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A34063
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A discourse on the offices for the Vth of November, XXXth of January, and XXIXth of May by Thomas Comber ...
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Comber, Thomas, 1645-1699.
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1696
(1696)
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Wing C5463; ESTC R3079
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108,006
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238
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or Fore-sight but Gods (r) Rom. VIII 31. Si Deus pro nobis qui vult adversari paret se si potest bellare adversus Deum Aug. de ver Ap. Serm. 16. pug 74. that made the Advantage be still on our side For his was a Divine theirs but an Human Power (s) Noli mirari victi sunt homines enim erant Aug. in Psal 124. 'T is plain their Rage was so great that they would not liesurely have devoured us but like some hungry Lion or Tiger they would have swallowed us up alive and raw (t) Vivos Hebr. Crudos Vid. 1 Sam. II. 15. Prov. I. 12. The Plot was laid to have given no time nor warning to those who were to be Massacred But King Prince and Parliament were all to be blown up and destroyed in one moment Ver. III IV. Again their Pride was risen to that heighth that nothing less than our utter destruction would have satisfied them Persecution must have taken off all that missed this Blow So that this unavoidable Desolation would have suddenly broke in upon us like a deep and irresistible stood of Waters (u) Aqua in S. Scripturâ ponitur pro Populo persecutore Aug. in loc We could not have waded through it without drowning nor could we have saved our Lives any other way but by denying our Faith and so damning our Souls which was indeed a dreadful case Ver. V VI. But since we were saved both from their Rage and their Pride by Miracles of Providence Oh what reason have we to praise the LORD who pulled us like helpless Lambs out of the very mouths of those Savage Creatures and rescued our Soul which like some silly Bird was suddenly catcht in the Fowlers Snare and not being able to break it by her own strength expected each moment to be taken and destroy'd In this condition were we when the Almighty broke this Snare and delivered us Ver. VII Wherefore let their hopes be never so great we will not fear any of their Attempts hereafter Their expectations of Success rely on false Principles wicked Policies and cruel Actions they trust in Saints (w) Isai LXIII 16. Mortus enim non norunt quid agunt patianturve mortales in hac vita Aug. de cura promortuis Relicks and other Created things which always fail them But our help comes by calling on the Name of that Supream Lord the Creatour of Heaven and Earth who can never want Power or Inclination to rescue such as depend on him and this is the true Reason why we are saved and they are disappointed For which let us sing Glory be to the Father c. The CXXVth Psalm doth consist of 1st A Declaration of the Safety of the Faithful Verse I. 2ly An Account 1. Of the Author thereof viz. GOD Ver. II. 2. Of the Reason viz. to prevent Apostacy Ver. III. 3ly A Prayer for the prosperity of Good Men Ver. IV. 4ly A Prosspect of the final State 1. Of the Wicked Ver. V. 2. Of the Righteous Ver. V. Brief Notes on the CXXVth Psalm § 5. PSal CXXV Ver. I. The former Psalm ended with a resolution to trust in God and this shews the benefit thereof for by this Faith good Men are safe All attempts to destroy them are as vain as the endeavours to remove a Mountain by Human strength would be (x) Montes transferre in S. Scripturâ sig rem supra humanam potentiam aggredi Math XVII 20. 1 Cor. XIII 2. Drus Prov. clas 2. l. 3. especially if that Mountain be the Hill of Sion the place in which Gods true Worship is fixed and over which he takes a special care This Mount and Gods Church will stand fast for ever Ver. II. The situation of Jerusalem was an Emblem of this for as that was surrounded and guarded with many Hills on every side of it and divers Watch-Towers and Forts were placed on them Even so the LORD by his All-seeing and Almighty Providence continually watches over his Church to prevent all the Mischief intended against it and this makes it inaccessible to all its Enemies Ver. III. When God hath given a Country to be the Lot of such as do believe and worship rightly he will not without the highest Provocation suffer those of a false Religion