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<DATE>2013-06-26</DATE>
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<NAME>John Pas</NAME>
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<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed as part of batch B130311.apex.</ITEM>
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<P>God Glorified, AND THE <HI>Wicked Snared.</HI></P>
<P>IN A THANKSGIVING SERMON For the mo&s;t happy Pre&s;erva|tion of His Maje&s;ty, King <HI>WILLIAM</HI> III. from a mo&s;t horrid and barbarous A&s;&s;a&s;&s;ination, in order to an Inva&s;ion from <HI>France.</HI></P>
<P>By <HI>A. S.</HI></P>
<P>LONDON: Printed, and are to be &s;old by <HI>R. Baldwin</HI> at the <HI>Oxford-Arms</HI> in <HI>Warwick-Lane.</HI> 1696.</P>
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<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB REF="3">
<PB N="1" REF="3">
<HEAD>God Glorified, AND THE <HI>Wicked Snared.</HI></HEAD>
<Q><BIBL>PSAL. IX. 16.</BIBL> The Lord is known by the Judgments that he executeth.</Q>
<P>ALthough there be nothing in the World &s;o much removed from the Eye of Sen&s;e as the Sub&s;tance of the E&s;&s;ence of God is; yet there is nothing more known by its Acts and Operations. The dire&s;t Beams of the Divine Maje&s;ty that flow from his Being and E&s;&s;ence, the&s;e are
<PB N="2" REF="4"> too illu&s;trious for our dim and bleared Eyes to gaze upon. But then the Rayes of his Wi&s;dom and Power, Goodne&s;s, Ju&s;tice, and Holine&s;s reflected upon us from the Creature, the&s;e di&s;cover God unto us, and make him known, who in his E&s;&s;ence is a great Deep, an eternal Aby&s;s unto our Eyes; &s;o that although there be nothing in the World le&s;s known than the very Being or E&s;&s;ence of God; yet there is nothing more clear, more vi&s;ible in its <HI>Acts, Effects,</HI> and <HI>Operations,</HI> than God's <HI>Attributes</HI> are, his Wi&s;dom, Power, Goodne&s;s, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> his <HI>E&s;&s;ence</HI> (as I may &s;ay) it is all covered with thick Darkne&s;s, veyl'd with Clouds from our Eye, but the Rayes of tho&s;e <HI>Attributes</HI> &s;hine through tho&s;e Clouds: So that as we &s;ee the Light of the Sun many times when we cannot &s;ee the Sun it &s;elf, the Body there|of being hidden under a Cloud. So may we &s;ee the Lu&s;tre and Glory of the Wi&s;|dom, Power, and Greatne&s;s of God, while we cannot &s;ee his E&s;&s;ence, nor pry into the Deep of God him&s;elf. Which I conceive will in&s;truct us as a Preparation to under|&s;tand
<PB N="3" REF="4"> the Words, <HI>The Lord is known,</HI> &amp;c. Which words are an ab&s;olute and plain Pro|po&s;ition of them&s;elves, therefore I &s;hall not any way divide or le&s;&s;en them, le&s;t al&s;o I &s;hould at the &s;ame time cut the Nerves of the Truth, and make it weak by being mi|nute and ob&s;cure, which in it &s;elf is as it were a &s;trong and an entire Body; but I &s;hall &s;peak unto them by making the&s;e Que|&s;tions upon them:</P>
<P N="1">I. <HI>What is the Judgment of God here &s;aid to be executed?</HI></P>
<P N="2">II. <HI>When may God be &s;aid to be known in the Sen&s;e &s;poken of in the Words?</HI></P>
<P N="3">III. <HI>How may we under&s;tand more remark|ably the Judgments of God? Or thus, How or by what means do the Judgments that God executes in the World, make the &s;ame God known unto us?</HI></P>
<PB N="4" REF="5">
