Selected quad for the lemma: prayer_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
prayer_n	almighty_a	holy_a	lord_n	2,010	5	3.5612	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A86987	A sermon preached in the Cathedral & Metropolitical Church of St. Peter in York, on Sunday, Novemb. 17. 1695 by George Halley ...	Halley, George, 1655 or 6-1708.	1695 (1695)	Wing H455B; ESTC R42409	12,425	31

there is in it any thing of Popery and Superstition No surely if they have understanding and ingenuity they must be convinc'd they must confess that our Church hath no inclination at all to Popery Her admirable deportment and gallant behaviour in the late Reign must satisfie any reasonable man that she is the most strong and standing Bulwark of Protestancy and hath been so ever since the Reformation In the late Reign how did her Dove like innocency appear when the weather was hard and severe when the season was tempestuous when the rain descended and the floods came when the winds were strong and boystrous and vehemently beat upon her she did not like a subtle Serpent creep into a hole but bravely show'd her self upon the face of the earth and vindicated her principles with such a mouth and wisdom as all her Adversaries were not able to gainsay nor resist and stood like a Rock impregnable against all the assaults made against her The charming voice of antiquity speaks in behalf of our Religion What then is the matter What occasions Nonconformity What just reason is there of complaint and dissatisfaction There are some Ceremonies which they cannot away with As for her Ceremonies there is nothing in them but what is harmless and innocent discreet and primitive in number few in use decent peaceable in regard of conformity and highly conducive to Devotion I am sure our Holy Mother the Church treats her Children with all imaginable tenderness and moderation she commands nothing but what very well suits with St. Paul's Canon let all things be done decently and in order That there should be Ceremonies it is of absolute necessity no outward work can be performed without ceremonial circumstances and that there should be constitutions concerning them it is necessary tho not simply and absolutely as the former yet necessitate convenientiae If this were not then every man might have his own fashion by himself and so consequently there would be nothing but infinite distractions and horrible confusions in the Church No the Holy Apostle hath taught us better things God is not the Author of confusion but of Peace 1 Cor. 14.33 and 1 Cor. 11 16. If any man seem to be contentious we have no such custom neither the Churches of God But it is a Jesuitical Artifice to promote Separation Nothing can better advance the interest of Rome It is their business to delude to break the peace of the best constituted Church in the whole World They are highly sensible that enmity amongst our selves is the only gate that can possibly give Popery an entrance into this Kingdom O let us then in time unite and see the things which belong unto our peace Let us meet all together with one accord in one place let us live together in Love and Unity Upon this vertue of Unanimity our Riches our Honors our Laws our Religion our King and our Country all our hopes depend Then shall we see happy days and peace upon Israel O pray for the peace of Jerusalem But 2dly and lastly Let us glorifie God by purity of life and holiness of conversation This we must of absolute necessity do or else the Almighty will not hear our prayers for the peace of Jerusalem It is infallibly true which we read in several places in Holy Writ thus Prov. 28.9 He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law he that hearkens not to the Lord his God and obeys not his laws the prayer of that man is an abomination Thus Psalm 66.18 If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me but Psalm 34.15 The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous and his ears are open unto their prayers Thus in the ninth Chapter of St. John's gospel verse 31. we read that God heareth not sinners Yes God hears and sees whatsoever is transacted upon the stage of this World God is a witness and spectator of all mens actions not so much as a thought can escape him neither can any word be hidden from him to him all hearts are open all designs are known and from him no secrets are hid every mans heart is as pellucid as clear to him as Crystal he knows what is done in the inner rooms of the heart The eye indeed of the Adulterer the Thief the Murderer waiteth for the twilight for the evening for the black and dark night saying no eye shall see me and disguiseth his face Alas he labours under the grossest mistake and delusion the night with God is as clear as the day the darkness and light to him are both alike Oh that such men would but consider that God is the Author of their frame and constitution It is he who hath enriched us with the noble powers and excellent faculties of hearing and seeing It is by him that we are thus fearfully and wonderfully made Now what man of sense or understanding can imagine him to want any power or excellence which He alone hath imparted to his creatures If the effect be so glorious what is the cause surely he hears he sees in a superior degree in a more eminent manner than we can possibly comprehend his eyes must be ten thousand times brighter than the sun He that formed the eye shall not he see He that planted the ear shall not he hear Psalm 94.9 God heareth not sinners These words were spoken by the man who was blind from his birth and whose eyes our Blessed Saviour had opened such an astonishing miracle as confounded the Pharisees as made them fly to opprobrious language and Excommunications such a credential such an infallible testimony as illustrated his Divinity as sufficiently evinc'd and prov'd his divine original and authority God heareth not sinners That is God patronizeth no sin God worketh no miracle to authenticate or justifie the mission of a sinner Wicked men are always hateful to God he rejecteth and refuseth the prayers and requests of sinners that is such as live in a state of impenitency such as run on in sinful and debauched courses with the greatest boldness and presumption such as affront him by avowed wickedness and impiety Nothing will endear the God of heaven to us but purity and holiness the God with whom we have to do is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity this will certainly make a separation betwixt him and us this will enforce him to withdraw from us the light of his countenance If we continue in our sins then when we cry He will not hear when we call He will not answer O then let us lead holy and exemplary lives let us live with especial regularity and strictness of conversation let us glorifie our Heavenly Father by works of meekness and humility charity and patience sobriety and temperance thus if we perfect holiness in the sight of God we shall then have evident demonstrations of his power and audience he will graciously hear us when we pray for the happiness and prosperity both of Church and State for the peace of Jerusalem God will then direct the consultations of the High and Honourable Court of Parliament now at hand to the advancement of his Glory to the good of this Church to the safety honour and welfare of our Sovereign and his Kingdoms We shall than have a comfortable hope that all things will be settled by their endeavours upon the best and surest foundations that peace and happiness truth and justice the Protestant religion and true Christian piety will be establish'd among us for all generations Which God of his infinite mercy grant for Jesus Christ his sake to whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be ascribed of us and the whole Church all power glory and praise now and for evermore Amen FINIS