to divide it among them for a possession or let them keep the Dominion over it for any long time (y) Vers Tiguâ—in Pertica i. e. virga mensurationis Castal Sceptrum i. e. virga potestatis Because he fore-sees such Lords and Rulers by force and fraud by interest and cruelty will intice some and affright others into Apostacy Wherefore in tenderness to his weak Servants such Scourges as these either are not sent on a righteous Nation or however do not long continue (z) shall not rest Now Trans Ver. IV. On the due consideration of this thy tender Care of thy own People what can I pray for more properly than that thou O LORD wilt continue thy Providence over all that are upright and sincere and let them at all times be safe and prosperous Ver. V. As for those who are so set on mischief that when one of their wicked Plots fails they begin to contrive another The visible Justice of thy defeating them will not discourage them nor any thing else amend them (a) Medicus si cessaverit curare desperat Hieron ad Castrut ep 33. Therefore I know thou O LORD wilt lead them forth like hardned Malefactors to suffer some dreadful punishment in this World (b) Puniet eos ut malâ—â—â—cos Castal or however thou wilt condemn them to eternal punishment in the next (c) Ducet eos in Gâ—â—â—nam Chal. Paraphr And in despite of all their policy and power the true Church and People of God shall enjoy peace and prosperity from age to age So that this and the next Generations shall continually own it and sing Glory be to the Father c. The proper Lessons 2 Sam. XXII and Acts XXIII § 6. NOthing can be more truly called proper than these Lessons The first is David's Hymn of Praise (d) 2 Sam. XXII composed upon his deliverance out of the hands of all his Enemies especially of King Saul his Father-in-Law who sought to deprive him both of his promised Succession and his Life I need not tell the Reader to which of our two Deliverances this belongs but shall only observe that the Words are so many Acts of Faith and Hope Love and Gratitude Humility and Devotion Praise and holy Resolution and are so pertinent that they explain themselves to an attentive and well-disposed Hearer The Second Lesson relates evidently to the Gun-powder Treason the History agrees with that Plot in some particulars but falls short of it in many others There we find (e) Acts XXIII a crew of desperate Zealots enraged at Paul for persuading them to reform the corrupt Tradiditions of their Fore-fathers binding themselves in a bloody
this fury Ver. LVI You hear my Preaching and see my Example both which tend only to Patience and Meekness forbearing and forgiving and winning all that differ from me by Love and Gentleness so that Cruelty and Force cannot suit the end of my coming now For the son of man in this dispensation of the Gospel is not come to destroy mens lives by his Power and Justice that is the business of his last coming to Judgment on the finally Impenitent your Motion therefore is very incongruous now since I am not come to send men quick to Hell but to save them and bring them by Mercy to Heaven Being thus checkt Christ passed by the Affront and they with him late though it was went to another village inhabited by the Jews The Sentence at the Offertory S. Mat. VII 12. WHatsoever ye would c. As this Sentence relates to giving in Charity at the Collection which should always be made this Day in acknowledgment of Gods Mercy I have considered it before (z) Comp. to the Altar §. 6. p. 30. But I must note it is very proper for this Day and contains a Method to prevent such evil Designs as we have been twice on this Day rescued from For if those Priesâ— who encouraged the Gun-powder Traitors had been asked Whether it were lawful for Protestant Subjects out of a zeal for their Religion to plot the Death of a Popish King his Heirs and his Nobles and to contrive afterward to set up their Faith by a violent Persecution of the far greatest part of their fellow Subjects doubtless they had answered No. Had it been enquired of the late Kings Confessors Whether it were lawful for a Protestant King reigning over a Country of the Roman Communion to break his Oath and Promises to his Catholick Subjects imprison their Bishops for an humble Petition turn men out of their Freeholds only for their Conscience and finally to resolve to impose the Reformed Religion by force on a Nation which generally hated it This had been certainly answered also in the Negative Wherefore since other men love their Religion