Selected quad for the lemma: lord_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
lord_n	day_n	rest_v	work_n	10,289	5	6.5766	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A97161	A discourse concerning the Engagement: or, The northern subscribers plea opposed to their dissenting neighbors importune animosities against engaging to be true and faithful, &c. Tending to beget a calm compliance in all the consciencious lovers of truth and peace. / Laid together by N.W. a friend to the Common-wealth.	N. W.	1650 (1650)	Wing W85; Thomason E590_8; ESTC R204160	21,163	24

A DISCOURSE CONCERNING The Engagement OR The Northern Subscribers Plea opposed to their dissenting Neighbors importune Animosities against Engaging to be true and faithful c. Tending to beget a calm Compliance in all the Consciencious Lovers of Truth and Peace Laid together by N. W. a friend to the COMMON-WEALTH Deceit is in the heart of them that imagine evil but to the Counsellors of Peace is joy Prov. 12.20 Where envying and strife is there is confusion and every evil work Jam. 3.16 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nazian Orat. 12. London Printed for Francis Tyton dwelling at the Three Daggers in Fleetstreet neer the Temple 1650. A DISCOURSE CONCERNING The Engagement OR The Northern Subscribers Plea c. WHen the glorious God Job 34.21 whose eyes are upon the hearts and ways of the sons of men looking through their purposes strikes off the Chariot wheels of their beloved interests as incompatible with his grand design in the World When he discomfits their hopes and casts a damp upon their expectations 't is usual for them to sit down in morosity and peevishness of spirit 1 Kings 19.4 Jonas 4.8 and think they do well to be angry even unto death This unhappy temper hath robbed us of the agency and usefulness of many hopeful instruments in these days of great temptation when a man hath been more precious then fine Gold yea a man then the golden wedg of Ophir Isaiah 13.12 But as this frame of spirit and demeanor is always very importune and misbecoming those who are called out to the service of Providence so especially in times of sad discomposure such as ours at present are Now the ribs of Jacob hang loosely and dash one against another and Englands children are even stragling as Hinds that finde no pasture Now our breach is great like the Sea and gapes still widening for our enemies those that get behinde the hedg Ezek. 22.30 are not where God looks for them He that is so fond of his gourd that though destruction upon destruction be cried and the whole Land spoiled Lam 4 3 yet will by no means let it go is cruel like the Ostrienes in the Wilderness and worse then the Sea-Monsters which draw out the brest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost Isai 59.16 and 51.18 Micah 7.4 and give suck to their young ones Christians as they are the greatest lovers of God so they are full of bowels beyond all other men and tender of their mutual welfare Truly the Lord may very well wonder seeing so few intercessors so few that come with balm in their hands and ligatures for our wounds yea that so many of the best in account amongst us are rather as bryars and of the most upright sharper then a thorn hedg raking in our wounds like enemies and without pity widening our breaches although the rent be even at the caul of the heart Rom. 2.1 That we may not therefore become inexcusable doing the same things or render our selves altogether unserviceable in our age and places though we can do little for the help of the Lord till it shall seem good unto him to lay us aside although our interests be not suited more then many other mens who fling away in discontent nor our spirits satisfied but in waiting the good pleasure of the Lord we judg it our duty to stand up with those few heads and stayes of our Tribes kept together by Gods providence in this strait of time for our support and to engage with them for the strengthening of their hands till the Lord hath accomplished his great work Isaiah 51.16 Psal 94.13 15. planting the Heavens and laying the foundations of the Earth amongst us till he give us rest from the days of adversity and still the enemy and the avenger till judgment return unto righteousness and all the upright in heart follow it till he throughly plead our cause and roll away our reproach till he ordain peace in our borders making our walls salvation Isaiah 60.18 and our gates praise And that in so doing we may acquit our selves from the imputations both of time-serving and blinde-obedience nothing being good but what is rationally good we shall 1. Lay down and clear those consciencious grounds which have led us on to this duty and 2. Make answer ex abundanti to those serious scruples which we perceive to stick upon many men as obstructors of their ready conjunction with us in this business As to the first of these it hath continually faln upon our thoughts whether any men living under such dispensations of providence may disoblige themselves from acknowledging at least in some sort those powers in being over them whether lawful or pretended and not draw upon their heads the guilt of all that dismal confusion which would like the breaking out of water unavoidably follow the total * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys dissolution of Government amongst them especially in a Nation wherein the contest about Prerogative has been the sharpest Plea that ever it was acqainted with and in which the fiery spirit of absolute domination hath found more Abettors then could be imagined amongst a people that hated not the name and thing of liberty and property And though some men happily whose judgments and activity have been against us in this grand quarrel may conceive themselves exempt from any such charge yet whether we who have fought against tyranny should not be accessory to Anarchy and deeply concerned in its woful consequents should we disown that Authority over us though not so full and formal as we might wish it were we have ever been held in great doubt we never coveted to have the enemies thanks for doing his work yea we have been very fearful lest the Laws should cry out against us as lawless and every ruined family should charge its undoing upon our scores If men be Wolves one to another under the straightest restrictions of Magistracy what will they be when left to their own lawes the best lot we our selves can look for in such a cause is but the Gyants curtesie to be devoured last nay considering that spirit in most people lusting to revenge we may look to be devoured first As to those pretensions which other men make to power and rule over us we found them but shadows or at best but dilute and washie supports to a sinking Common-wealth we can expect no operation of that which is not in being let the title or right to power be never so highly pretended neither were we ever throughly perswaded that Government was any mans * See the Tenure of Kings c. I. M. Princeps è Senatu oritu● Senatus è vobis O●ho in Tac. ad praetorianos● freehold or that many men might not serve providence in the administration of right to a Nation and the promoving its welfare as well as any one were his blood of never so high a colour or his Grandeur never so pompous

