Selected quad for the lemma: enemy_n
Text snippets containing the quad
|
ID |
Title |
Author |
Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) |
STC |
Words |
Pages |
|
A23819
|
The regal proto-martyr, or, The memorial of the martyrdom of Charles the First in a sermon preached upon the first fast of publick appointment for it : an appendix to The grand conspiracy / by John Allington ...
|
Allington, John, d. 1682.
|
1672
(1672)
|
Wing A1214; ESTC R14382
|
21,772
|
40
|
window that first le ts in the thief consent the pass by which the Destroyer entreth into our Souls if it be so that Consent makes us guilty even of the sin of others for if Consent abstracted from all outward Action makes the whole Man guilty if guilt takes its rise not from the Act but from Consent it is all a matter who Acts for who ever consenteth he is also guilty In the Beginning of Time when the Devil first endeavour'd to bring sin into the World He took upon Him the form of a Serpent Gen. 3. in that he spake unto the woman told Her God meant nothing less than what He said That they should die yea rather they should become as Gods and all this only to gain a Consent so that it was consent that brought Sin into the World it was Consent that made Eve a sinner Consent that made Her guilty of the Devils Machination On the other side when our blessed Lord and Master come to Destroy the works of the Devil The Devil He could gain no Consent and therefore though He set before him All the Kingdoms of the World and the glory of them yet saith our Saviour John 14. 30. The Prince of this world cometh and hath Nothing in me Let the Devil and His Angels do all they can they can get no ground they can have nothing in us or any of us but with consent only so that of all things that are under our power of all the Talents committed to our charge we ought to be more choice of none than of this we have now in Hand Our Consent 'T is this that makes us miserable This that makes us happy it is this that maketh us virtuous and 't is this that makes us vitious 'T is this that makes us God's and 't is this that makes us the Devils 'T was Consent that made the Devils suggestion become Eves sin it was consent that made Eve's entisement become Adam's Transgression and it is consent that makes every Tentation become our guilt so that you see to very great purpose it was here observed that though Saul was not an Actor yet He was a Consenter to his death Whereas then the Business of this great Day is to be Humbled before the great God for the foulest Murder except that of the Son of God that was ever read on it concerns every of us to lay Hand upon the Heart and as the Twelve did when their King and Master foretold His Treachery to say Master Is it I Math. 26. 22. It concerns every of us to consider how far we were toward the guilt of this great Crime How far either by way of Default or Consent we have drawn up even to this Murther 1 Tim. 5. 22. Lay Hands suddenly on no Man neither be partaker of other Mens sins This exhortation of St. Paul not only admonisheth Timothy to take Heed of sinning by an over-hasty either Ordination or Absolution But also to take heed that He become not a Party or partaker in other Mens sins Now the great sins which we are this Day or at this Time to recollect it is the Murder of God's Anointed the betraying and butchering of our King Now this though it was Paucorum Crimen the abominable acting of some few yet it was Multorum Delictum the Failance and the sin of too too many and that upon these Accounts 1. In Respect of Acts Antecedent and going before 2. In Respect of Acts Consequent and following after Upon both which we shall find Consent and Guilt it will rise like a Land-Flood and carry almost all afore it so that albeit few were those who washed their Hands in His Blood we shall find few also are those who are not besprinkled with it First Then let us consider what previous and antecedent Acts may involve a Guilt in this Murther I shall instance only in Two 1. A Provocation of our God 2. A Desertion of God's Anointed For both these are as the School speaks Volitum in Causa a consequential consent or a consequential guilt First It is a Consequential Consent and guilt to do that which provoketh God to inflict such a Judgment so that in our provocation of God to permit this Murder we have contracted enough to call for our Tears For if gracious and good Kings be the Blessings of God upon a People certainly the Removing of such must needs be upon a provocation and nothing can be so but our sin Amongst us Men we justly account Him a partaker who is a Provoker unto sin He that provokes a Man to Anger provokes a Man to Drunkenness provokes a Man to Steal he is doubtless a partaker even in his sin Had Job cursed upon the provocation and instigation of his Wife She as well as He had been guilt Not Amnon alone but Jonadab who promoted and provoked was guilty in his lust 2 Sam. 13. Now look what is the provoking of a Man to sin proportionably the same is the provokeing of our God to Judgment A sin undoubtedly for only sin can do it and sin can do it even to as sad a Judgment as to permit the Murder of a good and a precious KING 2 Sam. 12. When the Child gotten by David in Adultery was delivered the Lord sent him word v. 14. That Because thou hast given Occasion to the Enemies of the Lord to blaspheme the Child that is born unto Thee shall surely die The sin of the Father it had an influence even upon the death of the Child because Thou hast given occasion therefore shall the Child die And even so because we provoked the Lord therefore did God suffer His Anointed to be thus smitten And indeed the School very well observes there is Volitum in Causa as well as Directe Voluntarium There is an indirect consent and a consequential willing of a Thing as well as a down-right and voluntary consent insomuch that many a Man gladly and willingly consents unto the cause who perfectly abhors and abominates the effect and yet where there is an inseparable coherence He who directly wills the one he doth consequentially will the other As for instance The Men of the first World Gen. 6. 5. They did directly will and consent unto those abominations and wickednesses for which God threatned yea and resolv'd to drown the world But as to the Drowning of the World they gave no consent nor had no will But for as much as they willed that which necessarily brought on the other therefore they were Volitum in Causa They were the consequential willers of their own Ruine For their sins provoked the Deluge Gen. 18. 20. Even so the Men of Sodom they had no will to have had Them and Theirs destroyed with Fire and Brimstone But being they continued to Act and do that whose cry clamored to Heaven for vengeance and for this Vengeance Therefore even they were Volitum in Causa they were the consequential cause and provoker of their own destruction And
