A SERMON PREACHED at White-Hall, Before the QUEEN, On the 17th of June, 1691, BEING THE FASTDAY.  
By WILLIAM SHERLOCK, D. D. Dean of St. Paul's, and Master of the Temple, and Chaplain in Ordinary to Their Majesties.  
London: Printed for W. Rogers, at the Sun over against St. Dunstan's Church, in Fleetstreet. 1691.   
LXXVII Psalm 10, 11, 12. 
And I said, This is my infirmity; but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High.  
I will remember the works of the Lord: surely I will remember thy wonders of old.  
I will meditate also of all thy works, and talk of thy doings.  
THE Psalmist, at the penning of this Psalm, was oppressed with very black and desponding Thoughts: The state of the Church seems to have been very calamitous, they had been so long and so grievously afflicted, that he began to question, whether God would ever be merciful to them again: Will the Lord cast off for ever: and will he be favourable no more? Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore? Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies?  
But in my Text he recollects himself, confesses his Wickedness and Sin in giving the least entertainment to such unworthy Thoughts of God, as if he could forget his Promise and Covenant, which he had made to their Father's Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, This is my infirmity; want of Faith and Trust in God's Promises: and to cure this Diffidence, to revive his dying Hopes, and to confirm his Faith in God, he calls to mind those glorious Deliverances which God had wrought for his Church, and his People Israel in former Ages: I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High; those days when God did so visibly deliver Israel with his own right hand; as it follows 14, 15 Verses, Thou art the God that dost wonders; thou hast declared thy strength among the people. Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. And instances in those miraculous Deliverances in Egypt, the Red Sea, and the Wilderness, as a reason and foundation of a firm Faith and Trust in God in all Ages; these are those Works of the Lord, and Wonders of Old, which he will remember, which he will meditate, and talk of, with which he will support his Spirit, whatever Dangers seem to threaten the final Ruin and Desolation of the Church; which is the Argument of the 80 Psalm 14, 15. Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold and visit this vine, and the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself.  
That God had made a Covenant with Abraham, and chose his Seed and Posterity for his peculiar People; that he had delivered them out of Egypt by a mighty hand, and an out stretched arm; that he had given them passage through the Red Sea, and fed them in the Wilderness forty Years; that he had fought their Battles for them, and given them possession of the Land of Canaan, as he had promised to their Fathers; that he had in all succeeding Ages protected them by a visible Providence, raised up Judges and Saviour's to deliver them out of the hands of their Enemies, when they cried to him; this was a sure foundation of their Faith and Hope, that God would not utterly cast off his People, but though for their sins, he might deliver them into the hands of their Enemies, yet when they repented of their Evil Ways, and returned unto God, God also would return, and be merciful unto them.  
And this is the wisest course we can take, whatever Troubles we suffer, whatever we fear, whatever our Sins have deserved, whatever our Enemies threaten, To remember the works of the Lord, and his wonders of old, to meditate of all his works, and to talk of his doings.  