a Circa quodcunque est Dei permissio circa idem etiam est actualis volitio Th. de Bradward volition then surely those futuritions or positive events determined by him and welpleasing to him come not to pass without his special efficiency this Doctrine some of us have taken in from the Schools and in whatever Series of events God manifests this his special concurrence or appearing that cause he owns hence it may be said of our change the thing is of God and those Powers in being over us ordained of him yea by his special appointment speciall procurement and we hope out of special grace and favor Object But the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 say some signifie lawful powers a power of right contradistinguished to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a power of might Answ To this we Answer VVhat men mean by a power of Right or how far they will extend it we do not very well know we conceive our present Powers may fall within that compass but as for the word it signifies any power the devil hath no lawful power to give and yet this word is used for that power over the Kingdoms of the world which he offered unto Christ Luke 4.6 what shall we think of Pilates power to crucifie the Lord of Life Joh. 19.10 Here the word is used again was that a lawful power Secondly we cannot easily understand how any powers should take the denomination of lawful or unlawful from their Form Constitution or Mould for then onely some one frame of Government would be lawful as it is in Gospel Discipline and all other unlawful but rather from the efflux of peoples wils into the Being of such Powers over them or from their agency in commanding things lawful or unlawful under God Those that command unlawful things in such exorbitances swerving from the Rule of their Office they retain no stamp of * Malus princeps non est princeps quemadmodum spiritus impurus qui invasit corpus hominis non est animus Eras Authority or Power on them at all For upon this account we are disobliged from consciencious obedience in such cases because there men act as disrob'd of Magistracy God never giving any man Commission to do evil He is the Minister of God to thee for good saith the Apostle Rom. 13.4 1 Pet. 2.14 Object Kingly power is by this Plea proved a lawful power and a power ordained of God why then was the King resisted rejected and that Government laid aside Answ To this we say 1. That Kingly power with its just limits and boundaries was a lawful power amongst us and ordained of God and is so where ever it is lawfully exercised Kings are lawful powers but not exclusively The Kings of England were so the States of Holland are so so are the Emperors Princes and Cantons of Germany the Senate and Capi of Venice the great Dukes of Muscovy the Vaivods of Transilvania and the Parliaments of England 2. Why that Government is laid aside the Parliament hath given most unbyassed men very good satisfaction both for the equity and necessity of it in their Declaration of March 17. 1648. published in several Languages unto which we refer the Objectors 3. The King was rejected upon the matter of his Charge See the Kings Case resisted because of his illegal commands and usurpations upon Liberties and * If a Villain work on Sunday by his Lords command he shall be free Sir H. Spillman Concil Consciences Neither was the King though a lawful power the sole power amongst us no nor the Soveraign power neither if Mr. Prynne be not mistaken who intitles several Volumns of his The Soveraign Power of Parliaments and Kingdoms and that learned Scotchman in his Lex Rex opposed to all Prerogative and Royal Advocates overthrowing and exauctorating the Pleas of Maxwel Barclay Grotius Spalatensis the Doctors of Aberdeen Dr. Fern E. Simmons c. tending to assert the Royal Prerogative of Christian Kings We conceive all powers as to their form are lawful yet all changeable The Royal Scepter was lawful though not everlasting the laying it aside speaks not its absolute illegality but its temporal inexpediency And we wish that Parliaments in their present Constitution may not be so long liv'd as the Norman Scepter if they be less expedient we judg them both lawful powers but neither irresistible nor unchangeable 4. The Lord by his Providence hath largely commented upon those Texts which confirm the lawfulness of our powers in Being yea their very constitution as from him Grotius of the truth of Christian Religion l. 1. sect 11. Where it pleaseth God to change the form of Government those men whom he useth as instruments for the effecting of that matter as being determined for him Suppose they be like to Cyrus Alexander or Caesar the Dictator to them all things even those which are above the reach of mans prudence do succeed more beyond their desires and wishes then the diversity of humane casualties ordinarily doth permit c. They are the words of H. Grotius a man not very Orthodox touching Magistracy neither and remarkable under this head by all those who have taken notice of the gracious conduct of Providence towards and the Lords presence with those who have been instruments in his hands for effecting this change of Government amongst us And truly he that considers the works done in our days pondering them well and yet confesseth not Digitum Dei hîc hîc the Arm of the Almighty made bare for us we cannot but think he is more deeply baptized into the spirit of Atheism then the Egyptian sorcerers which withstood Moses were Exod. 8.19 If the falling of a Sparrow to the ground though worth but half a farthing hath something of providence in it much more those wonderful appearings of God antecedent concomitant and subsequent to our change of Government Psal 97.5 Have not the hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord at the presence of the Lord of the whole Earth See the Lord Generals Letter from Ireland Decemb. 1649. Isai 26.11 God will surely curse that man and his house who saith it was an arm of flesh that did what was done in England as making way for this change or what hath been done in Ireland since Those who will not see when the Lords hand is lifted up they shall see and be ashamed c. The Almighties smoothing that roughness and becalming those tumultuous ragings of peoples spirits by the greatness of his arm Exod. 15 16. making them as still as a stone just upon this change His breaking their powerful conspiracies and dissipating those numerous bodies spirited with influence from the Royal Head before this change and his preventing those hideous confusions and garments rolling in blood which by the Catholike out cry of the vulgar and the ominous presages of some graver heads threatned to attend this change All these ioyntly pondered together