Selected quad for the lemma: kingdom_n
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A41589
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A sermon preached at St. Michaels Church in Cambridge, on the 26th of July, 1685 being appointed the day of publick thanksgiving for His Majesties late victory over the rebel / by William Gostwicke ...
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Gostwyke, William, 1650-1703.
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1685
(1685)
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Wing G1323; ESTC R31728
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6,469
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29
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by any Humane means being so well accompanied with such Valiant Men so ready to defend the Fact when even a Woman and she too one of the wickedest upon record had so much Naturall Religion in her as to think no Condition how great soever safe and exempt from Vengeance if it were purchased by Rebellion 't was Jezebel I mean who seeing Johu entring the Palace after he had slain her Son 2 Kings 9. 31. his King Jehoram chargeth him with Rebellion and by a late example denounceth the like Vengeance to him that Zimri had who slew his master So much a Woman that slighted justice in other matters thought it not possible to be avoided when such a horrid Crime called out to Heaven for it And thus indeed it usually has fared with them that think to force their passage to a Crown most commonly they have perished in the Attempt or if they have possessed themselves of their Desires yet then not all the Strength that they could make and Guards they set upon their Persons could render them Secure from punishment but usually God hath raised up some to pay them what they have deserved and render them the fruit of their own Inventions And if after so fair warning any that take Rebellious Courses should think to succeed better at last it appears to me a sign not only of wicked and depraved Manners but of stupid and sottish Minds Can they imagine their Hands were stronger than theirs that went before them yet surely they cannot think to escape Gods justice or deliver themselves out of his hand What shall we think but that as such Men do approve themselves to be very Evil persons so have they in a special manner appropriated to themselves one Character of the Wicked used in Scripture being Men that forget God or have not known him and that they have as little reason to pretend to Religion as to Loyalty and that their Absurdity is as great when they declare they stand up for Religion in opposition to the Ordinance of God and the Directions of the Apostles as theirs that formerly pretended to maintain the Authority of the King to the Ruine of his Kingdoms and the Destruction of his Person I hope it will be needless at this time of day to persuade men not to cheat themselves with such nice Distinctions which one word of sound and reall Wisdom will presently solve and this the Wise man teacheth that you should fear the Lord and the King for his sake that you should make your Religion the foundation of your Loyalty Prov. 24. 21 22. and not meddle with them that are given to change For their calamity shall rise suddenly and who knoweth the ruine of them both Now God be praised we do and by his mercy are able to retort upon our Republican Party their own Argument drawn from Success which when it goes along with the Right Side is then indeed only proper to be urged as a Token of Gods Favour and Approbation For we have seen the Counsels of Crafty men defeated and the continued Designs that have been hatching several Years brought to naught in a short while the Numbers that were joyned overthrown and broken and those that were Expected rendred Incapable to do Themselves or the Kingdom more Mischief and though their Strength was formidable and their Confederates many yet when we think how they are brought to punishment we must needs acknowledge the Truth of the Text that Wicked Men cannot escape without it For to say nothing of the private Lives of those that were the Leaders in the late Rebellion which were sufficient to discountenance their pretences to any kind of Religion their open Violation of all Honesty and Godliness Plundering and Killing Men Ravishing Wives and Virgins Defacing Churches and prophaning Altars are sufficient to shew their Character and to cry up to Heaven for Vengeance and make Gods Justice glorious now it is fallen upon them And now let us lay hold of the Occasion by reflecting on Gods judgments upon others to implore the continuance of his Mercy to our selves in this General Blessing that God would grant the King a Long and Happy Reign and save Him from the hands of all His enemies whom whether it shall please Almighty God to clothe with shame of their Proceedings for their Conversion and Repentance or by permitting them to go on in their own Obstinate and Destructive Ways to bring to their Deserved Punishment yet may his Throne be Established in Righteousness and on His Head may His Crown flourish Amen FINIS
