth the Proclamation the Candlesticke the Light What use is there of the Candlesticke if there be no Candle set up in it Or what use of the Candle except it be lighted that it may burne and shine And that it may doe so there are two things necessary First That it should be fed with a continuall supply of Oyle or other moysture to nourish it and to keep it burning and good reason that they which like Candles consume themselves to give light to others should from others receive that Oyle and nourishment which may keep them burning Secondly 'T is necessary sometimes that they should be Topt or Snufft We Reade Exodus 25.38 that in the Tabernacle where the Golden Candlesticke was there were also Snuffers and Snuffe-dishes What the use of those Snuffers was we all know and what that use of them teacheth and leads to we may imagine sometimes the Candles may burne luxuriously and in that Case 'T is necessary they should be snufft sometimes they may burne but dimly being choakt and darkened with the snuffe it selfe and in that Case 't is fit they should be snufft sometimes there may be a Theefe in the Candle that may waste the Oyle and nourishment of it by conveying it the wrong way and in that Case they may not take it ill if they be snufft The Candlesticks themselves are not so free from Rust and Dust but sometimes they will stand in need of scouring of rubbing and of dressing by Corrections Visitations and wholesome Discipline Nor doe the Lights in them burne so clearly but they had need to be look't too Are we of this society so innocent that we need no inspection or so nocent that we need to feare a Visitation Are we amongst all Societies so absolute so independent that we have no Superintendent or if any who should that be but our Chiefe Priest the Angel of this Church our Diocesan our Metropolitan whose Presbytery we are and to whom we have all Sworne Canonicall Obedience VVho but he our Aaron to fit as a Refiner to purifie the Sonnes of Levy in this Society But we haste to the other Part of the Description of this Wonderfull Person as he is here represented to us Walking in the midst of the seven Golden Candlesticks And this is the last Part of this his Description And what is meant by this his Walking there Saint Bernard tells us Ambulare in medio Candelabrorum quid est nisi Ecclesiis semper adesse eis delectari eas servare erudire protegeri dirigere juvare eis omnibus modis advigilare To walke in the midst of the Golden Candlesticks what is it but to be ever present with the Churches to delight in them to direct them to protect them to instruct them and by all means to Consult their good they are all Comprehended in these foure His Presence with them His Delight in them His Observation of them And his Care for them First He walks in the midst of them with Delight Of Syon he hath said here will I dwell for I have a delight in her and so he walketh in the midst of them as a Man would doe in his Garden for Pleasure and for Recreation Secondly He walks in the midst of them to Preserve them and Protect them where he is in the midst of them within he is as a VVall of Brasse round about them without too Nay As a Wall of Fire Zachary 2.5 not onely to Defend them within but to Consume and burne up all them without which shall presume to attempt to break in upon them and so he walkes in the midst of them as once he did in the midst of the Fiery Furnace for the preservation of the three Children Daniel 3.23 which he did so powerfully that the fire in it had power to

resemble the Angels and for which they are so called is Propter Celeritatem for their readinesse chearfulnesse and swiftnesse in Executing the Commands of Almighty God Angels are represented to us Winged and those Wings not let down and clapt to their sides but raised up expansit and stretched out to shew their readinesse to execute the will of the Heavenly Father they stand in his presence their Eye is upon him they doe but watch for the word of Command and presently they are upon the Wing They doe not goe but runne not runne but fly such should be our readinesse in doing the will of our God we must not runne before we be sent but being sent we must not linger delay nor make excuses we must not Drive heavily in his Service the wheeles of our obedience must be oyled with Chearfulnesse and Alacrity that we may move swiftly in all our Duties and Performances as we dayly Pray so we must dayly Practise That his will may be done on Earth as it is in Heaven and we see how the Angels doe his will with winged Chearfulnesse and Swiftnesse Goe thou and doe likewise The fifth resemblance for which Bishops Pastors and Ministers of the Church are styled Angels is Propter Puritatem for their Holinesse and Purity Angels are pure Creatures so had they need be that stand in the presence of the holy God and are admitted so neer unto him in this respect we must be as the Angels and that upon the same account Moses tells Korah Numb 16.9 That the Lord had taken him neer unto him to doe the service of the Tabernacle Even so we that are the Lords Priests set a part to doe the service of the Tabernacle and to Minister before him in holy things are taken neer unto the Lord And he hath said He will be sanctified in them that come neer him Levit. 