Selected quad for the lemma: religion_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
religion_n	church_n	discipline_n	doctrine_n	4,176	5	6.2312	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A52476	Three choice and profitable sermons upon severall texts of Scripture viz. Jer. 30. 17, John 14. 3, Heb. 8. 5 : the first of them being the last sermon which he preached at the court of election at Boston, the second was the last which he preached on the Lords-Day, the third was the last which he preached on his weekly-lecture-day : wherein (beside many other excellent and seasonable truths) is shewed, the Lords soveraignty over, and care for his church and people, in order to both their militant and triumphant condition, and their fidelity and good affection towards himself / by that reverend servant of Christ, Mr. John Norton ...	Norton, John, 1606-1663.; Norton, John, 1606-1663. Copy of the letter returned by the ministers of New-England to Mr. John Dury about his pacification.	1664 (1664)	Wing N1324; ESTC R40050	44,511	76

religious then so to carry it that they should no sooner see a Congregational-man then to have cause to say They see an Enemy to the Crown Prov. 24.21 My son fear thou the Lord and the King and meddle not with them that are given to change Eccles 10.20 Curse not the King no not in thy thought Dan. 6.22 Innocency was found in me saith Daniel and also before thee O King have I done no hurt Is this thy voice my son David 1 Sam. 26.17 really so not hypocritically We have severe Observers Tongues are not untaught to inform against us It is but wisdome to give no cause especially such as our own Consciences cannot testifie for and such as all Orthodox Churches in the Protestant world will testifie against In matters of the State-Civil and of the Church let it be shewn that we are his Disciples who Matth. 22.21 said Give unto Cesar the things that are Cesars and unto God the things that are Gods and in matters of Religion let it be known that we are for Reformation and not for Separation 6. Lastly Take care thar the Order of the Gospel may have a free passage in the Churches I mean that our Practice may effectually answer our Doctrine in that Book entituled The Platform of church-Church-Discipline 'T is that for which we are Out-casts at this day that for the substance of it is it that sheweth what New-England is I would I might say that there are none among our selves that are against it There was a time when the General Court did approve of it and when the Members of that Synod pleaded for it Our reality herein will be in no small degree critical of our Integrity in this Undertaking and our Actions must be the demonstrations of our Sincerity This is a principal Ingredient of this healing Plaister and for the defect-hereof are such frequent and scandalous Breaches in our Churches so many Administrations in vain and such sad Non-administration and Remora's occasioning that sad Quaerie of Spectators Whether the Congregational-way be practicable yea or not I beseech you consider whom it is that it doth concern to answer this Objection you that are conscientious do not forget it at whom the stick lyes in one order or another If we cannot build without the noise of Hammers yield that we are not Temple-workmen yield we must either that the Congregational-way is not the way of God or that We are unfit for the behaviour of the House of God As concerning the Church-government according to the Platform of Discipline the practice of which doctrine who careth for is not this that truth which the Synod Churches the General Court sometime made a good Confession of and that now no man comparatively careth for Ezra 4.8 Rehum cares not for it ver 23. Artaxerxes careth not for it Nehem. 4. Sanballat and Tobiah care not for it the Episcopal man the Presbyterian care not for it the Morellian careth not for it the Merchant the Souldier the Husbandman the Labourer careth not for it Haggai 1. The people of Jerusalem the Church-members care not for it I am apt sometimes to think that Aaron may be under a temptation of irregular complyance but minde Ier. 15.19 Let them return unto thee but return not thou unto them I may say thus much and pardon my speech A more yeilding Ministry unto the People I believe is not in the World I beseech you let not Cesar be killed in the Senate after he hath fought it out and conquered in the Field let us acknowledge the Order of the Eldership in our Churches in their way and the Order of Councils in their way duely back'd and encouraged without which Experience will witness that these Churches cannot long consist God hath opened the mouth of the Speaker to you this day it being a day wherein after so many attempts and feares you are betrusted with your Liberties for another year You have this years oportunity and at such a time and blessed be the Lord God of our Fathers who hath put such a thing in the Kings heart so farre to accept your Application to his Majesty as not onely to give you the oportunity of the year present but also encouragement for many years to come Let all of us be stirred up by the Lord and at such a time to strengthen the hand of Zerubbabel and Jehoshua by your professed subjection to the Gospel of Christ Do not betray liberty under the pretence of liberty You