And this is what I at present intent, to make such Remarks on the Providence of God towards the Jewish Church, not omitting the experience the Christian Church has had of the same kind, and watchful Providence, as may be of present use to us, both to direct us what we must do, and to give us a firm Hope and Trust in God's Mercy; for God is always the same under all the Dispensations of his Grace and Providence; and as the Jewish Church was a Type of the Christian, so God's Providence towards them, assures us, what we may expect in like Circumstances, or else the Scriptures of the Old Testament would be of very little use to us now, whereas St. Paul tells us, That these things happened to them for ensamples, and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come, 1 Cor. 10, 11. But what difference there is between their State and ours, and how far we are concerned in the Examples, I shall distinctly observe under the several Particulars, as there is occasion for it:  
I. First then I observe as St. Paul did, That the gifts and calling of God are without repentance, 11. Rom. 29. God having made a Covenant with Abraham, and chosen his Seed for his peculiar People, whatever their Provocations were, he would never wholly cast them off; he many times very severely punished them, delivered them into the hands of their Enemies, who oppressed them, the Aramites, and Moabites, and Egyptians, and Assyrians, and at last into the hands of Nebucadnezar, who destroyed their City and Temple, and carried them captive into Babylon, where they continued seventy Years, and then they returned into their own Country, and rebuilt their Temple and City, and so continued till in punishment of their great Sin in crucifying their Messias, and for their obstinate Infidelity, they were finally destroyed by the Romans, and dispersed into all Nations, and have never been a Nation since; that is, till Christ came, who was the promised Seed, in whom all the Nations of the World are blessed, as St. Paul proves, 3 Gal. 16. To Abraham and his seed were the promises made: He saith not, Unto seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. I say till Christ, who was the promised Seed, and typified by Isaac, came, the carnal Posterity of Abraham, descending from Isaac and Jacob, were the Typical Israel, and God's peculiar People, and visible Church on Earth, and all this while God never wholly cast them off; but when Christ came, than the Promise was established to the spiritual seed of Abraham, those who are the Children of Abraham by Faith in Christ, as the Apostle proves in the same place, 6, 7, 8, 9 and in several other places: And this is the Answer, which the Apostle gives to that terrible Objection against Christ's being the Messias, and God's owning the Christian Church for his peculiar and elect People, as formerly he did the Jews; that then God's Promise to Abraham and his Seed fails: His answer is, That the Promise to Abraham and his Seed, was meant of Christ, and his spiritual Seed, those who are the Children of Abraham by Faith in Christ; as he proves at large in the 9, 10, 11 Chapters to the Romans; though he gives another answer to this too, That though the Promises do no longer belong to Abraham's carnal Seed, yet God so far remembers his Covenant with Abraham and his carnal Seed, that he has not wholly cast them off, but will in time engraft them into his Church again by Faith in Christ: For out of Zion shall come the deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. But I cannot enlarge on this now.  
To apply this then to the times of the Gospel: We certainly learn from God's Care of the Jewish Church, that God will always preserve and protect the Christian Church, that the true Faith of Christ, and his true and sincere Worshippers shall never wholly fail in the World, as Christ promises, That the gates of hell shall not prevail against his Church: for God established an everlasting Covenant with Abraham and his Seed, that is, with Christ, and the Christian Church, who are the true spiritual Seed of Abraham▪ to whom the Promises belong; and if God so punctually performed his Promise to the carnal Seed of Abraham, while they were to be his visible Church until Christ came, who was the promised Seed, we learn by that Example, how he will protect, defend, and support the Christian Church to the end of the World; till Christ the promised Seed return again to Judge the World, to put an end to all Things, and to receive his Church into the Kingdom of his Father.  
To this we owe the Continuance and Preservation of the Christian Church to this Day, amidst all the Dangers which have threatened its final Ruin; when the Church is tossed on the foaming Billows of this World, like the Ship into which Christ and his Disciples entered: 8 Matth. 23, 24, 25. When there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves; and Christ was asleep, and his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us; we perish. And he saith unto them, Why are ye so fearful, O ye of little faith? then he arose and rebuked the wind and the sea, and there was a great calm. This was a Figure and Emblem of the condition the Church is very often in in this World: for most of our Saviour's Miracles had some spiritual significations in them: His curing the Halt, and Blind, and Lame, and Deaf, represented his Diviner Power in curing the Diseases and Distempers of our Souls, in making the Blind to see, and the Deaf to hear, and the Lame to walk; and therefore when he cured the Man that was born blind, he turned his Discourse to spiritual Blindness, 9 John 39, 40, 41. When he had fed that great Multitude with a few loaves and small Fishes, he discourses to them of that Bread that comes down from Heaven, and will nourish them unto Eternal Life, and which he only could give them, 6 John, when he discoursed with Martha about raising her Brother Lazarus from the Dead, he preaches to her his Divine Power to raise dead Souls as well as dead Bodies, into immortal Life, 11 John 25, 26. When the Disciples at Christ's command had cast their Net into the Sea, [after having toiled all night and taken nothing] and encompassed a great multitude of Fishes, he tells them the meaning of it, that he would make them Fishers of Men. Thus here Christ's rebuking the Wind and Sea, which were ready to swallow up the Ship, wherein he and his Disciples were, is a Figure of the State of the Church in this World, and of his Readiness to Protect it: How threatening soever the Dangers are, Christ is in the Ship, and all the Powers of the World, how much soever they rage and foam, can never swallow up that Ship, wherein Christ is, unless they can swallow Him up too: and though he may seem to be asleep, and to take no notice of the Sufferings and Dangers of his Church, yet the importunate Prayers and Cries of his Disciples will awake him, and then he will arise to their defence, and hush the Winds and Seas into a Calm.  