10. Oh what a hatefull thing it is to God and Man to see a profane person polluted and besmeared with all manner of impiety impurity and uncleannesse to draw neer to God in holy Services with his polluted Heart polluted Lips polluted Life and polluted Hands to pollute all that he toucheth it is a wonder that in such cases the holy God doth not break out upon them to strike them through with a Thunderbolt or by Fire from Heaven avenge himself upon their presumption as he did upon Nadab and Abihu in the like Case and for the same Sinn Levit. 10. And how hatefull it is to Man we may perceive by that which Ely his Sonns are Charged with in the same Case 1 Sam. 2.17 You make the Lords People to abhorre the Sacrifice of the Lord. Woe be to us if through our profannesse or irreverent handling of holy things we make the Lords People to abhorre the Sacrifice of the Lord take heed we handle holy things in a holy manner that we put off our Shooes when we approach the burning Bush and stand upon holy Ground that we wash our Hands in innocency before we compasse the Altar All the washings and purifyings under the Law did but Typically Teach us how holy we ought to be Our very Garments that we wears reade unto us Lectures of holinesse and purity In the Consecration of Aaron to the Office of the Priesthood among other Religious Ceremonies it was Commanded That the Blood of the Sacrifice should be Sprinkled upon his right Eare and upon the Thumbe of his right Hand and upon the great Toe of his right Foot And what did all this signifie but that the Lords Priests must be Sanctified throughout and from Top to Toe Consecrated as holy unto the Lord. The Motto of the High-Priests Miter was Holinesse to the Lord It should be the Motto of every one of our Hearts our Lips our Lives and all our Service should Proclaime Holinesse to the Lord. We are here styled Angels to shew That we should walk before the Lord even in Angelicall purity and holinesse We should now come to speak of the Person from whom this Epistle is sent But by the way we may not omit the Charge here given to Saint John concerning the things to be signified unto the Church from him and that is To Write them down To the Angel of the Church of Ephesus Write Saint John had been an Authentique Messenger to have delivered Viva voce byword of Mouth a Message from Christ to the Church But Christ doth not think that sufficient but he must Write The Reason was Those things that he there wrote to that Church did concern all other Christian Churches to the worlds end He that hath an Eare must hearken unto them And therefore that they may come to the knowledge of them it was necessary they should be written Secondly Things delivered by word of Mouth and so transmitted from Mouth to Mouth by Tradition are subject to be corrupted misreported to admit of Addition Diminution Alteration there can be no certainty in them but Litera Scripta manet Away then with all your Popish Traditions Anabaptisticall Revelations Fallacious 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vnwritten Verities as they call them when you speak of the Canon whereby we should be directed in matters of Faith and Manners in order to our Eternall salvation God hath better provided for his Church then so By giving us a more sure Word of the Prophets and Apostles and our Lord himself all in Writing unto which we shall doe well to take heed as to the Lights shining in a dark place to guide our Feet in the wayes of truth life and peace We now come to consider of the Person from whom the Epistle is sent Intererit multum Davusne loquatur berusne It adds much to the luster and authority of that which is written to consider from whom it is written And that is here from this wonderfull Person described in the Text by Holding the seven Starrs in his right hand and walking in the midst of the seven Golden Candlesticks As the Prophet Isay once askt the question Isay 63.1 Who is this that commeth from Edom with Garments died red from Bozrah So here Who is this wonderfull Person which here we see walking in the midst of the seven Golden Candlesticks Why It is none other but the Sonne of God the Lord of the Candlesticks and the owner of them the very same which we saw before bolding the seven Starrs in his right hand But hath he no Name Yes But the Spirit thought it more fit to represent him here in a Glorious Vision to set him forth in such a Heavenly Description and Periphrasis as might strike in the Church an awfull reverence of so Divine a Majesty to tremble at his Word and carefully to heed it in the promises the Threatnings the Instructions the Admonitions the Reprehensions and all the severall dispensations of it as the Word of the Mighty God and not of Man the King Chiefe Priest and Prophet of the Church and one that was perpetually in the midst

as Signets of his right Hand as pretious Stones in his Signer Illustrious and Glorious Great is the Honour that he is pleased to put upon them even here in the Church How studious ought we to be of his Honour that hath thus honoured us and of our own too that we carry as becomes us in that high Relation Calling Dignity Name and Place that we beare in Gods right Hand that so we way sit on his right Hand hereafter in whose presence is fulnesse of joy and at whose right hand are pleasures for evermore 3. The advantage that we have of being abundantly illuminated by the light of his countenance at so neer a distance The neerer the Starrs are to the Fountain of Light the stronger must needs be the irradiation from it and their illumination by it Behold we are neer unto the Lord Starrs in his right Hand how strong then must needs be the irradiation from so Glorious a Presence through the beams of his countenance darting