Selected quad for the lemma: kingdom_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
kingdom_n	great_a	high_a	king_n	5,277	5	3.6528	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
B04947	A discourse concerning prayer especially of frequenting the dayly publick prayers. In two parts. / By Symon Patrick, D.D. now Lord Bishop of Ely.	Patrick, Simon, 1626-1707.	1693 (1693)	Wing P789A; ESTC R181547	106,863	299

which the Kingdom is laid and it can neither be erected or being erected cannot stand when this is gone Now as Religion is necessary to uphold States and Kingdoms so the Publick exercise of it is as necessary to uphold Religion Let the Publick Assemblies cease and Religion will not long stand But we shall soon lose it if we do not meet together to joyn in the common Offices of it and we shall soon be tempted to have the less concern for one anothers safety and happiness when we are not tied together by the bond of one and the same Religion In which when we heartily joyn to serve God it makes us look upon one another as Brethren dear to the same God and Father of us all and therefore dear to one another This the Psalmist represents when he cryes out in the beginning of cxxxiii Psal Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity He would have all the Israelites to look upon themselves as Brethren being all descended from one and the same stock and having also the same God for their Father And then they dwelt together in unity not merely when they lived lovingly and unanimously pursued the same common Interest for the common good but then especially when they all met in one and the same place to Worship God together with one heart and with one Soul which linkt them closer than any other bond could do and provided best for their common security For it appears by what follows he chiefly aims at this assembling themselves unanimously together as the words are in the Hebrew O how good and pleasant is it for Brethren to dwell even together i. e. to meet all at God's house as common to them all Nothing more delightful than to behold such a general Assembly which he illustrates by two similitudes First Of the pretious Oyntment which ran down from the Head of the High Priest to the very skirt of his Garment And then by the Dew of Heaven which made the Hill of Hermon and the Mountain of Zion nigh to which the Temple stood exceeding fruitful And then in conclusion he adds the reason why this was so joyful a sight and so beneficial for there the Lord commanded the Blessing even Life for ever more He pours down his Blessings of all sorts as the Heavens do the Dew and as the pretious Oyntment ran down from Aaron's head upon a people that are thus unanimously joyned together in the Worship and Service of God who only can make them happy that 's meant by Life and can make them so for evermore In order to which He took care his Divine Service should be perpetually performed in the Temple whither they were to resort to do their Duty to him and to implore his Grace and Favour towards them And I cannot think it fell out by chance that next to the Psalm now mentioned is immediately placed a solemn Exhortation in the cxxxiv. Ps unto the Ministers of God to attend constantly upon their Duty in the Sanctuary there to praise the Lord who made Heaven and Earth and to give a Blessing to his people and pray for their prosperity out of Sion as that Psalm concludes I end this with the observation of a wise man that we being Members of a publick Body ought to serve it the best we can Now all the Service we do as Members of it is publick Service which is far more worthy than what we act for our selves privately and distinctly as much as a whole Society exceeds the worth of any one Man in it And what service is there we can do it like to that of maintaining God's true Religion by serious attendance with due care and frequency upon the publick Offices thereof whereby we shall exceedingly promote the common good of all and maintain Society it self by which we are kept and preserved in safety and prosperity For by doing publick honour to God we shall draw down publick Blessings upon our selves God himself will bless us as the Psalmist speaks He will bless them that fear the Lord both small and great The Lord shall increase you more and more you and your Children Ye are the Blessed of the Lord that made Heaven and Earth CXV Psal 13 14 15. Observe the Title he gives himself The Lord that made Heaven and Earth and you will not think it sutable to his super-excellent and transcendent Majesty to have his Worship confined to your Closets or to your private Houses but make it as publick as the Heaven and the Earth are which are exposed to the view of all In that spatious Temple of his as the Ancients were wont to call the World of which the Temple at Jerusalem was an imitation he is to be magnified and praised as openly and with as great multitudes as can possibly meet together that we may not seem to Worship some little petty Deity but the Universal Lord of all Thus I am faln upon the Argument wherewith I begun which cannot be too often pressed and hath a close connexion with this other which I have now handled For he having formed us to live together in Society and to keep closely United in one Body for our common safety and preservation teaches us thereby to own Him as the common Parent of us all and to contrive the best wayes we can whereby we may acknowledge him so to be And there is no way like this of meeting together in the greatest multitude that can assemble to magnifie and praise Him with one voice for his Goodness and declaring the Wonders he doth for the Children of Men commend our selves and all our concerns unto his most powerful protection By whom Kings Raign and Princes decree Justice and therefore he ought to be sought for their Guidance and Direction Protection and Safety and to be acknowledged as it is in the Collect for our King to be the High and Mighty King of kings Lord of lords the only Ruler of Princes who from his Throne beholds all that dwell on the Earth And they are all as the Prophet most admirably expresses it as Nothing less than Nothing and Vanity in comparison with his incomprehensible Greatness Who as that great King Nebuchadnezzar publickly acknowledged and desired all Nations and Kingdoms should take notice of it is the High God whose Kingdom is an Everlasting Kingdom and his Dominion is from Generation to Generation So he begins the Proclamation he caused to be made of his humble Devotion to the Divine Majesty by whom he had been abased as low as the Beasts of the Earth Dan. iv 2 3. After which he tells all the World I Blessed the Most High and I Praised and Honoured Him that liveth for ever whose Dominion is an Everlasting Dominion and his Kingdom is from Generation to Generation And all the Inhabitants of the Earth are reputed as Nothing and he doth according to his Will in the Army of Heaven and among the Inhabitants

