The Plotters Doom, Sermon

The Plotters Doom · Sermon

THE Plotters Doom.

WHEREIN The Wicked PLOTS, PLOTTERS, and their Confederates, are Detected and ſentenced by the HOLY SCRIPTURES.

In a Late SERMON UPON THE Helliſh Plots Which have been diſcovered in theſe Nations.

And may be An Anſwer to Mr. H's late SERMON UPON CƲRSE YE MEROZ.

By a ſincere Proteſtant, and true Son of the Church.

Laudatur ab his culpatur ab illis.

Prov. 21.30. There is no wiſdom nor underſtanding, nor counſel againſt the Lord.

LONDON, Printed for Benj. Alſop at the Angel and Bible in the Poultrey, over againſt the Stocks-Market, 1680.

p. 1The Plotters Doom, &c.

PSAL. XXXVII. 12.

The wicked plotteth againſt the juſt, and gnaſheth upon him with his teeth.

THIS Pſalm carries in it the Character of all the men in the world; for there are but two ſorts of perſons that the world has in it, the Godly and the Ungodly, or the Righteous and the wicked; and here you have the Character of both. And they are all along put by way of Antitheſis, and very often in the ſame verſe. As verſe 21, The wicked borroweth and payeth not again: but the righteous ſheweth mercy and giveth And ſo in the 17th verſe, The arm of the wicked ſhall be broken, but the Lord upholdeth the righteous.

My Text is part of the Character of the wicked; and becauſe Plots are now grown to be all the faſhion, I have choſen as faſhionable a Text as I could. In which we have theſe three General Parts:

1. The Perſons Plotting.

2. The Perſons againſt whom they Plot.

3. The Carriage or comportment of the Plotters.

1. The Perſons plotting, The wicked plotteth.

2. The Perſons againſt whom they plot, and that is againſt the juſt.

3. The carriage or comportment of the Plotters, They gnaſh upon them with their teeth.

Of theſe through Gods aſſiſtance, and your Chriſtian patience, I ſhall ſpeak in their order, as the time will permit. And urſt of the firſt.

p. 2I. The Perſons plotting, the wicked; The wicked plotteth.

How many ways evil men are called wicked in the Sacred Scriptures, would be an inquiry too long, as alſo too fine and curious for our preſent Diſcourſe; for you find them call'd ſo upon many accounts.

Idolaters are ſtiled ſo, Deut. 17.5.

Oppreſſors, Exod. 9.27. The Lord is righteous (ſays Pharoah) but I and my people are wicked.

Perſecutors are alſo call'd wicked, Pſal. 10.2. The wicked in his pride doth perſecute the poor.

Rebels; and ſo you find Corah and his fellows [though of the Clergy] are call'd wicked with a witneſs, Numb. 16.26. Depart I pray ye (ſays Moſes to the Congregation) from the tents of theſe wicked men, leſt you be conſumed in all their ſins.

The unmerciful and cruel are alſo termed ſo by Solomon, Prov. 12.10. The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

Nay a greater than Solomon, our Saviour himſelf calls the uncompaſſionate wicked, Mat. 18.32. O thou wicked ſervant, I forgave thee all thy debt, becauſe thou deſireſt me; ſhouldeſt not thou alſo have had compaſſion on thy fellow-ſervant, even as I had pity on thee?

Unjuſt Magiſtrates are alſo called wicked, Prov. 29.2. When the rightoous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn. And in a particular and more eminent manner unjuſt Judges, Prov. 17.15.

But not to enumerate any more Particulars, let us underſtand the wicked here in this place according to the common and moſt received notion of the word, for perſons utterly void and empty of every thing that is good and virtuous, and that are repleat with vice and evil of every kind; and the words thus taken, will give us this plain and profitable Inſtruction.

That wicked men are Plotters, and the only Plotters the world has in it.

Plotters in Sacred Scripture are called by divers names; ſometimes they are tituled Conſpirators, as in 2 Sam. 15.31. And one told David, ſaying, Achitophel is among the Conſpirators with Abſolom. p. 3And ſo they plotted againſt the Church of God of old; for 'tis ſaid in Nehem. 4.8. That when the enemies of the Church heard that the walls of Jeruſalem were made, and that the breaches began to be ſtopped, that then they were very wroth, and conſpired all of them together to come and fight againſt Jeruſalem, and to hinder it.

