Selected quad for the lemma: religion_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
religion_n	kingdom_n	law_n	parliament_n	3,975	5	6.2994	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A27638	Confiding England vnder conflicts, triumphing in the middest of her terrors, or, Assured comforts that her present miseries will end in unspeakable lasting mercies to the whole nation first preached in Bengeo and Hitchin in Hartfordshire and now published for the common comfort of the nation / by Iohn Bevvick ...	Bewick, John, d. 1671.	1644 (1644)	Wing B2193; ESTC R2654	46,204	56

CONFIDING ENGLAND VNDER CONFLICTS TRIUMPHING IN THE MIDDEST OF HER TERRORS OR Assured comforts that her present miseries will end in unspeakable lasting mercies to the whole Nation First preached in Bengeo and Hitchin in Hartfordshire and now published for the common comfort of the Nation By IOHN BEVVICK Minister of Bengeo neere Hartford LONDON Printed by I. D. for Andrew Crooke and are to be sold at his shop at the Greene Dragon in Pauls Church-yard 1644. TO HIS Excellency ROBERT Earle of ESSEX Viscount Hereford Baron Ferrars of Chartley Lord Bourchier and Lovain one of His Majesties most Honourable Privy Councell and Generall of the Army raised by the Parliament in defence of the true Protestant Religion his Majesties person the Lawes and Liberties of the Kingdome and the Priviledges of Parliament IT is a lovely thing saith the Philosopher to benefit one but to doe good to a nation it is a thing divine Your Excellencies love to England in not counting your blood your life deare to preserve it the eminencyes in your person of vertue and valour of courage and courtesie of greatnesse and goodnesse of mercy and meeknesse of admirable prudence and unwearied patience the worthy deeds already done unto this Nation by your providence all these obligeth all true English hearts to beare a part in the National acknowledgment of your worth and in accepting what is done by your Excellencie with all thankefulnesse Your noble candor may be pleased then to pardon this presumption of dedication in a stranger to your knowledge but an honourer of your vertues the rather because the obscurest clot upon the fallow reflects something of the sunne beames as well as the mountaines as the whole globe These ensuing meditations are now mustered to attend the Campe and if the banner of your protection overspread them he shall be comforted who by them desires principally to comfort the Natio yea the world For if it be true as Saint Augustine writes that if one drop of the joyes of heaven should fall into hell it would swallow up all the bitternesse of it it may be hoped then that a few drops of heavenly joyes here presented under your Excellencyes countenance to my Countrymen ingulphed in an hell of outward miseries may availe to allay their bitternesse and cleare their eye sight as Ionathans was after his tasting honey to see thorough an hell of horror their heavenly recovery It is Englands present duty to rejoyce in tribulations to triumph under terrors to confide under conflicts to expect salvations to veiw God by the eye of faith as a refuge as interwining us in his everlasting armes of preservation as healing our breaches as stanching our wounds as preparing all rankes among us to enjoy a perpetuall unity peace amity joy and jubilee in despite of hell and Rome All this God will do for us in righteousnes but by terrible things And during his pouring vialls of wrath upon the Antichristians the English Church with the other reformed must stand on a sea of glasse mingled with fire She shall apparantly see as in a glasse Antichristian tumults rising like wave after wave yet Christ calming them and causing all attempts ebbe into emptinesse come to nothing She shall stand on a sea mingled with fire enduring hot service from inward contentions and outward afflictions these a while shall heat her but not fire her scorch her but not rost her bruise her heele perhaps in some losses but they shall not breake her nor crumble her into a totall desolation for the ten Kingdomes must stand by an unalterable decree to undo Antichrist though they a while may seeme to favour and fight for him And she shall stand with the harpes of God singing the songs of Moses songs of judgement praises for every new judgement upon her troublers and destroyers and singing too the song of the lamb songs of mercie prayses for every new deliverance vouchsafed her from on high All blessings from the omnipotent Lambe who warreth against Antichrist and will conquer are craved for your Excellency by all the reall lovers of this Nation among whom I rest the meanest of Christs ministers and to July 20 1644. Your Excellencye most humbly devoted in all Christian service IOHN BEVVICK CONFIDING ENGLAND VNDER CONFLICTS TRIVMPHING IN THE MIDDEST OF HER TERRORS PSAL. 65. 5. By terrible things in righteousnesse wilt thou answer us oh God of our salvation who art the confidence of all the ends of the earth and of them that are a farre off upon the sea THis Psalme is Eucharisticall It is a forme of thankesgiving penned by David for those mercies which God bestowes on mankind The first verse calls on the Church of God to praise him for the things afterward recited Others will take no notice of them or if they doe yet they will not so freely acknowledge Gods kindnesse in them and therfore the Saints the children of Zion must doe it The rest of the Psalme is spent in recounting the benefits both spirituall and temporall which are conferred The spirituall blessings which properly belong to the Church and faithfull people of God are foure 1. Gods hearing of their prayers In the want of defence counsell reliefe in the midst of afflictions and troubles when they are straitned and upon the verge of any extremitie he heareth their prayers Oh thou that hearest prayers to thee shall all flesh come 2. Remission of sinnes is another blessing here recounted though sinne hath raised the storme of afflictions trouble and adversaries yet God will purge away sinne and the cause of these stormes removed there is a calme As for our transgressions thou shalt purg them away 3. The collection of a Church is another blessing here rehearsed And 4. The saving and preserving this Church in a wonderfull and admirable manner so as others shall be driven to joyne themselves to the Church this is another favour from God And these are the blessings spirituall which this Psalme doth mention The blessings temporall are common to the Saints with others yet they are such that none but Saints will take notice to praise God for them and therefore for these also Praise waiteth for God in Zion These blessings temporall are 1. The erection of Kingdomes and Governments in the world It is from the mighty power of God that Common wealths are set on their foundation He by his strength set fast the mountaines By mountaines Common wealths are here to be understood as they are in the latter part of the first verse of the second of Isaiah It would be a terrible sight to see mountaines tumbling and rowling ready to close and breake one another in peices and yet such are all the Common wealths in the world they would totter and tumble and destroy one another but that God hath fastened them their bounds are set and that is one blessing 2. The repression of tumults seditions and conspiracies in Kingdomes which would utterly