Royal Interest before their own by omitting the duty which Oaths and Allegiance obliged to we betray'd our Soveraign and by not restraining and Helping when we might we became Volitum in Causa even upon this account consequentially guilty even of our Soveraign's Blood We cannot but know how it was the common Allarm of every factious Trumpet the Vulgar Theam of every Rebellious Pulpit Curse ye Meroz saith the Angel of the Lord curse ye bitterly the Inhabitants thereof because they come not to the Help of the Lord to the Help of the Lord against the Mighty Judg. 5. 23. Now if our Adversaries Judges to speak in their own words and out of one of their Catechisms Neuters are Directly under that fearful Curse which the Angel of the Lord denounced against Merosh Rom. pag. 7. I say then if they who came not out and defended their Rebellious Cause if the Mighty for not fighting against the Almighty in the Cause of His Anointed deserved a Curse and were as they affirm Directly under that fearful execration which the Angel of the Lord denounced Certainly then a fortiori Those who were wanting in a far better Cause Those who deserted their Soveraign those who came not out to the Help of Him whom by the Oath of God they were bound to succour those who to save their own Penny cared not to see him lose his Crown These for not using the power and means they had though they did not spill they betray'd his blood and though they were not direct Consenters yet they were direct strengthners of their Hands who did it Now if it be so That the Son of Man when in the Person of a King sitting upon his Throne of rich Glory He shall pass an everlasting curse upon the sins of Omission that is upon such who Reliev'd him not no not in His poorest Members if for not seeding the Hungry for not cloathing the Naked for not visiting the imprisoned if for omitting Acts of Charity Christ shall Denounce the sad Sentence of everlasting Fire certainly then Subjects omitting Acts of Justice Subjects not doing their bounden duties Subjects neglecting the King of Glory in his Chief and most immediate Deputy the Lords anointed they have a great deal of cause to fear and grieve and pray that even this Grand Omission and this great failing may be forgiven to Them For he who hinders not when he may and when he is Bound cannot but be guilty of the Blood he might have saved and of that sin which he both should and might have prevented And therefore whether we respect our Provocations of God Almighty by our Personal misdoings or the Omission of our Duty by our not doing in both respects the most of us have been consequential Consenters and contradicted guilt enough to be this day humbled and beg Gods pardon though not for the Murder yet for the slaughter of our King And so I have done with the first Proposition to wit How a Man may be guilty of that sin in which he was no actor by being as you have heard a consequential Consenter to it We shall now therefore pass to the Second II. That is to prove and shew How a guilt may be postnate unto a Fact for after the stoning of St. Stephen it is observed and not before That Saul was consenting to His Death In the last Verse of the preceding Chapter it is written when St. Stephen had kneeled down and prayed for his Enemies He fell asleep so that Dead he was before these words were added And Saul was consenting c. Now Two Ways I shall observe how Guilt may come in at the back Door and be postnate unto the Fact 1. By applauding the Deed by commending liking and joying in it 2dly By partaking in the Advantages and by a Tacit Desire rather the Act should be done than they want the Benefit and the Rest they have got by it First He who applauds commends likes and joys in a foul Transaction he is a Consenter to it Qui laudat obscoenum perpetrat illud He who praiseth a piece of obscenity he acts it saith the Arabians And indeed Consent and Commendation they are so nigh Related that we never heartily commend what we like not and so alike are Consent and Liking that they are not easily distinguished for as He who frowns or turns his Ear from a seeming witty piece of lewdness in so doing checks it even so He who laughs and smiles and seems pleased with it so far as he is pleased so far he is a Consenter to it And therefore St. Paul condemns the impure Gnostiques even upon This account that they were not onely vile themselves but they also took pleasure in them that did such things Rom. 1. 32. And indeed St. Pauls sin here according to the Original it seems onely a complacency and a liking 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and therefore as in lust even so it is in point of Blood He who applauds the Murther He who is glad 't is done He who praises and honours the Doers of it though he had no Hand in the doing of it hath a Consenting Heart to the Deed done and is in the Eye of the Just God Guilty of it For indeed there is no Body joys and praises and is glad to hear any Thing is done but if he durst even he himself would have done it Doubtless Saul in my Text though casually he was onely a Consenter he could as willingly have been an Aider or Assistant to St. Stephen's death In the Case of King Ahab and poor Naboth we do not read that Ahab had any intelligence or inckling given him of Jesabel's bloody design all was acted and done the High Court of Iustice had sped their villany and dispatcht the Innocent before he knew it and yet for all that the Prophet is sent to arrest and charge him guilty of plain Murther Occidisti Thou hast killed Now I pray how could he be guilty of a death he knew not of of a Murder done altogether unknown to him Truly if you search the Story you shall find it onely was by a postnate Consent by a liking and approving and joying what Jesabel had done There is a Story of one Lucius Carpentus who having kill'd Nicanor by running him thorow his Page who deadly hated him after his Master had dispatcht him he to show his well-liking of the fact thrust in his Masters Sword deeper into the dead Heart Now though the Page could not possibly kill him again yet he by thus doing and thus confirming and approving what his Master had done he became a Murtherer as well as his Master It is very well known the Lord of Glory Christ Jesus our Spiritual King He can die no more Death can have no more Dominion over him Heb. 6. 6. and yet Saint Paul expresly saith They who fall away that is such as fall off from the Faith of Him They crucifie to themselves the Son of God afresh So