A SERMON Preached before the King & Queen AT WHITEHALL, Decemb. 8th. 1689.  
By Edward Pelling D. D. Chaplain to his Grace the Duke of Somerset.  
By Her Majesty's Special Command.  
LONDON, Printed for Walter Kettilby at the Bishops-Head in St. Paul's Churchyard. 1690.   

Imprimatur,  
Carolus Alston R. P. D. Hen. Episc. Lond. a Sacris. Dec. 31. 1689.   
St. LUKE 1. 71. That we should be saved from our Enemies, and from the hands of all that hate us. 
THese Words of Zacharias do evidently relate to our Blessed Saviour's Incarnation: in Memory whereof, the Zeal and Wisdom of the Catholic Church hath set apart this time of the Year, that all Professors of Christianity may, now especially, offer up to God their most solemn Thanksgivings, for that inestimable Blessing to the whole World. It would be beneath the Piety of the Christian Religion, should we pass over the Memorial of his wonderful Nativity, without the most public Expressions of Devotion which the most sensible Hearts can possibly give; since he was once usherd into the World, not only with the Miraculous Birth of John the Baptist, to prepare his way as his Herald and Forerunner, but also by a Majestic Train of glorious Angels, and by the whole goodly Fellowship of the Prophets, which have spoken since Prophecy first began.  
It was that which Zacharias now, nay, which our Saviour himself afterwards, and his Apostles after him, took notice of especially; that in the Scriptures of Moses and all the Prophets, there were things written which did plainly concern Him; that those things which God before had showed by the mouth of all his Prophets, he fulfilled in Him; and that to him give all the Prophet's witness. For this was a convincing Argument of his own Divine Authority, and of the unquestionable Truth of his Religion, that every thing was accomplished in Him, whatsoever was before spoken of the Messiah, by those extraordinary Men whom God had raised up by his own immediate Power in all Ages, to foretell things to come: When we read in the Old Testament such and such things, Recorded of the time of the Messiahs coming, of his Birth, Parentage, Person, Condition of Life, Doctrine, Miracles, Sufferings, Death, Resurrection, Ascension; and of the strange and sudden Propagation of his Religion that was to be among Jews and Gentiles; and when we find in the New Testament how accurately all was fulfilled in the Blessed Jesus, and in him alone: So that the History of our Saviour is a very plain Counterpart of the Prophet's Predictions; we have the highest reason in the World to believe, that This was He who was to come, and that we are not to look for another.  
But of all these Predictions, Zacharias here singleth out one, which is to be the Subject of our present Meditations, viz.. That Promise made to Abraham, Gen. 22. whereof this was a part, That his Seed should possess the gate of his Enemies, V 17. He saith not thy Seeds, as if he spoke of many, but as of One, thy Seed, which is Christ, saith St. Paul, Gal. 3. 6. And so the Sense of the Prediction is this, that God would in his due time most certainly raise up an Eminent Person, the Messiah, of the numerous Posterity of Abrabam, that should not only bless his People, by turning them away from their Iniquities, but should moreover protect and defend them, by exercising his Victorious Power, even over the strongest of their Enemies. And this is the very Sense of Zacharias here, though he expressed himself in somewhat a different Form of Words, speaking now of the Messiah, that was yet in the Holy Virgin's Womb: God hath raised up an Horn of Salvation for us, in the house of his Servant David; as he spoke by the mouth of his holy Prophets, which have been since the World began: that we should be saved from our Enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us.  
In discoursing upon which Words, it will be necessary for me to show, 

1. What those Enemies are, from whose Hand we were to be delivered by the Messiah.  
2. How the Prediction touching this Deliverance is fulfilled in the Blessed Jesus; or how his Providence is showed in saving us from our Enemies.  
3. And so in the last place, to draw down this Consideration to our Christian Practice.    
1. What those Enemies are, from whose hand we were to be delivered by the Messiah; some understand it only of our Spiritual Enemies, as of Sin, which without the Grace of Christ, must have Reigned in our mortal Bodies; of Death, which without his Victory over the Grave, must have holden us to all Eternity; and of the Devil, who without the Power of Christ, would have Captivated us by his Wiles, and brought us into his Condemnation. Which is the Reason the Author to the Hebrews gives of our Saviour's partaking of Flesh and Blood, That through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the Devil, Heb. 2. 14.  
