Selected quad for the lemma: england_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
england_n	grace_n	ireland_n	lord_n	3,218	5	3.2488	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A89892	England's royal stone at the head of the corner, through the wonderful working of almighty God. Set forth in a sermon preached in the Cathedral church at Gloucester, the 28th day of June, being a day of publick and solemn thanksgiving for His Majesties happy restauration. By Joh. Nelme, M.A. and Pastor of S. Michaels in the said city.	Nelme, John, b. 1618 or 19.	1660 (1660)	Wing N415; Thomason E1034_9; ESTC R209037	19,061	28

of the old stones that before they had laid aside wherewith they reared up the old tottered wall of Democracie supporting it with a few rusty swords which withdrawing at their pleasure down it fell And yet he whom God and the Laws had fitted to be the head of the Corner would not serve their turn And yet who nor what to have they could not tell At length they only tack'd a government together for the present distress with instruments part of Iron and part of clay some easie enough to be wrought to any mould and some head-strong enough to carry all by their own wills This was such a piece of botchery as every one condemned and all cryed out of And the people began to grow weary of their Taskers or their Task-masters rather who would have pay too though they proved such sorry builders Whereupon some who thought themselves to be better builders of State then sword-men outwitted them outworked them over-powred them and rook the work out of their hands And now we were where we were twice before in as bad a labyrinth as ever For neither would these after so many succesless attempts in laying the foundation of a Democracie accept of him whom God had fitted to be the head of the Corner till God himself took the work in hand and by an unexpected providence sent in a supply of better builders only to undo what they had been doing so to make way for that mercy which we now injoy Thus you have heard a sad allegorical harangue of Englands late misery See we now in the second place what is Englands present mercy It is so Christians we are like men that dream when we speak of it as not knowing well how it should be so though we know it is so The stone which these foolish builders have rejected all this while is at the head of the Corner at firm and full agreement with both the honourable Houses of Parliament He whom they thought not fit to have any pottion with us is returned to the inheritance of the Lord. He whom they drave as much as lay in them upon temptations to embrace the abominations of Popery as being beholding to strangers to the Reformed religion for his Ziklag or place of abode is returned safe and sound from such pollutions and confirmed against them He whose life hath been sought after as was his Fathers He who was hunted from place to place as unworthy to rest any where He is verily he is at the head of the Corner He whose right it is He in whom alone under God we could look for an hopeful and happy and lasting settlement He is at the head of the Corner Not only King in Hebron but King in Jerusalem Not only King at Scone but King at Westminster All the tribes of England Scotland and Ireland are United in him The whole frame of our Antient Government is resettled and the topstone laid and all the people crying Grace grace unto it This is the Lords doing and it is marvellous in our eyes This is the day which the Lord hath made we will be glad and rejoyce therein c. What must now be done beloved upon the income of such a mercy What! but resolve to joyn with your King and praise the Lord. Let Israel now say that his mercy endureth for ever let the House of Aaron now say that his mercy endureth for ever let them now that fear the Lord say that his mercy endureth for ever Let every one of you now fall in with your parts in the praises of God for this days mercy There be but four and all in the Text. I shall but briefly touch upon them and dismiss you The First thing observable in the peoples part is their acknowledgement of the hand of God in this providence and their admiration at the strangeness of it This is the Lords doing and it is marvellous in our eyes The Psalmist brings the godly in acknowledging this exaltation of David to the throne of Israel to be the Lords doing And so must you concerning the exaltation of Our David to the throne of England Let all that fear the Lord say This is the Lords doing the singer of God is here This can be no other then the hand of God For though this was so desirable a mercy yet to humane reason it was next to impossible not many months ago Should one have prophesied of it you would have said with Nicodemus in another case How can these things be Powerful and fo●cible attempts to bring this mercy about have been in vain Our Armies by sea land abroad and at home were professedly engaged in buil●ing some of the Babels of conf●sion before mentione a great part of the land were sinfully engaged another way for fear of losing what they had unjustly gotten And yet all these powers are over-powred not by might not by power but by the Spirit of the Lord. T●e very hearts of all men are strangely subdued to this p●ovidence Surely this is the Lords doing And by good experience now we know that the hearts of all men are in the h●nd of God who can turn them whithersoever he pleaseth Further the Psalmist brings in the godly admiring at this strange providence To see all things work so to bring David in a man that had been so hated vilified and opposed this was strange to them And how can you but look on this return of our David as most marvellous considering First the unlikelyhood of the change in divers respects as in respect of the force that was kept upon his subjects at home so that the prudentest were fain to keep silence scarce daring for many years to impart their affections and desires to one another there was such treac●ery and unfaithfulness and such lurkings to sup●lant the innocent without a cause and to make them offenders for a word as also in respect of the long time of his Majesties exile He was kept twelve vears out of his royal City David but seven and an half out of ●erusalem His cause lay stark dead in a mann●r ●s a forgotten business There was scarce any life left in it His return is as a resurrection from the dead a making of dead bones to live Our David had no footing in the Kingdom he was by God designed unto whereas Is●l's David was King in Hebron all that 7 years in a nearer capacity to recover the Kingdom over all Israel in time 2. It is marvellous in respect of the suddenness of it It was but the other day that some few intemperate men were about to abjure the royal line But behold how quickly is the seoene changed Allegiance and Loyalty dates shew its face when Treason and Re●ellion flees into corners 3. It is marvelous in respect of the peaceableness of it all this is done without the effusion of blood some may be spilt by the sword of Justice the land will be defiled with blood else But we trust

