Selected quad for the lemma: religion_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
religion_n	good_a	king_n	subject_n	3,003	5	6.4581	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A45322	Susurrium cum Deo soliloqvies, or, Holy self-conferences of the devout soul upon sundry choice occasions with humble addresses to the throne of grace : together with The souls farwell to earth and approaches to heaven / by Jos. Hall.	Hall, Joseph, 1574-1656.; Hall, Joseph, 1574-1656. Soules farewell to earth and approaches to heaven.	1651 (1651)	Wing H420; ESTC R2803	81,778	407

spirits O God doe thou quicken my spirituall dulnesse in thy holy service and when I come to Celebrate thy great Name whiles the Song is in my mouth let my heart be the stage wherein Trumpets and Psalteries and Harps shall sound forth thy praise Soliloq LXXVII Blemishes of the holy function I Cannot but blesse my selfe at the sight of that strange kinde of curiosity which is reported to have been used in the choice of those who were of old admitted to serve at the Altar If Levi must bee singled out from all Israel yet thousands must bee refused of the Tribe of Levi Wee are told that notwithstanding that priviledge of bloud no lesse than an hundred and forty blemishes might exclude a man from this sacred Ministration whereof nineteen in the eyes nine in the eares twenty in the feet such an holy nicenesse there was in the Election of the legall Priesthood that if there were not found an exact symmetrie of all parts of the body not comelines onely but a perfection of outward forme in those Levitical Candidates they might by no meanes be allowed to serve in the Sanctuary they might have place in some out-roomes and cleave Wood for the Altar and might claime a portion in the holy things but they might not meddle with the sacred Utensils nor set foot upon the floor of the holy place It was thy charge O God that those Sons of Aaron which drew neare to thee should be void of blemish thou which wouldst have the beasts of thy Sacrifice free from bodily imperfection wouldst much more have thy Sacrificers so The generality of the Command was thine the particularities of the numbers are Traditionall And well might the care of these outward observations agree with the pedagogie of that law which consisted in externall rites but we well know it was the inward purity of the heart and integrity of an unspotted life that thou meant'st to aime at under the figure of these bodily perfections which if it were wanting it was not a skin-deep beauty and exquisitenesse of shape that could give a son of Aaron an allowed accesse to thine Altar Hophni and Phinehas the ill sonnes of good Eli were outwardly blemishlesse else they had not been capable of so holy a●… attendance but their insolencies and beastlinesse made them more loathsome to thee than if they had been Lepers or Monsters of outward deformity And can wee thinke that thou hast lesse regard to the purity of the Evangelicall Ministerie than thou formerly hadst of the Legall Can we think the spirituall blemishes of thine immediate servants under the Gospel can be a lesse eye-sore to thee than the externall blemishes of thy Priesthood under the Law Oh that my head were waters and mine eies a fountaine of teares that I might weep night and day for the enormities of those who professe to waite on thy Evangelicall Sanctuary My sorrow and piety cannot but bewaile them to thee though my charity forbids me to blazon them to the world Oh thou that art as the Refiners fire and the Fullers soap doe thou purifie all the sonnes of thy spirituall Levi Do thou purge them as Gold and silver that they may offer unto the Lord an offering of righteousnesse Then shall the Offerings of our Judah and Jerusalem bee pleasant to the Lord as in the daies of old and as in former yeers Soliloq LXXVIII The blessed Reward WHen Paulinus came first into this Island to preach the Gospell to our then-Pagan Ancestors King Edwin thought good to consult with his Priests and Nobles whether it were best to give any entertainment to the Christian Religion which was by that stranger Preached and recommended to his people Up starts one Coifi the Arch-Priest of those Heathen Idols and freely saies There is no vertue or goodnesse O King in this Religion which wee have hitherto embraced There is none of all thy Subjects that hath more studiously addicted himselfe to the Service and worship of our gods than my selfe Yet I am sure there are many that have prospered better and have received more favours from thee than I have done And if our gods could doe any thing they would rather have been beneficent to me that have most carefully served them It remaines then that if these new doctrines which are preacht to us bee found upon examination to bee better and more availeable that without all delay we do readily receive and welcome them Thus spake a true Idols Priest that knew no Ell whereby to measure Religion but Profit no proofe of a just Cause but successe no Conviction of Injustice but mis-carriage Yea even thine Altars O righteous God were never quit of some such mercenary attendants who seek for onely gain in godliness If the Queene of Heaven afford them better penny worths and more plenty than the King of Heaven she shall have their Cakes and their Incense and their hearts to boot I know thee O Lord to be a munificent Rewarder of all that serve thee yet if thou shouldest give me no wages I will serve thee If thou shouldest pay mee with hunger and stripes and prisons and death I will serve thee Away base thoughts of earthly remuneration I will honour and serve thee O God for thine owne sake for thy services sake yet I have no reason not to regard thine infinite bounty It is no lesse than a Crown that thou hast promised me and that I shall humbly aspire unto and expect from thee not as in the way of my merit but of thy meer mercy My service is free in a zealous and absolute Consecration to thee thy hand is more free in my so gracious Retribution If thou be pleased to give thy servant such a weight of glory the glory of that Gift is thine My service is out of my just duty thy Reward is of thy Grace and divine Beneficence Doe thou give me to doe what thou bidst me and then deal with me as thou wilt As the glory of thy Name is the drift of all my actions so the glory that thou givest mee cannot but redound to the glory of thine infinite mercy Blessed bee thy Name in what thou givest whiles thou makest mee blessed in what I receive from thee Soliloq LXXIX Presages of Judgement SEldome ever doe wee read of any great mutation in Church or State which is not usher'd in with some strange Prodigies either raining of Bloud or apparitions of Comets or airy Armies fighting in the Clouds or Sea-Monsters appearing or monstrous Births of men or Beasts or bloudy Springs breaking out or direfull noises heard or some such like uncouth premonitors which the great and holy God sends purposely to awaken our Security and to prepare us either for expectation or prevention of Judgements wherein the mercy of God marvellously magnifies it selfe towards sinnefull Man-kind that he wills not to surprise us with unwarned evills but would have his punishments anticipated by a seasonable