And indeed these Deliverances are of the greatest consequence by far, and so the fittest for the Messiah to accomplish, because they immediately concern our Immortal Souls, and are in order to the endless; happiness of our Souls in another World. But yet, by the Salvation spoken of in the Text, must be meant also Deliverance from our Temporal Enemies, or from such as visibly and forcibly oppose the Kingdom of the Messiah, and the Truth of his Religion.  
1. For, first, Zacharias now spoke like a Jew, as one that might expect, as the rest of the Jews, nay as the Apostles themselves for some time did, a Glorious Temporal Deliverer, that should set up his Throne upon the Earth, and go in and out before them after a Pompous manner, as David and other of their Kings had done. Though as to this particular Circumstance they were mistaken, because the Kingdom of Christ was not of this World; yet those Predictions on which these their Expectations were grounded, do plainly argue, that the Messiah was not wholly to shut himself out of the World, but that how Inglorious soever his suffering State might be, yet being once exalted to the Right hand of God, he was to be enstated King of Kings, and all Power in Heaven and in Earth was to be given unto him. Hence it follows, that his Office was to be, not only to make all due Provision for our Souls, but moreover to take care even of the outward State of his Church; by Exercising his Sovereignty over all; by watching all Affairs here below; by directing all Occurrences to the Interest of his Kingdom; by subduing his and his Church's Enemies; and by Defending his Faithful Servants; so far at least as it serves for their Good and for his own Glory; because the power of Defending is a very necessary part of his Sovereign Authority.  
2. For, Secondly, were it not thus, what fair Construction can we make of a great many Prophecies relating to the Messiah? that all his Enemies should be made his Footstool; that they should bow before him, and lick the Dust; that he shall Rule in the midst of them; that he shall strike through Kings in the day of his wrath; that he shall judge among the Heathen; that he shall fill the Places with dead Bodies; that he shall wound the Heads over many Countries; that he shall break the Heathen with a Rod of Iron, and dash them in pieces like a Potter's Vessel. It were too great force upon Scripture to interpret these, and a great many Places more of the Messiah's vanquishing our Spiritual Enemies only, when the natural sense of them is so plain and obvious, touching the subduing even of Powers on Earth, the greatest and strongest Powers, that endeavour the destruction of Christ's Kingdom; from the Hand of such Enemies he was to save us.  
3. There is yet a third thing which leads us to the belief of this matter; and it is the consideration of the nature of that Religion which the Messiah was to Plant in the World. A Religion so Holy and Spiritual in itself; so opposite to men's unreasonable and outrageous Lusts; so destructive of all worldly and base Designs; so inconsistent with the Pride and Ambition of designing Men; such an utter Enemy to Flesh and Blood, that it is impossible to conceive but Flesh and Blood must be an Enemy to it: A Religion that layeth before us such strict Laws of Humility, Meekness, Self-denial, and Patiented suffering for Righteousness sake; In a word, a Religion that leaves us so naked and defenceless, that without the overruling Providence and powerful Hand of Christ, we should be of all Mankind the most miserable, as to our Fortunes here below. 'Twas necessary therefore that Christ, who was to found his Church upon such discouraging Laws, should take care to Preserve her in the faithful discharge of her Duty; because we cannot think, that God should choose out to himself a peculiar People, only to expose them to the Hardships and Persecutions of the World. However for wise Reasons he may for a time assign his Church such a Condition as her present Lot; 'tis unbecoming the Notion of an infinitely Good, Just and Provident Being, to conceive that he has Entailed it on Her as a perpetual Inheritance.  
2. This therefore being laid down, that the Messiah was to save us even from our Temporal Enemies, let us proceed to the Second Consideration, How this Prediction is fulfilled in the Blessed Jesus, or, how his Providence is showed, in saving us from our Enemies.  
