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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
enemy_n	arm_n	great_a	people_n	1,001	5	4.0844	3	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A62059	A sermon preached at St. Paul's Covent-Garden upon Sunday the second of December, 1694 Being the day appointed by Their Majesties for a publick thanksgiving for the preservation of His Majesty from the dangers to which his royal person was exposed during his late expedition; and for his safe return to his people, and for the success of his forces by sea and land. Publish'd at the request of the parishioners. By John Swynfen, chaplain to the Right Honourable the Earl of Bradford, and lecturer at St. Magnus Church at the Bridge Foot. Imprimatur. Decemb. 14. 1694. C. Alston.	Swynfen, John, 1662-1728.	1695 (1695)	Wing S6289A; ESTC R221876	14,007	33

false so that I mean not as I say that I am neither guilty of Lying or Perjury That 't is Lawful for a Servant not having Wages answerable to his Labour to cheat his Master provided he can do it without his privity That one Act of Faith and Love is sufficient for a man's whole Life And that Natural Attrition is enough in the Duty of Repentance We hold not the Fertile Doctrines of Equivocations good Intents keeping no Faith with Hereticks and that we may do evil that good may come of it In short we have no Jesuits Morals no Doctrines of Probability nor any Point maintained but what is purely Religious Christian and Sacred So that upon comparing the Principles of our Religion with those of the Romish when one will appear suited to the strict Rules of the Gospel the others are only raised up to serve the ends of Secular Policy upon the Ruines of Morality Society and common Honesty And indeed in this respect the badness of their Cause may be to our good and the great Preservative to keep us from Ruine God Almighty perhaps sees that he will not as we say mend the matter by exalting them upon the Ruine of us nay the Exchange will be to his own disadvantage and though he may gratifie his just Resentments by cutting off so wicked a People yet that may seem to derogate from his Wisdom and Holiness when it tends to the Establishment of a much worse 4. When the utter Ruine of a People would involve other Churches and Countries that are perhaps more Innocent in the same Miseries then doth God's Holy Name seem concern'd to deliver them therefrom especially when a very considerable part of the World will be damag'd and it may be that too where the purer Parts of the Church of Christ are For here not only the Innocent will suffer for the Guilty but Strangers miscarry for the faults of those whom they had no concern withal nay greater Desolation will be caused in the Church of God than is perhaps consistent either with his Providence over or tender respect to it And this we may suppose another Foundation of that Deliverance which we now commemorate Not to Remark the Civil Broils which our Ruine must necessarily produce in other Countries what can we think would become of the Protestant Interest throughout Europe upon our miscarriage We may well suppose that the Common Champion for the Catholick Cause will use his utmost Endeavours to make it as Universal as his Empire becomes his Conquests being but imperfect unless they make as great an Alteration in Religion as Government And besides the utter Ruine of the purer Parts of the Visible Church what Rapine Blood and Misery will needs be necessary in order to it The Cruelties shewed to his own Subjects are but a faint Essay of those Inhumane Barbarities that will be necessary in other Countries What overthrowing Laws destroying Constitutions Violating all the Bounds of Humanity and Justice How will Fire and Earth be mixed together No difference put betwixt Sacred and Profane And such a Confusion wrought in the best Parts of the World as will but too sadly represent the first rude indigested Chaos or the last great general Conflagration These things the Wisdom of Almighty God may perhaps fore-see will be the Consequences of our Ruine and his Justice and Goodness seem concerned to prevent them Hence hath his Almighty Arm appeared already in a very great measure to disappoint our Enemies and to deliver us The kindness he bears to the Publick Peace and Good of the World will not suffer him to permit that which would draw such general Evils after it and the Common Interest of Protestantism receiving its Fate from our Success or Miscarriage stept in as an Advocate for our Preservation These are some of those many Instances that might be produced wherein God's Holy Name may be concerned to deliver even a very sinful People from great Calamities From whence it appears that no one can hence collect that the Impunity of such bad People doth at all argue that he either bears them any Respect or that he is backward in inflicting those Punishments upon them which they deserve Alas 't is only out of pity to his Holy Name that they are preserved and that because greater dishonour would redound to him by destroying than by saving them I shall conclude this Head when I have added that we must not either think that we are less beholding