Selected quad for the lemma: conscience_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A62010
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Loyall subjects, or The blessed mans encouragement vpon the Kings retyrement from Hampton Court, November.11. Delivered in a sermon, November the 14th. 1647. By T.S. D.D.
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Swadlin, Thomas, 1600-1670.
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1647
(1647)
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Wing S6221; ESTC R222129
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11,055
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22
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nor singe my cloathes A fift bids him take Sanctuary for the Empresse would have him throwne into a Den of Lyons Jaciat sayes he content still I make no question but the Angels will musle them for hurting me Yet a sixt perswades him to convey himselfe aside for a little while that the Church of Christ might receive some further benefit by him else the Emprelse would have him stoned to death Fiat voluntas Dei sayes he I have alwayes prayed that the will of God might bee fulfilled and if this be his will let it bee fulfilled and Hers too I will use all lawfull meanes for my preservation being persecuted in this City I will flie into another but still with this resolution I am not afraid to follow Saint Stephen thorow a whole showre or Quarry of stones into the Kingdome of Heaven If these Examples be procul and too farre at too great a distance for us to follow looke we then upon some of our owne Country-men and amongst them upon a noble Glenham who was more conquered by an empty dish then by an insulting and increasing Foe and yet was afraid of neither but left his Garrison of Carlile with more honour then his Enemy gain'd it Looke wee upon a valiant Fawcet who was more conquered by the mutiny of his unfaithfull slaves for they are not worthy the name of Soldiers that will mutiny then his thundering enamies and yet was afraid of neither but came off with more honour then he left behinde him Looke we upon a Loyall Compton who notwithstanding the improbability of reliefe and the continuation of an hard Seige and the multiplication of a cruell Enemy was yet resolved to feare nothing but to come off with so much honour as to leave none behind him for his enemy Looke wee upon an undaunted Arundell who being summoned to deliver up the remainder in the West and allured thereunto because the Kings party was utterly defeated returned an answer as full of Resolution as Religion as full of courage as Christianity and such as became both a Soldier and a Christian I have lived untainted these threescore and seaven yeares and I have not now any minde to go a Rebell to my grave Remember if you revolt you turne Rebells and if you dye in that Apostacy you dye Rebells and leave an Odium upon your Name and a Curse upon your Estates Looke wee upon those Gentlemen but looke wee upon them with the eyes of charity and imitation who at the last of all went from Portsmouth and Exeter to Oxford what carryed them so many a weary steppe when they might have lived quietly there or have gone safely to their owne habitation but the example of a Loyall Wagstaf and the feare of being tempted into a Rebellion and a desire to live and dye in his Majesties service I could tell you of many more who have chose rather to live in Exile in Prison in Poverty then any way to comply or compound with the enemy having yet a hope above reason but not without faith that God will at last arise and acknowledge his owne cause and maintaine it and remember how the foolish man hath blasphemed him And that God may owne his cause looke wee upon his Majesty who not withstanding so many waves of the sea and so much madnesse of the people in the losse of all and above all in the unreasonablenesse of Propositions is yet so farre from being afraid of any evill tydings that he yet doubts not to recover all at least to requite all our miseries with the blessing of peace and honourable conditions And that God may blesse him in these undertakings with successe looke wee upon him with admiration for his constancy and perseverance looke wee upon him with imitation for his patience and pursuing Peace looke we upon him with sighs and teares that Hee so good a King should have so bad Subjects looke wee upon him with Loyalty and contribution and make it a case of conscience whether when he undertakes so many hazards for us as his former journey to the Scots did and his present retirement God knowes whither presents him with it be not a rising sin for us to murmure or for any of our Party to feare whether it be not a sin in every one of us to spend a penny upon our superfluities now hee wants so many for his owne and our urgent necessities but especially looke wee upon him with prayers and supplications that God would blesse his pious Oratory with a gratious peace or by an unexpected supply with a glorious victory And doubt not but that God who in a like expedition returned him safe from a Spanish Treachery and delivered him from the pawe of the Beare and Beasts of ravine will also preserve him from an English Conspiracy and deliver him from the Talon of the Eagle and Birds of Prey If he miscarry in one or both blame