And here it is to be noted that Christ saves us from our Enemies, not by a total and actual Destruction of them. For his Providence is in order to the Interest of his Kingdom; and that interest is served by suffering evil Men to try and exercise the Virtues of his Followers, their Zeal, Patience, Constancy, and the like. By this they are the more and more fitted for the Inheritance of the Saints in light, and the Glory of his own Wisdom, Goodness, and Power throughout his whole Oeconomy, is the more discovered. Therefore he will not bring all Enemies under his Feet, by a total destruction of them, till the time comes that he must deliver up the Kingdom of his Mediatorship, when he shall put down all Rule, and all Authority and Power. In the mean while he shows his Providence, in saving us from our Enemies, these five ways chief.  
1. Sometimes by defeating their Designs, and by bringing their wicked Counsels to nought. This was one of his first cares after his Ascension into Heaven, to guard with his own hand those few Disciples he had left behind him, and to keep a very watchful Eye over that united force, which resolved to Extirpate his Religion before it Propagated in the World. Had not Christ himself blasted their Devices, by his special and overruling Providence, it had been impossible for such a small handful of Men, to have kept their ground, when on all hands there were such Formidable, and to Human appearance, such unavoidable Preparations against them.  
From that Age down to this, the strange and unaccountable Protection of the Truth, in spite of all Attempts against it, by ways and methods which no human Eye could possibly foresee, and in the most threatening and dangerous Junctures, is an amazing Argument, that the Son of God sits not in Heaven a mere Spectator of this Sublunary World; but that with an Invisible and Almighty hand, he doth Govern all Occurrences; and how furious soever the drivings of Men may be, he still holds the Rein, and not only checks them in their full Career, but spoils and ruins all their Designs in the very heat of their Expectations.  
2. Sometimes he doth not only stop our Enemies Proceed, but moreover turns their Designs to distant and quite contrary Purposes, by making that subservient to the Advantage, which was intended for the Destruction of the Truth. This is a Glorious and astonishing Instance of his Power and Wisdom both, that he draws Good out of Evil; that in the most uncomfortable and afflicting Circumstances, he makes every thing to work together for good, and directs the most wicked Contrivances to the noblest Ends. Thus his Providence hath been for the most part employed, to wrap up in men's Designs glorious Ends of his own, which nothing but the Event could discover. When the Mystery of his Providence hath come to be opened, his wonderful Conduct hath been made manifest, and that secret and overruling Hand hath been evidently seen, which makes even his Enemies such Instruments to carry on his Purposes, and to bring his Ends to pass, as if they themselves had designed and studied to serve them: Who could have thought, that the malice of the hardened Jews should help to establish Christianity? Who could have thought, that those long and continual Persecutions from the Heathens, which were intended in the Primitive times to destroy the Faith, should serve as means to confirm it, to make it spread, and thrive, and flourish in the World? Yet this the Ancient Christians boasted of, that the more they were harrassed and cut off, the more they increased still, like Grass that is mown, (to use Tertullia's Similitude) the more the Church suffered, like a Vine fed with Blood, the more it prospered; the Thicker, the Fairer, the better were the Clusters. And though in the Peaceable times which followed next under Christian Emperors, many pestilent Heresies, as that of Arius, and others, started up, which were more mischievous to Christianity than the former Persecutions had been, yet the Orthodox Faith was never since the Apostles days so strictly Examined, so convincingly Defended, so abundantly Confirmed, as it was in those Times. They were indeed the Learned times of Christianity; and that which made them so was, the continual Opposition of subtle and learned Heretics, who intended to undermine the very Foundations of the Catholic Faith; but by the overruling Providence of Christ, were the means of settling it the firmer upon its true Bottom. And in later times, especially in these last Ages, this hath been the lucky effect of Controversies; that whereas through the Ignorance, or the sinister Designs of some Men, Religion had been covered over with much Falsehood and Superstition, like a Jewel blended in an heap of Dust, by continual stirring and sifting of the Rubbish, the Truth has been fortunately restored to its native Lustre and Brightness. The issue of those Conflicts hath still been Good, wherein our Lord was pleased, for wise Reasons, to suffer us to be engaged, not only for the discrimenating of Good Men from Bad, but also for the clearing of True Doctrines from False; and notwithstanding all the Arts of our most powerful Enemies; by the Blessing of Christ we have been more than Conquerors, through him that hath strengthened us, and hath turned the worst Purposes to the best Events.  