Sometimes they are termed Forgers, and ſo they plotted againſt the Royal Prophet, Pſal. 119.69. The proud have forged a lye againſt me; but I will keep thy precepts with my whole heart. And ſo exquiſite are they in their forgeries, that in another place he tells you they laid to his charge things that he knew not.

Sometimes their Plots are called devices, and ſo they plotted againſt that great Prophet Jeremiah, Come, (ſay they) let us deviſe devices againſt Jeremiah, Jer. 18.18. And under this term you ſee that helliſh Maſſacre is put, which was deſigned by Haman againſt the Church of God in Eſth. 9.29. But when Eſther came before the King, he commanded by Letters that Hamans wicked device which he deviſed againſt the Jews ſhould return upon his own head. And therefore the Kingly Prophet imprecates Divine vengeance on them under this notion, Pſal. 35.20. Becauſe they deviſe deceitful matters againſt them that are at quiet in the land.

Sometimes their Plots are called counſels; and under this term you find thoſe capital Plotters are put, Pſal. 2.2. The Kings of the earth ſet themſelves, and the rulers take counſel together againſt the Lord, and againſt his anointed. And under this notion you find them managing their Plots againſt the life of our bleſſed Lord and Saviour, Mat. 27. When the morning was come all the chief Prieſts and Elders of the people took counſel againſt Jeſus to put him to death. And in Mat. 22.15. 'tis ſaid, That the Phariſees took counſel how they might intangle him in his talk.

Again, their Plots are called Traps, and Snares, and Nets, in Scripture, alluding to the practice of Fowlers in their inſnaring their game. Among my people are found wicked men, ſaith the Prophet Jeremiah. But how does their wickedneſs appear? why read Chap. 5.26. and he reſolves you, They lay wait (ſaith he) as he that ſetteth ſnares, they ſet a trap, they catch men. See what a barbarous deſcription of theſe wicked Plotters, and yet extreamly true, is given you in Pſal. 10.7, 8, 9. His mouth is full of curſing, and deceit, and fraud; under his tongue is miſchief and vanity. He ſitteth in the lurking places of the villages, in the ſecret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily ſet againſt the poor. He lyeth in wait p. 4ſecretly as a Lion in his den; he lyeth in wait to catch the poor; he doth catch the poor when he draweth him into his net. Ab uno, diſce omnes, by one the Prophet tells you the nature of them all; and one would think that this deſcription ſhould rather ſuit to a Devil than a man; and yet ſuch devilliſh men you find laid in wait for our moſt bleſſed Lord himſelf, ſeeking to catch ſomething out of his mouth that they might accuſe him, Luk. 11.54.

From what hath been ſaid, the one part of the point under conſideration is clear, That the wicked are Plotters: and if the Scriptures of truth do no where tell us, that the righteous and innocent are Plotters alſo, as it no where doth, then the other part doth manifeſt it ſelf alſo, that they are the only Plotters that the world has in it.

A manifold improvement may be made of this truth; but I ſhall inſiſt on a fourfold only.

1. Reproof.

2. Caution.

3. Exhortation.

4. Comfort.

1. For Reproof. Is it ſo that this Leſſon is true, that wicked perſons are Plotters, and the only Plotters that the world has in it? then how are they to be reproved that would perſwade the people otherwiſe, and that would make men believe that there are none in the world but only ſober people are Plotters? and this Reproof falls on ſome of all Sects.

