Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n
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A35085
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A sermon preached upon the anniversary solemnity of the happy inauguration of our dread soveraign Lord King James II in the Collegiate Church of Ripon, February the 6th. 1685/6 / by Thomas Cartwright ...
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Cartwright, Thomas, 1634-1689.
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1686
(1686)
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Wing C706; ESTC R21036
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21,714
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46
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than this Conceal them we must not Repeat them we cannot they are so many in number Forget them we dare not Disown them we will not God hath made us the very Darlings of Heaven and Happiness and courted us to Obedience by all the fair means imaginable and as if he meant to make us a president of Mercy to Posterity like Gideon's Fleece we have been full of the Divine Bounty when all the World besides was dry in comparison of us We came into no misfortunes like other Folks nor have we been plagued like other Men round about us Our Mess hath been like Benjamin's Five times bigger than the rest of our Brethren and we have plenty of all things richly to enjoy He hath not dealt with us after our Sins nor rewarded us according to our Iniquities and therefore let the unspeakable Goodness of our God lead us to Repentance or else the more he hath indulg'd us hitherto the greater reason have we to expect his severity for the time to come Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised when all the Malice and Power of Hell was raised to destroy him for keeping our gracious Soveraign under the shadow of his Wing to this day in assisting him by extraordinary Supplies of his Grace to undergo not only with Patience but Chearfulness the many Indignities they cast upon him and the Extremities to which they drove him and in giving him now at last the hearts of his Loyal Subjects and the necks of his Enemies Which I therefore mention under this Head because it is a Mercy to us as well as to him who are necessary Sharers in it And we were the most ungrateful Monsters in the World if we should not remember it and consider seriously how happy the People are who are in such a case yea how blessed are that People whose God is the Lord. Let us hang up our Votive Tables and manifest our publick and chearful Sense of these Mercies on this solemn Festivity and lest the more God in Mercy remembers us the sooner we forget both him and our selves let the rejoycing of our Lips be seconded with the reformation of our Lives 1 Sam. xij 25. For if we still do wickedly we shall be consumed both we and our King Let us love God and one another from this day forward more than ever we did for the King's sake The better Christians we become the better Subjects we shall be and the better Neigbours too Let us therefore forsake all those wasting sins which rob us of our Peace and Joy and remember that all outward formalities of Rejoycing are but insignificant Ceremonies if not accompanied with innocence and integrity To what purpose do we Ring our Bells Isai v. 18. if we resolve to draw Iniquity with Cords of Vanity and Sin as if it were with a Cart-rope till we pull down God's Judgments upon the King 's and our Heads To what end shall we kindle Bone-fires if we resolve to enkindle the Flames of God's displeasure by our provoking Sins to devour us into whose Hands it will be a fearful thing to fall for our God is a consuming Fire Heb. x. 31. Heb. xij 29. To what purpose do we please our selves if we resolve likewise to gratifie the King's and our Enemies nay and the Enemies of God and all goodness too For God's sake for the King's sake for the Church of England 's sake be dutiful Subjects to the King of Heaven in the first place and next under him to the King of Great Britain that God may never repent of his loving Kindness to him or us The Lord of Hosts who hath kept him in the day of trouble of his Infinite Mercy to him and us preserve him from it for the time to come the Lord help him from his Sanctuary and strengthen him out of Sion Let the Ark of his Presence be always precious to him and let the Presence of that Ark evermore preserve Him Let thy Hand O Lord be upon the Man of thy Right Hand Make him a constant Patron of thy Church and Truth Protect his Person and prosper his Government Bless him with wise and safe Councils and give him courage and constancy to pursue them Bless him in his Royal Consort our gracious Queen MARY the partner of his Afflictions as well as of his Glories and in that good time which shall be best for her and us fulfil her Joys and make her a fruitful Mother of many and happy Children and the King a Father of a numerous Posterity to Rule these Nations after him by Succession in all Ages and Generations O Lord Grant the King a long Life give him his Hearts desire and fulfil all his mind that we his Subjects under thee may see with joy and gladness of Heart That thou of thine infinite Goodness dost help thine Anointed and that thou wilt hear him from thy Holy Heaven and continue thy Loving Kindness to our David thy Servant and Israel thy People AMEN FINIS ADVERTISEMENT AT the Instance of many Eminent Persons of both Churches Superiours are consenting that of the English Sermons Preach'd before Their Majesties since the First Sunday of October last some be made Publick And because that which open'd the Preaching at Windsor has been much desir'd and the longest expected I Present the Reader with it in the First place The Author bids me Apologize for it as a slight Thing run up in haste But since it was well receiv'd it would be to question the Judgment of that most Honorable and most Learned Auditory to make any Excuse or to give it you with any Alterations or Amendment You have it therefore as it was spoke and will be follow'd by others of the same Hand he hopes more Correct
