Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n
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A29186
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A serious meditation upon the dealings of God vvith England and the state thereof in general
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Braithwaite, John, fl. 1660.
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1660
(1660)
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Wing B4207; ESTC R29052
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3,671
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4
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A Serious MEDITATION UPON The Dealings of God vvith England and the State thereof in general O England thy day of visitation from the Lord hath been exceeding large and his dealings with thee exceeding wonderful when thou wast in distress and cryed unto the Lord he heard thee and delivered thee from thy oppressors but Oh how quickly hast thou forgotten the loving kindness of the Lord and the Dealings of thy God! Remember the dayes that are past when thou wast in bondage and slavery and desired freedome to Worship the Lord and the Lord heard and granted unto thee thy desire and also made known the way of his Worship within thy Borders in thy Towns in thy Streets in thy Assemblies hath the Lord proclaimed the Way of Life and Salvation by his Children and Servants But oh how hast thou required the Lord for his loving kindness How hast thou intreated his Servants with Prisons Whippings and Revilings who bare their Testimony against thy Wickedness against thy Pride and Covetousness and Idolatry but oh how hast thou rejected the Counsel of the Lord and hath chosen thine own wayes and followed thine own Counsel and hardned thy heart and stiffned thy neck even like a Rebellious people that would none of the Law of the Lord and therefore thou must eat the fruit of thy own doings and confess that the Lord is just in all his wayes and Righteous in all his judgments for thou hast sinned against the Lord in that thou hast not performed thy Promises which thou made in the Day of thy Distress and therefore Distress must come upon thee again to bring thee to remember those things and repeat which if thou do the Lord will have mercy upon thee and heal thy back-slidings but if thou do not but continue in thy Rebellion the Lord will continue his Judgments upon thee Should not the long-suffering of the Lord lead thee to Repentance and his gentle dealings with thee by correction cause thee to understand that he loves thee but if thou wilt not receive instruction by all his gentle dealings but wilt go on in thy wickedness What canst thou then expect but the Indignation of the Lord to fall upon thee What dost thou think if thou continue in persecuting the Servants of the Lord to wit those that tell thee of thy Wickedness thy Pride and Covetousness dost thou think that that will turn the Judgments of God from thee surely nay that will but hasten Wo and Misery upon thy own head Oh what a day of visitation hast thou had How many times hath the Lord delivered thee and now it may be said by thee as it was once concernig Israel of old yea they turned back and tempted God and limitted the holy one of Israel they remembred not his Hand nor the Day when he delivered them from the Enemy Is not this thy condition oh England although indeed the Lord hath a remnant in thee that do not bow their knees to Baal nor pour out drink-offerings to the Queen of Heaven and this remnant are those which thou calls TROUBLERS OF THY PEACE which trouble thee much like as Elia troubled Israel and this remnant that Woman Jessabel I mean thy false Church that paints her self would have destroyed that so her false Prophets which feeds at her Table might not be Troubled but Trouble must come upon them and their peace must be broken and although Jessabel cause a Fast to be Proclaimed yet God will execute his judgment in thee and if thou say in thy heart wherefore come these things upon me for the greatness of thine Iniquityes are thy skirts discovered and thy heels made bare for the Lord hath seen thy Adulteryes and thy Neighings the Lewdness of thy Whoredoms and thine Abominations on the Hills in the fields Woe unto thee oh England Wilt thou not be made clean when shall it once be Oh! What a large profession hath been made in thee What a talk of Godliness and Christianity but alas what is found in thee Doth not Pride and Envy abound in thee and hath not these things greatly displeased the Lord and for this cause is the anger of the Lord kindled which will devour the Bryars and Thorns in one day and in that Day whether will you flee and where will you leave your glory you that have gloriyed in professing the Gospel and Ordinances and even made this a Covering for your Wickedness and Abomination who under a pretence of seeking the Glory of God have sought honour to your selves and to make your Names great on the earth Is it not even thus oh England and Hath not thy Prophets that divine for money and thy Priests that preach for hire have not they flattered thee in thy Iniquities Have not they cryed Peace to thy Rulers even until the finger of the Lord