to God for our Deliverance because it might not be wrought for our sakes but for the sake of God's own Name or presume that we may yet sin with safety seeing 't will always be as much to the Interest of God's Name to preserve us For as to the former 't is well known that we for our sins sufficiently merited Destruction and that if strict Justice had had its current there would have been no escaping it So that whatever Motives God might have on his part there could be none on ours And yet even on his part though other considerations might concur yet we all know that Mercy alone hath the most considerable ascendant over Justice in hindring its Execution Or suppose it hath not why should a Benefit be less valued because in giving it the Donor hath some respect to his own Commodity as well as to his to whom 't is given All that we are to look to is at the Benefit we enjoy by the good turn another doth us and the proportion of our Obligation is wholly taken from hence and not from any collateral end he might propose to himself in doing of it And I think no Malefactor looks upon himself less obliged to the Government in saving his Life though it doth at the same time design to employ him in the Wars And then for the other namely our presuming to sin because it will be as much as it hitherto has the Interest of God's Name to preserve us from Ruine This is I say as unreasonable as the other and that not only because of the Ingratitude of it as being an high Abuse of his Goodness and turning his Grace into wantonness but likewise for another which is in this case a much weightier Reason and that is The uncertainty of the Rule in general For tho' God Almighty in all his Actions doth consult the Honour of his Name yet you must note that he knows how more effectually to promote this sometime by destroying than by saving a wicked People in as much as in all such Eminent Acts of Justice he highly declares his Resentments of Sin doth Justice upon Malefactors and thereby makes himself feared in the World and tho' in such Punishments all the forementioned Instances in which God's Holy Name seems concerned for their prevention may happen and yet are taken no notice of yet he knows how to recompence himself for these by an hundred other things that he can cause to happen Thus he at last dealt with these

Reflection at all upon God Almighty seeing that he has never made any Covenant with or Promise to them that he will appear on their behalf nay he hath rather testified the contrary namely That he will pour out his wrath upon such Heathen as know him not and upon such Families as call not on his Name So that how far soever common Providence may be concerned upon account of their being Creatures to free them from utter Misery in this Life 't is very plain that his Holy Name is not at all interested in the matter But now that it may be sometimes concerned to deliver a Church or Nation whose Faith Profession and Worship are good and true though the Practices of its Members are wicked is equally plain too For seeing such Faith and Worship are considerable Duties and must therefore render those that have them amiable in the sight of God how can he evidence his Respect to them unless it be by some such Temporal Deliverances Besides if this Church be of large extent utterly to erase it from the face of the Earth is scarce consistent with the Promises that are made of its Amplitude in the latter days and that God will in all Places have some that shall fear and serve him nay such severe proceedings against a People that retain so much of Religion as an Orthodox Faith and Regular Worship amount to would Prejudice the rest of the World against that true Faith which they profess for seeing 't is Natural though unjust to judge of the Truth or Falshood of any Religion by the good or bad Fortune its Professors have in the World like the Barbarians instantly concluding Paul to be an ill Man when they saw the Poisonous Viper on his Hand where Men see the hard Fate of such a People they instantly conclude that the Religion they Profess cannot be good seeing it could not save them from Ruine In fine by how much the sounder Mens Religion is so much the better do they expect to fare and when Strangers see the hard Fate that hath befallen People of such a Belief they will be so far from espousing it that they 'll think they cannot stand at too great a distance from it So that as much as God's Holy Name is concerned to be respectful to Men of sound Belief and Regular Worship to Propagate the true Faith in all parts and corners of the Earth and to make the Enemies to to become Professors of and in love with it so much it may be concerned to deliver such a People out of the Calamities into which they are fallen And we are to observe that this was that very thing which so long preserved the Israelites from utter Ruine Though their Morals was corrupt even beyond Example and their very Worship too frequently stained with Idolatry yet in the other Substantial Principles both of Faith and Discipline they being still sound though God Almighty for their sins did ●fter reduce them to the very brink of Destruction yet for the sake of the other he