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	great_a	rome_n	5,301	5	6.4962	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A27619	The parable of the ten virgins in its peculiar relation to the coming and glorious kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ opened according to the analogy of the whole parable, and of Scripture in general, and practically applied for exercising all the churches to holy watchfulness ... : with an apology for the hope of the kingdom of Christ appearing within this appriaching year 1697 ... presented to the notice and examination of the arch-bishops and bishops now in Parliament assembled / by T. Beverley.	Beverley, Thomas.	1697 (1697)	Wing B2165; ESTC R25250	193,605	220

Christ doth declare A night should come at that time upon his Church My head saith he is wet with the drops of Dew of the Night Because Christianity was drawing its Ceremonies long they began then at that very time they begun then to draw out the shadows of the Evening A great many Ceremonies came into Christianity and a Form and Way of Prayer suitable and agreeable to it and such ways of Preaching as prepar'd for it And then they came to be more intent upon the Remembrance of such a Saint and such a Martyr and keeping their Days and drawing as many outward Forms and Ceremonies of Religion as they could and they neglected the Power of it And this Christ observes and calls it the Drops of Dew the Drops of the Night upon his Head And then the Church of Christ began to slumber And this is the first Time that is to be taken notice of in regard of the slumbering even of the wise Virgins Of which I shall speak presently more particularly to you The Second is this And I desire that none would be offended or think me censorious in speaking of it For I design nothing I can truly Appeal to God but only to speak the Truth and the Reality of Things in a Point where Scripture calls for the speaking of it That is This Slumber hath been since the Reformation As soon as ever the first Power had shewn it self There was indeed a mighty Spirit of Truth and Spirit of Holiness in the first Reformation Men and Women were then Christians of a high Rate of a high Degree of a high Excellency How willing were they to suffer in the days of Queen Mary in our own Nation How did they love one another How did the Power and Glory of Christianity appear in them But I hope it will be no scandal to say this That it hath been in a decay for a Hundred Years For it is the very express words of one that is Dr. Burnet that we know by the Name of the Bishop of Salisbury he spake it plainly and openly in this City That the Reformation has Sermon Of not falling out by the Way been losing ground for these Hundred Years And whence is this But only a great slumber hath fallen upon the Profession of the Protestant Religion for a Hundred Years And the Glory and Power and Excellency of Christianity we have not yet restored to its own Beauty and to its own Glory And this I have endeavoured several times both in Discourse and in Writing to make plain That the Church of Sardis is the Representation of the Generality of the Christian Churches under the Reformation And I desire that you would but read and weigh the Description that is given of that Church Rev. 3. 1 2. And to the Angel of the Church in Sardis write These things saith he that hath the Seven Spirits of God and the Seven Stars I know thy works that thou hast a Name that thou livest and art dead Be watchful saith he and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die Be watchful What 's the meaning of that But only to shew that the State of the Protestant Churches had fallen into a great slumber a great drowsiness And therefore it is that we know so little of the Power of Christianity at this day And saith he I have not found thy works perfect before God Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard and hold fast and repent If therefore thou shalt not watch observe that I will come on thee as a Thief and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee if thou dost not watch Here we plainly see what is opposed to slumbering it is watching And when Christ saith Watch so often and so much it signifies that his Church would fall into a slumbering condition it had a Name to live it was not perfectly dead But it was not vigorous and powerful in the ways of Christianity And therefore watch and strengthen the things that remain which are ready to die I 'll give you only two Arguments why I am of this Judgment That this very Parable I am upon does look directly upon the state of the Protestant Churches and so upon our selves as in the Profession of the Protestant Religion at this very Time I 'll give you the two Arguments and then I 'll go on in a more practical way of discoursing the particulars of this slumbring of Christians in the Profession of Christianity The First Argument I give you is Because it is now the Time It is now the Time especially when our Lord delays his coming For there shall not be Time Times nor so much as half Time any more whole and entire For at the Reformation Christ began to make an appearance of his Kingdom and of his Coming And it is certain the bringing in of the Reformation as all true Protestants own it was one of the greatest Works of Providence that ever hath been known in the World and especially since the days of Christ It was strange and wonderful in the Times when God did it that he should bring in a Reformation against such high Pretences as that of The Catholick Church as Rome was called and against the Papacy and Hierarchy that took upon themselves to be the great Patrons of and Pretenders to Christian Religion and the true Votaries and Servants of it to have all things good within themselves Now That such a poor inconsiderable Person as Luther was should make opposition to such a Body when as the Kings and Princes of Europe were utter Enemies to the Reformation It was a Mighty Power of God And as I have often shew'd Rev. 10. is the very Representation of the Reformation Christ came down from Heaven clothed with a Cloud and with a Rainbow upon his head And he set his right Foot upon the Sea and his left Foot upon the Earth and cryed with a loud Voice as when a Lyon roareth and sware by him that liveth for ever and ever That Time and Times and even of half Time that it should be no longer Who would not I say but have expected that Christ should immediately have come and changed the World and brought in his Kingdom But our Lord delays his Coming only till the Hundred and Eighty Years are made up of which there wants only now but Five Years And at the present there is a great delay though I make no doubt It will not be long But yet Men think Christ hath delayed his Coming and where is the Promise of it and that he hath quite forgot it In this Time therefore of the Lord 's delaying his Coming there is such a great slumber upon the Christian Church In the second Place I have this great Reason that moves me much to think that the present delay that the Parable speaks of under that spiritual slumber of the Churches of Christ hath run along with the Time since the