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> What is meant by the Judgments here &s;poken of? I an&s;wer, by Judgment expre&s;t by the <HI>Hebrew Mi&s;hpat,</HI> we are to under&s;tand the righteous Sentences, and ho|ly Decrees of God pa&s;t upon Man, or Man|kind, in order to Reward or Puni&s;hment; and al&s;o the Execution that is made upon the pa&s;&s;ing of the&s;e Sentences. So the <HI>Jew|i&s;h</HI> Ma&s;ters tell us, It is to judge according to Truth, and execute al&s;o according to that Judgment whether it be in Matter of Puni&s;hment or Reward. And then if you would know the particular Sen&s;e, wherein the Word is taken here, there's no Que&s;ti|on but it refers to the wor&s;t Sen&s;e (that is to &s;ay) an <HI>Act</HI> of Judgment, the Execution of it, as the latter part of the words &s;hew, <HI>The Wicked is &s;nared in the Work of their own Hands.</HI> Look in what Sen&s;e the Judgment of God is &s;aid to be executed in the latter part of the Text, in that Sen&s;e it is taken in the former part: but the Judgment execu|ted is &s;poken in re&s;pect of Puni&s;hment of
<PB N="5" REF="5"> Offenders; therefore &s;o is it to be taken in the former part al&s;o.</P>
<P>Secondly, <HI>When may God be &s;aid to be known in the Sen&s;e &s;poken of in the Words?</HI></P>
<P>I an&s;wer, When &s;o much of his Wi&s;dom, Power, Ju&s;tice, Righteou&s;ne&s;s, Holine&s;s, or any other of the Divine <HI>Attributes,</HI> is di&s;|covered and made known unto the Sons of Men, as that every Man that will con&s;ider may indeed ob&s;erve and take Notice of; that <HI>he that hath an ear, may hear;</HI> and <HI>he that hath an Eye, may &s;ee,</HI> if he plea&s;e. We are not here to think that God &s;peaks of the Metaphy&s;ical, or Phylo&s;ophical Knowledge of his E&s;&s;ence; No, that's too high for us; but he &s;peaks of Moral Knowledge of his <HI>Attributes,</HI> or indeed rather of a &s;ober and pious, and humble Acknowledgment of them. So that then God may be &s;aid to be known when his Wi&s;dom, Power, Good|ne&s;s are acknowledged in the&s;e Providences and Di&s;pen&s;ations that he exerci&s;eth and acts among the Sons of Men. The Holy Scrip|tures
<PB N="6" REF="6"> they were not (generally at lea&s;t, and in the large&s;t Extents of them) de&s;igned to in&s;truct Philo&s;ophers, and to di&s;cipline and teach Men of great and rai&s;ed parts and un|der&s;tandings only, but they were as well aimed to enlighten, to inform, to teach, and in&s;truct Men of lower and weaker Ca|pacity. As the Sun doth not only &s;hine up|on the Cedars of <HI>Lebanon,</HI> upon the talle&s;t and brave&s;t Plants of the Wood, the Trees of the Fore&s;t; but al&s;o upon the lower Brambles and Bu&s;hes; in like manner, God (who would have all to be &s;aved) doth not &s;o cau&s;e the Holy Scriptures to be drawn, penn'd, or Written, that they &s;hould only be under&s;tood by Men of greate&s;t Parts (I mean in the general, or things nece&s;&s;ary) and of highe&s;t Attainments; but al&s;o, that what is nece&s;&s;ary &s;hould be drawn out of them, even by Men of lower and meaner Under|&s;tandings. And hence it comes to pa&s;s when we find the Knowledge of God &s;poken of in Scripture, it is not to be under&s;tood Philo&s;ophical, Notional, Metaphy&s;ical Know|ledge of his Being and E&s;&s;ence (for this is
<PB N="7" REF="6"> above all Capacities) but we are to under|&s;tand common and ordinary acknowledg|ment of tho&s;e wonderful and glorious <HI>Attri|butes</HI> of God &s;hining in his Providence, made known in his Works, appearing in all tho&s;e Exerci&s;es of that Providence in the World, and among&s;t Mankind.</P>
<P>Thirdly, <HI>How, and by what means does the Judgments which God executes in the World make him known unto the Sons of Men.</HI></P>
<P>I an&s;wer fir&s;t in the General, That God's Judgments they are generally &s;uited and &s;trangely accomodated unto the Time, Op|portunity, and al&s;o unto the Nature of tho&s;e things that are at &s;uch times upon the Wheel, or upon the Anvil, when tho&s;e Judgments are di&s;covered and are executed in the World. The Wi&s;dom of Divine Providence it makes it &s;elf known every where unto a &s;eeing and con&s;idering Eye; and if we will but take notice of things, we may &s;ee the Lines of Divine Wi&s;dom and