This the Church had frequent experience of under the Pagan Persecutions, which raged with Fire and Sword, and all the witty Arts of Cruelty; when nothing would serve but the final Extirpation of the Name of Christians: But how often did Christ rebuke the Wind and Sea, and restore profound Peace and Rest to his Church? What a glorious Triumph did he give his Church over the last and most terrible Efforts of the Pagan Powers, when he raised Constantine into the Throne, and made the Empire Christian?  
And this is a very comfortable Consideration to us at this time: The Protestant Churches which profess the Pure and Uncorrupt Faith and Worship of Christ, as to all the essentials of Faith and Worship, have now for many Years groaned under the Antichristian Tyranny and Persecutions, and now at last, and I hope it may be the last, as it is the most terrible Insult of the Anti-christian Powers, a Great and Mighty Prince bends his whole Force to root out the Protestant Name, as well as to Usurp upon the Liberties of Europe: What he has done in his own Country, and wherever his Power and Influence reached, I need not tell you: From some of his Subjects he has forced away their Faith; others to keep their Faith have lost their Estates, their Liberty, their Country, their Lives.  
What danger we were in at Home, we all saw and felt not long since, though some Men would now persuade us, it was but a Dream; but it was a very terrible Dream, if it was one, and thanks be to God that we are awakened out of it, and may we never fall into such frightful Slumbers more; or rather let us neither be lulled asleep, nor dream awake, lest these frightful Dreams prove Realities at last.  
For should that mighty Monarch prevail, and like an irresistible Torrent bear all before him; as some kind Friends to the Liberties of Europe, and the Protestant Name and Interest, wish and pray he may; it requires not a Spirit of Prophecy, to foretell what will become of Protestants: But our Hope and Trust is in God, that the true Christian Faith shall never be rooted out; and I am as certainly persuaded, that the Protestant Faith and Worship, as to the Essentials of it, and as opposed to Popery, is the true Christian Faith and Worship, as I am of the truth and certainty of Christianity itself: and when I remember by what little beginnings, and weak and contemptible means, GOD spread the true Light of the Gospel over great part of the European World, when it was covered with the Egyptian Darkness, and oppressed by the Unsupportable Tyranny of Popery; notwithstanding all the Follies, Divisions and Miscarriages of Protestants, I cannot fear, that God will cause our Sun to set again, and that he will finally remove his Gospel from us; and that gives great reason to hope, that he will check the Pride and Ambition, and put a stop to the Successes of a Prince, who glories in the Extirpation of his Protestant Subjects, and at once enslaves both the Bodies and the Souls of Men; who challenges as absolute a Dominion over the Faith, as over the Estates of his Vassals, to fill his Exchequer and Purgatory together. This I am sure, we ought heartily to beg of God in our most solemn Prayers and Fasts; and those who scruple this, if they understand themselves, must never say the Lord's Prayer more, wherein our Saviour has taught us to pray, Thy Kingdom come, which those who wish success to Persecuting and Antichristian Powers, do not and cannot pray.  
