THOUGH God be the Soveraign Lord of All, by Right of Creation, Dominion and Provi­dence, in which Sense he is a God to the pro­fest Enemies of his Truth, as Jews, Pagans, Mahometans, and Hereticks, the Denyers of his Being not excepted; they subsist and are maintained by his Bounty, for he giveth them Life and breath, and all things, Acts 17. 25. and maketh his Sun to rise on the Evil, and sendeth Rain on the Ʋnjust, Mat. 5. 45. yet he [Page 2] is in a more special manner the God of the Faithful, he is their. God in Covenant, and they his People, Jer. 32. 38. To these he imparts his Graces, and deals out his more than common Favours. These are his Elect, his Chosen out of the World, A peculiar Treasure, a King­dom of Priests, and an Holy Nation, Exod. 19. 5, 6.

The School-men set forth their Re­lation to him in a three-fold Respect, of his singular Care of them, the Holy Service they perform to him, and the great Reward where with he Crowns them.Aquin. sup. Rom. I. Secundum specialem cu­ram, specialem cultum, spectale praemium. And there­fore with a little variation of the Words, we may say to them, as Moses did to Israel, Happy-are ye, O Believers! Who is like unto ye, O People, saved by the Lord? Deut. 33. 29. The eternal God is your Refuge, and underneath are the everlasting Arms, Deut. 33. 27.

But though the Church be God's peculiar Favorite, and under the watchful Eye of Heaven; yet the Devil and his Instruments bear a mortal hatred to Her, and render her Condition a perpetual Warfare upon Earth.

But her security being laid in the Divine Protection, which still encompasseth Her with Favour, as with a Shield, Psal. 5. 12. In vain are all Attempts and Designs of Her Enemies. For,

If God be for us, who can be against us?

I might consider these words with respect to the par­ticular Cases of the Faithful, and shew how God is with them by his Spirit, Graces, and Providence, to Guide, Assist, and Protect them; and how he secures them a­gainst the many Fears that arise from inward Corrup­tions, and outward Assaults, by strengthening their [Page 3] Faith against all that is formidable in the World, and confirming their Hope in the Love of God in Christ Jesus, from which nothing can separate them.

But having an intention to re-mind you of the signal Mercies vouchsaf'd this Nation, no less shamefully a­busted by some, than unthankfully forgot or misapplied by others; I shall handle them with relation to this Church and People. And,

I. Give you the importance of this Phrase, If God be for Ʋs.

II. Remember you wherein God hath manifested him­self for Ʋs already.

III. Shew what Present Supports he affords Ʋs. And,

IV. What prospect we have of his future Care and Pro­tection of Ʋs.

I. Then this Phrase, If God be for us, imports two things.

• God's Gracious Presence, and
• His Particular Providence,

First, by God's Gracious Presence, with a Church or People, I understand his being so with them, as to set up and maintain Truth and Gospel, his Worship and Ordinances amongst them, and to gather to himself a willing and obedient People, that desire to know him and his Law, and to serve him with Reverence and Godly [Page 4] Fear; and who diligently observe the Sacraments and Rites of his Institution, against the apparent Encroach­ments made upon the Church, by the Inventions and Tra­ditions of Men: For Humane Additions are not only Ʋn­commanded, but Forbidden in the Service of God, and the Apostles, Mat. 28. 20. and consequently the Church had the promise of God's Presence granted, upon no other Terms, but an exact Conformity to what he had Com­manded.

There must be a Divine Warrant for our Faith and Practice (let subtile Men devise what Distinctions and Evasions they can to reconcile the Scriptures and their Innovations) or we cannot expect God's merciful Accep­tance of our Services. For to stamp any thing of but a Humane Original with a Divine Character, and thrust it upon the Consciences of Men to bind unto Obedience, is the advancing of our Own in Opposition to Christ's Supreme Authority, who is the only Law-giver to his Church.

Secondly, this Phrase, If God be for us, imports his Particular Providence over a People, or Nation. By which, I mean, his more immediate Concernment for them, as when he visibly asserts their Cause, which he most commonly does by Instruments unthought of, or, perhaps despised by the Enemy, but specially Commis­sion'd by God to accomplish their Deliverance in the o­thers overthrow.

Now the Providence of God may be considered, either more largely, which I call his general, or in the former Re­striction, which may be termed his particular Providence.

[Page 5] To his general Providence are subject all things in the World, the smallest and most inconsiderable in our E­steem are not excluded; The very hairs of our head are all numbred, Mat. 10. 29, 30. and two Sparrows sold for a Farthing fall not on the ground without it. They that have excepted Inferiour Matters from it, as being (in their Opinion) derogatory to God's transcendent Majesty to stoop so low, have instead of magnifying, lessen'd his Royal Prerogative; his Providence being as uncircum­scrib'd as his Essence and Dominion.

It was therefore a gross Error in Aristotle to confine it to the Moon, by shutting out all things below, as Legat. pro Christ. Athenagoras, Protrept. Cle­mens Alexandrinus, Com­pend. Fid. Cathol. post Haeres. 80. Epiphanius, and Lib. 5. haeret. fab. Thedoret testifie; but far more palpable in St. Hierom, a Learned Fa­ther of the Church, who in his Commentary upon Habak. cap. 1. makes it an Absurdity, Ad hoc Dei deducere Ma­jestatem, To bring down the Divine Greatness to such small things, as the Flies, Gnats, and Fishes he there speaks of. For, we are not, (says he) such foolish Flatterers of God, to be injurious to our selves, by granting to Irrational Crea­tures the same Providence with us: Non sumus tam fatui adulatores Dei &c. Hie­ron. in loc. When both Reason and Revelation teach us, to believe the Universality of its Extent. Reason informs us, that God is the first Mo­ver, and the first Cause, and therefore all inferiour Mo­vers, and secondary Agents must depend upon him, and that no Creature is absolute, and self-sufficient, but would instantly dissubsist without his Concurrence. The Scriptures ascribe even the most despicable things to him, such as Frogs, Lice, Flys, and Locusts, Exod. 8. & 10. cap. [Page 6] and bring within the Line of his Providence, not only intellectual and sensitive Beings, but Plants, Meteors, and all things, Psal. 147. 8, 16.

