Story God we read in Holy Writ preserved the Church of the Jews by the Conduct of Joseph and Moses of Joshua of David of Esther and many others and since that time his Church hath been ever dear to him in all Ages he hath still appeared for her in her Distresses and Afflictions and by some means or other as his infinite Wisdom hath thought most convenient hath wrought out her Deliverance sometimes by ordinary and sometimes by extraordinary means and preserved her in the midst of imminent Dangers and this hath been proved true more than once within the Experience of two or three Generations past God did heretofore make use of Constantine justly stiled Great for the Patronage Defence and Support of his Church in whose Relation this Nation may justly glory And in this Generation God hath not been wanting to give us extraordinary and signal Instances of that Care which he hath still for his Church amongst us in raising up our Valiant and Renowned King WILLIAM to be a Patron too and the Deliverer and Defender thereof that when we were even brought to the very brink of Ruin and in the eyes of Humane Probability we had scarce any way left to escape then God sent us a Deliverer in an extraordinary manner and gave him extraordinary Success beyond the Expectations either of his Friends or Enemies and hath from time to time preserved and secured his Person from many secret Machinations and open Violences of his Enemies and given Success to his Arms yea in this present Expedition hath given evident Demonstrations of his Care of him and hath given him such Success which I hope is but a Foretaste or Specimen of what Success he designs him if our Sins do not prevent it Let us therefore sing together in course according to the Example of the Text and with all the Intentions and Powers of our Souls praise and give thanks unto the Lord for he is good and his mercy endureth for ever towards Israel In discoursing of these Words I shall observe I. The Duty of Praise and Thanksgiving and then take notice of the Object thereof II. I shall speak something briefly to the Subject of this Praise which may serve as an Argument to prove the Reasonableness of the Duty III. Shew you the manner how it ought to be performed with the Qualifications with which it must be accompanied to render it acceptable to God and profitable to our Selves and so conclude with some brief Reflexions upon our Duty I begin with the First viz. The Duty of Praise and Thanksgiving And this is always incumbent upon the receiving of Blessings and therefore the Holy Prophet calls upon Men oftentimes in one Psalm to praise the Lord for his Goodness Psal 107.1 8 15 21 31. and declare the Wonders that he doth for the Children of Men yea he calls upon the Heavens and the Earth and the Stars yea the Angels in Heaven to praise the Lord Psal 71.6 and he himself will praise him continually And this is sometimes expressed by shewing forth Psal 9.1 sometimes by declaring his Doings Psal 96.30 and to exalt his Praise Isa 38.18 and many more And therefore I observe in the Second place That this Praise must have a determinate Object and that we must acknowledge to be twofold principally God and secondarily our Benefactors as the Instruments of God First The principal Object of our Praise and Thanks is God Jam. 1.17 for 't is from him that every good and perfect Gift cometh saith the Apostle and in him that we live move and have our being He is eminently the Object of our Praise as well for those excellent and divine Perfections that are in him as for those abundant Blessings and Favours which he bestoweth upon us which deservedly require our Praise and Adoration and therefore our Praise is sometimes taken for the whole Worship of God as St. Paul intimates Rom. 1.21 Psal 92.5 but more especially for that Joy and Gladness which we conceive of his Goodness For besides those Excellencies that dwell in him we have innumerable Benefits to praise and thank God for which I need not now stand to enumerate forasmuch as the repeated Affluence of them may be sufficient to lead an ingenious Temper to the Acknowledgment of that Bounty which bestoweth such good things upon us We have our Beings and all those necessary Supports which are required to sustain and refresh us from God he openeth his hand Psal 145.16 and filleth all things living with plenteousness our Wool and our Flax our Corn our Wine and Oyl comes all from the Bounty of God and are of excellent use to support and sustain our humane Nature And the Ordinances of God the Word preached and the Sacraments duely administred are of excellent use to beget in us and preserve us to a spiritual and eternal Life for which the pious Examples and the renowned Actions of those that have gone before us in the Faith of Jesus Christ are no small Advantage and may serve to excite our Diligence to write after their Copy that at last we may be Partakers of the same