Selected quad for the lemma: england_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
england_n	great_a	lord_n	parliament_n	6,708	5	6.4974	4	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A81239	Deliverance-obstruction: or, The set-backs of reformation. Discovered in a sermon before the Right Honourable the House of Peers, in Parliament now assembled. Upon the monthly fast, March 25. 1646. / By Tho. Case, preacher in Milkstreet London, and one of the Assembly of Divines.	Case, Thomas, 1598-1682.; England and Wales. Parliament. House of Lords.	1646 (1646)	Wing C827; Thomason E329_9; ESTC R200694	36,291	48

Deliverance-Obstruction OR The Set-backs of Reformation Discovered in a SERMON Before the Right Honourable The House of Peers IN PARLIAMENT Now assembled Upon the Monthly Fast March 25. 1646. By THO. CASE Preacher in Milk street London and one of the Assembly of Divines Isa 49.1 Behold the Lords hand is not shortned that he cannot save c. Hos 13.9 O Israel thou hast destroyed thy self Vers 13. He is an unwise son for he should not stay long in the place of bringing forth children London Printed by Ruth Raworth for Luke Fawne at the signe of the Parrot in Paul's Church-yard 1646. Die Veneris 27 Marcii 1646. IT is this day Ordered by the Lords in Parliament assembled That this House gives Thanks to Master Case one of the Assembly of Divines for his great pains taken in the Sermon he preached on the last Fast-day before their Lordships in the Abbey-Church Westminster And he is hereby desired to print and publish the same which is to be printed by Authority under his own hand onely Jo. Browne Cler. Parliamentorum I appoint Luke Fawne to print my Sermon THO. CASE To the Right Honourable the House of PEERS In Parliament now assembled MY LORDS WHat Complaint that blessed Reformer HEZEKIAH sent once to the Prophet ISAIAH that the ISAIAHS of our time do now make in your ears who are our REFORMERS The children are come to the birth 2 King 19.3 and there is not strength to bring forth To make some discovery where the OBSTRUCTION lieth is the humble and faithful endeavour of this Sermon which as it waits the second time upon your Commands so if your Lordships please at your sparer times to let your eye second the travel of your ear it may through his power Rom. 4.17 who quickens the dead and calls things that ARE NOT as though they WERE become some way serviceable to the Work you have in hand the end of its first and second attendance upon your Honours There was a time when Temple-work * Ezra 6.14 PROSPERED in the hands of the LORDS AND COMMONS OF JUDAH by the prophesyings of HAGGAI AND ZECHARIAH O that such might be the blessed fruit of that abundance of GOSPEL-PROPHESIE which hath been preacht in the ears of Englands Parliament since the time you were first engaged in this great Work not onely of STATE but of CHURCH-Reformation Truely my Lords we desire to look upon your Call of us the poor Ministers of Christ to this Service not a STATE-COMPLEMENT but as your truely * Acts. 17.11 NOBLE desires of consulting with the Oracles of God And for a real evidence thereof give me leave I beseech you to become an humble Petitioner to your Honors for two things First that now you are in the work of Temple-Reformation you would provide an Antidote against Gospel-contempt in some remarkable punishment to be inflicted upon Sermon scorners especially when they shall dare such a wickednesse in the face of Heaven and earth of God and the Church since it cannot but be taken notice of by your Lordships that there be some who to this day hear Sermons in the very same posture they were wont to see Stage-plays to the infinite scandal of Religion and provocation of Almighty God Secondly that in your own persons you will give a president to all the Kingdom of your willing and ready submission to the Gospel of JESUS CHRIST With what eyes you are pleased to look upon the Ministers thereof I know not sure I am whatever faithful advice in their humble Addresses to you hath the Imprimature of SCRIPTURE upon it comes arm'd with the AUTHORITY OF HEAVEN He that heareth YOU heareth ME and he that despiseth YOU despiseth ME Luke 10.16 and he that despiseth ME despiseth HIM that SENT ME. Vpon such an account it was an heavie word which the Prophet spake once to a King I know God hath determined to destroy thee BECAUSE thou hast not hearkned to MY COUNSEL The contemptible Prophet had no contemptible GOD to back him The application of it be to the enemies of CHRIST and of the WORK you have in hand However it is a thing not to be thought of without trembling at All power in heaven and earth is in HIS HANDS Matth. 