Imprimatur,  
Febr. 13. 1678/ 9  
Guil. Sill, R. P. D. Henr. Episc. Lond. a Sac. Dom.   

A SERMON PREACHED IN S. Lawrence-Jewry CHURCH ON THE Fifth of November, Anno Dom. 1678.  
BY JOSEPH BEDLE, Vicar of Great Bursted in Essex, and one of His Majesty's Chaplains, etc.  
LONDON, Printed by R. Everingham for W. Kettilby, at the Bishop's Head in S. Paul's Churchyard, 1679.   

A SERMON PREACHED On the Fifth of November, 1678.  Psalm VII. V 15. 
He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made.  
IT is the interest of Mankind to be just, and good: Righteousness hath a Reward, it delivers from death: a good man shall be satisfied from himself, though the World does not much regard him, or reward him: though he hath hatred for his goodwill, and is persecuted because he will be just and good; yet his inward peace and soul-contentment shall plentifully recompense him. Whereas the backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways, Prov. 14.14. Every wicked man, though his ways be never so secret, and his contrivances never so subtle, and his design carried on with never so much power and policy; yet his success shall not only be fruitless, but so cross and contrary to his purposes and plots, that he shall have little cause to boast of his bargain. This the Psalmist asserts in this Psalm; he tells you, that though he traveleth with iniquity, and conceives mischief, yet he brings forth a lie: He makes a pit, and digs it, but he falls into the ditch that he made. In the one we are told that he brings their wicked designs to nought; in the other, that he turns them to their own ruin and destruction.  
In the words, with their coherence, you may find these parts,  
1. The labour of a wicked man; he makes a pit, and digs it.  
2. The end of his labour, to ensnare the righteous, and to lead captive men of the soundest principles and greatest integrity; this you may gather from the body of the Psalm. David being sensible of the enmity of the wicked, provides for his own safety, he flies unto God for refuge; Verses first and second.  
3. There is the event of his labour, he falls into the ditch which he made.  
From the two first of these I represent this to your consideration, That wicked men are very industrious, they make it their business to destroy the Church and People of God; they are said here to dig a pit to entrap them, and that's a laborious work. Hence we meet with the unjust Steward venting himself thus, to beg I am ashamed, and to dig I cannot. 'Tis that I was never used to, I was never brought up to it, my body will not bear it. This was part of Adam's Curse upon his transgression, he was to get his living by the sweat of his brows, and he was sent to till the ground. And though it be tedious and painful, yet men are willing to undergo it, yea choose it, that they may thereby accomplish their wicked Designs. Hence David prays, deliver me from the workers of iniquity, and save me from bloody men. The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. 'Tis not done in a passion that ariseth and vanisheth in a moment, but 'tis their deliberate act, their work, their employ, their business: He watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him. The wicked oppress him. Psal. 17.9, 12. Like as a Lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young Lion lurking in secret places. Where the Prophet alludes to a hungry Lion. Now we know what an influence hunger hath upon ourselves; our Proverb tells us, It will break through Stonewalls. Though man should be subject to, and restrained by the Laws of Nations, and of Nature too; yet if these lie in hunger's way, they become but Spider's webs. The Rules of Nature are deserted to preserve Nature: In the Famine of Samaria we meet with a Woman saying, Give me thy Son, that we may eat him to day, and we will eat my Son on the morrow: How many have forfeited their lives, by endeavouring to satisfy their bowels, when they cried for bread. Now if hunger in man makes him break all Laws, how ravenous must the beasts be, that have no such ties upon them? how ravenous must the Lion be when greedy of his prey? Even such are the Enemies of the Lord and his Church. And though man may at first wonder, that man should be so cruel to man, whom it becomes to practise Courtesy, and exercise Civility; yet upon second thoughts we may be satisfied that 'tis true; and the occasion may be this.  
First, The Corruption of his Nature: For though he's excellent as to his Original, yet being corrupted he proves worse than any. Those Parts and Gifts which should be employed to the Glory of his Maker, and the working his own salvation, are turned to his Dishonour, and his own Eternal Ruin. It happens many times, that Scholars and men of great Learning have broached the greatest Errors. Thus man, though he hath more advantage than any other Creature, and might support his Nature better, yet many times bends all his strength to its subversion, and shows his Wit and Knowledge in this only, that he can be more cruel than any other Creature.  
