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A53335
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England's call to thankfulness for her great deliverance from popery and arbitrary power by the glorious conduct of the Prince of Orange (now King of England) in the year 1688 in a sermon preach'd in the parish-church of Almer in Dorsetshire on February the 14th, 1688/9 / by John Olliffe ...
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Ollyffe, John, 1647-1717.
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1689
(1689)
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Wing O288; ESTC R17619
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23,014
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38
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A Thanksgiving-Sermon FOR Deliverance of this Kingdom FROM Popery and Arbitrary Power The Publisher to the Reader THIS Sermon had been published sooner had not the Carrier â—ept it several Weeks in his Hands before he delivered it yet I hope the pious Reader will not think it comes too late for publick Vse when he considers the Occasion and the Matter of it and how excellently well it is managed by the Reverend Author So great and amazing are the Providences of God towards us in England in delivering us from Popery and Arbitrary Power by the glorious Conduct of the Prince of Orange now our Gratious King that discourses of this Nature which so well represent the Glories of this Deliverance should never be esteemed unseasonable and 't is hop'd the Wisdom of the Nation will make the Duty of Thankfulness anniversary on this account that so the present and future Generations may praise the Lord for his Goodness and for his wonderful Works to us the Children of Men in this Island I heartily wish our present Murmurers commonly called Grumbletonians would but seriously consider how conspicuously the Wisdom Power and Goodness of God appear in the late Revolutions I think then they would be convinced if they do not wilfully shut their Eyes against the Beams of Divine Majesty how great their Sin is in provoking the great God at the Red-Sea even at the Red-Sea of our Deliverance by hankering after the Onions and Garlick of Egypt I pray God open all our Eyes that we may know in this our Day the things that belong to our Peace before they be hid from us Amen ENGLAND's CALL TO THANKFULNESS FOR Her Great DELIVERANCE FROM POPERY and ARBITRARY POWER By the Glorious Conduct of the Prince of Orange now King of England in the Year 1688. In a Sermon preach'd in the Parish-Church of Almer in Dorsetshire on February the 14th 1688 / 9 By JOHN OLLIFFE RECTOR there LONDON printed for Ionathan Robinson at the Golden Lion in St. Paul's Church-Yard MDCLXXXIX PSALM cxxvi ver 3. The Lord hath done great things for us whereof we are glad THE Design of our assembling together at this time is to render Thanks to Almighty God for the late great Deliverance which he has wrought for us from the subtile and dangerous Attempts of our Popish Enemies to subvert our Government and Religion and to implore his farther Blessing and Assistance that that may be perfected which is so happily begun And surely if we have been awake to take notice of things if we have had our Eyes open to see and observe the several Transactions of Providence which have been in our Behalf in this respect we cannot but think this a very reasonable Service And you will easily perceive the Words which I have read to you out of the Psalmist to be a fit Subject of my Discourse upon this occasion This Psalm was composed as appeareth by the subject matter of it at the return of the Jewish People from Babylon after their long and hard Bondage there which was a Mercy of so great and strange a Nature that it filled them with Admiration and Astonishment to consider of it that they could scarce believe their own Eyes and Ears in what they heard and saw but were so surprized with it that they thought it to be but a Dream or Delusion of their own Fancies ver 1. When the Lord turned again the Captivity Sion we were like them that dream And the Heathen were as much amazed and startled at it as they ver 2. For then said they among the Heathens The Lord hath done great things for them It was the wonder of all that an Heathen Emperour of his own free motion should set at Liberty a captive People and send them to their own Land a People despised and scorned of all when it had been esteemed the Policy of all the former Kings to destroy and ruin that singular sort of Common-wealth that was separate from all People that had been the great Eye-sore of all the Nations about And this mighty Prince doth not only freely discharge them and send them back into their own Country but assists them in the building of their Temple and setting up the Worship of the true God of Israel whose Ordinances were different from all People well might they therefore be amazed and wonder at so strange a Revolution and turn of things And here in this verse now they ascribe and attribute all to God they own it to be his Work though Cyrus was the Instrument and that it was a great Work indeed which rightly called for Joy and Thankfulness The Lord hath done great things for us whereof we are glad And that which the Jews here say in their Thanksgiving and Praise I think we of this Nation have cause likewise to say at this time viz. That the Lord hath done great things for us and that there is justly due to him a Tribute of delightful Praise now as there was from them then Let us consider therefore I. The great Things that God hath done for us And II. The Praise that is due to him for the same I. Let us consider the great Things that God hath done for us which will appear to be great indeed if we consider them even nakedly in themselves and much more if they are considered in their Circumstances First The Things which God hath done for us are very great in themselves For it is no less than the saving of our English Government from apparent Ruin the recovering of our Rights from Arbitrary Invasions the securing of our Liberties and Properties and above all the preserving our Religion which was in manifest Hazard of being undermined and destroyed and the preventing the Massacres and Bloodshed which probably must have attended the same It is agreed on all hands that the English Government was in the way to ruin the force of Laws even in themselves as Laws was enervated and many mortal Blows were given to the Legislative Power it self in its very Fundamentals and the Rights of Men imbodied in Corporations and the particular Liberties of Persons were no longer secure to any when once they stood in Competition with Popish Designs But this inslaving of our Bodies and depriving us of our outward Rights was the least of those Miseries that were growing upon us and which we were already in part groaning under That which is worse is the Inslaving of our Souls and Consciences by a mighty Power which goeth to check-mate it with Almighty God himself This was coming on us amain like an overflowing Deluge invading the Land. For those that think most moderately of the Administration of things before must allow that all that Liberty that was promised or given was no farther intended than as it was hoped it might be an Introduction to a more Arbitrary Invasion of our Laws and a means of Establishment and Increase of the Romish Religion among us And it is well known what the
