Selected quad for the lemma: death_n
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B04652
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Salvation improved: in a sermon upon the 16th of April, 1696. : Being the day of solemn thanksgiving for the preservation of His Majesty's sacred person, from barbarous assassination; and of this kingdom, from French invasion. / Preached at Oswestry, by J.O. minister of the Gospel.
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Owen, James, 1654-1706.
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1696
(1696)
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Wing O6; ESTC R181128
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15,594
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31
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discharges its Fury against a Tree where the King had been a few Minutes before At the Siege of Namur some fall at his Right-hand some at his Left while himself stands as an impregnable Monument of Divine Power and Goodness The Lord hath delivered him in six Troubles Job 5.19 yea in seven no evil hath touched him Eliphaz reckons it among the Priviledges of a good Man Job 5.23 that he shall be in League with the stones of the field that is he shall be preserved from every hurtful thing Stones in those ancient times were used in Wars and did as much execution then as Bullets now Judg. 20.16 and 9.53 * 1 Sam 17.49 Joseph de bill Judaic 111.9 Josephus in his description of the Siege of Jotapata by Vespasian saith that the Stones that the Romans shot out of their Catapultae and great Machines destroyed whole Ranks of Soldiers together and that the Head of one of his Men for he was Governour of the place was struck off with a great stone and was carried three Furlongs distance with the violence of it He adds that a Big-bellied Woman was shot in the Belly and the shattered Infant driven half a Furlong with the force of another Stone Thou shalt be in League with the stones of the Field is as much as if he had said No Weapon sormed against thee shall prosper one Species of Warlike Instruments being put for all the rest King William may be said to be in League with Guns and Pistols Ps 91.12 with Swords and Pikes he dashes not his foot against a Stone but walks securely amidst the greatest and seemingly insuperable dangers All this is owing to the Protection of Heaven which attends all his Noble and Hazardous Undertakings He is raised by a singular Providence to be a Deliverer of oppressed Nations and eminently shares in the Blessings he derives upon others by the distinguishing Deliverances which the Divine Favour hath wrought for him The King trusteth in the Lord Ps 21.7 and through the Mercy of the Most High he shall not be moved I shall give two Reasons for the Confirmation of the Truth before us to wit That there is a particular Providence which guards the Persons of Princes especially good Princes 1. The first reason is taken from their near relation unto God Princes are Terrestrial Gods they partake in some measure of the Divine perfections are illustrated with some Beams of the excellent Glory their persons are Sacred and have visible Characters of Majesty upon them Dominion over Creatures of an inferiour rank Gen. 1.27.28 is part of God's Image upon Man Dominion over Men is a more excellent resemblance of God the supreme Rector of the World For this reason Princes are called Gods Ps 82.6 I said ye are Gods by office not by nature They are Men by Nature as it is in the following words v. 7. Ye shall dye like Men But by Office they are Gods God puts his Name upon them Vox 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ut notant Hebraei sive de Deo sumatur sive de hominibus sive de Angelis judiciariam potestatem sufficat Grot. in Exod vid Schinler and invests them with power and Authority for the Administration of Justice the protection and encouragement of those that do well and for the punishment and terror of Evil Doers They are honourable Ministers of the Eternal King deputed by him and entrusted with the Government of this Lower World Hence Subjects are required to Honour them next unto God to obey them in the Lord Fear God Honour the King And in another place Exod. 22.28 Thou shalt not revile the Gods nor Curse the Ruler of thy People Sometimes we Translate the Word Elohim Judges as in Exod. 21.6 Then his Master shall bring him unto the Judges 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unto the Gods 2 Chron. 