II. I observe farther, That as God's Covenant with Abraham and his Posterity, was sure and steadfast, that no provocations could ever tempt him utterly to destroy them, so he never inflicted any public Judgements and Calamities on them, but when he was greatly provoked by their Sins. This was God's express Covenant with them, 26 Levit. That if they walked in his statutes, and kept his commandments, than he would bestow all Temporal Blessings on them, Rain in its season, and the increase of their Land, in Corn, and Wine, and Oil; Peace at home, and Victory abroad, and his special Presence and Favour: I will set my tabernacle amongst you; and my soul shall not abhor you, and I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you shall be my people. But if they would not hearken unto him, and would not do all his Commandments, than he threatens all sorts of Evils should befall them, sickness of Body, to fly before their Enemies, the unfruitfulness and barrenness of their Land, that they shall be a prey to wild Beasts, that the Sword shall devour them, and they shall be enslaved to their Enemies, and buy their own Bread of them; that they should suffer Famine to such extremity, as to eat their owns Sons and Daughters, that he would lay waste their Cities, and make their Country desolate; and carry them away captive into foreign Countries, as you may see at large in that Chapter: This was his Covenant with them; and this he punctually observed: whenever they did obey him, they were a happy and prosperous People, their Enemies crouched before them, they enjoyed Plenty and Peace, enlarged their Borders, and made their Neighbour's Subjects and Tributaries to them; and tho' God did not always punish them according to their deserts, yet he never did inflict any public or national Judgements on them, but when they were grown very corrupt and wicked in their manners; as it were easy to show from the History of those Times and all the remarkable Judgements God inflicted on them.  
Now, I must confess when we apply this to the Christian Church, the case is very different, for God has not so expressly covenanted with the Christian Church for external Peace and Prosperity, as he did with the Jews; they were the carnal Seed and Posterity of Abraham, Heirs of an earthly Canaan and external Prosperity, but the spiritual Seed of Abraham are Heirs of spiritual and eternal Blessings, which were typified by the carnal Promises made to the Jewish Church: the Christian Church was founded in the Sufferings of our Lord; the Christian Faith was at first propagated by the courage, patience, and sufferings of the Apostles, and the Primitive Martyrs and Confessors: The Terms our Saviour proposes to us are, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me: He that loveth his life, shall lose it, but he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it: And therefore the most sincere Believers, and most exemplary Christians, may suffer very severely in this World, and their support and comfort is, that they shall be proportionably rewarded in the next: this was the great Objection the Jews made against Christians being the Sons and peculiar People of God, that they were hated and persecuted for the Faith of Christ, and God suffered them to be so; whereas he had promised all Temporal Prosperity to the observance of his Laws and Statutes; and if believing in Christ had been the Will and Commandment of God, he would certainly have made good all the Promises of their Law to the Disciples of Jesus: An Objection which very much troubled many believing Jews themselves, who did not thoroughly understand the difference between the Jewish and Christian Dispensation, between the Law of Moses, and the Gospel of Christ, and therefore is particularly answered by St. Paul, 8 Rom. and in the 7 Heb.  
But this shows, that their Faith and Worship of Christ is not always rewarded with external Prosperity, and we must not expect it should be, and consequently that very severe Sufferings and Persecutions may befall Christians, not always for the correction and punishment of their Sins, but for the trial of their Faith and Patience, to make them conformed to their Suffering Head, to prepare them for richer and brighter Crowns, to convince and convert their Persecutors, and to propagate the Christian Faith in the World. Though it is observed by some of the Ancient Fathers, and particularly by St. Cyprian, That God never sent a general Persecution upon the Christian Church, but when their Sins, the general declension of Piety and Discipline, their Worldly Mindedness, the formality and coldness of their Devotions called for a Scourge.  
Thus it was with the Church, while it sojourned, as I may so speak, in the world, as in a strange land, had no place of its own, no earthly Power and Authority to support it, but lived under Pagan Powers, was intermixed with them, and oppressed by them, when they pleased; but the case of a Christian Nation, where the Power and Authority is Christian, seems very different, and to come nearer the state of the Jewish Church; for God does not use to inflict Public Judgements and Calamities upon Nations, but for the Punishment of some Public and National Sins: And, therefore a Christian Nation, which professes the True Faith and Worship of Christ, preserves the Reverence of Religion, corrects and suppresses Vice, may expect to be blessed with all external Prosperity; for righteousness, exalteth a nation; it does so in its natural tendency and effects, and it does so by the Blessing of God; and therefore when God brings any Public Judgements upon a Nation professing the true Faith of Christ, we have reason to take notice of God's Anger and Displeasure; to inquire what is amiss among us; what that accursed thing is, which hath provoked God to Jealousy, and made him take the Rod into his hand. We have then reason to humble ourselves before God, to deprecate his Anger and Displeasure; to turn from all the evil of our ways, that he may return, and be merciful to us.  
