Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	accompany_v	act_n	act_v	26	3	7.1751	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A83948	Englands apology, for its late change: or, A sober persvvasive, of all disaffected or dissenting persons, to a seasonable engagement, for the settlement of this common-vvealth. Drawne from the workings of providence. The state of affaires. The danger of division.		1651 (1651)	Wing E2943; Thomason E623_12; ESTC R201917	29,152	43

choise unparalleld workings of him against the Powers of this world who stand in his way to the advancement of his Sons Throne God writes his mind somtimes in his Works as well as in his Word and there are many overtures in Civil affairs which the Word doth not so positively direct but providence and the necessity of affairs must be the rule in and how ever the providences of God are not demonstrations a priori as they say yet they may very well be a posteriori though they do not state things yet they do distinguish them and as God will rather have heaven and e●rth to pass away then one iota or tittle of his Word to fail so he will have all men to give him the glory of his Works else he will destroy all the civil Heavens and earths which men sets-up and God blames his people as often for not observing his Works as for disobeying his Statu●es If the permissive acts of Gods justice in the world ought to make all men fear and tremble how much more these positive and errectual assistances of Instruments in executing his righteous judgements the children of Israel were blamed for nothing more than that they forgat the wonders of God at the red Sea and in the Wilderness But that we may not look on these things at large let us view what have been accompanying all our transactions in these last yeers which make them more than events to convince our spirits First all that God hath yet acted for us hath been from the smallest and contemtiblest beginnings that even wise men have been afraid of their own Acts and our enemies have laughed in secret at us seeing our ruine in our first foundation and so weak we were that we were rather objects of the pi●y of our friends and scorn of the contrary party who would ever have imagined that such a new Model should have thriven better than so great and well accomplish'd Army which preceded or what could wise men either fore-see or Christians believe concerning any great matters to be accomplished by such Pigmies Secondly As God took the lowest condition to begin this work so he ever brought our estates unto the greatest straits ere he appeared to point out to all men that he would be alone seen in the prosecution of this cause and that he would have the glory of making this Nation a Common-wealth In England remember especially Naseby when the King was the ●ighest that ever he was since the war began where was the first experiment of Gods engaging with them at Kent Essex ' Wa●es especially at Preston when the Nation was most divided and incensed against these proceedings and our Army scarce a third part In Ireland when all was lost but two Towns Dublin and Derry But above all in Scotland when we fed on our Vital Spirits more than Bread and lived by our courage and Gods support more than food how hath God helped I have often looked on it as an absolute and general observation in Gods actings that he never brings his enemies into straits to help them but it is his usual way where he means to make his providence glorious and his people most praising to let them be past saving in their own sense and their enemies hopes and truly our Victories were seldom given until not only our means but almost our faith failed us Thirdly these successes have been uniform and universal in every part and against every party which have upon any pretence whatever banded themselves against this State and their transactions yea so eavenly hath God gone forth and so impartially that how ever we may at first question the principles we cannot deny the acts but to be from God Yea not only height of Royalty and the grosness of Malignancy but the flourishes of the best precenses have been blasted and overthrown by these manifestations the Church as well as the World have been under a Divine censure for opposing themselves and complying with the first or new modell'd enemy against this State which may make all godly hearts serious and wary if not to tremble at their fire and heat in their reflections on these things If these things be not timely considered but our obsti●acy grows with Gods admonitions the next work will be Excommunication Fourthly all these works we now see have been begotten and brought forth in the midst of the plots of open and secret enemies plots laid so secret and sure that nothing but he that discovers the hidden things of darkness could discern or prevent and so hath God ordered and casted the season of our deliverances that they have been beyond the enemies designes and perfectest perswasions and our expectations of the most observant spectators that God might have all the glory Who could imagine what hath been working in hell and the corners of darkness against this work of God now in part brough● forth and yet all disappointed and frustrated with condignet punishment on the heads of principal Authors It will be endless to run over the variety of these discoveries and other circumstances which if well considered are as much as the mercies themselves amount unto The last great demonstration of Gods presence with this Army in Scotland may serve instar omnium to Uniting our confidences if all the rest be of no value which was Gods determination of the iustness of our Cause after solemn appeal to God on both sides especially on ours this being the publique expression of our Army in that candid Remonstrance ere they entred Scotland that they did appeal to God the righteous Judge of quick and dead if their hearts were not sincere in what they remonstrated and in their affections to that Nation and did moreover put it only on God if ever they came to engagement pardoning human infirmities to deal with them according to the justness of their Cause and the truth of their hearts I quote this especially because as it was the most solemn appeal to Divine Justice so what God did in this was the confirmation of all the rest of his publique actings by them and the Umpire only left to God to own them or destroy them as his wisdom and justice saw their hearts and cause how was Gods arm made bare for them at last though he carried himself a long while as if he meant to make good the reproches of their enemies against them It must be confest Appeals are of a very high and dangerous nature if not done with the greatest seriosity and upon the surest grounds and they do either argue abundance of carnal confidence or integrity and pureness of spirit that they ought not to be frequent and common but where no other way is or can be found out of deciding controversies of a high and controvertible nature where confidence on both sides are equally positive and immoveable by mediate arguments yea It is without question trivial and common affaires cannot be grounds of Appeal to God there being