3. Christ shows his Providence in saving us from our Enemies, sometimes by making them signal and public Monuments of his Justice. And this is usually in Cases, when either the wickedness of Christ's Enemies is Prodigiously and Scandalously Great, or when the Salvation of his Followers is not so easily to be wrought in an ordinary way. Then Destruction is necessary, partly to render the Punishment of those that hate us Exemplary and Notorious as their Sins were; and partly to give the more abundant safety and confidence to such as love the Lord Jesus in Sincerity. Thus he dealt with the Bloody and Obstinate Nation of the Jews, who not satisfied with this, that with barbarous Hands they had slain the Prince of Life himself, resolved to make havoc of all his Followers too. To rescue these, and to make the great Mass of their Enemies the most astonishing Instances of Divine Vengeance; after Forty years' Patience and Long-suffering he brought that Solemn and Pompous destruction upon them; when their Temple and the City of Jerusalem was Consumed; their Government in Church and State was utterly Dissolved, and the Generality of them that had escaped the fury of the Romans, were made Outcasts and Vagabonds over the Face of the whole Earth, without hopes of ever being Re-established in that Land, which they and their Fathers had polluted, and so abandoned to a Cursed and Reprobate state, that (as some of the Ancients tell us) as often as a Remnant of them endeavoured to repair their City, they were immediately consumed by Fire from Heaven. The like exemplary Vengeance Christ executed upon the Romans themselves in process of time, when the Ripeness of their Sins, and the Safety of the Church required again a Sign from Heaven. The Metropolis of these Romans was sacked too; and that by barbarous Nations, who were Instruments in the hand of Christ, as they themselves had formerly been, to avenge that Innocent Blood which had been shed upon the Earth; and as they had assisted and communicated with the Jews in their Villainies, so they shared with them in their Punishment also. I will not speak of the exemplary destruction of particular Persons in the Primitive times who fought against the Truth, as well Persecutors as Heretics: 'twere endless to make a just Collection of such Observations; and later Ages have given us Instances of this kind abundant which our Fathers and ourselves have seen; nor do I doubt, but we or our Posteririty shall in God's time see some more.  
4. Fourthly, The good Providence of Christ over his Church is never more discovered, than in saving her from her Enemies at nice and critical Seasons. Every day is not a fit time for him to show the Greatness of his Power: there is a day in the course of Affairs, which he in his Infinite Wisdom foresees will be the most Proper, Necessary, and Convenient Day of Salvation; and in that appointed time he is wont to make bare and stretch out his Arm, to gain himself the Victory. Thou shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion, (saith the Psalmist) for it is time to have mercy upon her, yea the set time is come, Psam 102. 13.  
And though we cannot search into the Counsels of Heaven, nor foretell exactly at all times when that set and appointed Juncture will be, yet St. Chrysostom somewhere excellently observes, that it is usual with God to show his own Extraordinary Power, when there is Extremity of Danger, when Evils are grown to a very critical Pitch, and when ordinary means of escaping seem to be out of our reach and power. And, as I remember, he instanceth in that very dangerous case the Church was in, under that crafty and resolute Emperor, who had revolted from the Christian Faith; though he dissembled it for a time, till he had power enough in his hands to endeavour the extirpation of it. The truth is, what by his restoring the Heathen Idolatries, what by his encouraging all sorts of Factions, what by his letting lose upon the Orthodox Christians, especially upon the Bishops of the Church, all the Enemies they had on each hand: and what by many other fly, but hateful Methods which he used, the Faith of Christ was like to have failed in the Roman Empire in a short time, without the Miraculous protection of Christ himself. In that critical Season he showed his Almighty Power beyond expectations; for in the Engagement with the Persians, that Emperors was providentially slain; all grant, by an unknown hand; some thought, by the hand of an Angel; but the Emperor himself seemed to confess, it was by the immediate hand of Christ: for finding himself mortally wounded, he threw up (as we are told) some of his Blood into the Air, with this expression, which he uttered in a rage, Vicisti Galiloee, thou hast been to hard for me, O thou Galiloean. This was Christ's set and convenient time of showing Mercy upon Zion then; and the like Mercy he hath showed in innumerable Instances more; when the Enemies of Truth have been impatient, till they brought Affairs to a Crisis, to Extremity of Danger: by driving furiously they have only hastened to be undone. By precipitating their Designs with a quick hand; by making Evils to grow to a high degree, and swell to a full head, they have in a great measure necessitated the Saviour of his Church Miraculously to interpose.  
