Advice to English Protestants being a sermon preached November the fifth, 1689 / by a country-conformist. Country-conformist. 1689 Approx. 79 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 19 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2008-09 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A26452 Wing A647 ESTC R5998 12379403 ocm 12379403 60676 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A26452) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 60676) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 267:6) Advice to English Protestants being a sermon preached November the fifth, 1689 / by a country-conformist. Country-conformist. [2], 34 p. Printed by J.D. for Awnsham Churchill, London : 1689. Reproduction of original in Huntington Library. Marginal notes. Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford. Re-processed by University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. Gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. 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Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements). Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site . eng Protestants -- Great Britain -- Sermons. 2006-08 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2006-08 Apex CoVantage Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2007-04 Emma (Leeson) Huber Sampled and proofread 2007-04 Emma (Leeson) Huber Text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion ADVICE TO English Protestants , BEING A SERMON PREACHED November the Fifth , 1689. By a Country-Conformist . LONDON ; Printed by J. D. for Awnsham Churchill . 1689. A SERMON preached on the Fifth of November , 1689. MICAH 6. v. 5. O my People , remember now what Balak King of Moab consulted , and what Balaam the Son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal , that ye may know the Righteousness of the Lord. GOD hath very greatly signalized This Day , making it the Time wherein he hath twice most wonderfully display'd his Glorious Attributes , in saving the Inhabitants of this Land from the most formidable Evils and Dangers , the most Inveterate and Inplacable Enemies of their Religion , and all their Interests could design them unto . So that he hath forcibly commended to all English Protestants , the solemn Observation of this Day , by two of the most Miraculous Demonstrations he hath ever vouchsafed unto any People , of the special Care he had of , and the peculiar Regard he had unto their Welfare and Happiness . We have been wont , on this Day , to commemorate the great Deliverance God wrought for our Ancestors , when the Papists intended , by blowing up with Gun-Powder their King , Lords , and Commons , to make way for their thorow executing of all that Malice , Wrath , Revenge , and Fury , they had conceived against all the Protestants , within the Territories belonging to the English Crown . But God hath now done very much to endear this Day a great deal the more unto us . He hath added a new Miracle of Mercy , beginning on this Day the last Year , another Deliverance directly and immediately relating to our selves , which in most respects doth equal the former , and on many accounts doth very much transcend it . Yet this latter Deliverance must not obliterate the Memory of the former : But the consideration of them both together , should mightily inlarge our Hearts in Admiration and Praise , and powerfully engage us to a serious , faithful , and diligent improving what God hath done for us to that purpose , which the Text acquaints us is our Duty , viz. That we may know the Righteousness of the Lord. In the first Verses of this Chapter , the Prophet gives us an account , that God had a Controversy with his People , because of their unbecoming and undutiful Carriages , after that he had wrought great Deliverances for them ; they had not considered his Works aright , nor behaved themselves after their Deliverances , and under their enjoying of Peace , Liberty , and prosperous Occurrences , as it was their Duty . But by returning to their old Sins , and by their perverse Carriages they had kindled his Wrath , and provoked his Displeasure afresh against themselves . So that he upbraids them with their Forgetfulness and Ingratitude , and appeals to themselves , whether his way of treating them was such , as did deserve so much neglect as they did manifest ; and whether the common Principles of Ingenuity , could justify or excuse their superstitious or contemptuous Demeanour towards him , after that he had done such great Things for them ? And may not we fear too justly , that besides all our unworthy Behaviour formerly , we have not demeaned our selves , since our late . Deliverance , with that Circumspection , Care , and Dutifulness , God hath indispensably obliged us unto , by appearing in so miraculous a manner to effect so seasonable a Deliverance for us ? Have not many of us , since we were freed from our late Fears , reassumed to our selves our old fretful , narrow , repining , cankered Spirits ? Do not too many of us murmur ? Are we not dissatisfied and discontented with our Freedom and Deliverance ? Have we not exchanged our former real Fears , for Suspicions and Jealousies , which have no Foundation at all , but in our own whymsical and unreasonable Phanci●s ? If the Israelites were altogether unexcusable , when they thought of returning to Egypt , and hankered after the Cucumbers , and the M●l●ns , and the Leeks , and the Onions , and the Garlick they were wont to eat there ; What must we be , if we murmur now , and cherish any Inclination to the State we were lately in , or the Persons who so lately frighted us ? The Israelites knew very well , that the armed Body of their Oppressors was actually drowned in the Sea , they found that they were really entred into a wide , desolate , barren Wilderness , where there did not grow euen any such sorry Food as Egypt did afford them . But the Armed Force we were afraid of , is not yet sunk as Lead in the mighty Waters , not are we led forth into desolate Places , where we can expect no Provision , on necessary Accommodations : We are in our own Country , injoying all the good Things in abundance , we were afraid , a Year ago , would in a little time be wrested from us ▪ You have your Lives , your Lands , your Laws , your Liberties ; and you might have them better secured unto you than ever they were , if you had but a mind to it , if you had but publick Spirits , if you did but understand where your truest Interest lies , if you would but renounce your miserable , yet doted-on Infatuation . You have the free and undisturbed use of your Bibles , of the Gospel and Ordinances of Jesus Christ ▪ O that we had all Hearts to prize and be duly thankful for these Mercies , and to use and improve them as good Christians ought to do ! But alas ! do we not give too many Intimations , that we are not pleased , because God hath not governed himself in his late gracious dispensation , by our little scanty Measures ? Are we not laying all the Obstacles and Impediments we can in the way , to hinder this Deliverance from growing up into an universal Blessing to the whole Protestant Interest throughout the World ? Have not Multitudes given too notorious Proof of their being Men of very narrow and uncommendable Spirits , in that they have depreciated themselves , relinquishing their former ( at least pretended ) Characters , and exceedingly diminished the usual and true value of their Estates , that hereby they might reserve to their private use , some certain Sums of Mony which should have increas'd their Soveraign's Revenue , and whereby the Publick Interest and Benefit would have been hugely advanc'd ? Have we not shewn too much inclination and readiness to resign up our selves to the same Courses and Practices , which we loudly acknowledged some Months ago , to have been egregious Mistakes and Errors ? Do not these and the like Instances testify against us ? And may not God expostulate with us , as he did with Israel in the two Verses before my Text ? O my People , what have I done unto thee , and wherein have I wearied thee ? For I brought thee up out of the Land of Egypt , and redeemed thee out of the House of Servants , and I sent before thee Moses , Aaron , and Miriam . May not God expostulate with us in this same manner ? What Hurt have I done you ? Had you no occasion of the Deliverance I have wrought for you ? Did you not with earnestness desire Deliverance ? Did you not groan , and very audibly express your Fears ? Did you not make a great and loud clamour of Tyranny , Popery , Slavery ? Was there any thing you pretended to desire with so much passion , as Deliverance ? What wrong have I done you now in granting you Deliverance ? Wherein are you impaired ? In what respects is your Condition made worse by what I have done ? Have I not effected your Deliverance for you ? Have I not done much to secure your choicest Mercies and Blessings to you ? Have I not , as it were , sent before you , and given you a Moses , Aaron , and Miriam , to conduct and govern you , and be Pledges of my gracious Presence with you ? Why are you so mutinous , so Impatient and discontented ? Why do you not concur with so gracious a Providence as this you have been treated with ? Why do you not comply with the Design of such rich and tender Mercy ? Pray be a little considerate ; look back to former Times , remember what I have