Selected quad for the lemma: parliament_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
parliament_n	army_n	city_n	london_n	3,465	5	7.2357	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A60972	Davvnings of light wherein the true interest of reformation is opened in generall, and in particular, in this kingdome for the establishment of weaker judgements, and many other things impartially hinted, to a further discovery of truth and light in many of our present controversies : with some maximes of reformation / by John Saltmarsh ...	Saltmarsh, John, d. 1647.	1646 (1646)	Wing S477; ESTC R40634	39,746	130

Prelacie Gods voice is upon the waters again Petitions upon Petitions from City and Countries for Reformation a mighty over-powring still in the voices and votes for Reformation both in the house and elsewhere Papists and popish cast out of Interest and place in the great Counsell the Prerogative losing many State-advantages and the Prelacy many Ecclesiastical The contrary designes of Jesuites and Prelates disappointed and all turned into designes for Religion and Liberty and Vnity with Scotland The severall plots defeated and discovered which were still countermining That of bringing up the Army from the North at first That of bringing the Cavaliers to the doors of the Parliament That of betraying the Militia of City and Parliament and surprizing all The several endeavours of betraying Cities Towns Ar●i●s The corrupting Parliament Agents and getting interests in their severall counsels and forces The attempts of unclasping us into several parties The restoring a Parliament from the day of small things in the generall defeatures not long since The preserving the most famous City of London which hath been like Ezekiels potters house the place where all the wheels of Reformation moved And to all these an assembly of many godly and eminent men for repairing the Temple voting out Prelacy and Superstition in the places where they sate voting not long since to establish it with Oathes and Lawes The severall successe of Battels at Keinton Newbery York c. The Protestations and Covenants like heavenly cordage to fasten both Parliament and Kingdomes and make them the more stedfast and unmoveable in the work of the Lord The many severall preservations and successes of late as that of Newcastle Thus the supernaturall interest hath wrought and things have been as it were created and supported by that naked power and wisdome of God in Christ which carried on his Church with signes and wonders in the times of its first rising The spirituall Interest THe next interest I finde Reformation to have in this Kingdome is spirituall And first the many interrupted assayes formerly by godly Divines and others in the reign both Qu. Elizabeth and King James by Petition Treatises Dayes of prayer and seeking God the seed time of which light we now enjoy light is sown f●● the righteous The many assemblings of private Christians in latter times their spirituall contributions then of prayer and humiliation And now the means of grace powred out so effectually in Preaching and prophes●ing and prayer amongst us The effectual door which is opened of late and a seeking to Sion with our faces thitherward The return of the banished persecuted godly The daily seekings to heaven in solemn humiliations The Gospel lightning from many Treatises Discourses Expositions The sending out labourers into the harvest the springing up of many young Prophets as if this generation were the Seminary for the next and to these spirituall subsidiaries in our own Kingdome the prayers and holy contributions of all other Reformed Churches of Germany Geneva New-England the Netherlands with the Churches in France and Scotland and low Ireland these all fall in with us into the spirituall designe of Reformation we are engaged in This spirituall interest reaches to every Ordinance of God to every minist●ation to every grace to every spirituall facultie or power that makes towards Heaven or God in this Kingdome or other reformed States This Interest is yet stronger in the Propheticall part of it the fifth Angel now pouring out his violl on the seat of the beast and here I dare follow Expositors to this That Babylon is falling in the near parts of it and for the time of the totall ruine the Prophesie runs strongly and the Interpreters too that is not much above six years To these the meltings and dissolvings of customes traditions superstitions for the day breaks and the shadowes fly away The enemies filling up the measure and Ephah by their daily sinnes idolatries and provocations The work of God upon Sion and Jerusalem or his people in the present wa●s or tribulation The st●nding spirituall remedy of many godly Divines in the conjuncture of an Assembly who like Aaron and Hur hold up the hands of Moses The Politick or Civil Interest THe power and acting of the King or Supreme in a Kingdome Monarchically constituted as this would soon give the Reformation a powerfull and spreading Interest as we see in one Cyrus and Artaxerxes and Constantine and an Edward and Elizabeth therefore Princes are called nursing Fathers and nursing Mothers to the Churches of Christ yet though we want this Interest for the present and the personall actings of a King yet wee have in the meane time a supplement a Parliamentary regall power of two Kingdomes A strong fundamentall in the work of Reformation and a power very agreeable to the constitution of both and very naturall for the propagating Reformation in this Kingdom and this improved by Associations and Covenants The present power armies and successe in most of the parts in this Kingdome but the West and yet some strong Interests there to The consideration with other Protestant States and Churches though I could wish it more the commotions and troubles abroad in Denmark in States of Italie Germanie Spain Franc● whose engagements gives them not time to apply themselves to our disadvantages distractions God making them to hear a rumour of war in their own land Further Searchings I. Non-comm●nion an● Excommunication SEeing there is such a difference amongst us concerning Non-communion and Excommunication that the first is not so proportionable and ●dequate and powerfull as the latter now that which may be considerable here is whether it appear an Ordinance or no and then all such consequences are saved and the objections are but imaginary for if it be an Ordinance and spititually strenghened and armed from Heaven it is all one whether you call it Non-communion or Excommunion nor is it the weaknesse of any thing on the worldly side of it that ought to make us prejudge it for no Ordinance because there may be an heavenly and spirituall supplement to make up whatsoever may be suspected in it II. Nationall and Congregationall That which makes the difference here is a disputing about the fittest subject for Church ordinances and we differ here in point of latitude and qualification for on the one side it is thought that a people nation● 〈…〉 the ●it recipi●nts of all th● 〈…〉 on the other side it 〈…〉 only congre●● 〈…〉 ●●cipie●ts and 〈…〉 di●ference if we 〈…〉 we shall see that such quali●●●ations are ●●ated by both and such cautions as the Ordinances are but neither prostituted by the one nor the other but a due regard had to the predisposing and preaccommodating to the Ordinances which are of a pure and heavenly constitution Concerning the Model in Scriptures THat which makes the controversie here is the consideration of Gods way of policy at the first with his Church under the Tabernacle and Temple which were all so

