Selected quad for the lemma: blood_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A51980
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The vanity, mischief and danger of continuing ceremonies in the worship of God humbly proposed to the present convocation / by P.M., a minister of the Church of England.
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P. M.
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1690
(1690)
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Wing M68; ESTC R19138
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38,859
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48
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with slaughter-weapons in their hands were Commanded to begin at the Sanctuary God can provide slaughter-men and slaughter-weapons for us if we will not be merciful to Conscience He shall have judgment without mercy that hath shewed no mercy Jam. 2.13 1 Per. 4 17. Ps 79.2 3 The time is come that judgment must begin at the House of God How terrible hath this been in former times The dead Bodies of thy Servants have they given to be meat to the Fouls of the Heaven the Flesh of thy Saints unto the Beasts of the Earth Their Blood have they shed like Water round about Jerusalem If we would avoid all the Plagues that attend Oppressors and Persecutors of Conscience we must cast away all Impositions and give the best incouragement to them who labour most to maintain the power of Godliness in themselves and others Those who agree with us in all the Substantials of Religion and add no dangerous or destructive Tenet to these Bolde of Persecutior Pag. 20. who are holy sober chaste temperate righteous compassionate and merciful and who no way endeavour to disturb the publick Peace but are vigorous Protestants and resolute opposers of the common enemies of our Religion and Civil Rights they ought especially considering our present circumstances to be so far from being Persecuted and Oppressed as to have all the incouragement and countenance that pious Christians and Loyal Subjects can claim and deserve If you thus support Piety and relieve tender Consciences you shall be blessed and honoured and your flocks shall flourish under your conduct Clergy and People shall be an ornament and strength one to another If you undo the heavy burdens Isa 58.6 and let the oppressed grieved Consciences go free and break every yoke of needless Impositions Then shall your light break forth as the morning 8 11.12 and the glory of the Lord shall be your rere-ward He shall guide you continually and satisfie your Souls And you shall be called the repairers of the breach and restorers of paths to dwell in When you chiefly mind the Glory of God and the good of souls all your enemies shall fall into contempt and God shall bring forth your Righteousness as the light Psa 37.6 notwithstanding all the obloquy cast upon you by evil men Your Enemies shall be like chaff driven away They are but like the small Particles of dust which continually beat upon us and are not felt nor discerned but in the Sun beams Millions of these are continually agitated about us by the Air in motion The most enraged Enemies of our Church are but breathing dust moved by the breath of Life which is but a vapour Jan. 4.14 The whole rabble of Antichristian furies now in combination against us in England Scotland and Ireland are but Gods Prisoners in Chains if he suffer them to rattle their fetters about the ears of the faithful yet they shall never be able wholly to destroy them The gates of Hell shall not prevail against the Church Ma. 16.18 The head of the Church is the Judge of the World he will not suffer his Jail-birds to triumph over his Body I have done with the fourth consideration the manifold mischiefs of these Impositions I have been long wading through them but the grief of innumerable tender consciences under the weight of them hath been longer and very deplorable Length here cannot be avoided these little things have caused so many mischiefs that it is very difficult to speak little of them I shall now proceed to the last consideration and conclude V. The danger that threatens us in the continuance of Ceremonies in the Worship of God It is hoped that they who do not seriously consider the distress of others may be awakened with the black prospect of their own danger We are threatned with a double danger present and future I. Our present danger This may be set forth in three Particulars I. The continuance of these things will bring upon us the contempt and hatred of the People Multitudes in City and Countrey have a Prejudice against us for the late miscarriages of some and the unseasonable stiffness of others for the things that divide and weaken us when it concerns us all to be united as one man against the common Enemy If this temper should prevail we shall be abhorred by all men for exposing the publick happiness to the danger of Ruin only for things of no value and which we acknowledge to be in their own nature Indifferent Bolde Plea for Moderation Pag. 5. It is high high time to leave off insisting on little Punctilio's of Honour we ought duly to weigh our circumstances and the nature of the things we contend about and if our dangers be unmeasurably great and the things we differ about such as will not bear so great a weight as the loss of our Religion and all our Rights we must yield something on either side and that side must be willing to part with most that can do it with greatest ease and most innocence The Dissenters doubt of the Lawfulness of some of our terms of Communion and therefore cannot yield to us but we may with ease and innocence condescend to them in quiting Impositions not appointed by God Small differences must give place to the greater Points Bishop Burnets Exhortation to Peace and Vnion Pag. 11. in which we are at one for all that act otherwise shew clearly that tho they do not think it decent to speak out what they think yet in their hearts they undervalue the Common Interest of the Protestant Religion in which we agree but set a real value upon indifferent matters and are acted by the heats and animosities of a Party to which all other things give place Our Brethren have according to the Act of Indulgence subscribed our Doctrine and thereby are incorporated into the Church of England The People see by this that they agree with us in the Substantials of our Religion and they may account us guilty of Peev ishness and Malice if we continue those little things as terms of Communion which we know they cannot comply with And to do this after our acknowledgements in distress and a promise of coming to a due temper may make them abhor us as Enemies to our Countrey Tho some of our make-bats who do wholly imploy their Talents to widen our differences Bolde Plea for Moderation pag. 6. do pretend to the Church of England I am verily perswaded they are either Real Papists or very mischievous Instruments in Popish hands to effect and bring about the common Ruin of Protestants It cannot be with a good design that at this time of day they are Zealous for things that they know will continue a great division amongst us It is not to be doubted but that the crossness and secret Practices of some Clergy-men and Priest-ridden Gentlemen have obstructed affairs in Parliament hindred the relief of Derry to the loss