<PB N="8" REF="7"> Knowledge drawn upon every thing, we may di&s;cover the Foot&s;teps of Righteou&s;ne&s;s and Ju&s;tice generally in God's Judgments, of his Intendments, and of his De&s;igns in the World.</P>
<P>But to fall into particulars: All God's Judgments are &s;ea&s;onable, and the mo&s;t re|markable in the&s;e Particulars.</P>
<P N="1">1. They often &s;urprize the Sinner in the very act of Sin; they are&s;t the Hand that is lifted up to &s;trike; they cut off the Head that is plotting and contriving to de&s;troy; they fall in upon the Sinner ju&s;t in &s;uch a nick of time either as he was ready to do the Evil, or while he was ju&s;t doing of it; and this is a great and a &s;ingular Di&s;covery of the Providence of God in the&s;e Affairs. Men, they do indeed follow and &s;et as it were the Contrivances and Plottings of Evil Men at a great Di&s;tance; they do trace the Works of Darkne&s;s in the Dark, and &s;o they often mi&s;s that which they follow; the Sinner e&s;capes in a Crowd, or a Mi&s;t of his
<PB N="9" REF="7"> own making, and &s;o gets off without any Puni&s;hment to them here in this World. But now God he hath an Eye in every Attom of the Sun, and his Eye-Beams they point in|to every Corner of Man's Heart. He &s;tands by when all the Contrivances and Machina|tions of wicked men are upon the Wheel; &s;tands by though he do not partake or com|municate with them. He li&s;tens unto all the Plots that are made; nay, he hears without li&s;tening; for he is in the very Heart that thinks, in the very Head that contrives; and with the Voiee, the Tongue that &s;peaks, though it whi&s;per never &s;o gently, never &s;o &s;oftly, yet then he only can give Strength to it to move. And now when Plots are laid, and De&s;igns contriv'd, and In&s;truments of Death are forged, and are big, and ready upon the Anvil; when the Innocent is de|&s;igned for &s;laughter, and when the Righte|ous is &s;wallowed up in hope; and when the Prey is already devoured in the Expectation of the Devourer, then doth God often times &s;trike in, and fall upon the Necks of tho&s;e evil Per&s;ons.</P>
<PB N="10" REF="8">
<P>You may ob&s;erve God takes Plea&s;ure (at lea&s;t in many &s;ignal Evils) to choo&s;e the ve|ry time of Sin for the time of Puni&s;hment: <HI>&V;zziah</HI> &s;tretches out his Hand to &s;upport the Ark, which was not to be touched by any &s;uch Per&s;on, and he is in the &s;ame Moment &s;mitten dead, <HI>touched him&s;elf by the Hand of the Lord, and taken away in the twinckling of an Eye,</HI> 1 Chron. 13. 9, 10. again <HI>&V;zziah</HI> the King, he arrogates to him&s;elf to execute the Prie&s;ts Office, he invades the Work that was put into the Hands of other Per&s;ons, <HI>and in the &s;ame Moment he was &s;mitten with Lepro&s;y,</HI> 2 Chron. 26. 19. Thus al&s;o was it with <HI>Corah, Dathan,</HI> and <HI>Abiram,</HI> they were &s;urprized in the very Act of their Rebellion. God thus deprehends, &s;eizes, and are&s;ts a Sinner, even in the very Act and Exerci&s;e of Sin; when he &s;tops him in the full Ca|rear, and lays hold upon him while he was ju&s;t falling upon the Evil de&s;igned, this &s;hews that it is God that &s;trikes, and that it is his Wi&s;dom, and his Ju&s;tice that interpo&s;eth in &s;uch a ca&s;e as this is.</P>
<P N="2"><PB N="11" REF="8">2. If God doth fall upon the Sinner by &s;ome remarkable, vi&s;ible, and extraordina|ry Judgment; this is an other Demon&s;tration of God's Providence, and &s;uch as may well be &s;aid to be in Judgment among&s;t the Sons of Men. If God &s;hall fill the World with Darkne&s;s at Noon-day; if God &s;hould draw an Eclip&s;e over the Eye of the World, that is to &s;ay upon the Face of the Sun, at an extraordinary time, in an extraordinary man|ner, as he did at our Saviour's Death, would we not all &s;ay, and mu&s;t we not needs acknowledge, that the Hand of God is here?</P>
