Selected quad for the lemma: enemy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
enemy_n	according_a	lord_n	people_n	1,128	5	4.9041	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A78515	A sermon preached at the publique fast the tenth day of May 1644. at St Maries Oxford, before the Members of the Honourable House of Commons there assembled. / By R. Chalfont B.D. and Fellow of Lincolne Coll. Printed by their order.	Chalfont, R. (Richard), 1607 or 8-1648.	1644 (1644)	Wing C1793; Thomason E9_10; ESTC R15424	32,814	44

to humble themselves is when the Decree is broken forth and the wrath of God is actually upon them when the smart of the rodd makes them sensible of their sinne as it is sayd of Israel Ps 78.34 When he slew them then they sought him and enquired earely after God This was Mannasseh his season as vile a wretch as ever breathed upon the earth a very prodigie of wickednesse yet when he was in affliction when his chaines were upon him then he sought the Lord and humbled himselfe greatly 2 Chro. 33.11 A prudent man foreseeth the evill and hideth himselfe Prov. 22.3 Sees the Calamity in it's commination and prevents it in the threatning sees it first and as it is sayd of the man and the Basiliske kils it by having the first sight of it while the cloud of wrath is but like that of Eliah a hands-breadth foresees a tempest and makes hast for shelter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a foole will be instructed while the rod is upon his backe children when they smart will cry and begge and promise never to do so againe The racke of a great Plague will extort a confession from obstinate Pharaoh I have sinned this time the Lord is Righteous and I and my people are wicked Exod. 9.27 When the judgement is not onely at the doore but entred into the house Quis rogo interfici alterum juxta se videt ipse non metuit c. Salv. and shall take away one here another there and all are in danger will not every one be affraid If the Lion roare will not the beast tremble much more when he shall come and seize upon his prey Is it not time for the whole Towne to come in when their houses are on fire with water to quench it It was high time for Aaron to stand in the gapp when the Plague had made a breach upon the People And Moses said unto Aaron Take a Censer and put fire therein from off the Altar and goe quickely unto the congregation and make an autonement for them for there is wrath gone out from the Lord the plague is begun Numb 16.46 Such cases as this admit no delayes as Messadamus was wont to say of himselfe Know no to morrow a little neglect here may undoe a Kingdome 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 serious things to morrow cost him deere that spake it both his life and Thebes In such times as these who knowes what a day some few houres may bring forth Sodom and those sister Cities had a faire morne the Sun rose gloriously but never had people in the world a more terrible day High time therefore it is when Gods hand is exalted in the way of his Judgements for a people a Nation to humble themselves The necessity thereof will evidently appeare from the consideration of these particulars 1. That the sound of this Trumpet is the last summons God gives a Rebellious people it is the last Flagg that he hangs out if they submit not and yeild then nothing to be expected at Gods hand but utter ruine It is storied of the victorious Tamerlaine that great scourge of the Ottoman Empire that when he advanc't against any Towne or City so soone as he was set downe before it the first day his Tents were all spread with white a colour of Clemency importing to them that if they would presently surrender they should be receiv'd into Mercy if notwithstanding this tender they should yet stand out against him the next day his Pavilion was cloth'd with red a colour of bloud to give them to understand his severity If neither of these two prevailed for a surrender the third day the same Tents were all hung with blacke to let them know that now all overtures of mercy were past and that now they must expect whatsoever calamity the fury of a conquering enemy could bring upon them Such a course it is that God holds with a sinfull people according to the rule he himselfe gave unto the Jewes in their warres Deut. 20.10 He first proclaimes peace holds out the white Flagg summons them to repentance by the tenders of mercy Go saith the Lord and proclaim these words towards the North and say Returne O backsliding Israel and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you for I am mercifull saith the Lord and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you Ier. 3.12 If this gentler invitation prevaile not upon their love he next sends forth his Rod-Herald to make such a summons as may worke upon their feare Heare ye the Rod and who hath appointed it Micah 6.9 This is Gods Red Flagg and the last he holds out to sinners with conditions of peaces If the Rod cannot teach a People their duty nor the severity of Iudgements upon the Land instruct the Inhabitants in Righteousnesse if a Nation remaine deafe at the thunder of Gods loud voice this obstinacy obstructes all the doores of hope all the passages of mercy God hangs out against them the blacke Ensigne of desolation Secondly Obstinacy under Judgements raiseth a sin to the very height it fills up the bag compleats the measure of a peoples iniquity and leaves sin uncapable of greater aggravation In the fourth of Amos God sets forth the sinne of Israel arrived as it were at the non ultra of sinfullnesse further then which it could hardly goe that notwithstanding the variety and extremity of the greatest Iudgements upon them they relented not nor returned unto God it is the burden of every charge by a patheticall scheme which the Rhetoricians call Epistrophe or conversion there five times repeated Yet have they not returned unto me saith the Lord I have sent among you pestilence after the manner of Egypt your young men have I slaine with the sword and have taken away your horses and I have made the stinke of your Camps to come up into your nostrils yet have ye not returned unto me saith the Lord. I have overthrowne some of you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and ye were as a firebrand pluck't out out of the burning yet have ye not returned unto me saith the Lord. Oh this Yet hath an Emphasis an Accent upon it and makes sinne carry an infinite weight in the ballance of the Sanctuary They are not humbled even unto this day after all the experiences of divine Fury heightned the Iewes sinnes beyond an expression To relapse into the same offence after punishment doubles the malefactors guilt and deprives him of the Favour of the Iudge but to sinne upon the racke under the plague while Gods markes are upon them renders sinne almost incapable of forgivenesse O Lord are not thine eyes upon the truth thou hast stricken them but they have not grieved thou hast consumed them but they have refused to receive correction they have made their faces harder then a rocke they have refused to returne Jer. 5.3 It followeth at the seaventh verse How shall I pardon thee for this

