Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n
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B04652
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Salvation improved: in a sermon upon the 16th of April, 1696. : Being the day of solemn thanksgiving for the preservation of His Majesty's sacred person, from barbarous assassination; and of this kingdom, from French invasion. / Preached at Oswestry, by J.O. minister of the Gospel.
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Owen, James, 1654-1706.
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1696
(1696)
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Wing O6; ESTC R181128
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15,594
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31
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the only Ambition of Pious Princes to be like the most Holy They know themselves to be but Men and that it is their Interest to be under the protection of Heaven which is never wanting to them The Lord delivered me saith King David Ps 18.19 â—â— because he delighted in me the Lord rewarded me according to my Righteousness according to the cleanness of my Hands hath he recompensed me 2. There is a particular providence which guards the persons of good Princes because they are publick Blessings to the World This World cannot subsist without the Benefit of Government The Life of all Societies is their Order and Subordination to Lawful Rule The best part of Mankind would soon be swallowed up by the worser part were it not for the restraint of Humane Laws which have a greater Influence upon them than the Laws of God and the surviving part would afterwards destroy each other by mutual depredations did not the Laws set Bounds to the Brutal Appetites of unreasonable Men. The enjoyment of Liberty and Property under the favourable Influences of good Rulers is one of the most valuable of Temporal Blessings It is an unaccountable Stupidity in a sort of People among us to prefer the Garlick and Onions of Egypt before the Showers of Manna that fall about our Tents to prefer French Slavery which is worse than Turkish before English Liberty to prefer the Common Enemy of Europe before the Generous Assertor of it's just Rights Would you think it that any Persons that wear the name of Protestants should reckon themselves aggrieved under the best of Protestant Princes and seek their relief from the worst of Popish Princes Good God! what a Spirit of Infatuation has possessed these Men They are to be pittied as Men besides themselves and pray'd for that God would open their Eyes to see the things of their peace before they be hid from them They are homines ad servitutem nati born to enslave themselves and Posterity But thanks be to God they are but a small part of the English Nation and generally the worser part of English Protestants I hope we are sensible what Blessings we enjoy under the present Government and what duties we owe unto it in our several Stations Good Princes are as useful in their kind as the Sun in the Firmament 2 Sam. 23.3 4. He that rules in the fear of God is as the Light of the Morning when the Sun riseth even a morning without Clouds Princes are the pillars of the Earth upon which it stands 2 Sam. 2.8 The Pillars of the Earth are the Lords and he hath set the World upon them When one of these Pillars falls the whole frame of the Building is shaken and in danger of being overturned the Earth Ps 75.3 and all the Inhabitants thereof are dissolved as the Royal Prophet speaks Vertuous Princes are like the Pillars in Solomon's Temple whereof the one was called Jachin i. e. he will establish the other Boaz that is in him is Strength their strength is in God and it is he that Establisheth them In another place they are called the Shields of the Earth The Shields of the Earth belong unto God Ps 47.8 Shields are for defence all Princes ought to be so good Princes are so Now these belong unto God he has a Propriety in them and they depend upon him He makes them Shields unto us and he is a Shield unto them He shields our very Shields Our Lives are bound up in the Life of our King Lam. 4.20 He is the Breath of our Nostrils and under his Shadow we shall live among the Heathen Precious in the Sight of the Lord is the Life of all his Saints Ps 116.15 how much more precious is that inestimable Life in which are involved so many Thousands of useful Lives What was said of David may be truly affirmed of our renowned King William Thou art worth ten thousand of us Let us improve this Truth 1. For Thankfulness God hath wonderfully preserved the Person of our Gracious King from the barbarous contrivances of ungodly Men. Ps 21.11 They imagined a mischievous device Ps 64.26 whch they are not able to perform God hid him from the secret Counsel of the Wicked from the Insurrection of the workers of Iniquity They search out Iniquities Iuvestigarunt vias nobis nocendi Grot. in loc that is they set all their wits at work to find out the methods of destruction They accomplished a diligent search Their Counsels were brought to a great maturity and perfection none but he in whose Hands are all the ways of Men could have prevented the execution of them Prov. 19.21 Many are the devices of Man's Heart but the Counsel of the Lord that shall stand How weak and ineffectual are the endeavours of Politic Men to obstruct it they consider not Prov. 21.30 that there is no wisdom nor understanding nor Counsel against the Lord. When the Lord comes to save his People he doth it in such a manner as that he alone may be exalted in that day The Work is done not by might Zach. 4.6 or by Power but by his Spirit that we may cry Grace Grace unto it The Spirit of the Lord hath the Hearts and Thoughts of all Men in his Power and turns them as Rivers of Water He searcheth the deep things of Man unlocks the most retired apartments of the Soul and brings to light the hidden things of darkness None would engage in so barbarous a design against his his Majesty's Sacred Person but such as had cast off all fear of God had extinguished all principles of Vertue and Humanity and were desperately resolved to accomplish their Intentions But behold an instance of the Dominion of God over the Thoughts of Men he unravels their hellish Counsels inspires new Thoughts into some of the Conspirators and makes them the instruments of a happy Discovery in the very juncture of time when all their Measures were concerted and the Hellish Assassines were ready to perform their Enterprize We may say with David Ps 20.6 and 21 1. Now know I that the Lord saveth his Anointed The King shall joy in thy strength O Lord and in thy Salvation how greatly shall he rejoice O the depth of the Riches of Divine Wisdom and Goodness how unsearchable are his Judgments and his ways past finding out The Squadron intended last Winter to join Sir George Rook at Cadiz could not sail for want of Wind. God foresaw what need we should have of them at home to guard our Coasts against the French who might easily have landed upon us and doubtless would have improved their advantage had that Squadron been out of the way Our Deliverance should the rather excite our Thankfulneses because 1. It was unexpected We were upon the brink of Ruin and knew it not An invisible Cloud was ready to discharge it self upon us in Fire and Brimstone and an