experience in our own and others reformations yet here we must enquire too whether Kingdomes ought to ●it so loose in their decrees and whether the conscience of Nations or Parliaments are to remain still in such a constant potentiality to new degrees and whether such a way would not keep a Kingdome alwayes tottering and uncertain Yet further whether the potentiality of acquiring new degrees of this nature would not bring such an alteration as were rather perfective then corruptive or destructive and if so whether these jealousies may not be saved we see that in the bodies naturall and spirituall there is a potentiality to any perfective alteration as in the aire to light and in the soul to degrees of illumination till they come to the statu●e of the fulnesse of Christ The advancers out of Babylon IN our commings out of Babylon we have many fellow travellers that pretend as well to leave her behinde as we and these are called Hereticks Schismaticks Anabaptists Separatists Now before wee be too far engaged in this being they are such as pretend to come from the same point of advancement or setting forth it would be well enquired how Popery and Prelacy come to oppose them so directly and their interests to be so inconsistent if they be all enemies to the truth I finde Christs maxime tend to another sense How can Sathan cast out Sathan yet here again I finde that Sathan may appear as well an Angel of Light as Darknesse and Heresies may walk abroad as well in white as in black and that some vices are as inconsistent and destructive to one another as vices and vertues However they pretend with us to come out of Babylon so it is possible they may only mistake their way in their going out yet we must ask further in such cases where popery Prelacy agree with us thus in unotertio as appears in this one experiment of calling the others Hereticks and Schismaticks whether a godly jealousie may not do well for it is possible to cast out the courser part of popery and Prelacy and yet hold it by a finer thred as it hath been to this age in our partial Reformations when at first popery was cast out only by the head and so gradually still holding it by some parts for it is harder casting out a mysterie then every one conjectures at the first sight for popery being a mysterie in the Spirits sense hath something more then a visible traine of Hierarchy courts and ceremonies there is something more spiritual in it their mixed unity their tyrannie their magistrality their universality their implicite obedience with others c. Now it would be enquired what interest or remainder these may have left behinde for it is possible for poperie to leave such roots and stumps in the ground where it hath planted so deeply to work again upon these hidden and occult dispositions for the Man of sin rose by such interests at first and this the holy Spirit had observed betimes saying the mysterie of iniquity doth already work defections compliancies and ap●stasies as we have seen are easily obtained when the man of sin hath such invisible interests and agents layed in to work by nor ●as the grosser or more visible ag●●ts the only meanes to actuate this Kingdom back againe towards Rome so often as we experience but these more secret and mercuriall engines which I have named First for their unity it hath such cold principles as freeze and congeale multitudes heterogenially together in the worship of God and then puts the name of Schisme upon all the Reformed Churches that will not come into the dark with them where all colours are like Their tyrannie reaches to the most spiritual cruelty That of compelling soules under the penaltie of martyrdome Their magistrality in obtruding the decrees of their counsels their infallibility with Anathema's their Lording it over the heritage Their universality in holding out their religion for Catholick because the ten horns have given their Kingdom to the Beast though no longer then untill the words of God shall be fu●fi●●d Their implicite obedience wherein all light and liberty is denied to the people but such as streams through their ministery dispensations which must needs be of their own colour and will never be purer comming so Now these and such like would be enquired into further and our ministery may do well a little more then they do to set upon this part of discovery of the interests of popery and prelacie in their magistrality unitie and implicitie obedience as their Covenant oblieges them for this I take to be the more spirituall part of it and little studied and thus they shall be more faithfull to their Covenant which ingages them to a universall extirpation and now that we are upon reforming or refining the extractions must not be only of the grosser the government superstition ceremonies but of the more essential and formal and vertual parts of prelacie and popery in the things I named only we must take heed that in such extractions the purer spirits doe not exhale with the other and therefore in such spirituall experiments the furnace must be chimically heated for it is possible that Gods unity order and subordination may go out with the other if the extractions be more violent then the word of God and Apostolical practices will endure The severall Interests of REFORMATION in this Kingdome I. The Supernaturall Interest THe supernaturall interest appears in those many great and eminent mercies since the first opening of Heaven upon this Nation I reckon now from our own late epoche of Reformation And first in that designe of calling a Parliament and engaging them against the Kingdome of Scotland and so to have turned back the Reformation in its first advancing a designe not unlike that of Herods of killing Christ in the cradle and here God let in some glimpses and cast in some jealousies into that great Counsel which rescued it from such an ingagement and for all the State Artifice of Court Declarations and pretences suspitions sprang up in the hearts of people and though armies are levied by prerogative and carried down yet God takes off their spirits and successe both in their advancings and skirmishings with Scotland and this is made by Providence a necessity of calling a Parliament again so as this inter designe of the enemies served onely to land us upon clearer discoveries This Parliament is summoned and excellent Members elected by a corrupt commonalty So as the voice of the Lord is upon the Waters And now all things worke and turn upon heavenly engines and the long design of keeping of Parliaments is turned into a necessity of a Trien●●all one and further to that of an everlasting one by an act of continuation and God hath fastened it as a raile in a sur● place and now Reformation moves some degrees on Votes and suffrages begin to vvi Properie and