did as often deliver them from falling into it Hence when the Psalmist makes Confession of their Miscarriages and owns them to be so great as to Merit an utter Extirpation he adds this Yet they are thy People and Sheep of thy Pasture and urges this as a Motive with God that he would not utterly destroy them 2. When amongst this wicked People there are a considerable number that are truly Good then may the Holy Name of God be concerned to deliver them from the Calamities into which they are fallen especially if the better sort are like to suffer most and those that are more wicked may extricate themselves for as God may think why should the Righteous suffer for the sins of the Wicked The Innocent bear the Punishment of the Guilty Or good Men endure those Miseries which they had no hand in procuring This would be to separate Guilt from Fault and whereas he himself has told us that the Righteousness of the Righteous shall be upon him and the Wickedness of the Wicked shall be upon him 't would be to act counter and opposite thereto especially in the latter case where bad Men escape and the truly Pious only suffer For this would expresly verifie the Jewish Proverb That the Fathers have eaten sour Grapes and the Childrens Teeth are set on edge nay it would be worse than so in as much as 't is less Injustice to suffer for the Faults of Relations than for those we were never related to Indeed if for Ten Righteous Persons he would have saved Sodom and that he professeth he could not do what he designed whilst Lot was in it where there are an infinitely greater number of good People we may reasonably presume he will not destroy the Country they live in for their sake And lastly if the Righteous shall not bear the Lot of the Wicked nor bad Men escape leaving the good to suffer in their stead then those Calamities where the contrary to this would certainly happen the Holy Name of God seems concerned to prevent 3. The Holy Name of God seems concerned to deliver a Wicked People that yet are of the true Religion from utter Destruction where the Establishment of a much more Wicked People and of a false Religion too would be the consequent of it For this would be to change bad for worse to take away a little Evil and introduce a greater and like the Demoniack of whom we read in the Gospel out of whom one Devil was cast and seven Devils worse than the former entred into him Seeing therefore that such proceedings as these would be so far from lessening that they would abundantly propagate Irreligion Heresie and Sin the Honour of God's Name seems concerned to avoid them To this very Reason it may be are we of this Church and Nation obliged for that Deliverance which we this day gratefully Celebrate Though with Israel in the Text our ways are wicked and our doings corrupt so that we justly merit even an utter Extirpation nay though we publish our sins as Sodom and seem to vye with the Old World for all manner of Profaneness so that to palliate or excuse our Guilt would not only much aggravate it but likewise be the ready way to bring worse Judgments on our Heads than those we have already escaped yet surely compared with those that must in all probability succeed us 't will not be criminal or assuming for once to make the Pharisee's claim thanking God that we are not so bad as they At least this we are sure of that no kind of Impieties are justified by the Rules of our Religion as there are by the Rules of theirs We maintain not That for the safety of a Man's Honour or Good Name 't is Lawful for him to kill or defame another That in the case of Necessity we may justifiably steal That Fornication is not evil in it self That if I assert or swear what is

Safety and what was Designed to effect our Ruine contributes to our Deliverance For to bring this about 't is plainly necessary that something superior to what is against us do appear on our side Now if all that Humane Power and Wisdom can do be engaged for our Ruine a Power and Wisdom more then Humane must be Engaged to prevent it and what I pray should this be but the Omnipotence and Omniscience of God the weakness of whom is stronger and the foolishness of whom is wiser then Men At least suppose those that aim at the Ruine of a People are by the urgency of Affairs necessitated to take some false steps in the doing of which they may very probably spoile their Design yet who is it that puts them upon taking these impudent measures but he that giveth such men up to strong Delusions evacuating their Counsels and frustrating their Designs Or Lastly which considering the state of things is the more common case suppose the Ruine of the Liberties or Religion of a People be according to outward appearance unavoidable so that to most Mens thinking there needs little to effect it besides a Potent Power hardned Malice unanimous Councels and a vigorous Prosecution where all these things concur and yet the affair not only miscarry but with the utter Ruine too of the Contrivers who can want sense to perceive the Finger of the Lord in all this especially considering what the Psalmist tells us That it is he who takes the wicked in the work of their own hands that he brings it to pass