Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n
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A49693
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A thanksgiving sermon for His Majesty's safe return and for the happy and honourable peace, of which God has made him the glorious instrument, Preached in Highgate Chapel, on Thursday the 2d of December, 1697. BY R. L. V.A.L.
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R. L.
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1697
(1697)
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Wing L56C; ESTC R218601
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7,903
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23
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that thinks light of those Works and Wonders God has wrought for us he that knows not how to prize that Peace and Prosperity we now enjoy or thinks he did any thing to merit or deserve it either understands not God's Goodness or is not thankful for it Secondly To be truly thankful is openly and publickly to confess God's Mercies to reflect a while upon the Providence of God 1. In delivering of this Kingdom from Popery and Slavery 2. In preserving His Majesty's most Sacred Person from the barbarous Conspiracies of bloody-minded Traitors and from all the Perils the Dangers the various kinds of Deaths he has for our sakes been exposed to And then Lastly With Raptures of Joy to dwell a while in the pleasant Contemplation of an Honourable Peace Much might be said of his Wisdom his Valour his Conduct and particularly of his Clemency to his Enemies These all deserve Hymns and Praises we ought to be telling them from Day to Day Again To be thankful indeed is to shew it by our Lives and Actions to present our selves and all that is ours to the Service and Worship of God to offer up our Souls and Bodies and what else is ours as Peace-offerings and Sacrifices of Thanksgiving never to fear we can do too much never to hope we can do enough for what God has done for us in thus reinstating us in our Religion and in all other our Rights and Privileges He hath finish'd our Wars and restored our most Rightful and Lawful King with the Triumphs and Hosanna's of a Peace-maker Blessed be he that thus cometh to us in the Name of the Lord be we thankful unto him and let us speak good of his Name for ever and ever Thus much for those Words Let the Peace of God rule in your Hearts it follows to the which ye are called in one body and be ye thankful We are called in one body How By Signs and Wonders by a miraculous Power Surely there wanted but a Step between Us and Death All the Devices and Engines of our Enemies were all fitted and almost finish'd ready as they themselves boasted either for our Conversion or Confusion Now we who should have suffered and dy'd or have been murder'd for the same Cause are thus unexpectedly delivered and call'd into one body let us study how to keep in one how to love relieve and assist each other Among the Saints and Angels there are no Jarrs or Discords Peace dwells for ever there And seeing God has of his infinite Mercy and Goodness call'd us to it I hope we will bethink our selves and walk worthy of it If we once fall into our old Divisions our very Hopes of a Recovery of Peace and Union are lost in a moment If by falling into several Parties we set open the Flood-gates to a Deluge of Misery and Confusion it may justly be said of us We did not understand the things that made for our Peace but betray'd and ruin'd one another The Day-star of our Peace and Prosperity shines now from East to West from North to South Like Lightning in a moment of Time Fame has wing'd great William's Name throughout the World Before his long wish'd-for Arrival here above Nine Years ago there was nothing but Scenes of Sorrow of Slavery and Death before our Eyes Now that he is come has repair'd our Breaches scatter'd our Enemies fought our Battels and finish'd all with a glorious Peace See! all things begin to spring and revive to bloom and flourish afresh Nature puts on a pleasing Smile Even the dull and melancholy Soul looks gay and chearful Where ever this mighty Prince comes how joyfully is he received how splendidly entertained The Eyes of all the World are now with admiration fix'd on him See! his Enemies are all struck with Fear and Terror his Friends all transported with Joy and Wonder We are all now like Trees planted by the Rivers of Waters which should bring forth their Fruits in due season And will we after all this tear off our selves by pieces into more Confusions Who hath bewitched us that we should think of doing this If after all this we reflect a little upon our selves how happlly we were call'd who a little before seem'd cast away call'd into one Protestant Church detesting Superstition and Idolatry into one happy Government abhorring all arbitrary Power Oppression and Tyranny called then when we scarce had any Names but Traitor Heretick or Rebel to be call'd by We Protestants were the innocent Sheep whom the Priests and Jesuites had mark'd out for Slavery or Death Indeed to say the