that are in the honoured Magistracy remember Davids troubles Psal 132.1 5. he could not rest till the Ark had rest And those that are in the Ministry remember Paul's troubles and what his cares were 1 Cor. 11.28 Let us all minde what were the troubles and thoughts of heart that were in them that lived in the dayes of Malachi Chap 3.16 But are there not many that minde onely their cieled houses c and how much doth the work of the Out-cast lye unattempted witness the sick estate of the Churches and how can it be remedied if we will not acknowledge Order and shall I say that we are real therein You have brought upon your selves real troubles and likewise upon your Relations and Friends in England and those here that suffer with you in this Exile See then that you be not hypocritical but real to the Truth which you have professed I could tell you and you must not forget it That there have been Men of Renown as they are called Numb 16.2 Famous in the Congregation of Israel that did go out of Egypt but yet could not endure the Order of God in the Wilderness Let us shew it that we mistook not our selves pretending to come into this Wilderness to live under the Order of the Gospel We are Out-casts indeed and reproached but let us be such Out-casts as are caring for the Truth and therefore not to neglect an Apologie it doth become and greatly concern Gods Out-casts to minde it You know there are those who represent you as disaffected to Government and as Sectaries and Schismaticks and as Fanaticks you see cause to Apologize therein And for that term of Fanatick you must remember it is not of yesterday however it be now used or abused You may learn the original use of it from that distribution of Professors in relation to Church government in former times into four sorts viz. Orthodoxt Pontificii Rationales and Fanatici But I trust that God doth and Angels and Men shall know that we are Orthodox Gods Out-casts are not Fanaticks The Woman in the wilderness may have the vomit of the Dragon cast in her face if you let it lye on you will suffer wash it off therefore by an Apologie Thus did Justin Martyr Tertullian Iuel and others in their time Give not the advantage of interpreting Silence as Consent nor think it labour lost if an Apologie will wash your face And though we may be cast out by men yet may we hope that God will

fear was upon them because of the people of the land one means to secure them from fear in time of trouble was with the first to proceed with the things of Religion and to be in good earnest to settle them 1 Chron. 28.20 21. Do it saith David unto Solomon and the Lord God even my God will be with thee and not only so but the priests the princes the people will be with thee c. But when Solomon falls off from God's Worship then ariseth against him the spirit of Hadad and the spirit of Rezin and the spirit of Ieroboam c. 1 Kings 11. It is a great point of policy in troublesome times viz. the attending to the Cause of Religion Without Order the Ark could not move in Davids time but you see what trouble follows upon it and Churches cannot likewise move untill the Order of the Churches be proportionably settled Haggai 1.5 6. Now therefore saith the Lord of Hosts consider your wayes when the Worship of God was neglected things went ill with them You have sown much and bring in little ye eat but ye have not enough and again ver 7th Thus saith the Lord of Hosts consider your wayes and in Chap. second they do hearken to him the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel and Josuah and from the time that they set themselves about the work of the Lord all things went well with them How farre the drought and the last years and other troubles are here considerable referring to our selves let the Scripture be the interpreter The matters of outward prosperity have much dependance upon the carrying on the cause of Religion and that according to the Order of the Gospel or by the Scripture-patern our safety lies in keeping there not turning to the right hand nor turning to the left hand In Exod. 39. you have it mentioned about ten times in that Chapter in way of Commendation that what was done was so according as the Lord had Commanded Moses Let this stand with us I beseech you beloved that for the motion of Elders of Brethren of Councils of Magistrates of Churches settle the same as the Lord hath Commanded i. e. according to Scripture-prescript and patern we are then a safe People FINIS A COPY OF THE LETTER Returned by the MINISTERS of NEW-ENGLAND TO M R. JOHN DURY ABOUT HIS PACIFICATION Faithfully Translated out of the Original Manuscript written in Latine By the Reverend AVTHOR of the Three former SERMONS With some Considerations premised about that Subject necessary for these Times By a Lover of Truth and Peace Published in the Year 1664. THE PREFACE TO THE READER AS of old it was observed that Julian who hated the Christians with an implacable hatred when he could invent no way worse opened a wide way for Schisms and Divisions In like manner hath it been the Policy of the Adversary in succeeding times when there appears no hope of undermining the Walls of Truth by Heresie and false Doctrine to attempt the scattering and dispersing the Assertors thereof by raising and fomenting Schisms and Dissensions