But there is one thing worth observing, which may be matter of Hope and Comfort to us at this time, That God never delivered the Jewish Church into the hands of their Enemies to oppress them, never carried them away into Captivity, excepting the last Destruction of Jerusalem, in Punishment of their Sin in Crucifying their Messias, but only when they were guilty of Idolatry: A Corruption of Manners might bring other Judgements upon them; but it was generally, and I think always, for their Idolatry, that God made their Enemy's rule over them, and carried them captive into a Strange land. This we have a summary account of, Judges 2. how that after the Death of Joshua and those Elders who had seen all that God did for them, they forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth; and the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and God delivered them into the hands of spoilers, who spoilt them, v. 11, 12, etc. For this Sin of Idolatry, the Ten Tribes were carried away into a Perpetual Captivity, and Judah carried captive to Babylon, which they were threatened with by the Prophets, for their Whoredoms, that is, their Idolatries, 2, 4, 5. chapt. of Hosea; and this is the account the Prophet Jeremy gives of it, like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land which is not yours, 5 Jer. 19  
Now in proportion to God's dealing with the Jewish Church, we have reason to hope, That though a Church and Nation which professes the true Faith and Worship of Christ, may be severely punished for their other Sins, yet while they preserve themselves clean from Spiritual Fornication, from all Antichristian Idolatries, God will not Un-Church them, nor deliver them finally up into the Power of Idolatrous Oppressors: I am sure we of this Nation, ever since the Reformation of Religion among us, though God has made us smart severely for our other Sins, have yet always found a watchful Providence defending us from all Attempts, though contrived with Art and Skill, and backed with Power, to reduce us again under the Roman Yoke. May the same Good Providence still watch over us, and defend us, and neither suffer our Popish Enemies to rejoice over us, nor deluded Protestants to make dangerous and fatal Experiments.  
3dly. When God did think fit to correct his People, he always kept the Rod in his own hand, and prescribed the Measures and Continuance of their Sufferings. This is so plain, from all the Promises and threatenings of the Law, and from the Examples of God's Providence towards Israel, that there is no need to multiply particular Instances. There was no Good nor Evil befell Israel, but by a particular Providence; God inflicted Judgements on them when he saw fit, and he removed them again; He gave Commission to Plague, and Sword, and Famine, which they could not exceed. In the 26. Levit. we may observe, That God proportioned his Judgements to their Sins. When their Sins were grown so Public and National, as to deserve some Public Judgements, yet at first God threatens them with some more light and gentle Punishments; but if they continued incorrigible, he tells them he had more terrible Judgements in reserve for them; which proves, That God determines the Kind's, Degrees, and Continuance of his Judgements. When David for his sin in Numbering the People, had that hard Choice given him, of seven years' famine, or to flee three months before his enemies, or three days pestilence; he answers, Let me fall now into the hands of the Lord, (for his mercies are great) and let me not fall into the hand of man, 2 Sam. 24. 14. That is, he chose Pestilence before the Sword; for Pestilence is God's immediate hand; and though the Sword be God's Judgement too, yet it is put into the hands of men, who gratify their own Lust and Rage, and Revenge with it. And yet, though God leaves more to man in this, than in any other Judgements, he does not put the Sword wholly out of his own hands, when he puts it into the hands of men, but gives Laws to it; as appears from the example of the King of Assyria, whom God sent against Jerusalem, To take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire in the street. Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so, but it is in his heart to destroy, and cut off nations, not a few: Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion, (what he himself, not what the King of Assyria intended to do), I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks, 10 Isa. 5, 6, 7,— 12.  