But the occasion of wicked men's hating the Church and People of God, may proceed,  
Secondly, From the enmity that is between them: There is an irreconcilable hatred between the Seed of the Woman and the Seed of the Serpent; because the one must break the others head, therefore the other will bruise his heel, Gen. 3.15. The enmity is natural, 'tis hereditary.  
Or if this be not the occasion, the opposition may proceed,  
Thirdly, From the vast difference that is between them in their Customs and Habits, in their Manners and Mode of living. Wherefore did Cain hate his Brother, but because his own Works were evil, and his Brothers righteous? What should we do, say they, with these men that are so much for Law and Gospel? they are but Enemies to Nature, and their business is to rob us of those Privileges that we are born to. Man is a free agent, why should he be stinted? says the Libertine, let him gratify his genius to the full, wherefore were the Creatures made, if not to be used? Why for us, if we may not use them as we please? Am not I, says another, Master of my own body? Am not I Lord of myself? what can I else call mine? Let's, says a third, have Gods of our own making, that we may worship them: they being in our eyes may be familiar to us, these extort less fear, and require less obedience; when therefore any person shall tell these men, fit termed beasts, that man was not made for himself, but for the promotion of the Glory and Honour of God his Maker, they are but derided for their pains. If they are directed to a right use of the Creatures, and are advised to live a holy, righteous, and godly life, they are but hated for their labour. These men, say they, are not for our turn, they are men of another world, they have a fashion by themselves, they hate our ways, and therefore we must hate them.  
Fourthly, A righteous man and a wicked man differ in their End, and in the Means about their End; their interest is vastly different, and this contracts the odium: Or else the enmity may proceed from this, that the wicked sees the righteous more happy than himself; this begets envy. He looks upon him to be his Enemy, and he's greatly disturbed to see him prosper. Therefore David prays, Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men, in whose hands is mischief. This was the ground of the Devil's quarrel with the Woman, When the Dragon saw he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the Woman that brought forth the manchild, Rev. 12.13. Thus you see what's the ground of wicked men's persecuting the Church of God, and I hope you believe that they are industrious to work out her ruin.  

USE.  
Let us then be as industrious for the preservation of it: self-preservation is a Law of Nature; and to preserve Religion in its purity and regularity we are commanded by the Law of God. And therefore we are bound to appear in open field against the common Profaners and Corrupters of it. What Reason can there be given, why we should not be as zealous for the propagating that Religion we profess and believe to be true, as the Romanists are for theirs? there is none that I can think of: but yet 'tis not so. Though the Romanists differ amongst themselves, yet they all are as one man against the Protestants; when 'tis our business to supplant and destroy one another; one's for Paul, another for Apollo, a third for Cephas, as if Christ could be divided. This I fear, without a speedy Reformation, will be our ruin: we are taught by an Infallible Spirit, that a Church divided against itself cannot stand long: And yet how industrious are many to make breaches and create differences, by making Worship to affront Worship, and one Church to jostle out or beat down another.  
I refer it to any Man's judgement, whether or not by these our Differences have not been much augmented, the Protestant Religion lost much Ground, and the Enemy prevailed much against us. I confess I can hear sometimes the Pope called Antichrist and the Whore of Babylon, but what does all this signify? strong Arguments, wrapped up in better Words, must impair his Cause; Peace, Unity, and Uniformity amongst ourselves must work out his Interest, it cannot reasonably be expected without it. But where lies the fault? that must not be mentioned. I have been sometimes thinking this was a Cause, every Man so vigorously prosecutes his private Interest, that they care not what becomes of the whole, or at least the Public concern is much neglected. Or if this must not be allowed the Cause, may not I say, as the King to the Woman of Tekoah, Is not the hand of Joab in all this? Is not the Jesuits Hand in our Divisions and Separation? It was notable Counsel that was given to Benhadad when he was routed by the King of Israel, viz. Change your place, take the Kings away every Man out of his place, and put Captains in their rooms, then shall we be stronger than they, 1 Kings 20.24, 25. Thus the Jesuits know, that many of their Doctrines are so odious, that they will not pass from them as they are; but let new Men broach the same Errors with a fair gloss upon them, then shall they pass currently.  