hath broken forth against them and they have been confounded And wilt thou not for all this receive instruction â—or correction but still go on in thy Wickedness and Rebellion against the Lord What wilt thou revolt more and more and shew more and â—ore Cruelty to the Servants of the Lord surely then more and more of the Indignation of the Lord thou must feel What is it now become a trouble to thee to have sin reproved in thy gates Dost thou make him an offender that speaks the truth And do those men that testifie against thy Wickedness break thy Peace the peace of thy Rulers and the peace of thy Priest And do thy Prophets that divine for money and Priests that preach for hire do they tell thee that it would be a happiness to thee if thou were rid of those men that reprove thee for thy Wickedness Do not they even thus oh England And do not many of thy People think and say the same What would it be thy happiness to sin without reproof surely nay for if once they whose souls are vexed with thy filthy conversation were driven out of thee then would thy misery come and the Lord would make thee desolate even like Sodom and Gomorrah which was overthrown for an example of his Righteous judgments unto all that would not receive Instruction Oh how is thy SILVER become Dross And thy LIBERTY become bondage Oh how art thou gone Backward and not Forward even doating upon thy old Idolls and not content that they should worship them that have set their minds thereupon but thou wouldest also Compel that remnant in thee that are followers of the Lamb for whose sake the Lord hath long spared thee and yet thou art so foolish and unwise as much as in thee lyeth to hasten on thy own Destruction What may wickedness be tollerated in thee and not be reproved Is this the Liberty that thou now seeks after Wouldest thou have Wickedness established by a Law and the reprovers thereof be condemned Is it not even thus within thy borders And yet for all this thou wilt lean upon the Lord and say is not he amongst us no evil can come unto us and cry peace peace even till destruction come upon thee from the Lord Oh how often hath the Lord invited thee and even with his Love sought to draw thee unto himself but thou hast refused his loving invitation and grieved his holy Spirit from time to time so that if the Lord say as he once said concerning Ephraim it is but just England is joyned to Idols let it alone and then desolation and misery will come upon it When I would comfort my heart against sorrow it is even faint within me to consider what WARNINGS from Time to Time hast thou had and this thou hast and dost account thy trouble But greater trouble shall come upon thee from the Lord except thou repent Oh how hast thou chosen thy own Wayes and followed thy own Counâ—els and would have Ministers of thy own making and Prophets which would flatter thee in thy Wickedness and Prophesy smooth thing unto thee even the deceit of their own hearts and this thou hast loved rather than plain and honest dealing and now what shall the Lord do unto thee for those things Shall not he recompence thee according to thy wayes and doings and in that day thou shalt confess to his Righteus judgments How have thy Priests stirred up thy Rulers against a harmless people even like as Amazia the Priests of Bethel did who complained against Amos the Prophet saying Amos hath conspired against the King the Land is not able to bear his words is it not even thus among thy Priests Oh England and alas What have this People done against thee I mean the dispised remnant which are called QUAKERS What evil have they done that thou art so mightily troubled What do thy Priests say concerning them do they say they are Hereticks and such like But How When or Where did they prove it against them within thy borders it is good for all thy Inhabitants Oh England to consider of this matter and not Imbrue their hands in the Blâ—â—â— of the Innocent for of a truth the Lord hath raised this People up within thy borders to make thee a happy and a blessed Nation for even in HIM in whom they have believed the Nations comes to be blessed even in JESUS-CHRIST the Covenant the Light which is given for salvation to the ends of the earth of whom they have born and do bear their Testimony within thy borders of which Testimony they need never be ashamed which if thou shouldest alwaies reject and go on in thy Rebellion thou wilt be most Unhappy and Miserable even the worst of the Nations and therefore it is my desire in the bowels of love as being one of thy Inhabitants who wishing thy welfare and happiness that thou mayest seriously Meditate upon the dealings of God with thee and upon his loving kindness which hath been and yet is Tendered unto thee and that thou mayest return to the Lord is the earnest desire of my soul lest it be said to thee as Christ once said to Jerusalem O ENGLAND ENGLAND thou that killest the Prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee how often would I have gathered thy Children together as a Hen gathereth her Chickens under her wings but you would not Oh that thou hadst known in this thy Day the things that belong to thy peace but now they are hid from thine eyes JOHN BRAITHWAIT THE END