done for you . Recollect your selves ; mind what your Estate was the last Year , and consider how much better it is now . Weigh the great things I have done for you , how I have blasted the Projects , Consultations , and Enterprizes which were on foot against you : And then consider , what kind of Deportment will become you . O my people , remember now what Balak King of Moab consulted , and what Balaam the Son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal , that ye may know the Righteousness of the Lord. In these words we may take notice of three Things . First ; The Relation God doth acknowledg and own these Israelites ( whom he here exhorts , and with whom he did in the former Verses expostulate ) had unto himself . O my People . Though they had done much to provoke his Displeasure against them , he doth not entirely reject them , he doth not renounce his Relation unto them , but acknowledgeth they are his People ; He speaks to them with much tenderness of Affection , and intimates unto them , that he hath still a greater regard to them , and concern for their Good , than he hath for other People . And therefore if they would but reflect on Matters , and return to themselves , and to their Duty , he would make it appear , that whatever Thoughts their Adversaries may have towards them , He hath Thoughts of Mercy towards them , and will give them an expected End. God had chosen them from amongst other People to bear his Name , and they were his People by Covenant and Profession . He had committed to them his Oracles , and they were acquainted with the Religion and Worship which he had Authorized . It is a great Mercy and Priviledg for a People to be owned by the Lord for his People . Happy is that People whose God is the Lord. Whom he hath chosen for his own Inheritance . This is a prevailing Plea and Argument in Prayer . We are thine . Thou never bearest rule over them : They were not called by thy Name . It is a ground of Hope , that God will be mindful of , and merciful unto them . Fear not , O Jacob my Servant , and Jesurun whom I have chosen ; for I will pour Water upon him ▪ that is thirsty , and Floods upon the dry Ground ; I will pour my Spirit upon thy Seed , and my Blessing upon thy Off-spring . It is an assurance , that under the darkest Providences such a People can be exercised with , God will but correct in measure , and that He will not utterly destroy . I will visit their Transgression with the Rod , and their Iniquity with Stripes ; nevertheless , my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him , nor suffer my Faithfulness to fail . God hath singled us out to be his People ; He hath brought his Truth , and Word , and Ordinances , amongst us , with a mighty Hand and stretched-out Arm , and he hath often appeared for our Defence , and hath manifested his owning of us to be his People many times , and on various Occasions , to the extraordinary disappointment , and great confusion of our Adversaries . He hath done thus of late to a very wonderful degree ; so that we have some ground to hope , that notwithstanding there are such great multitudes amongst us , who by their untractableness , and horrible abuse of Mercies , may provoke God to bring very great Judgments upon our Land , yet he will not take his loving-kindness utterly from us , nor suffer his Faithfulness to fail . In what manner he will scour our Land , and what course he will take with those who are obstinately refractory , and do sturdily refuse to be reclaimed by any of those Methods he hath hitherto used with us , I cannot positively affirm . But there is certainly a Remnant , a Generation amongst us ; who do love and fear God , who do acknowledg and own , and honour him , in his late marvellous Appearances , for whom God hath a regard . So that however , the continued and reiterated Wickednesses of many , may pull down dreadful and astonishing Instances of God's Displeasure upon the Land , yet he will not proceed to make an utter end of us , as long as he doth own us for his People . When his Corrections and Judgments have done their full Work , and accomplished their Business on the Inhabitants of this Nation , then will our God return to us in Love , and make his Name more Glorious in Mercy amongst us , than it hath yet been . God doth still continue the Tokens of his gracious Presence with us , we have his Word , and his Ordinances amongst us . And when it shall please him to make these apparently effectual in all parts of the Land , for the real Conversion of Multitudes of People , and the building up of People in Grace and Holiness , then may we expect that our Joy and our Happiness shall break forth as the Light , and be made firm and unalterable . Secondly ; What the People of God are here exhorted unto . And that is , To remember what Balak King of Moab consulted , and what Balaam the Son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal . They must reflect on , and call to mind ( so as to be duly affected with ) the Contrivances which had been managed against them , and how wonderfully and effectually God had blasted and defeated all the Consultations and Enterprizes their Adversaries intended should have been so fatal unto them . Balak had a very secret and cursed Design against Israel , he consulted to ruin and destroy them absolutely . God obstructs him in his purpose , and very strangely over-rules him , who was intended to be an Instrument for their Hurt , to bless them ; and to declare to Balak , that all Contrivances and Consultations against them would be useless ; for God did own them , and would most certainly make them very prosperous . If you peruse the 22d , 23d and 24th Chapters of the Book of Numbers , you will find a full account of what Balak consulted against them , and what Balaam did answer from Shittim unto Gilgal . In short , Balak consulted to have them brought under a Curse , and that he might have his Will on them . Balaam answers him , It cannot be , for God hath blessed them , and it is not possible to reverse his Blessing . They are a peculiar People to the Lord , and he doth own them for his , there is no Inchantment , nor Divination that can take hold on them , they must and they will prosper . He tells Balak , God will make the Israelites Masters of his Country , so that they shall possess it , and pass through it , and go over Jordan , and come to Gilgal , and enter with great Success upon the Lands which pertained to the Princes on the other side the Water . They have God on their side , and they will prosper , and there are no Consultations , no Stratagems , no Oppositions which can stand before and obstruct them from arriving at all the Felicity God hath appointed them unto . These things they were to remember , they were to call them to Mind , and consider them throughly , weighing all their Circumstances , till their Souls were duly affected with the Dangers they were in , and how wonderfully the Mercy and Power of God were manifested on their behalfs . Thirdly ; For what end and purpose they who profess themselves the People of God , should thus remember the Deliverances He hath wrought for them : And that is , That they might know the Righteousness of the Lord ; That they may be truly sensible of the Discoveries God hath made of his Righteousness therein . What Mercy and Goodness he hath manifested in helping and saving them . How evidently his Truth and Faithfulness do appear in the accomplishing of those Promises he hath made for his Peoples Support and Security : What other of the Divine Attributes are evidenced in such Works of God , upon a due Consideration of their Circumstances . And that we may get our Minds perswaded that the Justice of God is such , that he will punish even with utter Extirpation , those who do slight , and will take no notice of , but do abuse such great Deliverances . In a word , the Expression doth import thus much : That when God hath wrought any extraordinary Deliverance for a People professing his true Faith and Worship , they ought seriously and often to call that Deliverance to Mind , and remember it so , that they may be effectually influenced thereby to apply themselves to such Courses , as have the plainest and surest Tendency to secure unto them the continuance of the Mercies they do enjoy , and to ripen their Deliverance which is begun , that it may grow up unto Perfection . These Israelites had demeaned themselves unsuitably to what they were obliged unto by the Deliverances God had granted them , so that God had a Controversy with them ; now he calls them to consider what he had done for them , referring them to a Deliverance which he had wrought for the Israelites a long time before that ; so upon their considering that aright , they might learn to rectify their Mistakes , and betake themselves to such Courses as would contribute much to secure to them the Favour , and continued Protection , and Blessing of Heaven : For their Happiness was not so established , but if they did carry themselves unworthily , they might lose what they did at present enjoy , and they might relapse into as great Dangers as any of those from which they had been rescued . Now from hence we may be instructed what doth concern us at present : And that is , first , To remember the Deliverances God hath wrought for us . Secondly , To apply our selves in good earnest to those Courses , which are most proper to secure unto us the continuance of our present