As for instance, Their Doctrine of Infallibillity, most of the reformation start at it; but let this be turned into a state of perfection in this life, and be managed by the demure Creature, called a Quaker, than it shall slide down glibly amongst the common sort of people. If the Jesuits preach the lawfulness of deposing Kings and Princes at the Pope's pleasure, 'tis cried down as Heretical and Damnable, and very good reason for it. However, let a man of another Face, a new Name, and a more pleasing Aspect, preach and practise Rebellion too, than the crowd immediately cries out, Curse ye Meros', Curse him bitterly, because they do not come out to help the Lord against the mighty. Though I always thought we were to embrace Truth for its own sake, and hate Error because 'tis such, let either of them be managed by what person soever: else we may be justly charged with what St. Judas speaks, of having men's persons in admiration because of advantage, and so consequently inherit the portion St. James lays before us, viz. to commit Sin, and to be convinced of the Law as Transgressor's, James 2.9. And thus have we discoursed of the former part of the Text, clouded, and full of troubles: We come now to the brighter and better side, long may it be so. And is fallen into the Ditch which he made.  
These words bring us to the event of a wicked Man's labour, He fell into the Ditch that he made.  
Note. God not only disappoints the wicked Designs of the Enemies of his Church, but he turns them to their own hurt and detriment. Their own Plots are their own Plagues; he wrists their Swords out of their Hands, and turns them into their own Bowels; he serves all his Enemies as David did Goliath; he cuts off their Heads with their own Sword. Nothing hath amongst the Heathens been accounted more just, than that a man fall by the same means which he designed should be the ruin of his Neighbour. It hath of old been proved true, That evil Counsel is worst to him that gives it. The Wicked is snared in the works of his own Hands; the Wicked in his Pride doth persecute the Poor, let them be taken in the Devices they have imagined, Psalm 10.2. His own Iniquities shall take the Wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the Cords of his Sins. Satan makes use of a Woman to subvert and destroy the very race of Mankind; the woman tempts Adam to eat the forbidden Fruit, thus man falls: however, man is restored by the Seed of the Woman to a safer and surer Estate than he was in before. Joseph's Brethren have a design to hinder his Prophecies, and to make his Dreams but idle things; upon this they sell him as a Captive or Slave into Egypt; then they thought he would not expect to be worshipped by them when he was in that condition himself. However, this design effected what they endeavoured to have prevented; there happening a Famine, they are forced to go into Egypt, and there bow and cringe to Joseph for Bread. The Jews take counsel to kill Christ, thinking, that if they let him alone all men would believe on him, and the Romans would come and take away both their Place and Nation. And this very thing proved the means of effecting what they feared; for the days came upon her that her Enemies cast a Trench about her, and compassed her round, and kept her in on every side, and laid her even with the Ground; and they left not in her one Stone upon another, because she knew not the time of her Visitation, St. Luke 19.43, 44.  
Thus Roderick, King of Spain, to secure himself against the lawful Prince, whom he had deposed, dismounted all the strong-holds, unburthened the Castles, disarmed the people, which turned to his own ruin: this indeed strengthened him against Domestic Commotions, but not Foreign Invasions; for the Moors, soon after, overthrew him, and in few Months conquered Spain. My Text tells you, They fell into the Ditch which they made. Thus Haman is hanged on the same Gallows which he had prepared for Mordecai. And this Text is literally fulfilled in our Ears this day. For thus it happened to these wicked Conspirators; that which they designed to have been the ruin of the King, the Royal Issue, the Nobles, the Clergy, and Gentry of the Land, was the destruction of themselves; for two of them being drying of a pound of Powder in the Chimney-Corner, on a sudden a Spark of Fire flew into it, and they were miserably battered by their own Engine; you might at that time have read their Sin in the Glass of their punishment; they hate a lingering death, they are for a speedy ruin, so sudden a mischief happens to themselves.   