But of all sublunary Things, Man (made after the Image of God) falls more expresly under his Care: For, as he made him a little lower than the Angels, so he hath ex­alted him above the other Creatures, and crown'd him with Glory and Honour, Psal. 8. 5. And, if Man singly con­sidered, be so near unto him, then much more Man in Society, Bodies and Communities of Men.

His Particular Providence is conversant about Good Men, and especially about a People or Nation, professing and practising his Holy and Eternal Truth; for 'tis not a bare and abstract Profession; 'tis not the Pomp and Splendour of our Devotions, nor the crying out with those Jews in the Prophet, The Temple of the Lord, Jer. 7. 4. but plainness and sincerity of Heart, and a truly ver­tuous Uniform Life, that will entitle us to his Gracious Favour. And for a People, thus Evangelically qualified, the Right Hand of the Lord bringeth mighty things to pass. And as in Common Calamities, the Good oft-times suffer with the Bad, though with this difference, the Good are better'd and refin'd thereby, and the Bad become much worse; so in Publick Mercies, the Evil participate with the Righteous, and are preserved for their Sakes: Thus the Prayers of Moses prevailed for the Idolatrous Israelites, Exod. 31. 7. to 15. and the Peoples requesting Samuel, to pray to God for them that they died not, 1 Sam. 12. 19. intimates their Safety lay in his Intercession. And this shews, though the Wicked are by far the major part, what exceeding Love God hath for his People, when his Mercy shall preserve the very Tares for the Wheat sake.

[Page 7] But now, though the Wicked share with the Godly in Publick and National Mercies, yet the uses are vastly different which they draw therefrom; the Godly are ex­cited to Humility, Thankfulness, and Obedience to clo­ser Communion with God, and warmer Resentments of his Love; whereas the Wicked suck Poison out of his Goodness, by unthankfully abusing it to Luxury & Wan­tonness, and taking occasion thereby to sin more confi­dently and securely. I wish, besides that other of mur­muring and censuring, grown too common among us, the sin of prophane Ingratitude be not laid to our Charge. For since our late Great Deliverance, how few with the one Leper return Glory to God, Luke 17. but how many with the other Nine forget him? Nay, do we not rather seem to have an Inclination to our former Slavery, than any true Affection to our present Freedom? as though to walk at large were less desireable, than Chains and Con­finement.

The old Romans were so foolishly superstitious, as to build an Altar to a Feaver, and so become Worshippers of their Diseafe: and is not our Folly altogether as great, to Idolize our Enemy, and make inevitable Ruine our Sanctuary? To put the Sword, which we ought to keep for our Defence, into an Adversary's Hand to protect us, is as unpardonable a Weakness, as to throw our selves into the Fire, in hopes of being saved by a Miracle.

When God prescribes Means and secondary Helps, we must obey his Order, and implore his Blessing in the use of them. Though God be pleased sometimes to Act ex­traordinarily, not only without, but contrary to means; yet we must not leave the usual way of Providence, and [Page 8] presently expect Wonders. We know who hath said, That man liveth not by bread alone, but by every word, which proceedeth out of the mouth of God, Mat. 4. 4. and yet that word is annex'd to Bread, and not to Stones; and 'tis not Trusting, but Mocking, and Tempting of God, to fast till Stones should be converted into Bread. No­thing is impossible to God, but what implies Weakness or Contradiction; he can as easily defeat our Enemies without Fleets and Armies, as he smote Sennacherib's Camp, and made them in one night all dead Corps, 2 Kings 19, 35. But as the Sword of Gideon was to go along with the Sword of the Lord, as a Testimony of Obedience, not an Addition of Strength, Judg. 7. 18. and as David, though he confess'd, The Lord saveth not with Sword and Spear; yet took a Sling and a Stone for his Weapon, 1 Sam. 17. 47, 49. So must we depend upon God in the use of his appointed Means, not in Confidence of their Help, but in Obedience to his Divine Order. And thus trusting in him, in a dutiful Subordination to his Provi­dence, we may be sure of his Gracious Protection. Then will he be with us, as he was with Moses and Joshua, He will not fail us, nor forsake us, Josh. 1. 5. And in this Confidence we may safely acquiesce, if

II. In the second place we consider wherein God hath manifested himself for us already, and in what Particulars we have tasted of his Goodness. As the Mariner, after a long and difficult Voyage, being at last safe come Home, looks back with wonder at those Rocks and Shelves, those Storms and Pyrats he escaped: So the Ship of our Church and State having been long toss'd in a Sea of Mi­sery, and every moment was in danger of being sunk; being now arriv'd, by the Blessing of God, and the Di­ligence [Page 9] of her Pilot, at the Haven where she would be, we may with Admiration reflect upon the many immi­nent Dangers she hath past.

To make which Reflection work the more kindly; give me leave to remember you, of what Almighty God hath so lately done for us, by removing the Invasions made upon our Civil and Religious Rights, and frustra­ting the grand Design upon the Reformation.

1. For our Civil Rights, what Invasions were made upon them, the History of the late Arbitrary Reign is so well known, that 'tis impossible to be mistaken. Liberty and Property, the Birth-right of every English Man, were rendered meer Titulary things; and Parliamentary Law, by which we ought to be govern'd, was laid aside as useless, while the Will and Pleasure of the Prince usur­ped the Legislature. For the Dispensing Power (the most exorbitant thing that ever could be advanc'd) be­ing set up above known Established Laws, and made the sole Standard of Government, brought both our Lives, Liberties, Honours and Estates entirely under it.

