A44695:39
A sermon preached on the late day of thanksgiving, Decemb. 2, 1697 by John…A sermon preach'd on the late day of thanksgiving, Decemb. 2, 1697 by John…
A sermon preached on the late day of thanksgiving, Decemb. 2, 1697 by John Howe ... ; to which is prefixed Dr. Bates's congratulatory speech to the King, Novemb. 22, 1697, in the name of the dissenting ministers in and about London.A sermon preach'd on the late day of thanksgiving, Decemb. 2, 1697 by John Howe ... ; to which is prefixed Dr. Bates's congratulatory speech to the King, Novemb. 22, 1697, in the name of the dissenting ministers in and about London.
London: printed by S. Bridge for Tho. Parkhurst, 1698
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
AND if we thus look upon War, First, in this its Complicated Causes, it is the Opprobrium, the Reproach of Humane Nature, of Intelligent Reasonable Creatures.
BUT Next look upon it In it self, and what is it, but the Destruction of Humane Lives, of Creatures made after the Image of GOD? Of whom He has so High a Value, and whose Lives, even for that very Reason, He is pleased to Fence and Secure by a Severe ⟨p. 6⟩Law, Whoever sheds Man's Blood, by Man shall his Blood be shed, for in the Image of GOD made He Man. But here is a Formed Design of Destroying Humane Lives by multitudes; Lives of Creatures bearing the Image of GOD.
AND by how much the more Necessary this is in many Cases, so much the more Grievous and Calamitous a Thing it is, that when to Cut Off and Destroy by multitudes so Precious Things as Humane Lives, is Tragical and Horrid, not to do it is so much Worse! Yea, That War it self is become an Art, and that the Valour and Skill which belong to it are Laudable Excellencies, is all Aggravation of the Sadness of this Case.
AND if we do consider the Consequences and Effects which do ensue upon such War, How full of Horror and Frightfulness are they! And those most of all, that are least of all thought on, and that lye most out of view: For, besides that Property is gone, and no Man knows what to call his own, Laws lose their Force, Magistrates their Authority, and Reverence, Civil Government is Disobeyed and Despised, Common Order is Violated and Turned into Confusion; Families torn in pieces, Countries laid Waste and Desolate, Towns and Cities Sacked, Ravaged, and made Ruinous Heaps. Besides all this, (I say) the Sacred Rites and Mysteries of Religion are Neglected and Profaned, its Holy Solemnities interrupted, Worshipping Assemblies are broken up. Men have little Opportunity left them to mind their great Concerns with GOD, and for another World; Care for Immortal Souls, when it is most Necessary, is thrown out of doors, and Reasonable Creatures, that should be employed in Adoring and Worshipping their Great Creator, the GOD of their Lives, are Employed in Designing the Mutual Destruction of one another's Lives: And it may be, that is least considered, which carries the most of Horror in it, that multitudes are hurried down to Perdition, neither Dreadd by themselves, nor Apprehended by the Destroyer; Souls are passing in shoals into Eternity, they not considering it who are sent, nor they that send them! And what sport does this make for Devils, those Envious Apostate Spirits, that first drew Men into a like Apostasy, that when GOD had given this Earth to the Children of Men, Assigning to themselves a worse abode amidst Infernal Darkness and Flames, they should be Tearing one another in pieces about this their Portion, under the Sun, making GOD's Bounty to them the Occasion of their doing all manner of Violence to one another! That the Prince of the Apostasy, the Usurping God of this World, should have the