USE I.  
All which demonstrates the Lord to be most wise and merciful, powerful and just.  
1. Most wise, The Lord is known by the Judgement which he executeth, the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. God will not lose the Glory of any of his Attributes, therefore God takes them thus, that he may be known to be wiser than the wisest, as the Apostle hath expressed it: Oh the depth of the riches both of the Wisdom and Knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his Judgements, and his Ways past finding out! He is said to take the wise in their own craftiness, when they are in the highest and most sublime Counsels: He doth not stay till they begin to dote, and to do weakly, and then takes them; but he befools them in the height of Wit, and in the depth of Carnal Policy; when, like Achitophel, they give Counsel like the Oracles of God.  
2. This demonstrates the Lord to be most merciful, that will deliver his people at such a time: The needy shall not always be forgotten, the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever. He saveth the poor from their Sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty; so the poor hath hope, and iniquity stoppeth her mouth, Job 5.15, 16.  
3. This also vindicates his Power. Helets them alone till their Plot comes to maturity, and they were upon executing of it, and then he brings all to light and nought: This does he at this time and not before, for the greater manifestation of his Power. As Christ deferred to come to Lazarus till he had been dead four days: Now our Saviour did not defer to come because he loved him not, for he wept bitterly; insomuch that the Jews could say, See how he loves him. If our Saviour had relieved him presently, the Jews would have said he was not dead, and that our Saviour had only awakened him out of Sleep; but having been dead four days, and beginning to stink, then for Christ to raise him! this was for the Glory of the Son of God. To restrain the Sinner in his height, to cross the Counsels of Wicked men, and to ruin them by their own Devices, bespeaks God to be very great. If one man prevails against another 'tis through error; they take them by some advantage, because they err in their Counsels: most successes of men are made out of the defects of their Adversaries; but the Lord is able to confound his Enemies after the most deliberate and great Debates, the choicest and best-grounded Resolves, as the Apostle says, The foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men, 1 Cor. 1.25.  
Lastly, This speaks God to be very just, that he will thus pay the Sinner home in his own kind, in that he causeth their mischiefs to light upon their own head, and their violent dealing upon their own pates, in tumbling them into the Pit they have made for others. Thus justly was Adonibezeck requited, thus he tells you himself, As I have done, so God hath requited me, Judges 1.7.   

USE II.  
2. This speaks the case of all the Enemies of God's Church to be very miserable: they are wise only to do evil; they dig pits, and lay snares, and say who see them? Let such know that God will not only disappoint them, but take them in their own craftiness. Now it's a great trouble to wicked men, that they are prevented, and cannot do that mischief they intent to others; but it is a greater vexation, when their counsels recoil upon them, and wound themselves; when their own plots and projects promote their own ruin; when their own actions effect that which they had rather die than live to see done; when that mischief falls on their own heads, which they intended for others, how doth this aggravate their sorrows? How will they be able to bear it, to see themselves accessary to their own ruin: This must needs wound their souls, to think, they have blasted their own Estates, blemished their own Names, ruined their Posterity, set fire to their own Houses with their own hands: this aggravates the misery, when a man falls by his own hand; self-murder is the most bloody of all murders: surely this than must needs be a great terror to these wicked Conspirators, to think they had plotted and worked so long to destroy themselves, for thus you see it happened. They made a Pit, and digged it, and fell into the Ditch which they made.   

USE III.  
Since God preserves his Church, and turns the Conspiracies of wicked men to their own detriment, ruin, and destruction, as he did this day, Let us return Praise and Glory to God; this is the business of the day; 'tis its proper work: If they had had their Ends they would have been singing long before this, Jam seges est ubi Troja fuit. And shall not we rejoice at our own preservation? Bless then and praise the name of the Lord; I'll tell you for what and how.  