<P>So when the Veil of the Temple was rent (the Temple it &s;elf being in good Re|pair) and divided a&s;under, as it was at our Saviour's Death; was not this a vi&s;ible De|mon&s;tration of the Interpo&s;ition of God's Power and of his Providence here in the World? The Fate al&s;o of the Rebels in <HI>I&s;|rael</HI> (before in&s;tanced in) was the more re|markable, in that by a Prophe&s;y, <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> had
<PB N="12" REF="9"> foretold that &s;ome &s;trange Death &s;hould fall upon them, <HI>Then the earth opened its mouth and &s;wallowed them up,</HI> Numb. 16. 31, 32. So again we find tho&s;e Two Hundred and Fifty Per&s;ons that offered &s;trange Fire unto God, the&s;e are taken away by a &s;trange Fire; this is a Demon&s;tration of God's Ju&s;tice, and of their Iniquity.</P>
<P N="3">3. God's Judgments again are often Exe|cuted when the Wicked have brought things to &s;uch a pa&s;s as that the Righeous are al|mo&s;t ruined, and are in the greate&s;t danger, then God appears at &s;uch a time, and this Appearance demon&s;trates him to be God, and makes him known among&s;t Mankind; <HI>In the mount will the Lord be &s;een,</HI> Gen. 22. 14. God often lets Wickedne&s;s arrive and &s;well into great Tides, unto great Exce&s;&s;es and Inundations; he often &s;uffers the Winds to blow, and the Sea to ari&s;e, and the Waves to &s;well until the Sides of the Ve&s;|&s;el crack, the Cordage be broken; until the Church as it were be ready to &s;ink, and the mighty Waters ready to pa&s;s over it;
<PB N="13" REF="9"> and then in a Moment he &s;tills the Winds, he allays the Fury of the&s;e Tempe&s;ts that overflow; he makes the Face of the Waters &s;mooth like Gla&s;s, and he heals the Breach|es of the Ve&s;&s;el, and knits the joints there|of together again.</P>
<P>And when God deals thus with his Church, this is a Demon&s;tration that there is a Pro|vidence awake and alive in the World, that takes Notice of things, even when they are brought to the greate&s;t Hazards, and in the greate&s;t Dangers and Extremities. God loves &s;ometimes for the clearer demon&s;trati|on of his Providence, to let things go to dangerous Points, unto very dreadful hazard|ous Ca&s;es; he &s;ometimes placeth his People upon the Brink of the Pit; and &s;ets his Church as it were upon the Brow of a Rock, upon a great Precipice; but then he &s;o orders things again, that he interpo&s;es in times of greate&s;t Danger; he re&s;cues the Prey out of the Mouth of the Lyon; he plucks the Firebrand out of the Fire, and he &s;mites out tho&s;e Teeth that were ready to devour; this &s;hews the
<PB N="14" REF="10"> Wi&s;dom, and Power, and demon&s;trates the Providence of God.</P>
<P N="4">4. God interpo&s;es &s;ometimes al&s;o in the mid&s;t of great Affairs; when great De&s;igns are upon the Whell, and great things are driving on towards an I&s;&s;ue, then God de|lights to intervene and &s;hew him&s;elf.</P>
<P>God &s;its in the Centre of the great Wheel of Providence, that rules and governs all the World; he turns the <HI>Primum Mobile,</HI> he moves the fir&s;t moveable, he turns the high|e&s;t Sphere; and though he move the le&s;&s;er Wheel, or the lower Affairs al&s;o, yet we are &s;ure the great and mighty Affairs are go|verned by none but God; if a Hair of a Man's Head do not fall without the Providence of God, how much le&s;s the Man him&s;elf? If every Man, every &s;ingle Per&s;on be the Con|cernment of Divine Providence, how much more tho&s;e Per&s;ons that are God's Vicegerents, Princes, Magi&s;trates, and Men in place; for they have a double Relation to God, as Men, and as Men in Power. And there|fore
