no doubt by the Prince of the Power of the Air on behalf of his Children of Darkness to obstruct our Landing But the mighty God and terrible was with us and deliver'd us all from the Peril of the Seas bringing us back to Hell-voot Sluce And after that we had offer'd to him there the Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving for so merciful a Deliverance and tarried there about 11 days then did Almighty God send us a fair Wind which brought us all safely into Torbay where our most renown'd and blessed Prince landed And we were no sooner come into the Bay but the everlasting Arms were about us and changed the Wind which hindred our then Adversaries from pursuing us Who dares deny bu◠this was the Lords own doing and ought not to be forgotten of this Nation but to be marvellous in our Eyes For here was the Finger of God as our very Enemies confess'd And afterwards when we were come to Exeter how wonderfully did the Almighty turn the Hearts of this whole Nation and the opposite Army as the Heart of one Man towards this most valorous and mighty Prince insomuch that very little or no Blood was shed in this blessed and glorious Revolution Again was not the living and true God the best Defence unto our most gracious Sovereign Lord K. William and his Army when he passed the River at Drogheda vulgarly called the River Boyn when as the Enemy was so advantagiously encamped Yet how soon did the Lord strike Terror into all their Hearts and they fled before us Oh there is no question to be made but that the eternal Majesty of Heaven and Earth shelter'd our gracious King under his mighty Wings and encompass'd him about with his Favour and Protection and we hope and pray that he will still do so unto him for ever and ever Here is then a very sharp Reproof unto all wicked and unbelieving Hearts who are even distracted and at their Wits end at the very noise of a giddy Multitude As if the everliving and terrible Majesty of Heaven and Earth even the Lord Jehovah's Hand was shortned As if he was not as able to bless and preserve their most excellent Majesties in these days as he was in our Fore-fathers time Or as if he could not cover them and this Nation with the mighty Wings of his Providence from all Perils and Dangers of the Enemy now as he hath done all along Oh take notice then all ye faint-hearted faithlels and unbelieving Souls of those words of the Prophet Jeremiah Chap. 32. 18 19 27. Behold I am the great the mighty God the Lord of Hosts is my Name I am the God of all Flesh great in Counsel and mighty in Work Is there any thing too hard for me Are you so foolish and unwise as to think that all the Plots Conspiracies and Devices which are against my faithful Servants who fulfil my Will shall ever prevail Do you imagine that I who am the most just and righteous Governor of the World do not regard those my Deputies which rule according to the Truth of my holy Word and are a Terror to the Evil and a Praise to them that do well I tell you plainly That no Weapon form'd against such holy Princes shall prosper For I who am the great King of Heaven and Earth will certainly pull down all such as walk contrary to my Laws and I will bring to nought the Adversaries of my Church like Lambs to the Slaughter And the mighty Men of Babylon shall tremble for fear and forbear to fight They shall remain in their Holds and in their Camps their Might and Strength shall fail 'em and they shall be beaten and destroyed One Post shall run to meet another and one Messenger shall hasten to meet his Fellow To shew the King of Babylon the great and terrible Works of the most high God what Desolations or what an Overthrow the Lord whose Name is Jehovah hath wrought for his own Heritage against their Adversaries And then shall Tidings be spread through the Earth that the Babylonish Forces by Sea and Land are utterly confounded For every purpose of the Lord against Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon shall be perform'd to make him know and feel that God alone is to be feared throughout the whole Earth And tho' he hath devour'd the Heritage of the Lord yet his Heart shall melt away for fear and for those things which are coming upon him Jer. 51. 