By vertue of this Dispensing Power, we saw Popish Judges and Justices sit in Courts of Judicature, the Mi­litia was put into the hands of unqualified Officers, and a standing Army kept up contrary to Law. The liberty of choosing Members of Parliament was wholy taken a­way, by serving Corporations with Quo Warranto's, and forcing them to surrender their Charters, and to receive them again with such Alterations, that might make room for Roman-Catholick Magistrates, or at best such indifferent Protestants, as were prepared not to hinder the great Intriegue. The Violence done to Magdalen-Colledge [Page 10] in Oxford, in outing the President and Fellows of their Freeholds, by an illegal High-Commission-Court, for their ever memorable steddiness to their Con­sciences, and Statutes of their Founder; and the im­prisoning the Bishops, and trying them as Criminals, for presenting a most humble Petition, that they might be excus'd distributing a Declaration grounded upon the Dispensing Power, were but the beginning of our Sor­rows, the severe Prologue to a dismal Tragedy.

So that being invaded daily in our Civil Rights, we had nothing left us, but a fearful Expectation of merci­less Oppression, had not God sent us seasonable succour by his Present Majesty's means, to whom, under God, we owe the rescuing our Lives and Liberties out of our Enemies hands.

Let this consideration be well weigh'd, and unless Slavery be more eligible than Freedom; and Tyranny, than the Blessing of an easie Government, as the Inva­sions made upon our Civil Rights were actually many, and the subsequent justly dreaded dangers more: so the Deliverance must be acknowledged to be extraordinary.

2. As God has done great things for us in re­gard of our Civil Rights, so has he done no less in de­fending our Religion, which was the mark our Enemies chiefly shot at, as is obvious from the Methods they in­defatigably pursued to overthrow it. Popish Chappels and Schools were erected throughout the whole King­dom, and Popery it self, which is downright Idolatry, condemn'd by Scripture, and justly banish'd by our Laws, was publickly tolerated against both. Priests and Jesuits, who were wont to walk in disguise, put off their Vizards; and as ambitious of being known, appear'd openly at [Page 11] Mass. They Married, Baptized, Consecrated, made so­lemn Processions, Proselyted the Loose, Ignorant and Debauch'd, and bid defiance to our Laws.

Statutes made against Correspondence with the Bi­shop and Court of Rome were suspended, and Ambassa­dours were sent, and Nuncio's received, by none other Authority but the Omnipotent Dispensing Power.

The Declaration for Liberty of Conscience, pretended a favourable Design, but was soon discovered to be all sham; for Liberty and Infallibility being utterly incon­sistent, it was quickly found out (even by those they thought to have gain'd by it) notwithstanding its spe­cious pretexts of Conscience and Moderation, to be a trick to engage Protestants, whose strength lies in their Ʋnion, into mutual Quarrels and Contentions; that the Contrivers might thereby the more successfully have ruin'd us.

By these and such like Methods, they vigorously pro­ceeded, and thought themselves so certain of Re-esta­blishing their Apostolical Church, that they ridicul'd our Religion, call'd us Hereticks to our Faces, and threatned us not only with the Writ De Haeretico comburendo, but to sacrifice our Bibles to their Rage. And had they pro­spered in their Counsels, as God might justly have per­mitted them for our Sins, this flourishing Kingdom had soon been turn'd into an Aceldama, a Field of Bloud, and the Marian Racks, Stakes and Gibbets would have been acted over again. I tremble to think what the French and Irish Protestants have suffered, and what we might have lookt for from Men of the same bloudy Principles here. I need not tell you, that Cruelty is one principal part of their Religion, & that Transubstantiation has made [Page 12] more Martyrs than the Ten Persecutions. Histories are so full of their Massacres and Murthers, that 'tis no Hy­perbole to say, the Butcheries of Christians have exceeded those of Pagan Rome, and Christ's Pretended Vicar out­done the utmost Rage and Inhumanity of all the Heathen Emperours.

But this is not all; for, if they had succeeded accord­ing to their Hopes, or rather, Confidences: How had this Kingdom of Christ become the Kingdom of Antichrist? How had the goodly Vine of the Reformation, which the Lord of the Vine-yard had planted, made to take deep root in our Land, pruned and cultivated, and caus'd to spread out her Branches like the Cedars of Lebanon, been rooted up and devoured by the Italian Boars, and Wild-Beasts of Doway and St. Omers, Psal. 80. 8, 9, 10, 13. In these very Houses set apart for the true Worship of God, how should we have seen the Abomination of Desolation standing in the Holy Place! How should we have heard the Legends of Imaginary Saints read instead of the four Evangelists; have had the Lyes and Fictions of Idle Monks and Fryars impos'd upon us for Gospel-Verities, and have been con­strained (as far as in them lay) to go to Hell by an im­plicit Obedience!

But for ever Blessed be the Lord God of Israel who hath visited and redeemed his People, and sent us, by his Chosen Servants, King William and Queen Mary. a De­liverance, which had in all the Circum­stances so eminently the Divine Hand in it, that I ad­mire any, save Epicures and Romanists, should deny it to be [...], The Lord's doing, and marvelous in our Eyes, Psal. 118. 23. If Physicians meeting with Di­stempers [Page 13] incureable by ordinary Me­dicines, are driven to acknowledge that there is [...], something Divine in them: H. Jordanus de eo quod in morbis est divinum. Conring. Epist. 29. and Politicians, from the Changes and Alterations in Common-wealths, are forc'd to confess, there is some Superiour Cause called Fate by Machi­avel instead of Providence, which super­intends Humane Affairs:Disput. in Liv. l. 2. c. 29. How can we but own the ex­traordinary Hand of God in our Revolution, wherein so many Amazing Providences concurr'd, that had not our Eyes been Spectators, and our Ears Hearers, our Reason would be silenc'd, and our Faith baffled?