<PB N="15" REF="10"> you &s;hall find that God makes mention of the very Name of <HI>Cyrus</HI> many Years be|fore he was born, and calls him his Servant, nay his Anointed Servant, and that though <HI>Cyrus</HI> was a Heathen Prince, but then he was a Prince, and a Prince that God de&s;ign|ed to make u&s;e of in the Re&s;tauration of his Church, and return of his People out of the Captivity of <HI>Babylon, I&s;a.</HI> 45. 1. Again, <HI>Dan.</HI> 2. 22. 'Tis &s;aid he changeth times and &s;ea&s;ons, and therefore the&s;e changes are in a peculiar manner attributed unto the provi|dence, and unto the Di&s;pen&s;ations of God's Wi&s;dom, and to his Power; for who can remove Mountains, but he that lifted them up? and who can exalt the Valleys but he that laid them low? and who can change Times, but the Author of Time it &s;elf, and the Father of Eternity? And therefore, al|though thou woulde&s;t not ob&s;erve the Pro|vidence of God in le&s;&s;er Affairs; though thou would&s;t not hear the Voice thereof whi&s;pering in &s;mall things; yet when Divine Wi&s;dom and Power thunder from Heaven, when they appear in &s;everal great and won|derful
<PB N="16" REF="11"> Revolutions and Tran&s;actions in the World, &s;urely he that is not verily blind, he mu&s;t &s;ee at &s;uch a time as this is, when the Hand of the Lord hath been &s;o long and &s;o dreadfully lifted up, who can be &s;o blind as not to &s;ee God's Hand here? or who &s;o hard, and &s;o obdurate as not take notice of the Judgments and of the Righteou&s;ne&s;s of God in &s;uch a ca&s;e as this is?</P>
<P N="5">5. If God interpo&s;e and execute Judg|ment upon the Enemies of the Church, when they are in their greate&s;t Confidence, greate&s;t &s;ecurity, this doing appears to be &s;uch as that it owns no other Author but God him&s;elf, <HI>I&s;a. 36. 18, 19, 20, &amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>Ob&s;erve here what wonderful, proud, &s;ignal Confidence appears in <HI>Rab&s;heka,</HI> and then &s;ee the I&s;&s;ue that falls upon this Confi|dence, <HI>Chap.</HI> 37. 36. How many Thou|&s;ands one Angel &s;lew in one Night. Ob|&s;erve, God delights &s;ometimes to check the In&s;olence, and a&s;toni&s;h the pride of vain Per&s;ons, and of tho&s;e that lift up them&s;elves
<PB N="17" REF="11"> in Iniquity again&s;t him. And that he may do this more effectually, he a&s;toni&s;hes them in their greate&s;t confidence, he de&s;troys them in their highe&s;t Security, and weakens them in the very Flower of their Strength: &s;ignal Di&s;appointments are generally attribu|ted unto God, and &s;o are &s;ignal Deliveran|ces al&s;o: When we &s;ee &s;uch Effects wrought as cannot well own any &s;econd Cau&s;e, upon whom can we Father the&s;e Effects but upon the fir&s;t Cau&s;e only, that is to &s;ay, upon God him&s;elf?</P>
<P>If God &s;hall by weak means produce great ends: If he &s;hall cut off the Head of a Gy|ant by the Hand of a Son of <HI>Je&s;&s;e:</HI> If he &s;hall <HI>&s;catter</HI> a Con&s;piracy by the Light of a Candle: If he &s;hall remove a Mountain by a weak Arm, this mu&s;t needs make God known by the Judgments which he exe|cutes.</P>
<P N="6">6. If God find out and execute Judg|ment upon wicked Per&s;ons in their greate&s;t Secrecies, when they thought no Eye had &s;een,
<PB N="18" REF="12"> when they were per&s;uaded &s;o thick a Dark|ne&s;s had been drawn over the Face of their De&s;igns, that none could pierce nor make a Di&s;covery of it; then for God him&s;elf to unfold and unveil the Mon&s;ter! this &s;hews that God is Judge indeed: <HI>He revealeth deep and &s;ecret things,</HI> &s;aith <HI>Daniel, He knoweth what is in darkne&s;s, and the light dwelleth with him,</HI> Dan. 2. 22.</P>
<P>In the&s;e Six Particulars may God be &s;aid to be known by the Judgments which he executes.</P>
<P>And thus indeed, and in all the&s;e Re|&s;pects was God known by the great Delive|rance he vouch&s;afed to us in the Di&s;covery of this late horrid Con&s;piracy, again&s;t the Life of our pre&s;ent gracious Sovereign, King <HI>WILLIAM,</HI> and in him again&s;t our Religion, Lives, Laws and Liberties: and in the great Judgment that he has exerci&s;ed upon &s;ome of the wicked Contrivers of our De&s;truction. In all the&s;e Particulars now mentioned, did God make him&s;elf known.</P>