amongst them From which Fountain it may justly be feared hath sprung a jealousie in the mindes of sundry persons in this Country That the Determination of the late Synod Anno 1662. if attended unto would bring into the Churches of New-England a practice contrary both to the Frame of their Churches and to the judgement of those famous Worthies that at first their Churches were blest withall when as it will be found most evident to any that shall impartially survey the Constitution and state of the said Churches That the principall if not the sole Reason why the same things then agreed upon were not long before set afoot and practised was not any doubt or scruple about the duty of the things themselves but the want of Agreement about the Way and Manner how they might most conveniently and safely put in practice which being now fully cleared up in the Propositions of the said Synod the Aspersion cast upon their former Church-administrations as too much favouring the way of the Separation is not onely now removed but an Expedient found out for the holding Communion with other Orthodox Churches in things lawful and necessary without any prejudice to the the Purity of their Worship The commendable receiving and practising of this Truth by some Churches among them and necessity of attending thereunto by all is most convincingly evident by many writings published abroad in the world by many Eminent persons in the name of others wherein much paines is taken up in clearing the way of these Churches from the imputation of Schism and separation from others but in none more then in a Letter returned with the Subscription of the names almost of all the Elders universally in this Place unto a Letter of the Reverend and Learned Mr. John Dury who ever since the year 1635. had been labouring for a Pacification between the Reformed Protestant Churches of Europe and who is famous in the Christian World for that work and at last had communicated his design to those of New-England desiring their Approbation and Concurrence in the said design wherein they expresly declare That they own all those Churches professing the Protestant Religion and retaining the fundamentals of Doctrine and essentials of Order if they be otherwise peaceable and walk orderly for Brethren and that they are ready to reach out unto them the right hand of fellowship From whence it will necessarily follow that seeing other Churches so qualified although they should dissent from them in many Points of Religion are owned as Brethren and that in way of fellowship if those that so profess shall refuse to conferre the seal of Baptism to the Children of such Parents as belong to any such like Churches according as is expressed in the aforesaid Propositions of the Synod They will neither be able to avoyd contradicting their own words and writings nor yet secure themselves from the guilt of dissimulation And that it might appear there was no advantage taken by any stragling sentence or expression in the said Letter cast off from its Dependants it was thought necessary to Translate and publish the whole to the open view of all and because also in the draught of the same are found many undeniable Arguments enforcing this very Conclusion as when it s said That the diverse opinions of some Churches about Polity and indifferent things although they are not so small that the lovers of truth should be silent about them so neither are they so great that they need be any hindrance to the seekers of Peace and Quietness in such an undertaking Which is also there further evidenced by instancing the unquestioned Example of our Saviour who refused not Celebrare Sacra or joyn in the Worship of God in the Jewish Church defaced at that time with more grievous corruptions And further it is added That the nature of Political as well as Christian Society

doth utterly forbid the denial of Fellowship-priviledges to such Members as are found without scandal Let not the words and practices of them that pretend to the greater Purity of Reformation be Yea and Nay which if it should appear the Scandall would be so much the greater in that the foresaid Letter with so many Subscriptions in all probability is known in the world being sent into Forreigne parts upon a Publick account As for the Translation of the Letter they who had the chiefest hand therein have no other design then by approving themselves as Lovers of Truth and Peace to undeceive simple-hearied and honest-minded persons who are ready with Barnabas to be carried away with the dissimulation of such as are through a kinde of preposterous Zeal unwilling to have any of the common Priviledges of the Church of God bestowed upon any whose effectuall Sanctification may be questioned which is the cause as one observeth of a Schismaticall inclination of some godly and religious persons In reference to the Words and Phrases much of the Elegancy of them is taken away in the Translation by reason of the abstruseness of the Latine it faring in this kinde with Books as it doth with Bodies which are nothing so comely when arrayed with a stranger as with their own proper clothing and habit but where-ever appeared a necessity of changing the phrase the sense is preserved whole and entire For a Conclusion If the Practice of the purest Churches together with the Authority of the most Pious Zealous Learned and judicious Divines might avail any thing in this consideration it were easie to present many things to the view of the Reader from the Writings of a Cas Consc Ep 9. qu. 3. Com. Gal 5.27 Perkins b De Pol lib. 1. cap. 13 14 33. Parker c Epist 149. 