If any thing can shake off our Lethargy, and work in us a through Resentment of a Mercy, methinks it should be this. Behold! Our Adversaries confounded, and we preserv'd; a Victory obtain'd without Fighting, and a vast Army defeated without Garments roll'd in Bloud. For it pleased God to come to us, as once to his Prophet Elijah, not in the Great and strong Wind that rent the Mountains, and brake the Rocks in pieces: nor in the Earth-quake, nor in the Fire, but in the still small Voice, 1 Kings 19. 11, 12.

O wonderful work! the Pit that was digg'd, the Diggers are fallen into, the snare that was laid has catch'd the Fowlers; the Lion that stood open-mouth'd to de­vour, hath deserted his Prey, and the Babel-Builders were confounded in their Work and Language in an in­stant. Those superstitious Oratories, which the blind De­votion of Four Years erected, the irresistable Zeal of Four Weeks, levelled with the ground. And the Breaden God who had taken possession of those Buildings, was so unable to protect his Votaries, that he could neither guard him­self, [Page 14] nor make his escape without their Assistance, who gave him his Divinity.

And for their Great and Mighty Warlike Preparations, the Lord turned the Wisdom of the Wise, as he did the Counsel of Ahithophel, into Foolishness, and dampt the Hearts of their Men of Courage, that One seemed to chase a thousand, and two to put ten thousand to flight, Deut. 32. 30.

Thus fell the Popish Dagon, before the Protestant Ark. Thus tumbled the Walls of the Roman Jericho, at the mighty sounding of the Gospel-Trumpets. And so let all thine Enemies perish, O Lord: but for everbe the Helper and Defender of thy People.

III. Let us see what present Supports, the same Merci­ful Providence, that brought us hitherto, doth afford us.

As God was pleased to hear our Cries, and own our Cause at the lowest Ebb; so doth he notably maintain and support it. He brought us not out of an Aegypt, to de­stroy us in a Wilderness, but hath given us an assurance of enjoying the Promised Land. Though we have not his Miraculous, yet we have his Gracious Presence, and in­stead of the Cloudy and Fiery Pillars, we have the Glori­ous Light of the Gospel to conduct us. We have another Moses too, who hath Burnt the Molten Calf, renewed the Tables of the Law, and restored us to the Free Exercise of our Religion.

Nay, is he not a publick spirited Prince, the Repairer of the Breach, the Restorer of Paths to dwell in, Isaiah 58. 12. A Josiah to destroy Idolatry, and a Zerubbabel to build the Temple of the Lord? Doth not his singular Zeal [Page 15] to the Reform'd Religion sufficiently appear, by what he hath already done, and is now doing for it? And is not his Moderation known unto all Men, I mean, to all unprejudic'd and disinterested Men? his Moderation in the Exercise of his Royal Power, shewing kindness even to the Unthankful, and in the absolute Command of his Affections, keeping them always within the bounds of sound Reason: But above all, his Moderation in Judg­ment about matters in Religion, too hotly managed on both sides, by contending Protestants, to the disturbance of the Church's Peace, and the Papist's Advantage. By which Moderation I do not understand some low degree of Knowledge or Indiffe­rency in Religion, See the Bishop of Norwich's Sermon up­on Phil. 4. 5. but a Sober, Humble, Modest, and Charitable Judgment, not tenacious of Disputable, and Problematical Conceptions, not censorious of others, but allowing a Latitude in those things which are Matters, Questionum non Fidei, of Questions, and not of Faith. And it is heartily to be wish'd, that the same Moderation were in all his Protestant Subjects, that we might live in an happy Union and Correspondence, and our Religion be settled upon so sure a Foundation, that there may be no danger of a Relapse into the like Miseries we were in) at any time hereafter.His Majesties Decla­ration, Hague Octob. 10. 1688. And Additional Declaration, Octo. 24. 1688. To further so good a Work, let us be as forward as the Children of Israel were, to build the Tabernacle, as they brought their Bracelets, and their Ear-Rings, and Jewels of Gold, Exod. 35. 22. So let us bring our Humility, Moderation, and Prayers.

Be sure, the Blessing of Heaven will attend our chari­table Endeavours in this kind, for what the Apostle saith [Page 16] in another case, I may in the present, He that in these things serveth Christ, is acceptable to God, and approved of Men, Rom. 14. 18.

If we would but lay down our Prejudices, which we suck'd in with our Milk, as one not long since hath told the World,Late Bishop of Chi­chester. he did his Passive Obedi­ence, and resolvedly submit to the im­partial Arbitration of Scripture expounded by the Fathers of the first and purest Ages, a Comprehension would not be opposed, but promoted.

In those things, which are said to be De Fide, and ab­solutely necessary to Salvation, we all agree; the difference mostly lies in the Ritual and Disciplinary part, wherein the mutual Condescension and Compliance of Us and our Brethren might render an Accordance easie.

But to return (if I may call this a Digression) to the subject in hand, our Supports are as many as the Benefits we enjoy; upon which I might enlarge: but in a word, the unparallel'd Accomplishments of our King, and In­tegrity of our Parliament, the steady Alliance of our Confe­derates, the general Quiet at Home, and wonderful Suc­cess of our Arms Abroad, loudly proclaim the Divine Assistance, and certainly foretell a prosperous Futurity, if not prevented by our Impieties. For,

IV. From what God hath already manifested himself for us in, and the present supports he affords us, we have a fair prospect of his Care and Protection of us for the time to come. There is all the probability imaginable of a glorious conclusion of a work so happily begun and car­ried Bern. de Temp. 18. on. Ex perceptione praeteritorum Munerum firma fit expectatio futurorum, The receipt of [Page 17] former mercies is a firm ground for the expectation of future. We may argue either from

• God's Attributes,
• His Promises, or
• The Examples of the Faithful.

