Selected quad for the lemma: city_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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Safety in War OR THE INFALLIBLE ARTILLERY OF A Kingdom Fleet or Army IN SERMONS UNTO THEIR Majesties Forces by 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 By JOHN WHITTEL Chaplain in the Army 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lib. 10. ◠721. LONDON Printed for Randal Taylor near Stationers Hall 1692. To the Right Honourable the LORDS of the Treasury My Lords ACcidentally meeting with a certain Pamphlet concerning Courage which was design'd no doubt to weaken the Hands of Gods People or dismay their Majesties Forces in this holy War by Sea and Land I conceived it would not be in vain for me to publish something which might tend to their Majesties Welfare and the Encouragement of the Fleet and Army in this depraved Age wherein Fidelity is abandon'd by many as Antichristian My Lords these naked Truths in these Jejune Papers are for the most part such as were sounded in the Ears of the Army And therefore I have reason to hope they may be embrac'd by them now with the same Candidness and Singleness of Heart as they were deliver'd in order to the Advancement of Gods Glory the good of the Church Militant against the common Enemy and Oppressor and the Welfare Peace and Happiness of their Majesties and their Kingdoms I must confess my Lords there is in them no Politeness of Style Floridness of Phrase or Sweetness of Rhetorick which may make them esteem'd by the Learned Yet I hope a familiar Scripture-dress may not be disesteem'd by the Vulgar and more Vnlearn'd for whom alone they are sent abroad in this nice Age. And since nothing is spoken here but what hath been spoken before our Days and Treatises or Sermons are generally entertain'd according to the Proverb Quot Homines tot Sententiae I must crave the Honour of your Lordships as to shelter these honest tho' unpolish'd Papers under your Lordships Patronage praying you to accept them as a sincere Acknowledgment of that indispensible Duty which is owing unto your Lordships From your Lordships most humble Servant J. W. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Numb 14. 9. Rebel not ye against the Lord neither fear ye the People of the Land for they are Bread for us Their Defence is departed from them and the Lord is with us Fear them not BEFORE we come to handle these Words in particular it cannot be improper for to shew you the occasion of them together with the People unto whom they are spoken and the Person or Persons that spake ' em We read in the Holy Bible how God Almighty of his free Grace and Goodness chose the Seed of Jacob which was afterwards call'd Israel because as a Prince he had Power with God unto himself for to be a peculiar People unto him above all other Nations And therefore he promised for to multiply them as the Stars of Heaven for number and to give unto them the Land of Canaan for an Heritage And in order to the fulfilling of his gracious Covenant the Lord Jehovah brought his own People out from the midst of Egypt by Temptations by Signs and by Wonders and by War and by a mighty Hand and by a stretched Arm and by great Terrors which he brought upon Pharaoh and his whole Host and at length overturning them in the midst of the red Sea as they were pursuing the Children of Israel Deut. 4. 34. Moreover the eternal God led his own People forty Years long in the Wilderness going before them by Day in a Pillar of a Cloud for to shew them by what way they should go and by Night in a Pillar of Fire to give Light unto 'em and be a Wall or Defence between the Camp of Israel and the Camp of the Egyptians So that the one came not near the other all Night When they were come unto the Confines of the Land of Promise Moses by the Commandment of God and Entreaty of the People sent forth a Man out of every Tribe for to go before them and search the Land and bring 'em Word back what it was whether good or bad and what People they were which dwelt therein whether strong or weak few or many and whether they dwelt in Cities Tents or strong Holds After forty Days these Spys return'd from searching the Land and brought with them from thence some Grapes Pomegranates and Figs and came and told their Brethren That it was a Land which flowed with Milk and Hony but the People thereof were Strong and of a great Stature and their Cities were wall'd and very great Yea they said That they saw there Giants the Sons of Anak and they were in their own Sight but as Grashoppers unto them and therefore there was no going up against them they were so strong Thus these Spys which were sent brought up an evil Report upon the Land insomuch that all the Congregation of Israel lifted up their Voice and cryed and the People wept all Night and murmured against Moses and against Aaron saying Would God that we had died in the Land of Egypt Or would God that we had died in this Wilderness Wherefore hath the Lord brought us up to fall by the Sword and our Wives and our little ones to become a Prey c. Were it not better for us to return into Egypt And they said one to another Let us make us a Captain and let us return thither Upon this Moses and Aaron fell on their Faces before all Israel And those two mighty Men of Valour which were of them that had search'd the Land and had another Spirit in them following God fully Namely Joshua the Son of Nun and Caleb the Son of Jephunneth used their best endeavours for to still and satisfie the People and to cause them to be better opinionated towards the Country and to remember how the most high God was their Defence and had fought their Battels for them against their Enemies and how he had led them safely thither saying The Land which we passed through for to search it is an exceeding good Land If the Lord delight in us then he will bring us into this good Land and give it to us Only rebel not ye against the Lord neither fear ye the People of c. As if they had said You whose Eyes have seen what great things the Lord your God did for you ever since he brought you out of the Land of Egypt or out of the Furnace by the Hands of Moses and Aaron You who are his own peculiar People for you now to fear when ye are at the very Borders of the Land is very evil Therefore do not rebel against the Lord in murmuring against his Ministers Moses and Aaron whom he hath set over you But remember the mighty Hand of God which bare you in all this Wilderness as a Man doth his Son and be not discouraged at the Strength of the People the number of their Cities and the height of their Walls for the Lord your God which goeth before you he it is that fighteth for you