Liberties and Lives as well as Roman-Catholicks they should not have advised their Votaries to do that against a Protestant Prince or Nation which they would not have these do against them (a) Quod quis in se approbat id in alio reprobare non possit L. in arenam Cap. de inoffic testum So that this single Rule impartially weighed had prevented both these wicked Projects and if duly followed will keep all Parties from Cruelty and Oppression The Sixth and Last Collect. The Last Collect hath four Parts 1st A Preface setting out the Glory of God O God whose name is excellent in all c. 2ly A Memorial of two great deliverances 1. From secret Mischief who on this Day didst miraculously c. 2. From open Violence and on this Day also didst begin to give c. 3ly A return of hearty Praises for both we bless and adore thy glorious Majesty c. 4ly A Prayer that they may produce in us 1. Love and Gratitude to God and we humbly pray that the devout c. 2. Submission to the King a Spirit of peaceable submission and c. 3. Zeal for the true Religion a Spirit of fervent zeal for our holy c. A Practical Discourse on this Collect. § 14. O God whose name is excellent in all the Earth c. This Collect begins with the words of one of Davids laudatory Hymns (b) Psal VIII 1. And they seasonably mind us that such eminent Deliverances of so famous a Church and Nation by so visible a Hand of Providence are not only famous among us but God is glorified for them in all foreign Lands they that live in the farthest ends of the Earth see and hear of this Salvation of God (c) Psal XCVIII ver 4. His Praise on so great an Occasion is so far from being confined to the narrow compass of our Island that this lower World cannot contain it (d) Tanta enim est gloria tua ut in hoc Orbe centinâ—ri nequit Vid. Gejer. in Psal 8. He sets his Glory above these visible Heavens For no doubt the holy Angels do sing Hallelujahs to his Honour when he so remarkably delivers and protects innocent and holy Men who are their special charge and discovers and punishes the wicked And methinks the prospect of the Joy and Gratitude of all other Reformed Churches and the Praises of Angels who are only engaged by their Charity to rejoyce with and for us should excite us whose Ancestors and our selves have been the Objects of these Divine Favours and who still enjoy the happy Effects of them to give Thanks most sincerely and fervently Who on this Day didst most miraculously preserve c. These being distinct parts of the Office we ought in every of them to remember these two Deliverances and in variety of Expressions to repeat our Gratitude We may here consider that the first time our Preservation was wrought miraculously for the Plot was laid so secretly and discovered so strangely that nothing lesâ— than a Miracle of Divine Omniscience could have brought it to light The Ruin also was intended against both Church and State our Religion and Government were resolved to be altered by the most violent methods after the fatal Blow was given The Plot was contrived by those of the Romish Church the implacable Enemies of the whole Reformation and especially of this Regular and Flourishing Part of it the Malice that inspired the Conspirators was so Diabolical that nothing but Hell could be the Original of it Now for so many Millions so excellent a Church so happy a Nation to escape from the merciless rage of such Foes doubtless is a great Mercy As to the second the danger was equally great but only it was more open the Enemies had the same Principles and Final Design but having drawn in a zealous King to abet their Interest against his own and his Peoples both they put him who would otherwise have been Gracious and might have been happy upon trampling on Right and Law and persuaded him by the terrour of a standing Army (e) Malè terrere veneratio acquiritur lengè valentior amor ad obtinendum quod velis quam timer Plin. lib. 8. cp 24. to affright his Subjects into parting with their Laws and Religion it was easie to foresee the dismal consequences of such Proceedings But alas we were Subjects and defenceless so that we had been for ever ruined if God on this same Day had not sent a foreign Prince to rescue us and from His landing we justly date our Safety We bless and adore thy glorious Majesty as for c. Upon these just Grounds we proceed to give most humble and hearty Praises to the Divine Majesty for his repeated Kindness to this Church and Nation which have been the special Care of Heaven for many Ages No People ever