Mercies , and to carry our present Deliverance to its just Perfection . In discoursing of these two Points , I shall , first , very briefly acquaint you what Deliverance we are now to call to Mind . And , Secondly , shew you what we are to do , that our present Deliverance may arrive to its full growth ; both extend its benign Influence to the whole Protestant Interest , and be a lasting Blessing both to our selves and our Posterity . First , I am briefly to minde you what Deliverances we are now to remember . God hath been pleased to follow us with a long Succession of Deliverances , ever since he expelled the thick Darkness of Popery out of our Country , and introduced the first beginnings of a Reformation in Religion according to Scripture . For the Adversaries of the true Religion have , ever since they lost their main footing in this Land , been very industrious and indefatigable , to make themselves Masters again , of all that the Goodness of God , and the Wisdom of our pious and prudent Ancestors did dispossess them of : But hitherto God hath strangely infatuated them in their Councils , and miraculously defeated them in those Enterprizes against us , which they seemed to manage with the greatest Dexterity , and from which they did not doubt but they should receive the most plenary Satisfaction . This Day doth mind us of two very eminent Deliverances God hath wrought for us . And these are the only Deliverances I shall expresly take notice of at this time . The former of them was effected in the days of our Predecessors . The Enemies of our Faith , and of all our Interests , had contrived to have committed a most cursed and barbarous Villany on our King , Lords and Commons , and afterwards on all other Protestants , this very Day , in the Year 1606. And they were so near effecting their Design , that they wanted but a piece of a Night and a few hours in the Morning , to accomplish the principal part of what they intended . I need not be particular in relating what our Adversaries had projected , the steps they had taken , the way and manner how they were discovered , and the Protestants delivered ; you have often heard these things reported . Let us seriously consider with our selves , in what condition these Nations would have been , both as to Religion , and every thing else that is valuable , if this Plot had taken effect . And in what likelihood our Adversaries were of accomplishing their own purposes . Their Plot was laid and managed with the most contrived Secrecy ; there was no knowledg of it in order to a human Prevention : It was brought just to the point of Execution . And was there ever any Design laid , which should have been so formidable and full of Dread and Consternation in the Execution of it , as this must have been , if it had not been prevented ? If the Papists had then succeeded , What must the Consequences have been ? What Treatment and Usage must Protestants then have expected ? None more gentle than would suit with the Tempers and Principles of those who could deliberately devise , and with thoughtfulness perpetrate so horrid , so bloody , so cruel a Project as this was . Well , God disappointed the Hopes of the Papists at this time , and miraculously preserved those who were thus appointed to die . Surely this Deliverance , if rightly apprehended and weighed by English Protestants , should powerfully engage them to a very observant and dutiful Behaviour towards God. But this is not the only Deliverance we are now to remember . This Day doth mind us of another , singular and admirable in all its Circumstances , and which made its Entrance amongst us , this Day the last Year . I need not say much concerning this Deliverance , you all know the main Particulars of it ; your own Senses can be your Monitors . Would God we had all Hearts to make an Improvement of it answerably to what we can every one inform our selves concerning it . In what Estate did you apprehend your selves to be , before God was pleased to grant you this Deliverance ? Did you not think your Religion was in danger ? Did not you think your Claims to your Lands and Liberties ( as Matters then stood ) were very precarious ? What were your Fears then ? What were your Complaints ? What were your Desires ? What were your Thoughts , and your Discourses then of Arbitrary Power ? Did not those who have great Estates often think with themselves , what little pittances of Land would be left them , when their Church and Abby-Lands should be appropriated to those Uses the Papists formerly applied them unto ? Nay , were you not sometimes perplexed with Fears , that the rest of your Lands must be ceased to make amends for the long Alienation of the other ? Were you not in doubt , that if Help did not speedily arrive , your Estates , your Goods , your Lives would be claim'd as forfeited , because the Owners of them were Hereticks ? Did you not really believe that such Designs were on foot , that if French Forces should come over before you had Help , your Dangers would be altogether Remediless ; that your Ruin and Destruction would be irreversible ? Were not these your real Apprehensions and Fears ? Have you not often solemnly declared so much your selves ? How then should you now value and improve this Deliverance ? If you had not such Fears and Thoughts , why did you make such Clamours ? How can you be reconciled to the Practices you applied your selves unto ? How could you reconcile your selves then to the Courses you took ? God hath now wonderfully delivered us from what some felt , and from what we all feared . He hath accomplished our Deliverance in a very miraculous manner , making the Winds , the Seas , and the more inconstant Minds of most of all sorts of People , to concur to help on our Deliverance . There is no occasion of my making a large Relation of this Deliverance . What I am speaking of , was not done in a Corner , nor in a Time your Memories cannot reach unto . You can easily inform your selves about it , you can instruct one another concerning it . You may easily have recourse to particular Accounts which are published . Yet there is one thing which I would just hint unto you , relating to this Deliverance , which if we have not a regard unto , we cannot possibly set a just Estimate upon it : And it is a Consideration of that Nature , which as it hath a tendency to shame and humble us , so to demonstrate , that our present Deliverance is remarkably distinguished from , and made more considerable than any of the other Deliverances God hath been pleased to work for this Land. It may be an unpleasing Intimation to some People , but I dare not forbear to mention it , now I am discoursing on this Subject . Dawbing with untempered Mortar , hath greatly indangered both Church and State already . People must not be soothed up in their Sins and Impenitence : It is high time for us all to be humbled . We cannot praise God aright , and give him the Glory due for this Deliverance , till we throughly debase our selves before him . Now that which I would desire you all to take notice of , with reference unto our present Deliverence is this , That we our selves had a main Hand in bringing our selves into that dangerous Estate , out of which God hath delivered us : We advanced Notions , and countenanced Practices , which did exceedingly serve and please our Popish Adversaries ; and opened a way for them to enter confidently on many of those Methods which we found to be very uneasy , and of dangerous consequence ; and of which we thought it was very fit to complain . God hath several times tendered us Deliverance , but some of his Offers we have lampoon'd ; with reference unto others of them , we have done worse . It is certain the Papists have , since we can remember , formed a great many Designs against us , but they went not on very prosperously with any of them , till we refused to be convinced by Miracle ; and instead of believing their Plots , and endeavouring to prevent their Success , did give them our Assistance , and contrived more effectually against our own Interests than they could . Now this is the Wonder of our Deliverance , that God ▪ should save us , when we had industriously pull'd Ruin upon our selves , and had shut our Eyes so fast , for fear we should perceive our Enemies Designs , and had help'd them with all our Might , to forward their Purpose . Our Predecessors were sometimes on the brink of Ruin ; but that was their Misfortune , not their Fault : They did not hoodwinck themselves , out of a narrow peevish Suspicion , that their Adversaries Disappointment would prove too general a Good. Nor is it so much to be wondered at , that Providence should interpose extraordinarily to prevent the utter destruction of an harmless innocent People , who are only devoted to Ruin , by the Craft and Malice of a sort of Creatures , in whose Composition the principal Ingredients are Falshood and Cruelty . But notwithstanding our own faultiness , and our being so far accessary to our own Trouble and Danger , God hath saved us . He hath proceeded so far , as to fasten a very happy Deliverance on us ; I pray God it may not appear , that he hath done it against many of our Wills. This present Deliverance should be remembred by us , and considered particularly as thus circumstanced . If we reflect on the Estate we were in a Twelve-month ago , and then consider in what a happy Alteration we found our selves a few Weeks after , we may be