How does Paine appeal to religion in the first essay of The Crisis?

Although Thomas Paine was not himself conventionally
religious, he was a master persuader who knew how to use his audience's beliefs as a way
to motivate them.  In this essay, Paine uses religious references to argue that the
American cause was just and to encourage the reader to support that
cause.

First, Paine repeatedly refers to the idea that God
would recognize the justice of the American cause.  For example, he argues that the
British have done things that would make God despise them  He says that he cannot
imagine that God would have

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... relinquished the government of the world,
and given us up to the care of devils; and as I do not, I cannot see on what grounds the
king of Britain can look up to heaven for help against us: a common murderer, a
highwayman, or a house-breaker, has as good a pretence as
he.

In saying this, he uses
religion to argue that the American cause is just and that of the British is
not.

In addition, Paine uses religious imagery to try to
persuade colonists that they should actively support the Revolution.  He uses words that
they would have recognized as coming from the Bible to do this.  For example, he tells
them

Say not,
that thousands are gone, turn out your tens of thousands; throw not the burden of the
day upon Providence, but "show your faith by your works," that God may bless
you.

By doing these things,
Paine uses religious ideas and religious references to persuade the colonists to support
the Revolution.