103. Calvinus d Locus 47. thes 33 34. Bucanus with many other of the Learnedst Non-Conformists who alwayes disclaimed both the Principles and Practices of the Rigid Separation and all such as renounced Communion with other Churches upon the account of some Impurities about Order and Discipline However it came to be the fate of these Churches in America to verge too near them in their Primitive Administrations But we shall onely content our selves with the mentioning the Judgement of two not the least eminent and famous Lights in the Church of God about this point No Church can be said to be alienated from God and from his Covenant although it may become very sick and adulterous until God shall have taken away from it his Matrimonial Covenant casting it quite off as defiled with Adultery according to Isa 50 1. which will not be so long as it retaines the Head and the Head retaines it by a publick declaration of his grace that calleth Col. 2.19 Jun. Thes Theolog. Thes 36. pag. 2099. But Ames more fully about the Subject of Baptism 1. Expositious Infants are to be baptized whose Parents are unknown if they be born among Christians out of charity they are to be looked at as the sons of Christians if there be not just cause to presume the contrary 2. They that in some way by their Profeision belong unto the Church yet notwithstanding do openly violate the Covenant of God their Infants ought to be baptized though with some distinction sc so that what the Covenant requires and is wanting in them be supplied by others 3. Infants illegittimate ought so to be baptized that either their Parents profess their Repentance or that their Education be undertaken by other godly persons 4. Children of contumacious Excommunicates are not conveniently baptizable unless by the interposition of meet Sureties 5. Infants of Papists and such like who are Semi-Christians may be baptized if they finde a meet surety under whose power may be their Education Ames Cas Consc Lib. 4. Cap. 27. To which may be added The Baptism of Infants ought not to be deferred without a serious and weighty reason Ibid. TO THE WORTHY AND EMINENT M R. JOHN DURY SALVTATIONS THat amongst so many horrid Alarms of War amongst so many fatal differences of Opinion raised in matters of Religion and that also after so many and such unwearied labours of famous Intercessors now so often in this cause undertaken in vain you should O Dury the most zealous Friend of Peace not onely be seriously thinking of but are also unto this day strongly endeavouring the Espousals of Truth and Peace between the Professors of the Gospel we verily do largely congratulate you in the conceiving so great a design with our utmost and daily Prayers helping forward by Gods Assistance the birth of this Man-Childe Suffer us to speak the very truth of the matter nor is there any need to deny the same even as the Holy-Scripture relates how the Olive Branch brought much comfort to the Parent of the other World after the Flood while he was lamenting over the Tremendous Spectacle of the Deluge over flowing all here below in like manner did your Letter breathing a very spirit of peace as another Noahs dove sent down from Heaven wonderfully refresh the exile Brethren who were almost astonished to see so many nations that profess the Gospel making irreconcileable war amongst themselves together with the many and great dissentions in the business of Religion and that monstrous flood of Errour breaking forth not out of the Cataracts of the Clouds but the very Mouth of the Dragon Be it so that we are in the utmost parts of the Earth we have onely changed our Climate not our mindes we have altered our place that we might retain the Faith without alteration There are indeed some that might have been better imployed at least meer strangers to our affairs who do therefore impute unto us the guilt of Schism because in the first place we have endeavoured after the pure Worship of God But if any see good to enquire into the Reason why these Churches in the Wilderness left their Country this it was viz. that the Ancient Faith and pure Worship might be found inseparable companions in our Practice and that our posterity might be undefiled in Religion Nevertheless we are never unmindefull of the saying of Austin to the Brethren in the Wilderness as he styles them There are two things considerable saith he Conscience and good Name Conscience is necessary for thy self good Name for thy Neighbour He who trusts to his Conscience and neglects his good name is cruel especially if he be set in that place of which the Apostle writing to his Disciple saith In all things shew thy self an example of good works It may not be unlawful for us who are in the Wilderness on the further side of the Seas as well those who through grace are called to the Ministry though in our selves the greatest of sinners and the least of all the Saints as any others to Apologize for our selves in the Words of the Tribes beyond Jordan a little changed for the