1. From his Attributes, his Immutability assures us, he is the same God still; his Compassion, that he will com­miserate us; and his Power and Fidelity, that he is able to perform, what his Wisdom sees fit for us, in as ample manner as before.

2. From his Promises; touching which, this Rule is to be observed, ‘That being generally made to all, or particularly to some, they are equally applicable to any, in any condition, unto which they are suitable. For they all meet in Christ, as the several Lines of a Circumference do in the Center, and so are no otherwise divisible to several Be­lievers, than the Exigence of their particular Estates doth diversify them, and so fit them for such Promises, as now to others, or at other times to themselves would be unseasonable.’ Dr. Reynolds upon 2 Cor. 7. 1. When therefore we meet with any Promise in Scripture which is parallel to our case, we may apply it to our selves, and it does as truly belong to us, as to whom it was made, if we are under equal Cir­cumstances, and Qualifications. For whether things pre­sent, or things to come, they all pertain to Believers, be­cause they are Christ's, and Christ is God's, 1 Cor. 3. 22, 23.

All our Title to the Promises depends upon our Cove­nant-Relation: Now the Covenant consists of Mercies promised on God's part, and Duties commanded on ours, which are so inseparably connected, that the latter must of necessity be done, to give us any rational inducements [Page 18] to hope the former. ‘For God doth not fulfill his Pro­mises in us only, but by us too; and those things which in regard of his Word are his Pro­mises, are also in regard of his Command our Duties.’ Dr. Reynolds, ibid.

3. From the Examples of the Faithfull, who all along proceed upon this Topick, and have left their Experi­ences of God's Deliverances for Documents to us, we may draw the like comfortable inferences that they did. Thus when the Israelites were afraid of the Giants of the Land, Moses encouraged them with this Argument, Dread not, neither be afraid of them; the Lord your God which goeth before you, he shall sight for you, according to all that he did for you in Aegypt before your Eyes: And in the Wilderness, where thou hast seen how the Lord thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his Son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came into this Place, Deut. 1. 29, 30. 31. And again, I commanded Joshua (saith he) at that time, saying, Thine eyes have seen all, that the Lord your God hath done unto these two Kings. So shall the Lord do unto all the Kingdoms whither thou passest, ye shall not fear them; for the Lord your God he shall sight for you, Deut. 3. 21, 22. So David argued, when he was to fight Goliah, The Lord that delivered me out of the Paw of the Lyon, and out of the Paw of the Bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Phi­listine, 1 Sam. 17. 37. And so the Faithful in the Prophet, Art not thou he, that didst cut Rahab, and wound the Dragon? Art not thou he, that didst dry the Sea, the waters of the great deep? that madest the depths of the Sea, a way for the ransom­ed to pass over? Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall re­turn, and come with singing unto Zion, and everlasting joy shall be upon their head, Isa. 51. 9, 10, 11.

To these and the like Examples, which are written for [Page 19] our Learning, that we through comfort of the Scriptures might have hope, we may subjoyn our own Experience of God's goodness, whereof no Nation ever had more, and which, the Apostle saith, worketh hope, Rom. 5. 4. and learn from the Passages of God's Providence to Dr. Reynolds cod. loc. our selves or others, to treasure them up, that they may be for Rules and Precedents to us for after-times.

Let us then, though we are too apt to doubtfulness and diffidence, look forward with Faith and Confidence, banishing all despairing and uncomfortable thoughts, to those Halcion-days, that are coming on: And resting in­tirely on him, who hath promised not to turn away from his People to do them good, that he will Ordain in his own good time that long wished for Peace, in Church and Common-wealth, which seems to be a work reserv'd for the WORTHY PATRIOTS of this Age; and unto which appears a general Inclination in Protestants of e­very denomination.

The uses of this Discourse may serve,

• 1. For Reproof.
• 2. For Caution, and
• 3. For Encouragement.
• 4. For Reproof, and that of two sorts of Persons,
  • The Bigotted Papist, and
  • The Titulary Protestant.

1. The Bigotted Papist, who obstinately shuts his Eyes, and will not see the wonderful Hand of God in our Deliverance; who turns all into Ridicule, and chooses ra­ther to attribute his disappointments, to Cross-Accidents, Perfidious Souldiers, K. James's Let to the E. of F. a Poyson'd Na­tion, mistaken Counsels and the like, than to that Eternal Mercy, Wisdom and Justice, which [Page 20] deny'd success to him, and gave it to us: Who continues in the Communion of that Apostatical Church, which God hath visibly cast off and forsaken, for her spiritual A­dulteries and other detestable Crimes.Ecclesiam Romanam, &c. Apostaticam eccle­siam vocamus. Whitaker Controv. 2. q. 6. c. 1. Whereas he should endeavour by Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer, to come to a right understanding of God in his Judgments, and his in them, that they are the fruits of Sin, and should lead him to Repentance, and teach him Righteousness.

