Selected quad for the lemma: earth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
earth_n	heaven_n	pass_v	word_n	8,433	5	5.0308	4	true

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

one question why I put so much right on this It 's answered that there is nothing more cleer that where his People are engaged in several parties some by mistakes and ignorance of Gods mind others out of Truth and they both pray to him God will alwaies hear th●se prayers which are most according to his mind and give forth issues answerable for all our prayers are no farther to be expected to be answered then they are according to Gods Will and that Will of God doth manifest the truth of our prayers when prayers clash in heaven it is the same with opinions and judgements of Saints on earth concerning Gods mind which have but one truth to rule them and according to the consonancy of apprehensions to that God owns or dis-owns all their actings It is most sad and dangerous to do any publique act wherein any which are godly shall dissent much more that which any of them shall pray against and this very consideration hath made this Parliament and the Army to make so many pausings in their actings as fearing themselves and their own mistakes when so many good men seem to be against them yet it is as sad and should be much weighed that God should continually answer one sort of prayers and quite neglect the other when they come both from godly persons whom God loves What one petition hath God ever seemed to receive as made by his own Spirit against these proceedings but hath cleerly demonstrated that at least he is angry with the dissenting Prayers of his own people I leave these things on mens Consciences how they can interpret Gods actings against their prayers and how they can digest Gods hearing of these they judge their enemies at the same time and work out contrary issues All these considerations put together may suffice to work us to a meditation at least of what God hath done and to parley with our own hearts why we should yet refuse our full consent to the establishment of this Common-wealth shall any that professeth the name of Christ maintain secret war and malice against his actings or think to prosper by helping the common enemy But if nothing yet said will move us to have better thoughts of these Transactions let us once again consider in what times these things are dore against whom and by whom First all these workings have been in the latter days when God is throwing down the old heavens and earth and hath his notable designs to effect and all these mysteries of Prophesies to open which have lain hid for many ages and seemed formerly quite buryed in the prosperity of the Kings and Princes of this world Secondly against whom hath God appeared but against those persons both in Church and State who hath adorned this Nation with the raggs of Popery and Antichristianisme or with Tyrannie and Oppression and as they have raised themselves God hath discovered them and as they have shifted their Quarters God hath followed them with his just displeasure and indignation against any complyers with them Thirdly however God may permit for a long while his enemies to tryumph yet when ever he begins he will make an end and these principles which seem general and easie at the first God will improve and hath done beyond all our intentions for it was hardly possible in the multitude of these overtures to lay any deep plot before-hand of them new and unexpected emergencies of their designes and Gods providence alwayes on a sudden breaking fo●th which were not only difficult to fore-see but sinful to withstand And truly those that think of plots deeply laid before-hand to bring out these great things may as well suspect the Providences by which they have been necessitously led into them Fourthly for however we may make little account of providences yet they are the most exact comments on divine prophesies of any other and are the special visible key whereby God opens all those seals that are in that book and what ever special inspirations we may have from heaven to guess at Gods intent yet the words are so dark wherein God hath written his mind of these affairs and so blurred by Antichrist that until God come to open them by his actings we know not how to interpret them with safety or comfort hence it hath come to pass that many pages must now be blotted out of many worthy and learned and in most things cleer Comments on Daniel and the Apocalypse because every day God acts beyond their present thoughts and gives occasion of reforming their own confident apprehensions of the nature and issue of those prophesies so that if Gods providences compared with his words of prophesie be not looked into we must still be in the dark as to the understanding of these great mysteries by what can we hope that God is about to fulfil his word concerning the destruction of Antichrist but by his keen and severe prosecution of every limb and member of that body yea and beginning first among his own people that the enemies may not have cause to reflect and tell God to reform first at home how can we know that God is pouring out the via●s of his wrath and upon whom but as God discovers it by his terrible actings among the sons of men by which he cals on all men to hear and obey not to murmure or dissent But if the manifestation of God notwithstanding all this seem uncleer and unperswasive to dissenters to gain their full consent to this Common-wealth let our own interest prevail upon us and if heaven be too light let earth be added to it to weigh down our judgements God hath given us an opportunity against our wills to make our selves the freest and happyest Nation on this earth and we are the first of so large a Continent that God hath advantaged with such a blessing our Ancestors for these 500. yeers have bin strugling to get but the name of freedom and liberty and have for this end deposed one King and set up another who had commonly a worse title and reign but God hath given us our choice whether royal bondage or English liberty were we ever so nigh the regaining our conquer'd priviledges as now what is there but a name between us and a Free-State and nothing wanting to perfect all besides Gods assistance to prosecute what is begun and direct what is not done but our own election of what may make us happy which happiness if we imagine consists only in the title of a king among us let us remember what we have spent on that name already of our measure of bloud and how God hath made it contemptible We may all now see how Gods great design is to bring to nought the Princes of this world and hath his principal quarrel with them because they have bin the greatest shedders of the bloud of Saints that cr●es under the Altar and the only mighty upholders of the throne of the Beast and are still