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order_n city_n dispute_v great_a 24 3 2.1239 3 false
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ID Title Author Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) STC Words Pages
A66417 A sermon preached before the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor, and aldermen of the city of London, at the Guild-hall chappel, October 12. 1679 by John Williams ... Williams, John, 1636?-1709. 1679 (1679) Wing W2724; ESTC R2997 16,163 36

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of it and is necessary towards the propagating and securing of Religion 2. That a constitution which takes in these ends is to be regarded I shall at this time chiefly apply my self to the latter viz. the securing of Religion and I shall do it in this following order 1. By shewing that the preservation of a Church and Religion is mainly depending upon a setled Order and Constitution 2. By considering what that Constitution is particularly with respect to our selves in this Nation and our present circumstances 3. By shewing what regard is to be given to such a Constitution and how far it 's the interest of every true Protestant to comply with it First I shall shew that the preservation of a Church and Religion is mainly depending upon a setled Order and Constitution When I speak of the great security of the Church the respect which it hath therein primarily to God the great Patron of it is to be supposed who can and will protect it against the most formidable powers which may threaten and invade it And when I speak of other security I am to be understood of Prudential and Rational means and what is to be done in that way on our part in order thereunto And of this sort I take a Constitution to be Without this there cannot be a Church i.e. without Laws and Officers for direction without having the work of those Officers set forth and described and without a people that bear such a respect to those Officers and to each other as the Laws agreed upon do require For if every person be at liberty to be what he will and do as he please either to rule or to be ruled to teach or to be taught to act or forbear the Church would be none and from being like a City that is compact together it would be no better than a field of contention and confusion And what particular persons are with respect to a Church such are particular Churches with respect to the whole and therefore as every Christian is to look upon himself as a member of the Church and to bear a due respect to the body of which he is So are particular Churches as parts of a greater body to have a regard to it It 's for the safety and edification of every particular Christian not to stand alone but to be united to a body and it 's for the security and advantage of particular Churches to draw into more general Combinations that so they may upon all Emergencies receive mutual advice and assistance And this is to be done according to the Nations they are of the government they are under the times they are in which kind of combination is usually known by the name of a National Church that is when there is an union of particular Churches under one Common Form This is in it self a thing most decent and what as it doth unite the hearts of a People or Nation more firmly to one another so doth also provide for their security for as all good order doth contribute to safety so the more general that Order is the greater security must redound from it And therefore however some may in speculation please themselves with particular Churches altogether independent upon others yet whenever it comes to practice they are forced to take other measures and to enter into larger Combinations as it happened in New England And from hence it is that the Quakers themselves how much soever they pretend to be against all Forms are fallen into such a kind of Order and have several Laws amongst themselves which become binding to the rest and are more or less as extensive as their party is Which is therefore in Print complained of by several amongst them as Usurpation and Arbitrary Imposition The usefulness of Order to the purposes spoken of is what Nature and Reason do dictate and what in all other Cases no man doth dispute it 's that which brought men into Societies and is the great preserver of them It 's that which is the safety of Nations and Armies Cities and Families and it would be the opinion of all men in the present case were but their own Religion and Constitution to be the measure prescribed No man can deny but if the Nation was all in one way and the people all of one mind in matters of Religion it would be as much for our Peace and mutual Satisfaction our Welfare and Security as it is lovely in it self And then methinks no man should deny but that a Constitution of one sort or another which may reach the general part of the Nation and most sute the Government of it doth in its degree tend the same way and that it 's more for our safety to have that which is a National Constitution than to be without it And this is the more necessary in regard of a Potent Enemy that we have to encounter against whom all the force that we can raise and the care that we can take will be little enough to secure us For the Church of Rome is so strongly compacted and so well provided of whatever may support it at home or enlarge its Conquests abroad that it will vie with any Constitution in the World There is first an Universal Head who challengeth the Supream power over all Churches in the World and whom all in their Communion are bound to acknowledg as such It 's he that hath the power of calling Councils arbitrating Differences passing Decrees granting Dispensations issuing out Indulgences making Expositions and of bringing all things to a certainty and determination in their Church It 's he whom all the Bishops and Priests amongst them do swear particular obedience to and which they hold so Sacred and Inviolable that it shall cancel all Obligations to and defend them against all Impositions of any Secular Prince whatsoever It 's his Commands all the several Orders of Monks and Friers do observe and his pleasure they attend and by their vast numbers spread through the Christian World and the intire dependence which they have upon him he hath both an opportunity of gaining Intelligence and of obtaining ordinarily what he designs with greater facility and success than any Prince by his Ambassadors Agents and Correspondents whatsoever For these are the constant Emissaries of the Church and by whose Generals residing at Rome all Orders that may be for the Common Good are immediately dispersed and so Religiously received that where-ever these persons are sent they immediately go whatever they are commanded they out of hand do which they do with the greater resolution bend themselves to as they have cast off all Relations and have no expectations from them have no posterity to take care of or that have any dependence upon them and so if they miscarry the mischief of it lights wholly upon themselves And these that are chosen out for that purpose being persons of inquisitive and active tempers capable of looking into affairs considering circumstances