30 31 33 40. Alas what if the Adversaries of the Lord have gotten a second Chrysippus among 'em which probably may be able to speak well of every thing Or what if they have a second Achitophel But to go higher What if they have a second Aristotle or a second Solomon Yet still so long as we have the Almighty most terrible and all wise for our Defence who is the Fountain of all Wisdom and Knowledg and the Giver of Courage and Strength Deliverance and Salvation we need not to care Suppose we want some of the Beams so we have but the Sun it self And what matter is it if we want some of the Streams when we have the pure Spring Nay corrupt Streams and muddy and deceitful Branches are very unwholesome and infectious unto the Body Politick and therefore if they are dryed up or wasted we need not to care But now for the Church of God to hold fast together and to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with one Heart in one place is a very good and joyful thing and no doubt exceeding acceptable in the sight of God our heavenly Father And I hope every one that hath the fear of God before his Eyes and the least regard to the welfare of their Majesties and their Kingdoms or to their own Salvation will not be remiss in joyning with the Church in Prayer upon our solemn Fast-days For tho' it cannot be denied but that the effectual fervent Prayer of one righteous Man avails much yet it must be granted that the joynt Prayers of a Congregation or rather of the whole Church prevail infinitely more One Stick may make a Fire but many Sticks put together will make a great and hot Fire One String of an Instrument may make a sound but many Strings a melodious Harmony One single Prayer in our Closets may be a Sacrifice but the Prayers of a whole Kingdom makes a Sacrifice to God of a sweet smelling Savour and therefore the Psalmist calls the publick Prayers of the Church a worshipping of the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness Psal 29. 2. We read of those Worthies how couragious they were for to keep Faith and a good Conscience Yea so valiant for the Lord's cause that they loved not their Lives unto Death Hence says that Champion of the Apostles None of these things move me neither count I my Life dear unto my self so that I may finish my Course with Joy c. Saviat persequendo nihil in me moritur nisi mortale erit in
he came to King Saul and said Let no Mans Heart fail because of him thy Servant will go and Fight with this Philistine 1 Sam. 17. 23 32. Yea such a Man as serves the Supreme Majesty of Heaven and Earth in sincerity and truth and is a Soldier of the Holy Jesus in Deed as well as Profession will not only be ready to Aid and Assist his Prince with what Mony he can possibly against an Enemy of Truth and Peace but with David he will go himself and defie that Philistine to his Face who hath defied his God and his King And so Paul himself an Apostle or rather chief of the Apostles of Jesus Christ is not only ready to be bound but also to Die at Jerusalem for the Name of his Master and the Testimony of a good Conscience So that we who are or have been in the Wars and have shewed Courage for the Gospel sake and against the Children of Babylon need not to be cast down at the sharp reflections of some who pretend to be of our Church but God knoweth their hearts for they not only are remiss themselves in stirring up the people to be Couragious in Gods Cause and be stedfast and faithful unto Their Majesties in these times of War but they take occasion to upbraid such as do their Duty in this Nature For my own part I must speak in the Gospel words He that is not with us or for us is undoubtedly against us I can easily prove this for its a palpable Truth That whosoever grows not daily in Grace is going backwards from the Region of the Blessed Go we must and go we do daily there is no standing still because our Glass is running and our Time flies away as a swift Ship or as the Eagle that hasteth to the Prey Either we must walk in the Paths of Righteousness or else we must wander in the broad way So these close sort of People must either follow God or Baal they must and do adhere more to Their Majesties or else their Enemies in their Hearts for they can never be Neuters in real Truth And therefore he who always praises the French Arms does Tacitly dispraise Their Majesties He that Justifies the Wicked and he that Condemns the Just are equally an Abomination to the Lord as Solomon tells us Prov. 17. 15. And these sort of People are to be avoided I confess there are not lacking another sort who Asperse and have Aspersed this Saint-like Valour in the Servants of the most High God calling it Ignorance Fool-hardiness Pride of Heart and Folly when as it is indeed and in truth nothing else but true Christian Courage or Fortitude a Noble stedfastness of Mind and Spirit which will by no means warp or swerve from its Allegiance to our Governors or be Terrified with any Humane Puissance or any outward Terribleness or Amazements No nor will it be discouraged at Death it self or at all the Powers of Darkness Such was that Courage of David who says Though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death I will fear no Evil for thou art with me thy Rod and thy Staff they Comfort me Psal 23. 