structures are turn'd into ruinous heaps how many thousands abroad are in trouble and sorrow detain'd from the comforts of Gods solemn worship fed with the bread of weeping and have nothing but plenteousness of tears to drink When in a great measure the beauty of our Church and State is as yet unsullied when we sit under our own Vines when we have the true Religion and can come into the Courts of the Lord when we can appear before the presence of our God without disturbance or molestation It is true indeed we are engag'd in a chargeable and expensive in a very bloody war but still we are happy in respect of other Nations because it is a War nor at home but abroad A War that is absolutely necessary we can have no prospect of happiness without it and if we will but so exercise our selves as to engage the Lord of Hosts to be our God we may see it shortly produce an honorable and lasting Peace durable tranquility O pray for the peace of Jerusalem But 3dly Peace in the Holy Scriptures not only imports a good conscience satisfaction or contentment of mind not only a deliverance from war from strife and contention both in Church and State but also it signifies all kind of temporal happiness and prosperity and according to this comprehensive signification we enjoy Peace in a great degree We are blest with the best of Princes and the best of governments with a most incomparable constitution we live in the most temperate part of the temperate Zone our habitation is encompassed with the Sea as a Wall of defence to us on every side Et penitus toto divisos orbe Britannos And we enjoy a Government as temperate as the Climate itself the beams of Soveraignty are neither so perpendicular over our heads as that they can scorch us nor yet so oblique but that they are able to warm and cherish us there is nothing but what enjoys the auspicious influence the comfortable heat thereof A government which made our fore-fathers happy at home and famous abroad If you consult such as are men of wisdom and experience as have seen many things by travelling foreign Countries read but the accurate remarks and curious observations of such understanding persons and they will tell you that no Polity is more amiable and lovely more graceful and glorious than our own If any Nation under Heaven can we may justly say that the lot is faln unto us in a fair ground let us therefore humbly beg of God a continuation of these his Blessings O pray for the peace of Jerusalem And this leads me to the second observable namely what method we must of necessity take what means we must make use of to enjoy the blessings of peace And here the Text chalks us out a method prescribes us such means as if rightly made use of will effectually procure us the blessings of peace and that is Prayer We must pray for it O pray for the peace of Jerusalem The time would fail me to tell of the virtue and efficacy the force and energy the wonderful strength and power of prayer Such cannot be ignorant of this as believe the Holy Scriptures as are conversant in the lively oracles of God What strange and prodigious things are recorded there unto which prayer hath given an accomplishment and perfection how many Victories hath it obtain'd how hath it stay'd the course of the Sun and Moon how hath it made those glorious Luminaries to stand still in the midst of Heaven for the space of a whole day how hath it brought down rain from Heaven to refresh and enrich the parched ground this important truth is illustrated by several Examples in the Sacred Records We find there that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much that God is graciously pleas'd to be prevail'd upon and overcome by prayer that this is the way to storm the Mansions of Eternity that by this artillery if well planted the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence and the violent the obstinate suppliants take it by force If therefore such be the virtue and efficacy the force and energy the wonderful strength and power of prayer O pray for the peace of Jerusalem But 2dly Prayer as well as peace is a word of comprehensive signification Prayer which is the necessary means for the obtaining the blessings of peace implies a putting our trust and confidence in the Lord our God If we must pray unto God for peace it supposeth that we must place all our hopes in him for in vain should we pray unto him if we did not make him the object of our hope if we did not put our trust in him No when we pray we must say with the Royal Psalmist Let thy merciful kindness O Lord be upon us like as we do put our trust in thee Psalm 33.21 Or in the words of our excellent and incomparable Liturgy O Lord let thy mercy be shewed upon us as we do put our trust in thee O therefore not only pray unto but put your trust in the Lord for the peace of Jerusalem Alas in whom shall we trust in whom shall we repose our hopes for the peace of Jerusalem but in the Lord our God Shall we trust in our Naval Force Vain are all these helps without God our defence Our Ships may be consum'd by fire such a surprizing and terrible tempest may arise as may drive the Walls of our Nation upon rocks or else they may be dash'd in pieces with the violence of the waves They that go down to the sea in ships and occupy their business in great waters do see the works of the Lord and behold his wonders in the deep such men frequently see the sad and dismal effects of a rough wind and a tempestuous sea for at his word the stormy wind ariseth which lifteth up the waves thereof they are carry'd up to the heaven and down again to the deep their soul melteth away because of the trouble they reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken man and are at their wits end but when they cry or pray unto the Lord when they trust in him he delivereth them out of their distress O therefore pray unto and trust in God for the peace of Jerusalem whom the winds and the seas obey Shall we trust in prudent Politicians Alas God by a secret and irresistable power can stop or countermine the deepest projects can split the closest counsels and smite the most refined policy with frustration and a curse God can infatuate the wisdom of the wise and turn all their counsels into folly as he did the counsels of Achitophel Shall we trust in the strength of tough well-disciplin'd and veteran Troops God can strike a terror into their hearts He can make them hear a a noise of Chariots a noise of Horses even the noise of a great Host He can fill their hearts with such a fear as shall put them all into