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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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and Assistance and uniting all both at home and abroad to comply with the Undertaking or not to make any considerable Opposition Surely this is the Lord 's Doing and it ought to be marvellous in our Eyes Oh sing unto the Lord a new Song sing unto the Lord all the Earth Sing unto the Lord bless his Name â—and shew forth his Salvation from day to day For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised He is to be feared above all Gods Honour and Majesty are before him Strength and Beauty are in his Sanctuary Give unto the Lord O ye Kindreds of the People give unto the Lord Glory and Strength Give unto the Lord the Glory due unto his Name bring an Offering and come into his Courts Say among the Heathen that the Lord reigneth the World also shall be established that it shall not be moved he shall judg the People righteously 2. The next thing then to be considered in this Duty of Praise is that as we acknowledg it to be God's Act so that we acknowledg it also to be an Act of free Grace and mere undeserved Mercy to us so that we must every way say Not unto us O Lord not unto us but unto thy Name be given the Glory As our Help cometh of God for vain else would be the Help of Man so we must acknowledg that it is of God's mere Mercy that we are thus delivered and that we are not consumed It is only because his Compassions fail not This must always be remembred as Moses also tells the Jews upon their getting the Land of Canaan Deut. 9.4 Speak not thou in thy Heart after that the Lord thy God hath cast out these Nations from before thee saying For my Righteousness the Lord hath brought me in to possess this Land But for the Wickedness of these Nations the Lord doth drive them out from before thee Not for thy Righteousness or for the Vprightness of thine Heart dost thou go to possess the Land but for the Wickedness of these Nations the Lord doth drive them out from before thee c. Whether it be for their Sins or no that there hath been such a strange change and Revolution among us I will not determine but I am sure it is not for our Merits For I doubt we have cause enough to lament and confess with Shame and Confusion as Ezra did the Sins of the People of the Jews Ezr. 9.6 O my God I am ashamed and blush to lift up my Face to thee my God For our Iniquities are increased over our Heads and our Trespass is grown up unto the Heavens Since the Days of our Fathers have we been in a great Trespass unto this Day And therefore we must say as he ver 8. that it is all of Mercy that we have been delivered from any Evil that Grace hath been shewn us from the Lord our God to leave us a Remnant to escape and to give us a Nail in his Holy Place that our God may lighten our Eyes and give us a little reviving in our Bondage And God hath not forsaken us but hath extended Mercy unto us It is all Grace and Mercy and not Worthiness and Merit on our parts There have been blessed be God many pious praying Persons amongst us that have been earnest with God for Mercy and Settlement to the Land. But how many more are there that have been Cursers Swearers Atheists and prophane Wretches that have not had the Fear of God before their Eyes And we may well admire that the Oaths and Blasphemies of the many have not outcryed the Prayers of the few Swearing is a mere Defiance of Heaven without any considerable Temptation having nothing it it either of Prosit or Pleasure But yet is a Sin that hath got into all parts into Courts and Cities into Towns and Villages to the Country Man at his Plow and Cart and the Shop-keeper in his Shop to bind every little Bargain to bloat up a vain Discourse and to back every giddy Passion We have lived in an Age wherein Hell hath been as it were let loose and Rioting and Drunkenness Chambering and Wantonness Luxury and Intemperance have been very fashionable Accomplishments and Sin hath been grown downright impudent and hath outfac'd the Sun at Noon-day Whereas formerly as the Apostle tells us that they that were drunk were drunk in the Night as being the proper time to conceal such Works of Darkness Now we have had not only Night-Revellings but Day-excesses with a witness And whereas the Proverb used to be as drunk as a Beggar I am sorry to say that those of higher Quality have seemed to envy the Beggar 's good Name Sin hath taken Heart and hath dared to show it self and come abroad in Pomp having had the Examples and Encouragements of Persons of all Places and Qualities to countenance and back it so that there hath obtained almost an universal Corruption of Manners And then Uncleanness follows as the natural Consequent of all this and is always the Companion of a loose and wicked Age. As for Divine Worship and Adoration due to the great Creator of our Beings and our continual Preserver and Benefactor how little hath it been regarded by most Persons and Families and by many even on the Christian Sabbath it self That Day which hath been set apart for Divine Service and Worship for devout Meditations and pious Works hath been made with many a meer Market-day of Debauchery the best Day that the Devil hath and the worst day of all the Week or else a time of meer Visit and Idleness except what is just spent in some parts perhaps of the publick Service and which Men have been quite weary of too Yea how hath all that is Divine been exposed by Men of corrupt Minds the Holy Scripture it self burlesqued and droled at and how hath it been the Pride and Glory of wanton Wits to dare to speak against Heaven and to make a Scoff of Immortality Religion hath been decried in the Streets true Seriousness and Strictness have been esteemed a Crime Formality and a siery Zeal for particular Forms and Parties for Ceremonies and outward Garbs hath been with too too many thought a sufficient Commutation for substantial Piety and good Works to bow at the Name of Jesus and to be zealous for Church and Liturgy must atone with many for all manner of Debaucheries and Immoralities And what Bitterness and Envy have been among Neighbours How few have been clothed with Humility or have put on Charity which is the Bond of Perfectness But hard Censures and unjust Surmises Slanders and Backbitings Hatred and Strife have prevailed among those that should have lived together in mutual Love and Kindness Families and Neighbourhoods have been the Theater of unchristian Feuds and how have those that are joined in the same Societies rejoic'd in one anothers Falls and Miseries Yea Religion it self which should have meekned and united our Hearts hath been the very thing
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