things which make for peace go along with them as far as you can with Truth and Charity and where you part let it be like Friends So shall we Edifie one another in our most holy Faith make the Pleasure of his Majesty's Government abate the Burden of it 1 Tim. ij 2. and lead quiet and peaceable Lives under him in all Godliness and Honesty as did this People in my Text under Solomon whose dutiful Submission to him is the next thing to be consider'd and recommended to your Imitation to wit III. Populi Submissio They went unto their Tents They knew 't was fit for them to depart when it was the King's Pleasure but yet to tarry till it were so They resolved not to continue longer nor yet to leave him sooner They would have been glad to have enjoyed the Blessing of his Presence longer but having receiv'd his Commands to be gone they departed and went unto their Tents every Man to his own Habitation without any Dispute or Regret to abide in his Calling to which he was call'd as a Member of the Common-Wealth to meddle with nothing but his proper business and left the Administration of Religion to the Priests and the Government of the Kingdom to Solomon Not from the Court to the Camp not from waiting on him to war against him but from the Temple to their Tents For St. Paul says That Kings are not by God's Sufferance Rom. xiij 1. but by his Ordinance and therefore even supposing them never so bad they are never to be resisted Vers 2. You may take up the Buckler of Patience but you must not take up Arms against them for Rebellion is such rank Poison to the Soul that the least Scruple of it is Damnable Ibid. the very Intention of it in the Heart is Mortal Our Religion will never suffer us to dispence with our Loyalty to serve any worldly Interest or Advantage no not for its own Defence It sets the Crown fast and easie upon the King's Head without Catechising him For be his Heart inclinable to any Religion or none it leaves him no Rival none to Insult or Lord it over him It disclaims all Vsurpation Popular or Papal neither Pope nor Presbyter may controul him none but the great God the only Ruler of Princes can over-rule him to whom 't is his Duty Glory and Happiness to be subject Tho' the King should not Please or Humor us tho' he should rend off the Mantle from our Bodies as Saul did from Samuel nay tho' he should Sentence us to Death of which blessed be God and the King there is no danger yet if we are living Members of the Church of England we must neither open our Mouths nor lift up our Hands against him but Honour him before the People and Elders of Israel 1 Sam. xv 30. We must imitate Jeremiah in Prison Daniel in the Lions-Den Amos struck through the Temples Zachariah Murder'd between the Porch and the Altar our blessed Saviour living under Herod and Tiberius and Crucified under Pontius Pilate His Disciples under Caligula Claudius Nero and Domitian Christian Bishops under Heathen Persecutors none of which ever Revil'd their Princes or Resisted them Who questioned Saul for slaying the Priests and revolting to Idolatry Who questioned Joram a Parricide and Murderer of his Nobles or Joash for his Idolatry and slaying the High-Priest Did the Sanhedrim do it Who questioned Theodosius for Murderdering Six thousand innocent persons Who questioned Constance Valens or Julian the Apostate Who traduc'd their Persons or Dignities or offer'd them any tumultuous Affronts or Remonstrances So that unless we in these latter days do understand the Mind of God better than the Jewish Church and the Primitive Christians did we must not ask our Prince why he Governs us otherwise than we please to be Govern'd our selves We must neither call him to Account for his Religion nor question him for his Policy in Civil Matters for he is made our King by God's Law of which the Law of the Land is only Declarative 'T is God alone who can take Vengeance of him if he does amiss and proportion Punishments to his Person Upon his Providence are we oblig'd to depend who never fails to help Religious Men and Kingdoms in their Distresses Rom. viij 28. and makes all things work together for their good But I need not plead for Submission unto Evil Kings since God of his infinite Goodness hath bestowed so Good and Gracious a King upon us Who tho' he be not of our Religion had we but thankful Hearts to acknowledge his Favours his Kindness is as great to us as if we were of his for he is not a Nero but a Constantine the Great to us The Jews say That the Keys of the Temple were not hung at the High Priests Girdle but laid every Night under Solomon's Pillow as belonging to his Charge To establish Religion by a Law is the King's Province To uphold and maintain the Church and her Legitimate Children this he hath freely undertaken beyond our Expectations if not Deserts And if he be not so good as his Word at last I pray God the Fault be not ours The Ark of God was not shaken as many fear'd it would have been at the Death of our late gracious Soveraign Lord King Charles the Second but continued steady without the least Commotion No Cry in our Cities no Complaining in our Streets no Tears but those of Love and Loyalty The Lord is still with us and hath set another gracious King over us and the presence of God's Ark is once more secured to us even in Verbo Regis in the Word of a King which is as sacred as his Person and as currant as his Coin for in his Word there is Truth as well as Power Eccl. viij 4. And those early and most gracious Assurances of his Princely Piety and undeserved Goodness towards us made in his Privy Council this time Twelve-month have been still renewed repeated and multiply'd to us in despight of all our Ingratitude which would make a passage to Men's Hearts through their Brains if they had any and teach them first to admire his Goodness then to be confident in it and thankful for it and to say as Mephibosheth of David My Lord the King is as an Angel of God Do therefore what is good in thine Eyes 2 Sam. xix 27. Was he ever worse than his Word to any Man Or what ground hath he given any of us to apprehend that he ever will be so Who was ever so exceeding tender of his Honour as he so Just to all so Kind beyond example to his Friends and Servants How can we ever trust our Lives and Fortunes in safer Hands than his He hath done more than ever any of us durst ever venture to look for to give us Confidence in him enough to puzzle our Understandings as well as our Gratitude And how can he give us better security