Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n
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A65949
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Safety in war, or, The infallible artillery of a kingdom, fleet or army in sermons unto Their Majesties forces by sea and land / by John Whittel ...
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Whittel, John.
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1692
(1692)
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Wing W2042; ESTC R38612
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29,317
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34
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part against the Enemy of God and his Truth But which is yet a farther Addition to the Churches comfort That if her Enemies be better provided for War and preparâ—d for Battel seemingly and externally yet nevertheless the most holy and terrible Majesty of Heaven and Earth who is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all in all and without whom all other helps and means are invalid and insignificant is of a certain departed and gone from them and their Idolatrous and Superstitious Camp As we may collect from the Record of the Spirit of Truth which says What Concord hath Christ with Belial And what Agreement hath the Temple of God with Idols Oh! can we imagine that the most holy One who charges the Angels with Folly and is of purer Eyes than to behold evil will abide or continue there and among such a People where the Glory which is due unto none but him alone is day by day given another and his Praise to graven Images See Isa 42. 8. It cannot be thought justly of him for he is a jealous God and when he doth visit he will do it to the purpose But on the other hand it cannot be denied but that the omnipotent Jehovah may seemingly withdraw his Presence and hide his blessed Face for a small Moment from his Church which is the only Excellency wherein he delights and as dear to him as the very Apple of his own Eye Yet be it known that he will never fail nor forsake her but rejoyce over her as a Bridegroom doth over his Bride and will give her his holy Spirit to comfort her and guide her into all Truth Nay he will be with her always even unto the end of the World And this leaving of his Church for a while is for her everlasting good for the Tryal of her Faith Patience and Constancy which is more precious than of Gold that perishes tho' it be tryed by Fire That she may be found a holy and reform'd Church without Spot and Blameless unto Praise and Honour and Glory at the appearing of her dear Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ 1 Pet. 1. 7. And since the Lord of Hosts himself is our Portion and Inheritance our best and only Help and Strength our safest Defence and Horn of Salvation on whom alone we wholly depend in these deceitful Days wherein no trust is to be given to Man Then there is no cause for us to be cast down or any ways dismayed at the blasphemous Speeches of any wicked Rabshaketh or at the Pride and Arrogancy of an Idolatrous Sennacherib Tho' he hath laid waste some small Towns and Villages that are adjacent unto his Territories and reproached his Maker the everliving God O tarry ye the Lord's leisure with Meekness and Patience ye Children of the most-high For yet a little while and he that shall come will come and will not tarry Oh the Thoughts of the most Just and Terrible God are not as ours and his ways are past finding out For there 's no doubt of it but he suffers him to fulfil the number of his Sins and fill up the measure of his Transgressions which are not perhaps full ripe for Judgment And then he will cause his own Terribleness inevitably to deceive him and the Pride of his own evil Heart to lay him low in an Hour that he is not aware of as his did sometimes to Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon while the very Word was in his Mouth And who can tell but that his Day is come and that happy time is at hand wherein the most terrible Majesty of the eternal King the mighty Lord will call him to an account for all his Wickedness and the Blood of his Saints and dear Children which he spilt like Water and will shew his Power on him by making him to know and feel That the Most-high ruleth in the Kingdom of Men and giveth it to whomsoever he will And none can stay his Hand or say unto him What dost thou Nay will compel him at last to confess with Adonibezek saying As I have done so God hath requited me Dan. 4. 25 35. Judg. 1. 7. What mean then all these causless and unjust Murmurings and Complainings in our Streets which I hear about the Times Know ye not what the Preacher speaks Say not thou What is the cause that the former Days were better than these For thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this Eccles 7. 10. What 's the Matter O foolish People and unwise that ye have not Patience to wait God's time Do not ye understand this That you cannot have an Apple or a Nut but you must tarry its proper Period and let it bud and blossom and knit and grow and ripen And does not the Apostle tell thee That the Husbandman waits with long Patience for the precious Fruits of the Earth And must you be impatient and limit God in his own Work It is a grief to think on it that there are a sort of People among us which are not unlike to those Spies apt to bring an evil Report upon their Majesties Forces by Sea and Land and extolling the French in all Company always wheresoever they go Sure such are evil-minded and unbelieving Hearts The Spies said The Land of Canaan was a Land which did eat up its Inhabitants and all the People thereof were Giants or Men of a great Stature And so persuaded the Children of Israel they were not able to go up against them they were so strong Thus they consider'd not that the most high God was with them whithersoever they went that he was their Defence and Strength and fought all their Battels Whereupon they provoked him to Wrath against 'em and he destroyed those Spies and false Reporters before his Face by the Plague for their evil Reports and sware that not one of them which had seen his Glory and Miracles which he wrought in Egypt and in the Wilderness and yet for all murmured and complained against his Deputies Moses and Aaron should enter into the Land but die in the Wilderness for their Unbelief â—ave his Servants Caleb and Joshua In like manner our false Reporters Murmurers and Complainers cry Ah we shall be all ruin'd and undone by the French And tho' they do not say they are Giants yet all their Cry is They are too strong for us not considering that the Almighty God is our Defence Depart then from among God's People ye evil and unbelieving Hearts for you weaken the Hands of the Almighty and discourage his People as much as you can But let me tell you to your Faces That the mighty God hath deliver'd our Nation sundry times out of far greater Dangers than I hope we are now in And sure I am that the Lord's Hand is not shortned that he cannot save us now as well as he hath done in our Fathers and Fore-fathers days Yea not long since in our own Remembrance if our crying National Sins our Murmurings Complainings without cause and our wicked and