that though he had sinned as his Father had done yet he humbled not himselfe but Amon trespassed more and more And upon Zedekiah chap. 36.12 that he did that which was evill in the sight of the Lord his God and humbled not himselfe before Ieremiah the Prophet speaking from the mouth of the Lord. Examples in this kind would swell beyond the time I hasten 5ly There 's nothing in the world can stand in the gapp to stop God marching against us in the way of his Judgements and keepe out a Torrent of wrath flowing in upon a Kingdom but only the humbling of our selves Our eyes for the most part in times of distresse like Solomons fooles Prov. 17.24 are at the ends of the earth we looke upon our forces abroad and our fortifications at home like those in Isai 22.8 that in that day did looke unto the Armories made up their breaches drew in their waters broke downe their houses to fortifie the wall inlarged their trenches and let in the poole and these things are not to be neglected but here was their fault and I feare ours they looked not to the maker thereof they had no respect unto God no care by the humiliation of themselves in weeping and mourning a duty which the Lord of Hosts called for at their hands at that time as the only meanes of their safety and preservation to make him propitious to them to appease his wrath and engage him for them who if he keepe not the City the watchman watcheth but in vaine it is our God that is the Pignus Imperii the Palladium and Ancile of our Cities While we enjoy his protection and presence we may not only say of them as they did of Sparta that their men were their walls but our God salvation will the Lord appoint for walls and bulwarkes no weapon shall prosper against the City that is defended by God hee 'le send Armies from heaven to fight for us when we have none in the field They fought from heaven the starres in their courses fought against Sisera Judg. 5.20 The river Kishon swept them away even that ancient River the River Kishon Halfe a Regiment with Gideon when God goes Generall with them into the field shall be more then enough to discomfit the whole host of Midian he can strike the besiegers with a Panicke feare and make them fly at the onely imagined noyse of Horses and Chariots On the other side if God be against us it availes not what our provisions and fortifications be or how many thousand are for us All the Castles and Bulwarkes and Armies in the world cannot protect us from God as an enemy Aiguanus tells us of a Prince who being call'd in by the Inhabitants of a City to their assistance and the rather to perswade him being assured that the place was verytenible well provided and fortified The Prince return'd answere desireing to know whether their city were covered above so that Gods anger could not fall from heaven upon them signifying unto them that it was a vaine thing to hope to secure themselves in the strength of walls and the helpe of men while sinne layed them open to the wrath of God The sinnes within are more to be feared then the enemies without 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was a voice heard from heaven by the Tyrant Phocas who thought after all his villanie to preserve himselfe by the impregnablenesse of the place wickednesse is within the City shall be destroyed I read of a people that when Alexander sent unto them to know what it was they most feared he supposed they would have said himselfe but they answered that they were most affraid lest heaven should fall upon them and indeed this is most to be feared lest the wrath of the God of heaven fall upon us after all our fortifications we lye open to heaven and there 's no way to secure our selves from an enemy thence but by humbling our selves Humiliation hath often made up the breaches when a whole nation hath beene ready to be overwhelm'd by an inundation of Judgements As Abigail once did David it appeaseth God in the height of his fury it stands as the Raine bow that God hath set in the Cloudes which whensoever he lookes upon he relents and will not drowne that people in a deluge of wrath Non potest orbis cadere quē lacrymae sustentant saith S. Austin the teares of contrition they are the Pillars of a Kingdome the props that sustaine and beare up the world that it doth not fall into it's primitive confusion Humiliation is that sure Anchor of hope which hath saved the Church and State from wracke in the greatest tempests upon both God hath obtained his end when he sees us prostrate upon the ground and yeelding our selves his indignation doth not fall so low he cannot exercise vengeance upon them who revenge sinne upon themselves nor destroy them that lie downe at his feete and cry for mercy 2 Chron. 12 They have humbled themselves saith the Lord of Rehoboam and his Princes therefore I will grant them some deliverance and my wrath shall not be powred upon them by the hand of Shishach Goe saith the Lord to those Commissioners EZek. 9. Set a marke upon them that they may be spared in the day of my wrath They are mourners they cry out for their owne and the sinnes of the Nation If my people that are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seeke my face and turne from their evill wayes I will heare from heaven and have mercy I will pardon their sinne and heale their Land 1 Chron. 7.14 We have an exellent example to this purpose in the 10th of Judges The children of Israel fell from the service of God to the service of Idols God sells them that will not serve him to be slaves to their enemies who vex and oppresse them full 18 yeares a long bondage this the condition of the people on the the other side of Iordan and 't is like to be as bad with those on this side the river The enemy is upon his march with a mighty Army The People in distresse fly to God for assistance and receive a cold answer from him such as might have discouraged them from all hopes of deliverance for first he upbraids them with those many deliverances he had wrought for them already Did not I deliver you out of the hand of the Aegyptians and the Amorites and the Children of Amen and the Zidonians c. as if at this day he should answere us of this place Did I not deliver you from the Tyranny of the Pope from the Spanish Armado and the Gunpowder-treason from the many plots against the persons of your Kings and the peace of your State from the fury of the pestilence and the terrour of death in sundry battailes of late Yet have ye forsaken me and then concludes he will deliver them no more but bids them go to the