First, That God did discover this Plot, and brought their Deeds of Darkness to light; that after they had traveled with mischief many years, and brought their Design within few hours of its Execution, that then it should be brought to nought! Faux, at the dead time of the Night with his Dark Lantern, ready to blow up his Mine, was discovered, taken, and that strangely; all was miraculously discovered by a few obscure Lines, which being brought to the King, he truly interpreted them; the Lord made him the happy Instrument of this great deliverance, and it is marvellous in our Eyes. Bless then that God that blasted this Plot, and brought this Design to nought. They designed to have blown up the King, to have taken away the life of the Lords anointed, which accursed Principle and most horrid attempt, is contrary to the Law of God, the Law of the Nation, and to common Reason.  
1. The Law of God says thus, Curse not the King, no not in thy thought; Curse not the rich in thy Bedchamber, for a Bird of the Air shall carry the Voice, and that which hath Wings shall tell the matter, Eccles. 10.20. The Apostle teacheth us thus. Let every Soul be subject to the higher powers, for there is no power but of God; whosoever therefore resists the Power, resists the Ordinance of God, and shall receive to themselves damnation, Rom. 13.1, 2. Let every Soul of what rank or quality soever, every Soul of what faith and persuasion soever. And it follows, whoever resists shall receive to himself damnation. In which Words its very plain, That it's upon no account whatever lawful, either upon corruption in principle or practice, to rebel against, much less to depose, the Supreme Magistrate. And to confirm men in this Principle, I have these two things to offer to their consideration. First, 'tis very remarkable, That those for whom the Gospel presseth subjection and obedience, were Enemies to the Cross of Christ, implacable Adversaries to his Person, Doctrine, and Government. Can this Doctrine of subjection to wicked and Atheistical Princes and Emperors have been laid aside, our Saviour and his Apostles had easily avoided those Persecutions and fiery Trials which they met with upon the account of their Doctrine, and the holiness of their lives. If Heresy or Corruption in Manners had been sufficient Cause for the deposing of Princes, as the Romanists assert, you would not have had so long a Roll of Martyrs to run over as now you have. Our Saviour was able to have defended his own Cause by his own Power, but how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled.  
But farther, I desire you to reflect upon a remarkable passage in the Gospel, relating to this purpose. 'Tis in the case of Herod the King. When he heard that Jesus was born King of the Jews, he was troubled, and then no question of it but agreed upon his destruction, though 'twas cunningly blinded with a zealous pretence of worshipping him. Thus he pretends to the wisemen; Go, and search diligently for the young Child, and when ye have found him, come and tell me, that I may worship him also: But the wisemen, being warned of God that they should not return, they departed into their own Country another way. Now when Herod saw he was mocked of the wisemen, he was exceeding wroth, and sent forth and slew all the Children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the Coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wisemen. Now what a miserable case was this? you can conceive of little less than Lamentations, weeping, and great mourning. Rachel weeping for her Children, and would not be comforted, because they are not; for what's more dear to a Father? the Father loves his Child, because 'tis his Image; and if he hath never so many, he knows not which to part with; for some reason or other he loves them all. Therefore to be deprived of them all, and that at once, is a sore affliction; 'tis too hard a saying, who can bear it? to be bereft of our Children by the common Infirmities and Diseases that attend Mankind, is a great affliction to a good man; for by this he's dismembered, as a Tree whose Branches are lopped off; and by such losses, whilst he lives, he sees part of himself turn to corruption: But to have them all butchered so barbarously, and inhumanly murdered. Poor innocent Babes! what had they done, that they must fall by so fatal and cruel a stroke? The thoughts of this certainly was terrible, and if any thing would have exasperated the people, and enraged the Multitude, this would have done it; and the people, swelling with envy, would have burst into public hostility and open Rebellion: But yet this Divine story acquaints us with no such thing: the Arrows of Divine Justice and Vengeance, though they fly not so swift as we would have them, yet they will certainly wound the heart of the bloody and deceitful man, though they be not sharpened and winged by the rage of a madheaded Multitude: 'tis evidently the design of the Gospel, to press obedience to Magistrates, though they were Heathens and Tyrants, much more are we obliged to obey Christian Monarches, those that are merciful and good, such as by the mercy of God we now live under; long may we do so, notwithstanding all the Plots and Conspiracies of the Jesuits to destroy the Lords Anointed; which is contrary, I am sure, to the Rules of the Gospel, and the Doctrine of our Saviour.  