There is a twofold use of God's Judgments, the one sen­sual, and the other spiritual, the first is that which hard­ned Impenitents make of them, but the second is appro­priate to the truly Faithful. These hear the Rod, and who hath appointed it, Mic. 6. 9. but they draw Judiciary up­on their wilful Obduration. St. Augustin saith of Pha­raoh, Deus induravit per justum judici­um, Pharao per Liberum Arbitrium. De Liber Arbit. c. 23. He hardned himself Voluntarily, and God Judicially, Exod, 7. 13, & 10, 1, 20, 27. For God is often said in Scripture to harden the Heart, but he doth it not by infusing any Evil Qualities; but sometimes by forsaking and not hindering the Sinner, and sometimes by delivering him over to vile affections and a reprobate Mind, Rom. 1. 26, 28. This distinction is sound, but the Blasphemy of Florinus, and the Heresy of Pelagius must be carefully avoided.

It is one of the saddest Symptoms in the World, when the Sinner is not softened under the mighty hand of God, but Anvile-like, grows harder under Blows, and a most infallible sign that God will not desist, but proceed in his Judgments against the Incorrigible, because he will over­come when he judges, and for that reason, will judge [Page 21] till he overcomes. If therefore the Papist will stop his Ears, & closeh is Eyes, that he may neither hear with the one, nor see with the other, his Resolution is desperate, and madness incureable; and God will leave him to himself, as he did Ephraim; because he is joyned to Idols, let him a­lone, Hosea 4. 17.

But as he is not Spiritually wrought upon, so neither is he to any degree of Common Civility; for he is so very ingrateful to those that give him his Life, that were it in his Power, he would requite their Clemency with a bar­barous Assassination. And this he gives us occasion to believe not only by his unquiet deportment, and inve­terate Rancour, which expresses it self in Groundless Ca­lumnies, False Reports, Seditious Libels, Bitter Invectives, and Perpetual Plotting against the Government: But al­so by the avow'd Doctrines and Authentick Principles of his Church; for having implicitly resign'd his Soul to the Paternal Conduct of those Holy Fathers, the Priests and Jesuits, our Sacramentally-sworn Enemies, he is un­der a Filial Obligation to destroy us, as oft as those Bles­sed Guides shall see it good for the Catholick-Cause.

2. The Titulary Protestant falls next under Reproof, and deserves to be reprehended as publickly, as he pri­vately attacks us. 'Tis true, he pretends to be of our Communion, but seeing his Actions do not answer his Pretences, he is in this particular worse than the Papist, who is what he pretends. The Papist is our open Enemy, but he is our secret one, and his Wound, like that of a Friend, is of all the most deadly. He is angry with eve­ry thing that is done, because not done after his Humour. The Breaking of the Original Contract smells too much in his Nostrils of Forty One: The names of Convention [Page 22] and Parliament go down with him like Chopt-Hay, and so cannot tell which to dislike most, the Taxes or Tolera­tion. He greatly admired the Penal Laws, because they gave him Power to scourge when he pleased; but being Repealed, he crys, he is undone. He has a great many Fears upon him, but his chiefest is, that Ceremonies will be abolish'd, and the Cleak be equalized to the Surplice, for he dreads Presbytery more than Popery: But he will do well to consider, that Ceremonies are in their own nature Indisserent and Alterable, that there is no Sanctity now in Vestments, Preface to the Com­mon Prayer-Book. and that the Doctrine of the Church of England and the Assemblys Catechism, are not at such Odds, but that they may meet toge­ther in a Friendly Union, were it not for his Pride, Interest, or Prejudice. The Protestant Union.

His Notions of the Divine Right of Monarchy, of the Supreme Power lodg'd solely in the Person of the King of an Ʋnconditional Soveraign, are proper enough for the Grand Seignior's Plat-form, but unfitly calculated for our Meridian; wherein the King, though God's Mini­ster, is yet the People's Trustee. His distinction of a King De Facto and De Jure is very good, if both Fact and Right be applied to K. WILLIAM and Q. MARY. But to grant them the possession only, and give the Right to another, makes them to be nothing else but Prosperous Ʋsurpers, till he and his Faction can get strength enough to Depose them. But having, by the consent of Peers and People Assem­bled In Comi [...]iis Parlia­mentariis posrta est omnis augustae absolutaeque po­testatis vis. Jus succe­dendi in Regno praeseribunt. Smith de Repub. Ang. l. 2. c. 2. in Parliament, in which lies the [Page 23] Essence of our Constitution, receiv'd the Crown, which purgeth all Defects, the Right must be as unquestiona­bly theirs as the Possession is. His Discourse of a Re­gency, by which he thought he could have salv'd his Old Oaths, is all Banter; for a Regent must have had all the Power, and the late King but the bare Title, and Allegiance must have been sworn to the Regent, to assist and defend him in the Regency; so that if the late King should, during the Regency, have raised an Army (as now) and sought by force to recover the Soveraign Power, were not the Subjects that swore Allegiance to the Regent, bound to assist him against the King? if they did not assist him, they were perjur'd; if they did, 'tis clear their former Oaths were laid aside.

And here I cannot but by the way acquaint, though without any Design to Reflect upon; those Reverend and Learned Gentlemen, who refuse Taking of the New Oaths, that I fear, their Refusal contributes too much to our Dissettlement, and the Restrengthning the Papal Interest, which latter would certainly sink, were it not thus collaterally supported; and that it is guilty of great Pride, and Uncharitableness, when they shall not only not quietly sit down and enjoy their private Opinion to themselves, but shall print it (under the Name of [The History of Passive Obedience.] which has been requited with one of Self Defence) and oppose it to the publick Sense of the Kingdom, and thereby condemn so many Wise, Learned, Judicious and conscientious Men, both of the Clergy and Laity, that have taken the New Oaths, of Lying and Perjury, the most infamous Crimes that can be fastned upon a Nation; and therefore I would entreat those Gentlemen, either to a peaceable Acquies­cence [Page 24] in their private Opinions, or submit them to the united Judgment of the Kingdom. 'Tis confest we must not follow a Multitude to do Evil; but in our Case, wherein we have the Concurrence of Wise, Learned, Holy, and Ʋnbyass'd Men, and the Thing enjoyn'd con­tains no Moral Evil in it, we may lawfully follow such a Multitude: And as their own Mr. Dodwell affirms, Two Letters to Mr. Baxter, p. 216. That the publick Interest is to be preferr'd before the private of any Person whatsoever; so I should be apt to suspect my particular Sentiments, when they go apparently against Truth, Peace, and Charity.