and the Worship of God and a little after that he also appointed stated hours for these Sacrifices to teach us that the Church cannot be without a certain Discipline he then concludes Ac hodie nisi obstaret nimius torpor utile esset quotidiè haberi tales conventus and at this day if too much sluggishness did not hinder it would be useful every day to hold such Assemblies And in his Discourse upon the fourth Commandment L. 2. Institutionum Cap. viii Sect. 32. he not only asserts that Ecclesiastical Assemblies are enjoyned by God's words and that experience sufficiently shows their necessity and that the dayes and times must be stated and set or else they cannot be at all c. but in answer to those who objected Why do we not rather meet every day that distinction of dayes may be taken away He thus replies Vtinam illud quidem daretur c. Would to God we were able so to do For certainly it was a worthy Spiritual Wisdom which spared a little portion of time every day from other business for God's Service But if we cannot obtain from the infirmity of many that dayly Assemblies may be held and respect to Charity doth not permit us to exact more of them Why do we not yield Obedience to that which we see by the Will of God is imposed upon us And he thus concludes his Explication of that Commandment This general Doctrine is especially to be held That Holy Meetings be diligently and Religiously observed and such external helps constantly used as may serve to support and cherish the Worship of God lest Religion either fall to the Ground or languish among us To which I think fit to add what his opinion was concerning set times of Prayer for his Words are very instructive Upon Psal lv 17. his note is That from the mention there of Morning Evening and Noon we may gather that pious Men had stat as h●ras set hours for Prayer in those times Which good Men observed in their private Devotions because then the publick Service of the Temple was performed by God's appointment For the daily Sacrifice was offered every Morning and Evening And the mid-Day saith he was appointed for other Sacrifices The reason of which he gives upon the 18th ver Because we are backward to this Duty therefore God in fixing certain hours of Prayer intended to cure this infirmity Which same reason ought to be extended to private Prayer as appears by this place with which the Example of Daniel agrees And upon that practice of Daniel he thus writes in his notes on Dan. vi 10. This Example is worth the noting of praying three times a day because nisi quisque nostrum praefigat sibi certas horas ad precandum facile nobis excidet memoria We easily forget this Duty unless every one of us prescribe to our selves certain hours for Prayer From all which it is apparent that he lookt upon set hours for publick Divine Service as appointed by God and that he also thought the reason of it to be perpetual Because if we be left to our liberty we shall easily forget our Duty and perform that at no time which we imagine may be done at any time as well as at that which is appointed The benefit of which is this among others that where there are no publick Assemblies or Men cannot by reason of sickness or other urgent cause attend them they may at those set times offer some short Prayer to God in private and desire the publick Prayers of the Church where they are continually made may be accepted with him By which means they are in some sort present there and the Prayers they make in private become a part of the publick they praying as Members of that Body which is then met together in the House of God Thus St. Peter prayed privately as I observed above at the sixth hour when they were praying at the Temple and in Christian Assemblies and though alone at that time yet he chose the same hours with theirs that his Prayers might be joyned with the rest and not be single but united desires Thus St. Chrysostome directs his people in answer to those who objected unto his pressing Arguments for attending the publick Prayers how is it possible for a Secular Man ingaged in business 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. to pray at the three hours every day Hom. iv de Anna. Tom. 2. and run to Church To which he replies in this manner though it be not easie for every Man to run to the Church so oft yet it is easie for him even when he is in publick business to pray to God unto which not so much the voice is requisite as the mind And therefore let no Man excuse himself by saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the House of Prayer is not near to mine for if we be watchful the Grace of the Holy Spirit will make every one of us a Temple of God She that sits at the Spindle may look up to Heaven in her thoughts and call upon God with fervent desires and so may he that is in the Market or in a Journey or in his Shop making Shoes in like manner a Servant he that buyes Meat he that dresses it and all the rest when it is not possible for them to come to Church they may notwithstanding make fervent and lively Prayers to God who doth not despise the place where they are made but desires alone warm Affections and a serious composed Mind And he concludes thus My meaning in all that I have said is this That we should go to Church as oft as is possible and when we cannot pray at home in great quietness and tranquillity Which counsel if we would all follow that is if as many as can would come to the House of God every day and if they that cannot would let their hearts be there what Blessings might we not expect from God What a flourishing Church and happy Kingdom might we hope to see And there are a great many people I am sure have leisure enough in all Cities and Towns to fill the Churches where there are publick Prayers Nothing but that sluggish dulness Mr. Calvi● speaks of is the hinderance Which if men would shake off and awake● themselves to serious thoughts of God and the need they have of him and 〈◊〉 constant Prayer to him and such like things as I have represented the●● would be publick Prayers where no● there are none and Men would crow● every day into the House of Go● where there are to Worship him and give him Thanks and beseech hi● to be gracious to them As for th●● whose condition and business is such that they cannot possibly attend them nothing can hinder them but their own Wills from going thither in their Wills from going thither in their minds with serious Thoughts and hearty Affections intreating the Father of Mercies to hear the Prayers of those who are there