that his wickedness shall fall on his own head and his violent dealings on his own pate and Lastly that he makes himself known by the Judgments he executes in so doing 3. When the Means concerned in effecting the Deliverance are no ways proportionable to the Difficulties they conquer either with respect to the open Enemies they are to subdue or to the inward Distractions of that People for whom 't is procur'd that is to say when those very People that are delivered are not only prepossessed against the Deliverance it self and the means used in procuring it but likewise have an open Force engaged for their Ruine much stronger than those who appear for their Safety this is I say another mark of God's doing and Providence For if we consider the two Bodies of outward Force separately by themselves that is one rising against and the other in behalf of a People Reason and common Experience tells us that where for Conduct Valour and the like they are equal that the stronger side should get the Victory especially where they are double or triple the Number it cannot be deny'd And therefore in the Instances we have in Scripture of a lesser Force conquering a greater 't is always attributed to the Providence of God who is sure to bring Success to that side he doth espouse Much more when the People upon whose account the Contest is undertaken are not only prejudiced against their Deliverers but against their Design too then I say their Deliverance seems so far from being probable that their utter Ruine seems unavoidable and that because this will not only discourage those who have taken Arms in their Quarrel but very much dispose them to Differences among themselves either of which must needs prove fatal to them So that for such a People in such Circumstances and by such Means to be delivered must needs afford an ample Proof of God's doing and Providence I might to these add some other Instances of God's Providence in matters of this Nature as where the Deliverance is seasonable coming in that very nick of time in which it was most wanted and yet far from being expected like the Deliverance of the Jews in the days of Queen Esther that when H●man's Designs were ripe for Execution and the People expected nothing but to fall a Sacrifice to his Malice that God Almighty should appear in the critical Minute for their unexped Safety and Preservation But I think we need neither this nor any others What our Saviour said of the Jews that if they would not regard the ordinary means of Moses and the Prophets the more extraordinary and Miraculous of one coming from the Dead would not convince them may be said here that a Miraculous Deliverance would hardly convince such People of its being done by God whom such wonderful tho' but ordinary appearances as these will not satisfie I think I need not scruple to say that though the Judgments of God are sometimes a great Deep and his ways very unsearchable yet in these and such like they are so manifest that he that runs may read them As 't is God who Rules in the Armies of Men pulls down one and sets up another disposes of States and Kingdoms as pleaseth him and in fine to make himself known sometimes delivers a wicked People out of Extremity so are we fully perswaded that he need not give greater Evidence of his doing and handy-work than these here produced In requiring therefore those who receive them to own and acknowledge him therein is no unreasonable Demand on the contrary 't is highly Rational that when he so Remarkably signalizeth himself that he should be observed and taken notice of For seeing they receive the benefit of it why should they not acknowledge its Author Especially when God Almighty doth so much insist upon it giving them to understand that one of his main Ends is wholly lost where his Hand and Counsel are not taken notice of I shall therefore endeavour to press this upon you in two words and so conclude 1. And first doth God Almighty make such large Discoveries of his Being and Providence in some Publick Deliverances even of wicked People Then let our Faith be hereby more strongly confirmed in the general belief of that his Being and Providence that is let us fully conclude not only that there is a God but that he does likewise Rule and Reign in the World when we observe instances of such Deliverances as these are We see 't is this that God Almighty doth particularly aim at in effecting them and when the Israelit es Faith in these Articles hath begun to flag and grow weak immediately God hath set himself to work some such grand occurrent and thereby hath repaired and strengthened it And I can by no means see why the same things should not have the same effects on us that is why Deliverances that have been wrought for us should not amply confirm our belief both that God is and that he governs the World perhaps the reason may be that there is not so much of Miracle in our Deliverances as there sometimes was in theirs or that God Almighty doth not by an inspired Prophet or an Angel from Heaven tell us that he will bring about such a Deliverance for us at such a time in such a manner and by such Instruments as he sometimes told the Jews he would But are there no