2. 'Tis contrary to the Law of the Nation, as you are Subjects you are obliged to honour and obey your King; this is a Law of your own making, made by your Representatives in Parliament, and so ye are bound to stand to your own Act and Deed; every honest man will be, I'm sure, as good as his word, and stand to his promise.  
3. It's contrary to common Reason: This is the first Commandment with promise, Honour your Father and your Mother; we in our sphere expect duty from our Children, and obedience from our Servants; I hope then, the Father of the Country may come in for a share. Those Principles that own the murdering of Kings, and deposing of Princes, cannot be of God, neither can those men be Christ's Disciples, that would reduce these Principles into practice, seeing he came not to destroy men's lives, but to save them: Behold then the Villainy of this days Conspiracy; they would have destroyed the Lords Anointed, blown up the two Houses of Parliament, the Representatives of the whole Nation, the Church and State too, and that at one blow: They would not allow the Honourable Peers of the Realm, the worthy and brave Gentry, the Pious, Learned, and Loyal Clergy, the least time to prepare for another World: They had no respect to the Souls of men. But blessed be God they were prevented. Let the Patrons of their Principles turn it off as well as they can, and say 'twas only the Plot of some unfortunate Gentlemen, we'll give them the hearing of it: However, 'twas well for us they were unfortunate; had they succeeded, they would have had greater Titles conferred upon them; success would have made so great Villainy have passed for Virtue: Witness the honour and esteem that Father Garnet is in to this day in the Church of Rome, for the generous attempt made on this day. If I should instance in the horrid Murder committed upon the Body of Henry the Third of France, you will find the Pope admiring and commending the Person and the Fact too, and dares before Witnesses enough, compare it with the miracle of our Saviour's Incarnation: and had the design of this day taken effect, no question but it would have been as great and as generous in their thoughts and determinations: But blessed be God, the snare was broken and we were delivered, they were taken in their own craftiness. Faux could not escape, who was so wickedly insolent as to say, had he been within the house, as he was without, he would not have failed to have blown them up, house and all. But blessed be God he was apprehended, and the rest either slain or taken Prisoners. And now, having told you what you are to bless God for, let me tell you in a word how, and so conclude.  
First, Bless God for the Deliverance from this horrible Conspiracy; and that so, as you grow more and more in love with the true, ancient, Catholic, and Apostolic Faith, represented often to you under the Name of the Protestant Religion; it's not enough to bless God with our lips, unless we praise him with our lives; he that order his Conversation aright, praiseth God best; and you cannot do it better, than by a zealous contending for the Faith once delivered to the Saints.  
Secondly, So bless God, that every day you grow into detestation and hatred of those Principles that allow such bloody Practices: If I should say the Romish Religion is a Religion whose Faith is Faction, and whose Zeal is Rebellion, 'tis no more than may be proved. 'Tis a Religion that deposeth Kings, blows up Parliaments, changeth Governments: It's an argument of an ill Cause, that must be managed by blood and treachery: It's a Religion that holds the Pope hath Power over Foreign Princes; a Religion that sets Kingdom against Kingdom, the Father against the Son, and the Son against the Father.  
Thirdly, So bless God, as that we pray to God to deliver us still from all such bloody Attempts and horrible Conspiracies: They are never weary of plotting mischief, we have fresh and new arguments which tell us what they would have had, and yet desire: And this late Plot against his Majesty's most sacred Person and Government, in many Circumstances far exceeding that of this day, should oblige us to be more constant and fervent in our united Prayers for our Preservation: We must either not understand, or else not love the Religion we own and profess to be true, if we are not as diligent to preserve it, as the Enemy is to undermine, subvert, and destroy it. I am sure the Psalmist determines to practise, what I recommend to you: I will call upon the Name of the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, so shall I be saved from my Enemies, Psal. 18.3. Let us imitate this great and good man, a King and Prophet too, yea let us pray, that as the Enemies of the Lord and his Church make a pit, and dig it, so they may again fall into the ditch that they have made: And to this let all the People say, Amen, and Amen.   
FINIS.