Selected quad for the lemma: fire_n
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A80674
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A dissuasive from murmuring Being a sermon on 1 Cor. X. 10. Preached by Sam. Carte, M.A. Imprimatur, May 14. 1694. Geo. Royse.
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Carte, Samuel, 1653-1740.
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1694
(1694)
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Wing C651C; ESTC R223837
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11,715
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33
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A Dissuasive from Murmuring BEING A SERMON ON 1 COR. X. 10. Preached by SAM CARTE M. A. IMPRIMATUR May 14. 1694. GEO. ROYSE LONDON Printed for Richard Baldwin near the Oxford-Arms in Warwick-Lane MDCXCIV TO THE READER IT is generally expected that whosoever appears in Print should give some account of his Reasons for so doing And therefore though I have not presumed to interest any great Person in this Discourse by a solemn Dedication yet I have thought good to acquaint thee that the Publication of it was occasioned by the false Representations which have been made of it by some and the Apprehension which others have that it may be of use to the Publick The mention of these may seem nauseous as being the common pretences of most who without any express Injunction of those in Authority commit a Sermon to the Press But their being pleaded so generally is an indication that they are as generally thought to be sufficient And a little Reflection on the Subject of this Discourse and the various Tempers of the People in this Nation may satisfythee that they are truly alledged by me A Dissuasive from Murmuring 1 COR. X. 10. Neither murmur ye as some of them also murmured and were destroyed of the destroyer IT is a Character that has long since been given of Mankind That he is Animal querulum a Creature much given to complaining There is rarely such a Concurrence of Circumstances as that all of them please us and if any thing displease or be offensive to us it usually so engages our thoughts that we scarce make any fitting reflection on the more favourable Circumstances how great and numerous soever And whilst by this means one Evil Inconvenience or Misfortune makes a greater impression on us than hundreds of Mercies and Advantages which we enjoy we are generally disposed to be dissatisfied with our Condition to Complain and Murmur when indeed we have no just reason so to do This being a Malady so incident to mankind the Apostle one of the most Able Physicians of Souls has given us a Prescription against it in the words of my Text Neither murmur ye as some of them also murmured and were destroyed of the destroyer In which Words we may observe 1. A Relation of Matter of Fact Some of them also murmured 2 dly A Prohibition of the like Practice Neither murmur ye as some of them c. 3 dly An Argument to dissuade us from the Imitation of them drawn from the destructiveness of the Practice evidenced by the Event it had on them They were destroyed of the destroyer First Here is a Relation of Matter of Fact Some of them also murmured Some of them Of whom Even of the Children of Israel It would be no strange matter to hear that Heathens that men governed by the mere Conduct of Corrupt Nature should repine and murmur upon slight occasions But the Israelites had been instructed in better Principles which one might expect should have restrained them from such distempers Nay the state which they were in before was so very miserable and it was by such a continued Succession of Miracles of Deliverances and Mercies that they were arrived at that Condition at which they murmured that one might in all reason expect to hear of their Transports of Joy and Praise and Thanksgiving when on the contrary we find an Epidemical Discontent and Murmuring among them For if you reflect on their Condition in Egypt you may observe them labouring under as great Oppression and Tyranny as ever an ingenuous People underwent so that their lives were bitter unto them and the sense of their Miseries made them vent their Griefs in Sighs and Groans which mounted up to Heaven and moved God in Compassion to reach forth his mighty Hand and outstretched Arm to deliver them As the Psalmist says Psal 105. 26. c. He sent to them Moses his servant and Aaron whom he had chosen and they shewed his signs among them and wonders in the land of Ham. He sent darkness upon their enemies and it was dark and turned their waters into blood and slew their fish The land also brought forth frogs in abundance yea even in their kings chambers He spake and there came divers sorts of flies and lice in all their coasts He gave them hailstones for rain and flames of fire in their land He smote their vines also and fig-trees and destroyed the trees that were in their coasts He spake the word and the grashoppers came and caterpillars innumerable and did eat up all the grass in the land and devoured the fruit of their ground He smote all the first born also in their land the chief of all their sterngth He brought them forth with silver and gold and tho they were many hundred thousands there was not one feeble person among their tribes And all along as we go on in their History we may observe such evident such wonderful such seasonable Interpositions of the Divine Power and Goodness for their Defence and Relief that one would think there could not possibly be any room left for discontent or repining among them For Were they persecuted God set himself for a Wall of Defence between them and their Enemies Were they in distress for a Passage The Sea divided it self and its Waters rose up on an heap to afford them a Path through the deep as through a wilderness Did they want a shelter by day He spread his cloud over them for a covering Did they want a Guide by night He himself went before them in a pillar of fire Did they want Bread He rained down Manna upon them and filled them with the bread of heaven Did they want Meat to their Bread He made the wind to bring them flesh like dust and feathered fowl like as the sand of the sea Did they want Drink to both He opened the rock of stone and the waters flowed out so that the rivers ran in dry places Did they stand in need of Apparel Their cloaths did not wax old upon their backs nor their shooes upon their feet Did they want Advice God himself gave them his Vocal Oracle from between the Cherubims And besides all these there were many other occasions wherein God exerted a Miraculous Power to supply their Necessities or gratify their Desires And yet as the Apostle here says Some of them also murmured Hence then my Brethren we may observe That People's murmuring is no evidence that there is any good ground to do so I take notice of this the rather because I have often observed that many men whose Temper and Principles as I have apprehended did not at all dispose them to Murmuring and Discontent have yet been guilty of it merely in compliance with others They observe many whom they converse with and it may be Persons of great Reputation that they make it a great Subject of their Discourse to censure find fault with and complain of the state of Affairs and therefore conclude