Now God has the same tender care of a Christian Nation, that he had of Israel; He mingles our Cup for us, he prescribes what we shall suffer, and how long: and he corrects as a Father, not to destroy, but to reform; and this is a mighty comfort, that whatever men threaten, we are in the hands of God, who has the Winds and Seas at his command, who giveth Salvation to Kings, who delivereth David his Servant from the hurtful Sword, Psal. 144. 10. The most powerful Oppressors are but the Rod of God's Anger; the more fierce and savage Instruments God employs to correct us, we may conclude, the more angry God is; but whatever the Rod is, it is God that strikes, who knows when to strike, and when to spare: We never have any reason to be afraid of men, whatever their Power, how great soever their Rage and Vengeance be; but aught to pray to God as the Prophet does, O Lord, correct me, but with judgement, not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing, Jer. 10. 24. O Lord rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy sore displeasure; have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am weak, O Lord heal me, for my bones are vexed, Psal. 6. 1, 2. or as it is in Psal. 56. 1, 2, 3. Be merciful to me, O God, for man would swallow me up, he fight daily oppresseth me; mine enemies would daily swallow me up, for they be many that rise up against me, O thou most High. What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee; in God I will praise his word; in God I have put my trust, I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.  
4thly, When God does think fit to correct his People, yet he always removes his Judgements upon their sincere Repentance: This was God's express Covenant with Israel, 26. Levit. 40, 41, 42. If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their Fathers, with the trespass which they trespassed against me; and also that they have walked contrary to me, and that I also have walked contrary to them, and have brought them into the Land of their Enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquities, then will I remember my Covenant with Jacob, and also my Covenant with Isaac, and also my Covenant with Abraham will I remember, and I will remember the land.  
Thus in the time of the Judges, when God for their sins delivered them into the hands of their Enemies, when they cried to God, he raised up Saviour's for them: Nay, many times, when their repentance was not very sincere, nor lasting, yet in great goodness and compassion he spared them: When he slew them, than they sought him, and returned, and inquired early after God; and they remembered that God was their Rock, and the high God their Redeemer; nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongue, for their heart was not right with him, neither were they steadfast in his Covenant; but he being full of compassion forgave their iniquities, and destroyed them not; yea many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all: his wrath; for he remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again, 78 Psalm 34, etc.  
So that how angry soever God be; we have a certain way of appeasing his anger. Nothing but sin can provoke a merciful God, and a compassionate Father to punish; He has a great tenderness for all his Creatures; He doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men; and therefore he is more easily appeased, than he is provoked; Judgement is his strange work, but he delights in Acts of Mercy, and seems pleased with an honourable occasion to show mercy, without exposing his Laws and Government to contempt: And therefore Repentance and Reformation will always appease him; nay sometimes we see, that the very shows and appearance of a public and solemn Repentance, though it be not so sincere and hearty as it ought to be, makes him stay his hand, and expect our return. And this is a great encouragement, and a powerful obligation on us to return to God when he strikes, to humble ourselves under his mighty hand, for there is no other way to remove his Judgements, and this will do it.  
It is a vain thing to trust in Armies and Navies, in the Courage and Conduct of Princes and Generals, when our Sins fight against us, when God refuses to go forth with our Armies: for no King is saved by the multitude of an host; a horse is a vain thing for safety, neither shall he deliver any by his great strength; but the eyes of the Lord are upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercies. 33 Psal. 16, 17, 18.  
Nay, the justice and righteousness of our Cause will not always secure us of Success; for those who have a very just Cause, may deserve to be punished; and than God may justly punish them, and deliver them into the hands of their Enemies: God does not always determine what is Right and Wrong by the events of War; for he is the Sovereign Judge of the World, and may punish a wicked Nation by unjust Oppressors, as he often did the Israelites.  