Glory with them in the Kingdom of Heaven All which comes from God and we ought to praise and thank God for them all But that which we come hither this Day to praise and thank God for more peculiarly is such a Blessing as we know not well how to express it it is the Preservation of his Majesty's Person in the midst of so eminent and great Dangers by whom as God's Instrument we enjoy all the forementioned Blessings And we praise and thank God this Day for the Success of his Arms against such an important and almost impregnable Fortification which he hath valiantly wrested out of the possession of our Enemies almost in the sight of their whole Army And that by his Conduct God hath delivered so many Thousands of our own Soldiers out of the Captivity of our Enemies who were treacherously delivered unto them We acknowledge the Providence of God principally in the performance of all this and therefore we principally praise and thank God for them as also for those former Blessings which we have received which we know not well how to express the Greatness of It is for the Conservation of our pure Religion which beyond any thing that the Enemies thereof could ever yet make appear is the most pure Religion both in its Constitution and Discipline in its Precepts and Doctrine that is this day in the World We praise and thank God also for the free and publick Exercise of his Worship without any Idolatrous Injunctions or the giddy Inventions of Mercenary Priests And farther for the Conservation of our Civil Rights and Properties we bless and thank God this Day all which through his Goodness are now secured to us contrary to and beyond the Expectations of our Enemies yea beyond our own Hopes not many Years ago which cannot yet be forgotten by any
ΕΥΧΑΡΣΤΙΑ OR A Grateful Acknowledgment OF GOD'S GOODNESS In Preserving our most Gracious King WILLIAM And for the Success of His Arms this Last Summer Deliver'd in a SERMON To a Country-Auditory On the 22d of September 1695. Being the Day appointed by Authority for a Publick Thanksgiving By WILLIAM CORBIN Preacher at the Chapel of Bromley St. Leonard's in the County of Middlesex LONDON Printed for R. Baldwin near the Oxford-Arms in Warwick-Lane MDCXCV To the Right Honourable Sir JOHN SOMMERS Kt. Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England and one of His Majesty's most Honourable Privy Council MY LORD REflecting upon the hearty Affection that you bear both to His Majesty's Person and Government and the Greatness of the Post in which you now stand which renders you serviceable to both I have presumed to shelter this plain Discourse under your Honour's Patronage and sent it abroad into the World under the Protection of your Name The Design of it is to convince some to confirm others and to shew how sincerely zealous I am for the Publick Good both of the Church and State I humbly beg your Honour's Pardon for my Presumption in this Dedication since hereby only I have the Advantage of demonstrating my zealous Affections towards and grateful Acknowledgment of your excellent Merits and to shew how much I am MY LORD Your Lordship 's most Humble most Grateful and Obedient Servant Will. Corbin To the Worshipful GEORGE FORD Esq One of His Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the County of Middlesex AND To the rest of the Parishioners of the Parish of Bromley St. Leonards in the said COUNTY AS this Discourse reached the Ears of most or all of you from the Pulpit it now returns to refresh your Memories from the Press not that I question your steady Loyalty to his Majesty's Person and true Affection to his Government nor from any ambitious Temper in me to appear to Print especially in this Carping Age but to gratifie the repeated Desires and earnest Sollicitations of some of you to whom I am highly obliged I therefore make a Present hereof to you accept of it therefore in the plain Dress in which it was deliver'd Your Earnest Desires were the Midwife that ushered it into the World and therefore how mis-shapen soever it is call it your own The Design of it is laudable and it may serve by the Blessing of God if it fall into the hands of any such to confirm the Minds of those that are wavering in their Affections to the Present Government to convince and silence the Enemies thereof and perswade all to a Holy and Christian Emulation of exceeding each other in their Loyalty to the KING in their true Affections to his Government and diligent Endeavours in their several Capacities for the Preservation of both and to engage all in a Charitable and Christian Deportment one toward another And that it may have this happy Effect upon all is the earnest Desire and hearty Prayer of Worshipful and Beloved Your Faithful and Obliged tho' Unworthy Minister W. C. EZRA III. 11. the former part And they sung together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord because he is good for his mercy