that our Contentions and Differences have been most about and that Charity which should be the proper Character of Christians as it is the very Spirit of the Gospel hath been laid aside as if it did not concern us and Fury and Animosity have been taken up instead of it It hath been thought a commendable Quality to be fierce against all that would not entertain their Notions of things that they could even call down for Fire from Heaven upon them to consume them Mens Feet have run to Evil and they have made haste to shed innocent Blood their Thoughts are Thoughts of Iniquity Wasting and Destruction are in their Paths and the way of Peace have they not known Judgment hath been turned away backward and Justice stood afar off Yea Truth faileth and he that departsth from evil hath made himself a Prey As the Words of the Prophet are Isa 57.7 c. Which of Judah's Sins have we not had among us Yea I may say which of Sodom's Sins And all this in a Land of Light which hath been lifted up to Heaven in many Blessings and Priviledges and which professes to receive and submit to the Holy Institutions and Rules of the Blessed Jesus by whom sure we are taught quite other things If the rude and barbarous Indians or Servants of some cruel or Dunghil Deity should wallow in all Licentiousness or should like Beasts of Prey devour and tear one another it would be no such strange thing For this would satisfy best the Fiends they serve But our Saviour hath wrote us another Copy and hath prescribed us Rules of the greatest Purity Self-Denial Love and Condescension to one another And this is our Profession And therefore this must needs be a mighty Aggravation of our Crimes and might give us a just Expectation of another sort of Treatment from the Almighty Well might God have said to us Ah I will ease me of my Adversaries and I will avenge me of my Enemies And we might have grop'd for the Wall like the Blind for Support and Direction and yet might not have found it We might have roared all like Bears and mourned sore like Doves and look'd for Judgment but have found none for Salvation which might have been far from us This we might surely have expected if Providence had measured out to us in his Dispensations that which we had deserved So that what shall we say And is not our Deliverance then of meer Mercy God himself hath put on the Helmet of Salvation upon his Head for us and hath put on the Garments of Vengeance for Clothing and was clad with Zeal as a Cloak and when the Enemy was coming in like a Flood upon us the Spirit of the Lord hath lift up a Standard against him Let us therefore say with the Psalmist Bless the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me bless his Holy Name Bless the Lord O my Soul and forget not all his Benefits Who forgiveth all thine Iniquities and healeth all thy Diseases Who redeemeth thy Life from Destruction who crowneth thee with Loving-kindness and tender Mercies 3. But then it is likewise to be considered in this Duty of Praise that we show our thankful Acceptance of the Mercy by our united Studies and earnest Prayers to have that perfected which is begun and now it is come to so good a pass that it may not meet with any thing to obstruct the desired end If there be any Value for so great a Mercy and if we do really carry a grateful sense of it upon our Hearts if we would not relapse into our former Troubles and Fears but would see a lasting Peace in our Israel we should labour to prevent whatsoever may hinder the full Attainment of a blessed Issue and we should with joint Endeavours and strong Cries to the God of all Counsel and Grace do our very utmost to accomplish so glorious a Work. And if we do our parts we need not doubt but that he who hath so mercifully given out his helping-Hand thus far will be as ready to assist in what remains For if he had a mind to destroy us surely he would not have done us all this good But we must not think to dally with Providence and to have it even at our Beck or Command If we play away this day of Grace and neglect the Season or if we divide into Fractions and run into parties we must not think to be saved against our Will. God hath once more put an Opportunity in our hands wherein we may make our selves happy if we will consider the things that make for our Peace And if we let this pass we do not know whether ever we may have such another If it should at last miscarry for want of our continual united Concurrence it will be in vain for us to pretend an Esteem of the present Providence or a Zeal to our Religion when we still sacrifice the publick Good to our private Interest or unchristian Resentments But if it should be so indeed we can expect no other but to be the Scorn and Derision of all Nations and the Triumph of our enraged Enemies as we shall be really a blot to the English Name and Reformed Religion and our Posterity after us may have too much cause to curse us for the stupidst Generation that ever was But then moreover if we are truly sensible of the Greatness of the present Mercy to our selves and if there be any Grain of Christian Charity left in us we cannot but pity those that want it and shall be as earnest on their Behalf that they may partake of the like and as the Church here prays further that God would turn their Captivity as the Streams of the South and that they who have sowed in Tears may at length reap in Joy So let us pray in the Behalf of our poor Brethren with the deepest and most yearning Compassion O remember not against thy Servants former Iniquities Let thy tender Mercies speedily prevent them for they are brought very low Help them O God of our Salvation for the Glory of thy Name and deliver them Wherefore should the Heathen say Where is now their God Let him be known among the Heathen in our sight And let the Sighing of the Prisoners come before thee according to the Greatness of thy Power So we thy People and Sheep of thy Pasture will give thee Thanks for ever we will shew forth thy Praise to all Generations 4. The last thing that I shall mention that is to be considered in this Duty of Praise is that we manifest the Sincerity of our Gratitude by a serious Study of Amendment and Reformation that it may not repent the Lord what he hath done for us For after all that is come upon us for our evil Deeds and for our great Trespasses seeing that our God hath punished us less than our Iniquities deserve and hath given us such Deliverance as this should we again break his