The Profession of the true Religion will not always secure us, when our Sins cry for Vengeance: When the Jews cried, The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord; the Prophet told them, They trusted in lying words; for will ye steal, and murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense to Baal, 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? 7 Jer. 4,— 10. To glory in the profession of the true Faith, or in a vigorous opposition to the Errors and Corruptions of Religion, when we are Atheists or Infidels in our Lives, may make God punish us, but is no reason on our part, why he should save us; but true and sincere Repentance will save us. We profess the sincere Faith of Christ, we fight in a just Cause, if it be lawful to defend ourselves against the powerful Oppressor of the Protestant, that is, the true Christian Faith, and the Liberties of Europe; and we have no reason to fear any thing but our sins: Let us but reform our Lives, and put away the evil of our doings, and our Arms will be as Prosperous, as our Cause is Just: God will then gird our Princes and soldiers with strength to the battle; will teach their hands to war, and their fingers to fight.  
5thly. Faith and Prayer are more powerful than Arms; as it must necessarily be, if God only gives Victory and Success. This we learn from the whole History of the Jews; the Apostle to the Hebrews gives us a particular account of the Power of Faith, 11 Heb. 32, 33, 34. Of Gideon, and Barach, and Samson, and Jeptha, and David, who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Moses his Prayer was more powerful than Joshua's Arms; for when Moses held up his hands, Israel prevailed; when he let down his hands, Amalek prevailed, 17 Exod. 11. Hezekiah's Prayer overthrew the Assyrian Army, when Rabshekah came against Jerusalem, and reproached them with their Trust in God. We must not indeed expect such miraculous Victories as God gave to Israel; but this makes no difference; for the Power of Faith and Prayer is the same still; and all Victory is God's still, who gives Success as well by invisible Means, and seeming Accidents, as by the most visible interposal of a miraculous Power: For God gave Israel miraculous Deliverances; not because he could not save them without a Miracle, but because he would make it visible to all the world, That he was their Saviour. But still God hears our Prayers, and answers them; he is still the Saviour and Deliverer of all those who trust in him, and hope in his Mercy; and therefore the only sure way to conquer our Enemies, is to prevail with God by our fervent and importunate Prayers for a Blessing upon our Arms; to pray in Faith, in Hope, with an entire dependence on God, and a perfect Resignation to his Will: Thus Gideon, and Barak, and David, and the Worthies of old, subdued Kingdoms, waxed valiant in fight, and turned to flight the Armies of Aliens; and there is no other way that I know of, still: If God be still the only Giver of Victory, Faith and Prayer is still the only way to obtain Victory from God; and therefore if we are cold and remiss in our Prayers; if we do not pray at at all, or expect nothing from our Prayers, let us not charge any ill success to ill conduct or cowardice, but to our Infidelity and Irreligion; and indeed this is the only melancholy Consideration in our present Circumstances; if the Courage and Conduct of a Prince, if the Bravery and Resolution of Soldiers, if a Numerous Army and Navy, if an Arm of Flesh could give Victory, we have reason to hope well; but if God go not forth with our Armies, all our other Preparations are vain; and how can we expect that, when we will not ask it, or only mock God with some formal and customary addresses, without being concerned whether he hears or no; or without expecting, or at least without trusting and depending on his help?  
6thly. But to encourage those good men, how few soever there are among us, who have a great sense of the Divine Providence, and a firm Trust and Faith in God, to be very importunare in their prayers for this Church and Nation, I observe farther, That God many times has spared a wicked people at the earnest intercessions of some few good men. Thus at the intercession of Abraham, God promised to have spared Sodom, had there been ten righteous persons found in that great City: God spared Israel, when they had so provoked him by their Idolatries, that he threatened to destroy them, only at the importunity of Moses, as the Psalmist observes; therefore he said, he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them, 106 Psalm 23. the Story of which we have, 32. Exod. 7, 8. at another time, when they had provoked God by their Idolatries and Whoredoms with the Daughters of Moab, and the Plague broke in among them, than stood up Phineas and executed judgement, and the plague was stayed, 25 Numb. And therefore when God declared his resolution to punish them, he forbade his Prophet so much as to pray for them. 7. Jer. 16. And in 14. Ezek. 14. professes, That he would not accept of any Intercessions for them: Tho these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, yet they shall deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord: Which supposes, that at another time, the Intercessions of these good men would have prevailed; and that it is very extraordinary for God to deny it.  