The Objections of these Gentlemen to the present E­stablishment, have been so often and fully Answered by Others, that I should but actum agere put my self to a needless trouble, to offer any Solution of mine; yet see­ing they forbear not to appear in a baffled Cause, and with repeated noise attempt to supply the Defects of Rea­son give me leave to set before you some of their Asser­tions, and then shew the invalidity of them.

Their Assertions may be reduced to these 4 Heads.

• 1. That this Monarchy is Hereditary.
• 2. That the King is unaccountable to any humane Power.
• 3. That he is irresistable and unopposeable.
• 4. That the Old Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy are indissoluble.

To the First of these Assertions, that this Monarchy is Hereditary; it may be answered,

1. That this Monarchy is not a bare Inheritance, but an Inheritance accom­panying an Office of Trust; Brief History of the Succession, p. 18. so that if [Page 25] a Man's Defects render him uncapable of the Trust, he also hath forfeited the Inheritance.

2. This Monarchy is an Inheritance settled by the Common Law of Eng­land. Preface to Jovian. Now whatever Notions that Authour may have of the Common Law of England, some understand by it the Common consent of England; and if so, what is settled by Common consent, may be altered by it, because the same, or an equal Power, may doubtless alter what it made.

2. Their Second Assertion, That the King is unaccoun­table to any humane Power, is merely precarious; for if he be limited in the use and exercise of his Power, by humane positive Laws, Jovian, p. 212, 209. either those Laws can call him to an Account, or they do not limit him; for to be unaccountable, and yet to be under legal Limitation, or Restraint, are inconsistent.

Again, The Authour of Jovian confesses, That the King is a Soveraign doubly limited, by the Laws of God, and the Civil Laws of his Kingdom; p. 212. and then why not doubly accountable to God for breaking the Divine Laws, and to the Kingdom for transgressing the Civil? For if (as he quotes Bracton) the King be sub Lege, quia Lex facit Regem, under the Law, because the Law makes the King; ibid. doth it not follow that the King hath a Superiour, to wit, the Law? for that which makes must be Superiour to what is made; and so accor­ding to this Authour's Reasoning, the King is accountable; and to be so, is no Injury to the Royal Authority; for as the Fountain of an Aquaeduct is more beneficial and usefull to Mankind than a p. 210. [Page 26] free flowing Spring. so a Limited Soveraign is more bene­ficial and salutary to the World, than the purely Arbi­trary or Despotick.

This [...], or Regal un­accountableness, is an Opinion censured by Aristotle as Tyrannical, and not to be endured in a Free­born Nation: Polit. 4. c. 10. It has also been the almost constant practice of our noble Progenitors to assert their Rights, and account with their Kings for subverting the Legislature, and were never Condemn'd by any, but the Asserters of a Compleat, Imperial, and Independent Sovereign. Jov. p. 208.

3. Their Third Assertion is, That the King is irresistable and unopposeable. p. 214. In Answering of this, I would by no means be thought to open a Gap to Rebellion, and expose Crowned Heads to the Danger of Mutinies and Insurrections; no, I would have the King have all the Security that either the Law, or the Hearts and Hands of his Subjects can give him; for Government and Subjection are the Ordi­nances of God; and as by him Kings reign, and Princes decree Justice, so ought the People to Obey, not only for wrath, but also for Conscience sake: Yet there are ma­ny Cases (as the Learned Grotius shews) wherein Resistance is Lawfull: De Jure Bell. & Pa­cis, l. 1. c. 4. As when a King Abdicates the Govern­ment, or Alienates the Kingdom, or makes War upon his People, or invades their Property; and if we go to Scrip­ture, we shall meet with divers Examples of Resistance, and all uncondemn'd. Thus the People rescued Jonathan from the Sword of Saul, who had sworn to put him to Death: 1 Sam. 14. 44, 45.For the [Page 27] People said unto Saul, shall Jonathan dye, who hath wrought this great Salvation in Israel? God forbid; as the Lord liveth, there shall not one hair of his Head fall to the ground; for he hath wrought with God this day. So the People rescued Jonathan, that he dyed not. And David's Question, Will the Men of Keilah deli­ver me and my men into the hands of Saul? 1 Sam 23. 12. implys, he would have defended that Place against him, if he could have been sure of the Inhabitants. Was the Doctrine of Non-resistance practised by Elijah, when he destroyed Two Captains and their Companies, with Fire from Heaven, 2 Kings, 1. 9, 10, 11, 12. which King Ahaziah sent with Orders to bring him to him? the manner indeed was extraor­dinary, by Miracle; but the Matter, the destroying the King's Messengers, was as much done by his voluntary Resistance, and the same as if the Sword had cut them off, Nor understood Azariah and the Fourscore valiant Priests that were with him the modern Notion of Passive Obedi­ence; for when Ʋzziah the King went into the Temple to burn Incense, 'tis said, they withstood him, and bid him go out of the Temple, and when he refused, they were so ig­norant of Ʋzziah's being irresistable, that they thrust him out thence. 2 Chron. 26. 18, 20.

Nor doth the Gospel destroy the great Principle of Self-Preservation, but support and encourage it; those Places that enjoin Obedience to the Higher Powers con­demn not Self-Defence from impending Ruine. Whilst Christianity was under Heathen Governours, and all the Laws of the Empire were against it, Christians were obliged to the Duties of Non-resistance; but since all the [Page 28] Laws are made in Favour of our Religion, we may law­fully maintain it, against Arbitrary Oppressions and Ille­gal Violence.