4. It was an excellent Answer that a certain Eminent Servant of God made unto one of the Emperours when he was Threaten'd for his Religion I fear not Imprisonment because I can have there as much freedom with my best Friends as now when I am at liberty As for Banishment I defie it for let me be driven into what terrible Desert or Wilderness whatsoever yet there shall I find my God And I look upon this World it self to be a Banishment of us all for our first Parents Sin and Transgression Paradise being the true place of our Souls Nativity And as for Death I long for it that I may Triumph over it through Jesus Christ and what am I now but a mere Skeleton even worn away to Skin and Bones and that is the passage unto Eternal Life and Everlasting Joy Oh what can we say to all Pusillanimous Persons that are afraid to serve the King or their Country in the Wars that dare not trust the Almighty Lord with their Lives in a Camp or Fleet as well as here at home although he is the preserver as well as giver thereof For in God we live in him we move and in him we have our being Acts 17. 28. Sure I am that Fearfulness and Pusillanimity are infallible Specimens and Signals of an Evil and Unbelieving Heart and the Portion of such St. John says is in the Lake that burneth with Fire and Brimstone And it is for want of a well grounded Hope and a firm Faith in God's Mercy through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ that Men are thus Fearful which Hope the Children of God have as an Anchor of their Souls both sure and stedfast Heb. 6. 18. And therefore we have a Command for to consider him that endured the Cross and despised Death and the shame thereof for our sakes And again look unto that Prince of Glory who so willingly offered up himself to Death even a Cursed Ignominious and Painful Death And if we have but Faith as a Grain of Mustard-Seed we cannot but be Couragious and Valiant in his Cause and for his Truth and Gospel-sake What then so dreadful a Face of present Confusion or fore-imagined Forms of future Trouble and Calamity are able or ought Slavishly to Deject and Terrifie that Holy Soul which with a sweet and safe Repose is most happily and everlastingly hid under the Wings of that Mighty God whom it ought to trust and who is the best and safest Defence of all his People That infinite Majesty of Heaven and Earth which for the Defence of all such as Fear him and for their Deliverance is able to work 1. By very weak means as he did in Gideon's Army sometimes which was no more but Three Hundred against their Enemies the Midianites and Amalekites and all the Children of the East which were in the Valley like Grass-hoppers for Multitude and their Camels were without Number as the Sand by the Sea-side Judg. 7. 5 6 12. 2. Without any means at all Thus did he when he destroyed Jehoshaphat's Enemies the Moabites and Ammonites for says the Text 2 Chron. 20. 23. The Children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the Inhabitants of Mount Seir utterly to slay and to destroy them And when they had made an end of the Inhabitants of Seir every one helped to destroy another 3. Contrary to means As when he made the Waters which came down from above to stand and rise up upon an heap and those that came down toward the Sea of the Plain even the Salt Sea failed and were cut off Josh 3. 13 16. So that where the everlasting Jehovah is a Defence and Salvation there Heaven and Earth and all the Hosts of both are Eternally Reconciled to such a Soul and become its Friends Yea all the Storms and
Tempests raised by all the powers of Hell are presently Calm'd for ever doing such a one any Mortal hurt All the Creatures then pull in their Horns retire their Stings bite in their Poison Snubb'd and Awed by those Divine Impressions of their Creators Blessed Image stamp'd on such a Soul by the Holy Spirit of Grace and dare not offer any more Trouble or Vexation to it except it be upon a particular Dispensation for its Spiritual Good and Quickning than to the Apple of God's Eye hear his Holy Promise from his own Mouth Hos 2. 18. And in that Day I will make a Covenant for them namely his Servants with the Beasts of the Field and with the Fowls of Heaven and with the Creeping things of the ground And I will break the Bow and the Sword and the Battel out of the Earth and I will make them to lie down safely For I the Lord their God am their Confidence and I will keep their Foot from being taken For I will set every Man's Sword against his Fellow in the Camp of my Peoples Enemies as I did for my Servant Gideon and his Army Judges 7. 