truth we had by our Sins deserv'd to undergoe and suffer all that Misery that was then breaking in upon us That God should notwithstanding this have Compassion upon us who so little deserv'd it Oh! what can we look upon this to be but the calling us out of Dust and Death to an anticipated Resurrection Here we cannot choose but admire at the eternal Mercy and Goodness of God crying out Lord what is man that thou art mindful of him Or what are we that thou should'st thus rescue and deliver us And can we so far forget our selves as to unwind and unravel all our Happiness by being divided again Does not the Mischiefs and Miseries we have already suffer'd make us sensible of all the Arts and Contrivances the Papists have used to exasperate and set us one against another Are the Companies of armed Roman Catholicks of desperate bloody-minded Irish-men so blessed a Sight within our Quarters and our Houses that we now seem to murmur and complain If we are pleased with these things why then God indeed has done us an Injury to scatter and infatuate so dangerous an Enemy to cease our Oppressions and Persections to bring home Peace and Safety to our Doors and we do as good as tell him thus whilst we either run our selves into new Divisions raise them or continue them Oh how unthankful miserably unthankful must we needs be as well as foolish and inconsiderate if we thus contemn and throw away our Peace and Happiness And shall we add Ingratitude to the vast bulk of our other notorious Vices O God forbid And yet this we shall do if we oppose that Peace and Happiness which Heaven it self now tenders and offers to us by the hand of our most gracious King Now what can be more answerable to the Peace of God bestowed upon us with our Enemies abroad than a firm bond of Peace and Union with our Brethren at home He that returns not this returns nothing to God for all that he has wrought and done for us How can he be at Peace with God whom he has not seen that will not be at Peace with his Brother whom he has seen He that saith he loveth God and hateth his Brother is a Liar hereby shall all men know that ye are the Friends and Followers of Christ if ye love one another To draw to a Conclusion The redeeming us out of Misery and Slavery the scattering of our Enemies the preservation of His Majesty's Sacred Person from all the Conspiracies the Dangers and Deaths he has been expos'd to at home and abroad the happy End of the War and the welcome Blessings of an Honourable Peace these are all of no worth or value in our Judgments or Opinions if we be not henceforth more Righteous towards God more Loyal towards our King and more Loving and Charitable one towards another than ever we yet have been And now if ye have any respect to the Righteous Judge of all the World if any Consideration of God's Goodness if any Love to Unity if any kind of Gratitude for the Mercies you have received from Heaven or would be gracious in the Eyes of a merciful Father let the Meekness of Christians the Endearments of God's Kindness the Reasonableness of Gratitude and the Hopes of God's Favour engage us all to the utmost of our Power to promote Peace and Charity and Union amongst our selves And may that God who calls us to it work it in us that we may all with one Heart and one Mouth return him Thanks for his Mercy endureth for ever and let all the People sing with King David Bless ye the Lord praise him for his Mercy endureth for ever And let us now beg that the God of Peace and Holiness would sanctifie every one of us in Body Soul and Spirit that we may be kept blameless to the Coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Amen Amen FINIS
not censure or condemn thy Brother because he is not just of the same mould and opinion with thy self but sit down and be content that thy Life thy Liberty the Law and thy Religion are all entirely preserved Let not nice Distinctions and Opinions hatch and foment any Quarrels amongst us Christians but let the peace of God rule in your hearts to the which also ye are called in one body and be ye thankful In speaking to these Words I shall apply my self to the Duty of this Day and will enquire First What is meant by this Expression Let the peace of God rule in your hearts Secondly What it is to be thankful Peace is a Word of a very large Extent all God's Blessings are folded up in that sweet Name It signifies all the temporal all the spiritual and all the eternal Good we can either expect or desire Now that Peace which the Apostle here recommends is such an one as is joined with Righteousness with Truth with Love and Charity If this Peace rule in our Hearts it will decide all our Differences compose all our Quarrels and heal all our Wounds it will work us all into order and make us chearful under all its Commands both to God and Man Thus let the Peace of God rule in your Hearts Were it once but truly and sincerely fixed there it would rule our Words into a milder key and our Actions into a smoother dress We should hear no Whispers against the present auspicious Government of great Caesar no feigned Jealousies of a Commonwealth coming in no talk