5. Lastly, Christ shows the greatness of his Salvation, by delivering us from our Enemies after a surprising and sudden manner, and by making quick work. Thus he hath promised to deal with that Mystical Babylon, Revel. 18. Though the Kings of the Earth have committed Fornication with her, and the Merchants of the Earth wax Rich through the abundance of her Delicacies, yet her Plagues shall come in one day, Verse 8. In one Hour shall her Judgement come, Verse 10. In one Hour shall her great Riches come to nought, Verse 16. In one Hour shall she be made Desolate, Verse 19 Nor is this unusual with the Divine Justice, to visit wicked Men with sudden and speedy Destruction. It was the Observation of Job; The Houses of the wicked are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them; they take the Timbrel and the Harp, and rejoice at the found of the Organ; they spend their days in wealth: But than it follows, in a Moment they go down into the Grave, Job 21. 13. It was the Observation of the Psalmist; O how suddenly do they consume, perish, and come to a fearful end? It was the Observation of St. Paul; They say peace and safety, and then sudden Destruction cometh upon them. 'Tis a thing commonly observable, that a day bringeth forth strange Alterations; that Men are oftentimes surprised in the depth of their Security; that Vengeance comes, as the Sentence upon Belshazzar's Wall did, unexpectedly in a Night; or as our last Change shall come, in a Moment, in the twinkling of an Eye. And this is a demonstrative Argument of the watchful Providence of Christ, that after a long Series and Train of Contrivances against his Church, when men's Hopes are the strongest; when their Expectations are most confident; when their Designs are at their full ripeness; when the Success of them seems altogether unquestionable: Then, by some unforeseen Accident or other, the Snare is all in a trice broken, and that, after a secret and unaccountable manner; so that in that very Self same Net which wicked Men had laid for others, their own Feet are providentially taken.  
3. From this whole Consideration, (that I may now in the Third Place render it Practical) there are Two things which naturally follow.  
1. That, as in all Cases, we are with the most Humble and Devout Hearts, to implore Christ's Protection, and lift up our Eyes to him from whom all our help cometh; so we must, in all difficult Cases especially, depend still upon his Providence with all modest Assurance, possessing our Souls in Patience, and casting all our Cares on him who careth for us, and committing ourselves to him in Welldoing. Every hour he is preparing new Mercies for us, if we do but so order our ways, by the assistance of his Grace, as to make ourselves Receptive of them. He hath worked hitherto, and doth still work; nor will his Providence give over working, till the Final and Eternal Salvation of his Church be accomplished.  
Whatever it be therefore that we desire and hope for at any time; whether it be the Deliverance of ourselves in any dangerous Cases; or whether it be the Preservation of the Church when it may seem to shake; or whether it be the Enlarging of the Borders of Christ's Sanctuary; we may safely and with full Trust rely on him, who hath assured us, that he himself will be with us, even to the end of the World.  