8.18 2 Cor. 10.6 to avenge all Gospel-Disobedience to WHOM great and small must give an account and who knows how soon what they have done with all the Sermons that ever they heard Which that it may be seriously and savingly laid to heart by Parliament and Kingdom shall be the instant Supplication of Your Honours to serve you while you serve Christ Tho. Case A SERMON Preached before the Right Honorable House of PEERS EXOD. 5.22 23. And Moses returned unto the Lord and said Lord wherefore hast thou so evil intreated this people why is it that thou hast sent me For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy Name he hath done evil to this people neither hast thou delivered thy people at all YOu have in these words 1. A Grievous distresse 2. A Gracious addresse The Addresse indeed is first in the order of words but the Distresse is first in the order of time and sence And this it was briefly Moses and Aaron according to their Commission had been now with Pharaoh to deliver their Embassie and Command from God concerning Israel's dismission Let my people go c. Vers. 1. The Israelites wait to hear what news from Court full of glad expectations of a speedie and present Deliverance from the Egyptian servitude Chap. 12.40 under which they had groaned now these Four hundred and thirty yeers But the tidings doth not answer their expectations Vers 2. Pharaoh will not let Israel go he knows no God but himself neither shall Israel stir Yea their hopes of enlargement are turn'd into the doubling of their bondage in stead of keeping Holy-day in the wildernesse they must to work again in the Brickils of Egypt yea make Bricks they must Vers 7 8 9. and finde themselves straw too more work and lesse wherewithal to do it This was sad news indeed Yet they had some hopes that this might be but the cruelty and encroachment of the Commissioners set over them therefore they 'll to the Court themselves with their Petitions happily the King may give them a better answer it is possible His Majestia gave no such command concerning Israel But when they come they finde it was no mistake Pharaoh speaks the same language the Task masters did Ye are idle ye are idle get you to your work Vers 17 18. there shall be no straw given you yet shall ye deliver the tale of Bricks c. This kills their very hearts now they see themselves worse then ever Vers 19. and thus coming out from the Presence-chamber full of anguish and impatience they meet with Moses and Aaron Vers 20. fall foul upon them charge them with being the cause of bringing

the hint intimated before Because the people of God take their eye off God and the promise and fix it upon Second causes Why the people of God reason thus unbelievingly in their straits Isa 33.10 Isa 15.17 because they do not wisely consider Gods times how that the Churches despairing times are Gods helping times Now will I rise c. They do not wisely ponder Gods methods Moses might have remembred how that God when he made Abraham a promise of bringing his seed out of Egypt he shewed him also as in a glasse the Methods he would use in doing of it in that Embleme of the smoking furnace Gen. 15.7 and the burning Lamp the smoking furnace passeth before Abraham first an Embleme of black opposition of sad and affrighting discouragement and trouble and then comes the burning Lamp an Embleme of JOYFUL AND GLORIOUS DELIVERANCE Psal 97.11 Light is sown for the righteous and joy for the upright in heart Alas Moses might have thought with himself and have said to God Lord this opposition of Pharaoh this doubling of thy peoples bondage is nothing else but the vision thou shewedst to thy servant ABRAHAM whereby we know assuredly the WORK IS BEGUN it is the arrow of the Lords deliverance we are now Lord in the SMOKING FURNACE the BURNING LAMP WILL APPEAR SHORTLY O hasten it Lord and help thine Israel well thorow this Smoking furnace that they may not be weary nor faint in their mindes nor sin against thee by IMPATIENCE and UNBELIEF till thou pleasest to cause the BURNING LAMP TO ARISE upon us c. And with these words he might have quieted and still'd the people also But the people of God have their failings and faintings their short spiritednesse and short sightednesse they look not to the time and methods of God they eye not the ends and aims which God hath in these kinde of dispensations of his providence and hence it is that they give way to Vnbelief and misgiving thoughts And therefore since by this