endureth for ever toward Israel AS Troubles and Afflictions call for Repentance and Humiliation so Days of Victory and Deliverances call aloud for Rejoycing and Thanksgiving For the grateful Acknowledgment of Favours receiv'd is a mighty Obligation upon Almighty God to bestow more and greater Favours upon a People God hath blessed be his Name to all other his Favours and Advantages which he hath given our KING against His and Our Enemies added this one of Delivering so strong a Fortress which our Enemies possessed into his Hands In the Strength of which being so mightily encreased both by Art and Treasure since they had the Possession of it they mightily encouraged themselves and thought perhaps with the proud Sons of Anak that no Force could stand before them But blessed be God some of them have lived to see themselves deceived tho Multitudes have perished which hath not a little advanced the Subject of our Praises this Day and to add to the Glory and Triumph of so signal a Victory God in his infinite Mercy hath made use hereof to deliver several Thousands of our own Soldiers who were treacherously deliver'd over to and detain'd in the Captivity of our Enemies and that by the Conduct of our Renowned and Illustrious KING WILLIAM for whose Safety we praise God this Day as for so signal a Victory he hath obtained against His and Our Enemies in this his Expedition And oh that every one of our Hearts and Lives as well as our Lips and Tongues would unanimously and sincerely praise and magnifie the Rock of our Salvation the Lord of Hosts and sing together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord because he is good for his mercy endureth for ever toward Israel The Text and the Occasion are happily met together and both are joyned in one Duty The Thanksgiving in the Text was made upon the Laying of the Foundation of the New Temple which was to be in the room of that which was built by Solomon and destroyed by the King of Babylon And the Victory which God hath given our King and the Safety and Protection of his Person is the Subject of this Day 's Thanksgiving And we are met together at this time to acknowledge and adore the Infinite Wisdom and Power of Almighty God in contriving and bringing such mighty things to pass How light soever our Enemies may make of this Action yet I hope it will prove to be of Consequence to correct their Pride and a just Retribution for their Cruelty For doubtless God who hath not been an idle Spectator of their Pride and Blasphemy of their cruel and unchristian Carriage will have a time to correct them for all this And who can tell but this is the Season which God hath appointed for the Performance of so great a Work as that of Relieving almost all the Christian World from the Tyranny and Rage from the unjust Invasions and proud Insults of not long since a growing Tyrant I mean Lewis XIV who I hope will in a little more time be a dejected and sneaking Nothing in respect of our Heroick and Illustrious KING and through the good Providence of God the Affairs of the World at this time seem to be disposed for such a Performance by the wise Conduct diligent Care and undaunted Courage of our Renowned King WILLIAM whom God long long preserve to be a Terrour to France and for the Honour Safety and Welfare of all the Reformed Churches in the World God hath had a peculiar Care of his Church in all Ages and he hath never wanted Instruments to rescue and deliver her when in his infinite Wisdom he hath thought it most convenient We have many Instances to this purpose in the Holy Scriptures besides those in Humane
for the Children of Men and especially for such wonderful Blessings as we commemorate this Day viz. The Preservation of our Gracious and Illustrious KING and for the Advantages which God hath given him against His and Our Enemies in this Summer's Expedition And well may the Safety of such a PRINCE deserve and require a Day of Congratulation and Thanksgiving I need not now give you a Narrative of his Miraculous Preservation forasmuch as it hath been so often repeated in your ears Such were the Guards of his Person that hitherto blessed be His and our God his Enemies Attempts against him have been unsuccessful And besides the subsidiary Guards of Men he had an inward Guard I doubt not viz. the Integrity of his Mind and Conscience which though it do not always secure a Man against the Rage and Violence of Men yet it arms a Man with Courage and Resolution to stand against and sustain all Besides which he had a spiritual Guard too viz. the devout Prayers of his Faithful and Loyal Subjects which always attended his Preservation Yea he had also a higher and more noble Guard which still attended his Safety viz. the Protection of the Watchful and Powerful Angels those ministring Spirits and the watchful Providence of his great Maker and Creator those divine Guards which have fenced him in on every side as