19.6 so called because they judge not for Man but for the Lord. Earthly Princes think themselves obliged to support and defend their Officers of State Turg 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 coram judices how much more doth the King of Glory exert a particular Concern for his Vicegerents upon Earth They are Gods not absolute and independent Persons It is the Prerogative of the Eternal to be Absolute and Unlimited Dan. 5.23 Rulers over Men are Subjects to God in whose Hand their Breath is and whose are are all their Ways Ps 18. King David reckons it his highest Honour to be the Servant of the Lord. God's Government in the World is Absolute his Will is Sovereign and the only measure of all good and evil and it must needs be so for he is infinitely Wise essentially and immutably Good His excellent Wisdom secures him from all possibility of erring or mistaking his transcendent Goodness from all possibility of abusing his Power to the hurt of any But this cannot be said of any created Being much less of Man who is miserably degenerated from his Original Purity and Perfection The wisest of Men know but in part the best of Men are imperfectly good It was Man's first Apostacy from God to covet to be as Gods supreme and absolute By aspiring too high and invading the Prerogatives of his Maker he fell below himself and became like the Beasts that perish Ps 49.20 The most absolute of Princes are the most brutish of Men they Tyrannize over their emasculated Subjects and with an Appetite worse than brutish devour those of their own kind None aspires more to Absoluteness than the Prince of the power of the Air who boldly usurps the Divine Properties assumes the incommunicable Attributes of the Infinite Being and exerciseth a Tyrannical Dominion over a great part of the sinful World to the ruin and destruction of Mankind He is therefore called Apollyon Rev. 9.11 or the Destroyer They that assume the same Power imploy it for the same Ends and entitle themselves to the same Name only they have this disadvantage of him that they are not Immortal as he is these Infernal Gods shall dye like Men and they rarely dye the common Death of other Men. They forfeit the divine Protection and perish in their own Iniquity Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee I am God Ezek. 8 2◠but thou shalt be a Man and no God in the Hand of him that slayeth thee But good Princes account it their greatest Happiness to resemble the Divine Goodness to make the Established Laws the Rule of Government and to direct all their Actions to the publick Good They have no Interest of their own distinct from their Subjects they are Fathers of their Country and naturally care for it they are Heads of the Political Body and derive Life and Vigour to all the Members of it except it be some gangren'd parts which should be cut off lest the whole be infected and endangered by them While proud Tyrants affect to be like the most High it 's
tied as it were to the Horns of the Altar and ready to be Sacrificed But the Great Shepherd and Bishop of our Souls the Prince of the Kings of the Earth looked down from Heaven troubled the Hosts of these Egyptians and took off their Chariot-Wheels as they were driving on with the greatest Fury and assurance of Success Ps 2.4 He that sitteth in the Heavens did laugh the Lord had them in derision He Divided their Tongues Infatuated their Counsels and made the sworn Instruments of the Kings Destruction the happy means of preventing it He sent a spirit of Jealousie among them which occasioned the discovery of their execrable Intentions Ps 110.2 Thus Christ rules in the midst of his Enemies and over-rules their Hellish Policies to his own Praise Job 5.12 13 14 15. He disappointeth the Devices of the Crafty so that their Hands cannot perform their Enterprize He takes the Wise in their own Craftiness and the Counsel of the Froward it carried headlong When Balak practiced against Israel and took Balaam for his Counsellor neither the one or the other thought of the French Method of hiring a company of Desperadoes to Assassinate Moses who was a King in Jeshurun and so prepare a way for an easie and inglorious Victory over Israel No that Heathen Prince judged it the best policy to engage his Gods on his side and to expose Israel to a Prophetick Curse The World then was too innocent to entertain such devilish projects Royal Minds scorn such mean Arts of subduing their Adversaries The Assassinating Invention owes its Original to latter and more Brutish Ages the name and thing are derived from the barbarous Saracens among whom there is a Bloody Sect called Assassini living under a Senior or Ruler whom they honour as a Prophet by whom they are sent forth to murther such Princes as favour them not promising themselves the reward of Immortality by him in all things though with the loss of their Lives They are Mahometans by profession and one would be apt to think no other but a Mahometan were