A SERMON Preached at St. Michaels Church in CAMBRIDGE on the 26th of JVLY 1685. Being appointed the DAY of Publick Thanksgiving FOR HIS MAJESTIES late VICTORY over the Rebels By WILLIAM GOSTWYKE Fellow of Trinity College CAMBRIDGE Printed by John Hayes Printer to the University And are to be sold by H. Dickinson Bookseller there and by Walter Davis in Amen-Corner London 1685. A SERMON Preached at St Michaels Church in Cambridge on the 26th of July 1685. Prov. 11. 21. Though hand joyn in hand the Wicked shall not be Vnpunished THE Wisdom of Solomon though it was much ingaged in the contemplation of natural things yet since it was obtained of God for the better government of that People that was committed to his charge can never be supposed to have been more signall in any point than in Politicall Observations He as a King well understood the Duty of his Place the Power that was reposed in him and the Obedience that was required of them whom God had placed under his Command He knew the things that contributed to the happiness of a Kingdom and what were the most likely means either to establish or shake his Throne and therefore in the Words before us forewarns his Subjects against Popular Tumults and Insurrections shews them the danger that there was though they were many and He but One of entring into Leagues and Associations against their King But if the Jews gave ear to this as the instruction of a wise and prudent Governour it recommends it self to us with a more pressing obligation of being registred among those Truths which we acknowledge to proceed from God and from that stamp of the Divine Authority impressed upon it we may reap this advantage That though the World presents us only with a prospect of our danger from the Heat and Fury of an Audacious People the Church that always was the refuge of the Godly suggests unto us more comfortable meditations of Safety and Deliverance Here we have ancient and undoubted Monuments of Gods protection of his People and out of them this Maxim drawn by the observation of the Wisest Man That Insurrections of wicked doers cannot be prosperous that neither Strength nor Multitudes can render their Attempts successfull or secure them from Defeat but though hand joyn in hand though there be Numbers combined together yet shall they not escape Gods righteous judgment or go away unpunished The joyning of hands hath always been the symbol and token of friendship and an engagement of mutual Help and Assistance but what is friendship amongst good and honest Men is amongst wicked People conspiracie in iniquity always designed to the mischief of more Righteous persons than themselves and therefore bad in whatsoever sort of men are engaged in it but if it be against their Prince against their Laws and Government then it amounts to Treason and Rebellion the worst of Crimes So that in Treating of these Words I shall shew you First The Heinousness of this Sin when wicked Men joyn hand in hand and combine together and Secondly Present you with some Reasons whence you may conclude they shall not be unpunished First Of the Heinousness of this Sin which is so hatefull both to God and Man as it hath been adjudged in both the Courts of Heaven and Earth to be capitall above all other How highly God detests it we may hear him speaking by the mouth of one of his Prophets 1 Sam. 15. 23. Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and Stubborness is as iniquity and idolatry Witchcraft is nothing less then a renouncing God and entring into a Solemn League and Covenant with his greatest enemy the devil Idolatry is the forsaking Him to whom we owe the highest Worship and Allegiance and paying a Devotion to them that are not Gods whom we unjustly set up over us attributing an Imaginary power to them who are not able either to secure themselves or give any succour or protection and then how nearly is Rebellion joyned how fitly to be compared with either of these is easie to be observed in all its Proceedings For Rebels either renounce their Allegiance to their natural Prince who is and should be in Gods stead over them and joyn themselves to some that is his Enemy as in the case of Witchcraft or else they set up Heads of their own and pay their worship to the Works of their own hands making them Rulers whom they know to be no Such and stand in fear and reverence of a power of their own Creating which is but too conformable to the notion of Idolatry then like the foolish Israelites though they knew it was their Priest that made the Molten Calf at their own Charges and the expence of their own Gold and that but Yesterday yet to such Idols must be ascribed the glory of the noblest Actions These must become the Workers of a blessed Reformation 'T is by their guidance People must be brought from ignorance and Superstition to the Light and Truth of the Gospel even according to the letter of the old Song Exod. 32. 4. These are thy Gods O Israel that brought thee up out of the land of Egypt 'T is by this Name the Idolatry of the Israelites is often branded of which God thus complains Ezek 20. 8. They rebelled against me and would not hearken unto me and wherein this Rebellion did consist he proceeds to illustrate in that they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes neither did they forsake the Idols of Egypt And in the 1st of Isai v. 2. he is introduced proclaiming of it to all the World Hear O Heavens and give ear O Earth for the Lord hath spoken I have nourished and brought up Children and they have Rebelled against me So great a Crime as this not deserving to be put up in silence or whispered in the ear nay the house-tops were not high enough to proclaim it from but the whole Creation is made to ring with the loud Infamy of so great a Wickedness And how detestable it is amongst Men the concurrent practice of all Nations will attest so tender do their Laws declare them of the Person of their Prince that 't is esteemed Sacred and they have Scripture too to warrant that Respect which hath said of Prince that they are Gods Psal 82. 6. And our own Laws have so provided for Them and their Security from any Actual Violence that they have made it Capitall only to Meditate and Design it that according to the counsel of the Preacher Eccl. 10. 20. we should not curse the King no not in our thought nor the Rich in our bedchamber for fear of some extraordinary providence that should discover our Malice lest a bird of the air should carry the voice or that which hath wings should tell the matter But not to trouble you any farther with the Heinousness of this Sin which all good Christians do acknowledge and heartily detest I shall only