justly surprized : And if we are under either a truly religious , or rational Influence , we must be necessitated to acknowledg , that the Lord hath done great Things for us . But my Business is not to attempt a Description of this great Work of God , whereon he hath so visibly imprinted the fairest Characters of his own transcendent Perfections . A silent awful Administration seems best to suit with the astonishing lustre and brightness of those Divine Excellencies which appear there . The most significative and emphatical Expressions we can use , in speaking of this glorious Work , will but lessen and diminish its Greatness . We can no more provide words , which will exactly instruct People in the Peculiarities , and distinguishing Properties of this great Salvation , than we can provide Colours which will fully represent unto them the Meridian Brightness . Our Souls and Affections will be most powerfully wrought on , and touch'd , by a due and serious Contemplation , and view of this Miracle of Power and Goodness , just as God himself hath set it before us . Our great Care should now be , that we make a good Use and Improvement of what God hath already done for us . He hath now put an Opportunity into our Hands : if we mistake now , and fail of obtaining what is the Desire and Hope of all good Men , the fixing of the Protestant Interest , and the setling of our Civil Affairs on such bottoms , as may render them not subject to Prophane and Arbitrary Violations , the Fault will be wholly our own . We have abused many Deliverances already : God is now trying us once more . It concerns us to take care we do not abuse this Deliverance , lest our God should resolve to leave off making Experiments on us for our Good , and should entirely resign us up to them , who have long earnestly desired to have us under their Tutorage . It is our Duty now , to apply our selves to those Courses , which have the plainest and most direct tendency , to preserve and promote our Happiness . Therefore I will proceed , Secondly , To acquaint you what we should do to secure to our selves the Mercies we do enjoy , and that the present Deliverance may grow up to its just Perfection . And , First , We should humble our selves in good earnest before the Lord for our past Sins , and especially for the horrible Abominations which have so exceedingly prevail'd in this Land. God hath been pleased to use various Methods with us , but we have hitherto refused to be reclaimed : Our Iniquities and Transgressions have equalled all his Dispensations towards us , and this not only for number , but they have born a proportion in their Malignity , to what hath been singular , and more eminently remarkable in all his Providences . Our Sins were a while since multiplied and encreased to a prodigious degree ; we committed those Sins with an high hand , in a daring confident manner , which our Ancestors would have blush'd at the thoughts of , and which civilized Persons in other Countries would have been asham'd to have heard mentioned . The Infection of our Sins was spread over all the Land , our Guilt was become general , and we appeared ripe for Vengeance . Clouds did immediately arise , Storms did threaten us , our Dangers became apparent , we began generally to have black Apprehensions , and we feared that a more fatal Stroke would fall on us than we had ever yet suffered under . This was a time for a serious and general Humiliation : But we may easily remember how defective we were in this Point . It will become us therefore not to betake our selves to the true and thorow performance of this Duty . And if we would every one make a strict and impartial Scrutiny into our own Hearts , and Consciences , and Lives , and finding out our own Sins in particular , with their several Aggravations , would acknowledg them unto God with brokenness of Heart and Godly Sorrow , earnestly intreat for Pardon , and implore Divine Aid for the future , there would a very happy Alteration soon appear amongst us : We should then be admirably prepared for all those blessed Fruits , this pregnant instance of Divine Mercy we at present enjoy , and do at this time commemorate , would assuredly draw after it , to a People so disposed . Besides , our doing thus every one by himself , it may be of great use for those of every Order amongst us , to consider what have been the most predominant Sins amongst the generality of that Order , and to bewail those in a special manner ; and to search out such Remedies as are most proper for the healing those Breaches which these have made in our Church and State. All Orders of People have transgressed , and in every Order there have been peculiar Offences ; which have contributed much to the inflaming of God's Wrath , and heightning of that Guilt under which our Church and State have groaned . Nobles , Magistrates , Gentry , Commonalty , and those of every Degree and Order in the Church , should labour to be acquainted with the Plague of their own Hearts , and to bewail the Wickednesses which have more especially prevailed amongst those of their own Quality and Rank . All Sins are hurtful , but the Sins of those who are in Publick Offices , which are of a gross and heinous Nature , and have a special relation to their Offices , are extreamly dangerous . These are Wounds in the Church and State , of which great care must be taken , or else they will prove of very dreadful Consequence . Is there no Balm in Gilead ? Is there no Physician there ? Why then is not the Health of the Daughter of thy People recovered ? We should all likewise endeavour to be duly affected with the great Guilt the Nation lies under in general . What a general Neglect , and even Contempt of the Laws and Ordinances of God , are we chargeable with ? Have not all sorts of horrible Wickednesses abounded amongst us ? Have they not past abroad every where without any check and controul ? I say , have they not met in most places with very much countenance and incouragement , even from those who should have reprimanded and punish'd them , and who were inclined to reflect with severity on other practices , which the Scriptures give no ill Character of ? Have we not all great cause to mourn , that gross Injustice , Unmercifulness , Oppression , Insatiableness , Whoredom , Drunkenness , and such kind of Vices and Immoralities , have gone bare-faced amongst us , and been gloried in ? Have not the Generality amongst us , given up themselves to their Sports , and Pleasures , and Vanities , when the Judgments of God have been visibly amongst us ? How many new ways have been devised of late , to sin against God ? What Temptations and Provocations to excess have been invented and applauded ? Have not multitudes arrived to an impudent contempt of God's Threatnings , and to make a Sport at those who have warned them from the Holy Scriptures , of the Righteous Judgments of the Lord ? And to ridicule all serious Application to the great Essentials of Religion , and concern for the Truth and Spirituality of God's Worship and Service ? It cannot , with any regard to Truth and Modesty , be denied , that these things have had too much sway and influence in this Land. And these and the like Sins do portend very ill to a Nation where they do prevail , and obtain allowance . Therefore we should humble our selves deeply on these Accounts , that our Land may be preserved from the Fearful Consequences such Wickednesses do ordinarily draw after them . And now the more Publick , Solemn , and General our Humiliation shall be , the better will the Remedy be proportioned to our Disease , and the better will our deportment suit with that State into which God hath now brought us . For God hath not , by giving us this Deliverance , discharged us from the Duty of true Humiliation and sound Repentance : But he hath rather the more indispensably obliged us unto it ; having now removed those obstacles out of our way , which we might lately pretend did obstruct the publick performance of it . And if God hath done so much for us , before we did address our selves to it with a due solemnity ; What may we expect he will do for us , after that we have testified aright our lothing of our selves , and our detestation of all those Courses whereby we had provoked his Displeasure ? Yea , we shall Praise him the better , and more acceptably for all his Works of Grace and Mercy towards us , by how much the deeper sense we have of our own unworthiness , and by how much the lower we fall in our abasing our selves before him because of our many and unexcusable Provocations . O Lord God of Israel , thou are Righteous , for we remain yet escaped , as it is this day ; Behold ; we are before thee in our Trespasset , for we cannot stand before thee ; because of this . Secondly ; We should take a particular care that we do not apostatize , and return to our old Sins . And more particularly those sorts of Sins which have a singular malignity in them , and do tend directly , either to prejudice the common Interests of Protestantism , or to disorder the Civil State. These things brought us lately into that deplorable State , in which we must have absolutely sunk and perish'd , if Help had not been sent us in a very miraculous Manner , and in a very seasonable Juncture . And what can we expect , if we return to our former Sins , but that God will discover his Anger against us , to the rendering of our Estate Seven times worse , and seven times worse , than ever it hath yet been ? If we should have this present Deliverance grow up to maturity , so that our Enemies may never so much as hope it will be to any purpose for them , to contrive against , and attempt us again , let us forbear , and have those Sins and Practices which have hitherto weakned and confounded us , made God our Enemy , and inspired our Adversaries with Counsel , Resolution and Courage . Our Enemies have no Knowledg , nor Discretion , nor Strength , they can use to any purpose against us , but what they are beholden to our Sins and Wickednesses for . If we return to our former sinful Courses , our Adversaries will soon frame Plots ( and it is to be feared with success ) against our Peace and Safety . May our former , and especially our late Experiences , furnish us with such Iustruction and Wisdom , as may be as lasting as our Lives , and of perpetual advantage to those who shall succeed us . Seeing God hath now spoken Peace unto us , let us see that we turn not again to Folly. Is it possible to affront God more insolently , than by apostatizing to our old Sins ? what ! shall we evidence to the World , that we look on this great Deliverance as good for nothing , but to render us more untractable and incorrigible ? Will ye Steal , Murder , and commit Adultery , and swear falsly , and burn Incense unto Baal , and walk after other Gods to your hurt , whom ye know not , and come and stand before Me in this House , which is called by my Name , and say , We are delivered to do all these Abominations ? More particularly we should take care that we do not return . First , To any of those Instances whereby the Power of Godliness , and the most essential Interest of Religion have been prejudiced . Let us now abhor all those Methods whereby Peoples Instruction and Edification in Religion have been obstructed ; And whereby a Passage hath been opened for Prophaneness , to have an abundant entrance into our Land , and an opportunity hath been given it to diffuse it self , and make a successful progress thorow all parts of our Country . Instead of using any Means to hinder and discourage the frequent , constant , and sound preaching of the Word of God , may those who are intrusted with this Work , be every-where obliged to attend unto it with greater diligence . May care be taken in all places for the effectual Suppression of all Prophanation of the Lord's Day , and of the common and ordinary Abuse of his Holy and Reverend Name ; as also of those more bulky Blasphemies , Imprecations , and Oaths , which have been in too frequent use amongst us . It concerns us also to take care , that we do not relapse into any of those horrible Debaucheries , and infamous Excesses , nor into any of those Arts and Contrivances to betray People into Intemperance , which have past so openly , and with too much applause , through most Places , especially of concourse , in this Nation . These and the like Instances do exceedingly prostitute the Sacredness of our Profession , and many ways expose the Peace , the Safety , the Honour of our Government . And we should likewise take heed that we do not any more exchange that Spiritual Devotion , and reasonable Worship we owe unto our God , for empty Formality , some pompous Rites , and a few bodily Gestures . Secondly ; To our Church-Bigotry . We have at the same time advanced Notions , which make the Church of Christ much narrower than it really is , and set up a more extensive Authority in it , than ever Christ established there : We have so embarrass'd the Notion of the Church , and what concerns its Administration and Government ; it would be worthy of the best and maturest Thoughts of the most understanding and experienced Christians to find out a way to clear Matters well , and extricate us out of those Labyrinths wherein we have industriously bewildred our selves . May we now come to entertain Notions of a Church , truly consistent with that Peace , Affection , Brotherly-Kindness and Love , with which every one who is a Member of the Church of Christ , should be indued . May no Party amongst us arrogate too much , but be contented with such Authority and Power as Christ hath given to his Church . Will not Things indifferent remain just so , when Bigots have done all they can to perswade the World of the contrary ? Let us now inlarge our Judgments , as far as we can , ( provided we leave not the Truth behind us , nor take in Error and Falshood ) that we may come as near together in Opinion as is possible . And as for those Instances , about which we shall still have different Apprehensions , let us dissent like Christians , bearing with one another , and on neither hand assume Infallibility ; seeing the managing of our Differences hitherto , with undue Heats , hath proved of ill Consequence ; let us now maintain and discover , in the midst of our Dissents , an Affection one for another , truly pacifying and Christian . Thirdly ; To our Court-Sycophantry . This is an unhinging of the Government , and an advancing of Notions and Practices which have a Tendency to overturn and destroy our Settlement ; that we may ingratiate our selves with some who do not deserve the most excellent Characters . How much Prejudice have two precarious Ju● Divinum's done this Kingdom ? The one to inslave Mens Souls and Consciences ; the other to inslave their Persons , and destroy their Civil Rights . Thirdly ; We should ascribe with Thankfulness and Joy , the Honour of this great Deliverance unto God , and faithfully pay unto that great and blessed Instrument He did imploy in the effecting of it , all that real Gratitude , chearful Homage , and just Subjection which is due unto Him. It is God who was the Author of this great Deliverance : Whatever Counsels were taken , and whatever Provision was made in order to our Succor , our Deliverance could not have been effected either in the manner , or in the time , wherein it was brought about , if God himself had not wonderfully appeared , and wrought mightily on the Spirits and Minds of People on every side . What a numerous Multitude of stupendious Occurrences do croud into our Thoughts , as soon as ever we begin to observe and trace this Miracle of Kindness from its first publick Appearance to that huge advance it made in the two or three first Months ! Here we should give our freest Thoughts their full scope , to observe all the Discoveries we meet with of the Divine Excellencies , and endeavour to get our Souls raised to the highest degrees of sacred Admiration and Love , that our Praises may , as near as possible , be as boundless , as God hath been in the Effusions of his Bounty and Goodness . The Hand of God is so eminently discovered in this Deliverance , it should awaken and bring those to their Wits and Senses again , who had sunk themselves into the deepest Unmindfulness of a Divine Being . We must be more obdurate and sottish than the Magical Priests of Egypt were , if we do not acknowledg that here was indeed the Finger of God. The Power , Wisdom and Goodness of God do appear so conspicuous in this Instance , we may even question whether he did ever display them altogether in so illustrious and glorious a manner to any People as he hath now done unto us . When did he ever confer on such a Nation ( considering both our Guilt and our Danger ) such an unbounded Goodness , introduced with such bright and shining Discoveries of a Wisdom and Power as unlimited , as the Grace and Mercy for which they prepared the way ? Are , we not now under the most powerful and obliging Dispensations of Mercy and Love , enhaunced by the attendance of every thing which is proper to operate on , and influence the reasonable Nature ? With what grateful Resentments should our Souls be now possessed ? How should our Mouths be now filled with Praises and Acknowledgments ? This is God's doing . It is his Right-hand which hath saved us . If he had refused and denied his Blessing and Conduct , all that was attempted for our Relief would have proved vain and abortive , yea , would have made our Condition more fatal , our Yoke and Bondage more insupportable . Not unto us , not unto us , O Lord , but unto thy Name be all the Glory . It was thy Right-hand , and thy Arm , and the Light of thy Countenance which saved us , because thou hadst a favour unto us . Let us therefore resolve we will extol and bless him every day , we will praise his Name for ever and ever . The offering of due Gratitude and Praise unto God for this Deliverance , will mightily dispose us to express and pay unto our present Soveraigns the exactest Homage , and most dutiful Obedience . When our Hearts are possessed with an affectionate and tender sense of the Good God hath done by them , both to the Protestant Interest in general , and in particular unto this Nation , when we perceive in what Love and Mercy he hath established them over us , and by what a series of Miracles he hath brought us under their Protection and Government , we shall readily acknowledg that we are indispensably obliged to discover and pay unto them our Gratitude , Submission ▪ and Obedience in all those Instances which do become good Christians , and true English Subjects . When I hear of the Unwillingness that any do shew to pay their just Tribute to whom it is due , and of the Tricks which some do use to defraud their Soveraigns of their Right , I am apt to suspect that these People did never give God hearty Thanks for what he hath done