capable of such Villany Our Noble King Edward the first when he was at Acon was dangerously wounded by an Assassine and had undoubtedly died of the Wound which the Saracen had given him with a poisoned Knife had not Queen Eleanor of immortal memory sucked out the poison with her Tongue when no Medicine could extract it She licked his rankling Wounds whereby they perfectly closed and yet her self received no harm The Spirit of this Barbarous Sect is since enter'd into the Jesuits and other Popish Orders who have by their Writings and Actions proved themselves the genuine Off-spring of the Mahom tan Assassines Henry the 3d. of France and his Successor Henry the 4th a great Prince both fell by base assassinating One would think the present French King whose Grandfather was stabbed by Ravaillac should above all Men abhor Assassinations especially towards a Prince who exposes his Person to the utmost hazards of Battle but we have have strong Presamptions that the design upon King William's Life was carried on with his Knowledge and Approbation nor could the late King be ignorant of it or less innocent than his mighty Guardian For the Success of the intended Invasion depended upon the taking away of the Kings Life The Army at Calais under the Conduct of Monsieur Bouflers and K. J. waited only for the welcome news of the King's Death to give Life to all their motions The discovery of the Plot broke all their measures and spoil'd the infallible design The French King's Ambassadours at the Courts of Sweden and Portugal and in some other Courts of Europe gave sufficient hints of their knowledge of it Besides Grandval who was Executed in August 1692. in Flanders for being in Conspiracy to assassinate King William confessed that he was put on by Monsieur Barbesieux the French King's Secretary who promised he should be made a Count and by the late K. J. of whom he had Audience in Presence of his Queen and was assured by him he should never want provided he did his work effectually They who have been concerned in a design against the King's Life may be justly suspected to have a hand in the late Conspiracy which was undertaken in favour of them both and who were like to be the Principal if not only gainers by it 2. There is a particular Providence over Princes in covering them from open and publick dangers King David often recognizeth the divine Goodness in delivering him from his strong Enemies even when they were too strong for him They compassed him about like Bees Ps 18.17 and 118 12. and were quenched as the fire of Thorns When he was surrounded with the snares of Death God made a way of escape for him When good King Jehoshaphat was inclosed by the Syrian Army 2 Chro. 18.31 he cried out unto God and he helped him and moved them to depart from him King Richard the first who was hunting carelessly near Joppa with a few of his Nobles about him was surprized by a company of Turks who lay in Ambushment for him and had inevitably fallen into their Hands had not one of the Company walsh hypod neustr p. 454. William de Pratellis cried out in the Turkish Language That he was the King which the Turks believing carried him away in Triumph and neglected the rest whereby King Richard had his opportunity of escaping their Hands and returned safe to his own All Histories are full of Instances of a particular vigilancy of Providence over Princes but no Age hath afforded more pregnant ones than those that concern the Person of our Illustrious King William A Narrative of all the remarkable deliverances of his Life would fill up a just Volumn None can be more conversant with dangers none more secure in the midst of them He walks without fear in the Valley of the Shadow of Death he passes untouched through the midst of the Enemy's Fire guarded by invisible Powers as the three young Men in the Fiery Furnace he advanceth with an Heroick Courage before the Mouths of roaring Canons those Artificial Vulcano's that vomit out Fire and Smoak and flying Globes the irresistible Messengers of a terrible and present death His trust is in the name of the Lord which is a strong Tower a Shield of defence and a sure Refuge which no adverse Power is able to penetrate He believes that every Bullet has its Commission 2 Kings 22 3â— and is directed by unerring Providence This is not to ascribe events to a Turkish Fate as his Enemies have invidiously and basely traduced him but an entire dependance upon the Divine Will to whose Conduct the most fortuitous Events ought to be ascribed How wonderfully has God preserved him at the Boyn A Canon-Ball gently salutes him to give him a sensible Impress of his mortal state and of his immortal Obligations to his Almighty Preserver In Flanders another Canon-Bullet