Selected quad for the lemma: book_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	great_a	king_n	see_v	2,740	5	3.6171	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A77005	Oriens ab occidente: or, A dawning in the vvest· As it was delivered in a sermon before the Honourable House of Commons, at Westminster; upon their day of thanksgiving, for severall victories in the west, &c. By John Bond Mr of the Savoy, and one of the Assembly of Divines.	Bond, John, 1612-1676.	1645 (1645)	Wing B3572A; ESTC R211371	30,002	52

himselfe for his servants when he seeth that their power is gone and there is none shut up or left And he shall say where are their gods their rock in whom they trusted See now that I even I am hee and there is no god with mee I kill I make alive I wound and I heale neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand When men are most low and lost in their owne eyes and doe most of all distrust themselves and the outward meanes looking up wholly to the Lord then if they get a deliverance it is in mercie and flows in upon them in the channell of this and the like promises Such mercies cannot taste of the cask Honourable and Beloved let me instance here as a westerne man the eyes of the poor prisoners of hope in the West have been long long time lifted up toward these Easterne hils for help and for their reliefe There was a first a second Army sent down but alas mens eyes and hearts were taken up with too much expectation and confidence I believe in those Armies which were commanded by that excellent Peere and by that valiant Knight and I cannot but think that one principall cause why those Noble Generalls could doe no more for those Counties was this because the people did look upon them too much If once wee doe make Idols of our Jewels then the Lord will break them in pieces and 't is a mercy for if wee should get deliverance by Idolized meanes and instruments our spirituall losses thereby would be much greater than our temporall gaines and commodities Observe wee therefore what an Army the Lord hath now sent down into those parts and what instruments hee doth there imploy even an Army of strangers men much unknown to the people of those Countries both by face and name lest they should Idolatrously and carnally look upon them Thus hee causeth in mercy the Westerne deliverance as he did their affliction to arise unexpectedly out of the dust And this is a signe of a gracious mercy when the Lord so bringeth about the Victories and salvations of his people that hee doth crosse selfe and kill corruption in them even by the mannaging and ordering of their mercies This is a double conquest even of corruption and of outward enemies both at once Doubly blessed be his name for such twinning favours as these This was the second note or mark that there is much of God in a salvation when it comes in the channell of the Promises Thirdly When they are the fruits of duty As Of Prayer when it is the fruit of holy meanes and duties as of prayer and praises when it comes in the way of duties Let me instance but in those two which I have mentioned And first in prayer when a salvation comes in the way of prayer You know how Jacob got his garland Gen. 32. Hos 12.4 his new name of Israel even by wrastling with God and that wrastling was by prayer and teares saith the Prophet Hosea Now what a solid blessing did that prove and how much of God appeared there in it It got him the name of Israel it derived an honour to all his posterity and it gave them a new relation to God which relation the Lord afterwards gloried in and they never pressed him with it ordinarily but they prevailed And therefore it was such a solid mercy because it was gotten by prayer Shall I adde an instance of a female wrastler Hannah begged a sonne of God by prayer and shee called him Samuel that is asked of God shee wrote the name of God upon the mercy to shew that it was obtained by prayer 1 Sam. 1.2 Chapters and therefore shee gives God all the glory and sets him up in her praises Now bring wee our mercies to this touch-stone have any of our victories come-in by this way of prayer have they been fruits of supplications and humblings were the hands of Moses in the Mount Exod. 17 1● as well as of Joshua in the Valley in any of these great and plentifull deliverances What think you of the verticall criticall Victory at Nazeby you were pleased to command out some 9. Regiments of Volunteers out of these Cities I meane so many Congregations to keep a solemne day of prayer and humiliation and believe it they are your Volunteers that must doe the work both in your spirituall and Civill Militia these Regiments did beset heaven upon the Tuesday and loe upon the Saturday after in the same week God gave you that Victory of victories the great unexpected necessary England-saving Victory of Nazeby Nay and the poore West out of its penury may come-in here with an instance too the great late turning of the Tide of that desolate Country was the Victory of Langport but when was it surely the very next day after the Westerne Fast at Black-friers Two dayes of victory did immediatly follow that one day of humiliation These mercies came-in like Daniels Answer Dan. 9.20 When I was speaking to the Lord the Angel Gabriel came and told me Thy prayers are heard O! these are the jewels in a Ring of victory they are precious things of God and ought especially to be recorded when mercies are the fruits of prayer So when they are the fruits of praise too Of Praises I read that Jehoshaphat had a great victory given-in as the fruit of praise 2 Chron ●0 22 When they began to sing praises to the Lord that is for a promise of deliverance sent by the Prophet The Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon Moab and Mount Seir which were come against Judah and they were smitten And hath not the Lord answered your praises too as well as your prayers Certainly there are mercies in this kind to be found out As when you gave command to praise the Lord for Nazeby victory that very morning God sent the tydings of the regaining of so-much-bewailed Leicester thereby to put one string more into our instruments of praises So when you gave command for blessing the Lord for that Westerne mercy neere Langport in that very day of praise as I remember to shew how the Lord loves a thankfull people hee did give their impregnable Bridgewater into your hands Let us also observe this marke of God upon his salvations Fourthly When they are improvements to grace and activity 2 Chron. 14 15 16. Chapters this is higher when victories are improvements to grace and holie action it holds also in all other inferiour personall mercies Honourable and Beloved may you please to look upon that one King Asa God gave him a wonderfull victorie those Chapters are proper for your reading this day even the greatest I thinke that wee read in the book of God Ten hundred thousand Ethiopians came up against him God routed them all in one battaile And while Asa was meditating a thanksgiving for this Chap. 15. God sent the Prophet Azariah to preach

