Selected quad for the lemma: heaven_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
heaven_n	holy_a	let_v	lord_n	5,231	5	3.9620	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A52054	A sermon preached to the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor, and Court of Aldermen of the city of London, at their anniversary meeting on Easter Monday April 1652, at the Spittle wherein the unity of the saints with Christ, the head, and especially with the church, the body, with the duties thence arising, are endeavoured to be cleared : tending to heale our rents and divisions / by Stephen Marshal ...	Marshall, Stephen, 1594?-1655.	1653 (1653)	Wing M782; ESTC R206697	37,461	44

Congregations slow from this Church to the rest or whether any wayes at all it may doe any judicial or judiciary act is a most noble question and much disputed amongst learned Divines especially in our latter age my haste doth not allow me to meddle with that controversie only thus much I may safely assert 1 That all the Officers Offices and gifts that Christ gave when he ascended up into heaven he gave them all to this Church and they all serve for the gathering edifying and perfecting of this Church 2 And as any ever were or are converted to Christ from the world they are all primarily added to this Church 3 Yea and all whether particular Christians or numbers of Christians associated all are to act as parts of this Church and consequently in reference to the good of this whole Church all having such relation to and dependance upon this Church as parts have to the whole and a standing in a particular Church-relation doth no more take off from duties to this great body which is the great Common-wealth then the Jewes being ranked under their several Tribes or in their particular Cities were taken off from the duties which they owed to the whole Common-wealth of Israel c. that therefore he who is justly clave non errante excommunicated or cast out of any particular Church is cast out from all Churches as he who is shut out of any one Gate of a City is shut out of every ward of that City yea out of the whole City it selfe Having thus farre cleared the Doctrinall part I now proceed to the application of it and there are many excellent uses which this Lesson doth afford I shal handle only two at this time 1. for instruction 2. For duty First for instruction from all this it appeares that to be a Member of the Church of Christ or the Association of all Gods people into this one body is the only desirable good Fellowship and Society in this world You shal read of a great many other Fellowships and Co-partnerships you may read in the first of the Proverbs of a fellowship of Theeves in Isa. 56. of a company of Drunkards in Psal. 2. of a Society of Malignants and abundance of several companies and societies of men there are some joyned for pleasure some for profit and many glory and take great content in the society and fellowship and fruit they enjoy in those whom they are linked with but ah beloved when things are rightly viewed it will appeare that the Congregation or the Society of the Church of the first borne whose names are written in Heaven wherein all the Saints of God from the beginning of the world to the end of it are all joyned in one body all of them united to Christ and one to another having the same Spirit the same Lord the same hope all of them one in all these seven things which I have opened to you it will I say one day appeare this is the only desirable society under Heaven Let them therefore who are men of other societies glory as much as they please in their supposed good Fellowship when in the meane time they are strangers from the Common-wealth of Israel But let us count our selves happy that we have a part and lot in this communion wherein we have Fellowship not only one with another but with the Father and his Sonne Jesus Christ Secondly it hence also followes for our instruction That none in all the world are or ought to be judged Members of the Church of Christ but only those that have the Spirit of Jesus Christ in them really regenerate really holy really united to Christ the Head these and no other are Members of the Church which is Christs Body which is a Lesson of very great use You all know there is at this day much disputing about what things are requisite to make men Church-members some very learned men maintain That to make a man admittable into Christs Church or to make him a Church-member no more is in the Scripture required but only that he give up his name and professe that he is willing to learne the wayes of Christ and to walke in them the Church of Christ being say they appointed as a Schoole to traine Schollars up into which are admitted not only those that are Learned but those who are willing to learne Others say That is too laxe if you wil own a man as a Church-member he must be able to give you an account of his faith and a promise of a voluntary subjection to the Gospel of Christ for time to come and if they come to that then you may take them in and owne them as Church-members Others say You must yet goe further unlesse you can in the judgement of your owne charity conceive that the worke of Grace is really wrought in their hearts you are not to owne them or joyne with them if you can probably hope that then you may take them in Others will goe yet further and say These things are not sufficient for unlesse there be a right admission by Baptisme when you make your first confession all the rest is in vaine and upon these points we dispute till we have disputed our selves into a thousand peeces Now Brethren be pleased to know that though there be good use of these debates to direct us to know the persons with whom we may exercise the acts of communion in the wayes and worship of Christ yet none of all these rise up to prove a man to be a Member of the Church of Jesus Christ there are indeed signes and rules that may teach us with whom we may joyne in visible and external Fellowship and whom we may reject or cast out if they be taken in but these are not rules to make us know who are reall Members of the Church of Christ indeed as the Church is denominated from some external things these rules direct us to judge with whom and to whom we may communicate in those external things but these are clearly two Distinct questions with whom we may joyne in visible and externall communion and who are truly Members of this Church of Christ Of the latter there is but one note and that is if they be united to Christ the Head have the quickning Spirit of Christ in them and the grace of Love wrought in them which note is invisible and not external and can be knowne only in our owne Consciences if this be wanting let men carry themselves never so wel so that all the people of Christ under heaven should owne them yet Jesus Christ ownes them not and you may truly say that all they who have not communion with God the Father and the Lord Jesus and his holy Spirit have no reall communion with the Saints therefore let no man rest or pride himselfe in being joyned in this or that Church-fellowship a carnal or unconverted man whatsoever his outward shape