Rebel not ye against c. The Words do naturally teach us these three Lessons 1. That when once the Lord is departed from a Nation or People Fleet or Army it cannot prosper or stand Their Defence is departed from them 2. That God only is the best and safest Defence of his Church against her Adversaries And the Lord is with us 3. That to fear the Lord of Hosts himself and not the Arm of Flesh or to be very Couragious in Fighting God's Battel is a Duty required of all his People but especially of those which are called thereunto by lawful Authority and a principal means for to keep the Lord with or among such a People or Army For says the Text Fear them not Of these in their order by the assistance of the Holy Ghost which openeth and no Man shuts and shuts and no Man openeth who can shew forth the Praises of the Most-high out of the Mouths of Babes and Sucklings and whose Grace is sufficient to enable the weakest Instrument First That when once the Lord is departed from a Nation or People Fleet or Army it cannot prosper or stand The truth of this I shall endeavour God willing to make out two manner of ways 1. From the Nature of God And 2. From the Testimony of his Holy Spirit First From the Nature of God who is the Fountain and Original from whence springs all our Happiness and Comfort and from whom alone every good Gift and every perfect Gift comes As Health Strength Grace Meekness Goodness Faith Prosperity and Plenty It is he that gives us such fruitful Seasons and fills our Hearts with Joy and Gladness It is the Lord Jehovah alone that giveth Salvation unto Kings and delivers his Servants from the hurtful Sword It is that Almighty and Eternal Essence who is the great and glorious Creator of all things and Judg of all Men and Searcher of all Hearts and Rewarder of such as diligently seek him who preserves maintains and upholds all other Beings whatsoever both in Heaven above in the Earth beneath and in the Water under the Earth by his most infinite and unlimited Power and Omnipotency And therefore he will have Mercy on whom he will have Mercy he hath the same Soveraignity and Power of us and over all Kingdoms and Nations as the Potter hath over the Clay of the same Lump to make one Vessel unto Honour and another unto Dishonour He removes and sets up Kings and disposes of Kingdoms and changes Times and Seasons according to his Pleasure For the Earth is the Lords and the fulness thereof the World and they that dwell therein So that he can do whatsoever he will with the World He hath founded the Earth upon the Seas so that 't is easily sunk being a bad Foundation and establishes it upon the Flouds and that 's as dangerous a Situation according to human Sense and external Appearance But yet by the infinite Power of that Almighty God who laid the corner Stone of the World and hath set due Bounds Bars and Doors unto the proud swelling Sea whose Waves roar and toss themselves yet can they not prevail but dash themselves into pieces it is that this mighty Mass is supported It is he alone that makes the Earth bring forth that our Garners may be full affording all manner of Store and our Sheep may bring forth thousands and our Oxen strong to labour and gives us all things liberally and upbraids not Oh there 's nothing can prosper without his Blessing who is the Foundation of all Blessings neither can any thing be done without his Providence over us his Spirit to guide us and Grace and Strength to enable us who measureth the Waters in the hollow of his Hand and meeteth out Heaven with a Span and comprehendeth the Dust of the Earth in a Measure and weighs the Mountains in Scales and the Hills in a Ballance Isa 40. 12. Therefore if this most blessed and omnipotent God once but gather unto himself his Holy Spirit his Breath Protection and Preservation from a Nation If he once depart from a Fleet or Army then that Nation Fleet or Army which is without God with or among them cannot but sink and perish because the very Elements in their kind will then Fight against them as the Stars in their Courses fought against Sisera When the Lord Jehovah is departed from a People then its Courage and Strength its Rock of Salvation and Defence its Refuge Sanctuary and Fountain of Blessing its Giver of Grace and Safety yea it s only Friend and Giver of Victory in Battel is gone away and there can be no prospect to such a People but Ruin and Destruction This we find in the Case of all the Kings of Canaan tho' they were mighty and had vast Armies Yet notwithstanding when they once perceived that the great God the supream Majesty of Heaven and Earth was departed from them and with the Israelites and assisting them wonderfully in all their Undertakings and in drying up the Waters of Jordan for them to enter the Land of Canaan Then presently all their Hearts melted within them for Fear and there was no more Spirit in them because of the Children of Israel Josh 5. 1. And therefore our Church prays Wilt not thou O God go forth with our Hosts Give us help from trouble for vain is the help of Man without thee Through God our Forces both by Sea and Land shall do valiantly and 't is he alone that shall tread down our Enemies 'T is said of Sampson that after his Head was shaven he became weak and like another Man and he said I will go out as at other times before and shake my self Observe For he wist not that the Lord his Strength was departed from him Judg. 16. 20. In like manner the Adversaries of God and his true reform'd Church may yea and do take Counsel together against our Sovereign Lord and Lady King William and Queen Mary as they have done at other times against Queen Elizabeth of blessed Memory but it shall come to nought and their Strength like Sampsons shall deceive 'em because the Lord is departed from them The common Enemy of Truth and Oppressor of Righteousness and Peace in Europe may vaunt himself as at other times and say Is not this great Babylon that I have built Have not I overthrown Towns and laid waste fenced Cities Have not I expell'd from my Kingdom all those that would not obey me rather than God By the might of my Power and for the Honour of my Majesty because I must and will be obey'd else I will set my Blood-thirsty Dragoons upon them But he considers not that the Lord is departed from him and that his vast Army shall be smitten with Terror Look well then O thou Enemy of Truth and Peace upon the Hand-writing on the Wall for it may well make thy Countenance change and thy Thoughts to trouble thee and the Joynts of thy Loyns to be