<P N="1"><PB N="19" REF="12">1. He &s;urprized them in the very mid&s;t of their Sins; he &s;eized upon them in the very Bowels of the Plot; he broke the Ve&s;&s;els while it was upon the Wheel; and he da&s;ht the In&s;truments of Death in Pieces, even while they were preparing, while they were forging, or rather ju&s;t forg'd upon the Anvil.</P>
<P N="2">2. God did al&s;o remarkably confound and &s;catter tho&s;e wicked Contrivers away; no &s;ooner did the Day break upon their De|&s;igns, and the Light peep upon them; no &s;ooner was the lea&s;t Di&s;covery made, but like Men amazed, even at their own Evil; like Men afraid of the Mon&s;ter that they them&s;elves had formed, hatched, and con|trived, they run away, they divide, they &s;catter, they loo&s;e them&s;elves they know not where; &s;o &s;trangely did God confound and amaze them &s;o &s;oon as ever they were di&s;covered.</P>
<P N="3"><PB N="20" REF="13">3. God di&s;covered them al&s;o in the very nick of Time, when the Mon&s;ter was at the very Gates of the Womb, when it was ju&s;t &s;triving for Birth, when it was ju&s;t ready to devour the Prey, when the Day and Hour fixed for the Execution of their black Treachery, and unparallel'd ba&s;ene&s;s was al|ready arrived, and welcomed by the helli&s;h Content and rejoicing of the A&s;&s;a&s;&s;inators, then did God point at the Evil by a Beam from Heaven, then did he di&s;cover the Plot that was laid, and &s;o prevented it by the &s;ame Di&s;covery.</P>
<P N="4">4. Great Affairs were now upon the Wheel, and great Per&s;ons were at work: the Safety of Chri&s;tendom, the Peace of <HI>Europe,</HI> the E&s;tabli&s;hment of our reformed Religion were depending. The Per&s;on of his &s;acred Maje&s;ty, the chief Patron of this Cau&s;e of God, and the main Ob&s;tacle to the De&s;igns of the Tyranny that makes Head again&s;t <HI>Europe</HI> was therefore &s;truck at.</P>
<PB N="21" REF="13">
<P>They well gue&s;s'd that the Cedar of our <HI>Lebanon</HI> once fallen, they might hew down the Shrubs with le&s;s difficulty; or that the Sprigs which before were defended by his Shade, would be cru&s;h'd by his Fall: That the Peers and Commons a&s;&s;embled in Parlia|ment, though in them&s;elves &s;trong Props and Pillars of our State, yet could not long &s;tand, the Foundation and Centre of their Strength being once ra&s;ed: Yea, that the United Forces, the Confederate Princes would reel at lea&s;t, before &s;o mighty a Shock.</P>
<P>Providence therefore appeared &s;ignally, in preventing &s;o common a Ruine; where|in not a &s;ingle Nation only, though mighty and numerous; but the whole Intere&s;t of divers States were concerned; and from which, had it taken effect, many Kingdoms might have dated their Mi&s;ery.</P>
<P N="5">5. How &s;ecure and confident were the&s;e wicked Contrivers at this time! the Trai|tors
<PB N="22" REF="14"> being cheri&s;hed by the Goodne&s;s they ingratefully con&s;pired again&s;t: Goodne&s;s free from jealou&s;y, as it was from Inju&s;tice and Oppre&s;&s;ion; and the Vipers &s;eeing them|&s;elves nouri&s;hed in the Royal Bo&s;om, thought they might un&s;u&s;pected &s;ting the Princely Brea&s;t.</P>
<P>Thus &s;ecure they had already &s;wallowed the Prey in hopes, they had &s;hared and di|vided the Nations, a&s;&s;igned the Keys of <HI>Eng|land</HI> to be the Holds of a Foreign Tyrant; they had cantoned us into &s;everal Tribes for them&s;elves to &s;eize on, and each had marked his intended Va&s;&s;als.</P>
<P>They had re&s;olved, (and that with great Confidence) to have blown up all our Secu|rities in a Moment, and to have amaz'd the World with an Act of Villany, &s;urpa&s;&s;ing the mo&s;t accur&s;ed Trea&s;ons of all Ages pa&s;t.</P>