adversaries and yet by such terrible revelations God doth often preserve his people 7. And so he doth sometimes by terrible destructions when either God destroyes the adversary or shewes his judgements on them in some horrible manner so as they shall never be able to lift up the heele and kicke and spurne his people When the Lord pleases to knock off all the hornes that pushed it will bee very terrible and yet thus he often times saves his Church Pharaoh is drowned Haman is hanged and his people escape Thus the things by which God delivers his people are terrible in respect of the terror which thereby befalls the adversaries Secondly The things by which God preserves his Church are terrible in respect of the wonder and amazement which they produce both in the adversaries and in Gods people filling them both full of astonishment and amazement when they are seriously considered For 1. It is wonderfull that the Lord oft saveth his people by weak meanes God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the things which are mighty It was a thing wonderfull that Sisera should be sold into the hands of a woman That deliverance should come by Esther That Sampson should slay a thousand with the jaw-bone of an Asse That a few Protestants in Ireland should yet remaine there notwithstanding the whole Kingdome be full of Popish Rebells It is wonderfull that true Christianitie and the true reformed Religion should get ground and winne upon the world daily increasing and spreading notwithstanding all opposition which it hath had from the beginning Though Emperours Kings Princes Nobles great ones and men of all sorts have combined against the puritie of Religion yet that it should prevaile and finde multitudes of Professours in all Kingdomes this is wonderfull It is very marveilous in our eyes that the stone which the builders refused should become the head-stone in the building and so it is that Antichrist should be destroyed daily by the breath of the Lords mouth that by the preaching of the word the Man of Sinne should be at length fully revealed That a few Rammes-hornes should breake downe the walls of Ierico These and a thousand such are wonderfull things terrible in respect of the amazement into which they may put all sorts 2. It is terrible that is a thing wonderfull causing astonishment that God should save and deliver his Church under the unlikelihood of meanes when all meanes instruments of its helpe seeme to bee insufficient Moses a weak man is sent to deliver Israel and when he was sent their burdens were greatned and yet Israell was then upon the point of deliverance God many times is working deliverance for his people when the meanes of it is crost seemes to bee frustrated disappointed to worke backward and altogether unlikely and this is to the amazement of the adversaries and to the wonder of his owne people It was a terrible that is a thing wonderfull that when all the European world was in a manner filled in all places with agents for Antichrist Luther should arise and carry on the cause of the Gospell against Leo the Pope Charles the Emperour against Cajetan the Cardinall against Rome Italy Europe the world and Hell This was a terrible astonishment to the Pontificians and a wonderfull though comfortable amazement to Gods owne people who had long groaned for a Reformation And so when Germany mourned under the pride and oppression of the Emperour and house of Austria and when the Jesuites the Popes factours had devised and contrived its utter ruine yet then God raised up the King of Sweden who landed in Germany but with ten thousand men at most and God made him an instrument to curbe the Imperialists this was a terrible thing the amasement of the world The Papists bragged let us beat the Sweede and then all Germany is ours but God made the Sweede a rod to whip and lash the Pontifician Nation in those parts unto this day this is so terrible to them that they gnaw their tongues for vexation of spirit And so likewise who would have thought that the troubles in the North should have procured a pacification betweene the two Nations of England and Scotland and give a light to the whole Island to looke to its security And who would thinke that God is at this time bringing about the peace and security of England though all the Agents and instruments of it should be slighted contemned and despised but God is he who worketh wonders effecting by unlikely meanes the Salvation of his Church and when this cometh to passe it will be a terrible astonishment to all the enemies of the Land and a wonderfull comfort to all Saints 3. It is a thing terrible that is wonderfull causing astonishment when God preserves his people without meanes in a miraculous way and manner this strikes terror into the adversaries and wonder into his people When the sea was made a passage for Isarell and therin the Aegyptians troubled they were afraid when Jordane was dryed up for the people to passe over the hearts of the Cananites melted in them It was terrible when God rained downe stones on the Kings which fought against his people terrible when he suddenly cut off many of the persecuting Emperors gave therby his Church rest and a breathing time from trouble And so when the Lord shall have effected miraculously I beleeve he is now working it though most think otherwise the peace and security of England though all the prime wits of Christendome among the Antichristians have beene imployed to undoe it I say when it shall be seen that all their labours are miraculously quasht and Englands feares are suddenly husht and that Englands Troublers shall but trouble and undoe themselues in their attempts against her and that their now warring against her peace doth but lay ground worke for the utter ruining of the Papacy in all Europe when the Lord I say shall miraculously effect all this then shall the enemies be ashamed and confounded together it will bee their terrible astonishment and then shall all the righteous be wonderfully comforted Thus the Church is delivered by terrible things in respect of the terror wrought therby in the adversaries and the wonder they worke in his servants Thirdly the things by which God preserves his Church are terrible things in respect of the reverence and awfull regard which they worke or should worke in all sorts towards God Therfore some translate the word here reverend things understanding therby things which should cause us reverence dread that mighty God who hath done them and who is for them to be feared Thus if God deliver by some actuall judgment and vengeance she wed on the adversaries this should make us feare and dread him I am afraid of thy Judgments saith David And when thy Judgments as it is in the Prophet are on the earth the inhabitants therof will