those that lies in Christs way to his royal Throne and the glorious exercise of his Kingly power shall be first on the Powers of this world who have combined together against the Lord and his Anointed and have bin the most undermining and profest enemies that Christ and his Saints have had in the world and all those that seek to underprop that tottering state must expect to fall with it for God hath either laid aside or destroyed the best sort of men who though with never so much tenderness or zeal put forth a hand to uphold this Monarchy and if ever Haman begin to fall before Mordecai he never riseth more but to his utter ruine What is it that lies so weighty on our spirits that no providence no argument can ballance I wish it were not to be feared of many they have made snares for their Consciences and then catch themselves willingly in them Are not the dayes of Mourning for the late King yet expired and our hearts refreshed by what God hath acted since in these three Nations It s now high time for us to wean our hearts from the flash ravishments of Names and Titles when we have so long suffered for our affections Surely if we were impartial Judges of that Act which I may call the first cleer and thorow Act of Justice that ever was executed in the Western World and if we did like good and wise men observe the nature and fruit of Actings we shall find that as never an Act of Justice w●s accompanyed with more remarkable observations and blest with more happy Testimonies of Approbation then the beheading the late King Besides the righteous grounds upon which they gave sentence of death against him which when looked into we had rather need to wonder such a Head should s●●nd on his shoulders then that it was solemnly severed from it being one who was the Author of the shedding so much blood in three popolous Nations meerly for his prerogative tyranny for all other things he might have had and much of that also with the hearts of all good subiects But the circumstances if they doe not deserve a better name in his execution may inform us somthing more then ordinary if we shut not our eyes First that God should so order it to bring him to his death and shed his blood before that very place where the first blood in this war was shed while he looked out through that window with sport God doth somtimes write mens sins in their punishments Secondly that in so populous and vast a City among millions of his most intire and desperate friends there should not be found the least tumult or motion or insurrection for to rescue him all men being under a divine restraint and awed by the dreadfulness of Gods justice in such an act what was that poor Army who were disperst up and down the City to the legions of enemies that were against them who might have destroied them in a moment and eat them up at one morsel I am loath to strain these things too far but only to name them to make us consider that they are not ordinary It was one of the great circumstances named in the childrens of Israels deliverances out of Egypt that not a dog did bark at them but doubtless never was such an act of such concerment done since that time in the world with less noise and silence then that which argues that something more then humane was at the doing of it and which may not be omitted God hath not suffered the least hair of the heads of any of the prime Instruments in that glorious piece of service to be touched by any Assassinate notwithstanding all the threatnings and bloudy malice that works strongly in dissolute and desperate spirits And if we have had but any eyes to view the consequences and issues of it we cannot say but that there is at least occasion of seriousness and ponderousness of spirit ere we have a thought amiss concerning the lawfulness and justness of it for as until that time we did but trifle and dally with the sword and were but off and on up and down more in hazards then hopes so from that day hath God blest us and without intermission or halt freely fought our battels and intirely engaged himself in England Ireland and Scotland and which is more hardly a drop of blood hath been spilt in England on that Quarrel ever since as if God should say the sacrifice is offered up the Achan is destroyed my wra●h is appeased all the blood you shed before was an aggravation of your sin while that person who was the Author of all and the common person and head to give life and motion to all the rest was untouched in such a dialect God seems to speak to open and attentive ears by all his actings since I leave these as considerations to employ second and more serene thoughts upon yet if any be of so tender Conscience in that particuler that they still scruple let them not judge others who are clearly satisfied they have their liberty of dissent yet let them know they are bound to present dutyes which if we had but a faculty of arguing how easie might we draw the necessity of cutting of the late King commune with your own thoughts was not he guilty of all the blood which hath been so prodigally spilt among us It must either ly on him or the Parliament if on the Parliament we condemn our selves for joyning with them and we are partakers of the same murther if it lay on the King what way had we to free this Nation of the guilt but letting him bear his own punishment all other acts of friendship would be but contracting of his guilt on us for as there be two ways of making a man guilty either by his own personal act or by complyance with another which is done by countenancing the malefactor as by coacting with him as he that keepes a murtherer in his house and gives him any coun●enance is in law made equally guilty with him It would have been thus with our Parliament had they gone on in any other way then to preserve this nation but by revenging blood with blood for how ever publique wars may seeme to be an excuse and mitigation of guilt of killing of man yet it s the cause that gives the advantage of innocency and righteousnes in these acts the wrong cause make all the rest murtherers in Gods sight and he will prosecute them as murtherers especially the prime agents in such affairs yet all meanes was used to the utmost until we had almost lost our selves and the sence of our cause again let us seriously contemplate what good we could have of such a person after all his high and bloody actings against this Nation when he refused to grant the propositions of the Parliament so necessary for this Nation and only shewing a willingness to grant some of them and that