Selected quad for the lemma: hand_n
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A67307
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A sermon preached in Christ-Church before His Excellency the lord deputy and the honorable House of Peers, October the 8th, 1695 being the day appointed for a solemn thanksgiving for the taking the strong cittadel of Namur, and for the other happy successes of His Majesty's forces, and those of his allies in Flanders this campaign / by Edward, Lord Bishop of Down & Connor.
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Walkington, Edward.
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1695
(1695)
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Wing W458; ESTC R38411
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13,472
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20
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rigteousness of God in his heart and to conceal his loving kindness and truth from the great Congregation is what the Royal Psalmist would not do no he would publish it with the voice of thanksgiving and tell of all his wondrous works he was resolv'd to sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever and with his mouth would he make known his faithfulness to all generations he would praise the name of God with a Song and magnify him with thanksgiving To which duty no Nation upon the Earth has had more reasonable and frequent calls than we If Peace Plenty Liberty and the most excellent constitution of Government in the world both Civil and Ecclesiastical are Blessings what Nation under Heaven has such reason as we have to adore and praise the divine goodness If when our crying sins had justly provok'd God to turn his face away from us he was pleas'd to turn again and revive us with the light of his Countenance When Arbitrary Power with a Jesuit in the prime Ministry to advise and direct it was just ready to lay its Iron hands upon our Persons and Properties and Popery with all its nonsense and contradictions seem'd prepar'd and authoriz'd to debauch or force our Consciences Then for God to give us a King in his mercy to protect us against these worst of evils A King whose hereditary Right to our Monarchy made him dear to the Loyal and his Wisdom and Courage formidable to the Turbulent and Disaffected A King who seem'd fram'd by Heaven on purpose for this great Emergeney for we may be sure that the right hand which hath the preeminence that right hand of the Lord that brings mighty things to pass will chuse the fittest Instruments A King who has answer'd this great design and call of Providence by the most wise and effectual methods that we could wish or imagine and restor'd us to Peace and Order and the comforts of our wise and happy Government both Civil and Ecclesiastical these are such marks of the Divine Favour that we have reason to believe our selves the peculiar care of Heaven If to preserve the Breath of our Nostrils the Anointed of the Lord from the secret practices and attempts as well as from the open assaults of his and our Enemies If to cover his Head in the day of battle If to teach his hands to war and his fingers to fight so as to give him victory over the fiercest of 'em if to give him the conduct and courage to attack defeat the boldest of their Troop as he has lately done within their Walls and Retrenchments be a mark of the divine favour surely it is not only a reasonable and necessary but it is a pleasant thing to give thanks He that can pretend to contain the sense of such mercies in his mind without any publick demonstrations of 'em mucst needs have but very slight touches of the Fear of the Lord and but very weak and unactive notions of the Operations of his hands I hope none that hear me this day are so regardless of these mercies as not to consider from whose hands they come how jealous he is of his honour and how highly he will resent so black an ingratitude as that of refusing to own 'em in publick for a true and pious sense of these can never be buried in the mind but must shew it self in the congregation in the voice of praise and thanksgiving to our great and glorious Benefactor But as we are to bless the Lord in our thoughts and words we must do it likewise in our actions which is but to tell you in other word that there is a moral as well as a devotional part of Religion by which we do not only glorify God our selves but we take care that others seeing our good works may glorify our Father which is in Heaven for if we consider God as the Almighty Monarch and wise Governor of the World a sincere uniform practice of subjection to his will and obedience to his known Laws is the most natural expression of our honour to him and the most acceptable For Let us suppose a Courtier train'd up in all the most exquisite Arts of Court Ceremony and demeanour so observant of every look and motion of his Prince as to do him all the services of attendance and address that may be never failing to attend his rising and lying down and so obsequious as never to miss any publick appearance that may do him Honour and yet at the same time do's many extravagant and illegal things by oppression of his fellow-subjects by extortion bribery or cruelty to the disparagement and obloquie of