short hint you see what the bottom of the disease is labour to make a Cure of this Discovery Take heed of hard thoughts of God Second Use Examination And yet in the Second place though in such Exigencies and Emergencies as these be we should labour to keep up good thoughts of the Cause 1 King 8.47 and good thoughts of God yet there is great reason that we should at such times turn in upon our selves and bring back to heart our own ways and our own doings to see what the CAUSE may be on our parts why Gospel-designes Church-deliverances stick so long in the birth meet with such desperate retardings and retrograde motions for this is certain Deliverance seldom sticks in the birth but there is some sin and folly at the bottom Ephraim is an unwise son Hos 13 13. for he should not stay long in the place of bringing forth children A metaphorical expression importing thus much that he should not have stayed so long for his deliverance out of Babylon had there not been some great folly bound up in his heart Prov. 22.15 which was to be fetcht out with this rod of Correction Truely Honourable and Beloved Christians we had need then to lay our hand upon our heart and bring our selves to the Bar this day This is certain God is angry wrath is gone forth against us we have great cause to fear Object You will surely say What cause the War goes on prosperously never had Joshua better swifter successe in the conquering of Canaan then our Armies in all places of the Kingdom almost have had in reducing this almost-lost nation Eighty admirable successes in eight months We have had as much successe as we could desire more by oddes then we could expect The War is as good as finisht Answ It is true Brethren if you will look upon these progresses as Mercies we have great cause to be thankful but if we would look upon them as evidences I see not any strong argument of rejoycing in them I see not any bottom in them upon which a man if he will look with both his eyes can build any clear conjecture what God will yet do with us My Reason is this The War goes on I but does the Work go on Oh there is as sad a face of things in the Kingdom as ever was either since the War or since the Parliament began and sadder in as much as now the obstructions do arise from our selves whereas formerly they have risen from our enemies And O happie Israel it was when the obstruction of their deliverance lay on Pharaoh's hand onely it stuck but a few days there God quickly conquered those briars and thorns he went thorow them and burnt them together But when the obstruction lay upon Israel's part in those days God began to cut Israel short the Deliverance stuck there many yeers Quest. But how may we know whether the work rest on our part or on Gods and the enemies Answ Truely very easily Take this Rule When there be but difficulties in the way though huge and many Enemies may be in it and God over-ruling those enemies and their designes to his own ends For this cause I have raised thee up Exod. 9.16 to shew my power c. But when we see sin in the way then know the work sticks upon a peoples hands and this may make us tremble Truely as I say when we consider how God carries on his work it looks as if it would be a Deliverance God works as if he were in good earnest and we have cause to turn our days of mourning into days of rejoycing But when we consider how we work truely it looks as if we were in jest or as if we we afraid of Deliverance afraid of Reformation and we have cause to turn days of Thanksgiving into days of Humiliation and mourning For thus it is while God is working wildernesse-wonders we are working wildernesse-sins wildernesse-prevocations I appeal else to the List and Catalogue of those sins which on the Delivereds part you have seen to be the great obstructions and set-backs to their Deliverance Sins of England First Pride doth not the Pride of England testifie to our very faces Alas neither Judgements nor days of humiliation have taken down the pride of our hearts Oh the pride of Apparel the pride of Houses the pride of our Tables but above all the pride of Judgement and the pride of Heart that is found in the midst of us to this day England is very proud Again Vnbelief Heb. 3.12 Is there not yet an unbelieving heart in the midst of us causing us to depart from the living God to depart from his Truths and to depart from his Commands and to depart from his Promises Surely we have not faith enough left to carry us from one miracle to another Though God hath caused us to walk upon the waters yet if there do but arise one