with a Wall of Fire which at once preserved his Person and destroyed many of his Enemies But my purpose is not at this time to bring you back to the View of his Perils but to stir up your Hearts to a thankful Acknowledgment of and hearty Thanks and Praise to God for his wonderful Preservation and Success who is justly stiled The Defender of the Faith He hath as the Instrument of God been hitherto the Preserver of his Temple among us ever since the great Disposer of all things hath committed the Charge thereof to his Care from Idols and Superstition and God hath hitherto blessed be his Majesty for ever preserved him from all his Enemies and we may conclude that that Providence that hath hitherto preserved him in such an extraordinary manner hath designed him for some farther Service to the Christian World which is more than ordinary For because he loved Israel for ever saith the Spirit of God by the Prophet 1. Kings 10.9 therefore made he him KING to do Judgment and Justice It was God that sate a Crown upon his Head and hath hitherto by a Miracle preserved it and him together contrary to the Designs and in spight of all the raging Malice of France and Hell For by me saith the Spirit of God by the Wise-man Prov. 8.15 Kings reign and Princes decree Justice God hath hitherto delivered him from all the secret Attempts and open Violences of his Enemies and in him we are all delivered that we might rejoyce in his Safety as sometimes the Romans did in the Recovery of Germanicus when they ran with Lamps and Sacrifices to the Capitol and there sung with Shouts and Acclamations Salva Roma salva Patria salus Germanicus the City is safe and the Country is safe and All is safe in the Safety of Germanicus And the same Acclamations of Praise well become Our Mouths this Day when we seriously consider the manifold Blessings we enjoy in the Safety of and under the Auspicious Reign of our Noble and Illustrious KING WILLIAM For such a KING of Men under whose Government we enjoy all that our Hearts can wish or desire as the present Circumstances of Affairs stand save only that of his Royal Presence among us let us adore and magnifie the great God of Kings And as we ought in private to sing every day so may we with the whole Nation sing with upright Hearts and engaged Affections in publick this Day Salva Britannia salva Ecclesia Anglicana salvus Gulielmus the Kingdom is safe the Church is safe all our Estates are safe and we are all safe and happy in the Preservation of and under the thrice Auspicious Reign of our Illustrious KING WILLIAM And I would to God that as we have great Cause of Emulation so we would be diligent and faithful in the Imitation of the Praises and Thanks of Israel Bless we then the great King of Kings for his Preservation who as God's Instrument preserveth our Temple as the Israelites did for their King who built the Temple 2 Chron. 5.12 whilst the Levites and the Singers sound with Harps and Cymbals the Praises of the Lord our God and say as it is in the Text Praise the Lord for he is good for his mercy endureth for ever towards our Israel Let us then my Brethren with prepared Hearts and religious Affection magnifie the glorious Name of God as we pretend to do this Day and if it be possible let us by some unusual Strains of united Thanks pierce the very Skies and give an Eccho to those Celestial Quires which are above who perpetually sing forth the Praises and Glory and Honour of the Great and Immortal God who sitteth upon the Throne for evermore In one Word May the God of Heaven still preserve the Person of our Dear and Dread SOVERAIGN and convert or confound all his Enemies May the Crown long long flourish upon his Head and may he reign gloriously over all that hate him and in the Affections of all his Subjects And may the Keepers of God's Temple and the Defenders of the true Ancient and Apostolick Faith among us live and flourish and let every true-hearted English-man say with one Voice Amen Amen Yea let Amen the faithful and true Witness in Heaven say Amen to it And as for our Selves Let us all dearly beloved heartily and sincerely repent of our former Sins and resolve every one of us in particular to be better men and better Christians and to serve God with pure Hearts and Consciences and demean our selves always in a Vertuous and Religious Conversation And then we need not fear but God will still preserve our KING and Us from all His and Our Enemies and give us a compleat and entire Victory over them to a glorious Perfection and establish us upon the lasting Foundations of Peace and Happiness that we may still have more and more Occasion to praise magnifie and adore the God of Heaven our great and mighty Deliverer and after the Example of the Holy Prophet call in all the Creatures of God to celebrate his Praises and say with one Voice Praise the Lord for he is good and his mercy endureth for ever towards our Israel FINIS