Selected quad for the lemma: heaven_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
heaven_n	pray_v	prayer_n	saint_n	5,346	5	6.7276	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A38376	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 E2942; ESTC R20286	29,201	44

Appeal to God there being thousands of other wayes at hand to determine them But in matter of war and the grand decisions of the justice and equity of taking up Arms and entring Nations or opposing persons in great power in the world where arguments are strong on both sides and parties violent if in such case Appeals be solemnly made to God the issue of such affairs are to be accounted higher then nature and truly to be judged as revelations of Gods will at least at present and to that affair which they appealed to God in as only righteous to give verdict unto by his own appearance since all other meanes of conviction failed Much of the same nature is that determination by lots though it be more mediate and not so solemn being but generally used and often without sense from whom the disposal of them are yet the issue is judged to be from God and an absolute express of his mind and will not of blind Fortune or Chance much more then may we say of the issue of that Appeal which was made with as much sense of unworthiness and vileness in themselves as confidence of their integrity and willingness to let God judge as also when it was made in dealing with these who had laid all the reproches that malice could invent or fiery zeal vomit upon both their Cause and persons what ever the secrets of God may be which are infinite depths or what ever he may permit in the generall rule of the world yet if men are put to such straits in actings their names so vilified that none but God can right them and men have at the same time so much sense of Gods justice and faith in his truth as to make him sole umpire God will not in justice condemn the righteous and spare the wicked for these appeals as they are extraordinary ejaculations of our spirits in the most difficult and doubtful causes so they are pressings of the Almighty to let forth the beams of his wisdom and justice to convince the sons of men after all experiments of nature and reason and God is so put to it if I may humbly express it to give forth righteous judgement that even the heathens and his enemies have found his appearance when they have appealed to him against the Christians who owned God and had not dealt justly with them I would not be thought to circumscribe the wisdom of God or his justice that it must of necessity alwayes be manifested immediatly on such Appeals but I affirm that it is Gods usual way and the events of them are to be weighed and remembred again and again as the most probable cleering up of hard and formerly questionable enterprises when the Army went into Scotland how were they vilified by that Nation laden with reproches of the highest scandal and infamy slighted with the bafest contempt as men given over by God hating his truth and people and now at last invading them to show their utmost malice to that Nation the Army fly to heaven leave all to God and desire his infinit power to determine whether these things were not quite contrary the Lord looked on their condition and hath helped them in the sight of their enemies what can we conclude on these things are these only acts of permission towards us and of meer patience and long-suffering what can be more apparent that we acted upon right and just principles and to honest ends seeing God himself who was made the Judge hath given the sentence We may remember and know the nature and ominousness of Appeals with trembling by Gods actings to the late King and his who to make his designes take the better with the people in every declaration Appeals to God so to deal with him and his as he was true to the Protestant Interest when he had Papists in his bosom as his cheif Councellors and that he never intended to raise war against the Parliament when all his end of with-drawing from them was to form an Army against them How hath God Judged both himself and his for it ever since never leaving to follow him with Judgements untill he had made himself a Publique spectacle of his justice and hath now laid aside all his Family God may for some secret ends let his enemies prosper for a long time over his people to afflict and chastise them and make them partakers of his glory but he never or very seldom after manifold deliverances and absolute appeals to his righteousness hath afforded them assistance especially when it s among his own people in their controversies and truth is on the one side and prejudice on the other I could if I were a challenger dare all the world to show an instance after an immediate Appeal whether God hath not either eminently 〈◊〉 the sentence on the right side or at least whether upon 〈◊〉 all men have not so interpreted it hath God nothing to do with this world Hath he given over his Supremacy to Forture and Chance Or when can God be seen in Determinations if not after such Addresses to his peculiar Moderation Where shall the Righteous fly when they are condemned Or how shall men know that Vengeance only belongs unto God but by such Divine Conclusions But we must leave the conclusion to God to confirm as the Determination in it self There was much to be observed in the Scots Answer to that Clause of our Appeal rather leaving us to do it and threathing us upon it than putting their Cause and Confidence on Gods approbation and issue for whereas they were positive and peremptory enough in their Charges yet they were very faint and staggering in the manner of Appeal to God as either fearing their Cause through inward conscience of carnal complyances or assurance of their own strength to do the work by themselves it is enough what God hath done he will in his time either convince or destroy men But besides all which seems to be more considerable than any yet after not only Appeals such yet may be too confident but after the contradicting prayers of his own people God hath cast the scale on this side and made answer according to the Requests of the vilified Party never was heaven so much troubled with interests and opprest with contrary Petitions if we may modestly express it then in these few yeers the Saints formerly have made but one publique cry How long Lord Jesus Come quickly and there hath been a pure harmony in their Addresses to God though in different corditions but now heaven suffers a strange kind of violence the violence of Truth and Error in the same Petitioners but God hath made the Heavens Brass and his Ear heavie to all the Prayers even of many of his own People in these Affairs and ordered Events contrary to their prayers I know in what causes God may do this but when Saints and Saints shall pray and God answer only the one the other may well look round

about them If any 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 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 prosper by helping the common enemy But if nothing yet said will move us to have 〈◊〉 thoughts of these Transactions let us once again consider in what times these things are done against whom and by whom First all these workings have been in the latter days whe● God is throwing down the old heavens and earth and hath his notable designs to 〈◊〉 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 〈◊〉 enemies to trynmph 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 necesstously led into them Fourthly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 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 ●ey whereby God opens all those feals that are in that book and what ever special inspiradors we may have from heaven to guess at Gods incent 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 ●o● how to interptet them with safety or comfort hence it hath come to pass that many pages must now be blotted out of many worhty 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 co●fident 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 ●ries under the Altar and the only mighty upholders of the throne of the Beast