And if the importunate Prayers of a few good men may obtain Victory and Success, and save a Church and Nation; let every good man at this time cry mightily to God, especially as the Prophet Isaiah exhorts, Ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence, and give him no rest, till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth, 62. Isa. 6, 7.  
7thly. To add no more, and it is a very comfortable Consideration, God many times saved Israel for his own Names sake, when their sins provoked him to destroy them. 48. Isa. 9 For my name sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for Thee, that I cut Thee not off. 11. v. For mine own sake, even for mine own sake will I do it; for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory to another. Thus God assigns the reason, why he did not destroy Israel in the Wilderness, when they so highly provoked him. I wrought for my name sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, among whom they were, in whose sight I made myself known unto them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt, 20. Ezek. 9 That is, they were God's peculiar people, the only worshippers of the Lord Jehovah, whom he had brought out of Egypt by a mighty hand, to make his Name known in the world; and though they never so much deserved to be destroyed, had he then destroyed them, his own great Name would have suffered with them; as Moses pleaded with God; Wherefore should the Egyptians say, For mischief did he bring them out to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? 32. Exod. 12. And thus the Psalmist prays, Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name, and deliver us, and purge away our sins for thy name sake; wherefore should the Heathen say, Where is their God? let him be known among the Heathen in our sight, by revenging the blood of thy servants, which is shed, 79. Psalm 9 10.  
And this is matter of hope to us, That though our sins are very great, yet God will not utterly destroy us, but will send deliverance for his name sake; for the sake of that holy Faith which is professed among us; lest our Antichristian Enemies should triumph and say, Where is now their God? When the preservation of a wicked people is for the defence and honour of the true Christian Faith, we have reason to hope, and good men have a very powerful argument to plead with God, That he will save us for his own Names sake.  
FINIS.   

Books Published by the Reverend Dr. SHERLOCK, Dean of St. Paul's, and Master of the Temple.  
AN Answer to a Discourse Entitled, Papists Protesting against Protestant Popery. 2d Edition. 4to.  
An Answer to the Amicable Accommodation of the Differences between the Representer and the Answerer, 4to.  
A Sermon at the Funeral of the Reverend Benjamin Calamy, D. D. 4to.  
A Vindication of some Protestant Principles of Church Unity and Catholic Communion, from the Charge of Agreement with the Church of Rome. 4to.  
A Preservative against Popery: Being some plain Directions to unlearned Protestants how to Dispute with Romish Priests. First Part, 4to. 5th Edition.  
A Second Part of the Preservative against Popery. 2d Edit. 4to.  
A Vindication of both Parts of the Preservative against Popery, in Answer to the Cavils of Lewis Sabran, Jesuit, 4to.  
A Discourse concerning the Nature, Unity, and Communion of the Catholic Church. First Part. 4to.  
A Sermom before the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of the City of London, on Sunday, Nou. 4. 1688. 4to.  
A Practical Discourse concerning Death. Fifth Edition. 8vo  
A Vindication of the Doctrine of the Holy and Ever-Blessed Trinity, and the Incarnation of the Son of God; occasioned by the Brief Notes on the Creed of St. Athanasius, and the Brief History of the unitarians or Socinians; and containing an Answer to both. 4to. The Second Edition.  
The Case of the Allegiance due to Sovereign Powers stated and resolved, according to Scripture and Reason, and the Principles of the Church of England; with a more particular Respect to the Oath lately enjoined, of Allegiance to Their present Majesty's King William and Queen Mary. 4to. The Sixth Edition.  
A Vindication of the Case of Allegiance due to Sovereign Powers: In Reply to an Answer to a late Pamphlet, entitled, Obedience and Submission to the present Government demonstrated from Bishop Overall's Convocation-Book; with a Postscript in Answer to Dr. Sherlook's Case of Allegiance, etc. 4to.  
Printed for William Rogers.