A01956:58
The happiness of the church, or, A description of those spiritual prerogatives wherewith Christ…The happines of the church, or, A description of those spirituall prerogatiues vvherewith Christ…
The happiness of the church, or, A description of those spiritual prerogatives wherewith Christ hath endowed her considered in some contemplations upon part of the 12. chapter of the Hebrews : together with certain other meditations and discourses upon other portions of Holy Scriptures, the titles whereof immediately precede the book : being the sum of diverse sermons preached in S. Gregory's London / by Thomas Adams ...The happines of the church, or, A description of those spirituall prerogatiues vvherewith Christ hath endowed her considered in some contemplations vpon part of the 12. chapter of the Hebrewes : together with certain other meditations and discourses vpon other portions of Holy Scriptures, the titles wherof immediately precede the booke : being the summe of diuerse sermons preached in S. Gregories London / by Thomas Adams ...
London: printed by G.P. for John Grismand, 1619London: printed by G.P. for Iohn Grismand, 1619
THE HAPPINESS OF THE CHURCH. › The City.THE HAPPINES OF THE CHVRCH. › The Citie.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
1. For safety: Cities have ever been held the securest places. So Lot said of little Zoar; lLet me escape thither, & my soul shall live. Cain fearing the execution of his curse, built him a mCity for refuge, and called it Enoch. The motive that caused those wicked to build a City, was security, nlest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. The Israelites had their Cities of refuge, and a Law of their protection. Num. 35. 27. But there is no City of sure refuge, but this City of the living God. It is ordinary with men, to put too much trust, like Israel, in their walled Cities. oExcept the Lord keep the City, the watchman waketh but in vain. pShalt thou reign because thou closest thy self in Cedar? Thou thinkest thy self secure, because an inhabitant of this famous London. No, thou livest in an Island, therefore in danger of the Sea: in a Christian Island, therefore in danger of the Turk: in a Protestant Island, therefore in danger of the Pope: in a chief City of this Island, therefore in danger of the devil. The City is perilous for pride: the more spectators, the more acclamations: the larger the Theatre, the louder the applause. The solemn assembly in Caesarea, puffed up ambitious Herod to his own destruction. The people shouted qVox Dei, but the worms confuted their flattery, & his folly. Simon Magus ventured that flight in a City, to which in an obscure Village he had neither been tempted, nor would have attempted. And whether quick comings in of money, make not this City unsafe to many souls, miserable experience hath evinced. Praeceps locum, princeps damnum: sudden profit is capital loss. But suppose men care not so much for the safety of their souls, are their bodies secure? Thieves, homicides, fires deny it. But if they scape all these fires, yet not the last fire. Your buckets may quench other fires, not this: no milk nor vinegar can extinguish that wild fire. As in the days of Noah, a Dove could not set down her foot for water, so nor at this day for fire. Let this meditation like a fortunate