of an absolute unbounded Monarchy no canting of sad Times when we must have seen and felt much worse had not God himself interpos'd rescu'd and deliver'd us It were much to be wish'd that our Magistrates would take effectual Care to suppress and hinder the printing of Libels and all such Books and Pamphlets as tend to no other end but to amuse the People to disswade them from admiring and adoring the best of Princes to rail at the present Government and keep them in perpetual Discontents and hinder them from Reunion with the Church These cannot be the Words of such as seek the Peace of Sion or pray for the Peace of Jerusalem or wish well to their native Country But if we stand upon Punctilio's and will not pray but in our own Words will not worship God unless we may do it in what form we list our selves will quit the Church rather than our Humour we cannot be said to further but disturb the Peace both of Church and State The Apostle beseeches us Col. 3.12 13. to be tender and compassionate meek and humble patient and long-suffering forbearing and forgiving one another If any man have a quarrel against any even as Christ forgave you so also do ye O most admirable and divine Exhortation As if he had said I assure you my beloved Colossians that these Vertues and Graces are the best Symptoms and the best Expressions of the Peace of God ruling in your Hearts The Looks of Peace are mild and chearful her Words smooth and gentle her Hands soft and merciful always stretch'd out to receive and embrace those who are ready to come in Now as we are to live peaceably one with another so we are to be thankful for all those Blessings God hath bestowed upon this Church and People 'T is a Duty that now lies upon us for it well becometh the Just to be thankful Psal 33.1 I cannot direct you to any thing more becoming us in regard of the Mercies mentioned in the Text The Peace of God and the calling us to it in one body Each of them so ample Subjects for our Gratitude that we cannot shew thankfulness enough for either Peace Abroad and at Home too This is so great a Blessing that no one thing is more pleasant to be seen more beautiful to be desired or more profitable to be enjoyed But what shall we say to those Remarkable Instances of God's Mercy and Goodness to us in preserving this Church and Nation from the black Designs and barbarous Conspiracies of bloody-minded Men. On November the 5th 92 Years ago when the fatal Tragedy of the Gun-powder Treason was to be acted by the Papists all the black Scenes of Ruine of Misery and Death being all fitted and prepared that then when the Funeral of King and Parliament of Church and State was to be consummated in a fiery Cloud that then when the fatal Minutes were hastening on to an amazing dreadful Period That God should at that moment of Time when there was none could save or help us that he should come down to rescue and deliver us That he should infatuate and discover those desperate Wretches and bring them all to Shame and condign Punishment is a plain Instance of his Povidence which has hitherto watch'd over us for Good as well as a peculiar Token of his Love and Mercy On the selfe-same Day November the 5th above 9 Years ago when we look'd upon our selves as a miserable enslaved Nation our Liberties our Laws our Religion being all perverted and invaded that then when we were beset with Legions of armed Papists pick'd out of this and the neighbouring Kingdoms ready to receive and execute the bloody Dilates of Priests and Jesuites that then when our Church and Religion were brought to the lowest ebb lay languishing and sighing under the Oppression and Tyranny of her cruel Enemies who tauntingly upbraided her with her Old Age That God should then raise up her Head out of the Dust That he should bring all the Plots and Contrivances of her Enemies to nought That he should save Israel by the hand of his Servant Moses That he should send the most Heroick and Renowned Prince of Orange to save and rescue us from a most cruel Tyranny and bloody Persecution is a Mercy thankfully to be commemorated by all such as love their Religion their King and Country God has called who were almost out of Call some in remote Corners of this Kingdom some in foreign Countries abroad some incognito in dark Corners at home some in Dungeons and Prisons some in the Tower We are all like dead Men restored to a new Life God has called us again into his Church he has restored some to their Estates some to their Wives and Children from whom they were forc'd to fly not that they had done Evil or deserved Death but because they hated Idolatry and were ready and able to discover the Actors and Inventers of all our Miseries and Troubles God has called us all to the Enjoyment of our Liberties our Laws and our Religion he maketh our Wars to cease and hath settled us upon the sure Foundations of an Honourable Peace This is so transcendant a Mercy that we can never be sufficiently thankful For Men to be grateful and thankful is First Humbly and heartily to acknowledge God's infinite Goodness and Mercy to us and our own infinite Unworthiness of it He