not the goodnesse of his Cause or Person but the badnesse of our selves the falsenesse of our hearts and the faintnesse of our Prayers Never was a better Cause since the World began No not in the Primitive Persecutions for then Heathen Emperours persecuted Christian Subjects But now Heathen Subjects under Christian names persecute the best of Christian Kings and if such a Cause perish wee must conclude our selves the worst of People since Adam begat Caine Never was a better King no not in Israel setting aside the spirit of Prophesie King David himselfe cannot outvye him for goodnesse and if hee and wee perish it is not because hee but wee have done wickedly King David was a man after Gods owne heart and is not King Charles so too The reason I am sure is alike for both Confirmatum enim est cor ejus for his heart standeth fast believing in the Lord Pars. 3. It is my third consideration Quare non timet ab auditu malo Why he that feareth God feareth not any evill tidings Paratum est cor ejus confirmatum est cor ejus stabilicamest cor ejus read it which way you please his heart stand eth fast and believeth in the Lord his heart is prepared to believe in the Lord. And heere the very object Lord is enough to make our heart to stand fast and believe Were it but El there were a Magazine of strength in that and wee shall have reliefe enough if wee believe in Him as Hee is a strong God Were it but Shaddai there is a Pana cea of sufficiency in that and wee shall have succour enough if we believe in Him as Hee is God Al-sufficient Were it but Elion there is a Mountaine of Hope in that and wee shall have supply enough if our heart standeth fast in Him as Hee is the Most high God Were it but Tsebaoth there is an Army of Protection in that and wee shall have victory enough if our heart standeth fast and believeth in Him as Hee is the Lord of Hosts Were it but Adonai there is
a Rocke of Preservation in that and wee shall be upheld enough if wee believe in Him as he is the strong Foundation But it is more then all this for it is Jehovah the most essentiall and excellent name of God If El implies his Omnipotency If Elion implies his Soveraignety If Shaddai implies his Immutability If Tsebaoth implies his Irresistability If Adonai implyes his Fidellity sure I am Jehovah implies them all whether you take it in the construction of our owne Divines or in the Derivation of others In the Construction of our owne Divines it signifies three things First Habere esse a se ipso that hee hath his Being of himselfe Secondly Dare esse omnibus that hee gives a being to all things that be Thirdly Dare esse verbo that he gives a being to his word and wee therefore neede not feare if wee believe the truth of his word but he will give Rebells their due and settle the Crowne to flourish upon the Kings head Or if you take the meaning of Jehovah in the derivation of other either with Oleaster as it is derived from Hovah which signifies Destruction then wee have reason to believe Hee will be mighty in the destruction of his Enemies Or whether you take it with Galatinus as it is derived from Hajah which signifies to bee and wee have reason to beleeve Hee will be mighty amongst us in our Preservation Let your hearts stand fast in Jehovah then And ere long He will either divert our Enemies from pursuing us as he did Saul from hunting David or Hee will divide our Enemies in their Consultations as he did destroy the counsell of Achitophell by the counter-counsell of Hushai or Hee will give our Enemies to selfe-destruction as he did Abimelech and the house of Millo or Hee will call back our enemies by strange rumours as he did the Assiryans All these wayes and many more God can doe it so that wee need not bee afraid of any evill tydings and Hee will be perswaded to doe it if we feare him for when wee feare him then as it was when the Dictator ruled in Rome all other offices ceased so when the feare of God is in us then all other feares vanish This was acknowledged by that once magnanimous Earle of Essex but afterwards the Rebell Father of a Rebell Sonne sometimes sayd hee When I have beene in the Field and encountered the Enemy the weight of my sinnes have lyen so heavy upon my conscience because I was not reconciled to my God that my Spirits were quelled and I have beene the most timerous man upon the earth I wish our Gentlemen of the Sword if ever the King hath occasion to use them againe that they would not batter our Walls more within by sinne then the Enemy can doe without by Guns that they would not storme themselves more by oathes and ruine themselves more by mutining and undoe themselves more by Treachery then an Enemy can by strength and you that heare mee this day Let your hearts stand fast and beleeve in the Lod And that our hearts may and that the heart of the King may Pray wee for him and for our selves Helpe the King O God and helpe us O God for vaine is the helpe of man Though thou hast cast him a great way off yet bee not displeased too long but turne thee unto him againe and returne him unto us againe but returne him either with an Olive of Peace or with a Lawrell of Conquest or if neither yet let neither tribulation nor anguish nor sword nor any other thing separate us from fearing thee that we may not be afraid of any evill tydings because of thy love in Jesus Christ Amen FINIS