for our Church and Nation by their means . I am astonish'd ! I am fill'd with Indignation and Horror ! when I consider how English-Men and Protestants are degenerated ; when I hear that any who come under the former Denominations , do grudg to pay the full Sums of Mony which are legally exacted . What would you have been willing to have parted with twelve Months ago to have been assured of the Security , Peace , Liberty , and other Blessings you now enjoy ? Were you wont to play such Tricks , and to be so sparing of your Mony in former times , even when so many hundreds of Pounds were paid every Week to maintain the Grandeur of a French Minion , and when Designs were carrying on against all your Interests ? Do you think the French Protestants , if they had your Estates , and were under your Circumstances , would think much to part with ten times more than is required of you , to secure their Religion and Liberty ? Had you suffered as they have done , did you really know what they know , and did true Grace prevail in your Hearts , you would rather be troubled that under the present juncture of Affairs , your Taxes are no greater . We have no Taxes laid upon us now to maintain Exorbitances , and keep up the Grandeur of Lust . There is nothing required of us , but what is absolutely necessary to secure our whole Estates unto us , and preserve the Protestant Religion , and advance the publick Good. Would you be willing that Irish and French Papists should come and make themselves Masters of your Estates , and turn you , and your Wives , and your Children , and Families out of doors ; nay to do worse with you than this does amount unto ? And can you expect to be preserved from their Incroachments and Violences , if Armies and Fleets be not made use of against them , and for their Suppression ? And can Fleets and Armies be maintained without Expences , yea without greater Expences than we are yet acquainted with ? Repent heartily and speedily for what is past . And let it now appear that English Protestants do scorn to starve a good Cause , that they are indeed the most noble and publick spirited Subjects in the World. Do you know what Ravage , Havock , and Devastations the French Papists do make in other Countries , firing and burning Villages and whole Towns , and leaving nothing but Ashes and Rubbish behind them ? How much of their Estates would Irish Protestants have parted with , that their Country werein so peaceble and good a Condition as ours is ? Will you answer , You are not under such Circumstances ? 'T is true ; But be thankful that you are not ; bless God heartily for the Deliverance this Day minds you of , and chearfully part with whatsoever is expedient to preserve you in the good Estate you are in at present , and secure you from the Outrages other Protestants have trial of . Learn to understand , and faithfully perform your Duty to your . Soveraign , and do something more than ordinary now to wipe off that foul Blemish so lately contracted on English-Men . Let something be done speedily , that it become not an indelible Reproach to our Nation , that our Estates were unmeasurably under-valued to defraud our Prince . But that is not all , for sparing the Name this Practice deserves under the former Consideration , our playing such Pranks is an unpardonable Childishness ; for we herein cheat and deceive our selves : and blessed be God , that we have such a Prince , that we cannot possibly wrong him , but we must trebly damage our selves . Tho you are not sensible of this at present , yet time will make the Truth of it sensibly evident . Lord ! What shall be done to purge away the horrible Guilt contracted on this Land , if the late Assessors have throughout the Nation performed their Oaths no better than they have in some Countries ? Our King ventured his Life and his Fortunes , not in Word and empty Profession , but in Truth and Reality , for our Good ; and shall we be averse to part with a little Mony to settle and secure our selves in that good Estate , into which , by the Blessing of God , he hath brought us ? Is this your Gratitude , your Duty , your Loyalty to your Soveraign ? not to say your Love to your selves , and your Concern for the Publick ? Well! but however Matters have gone hitherto , let us carry our selves better for the future . Let us now begin to quit our selves like Men. May we of this Generation retrieve yet the ancient Honour of our Country . Let us from this time endeavour to the utmost , that we may demonstrate a Courage for the Truth , and a Gratitude and Faithfulness to our Prince , which may , as near as possible , bear a proportion with the Worth of the one , and the Merits of the other . Fourthly ; We should improve this great Deliverance all we can to the Advantage of the Protestant Religion and Interest . It behoves us now to have a Zeal for our Religion in some measure answerable to its own Excellency , and the Demonstrations God hath so lately given of his concern for it . How should we , now we are freed from the Dangers we were in , be touched with a penetrating sense of the Miseries , Desolations , and Sufferings of our Protestant Brethren in other Countries ? How willing and ready should we be to contribute all we can to their Relief , Help , and Deliverance ? Are we so obdurate , so miserly , that neither our own Mercies , nor our Brethrens Necessities , nor the extraordinary Works of God , shall prevail with us to be charitable and beneficent ? What have we our Estates , Lands , and Possessions continued , and confirmed a-new unto us for , but that we may liberally impart the same unto those , and for the procuring of their Deliverance , who have lost all for the sake of that Religion , which is so much maligned and persecuted in the World ? If you were in their Estate , would you not think them worse than Heathens , nay worse than Papists , if they did quietly inherit Hundreds and Thousands by the Year , and should refuse to contribute liberally and freely to assist the warlike Preparations which should be necessary to rescue you out of such an unjust and barbarous Thraldom ? What account will you give to God of the Mony and Estates you are intrusted with , if through your Niggardliness and Stingyness , the Deliverance of his persecuted Church is obstructed ? Dare you spend great Sums of Mony , Yearly , Monthly , Weekly , on sumptuous Tables , and Clothes , at Games , and needless , ( to say no worse ) Exercises ? Dare you lay out your Estates on Horses , Hawks , Dogs , &c. whilst glorious Enterprizes for the bringing down and subduing of Barbarous Persecutors , and for the rescuing of the suffering Members of Christ , from under the wickedest Tyranny that was ever heard of , do languish , and are in danger of miscarrying for want of Incouragement and Support ? Shall any of us think of scraping together plentiful Fortunes for our Children , and contrive to add House to House , and Field to Field , whilst such great numbers of God's most Faithful Servants are in the extreamest Poverty , and treated with the most savage Barbarity ? Do you mind great Things for your selves ? mind them not , whilst such great Supplies are wanting for the relief and help of your Protestant Brethren . Seeing God hath delivered us , let us chearfully impart whatsoever is needful towards the carrying on of those Enterprizes with success which are now in Hand , for the settling of the whole Protestant Church on a good Basis , and in a safe and Secure Estate . When we were in danger so lately , did not others venture their Mony , and their Persons too to save and preserve us ? And shall not we imitate them , seeing what they did was of such happy Consequence to our selves ? Did you ever know any who fared the worse at long-run , by being noble and generous , and venturing to the utmost in sincerity , for God's Cause , his Truth , and Persecuted Church ? Do not the Papists do all they can , in all Parts , to promote their false Religion , and to weaken and overthrow the Church of God ? Do they spare Mony ? Will they not mortgage their Estates , and sell their Lands , and use all manner of ways to maintain , and uphold , and help their own Party ? And shall not Protestants have as publick Spirits as they have ? We may take more comfort than they can , if we lay out all that we have in the World , to procure Deliverance for the Church of God ; for they serve a very bad Master . Let this Deliverance God hath wrought for us , have this good Effect on us , to make us ready and willing to do all we can , that our Suffering-Brethren may have Help and Deliverance . You that are Poor , and have no Mony , who are incapable of Taxes , you can pray , and importune God for them : attend to that business carefully . Yea , let us all be careful constantly to represent their Case with Earnestness unto that God who hath delivered us . How long , O Lord , Holy , and true , dost thou not judg and avenge our Blood on them that dwell on the Earth ? More particularly , we should take care every one of us to improve this Deliverance , to the rendering of us more true and serviceable to the Protestant Interest in this Kingdom . To which end we should improve it , 1st . To make us more careful to be thorowly instructed in the Grounds and Principles , and the several Truths and parts of the Protestant Religion , and to get our Souls truly affected with the Importance and Consequence , the Goodness and Excellency of every one of them . The Papists themselves are necessitated to acknowledg we have no positive Articles of Faith but what are warranted by the Word of God , and that our Worship and Administrations are all for the substance of them authorized by the Word of God. Let us therefore carefully search and study the holy Scriptures , and see that the Word of God do dwell in us richly , that we may be able to give a reason of the Hope that is in us . 