Selected quad for the lemma: king_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
king_n	aaron_n	christian_n	priesthood_n	70	3	11.1732	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A17384	A commentary: or, sermons vpon the second chapter of the first epistle of Saint Peter vvherein method, sense, doctrine, and vse, is, with great variety of matter, profitably handled; and sundry heads of diuinity largely discussed. By Nicholas Byfield, late preacher of God's Word at Isle-worth in Middlesex.	Byfield, Nicholas, 1579-1622.; Gouge, William, 1578-1653.	1623 (1623)	STC 4211; ESTC S107078	497,216	958

they are appointed for the good of many Christians and should shew that they remember that they are Kings by deuoting themselues to all possible profitablenes of conuersation Fourthly by their contentation What should they fear or what should discontent them Hath not GOD giuen them a Kingdome and great glory Fiftly by subduing carnall and seruile feares of men Why should Christians fear the faces of great men on earth are they not spirituall Kings themselues and is not the breath in the nostrils of the greatest men on earth why art thou then afraid to come before them c. Priest-hood The fourth thing for which Christians are commended is their Priest-hood which notes the honour of their imploiment in things that concerne God and his seruice Esay 61.6 Reuel 1.6 c. Now the Priest-hood of Christians is a singular priuiledge if wee first either consider the kindes of Priest-hood or secondly the specialties of their calling and imploiment First for the kinde The Priest-hood of Christians is better then the Priest-hood of the Leuites the sonnes of Aaron because it is a royall Priest-hood They are Priests after the order of Melchisedech as Christ himselfe was in which order euery Priest was a King so were none of the sonnes or house of Aaron Secondly and for the specialties of fauour imported in the Priest-hood of Christians diuers prerogatiues are included in it For first the Priest-hood of a Christian imports separation and consecration to God The godly of all the people in the world are the onely people that are deuoted to God and chosen out of all the world as his portion as the Leuites were out of all Israel Secondly it imports neernesse and constancy of communion with God The Priests liued in Gods House and stood alwaies before the Lord dwelt in his presence and did approach neerer to him then all the people else so doe the godly spiritually They onely dwell in his sight and enioy his speciall presence and see the glory of his presence and haue their soules satiated with fatnes arising from the comfort of Gods fauorable presence Ierem. 31.14 Vses Now the consideration of this excellent Priest-hood of Christians should serue first for consolation secondly for instruction and thirdly for great reproofe First it should much comfort godly and carefull Christians to consider how neere God hath placed thē to himself euen in his chamber of presence as it were how meanly soeuer the world doth account of their seruice yet they hence knowe that their Priest-hood is a Royall Priest-hood and the godly imploiments of Religious men are more honourable then the greatest imployments of the greatest Monarchs of the earth withal it may specially comfort feareful Christians against one scruple They sometimes are afraid to goe into Gods presence or they doubt their accesse they are so vnworthy to come before the Lord. Why this word Priest-hood satisfie them For it imports that they are priui-should ledged by their calling to come before God The Priests might enter into the House of the Lord yea they must doe it it was required of them It was a sinne if they did it not and they did not sinne by doing it Secondly the Priest-hood of Christians should put them in minde of diuers duties as First it should work in them a care of knowledge the Priests should preserue knowledge and they should seeke the Law at his mouth A godly Christian should bee able to direct others and hold forth the light of the Word for the profit of others and as dumb Ministers are to be disliked so are dumbe Christians too Secondly it should teach Christians to striue to bee of an harmelesse and inoffensiue disposition The Priests in the Law of God were men without blemish and so should Christians in the Gospel Phil. 2 15. Thirdly wee should hence learne to set the Lord alwaies before vs and to walke before him seeing it is our office to keepe in the Temple and to bee neere the Lord. Fourthly it should compell vpon vs a care of our sacrifice The maine worke of the Priests was to offer sacrifices Now our sacrifices are principally praiers and good works as more at large is shewed on the notes of verse 5. and in these wee must be daily imployed But then we must in all our seruices looke to the rules of Sacrificing which as I said I haue handled at large verse 5. onely for the present remember these few things 1. That their sacrifices are worth nothing without an Altar to sacrifice them on and this Altar is Iesus Christ Heb. 13.10 2. That thou must haue fire to burne the sacrifice on the Altar and this fire is holy affections Marke 9. 3. That in all thy sacrifices thou must keep out leauen now the spirituall leauen that marres thy sacrifices are first malice secondly any notable wickednes thirdly euill opinions fourthly worldly griefe and passions which like leauen sowreth the sacrifice Thus of the second principall vse Vse 3. This may serue for reproofe-of diuers sorts of men as First of the Papist They haue fire but no Altar and therefore cannot sacrifice They haue zeale but not knowledge as was said in the case of the lewes who knew not the righteousnes of Christ. Secondly of the carnall Protestants They haue an Altar in that they professe iustification by Christ but either they haue no sacrifice or no fire The rich among them bring not their sacrifice of almes and all sorts neglect praier and good works or if they doo any seruice to God there is no fire to burn the sacrifice they serue God without zeal and holy affections Thirdly hypocrites are heer rebuked They bring for matter the right sacrifices sometimes and they haue fire too but it is strange fire many times they haue zeal but it is rash and vnwarranted they doo good duties in an ill manner or spend their zeal on traditions either on the left hand or on the right Fourthly fearfull Christians are heer reproued because when they haue sacrifices and an Altar and fire too yet they beleeue not the atonement may come by it or the acceptation of them from God Thus of the fourth point An holy Nation The holinesse of a Christian is his fift prerogatiue wherein he excels all other people and the Godly are holy many waies Some are lesse principall some are more principall First they are holy in respect of GOD's appointment and calling God hath decreed them to holinesse Eph. 1.4 and created them to good works Eph. 2.10 and called them to bee Saints 1. Cor. 1.16 Secondly they are holy in their sect or kinred They are of a holy kinred for their Head Christ Iesus is infinitely holy and their brethren are holy brethren Heb. 4.1 Thirdly they are holy in their Lawes No people haue so holy just and exact Lawes there is no defect or error in them The Word of God is perfect Psal. 19. Pro. 8.5 6. Fourthly they are holy in their signes they