4. Whereas they say, the Old Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy are indissoluble, it is Answered, they were Protestant Oaths, and ought not to be expounded to the prejudice of the Protestant Religion: When there­fore a Prince shall go about to subvert the Protestant Re­ligion, which those Oaths were design'd to preserve, both the Matter it self and formal Reason of the Obligation are taken away, and the Oaths cease to be of Force.

The Coronation-Oath is made a meer Complement, when they tell us, it imports only a Moral Obligation; a mu­tual Stipulation is a tie upon both parties, and one would think, the Prince's Oath should as much bind him to go­vern according to Law, as the Oaths of the People deter­mine their subjection to the Government.

In all Contracts each party is conditionally oblig'd, and we are bound to him, on condition he be true to us. If then one party shall remain bound, when the other hath broken his Faith, Covenants are insignificant, and yield no security at all.

If Kings could derive their Pedigrees in a Right Line from Adam, or produce a personal Commission from Heaven, the foremention'd Assertions might have some pretence, which now have none.

2. We may be cautioned from hence, that seeing God is for us, not to prove Rebells, and by our Sins fight against him. The extraordinary things he hath done for us, as they should never be forgot; so the sense of his present Protection should engage us to Obedience. The Israelites were brought out of Aegypt, through a Wilderness into [Page 29] Canaan, by a Mighty Hand, and stretched out Arm, Psal. 105. 45. but it was for this end, That they might observe God's Statutes, & keep his Laws, Joh. 5. 14. And our Saviour made the impotent Man whole, with an express Charge to sin no more. A serious Thought of what Mercies we have undeservedly received, and what we may in all likelihood expect, should be a double enforcement to Re­novation of Life. The Riches of God's Goodness should not harden our Hearts, but lead us to Repentance. Do we enjoy the Free Exercise of our Religion, whereof our Sins might have deprived us? Remember it is our duty to walk worthy of it, and to Adorn it by an Holy Conver­sation. Are our Properties secured to us beyond our Hopes? Let us then be content every one with his own, and not invade his Neighbours. Are our Liberties and Immunities restored? Let us enjoy them without an invidious look upon our Brethren, and grudging at that Freedom, which they as Fellow-Protestants ought to have in common with us. Do the Blessings of Peace and Plenty flow in upon us from every quarter of our Island? Let us not surfeit our selves with Fullness, by making Provisions for the Flesh, to fulfill the Lusts thereof. Let us live in Christian Unity and Friendship in our respe­ctive Stations, and use our Plenty with Thankfulness and Moderation, with Acts of readiness to supply the Wants and Exigencies of the State, and of Charity to re­lieve the necessities of the Poor: By the one shewing our selves Loyal Subjects, and by the other Compassionate Sama­ritans, by both Good Christians. Let us put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and honour his Precepts by dutifully con­forming to his Example. Let us put on his Sobriety and Temperance, his Chastity and Purity, his Bowels and [Page 30] Mercy, his Meekness and Patience, in opposition to Riot and Drunkenness, to Chambering and Wantonness, to Strife and Envy, to Wrath and Anger. Let the same Mind be in us, which was in him; and for demonstra­tion thereof, let us Love as Brethren, be Pitiful, be Cour­teous; no longer wrangling about the Accidents, while we agree in the Substance of Divine Worship. 'Tis far more honourable for Christians to be led by God's Good­ness, than to be forc'd and driven by his severity. The sinning away his Graces and Mercies to us, does make them serve the more to incense his Justice. The greater Obligations he lays upon us, the heavier will be the Pu­nishments of our Ingratitude. For, when we shall be Evil, because he is Good, sin the more boldly because his Grace doth abound; he will repent him of his Kindness, and both ha­sten and aggravate our Desolation.

There is a general Corruption and Degeneracy in our Morals, and that calls for a general Reformation and A­mendment. The Golden Scepter of Mercy is held forth unto us, O that we would draw near and touch it! The day of Salvation is before us; O that we would accept and embrace it! and understand, at least in this our Day the things which belong unto our Peace, before they are hid from our Eyes.

3. And lastly, This discourse may serve to Animate all True English-men and Real Protestants, against the many Fears and Jealousies, which are raised by Male-Contents. There is a Generation of Men, that, not in imitation of our Saviour go about, doing Good; but like the envious Man, are every where sowing their Tares among the Good Seed: Not doing the Office of Evangelists, Pastors, and Teachers; but the miserable Drudgery of Seducers, [Page 31] deceiving and being deceived. How industriously do they labour to prevent that Union and Agreement, which (under God) is the only way to secure us against Do­mestick and Foreign Enemies? And to take the Well­affected off, (if it were possible) from their Loyalty to their Present Majesties, how many hints do they give us of the Dutch, the Taxes, or Presbyterians, representing our Condition, as much worse, since our Deliverance? Nay, they would perswade the World, that the whole design is to ruine the Church, aggrandize themselves, and enslave us and our Posterity. But blessed be God, we are well assured of the contrary, and we know that these suggestions are the Artifices of Intriegueing Men, to disquiet and unsettle us: Who, knowing that nothing can mischief us but Division, do what they can to hinder our Union. And therefore let us not be dis­couraged upon any account; but trust still to that Gra­cious Providence, which hath guarded us hitherto, both for our present and future Safety; living in an awful O­bedience to the Laws of God, in a conscientious submis­sion to the Establish'd Government, and in hearty Af­fection towards one another. And thus trusting and do­ing, No Weapon formed against us shall prosper. For if God be for us, who can be against us?