the King and his Government Such a person will never be so much lov'd and valu'd by a wise Prince as he that lives peaceably justly and honestly in his station observes the Laws of his Countrey and promotes the observance of 'em by others tho he do not always attend the King's presence nor pay his Court so constantly and obsequiously as the other Our Saviour tells us of those that have made long Prayers but have devour'd Widows Houses and we have heard of some who when they went to seek the Lord in a manner more solemn than ordinary had always some great mischief to do Such are so far from blessing and glorifying God that they bring a disgrace upon his Worship they are so far from being friends to his Interest that they make his Enemies to blaspheme him Solomon tells us that he that oppresses the poor reproaches God but that he honour's God who has mercy upon the poor The wise Son of Syrach tells us that he that keeps the Law brings Offering enough and he that takes heed to the Commandment brings a Peace-Offering he that requites a good turn offers fine Flower and he that gives Alms sacrificeth Praise and that to forsake unrighteousness is a propitiation And as this way of mens glorifying God by their Actions is the sure way of making others to glorify him so it is never more remarkably effectual than when men in eminent Station and Authority are exemplary for their Vertue and Piety Their light is set upon a high Candlestick and shines a great way whilst that which is not set up but lies low is either not seen or not regarded When our Law-givers and Magistrates shall hear and obey that call of the Royal Prophet Give unto the Lord O ye mighty I Give unto the Lord Glory and Strength Give unto the Lord the honour due unto his Name then will inferiour Persons quickly see that there is a God to whom they owe the same homage which their superiours so readily pay him but when not only the good Lives but the good Laws of our Magistrates do manifestly tend to the Glory of God and the promotion of Piety then have we reason to believe that God is in the midst of us that he presides in our councels and will influence all our actions for the pulick good I do not pretend to prescribe here neither am I able to instruct the united wisdom of this Nation in any of the Political part of their duty all that I shall take upon me to say is this that there are two things very dear to God his Ministers and his Worship and I doubt not but those whose business it is to settle affairs upon the best and and surest foundations will take care of these in a peculiar manner And thus I have shew'd you what it is to bless the Lord it is to do him all possible honour our selves in our thoughts words and actions and to endeavour every one in his station that others may do him honour I come now to shew that they that Fcar the Lord are the only persons fit to perform this duty For a fool that is in the Scripture Language a wicked man does not understand this an unwise man does not consider it he has said in his heart there is no God and therefore is certainly very unfit to honour him he that would rob him of his Being will pay but little deference to his Attributes Nay tho he were convinc'd of the being of a God yet in doing him honour he is so out of his element all the principal acts of Piety lye so odd and untoward to his genius and inclination that we can expect from him but very low and worthless performances in this kind for this thing being such as must not only deeply affect the thoughts but shew it self in mens words and actions no man must think to do it in a slight or perfunctory manner for it is one of the grand and principal businesses of human Life and must be perform'd with all imaginable Zeal and application A hypocrite may for some by-ends or to gain the reputation of Piety attend the time and place of publick praise and thanksgiving but his heart being rotten that vitiates all and tho it may deceive men is of no value with God A sensual libertine being perhaps tyr'd in the pursuit of his pleasures or cloy'd with the enjoyment of 'em may at his leisurâ— hours look inward a little and by the light of Nature that witness of himself which God has set up in the heart of every man form some honourable thoughts of God but these seldom break out into any acts of pure and sincere devotion much less into the spiritual and exalted ones of Praise and Thanksgiving As for the sordid worldling who by fraud and cruelty and by grinding the face of the poor has made hast to be rich he can have but little respect for the true God having another God of his own for the Scripture says he 's an Idolater he calls Justice and Charity but ill management and the Service of God loss of time so that there is no sort of habitual impenitent sinner that can be any ways fitted for this duty None but those that Fear the Lord none but those that have fix't in their minds true and genuine notions of his power and goodness These are they whose mouths will shew forth his righteousness and salvation all the day long and will say as we all have reason to do for his signal and repeated mercies Blessed be the Lord our God who only does wondrous things and blessed be his glorious Name for ever And let the whole Earth be fill'd with his Glory Amen Amen FINIS