ENGLAND's Royal Stone At the Head of the Corner Through the wonderful Working of ALMIGHTY GOD. Set forth in A SERMON Preached in the Cathedral Church at Gloucester the 28th day of June Being a day of publick and solemn Thanksgiving for His Majesties HAPPY RESTAURATION By Joh. Nelme M. A. and Pastor of S. Michaels in the said City MICAH 7. 8 9. Rejoyce not against me O mine enemy when I fall I shall arise when I sit in darkness the Lord shall be a light unto m● I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him until he plead my cause and execute judgem●nt for me he will bring me forth to the light and I shall behold his righteousness LONDON Printed by Ja. Cottrel for Henry Fletcher at the sign of the three Gilt Cups in S. Pauls Church-yard 1660. To the truly Honourable Sir EDWARD MASSEY Knight and Baronet Sitting as Citizen of Gloucester IN The Honourable House of COMMONS Assembled in Parliament Honoured Sir THis Sermon in the hearing was so acceptable to the Generality of that City for which you serve in Parliament with your worthy Colleague James Stephens Esq one of the Aldermen of the said City that it is really extorted from me into the publique View Their importunity shews their affection to the Subject Matter thereof I suppose rather then to the Manner of its composure and handling as being altogether too low for such a Subject in this day of Englands Liberty by Gods Blessing restored to the Right Keeper thereof his most sacred Majesty But however it be such as it is I humbly crave your patronage thereof England hath scarce been England for many years till the day of His Majesties happy Restauration wherein you were under God so instrumental even to the hazard of all that you cannot but rejoyce in the poorest Memorials of its accomplishment in so peaceable a manner This Mercy is the Subject of this Sermon Wherein so much of God was seen that you must pardon me if I allowed no time to speak to the Honour of those Humane but never to be forgotten Instruments who put their Hands to this Work It was a Day wherein GOD was to be glorified and not Man It is our work to improve it to his honour who in mercy to the Kingdom set his Excellencie your self with many other worthy Patriots on and prospered you and them in the prudent managing of this Noble Undertaking I am sure when we consider our former Bondage especially in respect of our conscience which by reason of the power that was over us we could hardly keep safe to our selves without the violation of our outward peace and hazarding all that was near and dear to us we cannot but acknowledge the mighty and merciful hand of God in this remarkable turn of his Providence praising and blessing his Name that we are Restored to the liberty of owning our own thoughts and to the opportunity of endeavouring a reformation in a Legal and not a Tumultuary way and the freedom of crying Hallelujah's for and Hosanna's to his Majesties happy Return to his People Which is and shall be the constant practice of From my Study in Gloucester July 5. 1660. SIR Your Honours humbly devoted John Nelme England's Royal STONE AT The Head of the Corner PSAL. 118. 21 22 23 24 25. I will praise thee for thou hast heard me and art become my salvation The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the Corner This is the Lords doing it is marvelous in our eyes This is the day which the Lord hath made we will rejoyce and be glad in it Save now I beseech thee O Lord O Lord I beseech thee send now prosperity ALong Text is not always unmeet for a short Discourse especially when the VVords Matter and Occasion do meet in one Such a Text of Scripture hath the Almighty fitted us with at this time For the suitableness of the Words with the Occasion of our present meeting I have no need to make an Apologie Every one that hears them can tell that they sound well enough to our purpose But whether I may not mis-apply them will be a doubt because some of them are applied by holy men of God and such as spake by inspiration too unto a better King and a better Kingdom then this days Festival doth bring unto our mindes viz. Messiah the Prince King Jesus and his spiritual Kingdom upon earth Our Saviour himself applies some of these words to the Jews rejection of Him from reigning over them and to his wonderful exaltation to the Kingdom notwithstanding and that in a prophetical way before Mat. 21. 42 it came to pass Saint Peter applied it to the same purpose but in an historical way after the business was done and over This is the stone which was set at nought of Act. 4. 11. you builders which is become the head of the Corner And to this History the same Apostle doth allude when he calls Christ the livingstone that was disallow'd indeed of men but 1 Pet. 2. 4. chosen of God and pretious But to solve all doubts and suspitions of our misapplication of these words to the business of this day you must know that it is no unusual thing in the Scriptures of the New Testament to accommodate several passages of the Old Testament unto events that fell out in the new especially in the person of Christ in whom many of those things were acted and done over again in one respect which were long before done in the persons of others in another respect This is the Case here VVhat fell out Christo Domino unto Christ the Lord in respect of his spiritual Kingdom was acted long before in Christo Domini the Anointed of the Lord King David in respect of his temporal Kingdom and now that it hath in the same respect been acted over again in another of the Lords anointed Ones King Charles I cannot but look on this Psalm as a Psalm for the day and on the words read as the fittest subject to be spoken to on this solemn Occasion For the whole Psalm is nothing else but a sacred Anthem Hymn or Song of praise composed as Interpreters agree by King David himself and delivered to the Singers to be sung in the publick worship of God on some solemn Festival Which Festival is supposed to be occasioned by David's full settlement and establishment in the Kingdom of Israel and Judah to which he had been foreanointed of God and from which he had been kept by force seven years and six months and in which he was twice disturbed by the in-roads of the Philistins so soon as ever the rest of the Tribes were joyned unto him Well the whole Kingdom over Israel as well as Judah was now confirmed unto David the Philistins quashed the Ark about to be brought home David bethinks himself of returning thanks to God in the publick Congregation For which he