<P>In A&s;&s;urance of Succe&s;s they in&s;ulted and divided the Spoil in their Thoughts; all
<PB N="23" REF="14"> things (but e&s;pecially his Maje&s;ty's being a|bove little Di&s;tru&s;ts, and full of Love which thinketh and &s;u&s;pecteth no Evil) con&s;pired to favour their Treachery; which &s;o hight|ned their Expectations, that they imagined the Thunderbolt now might be again&s;t the Thunderer him&s;elf, and that Lightning might be taught or con&s;trained to ravi&s;h Heaven, and their de&s;igns move again&s;t the Will of Providence, and God's De&s;igns in the World.</P>
<P N="6">6. The&s;e wicked men thought that no Eye had &s;een them; like cunning Workmen they laid the Works of Darkne&s;s in the dark; and contrived tho&s;e &s;ecret and evil De&s;igns with very great and &s;ignal Secre&s;y: But God rent the Veyl of the Pit that they digged; and he broke the Day upon them, and &s;o the &s;nare it &s;elf was broken al&s;o.</P>
<P>God would not that our Religion, and Laws, and Liberties, and Prince and People &s;hould be &s;urpriz'd in a Moment into Death, Confu&s;ion and Slavery.</P>
<PB N="24" REF="15">
<P>He would not (&s;o great was his gracious Providence) that the Reformation which had been fir&s;t produced with &s;o much La|bour and Toyl; which had been the Fruit of &s;o great Councils, &s;o many Martyrs, &s;o many Prayers and Tears, &s;o many &s;ignal and great Endeavours and Examples; he would not, I &s;ay, that all this &s;hould be bla&s;ted in a Moment, by the Contrivances of wicked and de&s;perate Per&s;ons.</P>
<P>He had lately re&s;tored to <HI>England</HI> her Priviledges and Liberties, which were well nigh en&s;laved by Arbitrary Power; had anointed a <HI>David</HI> to ble&s;s and govern his <HI>I&s;|rael,</HI> a Prince who&s;e Vertue equals his Great|ne&s;s, and who&s;e Dignity receives a Lu&s;tre from his Piety, and he would not deprive us of a Mercy which we have as yet but ta&s;ted enough of to increa&s;e our De&s;ires after its continuance; he would not &s;ubject us to the &s;ame Yoke of Tyranny he had but lately re&s;cued us from: He would not that the Crown &s;o lately fixed, &s;hould &s;o &s;oon
<PB N="25" REF="15"> fall from the Head of him, who had found Mercy not to &s;tain its Glory with any unju&s;t, or unprincely Action. Therefore for this Deliverance we have great Cau&s;e to ble&s;s him this Day, and for ever. And &s;ince God has pre&s;erved a King dear to us as our Lives and Religion; let us make a return of Thankfulne&s;s proved in Zeal to the Honour of God and Religion, and in all Loyalty to the Power pre&s;erved over us. Our Zeal to Religion &s;hould di&s;cover it &s;elf in aiming at tho&s;e Ends for which it was given, <HI>&s;cil.</HI> The Peace of the Church, and the Peace of the State, and the Safety of our own Souls. Let every Man that pretends to hate the Su|per&s;tition of the Church of <HI>Rome,</HI> hate the Treachery and the Rebellion of their Princi|ples al&s;o: What Advantage will it be to cur&s;e the Pope at <HI>Rome,</HI> and to nouri&s;h Po|pi&s;h Principles under our own Roof, nay, in our own Hearts?</P>
<P>To conclude, That Religion that makes us good Men, will make us good Subjects al|&s;o; and if it do not make us good Subjects,
<PB N="26" REF="16"> without doubt it hath not made us good Chri&s;tians: For it is one indi&s;pen&s;ible Law of Chri&s;tian Religion, that we obey Magi|&s;trates, that we &s;ubmit unto tho&s;e Authori|ties that God hath placed over us; and if we do not &s;ubmit to them, neither do we &s;ubmit to God's Laws. Let us therefore take care that none of us be deficient in the &s;ame Duty, but let us obey God, and let us obey Laws, and live in Peace, in mu|tual Love one of another, and this is the way to be happy here, and happy hereafter al&s;o.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
<PB REF="16">
<PB REF="17">
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