Many Predictions relating to our Saviour, were plainly fulfilled upon his coming into the World; and more have been fulfilled since his Ascension into Heaven. But as a Learned Divine of our own 
Dr. Scot Christian Life, Par. 2. Vol. 2. pag. 490.  hath of late particularly observed, there are divers more which are yet unfulfilled: Some which speak of Christ's Confounding, Scattering, and Subduing those his Enemies, the Eastern Infidels; that his Kingdom may be enlarged over that great part of the World; and some too which speak of the universal Reformation of Christendom itself; and the restoring of all Churches in this Western World, to that admirable Purity of Faith and Worship, which the Ancient Churches of Christ were so Renowned for. According to the Tenor of these Predictions, or at least according to the probable Construction that is given of them, before this Universal Reformation, which I now speak of: That Faction which in some Places of Scripture is called by the name of Babylon and Antichrist, will employ its Power by Wars and Persecutions, to extirpate out of these Parts the present Pure Profession of Christianity; and of this God knows we have already seen, and daily see too much. But the account which followeth, is, That many Kings and Princes, even those who have hitherto been partakers with that Faction in its foul Impostures and Corruptions, shall all on a sudden turn their Swords against it, and Conspire to root it out utterly from off the Face of the Earth. This indeed gives us a Comfortable Prospect of the Glorious state of Christ's Kingdom that shall be; and though the Completion of this Part of the Prophecy be still to be expected; yet I will presume to say, that were we of this Age but capable of so great a Blessing, methinks it would not be against Reason to hope, I am sure 'tis not beyond the Rules of Piety to wish, that that happy day may even now be approaching,; and that the present Juncture of Affairs may be the Dawning of that Day; there is at this Critical time a Providential concurrence of such Circumstances, as methinks seem at least to Promise a fulfilling of this Prediction in a short space, and that the day of our Common Salvation is not very far off. Let me here again use those devout Expressions of the Holy Psalmist; Arise, O Lord, and have mercy upon Zion; for it is time that thou have mercy upon her; yea the set time seemeth to be coming. But for this, and all other Blessings, we must depend on the good Providence of him, whom the Father hath made the Prince and Captain of our Salvation, to exercise and show his Sovereign Power, when the set, the appointed Time shall actually come.  
2. To make way for it, as much as lieth in us, it is necessary for us, in the Second Place, to express all possible Thankfulness to the great Bishop of our Souls, for the Blessings we already enjoy; and particularly for the Blessing in my Text, Salvation from our Enemies, and from the hands of those (would to God I could say from the hands of all) that hate us. What Demonstrations of his Almighty Power and overruling Providence, hath Christ given at any time, in any Nation, which he hath not given unto this? Whether it be the defeating and frustrating wicked men's Designs; he hath done it here: Whether it be the Turning and Directing of their ill Designs to the best Purposes; He hath done it here: Whether it be the making designing Men Public and Exemplary Monuments of his Justice; he hath done it here: Wheit be the stretching out of his Arm on a sudden, and at nice and critical Seasons; he hath done it here; by delivering us in one Age from Tyranny, when the Armado that should have landed it, was just ready upon our Coasts; by delivering us in the next Age from Ruin, when the Fire was just ready for the Sulphur; and by delivering us in this Age from Servitude, when the Yoke was just ready for our Necks; and all this with a quick hand, after a strange and mysterious manner; and let me add, without Bloodshed for the most part; nay, which is more, without any Stream of Blood of our very Enemies. Never was the Truth more owned, more Attested, more Miraculously Defended and Preserved, in any Countries since the Primitive Ages, than it hath been in this: And God forbidden that we, who of all Nations are most indebted to the special Providence of Christ, should at last prove the most Unthankful People in the World. How divided soever we be in other Matters, God forbidden but we should unanimously join in this; I mean in a deep sense of the wonderful Mercies of God, and of the unspeakable Miseries which the Horn of our Salvation hath delivered us from. As it is in Point of Nature; though the Constitutions of particular Persons be different, yet all of us agree in one common Humanity; and as it is in point of Religion, though the Opinions of particular Persons be different, as to unnecessary Matters, yet all of us agree in one common Faith, so it ought to be in this Point of Gratitude; though the Sentiments of Particular Persons may be different as to some things, yet God forbidden but we should agree in one common Acknowledgement, of the wonderful Providence of Christ in saving us from our Enemies hitherto. Let us be Thankful for the Blessings we have; this is the way for us to obtain more. I am sure Ingratitude never was the way to obtain any. I Pray God open our Eyes, that we may see the things which are for our Peace, before they be hid from us. And Christ of his Mercy grant us a continuance of his Protection; that as he hath delivered us, and doth deliver us, so he may be pleased to Deliver us still. To him, with the Father, and the Holy Ghost, be all Honour and Praise, World without End. Amen.  
FINIS.