2ly . To have such an abhorrence of Popery setled in our Souls , as may be in some measure proportioned to its Falseness , Immorality , and Cruelty . 1. It s Falseness . There is not any thing offers a more rude affront unto God , in every thing that is most dear and tender unto him , than Popery doth . It proceeds to that height of Blasphemy , as to make him an Authorizer and Approver of the most shameful and nonsensical Idolatries which were ever devised . It represents him as imposing upon Men the most contradictious Nonsense that was ever invented ; yea , as teaching and instituting those very Instances which do most obviously , and in express Terms , contradict his own plainest Doctrines , and most positive Institutions . All this is evident , in their Doctrine of worshipping the Host , Transubstantiation , worshipping Images , withholding the Cup , in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper from the People , denying the People the use of the Scriptures , and praying in an unknown Language , &c. 2. It s Immorality . It finds out ways to reconcile the most horrid Debaucheries , with the easy Hopes of Heaven . Its Doctrines of Purgatory , Absolutions , Penances , Indulgences , &c. do incourage those who will entertain them , to all manner of loosnesses . It provides to embolden People in every Vice , beyond all the Restraints of Shame here , and of Fear as to hereafter . 3. It s Cruelty . This is its very Nature and Genius . It was bred and nourish'd , and has swoln it self to that mighty Bulk wherein it now appears in the World , by being drench'd in Blood. What Massacres hath it committed ? How many Throats have been cut , how many People have been forced to bleed to Death , that its insatiable Thirst might have such Draughts as would a little qualify it ? What barbarous and inhumane Devices hath it found out to torture the best Christians ? How abundantly hath it exerted its Rage in all the Methods of Cruelty and Violence in this Kingdom ? In what manner hath it of late , yea , doth it at present display its mischievous , cruel , merciless , and uncompassionate Nature in France ? 3ly . To get your Minds thorowly purged from all unjust Prejudices , and perswaded of the Means you have a right to make use of , to defend your Religion , if any forcible and illegal Methods should be used against it . I do not justify any Violence , and immoderate Severity towards any , on the account of Differences in Religion . I look on that as an Inhumane and Antichristian Wickedness . I heartily wish , even with reference unto Papists , that they may find such courteous and gentle Usage , that our Meekness and Kindness towards them , after all Provocations , may effectally convince them , that our Religion is truly Divine , and that theirs must needs be of a quite contrary Original , which engages them to such rude and barbarous Behaviours towards Protestants , whenever they get an Advantage over them . But let them know withal , that if they will not live peaceably , but will still be renewing their wicked Attempts against us , we do understand the Right we have to defend our own Cause , and bring the unjust Invadors of our Rights and Religion to condign Punishment . And that we are resolved to approve our selves as valiant and couragious in maintaining the Rights of the Protestant Religion in common , having the Government on our side , as we should have been obliged to have approved our selves patient and void of all opposition , if the Government had been against us . Fifthly . We should all do our utmost , according to the Capacities and Places we are in , to promote a general Reformation : That such a course of practice may every-where prevail , as doth best suit with the Nature and Tendency of that Faith we profess , and may be most expressive of Resentments which do in some measure correspond with the late Demonstration God hath given of his Concern for our Holy Religion . And if we do so , we need not doubt but God will heighten the Felicity he hath now introduced amongst us to that degree , Their Majesties shall have all the Satisfaction which can spring from a numerous Body of most Obedient and Faithful Subjects , and We shall inherit all the Blessings Heaven can promise , under the Government and happy Influence of Princes so peculiarly designed to make a sinking and unworthy People , glorious . Hath not God obliged us , in the most solemn manner , by delivering us out of the Hands of our most formidable Enemies , to observe his Statutes , and keep his Laws , and serve him in Holiness and Righteousness all our Days ? And if we refuse to do thus , what can we in reason expect , but that our Sun shall set before Noon , and that our Deliverance , like our Goodness , shall pass away , as the morning Cloud , and early Dew ? If we be not now reformed in our Lives ; what can the Event of present Matters be , but that we shall walk in Obscurity , and our Plagues become such , as will make us a Terror , a Scorn , and a By-word to all who shall hear what God hath done for us ? God turneth Rivers into a Wilderness , and Water-springs into dry Ground ; and a fruitful Land into Barrenness , for the Wickedness of them that dwell therein . God doth now plainly offer us things Great and Good , beyond all Expression : our greatest and only Danger is from our selves , lest by continuing to do Evil , we make all his Gracious Purposes abortive . At what Instant I shall speak concerning a Nation , and concerning a Kingdom , to build and to plant it ; If it do evil in my sight , that it obey not my Voice , then I will repent of the Good wherewith I said I would benefit them . If we now refuse to remember this Deliverance , so as to know the Righteousness of the Lord , and shall , by our continuing in our Evil Courses , stop the Current of Mercy , when so abundantly flowing in upon us , what can we expect , but that God will glorify his Justice , by inflicting on us to the uttermost , all the Curses which are due to such aggravated Ingratitude and Disobedience ? Hath not this been God's wonted Method with People , when they have arrived to such a prodigious obstinacy in their Sins , they would not be reclaimed by his most remarkable Appearances for their Help ? They forgat God their Saviour , which had done great Things in Egypt : Wondrous Works in the Land of Ham , and terrible Things by the Red-Sea . Therefore he said that he would destroy them . Therefore was the Wrath of the Lord kindled against his People , insomuch that he abhorred his own Inheritance . And he gave them into the Hand of the Heathen , and they that hated them , ruled over them . Their Enemies also oppressed them , and they were brought into subjection under their Hand . See Jer. 15. 6 , 7. Deut. 28. 47 , 48. It is Righteousness that exalteth a Nation ; but Sin is a Reproach to any People . Great Disorders and Irregularities have prevailed amongst us ; and we may easily revive the Memory of what they had just brought upon us . It is to be hoped , that those Disorders which related to Publick Offices , and Great Societies , will be taken into Consideration , by those who can provide the most proper and effectual Remedies . May we never have occasion to complain , that Judgment is turned away backward , that Justice standeth afar off ; that Truth is fallen in the Streets , and Equity cannot enter : That Truth faileth , and he that departeth from Evil , maketh himself a Prey . When our Counsellors , Judges , and Magistrates , are able Men , such as fear God ; Men of Truth , hating Covetousness ; such as have a Zeal for the Purity and Interest of Religion , who from a real sense of Duty , shall imploy all their Authority to suppress Ungodliness and Vice , and incourage Piety and Vertue ; to loose the Bands of Wickedness ; undo the heavy Burthens , let the oppressed go free , and break every Yoke ; then will Judgment run down as Waters , and Righteousness as a mighty Stream . And the Influence of these from their higher Orb , like the bright and warm Beams of the Sun , will contribute much to the clearing and purging of our Air , and the reducing what is out of Order in the lower Regions , into a comely , decent , and prosperous Posture : Then will the Lord comfort us ; He will comfort all our waste Places , he will make our Wilderness like Eden , and our Desart like the Garden of the Lord ; Joy and Gladness shall be found every-where amongst us , Thanksgiving , and the Voice of Melody . May those to whom it pertains to make an Inspection into the State of our Church , contribute what understanding and good Men ought to do , that what is amiss there , may be rectified , and Exuberances may be lopped off . That those in the Ministry , whose Abilities are not inconsiderable , may be obliged to imploy their Talents diligently for the Benefit of those they are more immediately related unto . And that Places of good Consideration may not any longer be confined to the scanty Allowances of the cheapest Curats . And that if any who have no