unbelieving Hearts do not hinder him Be warn'd then by the Example of the Spies ye false Reporters and ye Murmurers and Complainers by the Israelites lest you provoke the most-high God to Anger and make him swear in his Wrath That none of you all which have either seen with your Eyes or heard with your Ears the many great Deliverances which the Lord of Hosts hath wrought for this Kingdom before our time but more especially not many years since by the Hands of our most gracious K. William that mighty Prince of Valour whom the Lord hath raised up for to be a Deliverer of his reform'd Church shall ever be so happy as to live to see or hear of Mercy and Truth met together and Righteousness and Peace to embrace each other in all parts of Europe Oh be asham'd and blush ye false Reporters and causless and unjust Murmurers and Complainers and give the Lord the Praises due unto his most holy Name and render unto the King the Honour and Obedience which is due unto his Majesty who hath graciously given you your Lives for a Prey when as ye were appointed as Sheep to the Slaughter Good God! Wherefore doth a living Man now complain Whereas not long since you would willingly have given all that you had for your Lives and Safety And do ye now grudg to pay a little Mony towards the War Is it possible that Christians should be thus ungrateful and forget their Danger so soon and be willing to return again into Egypt I mean Are you willing to be reduc'd to Popery Slavery and Arbitrary Power again Or rather to be in subjection to French Dragoons God forbid Search then and try your ways and meddle no more with our blessed Governors and Government which does not concern you But busie your Heads about your own Occasions and turn thus again unto the Lord And then we have no cause to fear but that God even our own God shall give this Kingdom his Blessing God shall bless their Majesties and their Forces and prosper their Arms both by Sea and Land and all the ends of the World shall fear him because they shall see or hear of the mighty Salvation which he hath wrought for his Church and People Secondly This may caution and admonish the whole Nation in general but in a more especial manner you that belong to the Fleet or Army in this most deceitful Age of ours for to take heed and beware of all disaffected and treacherous Persons which have no fear of God before their Eyes and therefore will make it no scruple of Conscience to start aside from their Duty and Allegiance unto their present Majesties like a deceitful Bow upon the first occasion And let me declare my Mind freely and tell you That I am persuaded there are not a few who have listed themselves in this present Service both by Sea and Land on meer purpose as Joab speaks of Abner to King David 2 Sam. 3. 25. to deceive their Majesties and to know their going out and their coming in and to know all that they do and what Forces they have by Sea and Land in a readiness and then to inform the Enemy therewith the first opportunity And therefore I may boldly say you that are gone forth to War cannot be too circumspect and diligent in searching the Minds and Hearts of all those employed in the Service And to further you herein we beseech the great Searcher of all Hearts and Tryer of the Reins for to discover all evil and disaffected Persons and private Traytors daily both by Sea and Land that so they may be put to Shame and Confusion And we will heartily pray That the everlasting Arms may be underneath their Majesties King William and Queen Mary that they may be compass'd about with the Favour and Protection of the Almighty and prosper in all their ways But let all their Enemies O our God fall down and flee before them and their Arms Amen What can Rebels expect at the Hands of the Immortal King which is immutable and most faithful But that he should command such unfaithful Persons to be bound Hand and Foot and cast among their Fellows the Apostate Angels there to be kept in everlasting Chains under Darkness and to dwell with devouring Fire and everlasting Burnings For the terrible and most holy God declares to us That he equally abhors both the Blood thirsty and deceitful treacherous Man And wise Solomon tells us That whoso provoketh the King to Wrath and is deceitful to him Sins against his own Soul Prov. 20. 2. He means thus That the Soul of a Traytor shall suffer in the World to come altho' his Body may escape it here on Earth For be it known unto all Men That a King that rules in the fear of the Lord and according to the Truth of his holy Word can never be honour'd or obey'd enough by his Subjects and ought to be priz'd as dear unto that Kingdom as the Eye to the Body and is as necessary for its Prosperity as the Sun is to the Firmament which gives both Light and Life and makes all the Earth become fruitful That Counsel of Vegetius unto a Prince is not to be despised What you have to do confer with many what ye will do with very few or none but your own self For there are no better Counsels than those which the Enemy knoweth not before they are put in Execution But to speak to you that are employ'd by their Majesties in this Holy War Let me charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the Elect Angels for to hold fast your Loyalty your Allegiance and Obedience unto our gracious King and Queen without wavering And make it one part of your business for to provoke one another daily thereunto now in these evil Days above all other times and so much the more as you see or hear of the hour of Battel approaching Wherein I I question not but the strong God will manifest his great Power and mighty Arm unto the World and especially against your Enemies in your behalf if you do but trust in him and call upon him duly by Prayer But in the next place as this ought to caution and admonish every one in the whole Nation to beware of disaffected Persons and Traytors So in a more peculiar manner to take good heed of provoking the most-high God to Anger against us or our Hosts by our unrepented of and unmortified Sins We know that Righteousness exalteth a Nation but Sin is a Reproach to any People And for it the Land it self mourns and the Fleet and Army is in no small danger because the weight of our National Transgressions do out-weigh others I am affraid in the Ballance of the Sanctuary Oh that all persons then from the highest to the lowest would but seriously turn to God with Fasting Weeping and Mourning Oh that the whole Nation would but be of one Mind and Heart upon our