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A11483
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Gods arrowe of the pestilence. By John Sanford Master of Artes, and chapleine of Magdalen Colledge in Oxford
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Sanford, John, 1564 or 5-1629.
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1604
(1604)
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STC 21734; ESTC S102391
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30,165
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68
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though it be lifted vp brandished by the hand of maÌ„ yet it killeth not but by Gods dispensatioÌ„ as God himselfe saith I will number you to the sworde Esay 65 12 I knowe that the Generall is true that neither the sworde in battaile nor this Arrowe of the Pestilence doeth kill any but those that are appointed thereunto But whether a man may thereupon inferre that it is not lawfull at all to flie from the one nor the other Calvin epist 362. facessant Paradoxa Zanchius ad Philip. cap 2.30 Ovid. 7. meta Fab. 25. it seemeth in Diuinity an harsh sequell and Argument but I will not take vpon me to determine this Question I know great Diuines learned and iudicious to bee of another minde And certaine it is and woe-full experience teacheth that to bee too true which the Poet hath Quo propior quisque est servitque fideliùs aegro In partem laethi citiùs venit By how much the neerer meÌ„ come about infected persons by so much the sooner they come by their own deaths I know that there is a time to be borne Eccles 3 2 Iob 14 5 Seneca Her Fur. Act 1 in choro Luth. in cap 2 Ecclesiastae a time to die as Iob saith mans daies are determined the nomber of his moneths are with God who hath set him his bouÌ„ds that he cannot passe Nulli iusso cessare licet nulli scriptum proferre dieÌ„ Many men saith Luther haue bin deepely deadly wounded who haue recouered survived yet many on the contrary side haue dyed of very small hurtes Astrologers ascribe it to the stars and planets others impute it to chance fortune the scriptures referre it to Almighty God apud queÌ„ sunt vitae mortis nostrae momenta posita who hath skored vp the minutes moments of our life death and he as he hath set the last howre period of our daies so hath hee appointed the meanes and the manner of death to bring vs to our ends yet must we not therefore behaue our selues carelesly wilfully to expose our selues to apparent dangers MaÌ„ is not Lord over his own Spirit or life to reteine it Eccles 8 8 saith the wise man And it is a good note to this purpose that our Bibles haue vpon that place that a maÌ„ hath no power to saue his own life therefore he should not rashly cast himselfe into danger To shut vp al in a word Almighty God after the floud he hung vp his bow in the clowd in token of reconciliation vnto men for if you marke it the bend and the arch of the bowe is turned from vs as Zanchius obserueth Lib 3. de operib creat cap 3 Lib de Noe Arca cap 27 But he hunge vp his bow saith Ambrose not his arrow Arcus habet vulneris indicium non vâ—…lneris effectum the bow maketh a shew of hurting but it doth not hurt it is the arrow that wouÌ„deth But now God seemeth for our sins to haue taken downe his bow againe And hee hath shot his arrowes against our whole land with to vse the Prophets words Ioel 2 3. lay before him like the Garden of Eden but hee hath left it wast and desolate where hee hath gone like a wildernesse The Queene city of our land and the glory of the kingdome which to speake with the Prophet Zephanie as shee dwelt carelesse Cap. 3 15. and sate attired in fine scarlet so had shee her sinnes also red as scarlet and therefore God hath made her an ensample of his wrath to her sister cities of the land and shee mourneth in her desolations for the losse of her inhabitants And now God hath changed his markes and hee shooteth his arrowes all abroad to cities and villadges far and neere he cannot shoote amisse sin is a faire marke for the arrow of vengance to hit Concerning our selues of this place almighty God as if at the first he had missed his ayme he shot wide first on the one side of the city and then on the other of late it began to be feared that having found the iust length hee had shot his arrowes into the midst of our city that his arrowes stucke fast in her very flancks What remained but that we should betake our selus to Davids preseruatiues against the Plague Praiers Teares Aâ—undines vulnera per niciosa ferentes Ammian Marcell lib 25 Lib 2 ca 8 The Persian bow-men are by all Historians commended for excellent archers and their arrowes are said to haue wouÌ„ded deadly yet in the battaile that was fought betweene Scipio and Antiochus they were woÌ„derfully foiled but mark how it came to passe imber superfusus Persicos arcus corruperat a showre of raine saith Florus falling in time of the battaile so slacked their bowes that they could not shoot an arrow The way for vs to slackeÌ„ Gods bow is by a showre of tears falling froÌ„ the eies of penitent sinners Let the Priests saith Ioel Ioel 2 17 the Ministers of the Lorde weepe betweene the portch the Altar and let them say Spare thy people O Lord then wil the Lord be iealous over his land and spare his people And as Teares must worke vpoÌ„ Gods vow to slacken it Plin l 26 c 14 Dictamnum pota sagittas pellit so Praier is the true Dyctamnum that plucketh out his arrowes when they sticke fast in vs. These are the Sacrifices with which God is wel pleased and pacified these were David Ezechias his amulets counterpoisons preseruatiues against the plague for so God telleth Ezechias I haue heard thy praier 2. Kings 20.5 and seene thy teares behold I haue healed thee Now God of his mercy giue vs grace to make an holy vse of this and all other his visitations and to make a conscience of vsing all holsome meanes for our preseruatioÌ„ that so his heauy hand may be remoued from vs his arrowes which yet sticke fast in the flancks of many of our distressed brethren may be plucked out through Iesus Christ our Lord to whom with the Father and the holy Ghost three persons and one euer liuing God be all honour and glory worlde without ende Amen FINIS