22. In the last place This ought to stir us all up in these times of War unto this grand Duty of Courage and Boldness in Fighting the Lords Battel and depending wholly and solely on him and Imploring his All-sufficient Aid and Almighty Help Oh let us down with the Mountains and up with the Valleys and know no Fears no Doubtings no Discouragements but like David's Worthies Which broke through the Host of the Philistines and brought him of the Waters of the Well of Bethlehem to drink So let us every one make our way through all the Reasonings and Disputings of Unbelief into those Everlasâ—â—â—â—â—rms of God's Free Grace and Endless Mercy in Jesus Christ For his Mercy and Assistance towards those that Fear him and Dread him is without all stint and limit like himself infinite so unmeasurable that it reaches from everlasting to everlasting So tender that it surpasses incomprehensibly the Compassionate Heart-Meltings of the Lovingest Mother Isa 49. 15 16. Can a Woman forget her Sucking Child that she should not have Compassion on the Son of her Womb Yea they may forget yet will I not forget thee Behold I have graven thee upon the Palms of my Hands thy Walls are continually before me Let me tell you then that it is far more Generous and Christ-like for to Die a Martyr in the Cause of God and for his true Protestant Church if we are called thereunto than to Live and Moulder away our Time and Strength without doing one tittle of Good in our Generation Alas Within a little while the Grinders will cease of their own accord and the Windows of our Eyes will be darken'd and the Doors I mean those Pipes wherewith we draw our Breath shut up fast Alas The Pusillanimous Man considers not how eagerly and with what Industry the old Sexton Time with his sharp Spade throws up the Earth and digs a Grave where we all that are now here must one Day lay our Sins and our Sorrows together and sow these Mortal Bodies till they rise again in a Glorious or an intolerable Eternity Every Revolution which the Sun makes about the World divides between Life and Death so that all those Days which we have lived already are dead to us and we shall never live them over again Currit mortalibus aevum nec nasci bis posse datur fugit hora rapitque Tartareus torrens ac secum ferre sub umbras siqua animo placuere negat Poor Mortals we form our very Words of that which is most near and dear to us even the Breath of our Nostrils and therefore we have the less to live upon for every word which we speak hence saith the Prophet Isaiah Chap. 2. ult Cease ye from Man whose Breath is in his Nostrils for wherein is he to be accounted of The Philosophers Taught That there was no greater Encouragement against all fear of Death than to consider we must needs Die There is now an absolute Necessity thereof or else we cannot obtain Life Eternal or come to the Glorious God of Life And this was St. Paul's Argument for to prove the Resurrection That which thou sowest is not quicken'd except it die So these Natural Bodies must be dissolved into Dust and Corruption before they can be made Spiritual and like unto Christ's Glorious Body Oh remember then that the very Heathens Taught That it was no small Honour to Die for ones Country But we Christians must confess that 't is the highest Honour to Die for the Faith of Christ and a good Conscience towards God And therefore let me bespeak you all 〈…〉 in Their Majesties Fleet and Army in the words of Joab 2 Sam. 10. 12. Be of good Courage and let us play the Men for our King and Queen for our People and for our Church of England and the Lord do that which seemeth good Fear not nor be afraid but Sanctifie the Lord of Hosts himself and let him be your Fear and let him be your Dread and he shall be a Sanctuary to you But for a Gin and a Snare and a Trap to the Adversaries of his Truth Would you have the Crown of Life Oh be you Valiant and Faithful unto Death Would you have the Great and Terrible God among you as your Strength and Defence Oh then let not Vain Thoughts Lodg in your Breast But cease to do Evil and learn to do well Would you be esteem'd Worthies by God and Their Majesties then break through the Babylonish Army and sink their Idolatrous and Superstitious Fopperies into the bottom of the Sea Would you have your Memories Blessed and your Names to be had in Everlasting Remembrance and the Generations to come for to Praise your Glorious and Noble Deeds Then be sure for to pull down some Monuments of Idolatry and Raze out some Relicts of Popery for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake and with Sampson Aveng your selves of your Enemies at once before you go hence and be no more seen Rebel not ye against the Lord c. Amen Amen Amen FINIS