or kinred They are the generation of vipers Mat. 3. Now there is another kinde of spirituall alliance and that is it whereby all Christians are a-kin one to another through the bloud of Christ as they all descend of the second Adam and of this it is that the Prophet speaketh Esay 53.8 when admiredly he saith of Christ Who can tell his generation And thus the Godly are begotten of the best bloud in the world because they are begotten of the bloud of Christ Iohn 1.13 The doctrine then is that Godly men are the happiest men in the world in respect of their kinred and alliance None come of so good a kinred as godly Christians which may appear by diuers reasons First because they descend of the best bloud being the generation of Christ the second Adam and so are better born than they that can tell of their great Nobility and Bloud both by the father's and mother's side Iohn 1.13 Secondly because they are a chosen picked children or kinred all the kinred culled out of all mankinde and so is no kinred in the world For in all other kinreds are all sorts of persons to bee found good and bad vertuous and vicious but of this kinred are none but good Thirdly because the whole kinred is royall they enioy all great preferments whereas there bee few kinreds in the world but there are some poor in it but this generation hath not one poor man in it all the kinred are Kings Fourthly because all are fit for imploiment all the kinred are Priests and can sacrifice which was not true of the very Tribe of Leui. There is not one Christian but he can perform the work of the Priesthood and doth in his order Fiftly because there are so many of the kinred The meanest Christian is a-kinne to all the Saints in heauen and to all the Godly in earth or on earth and there is no kinred in the flesh that can attain to the like number of kinsfolks in any degree of comparison worth the speaking of Sixtly because they are all accepted into high fauour with the King of kings Though a King on earth out of his loue to see one person would doo much for many of his kinred yet it is neuer seen that all the kinred vniuersally are preferred and entertained into speciall fauour with the King yet so it is with all the Godly it is true of all and of euery one that they are his peculiar treasure Seuenthly because all our kinred will doo for vs there is none of them but are able to pleasure vs whereas in carnal kinred one may be a-kinne to so great persons that they will doo nothing for them Eightly because other kinred may and wil dy and leaue vs but all this generation liues for euer Vses The consideration whereof may serue for diuers reasons First hence godly Christians may gather comfort against the best of their kinred in the flesh whether they bee lost by displeasure or by death for God heer makes a supply of better kinred It should not therefore bee grieuous to the Godly to forsake their fathers house Psal. 45. Secondly hence wee should learn how to esteem of godly Ministers for heerby is implied that they are the Fathers Princes of the Tribes in this holy Nation Thirdly it should teach vs many duties concerning the Godly to whom we are allied 1. To study our genealogie and gette the knowledge of as many of our kinred as wee can 2. To glory in our kinred to ioy in our happinesse heerin 3. To doo all good we can to our kinred euen to the houshold of faith for this very reason because they are our kinsmen in the Spirit and in particular we should be ready to doo all that for them which the law of kinred bindeth vs vnto viz. 1. Wee should acknowledge them and not hide our selues from any that is godly 2. We should receiue one another heartily and willingly without grudging or murmuring 3. Wee should defend one another and bee ready in all oppositions to stand for the godly 4. We should shew all bowels of mercy and tender kindnes and pity and sympathize in their necessities and miseries Fourthly we should hence learn to be prouident to preserue our owne reputation that we be no way a dishonour and shame to our kinred but learn of the wise steward by lawfull meanes to preserue our credits and prouide for our selues though he did it by vnlawfull for our Sauiour noted this defect when he said The children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of the light Luke 16.8 Thus much of their kinred or generation A royall Priest-hood These words contain the two next prerogatiues which haue so much connexion one with another that they are ioyned together as inseparable The Apostle makes a comely and effectuall inuersion of the words recorded in Exodus 19 for there they are said to be a Kingdome of Priests which the Apostle more plainly expresses in the words A royall Priest-hood They are both Kings and Priests but both with difference from other men of either of those callings They are Kings not prophane or ciuill onely but sacred Kings they are Priests not common or typicall Priests but royall The one word tels their dignity to which they are ordained the other their office in respect of God These words with those that follow are in Exodus expounded or rather propounded indefinitely to the Israelites but in this place limited to the Elect onely which shewes that promises and priuiledges of right belong onely to the Elect and Chosen of God c. Royall Christians may be said to bee Royall in foure respects First comparatiuely with wicked men for whatsoeuer their condition be yet if their estate be compared with the miserable condition of all impenitent sinners it is a Royall estate they are like Kings in respect of them Secondly as they are vnited to his body who is the greatest King as members of Iesus Christ who is King of kings Reuel 19. Thirdly because they looke for a Kingdome It is their Fathers pleasure to giue them a Kingdome They shall one day raigne and therefore are Royall Fourthly because for the very present in this life they haue the state of Kings They haue the state of Kings in this life I say For first they appeare clad in purple The Romans knew who was King when they saw the man clad in purple Robes Christians haue royall Garments Garments of Saluation the righteousnesse of Christ doth couer them which so soone as they put on they are saluted for Kings in Heauen Secondly they haue the attendance of Kings a great traine and guard about them no King like any of them that is not one of them for they haue the Angels for their guard and as ministring Spirits to them Psalm 34. and 91. Hebr. 1.14 Thirdly they haue the dominion of kings and soueraignty and power of Kings and so first the