amongst us hath made a great change among those that are called Protestants yet we are not awakened The Bridegroom must be nearer his coming before the Protestant Churches will awake And besides you see even to this day that Men in the Profession of the Gospel in the several ways of Men Make Christianity a Point of Interest in the concernments of the present Life I speak not this by way of Censure or Reproach but to represent things plainly to you how it is and how it comes to pass that we are not more in haste and earnest for the coming of the Bridegroom And then 3. In the third Place And that indeed which in part I have prevented my selfe in the Apostacy hath come to swallow up so great a part of Christianity Even so openly and avowedly in all the Papal parts of the VVorld And there are such Roots and Remainders and Twiggs and Twines of it about the Protestancy That it cannot be till Christ is nearer his coming that the VVorld will be awakened to see the entry of his coming Even the Protestant World and the most professing part of Christianity I come now to the Second Head I proposed And that is to open to you the Answers to the Objections that may be made Obj. 1. You may say in the first Place If this be the tendency of such a Discourse it seems a kind of Monkish superstition a kind of Living alone and minding nothing in the World it brings in a kind of a Pennance an Endurance like that among the Papists whereas the Scripture seems to allow us a free Enjoyment of the World and of the things of it Ans Now in Answer to this I would onely say that one sort of extream is ready to swallow up another if we do not take heed A Man may remove so far from such Ideas and Apprehensions as these are that he may fall into a perfect Worldliness an Enjoyment of this VVorld I dare not say any thing against a VVise and Sober and Holy and Temperate use of the things of this world and a Diligence in our Places and in our Stations But I say we have every one of us great need to take heed For we tread upon the Brinks of danger we tread upon the very Brinks of Destruction And therefore we should walk with the greatest VVariness and with the greatest Jealousy There is undoubtedly an allowance of these things And yet for all that Seeing it is such a State of the world as it is As I shall shew you presently we have Reason upon all Accounts to desire that it should be at an End Because we walk so much upon Snares and Temptations in the present State Notwithstanding I don't say as they take heed ye Touch not Taste not nor come near to any of these things But this I am perswaded There are some Remains of the Purity of Christianity in that which such persons pretend to though they have Debauch'd them They have turned them into abominable Superstition and into Great and Detestable Idleness and Sloth and to Horrible Impurity and Luxury under the pretence of such a Separation from the World But yet still I say at the first there was some Vein of the Contempt of this World and of Despising Things here below In the Justice of God leaving Men to themselves This was corrupted into Hateful and Abominable Superstition it is a Thing very Remarkable You know there are those that are called the Mendicants or those that go up and down and profess nothing but Begging But then on the other side There are no Courts so splendid in the World as that of Cardinals Bishops and Archbishops So that it is a kind of Expedient and Trick to hold up the Pre-eminence of the Roman Church by a seeming Contempt of the World in the other part I told you Religion is necessary for this World for the present state of it so the Beggery and Superstition of those that profess Poverty among the Papists it is absolutely necessary to uphold the Greatness and Splendor of the Court of Rome and those that depend upon it on one side by that Poverty on the other For it seems to Cogg Men into a belief that there 's an excellency in the Popish Church by producing in it such an Example of Contempt of the World These are the Lying Wonders that are amongst them and fair pretences by which they delude But still I say tho we have lost it it cannot but be allowed there ought to be now and much more there shall be a State of the management of the present World according to Christianity so as not to run into Superstition And yet to raise the Glory of Christ and his Kingdom far above this World Object 2. I come to the Second Objection How shall the World be maintained if all were such Earnest Pursuers and Hasters on to the Day of God as now what I have discours'd of seems to lead to Certainly Families would be at an End all Business would cease and the maintaining of Kingdoms of Laws and Rights of Government There would be an End of all These Answ Now therefore I say to you If any Man have his Soul prest upon the Kingdom of God and the Coming of Christ and the Coming of the Bridegroom Let us consider what an Answer Jesus Christ gives Luke 9. 59. Christ had called one to follow him Saith he Whither shall I follow thee I am willing to do it where must I go Saith Christ Verse 58. Foxes have Holes and Birds of the Air have Nests but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his Head That is you must not take care for this where you shall have a Rest and whither you shall go you must Resign up All But he said Lord suffer me first to go and bury my Father And Jesus said unto him Let the dead bury their dead but go thou and preach the Kingdom of God That is The Kingdom of God is of Greater Necessity then even that which seems to be so great a peice of Piety and Humanity to Go and bury a Father But you may still urge How great would the Inconvenience of this be if Men should do thus How would there be any support of the present State of the World For that therefore I would refer you to another place that is in the same Evangelist Luke Chap. 14. 16. The Kingdom of Heaven saith he is like unto a certain Man that made a Great Supper and bade many That Supper is the Beginnings of Grace here even to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. But they all with one consent began to make excuse The first said unto him I have bought a peice of Ground I am a Purchaser You must excuse me from being so Religious I am upon a Purchase And another said I have bought five Yoke of Oxen and I go to prove them I pray thee have me excused I am an Husbandman and I cannot take