upon us In was said of Moses that when he came out of the Mount his Face did shine that the people could not look upon him for the glory of it Behold we are in the Mount with God we are taken neer unto him the Light in us should be so great our Gifts and Graces so illustrious and resplendent that our people should look upon us with dazled Eyes in admiration of our spirituall excellencies while we behold with open face the Glory of the Lord it should be our care and indeavour and will be our happinesse too to be transformed into the same Image from Glory to Glory and that that God which made the light to shine out of darknesse may shine into our Hearts to give the light of the Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ 4. By this expression is intimated the continuall Eye that God hath upon us to observe our carriage and our behaviour in our Callings and in our respective Churches and Charges We cannot be in his right Hand but we must be under his right Eye too and that is as a Flame of fire not so much for the anger as for the perspicacity of it Of all sorts of people and Callings amongst men there are none that he doth more strictly observe or take a more exact account of then he doth of us How punctually and particularly doth he Charge the Angels of these seven Churches in the second and third Chapters of this Book This thou bast for which I commend thee And these and these things I have against thee imagine it every one of us as spoken unto our selves A Day will come when he will deale as punctually with us as he doth here with them In the meane time He knows our Works and fees our Wayes and our Walkings his Flaming and Fiery Eye is upon us Oh what manner of Men ought we to be in all holy conversation and godlinesse How circumspectly ought we to walk How exactly to order all our goings and doings that are under the inspection of so perspicatious so severe an Eye 5. By this Expression is intimated to us The Power that Almighty God hath in his Hand and the liberty that he reserveth unto himself to dispose of these Starre as he pleaseth to hold forth this Hand with the Starrs in it to what part of the world he pleaseth and there to continue it as long as he pleaseth and when he pleaseth to turn his Hand another way even which may he pleaseth with the Starrs in it to give light to them that sit in darknesse and in the shadow of death and to leave the other from whom he took it in the darkness in which at the first he found them Beloved these Starrs doe not shine to any place of the world of the Church by chance No not in particular Churches there is a Providence in the disposing of them In the 16th of the Acts we have a clear evidence of it there were three bright Starrs faine would they have shined in Asia but they received a prohibition from the holy Ghost The holy Ghost forbad them ver 6. Then they assayed to shine into Bithynia but the spirit suffered them not ver 7. The Ruler and Disposer of the Starrs had otherwise determined that they should goe to Macedonia and shine there and there did this Hand hold them forth for a season ver 12. The Starrs must shine where he will have them and as long as he will have them and no longer These seven Churches of Asia are an evidence of this truth at this day Over them did Christ hold forth this Hand with the Starrs in it at this time and a long while after untill he was weary of holding it forth and by reason of their barrennesse and unthankfulnesse their irreligion and Apostasie they gave him just Cause to Complain That all the day long he had stretched out his Arme to an unthankfull and a gain-saying people and then to what purpose should he hold it forth there any longer In his wisedom and justice he turned his Hand from them and held it forth more Westward to the Westerne Churches And since that more Northward to these Parts of the world the Inhabitants of the Island the Inheritance of Japhet amongst whom we are And now by the blessing of God we have enjoy'd the Light under them many years But take heed least for the same sinns for which God turn'd his Hand from Shem to Japhet he again remove his Hand from Japhet to Cham and when he doth so least as upon that remove he left Shem in darknesse so upon this turne he also leave us in that darknesse wherein he found us Beloved there is an Ancient Prophesie Gen. 9.27 God shall perswade Japhet and he shall dwell in the Tents of Shem and Canaan shall be his servant What is meant by Shem there but the Church which was first Planted in those Easterne Parts which were the Habitation of Shem. What is meant by Japhet's dwelling in his Tents but his succeeding of Shem in the Priviledges of the Church by translating the Gospel out of these Easterne Parts of the world into these more Westerly and Northerly Quarters of the world which were the Lot of Japhets Inheritance and in which his Posterity seated themselves and amongst whom we are descended from him by Gomer By vertue of this Promise are we this Day the Church and dwell in the Tents of Shem. But what doe we think of Canaan all this while All this while he hath been a servant But is there not a time when he shall shake off the Yoke of servitude shall all those Parts of America be for ever forgotten shall Light never appear in them Me thinks I see the Day-spring from on high begin to visit them Me thinks I see the Beames of the Morning Sunne begin to breake out upon them in the promulgation of the Gospel in Virginia one of the outward skirts of that mighty Continent And I