tolerable sufficiency for the Sacred Function , have by any indirect Methods crept into the Office , some due Care may be taken touching an Affair of such Consequence . My Heart bleeds within me ( saith Arch-Bishop Abbot , in one of his Lectures upon Jonah ) to think of the miserable Condition of the precious Souls of many People , who have such Ministers as Joh. Aventinus speaks of , ( if they were not in the Ministry ) would not be thought sit Hog-herds to keep Swine . But besides that publick Reformation both in Church and State , ( the providing for , and ordering of which , doth pertain to those who move in the highest Orb ) there is much of Reformation necessary to be attended to , by People considered in a much narrower Capacity . More particularly , 1. Those who are Governors of Families , should take care to begin and promote Reformation in their own Families : For if Wickedness and Impiety be countenanced and cherished in most single Families , the whole Society will be but a Body which consists of corrupt and putrid Members , what-ever appearance there may be of a better Spirit , in some of the publick Instruments of Government ; and the Errors of the first Concoction will be very difficulty corrected afterwards . Let those therefore who have Families under their care , faithfully apply themselves to banish all Disorders out of their Houses , and take care that Swearing , Intemperance , neglect of God's Worship , contempt of Religion , and whatsoever savours of Prophaneness , have no countenance there . Let such be careful that those under their Government be well instructed in the Principles of the Protestant Religion , and the Precepts , and Rules of Good Living , and that they be inured to a pious and vertuous course of Life . Let them see that the Holy Scriptures be read , and the Worship of God daily celebrated with their whole Housholds ; And that neither their Children , nor Servants , be tolerated in the prophanation of the Lord's Day , or neglect of the ordinary Worship and Service of God. Let Governors of Families follow David's Example and Resolution , as set down in Psalm 101. 2. Every particular Person should now be diligent to amend and reform himself ; If every one would be careful to amend one , our Land would soon be in a flourishing Estate : Our Peace , our Safety , our Happiness , our Strength , our Glory , would increase with the Lustre and Honour of our Profession , by the Brightness , Truth , and Power of our Graces and Vertues . Those particular Persons who shall refuse to remember this great Deliverance , so as to engage themselves to a personal Reformation , may expect that however gracious it shall please the Lord to be unto our Land , for the sake of those who make a due and faithful improvement of it , yet God will not be unmindful of their perverse and undutiful Behaviour . Because all these Men who have seen my Glory , and my Miracles which I did in Egypt , and in the Wilderness , and have tempted me now these ten times , and have not hearkned to my Voice : Surely they shall not see the Land which I swear unto their Fathers , neither shall any of them that provoked me , see it ; but my Servant Caleb , because he had another Spirit with him , and hath followed me fully , him will I bring into the Land , whereinto he went , and his Seed shall possess it . Let us now every one renounce our Lusts , cease to do evil , and learn to do well . Let us take care that our Moral Vertues be impregnated into Christian Graces , and that we be vigorous in doing every thing that is universally commendable and Praise-worthy . Let us lay aside our narrow Designs , and love every Grace and Vertue for its own intrinsic Beauty , and exercise our selves in it with the greater Diligence , because it hath such a Tendency to befriend the Publick . Let us every one addict our selves in Sincerity and with Earnestness to render unto God that true and spiritual Worship he requires , and to fill up all our Relations from the highest to the lowest , with the Duties God hath assigned , and with such Deportments as will most become and beautify the same . Let us now approve our selves temperate , chaste and sober , humble , meek , and self-denying . Let us every one now live godly , righteously , and soberly , according to all the Instances our God prescribes , and our Land will presently be blessed with all the Blessings of Peace , and with all the Blessings of Plenty too . Our Oxen will be strong to labour ; there shall be no breaking in , nor going out , there shall be no complaining in our Streets ; but we shall be in as happy a case as a People can be , whose God is the Lord ; Psal . 144. 14 , 15. Sixthly ; We should live in Love and Peace . Love and Peace are the Cement , the Support , the Bond and Ornament of all Human Society , next to a Religious aweful Sense of the Divine Being , and our dependance on him , which are the original Springs and principal Cherishers of these Heavenly Dispositions . These are so necessary to the Being and Welfare of every State , Kingdom , and Body Politick , that as soon as these do cease , and those venemous Qualities do prevail , which always abound proportionably to Peoples decay in these , nothing but Disorders , Tumults and Confusions , do succeed . When Peace and Love are wanting in any State , such fatal Wounds and Breaches do immediately follow , that the most subtile Artifices of the wittiest Architects in Government do prove but like to improper Plaisters laid upon festered Sores , which make them rankle the more , and at last throw the Patient into the most torturing , convulsive and mortal Paroxisms ; Mat. 12. 25. All that Nature and Reason can invite others to take notice of , as fit to alarm and engage them to nourish a pacisick and friendly Temper , do more obviously , and with greater force sollicite and importune us at this time to surrender our selves up to its kindest and most beneficent Influence . Yea , we are under those stronger and peculiar Engagements to love and follow after Peace , and cherish an amicable and brotherly Affection towards one another , the best Religion in the World doth prompt us to take notice of . We are under as many and as powerful Obligations to live in Love and Peace , as can be deduced from the Nature and Institutions of the Christian Religion , the Doctrines and Example of the Son of God when visibly present in our Nature , from the numerous reiterated Precepts , Exhortations and Counsels of all his Apostles after his Ascent into Heaven . And how many Incentives to Love and Peace may we easily perceive , if we do but view the happy Effects of the Christian Temper where-ever it hath prevailed ? At first , the multitude of them who believed were of one Heart , and of one Soul ; and might we who profess the same Religion , and are under the same Obligations with them , arrive at the same pitch , our Happiness would be as firm and unalterable as our Faith is . The sad Effects our late Animosities did produce should retrieve us to our Senses and Wits , and dispose us to such a Friendliness amongst our selves , as may not be any more broke or ruffled . Did we not struggle to that degree against our fellow-Protestants , and fellow-Subjects ▪ that if a wonderful Arm had not interposed for our mutual Support , our own Heels must certainly and irreversibly have been tripped up ? Were we not so sedulous to keep others out of Trusts , we were like to have been turned out , and dispossessed of all our selves ? If we receive not Instruction from such a Teacher , as our own late Experience , what will be concluded concerning us , but either that our Perverseness renders us more than brutish , or that we are so impoverish'd in our Intellectuals , that to be begg'd is the best we do deserve ? Seventhly , We should frequently offer up our solemn and servent Prayers unto Almighty God to perfect what he hath begun for us . If God do determine now to perfect our Deliverance , I do not doubt , but he will pour out upon the Inhabitants of this Land , the Spirit of Grace and of Supplication , and mightily incline us to seek and cry to Him with Earnestness to carry on his own Work unto Perfection . This is his usual Method : And he hath now given us a solemn Invitation to betake our selves to this course . When God declared what great things he purposed to do for the Israelites , it is added , Thus saith the Lord God , I will yet for this be inquired of by the House of Israel , to do it for them . See Jer. 29. 10 , to the 15th Verse . May we all so remember what God hath done for us , that we may indeed know the Righteousness of the Lord , and so apply our selves to do what concerns us in our several Capacities and Places , that God may not behold Iniquity , nor see Perverseness in us ; and then the Lord our God will be with us , and the Shout of a King among us ; then will there be no Inchantment , nor no Divination against us ; but according to this time it shall be said of us , WHAT HATH GOD WROUGHT ? THE END . Notes, typically marginal, from the original text Notes for div A26452-e90 Psal . 144. 15. & 33. 12. Isa . 63. 19 , Isa . 44. 2 , 3 Psal . 89. 32 , 33. Jer. 8. 22. Ezra 9. 15. Psal . 85. 8. Jer. 7. 9. 10. Psal . 115. 1. Psal . 44. 3. Psal . 145. 1 , 2. Rev. 6. 10. Ps . 107. 33 , 34. Jer. 18. 9 , 10. Psal . 1●6 . 21 , &c. Vers . 40 , &c. Prov. 14. 24. Isa . 59. 14 , 15. Isa . 51. 3. Numb . 14. 22 , 23 , 24. Ezek. 36. 37. Numb . 23. 21. Ver. 23.