a Thanksgiving Sermon to quicken him Hereupon see how Asa expresseth his thankfulnesse principally by these two sorts of duties First by the destruction of Idols and Idolatrie Vers 8. 16. not sparing the royall Priapus it selfe and by the setting up of pure worship Next by a holy strict willing nationall Covenant Vers 12 13 14 15. O! that it might it please the father of spirits to bring up your hearts to this Asa-like frame this day both those works are now seasonable and necessary First the throwing downe of Idols and Idolatrie there is to much of the old leaven still remaining if it were narrowly sought after I beseech you let the remnants of Baal and the Chemarims feele the marks and dint of our praises and thanksgivings this day and let them beare those marks to posteritie Let us set up monuments of our praise in the destruction of some more remnants of Idolatrie There is a paire of Idols of lealousie yet standing The one of them I thinke too neere the eyes of your Senate the other I am sure is too neere to my charge and hath leavened those parts too much already The other expression of Asa's thankfulnesse was the renewing of their Covenant A Covenant is already made by us but how much the renewing of it and the looking after it is wanting you heard partly this morning I hope wee are not wearie of our Covenant Wee doe not begin to repent that ever we entred into that League with God Sure I am wee have little cause so to doe if we observe the successe of things ever since our Covenanting and if we suffer some miscarriages and disapointments it is because there have been miscarriages in our Covenants But if we do not repent of this holy League why do so many deny it Why do so many others refuse and despise it O may it please you Asa-like to doe some memerable thing for God this day Two Requests for the West And here besides what hath been pressed upon you for the Lords sake already I have two humble suits to present unto you with reference to the Westerne occasions of this dayes praises One is that especiall care may be taken to put in able spirituall garisons into those three Western Towns now rednced every one of them being doubly considerable partly for their long time of slavery under the enemie in which they could not but contract deepe ignorance prophanenesse and malignitie and partly for their situation strength and greatnesse they being some of the most eminent places in all those parts Such spirituall garisons even in prudence are well nigh as necessarie as your Military ones Mine other humble suite is concerning the Covenant that the poor souls in those lately reduced Countries may not have it abruptly forced upon them without due preparation and humiliation not as the Spaniards baptized the American Indians by droves and heaps but rather that the businesse may be ordered as Hezekiah did order his people for the Passever 2 Chron. 30. with all due warning instruction and consideration I beseech you give them time and meanes first to disgorge and cleanse themselves thorowly of the many direfull anti-Covenant perjurious combinations that many poor wretches in those parts have swallowed since they were under the power of the enemie Let them first shave their heads and pare their nailes as the * Deut. 21.12 13. strange virgin of old was commanded to doe and so let them enter into that sacred and dreadfull Covenant Thus labour to set up some expressions of reall thankfulnesse this day to the Lord for when there are such improvements of graces by our deliverances they have in them much of God But now on the contrary side if our deliverances and victories instead of improving our graces should improve our corruptions which God forbid and instead of laying us lower in our owne eyes should lift up our hearts in a wrong way you may guesse at the sad consequence from Vzziah 2 Chron. 26. This King had gotten many victories and his heart was lifted up by them but it was in pride not in thankefulnesse for he usurped the power of sacrificing What was the issue It ended in leprosie and so God did thrust him out of his house and did set him aside from the government of the Kingdome Nay 2 Chron. 16. good Asa himself when he had gotten these great victories hee turned aside to unteachablenesse and carnall compliance with Benhadad the King of Aram and when there came a Prophet and told him of his fault hee was angrie with the Prophet and persecuted him yea and he oppressed some of the people at the same time But what was the end of this too All Asa's glory acts and victories went out in a snuffe He was sick in his feete and he turned aside to the Phifitians and died The Text layes a blot upon his name at last he died as a pettish man not thorowly perfect in the way of the Lord. It is pittie that faire weather should do any harme that so sweet a root should bring forth such deadly fruits as these Therefore I conclude with that of Ezra Ezra 9.13 14 When we have received such deliverances as these should we again break the Lords commandements Would he not be angrie with us till he had consumed us that there should be no remnant nor escaping Quest. But you will say wherein should our victories improve us In what graces In what particulars Answ You have had many good hints and helps to day already Victories should improve us in Take these five more in so many words First such salvations should improve us in our dependance upon a tryed God Dependance If hereafter the tyde of victorie shall turn again and you shall be brought back somewhat neer your old low condition yet I beseech you remember this very day in which you are to give thanks for five victories at once Remember when you are in that low estate that there was a day when God served you in with five pheasants in a dish 1 S●m 17.37 2 Cor. 1.10 with a feast of fat things He is still the same and his yeares doe not faile Secondly let these victories and salvations improve us in love and prayer Love and Prayer Psal 116.1 2. I love the Lord because he hath heard my voice and supplications I will call upon him so long as I live Thirdly let them improve holinesse in our conversations Holinesse Psal 50. ult to offer thanks and praise and to order our conversations aright they may not be seperated because God hath joyned them together Obad. 17. Vpon mount Sion there shall be deliverances and there shall be holinesse or they shall escape and they shall be holy Fourthly Self-denyall in humilitie and selfe denyall Thus did mercy worke with Jacob I am lesse saith ●ee Gen. 32.9 10 when hee was greatest in estate then the least of