1. On ſome of us Clergy.

2. On ſome of you Laity.

1. On ſome of us Clergy, who preach ſuch Doctrines ſo utterly contrary to the tenor of the whole Scripture. What, my Brethren! is it nothing with you to be numbered among falſe teachers? lying Prophets? and to fall under that wo that they are doomed with That call evil good, and good evil; that put darkneſs for light, and light for darkneſs? Iſa. 5.20. Or that wo due to them that take away the righteouſneſs of the righteous from him. verſ. 23. What would you be devoured as the fire devoureth the ſtubble? or would you be conſumed as the flame conſumeth the chaff? would p. 5you be deſtroyed root and branch? for the Prophet tells you that your very root ſhall be rottenneſs, and your bloſſom ſhall go up as the duſt. verſ. 24. What are you earning again that dreadful Curſe, Prov. 24 24. He that ſaith to the wicked, thou art righteous, him ſhall the people curſe: Nations ſhall abhor him. For truly I doubt this very ſin did make us the Curſe of the people, and the abhorrence of the Nations once already; when we run upon our ſellow Proteſtant Brethren for wicked, and cried up the wicked for righteous; and what are we mad to repeat this guilt, and to bring our ſelves under the Curſe of the people, and the abhorrence of the Nations a ſecond time? Doth the true and holy Word of God teach us every where, and in every part of the Bible that the wicked plotteth againſt the juſt, and dare we invert this Doctrine? and inculcate in all our Sermons, That the juſt plotteth againſt the wicked? And by our ſly ſarcaſms inſinuate that we had rather be Papiſts than Presbyterians, and that there is more danger from diſſenting Proteſtants, than there is from Papiſts opinions? that may be become well enough the roaring Atheiſtical Royſtors, and paſs among them for good plotting Divinity: But that Miniſters that either do or ought to know better, ſhould be heard to ſpeak ſuch language, is ſtrangely ſcandalous. What, a Papiſt! that differs from us in the greateſt and moſt important Doctrines of the Goſpel! In Juſtification by Faith, in Mediation only by Jeſus Chriſt, and many others; is he to be judged better than a Presbyterian that agrees with us in all our Doctrines, and that differs only from us in a few indifferent Ceremonies? Pray conſider, and let not a peeviſh prejudice impoſe upon you ſuch ſtrange abſurdities; nor ſuffer not your hearts to tranſport you in your Pulpits to deliver ſuch extravagant Doctrines as theſe. But remember who it is that tells you, That he that teaches men ſo, ſhall be leaſt in the Kingdom of God.

The ſecond part of this Reproof ſalls on you Laity, that hear ſuch Doctrines, for believing them; for that which is not our duty to preach, it cannot be your duty to believe; for though you do well to give your attendance on hearing, yet you are ever to remember that you are to believe nothing that you hear, but that which hath the Word of God for its warrant. 'Tis true, faith comes by hearing; yet that hearing by which faith comes, is by the Word of God, Rom. 10.17. What do you think that you are to come hither, and becauſe you hear a young pragmatical ſtripling, that's fitter to be at School than in the Pulpit, make his little declamation p. 6againſt the Spirit of God, againſt the People of God, againſt the Word of God, and every thing that's holy, that you are to believe what he ſays, and go away prejudiced againſt Holineſs, Treaſuring up wrath in your mind againſt all that practice it? Or becauſe you hear a more ſtarcht and formal diſcourſe, from ſome Reverend or Dignified perſon, That whoredoms, drunkenneſs, and all manner of debauchery, are rather to be tollerated by the Government than diſſenting Proteſtants, Will you believe this to be Goſpel? Pray ſee what the great Apoſtle of the Gentiles ſays in his Epiſtle to the Galatians, Chap. 1. v 8. for he tells them, That though himſelf or an Angel from heaven ſhould come and preach to them any other Goſpel; what then? ſhould he be credited? credited! no, no; let him be accurſed, ſays he: and ſo ſhould you alſo ſay. And though I am as much for the Church of England as thoſe that crack ſo highly of their veneration for her, yet I muſt ſpeak one plain truth, that ever ſince theſe curſed Doctrines have come into our Pulpits, our Church has dwindled, and all Religion has run out of doors. And I confeſs I know no other ſervice theſe Preachers do our Church, than to prejudice all the hearers, and make the beſt of them ſheer off to the Diſſenters, and the worſt of them to the Papiſts, till at laſt we be left quite alone.

You are therefore to be reproved for giving heed to ſuch Fables, and believing Doctrines ſo utterly contrary to the very eſſence of a true and ſaving Faith; do not think that the command of our Lord is to go for nought, in Mark 4.24. Take heed what you hear. Nor that in Luk. 8.18. Take heed how you hear; for as well the matter as the manner of our hearing are both limited and reſtrained by Chriſt. For he knew well enough, what manner of youths would invade and obtrude themſelves into the Sacred Function. And what damnable Doctrines his Church would then be peſtered with. He knew well enough what a vain worſhip theſe would introduce, when once they came to that Phariſaical pitch as to teach for Doctrines the Commandments of men, Mat. 15.9. and therefore cautions us before-hand ſo ſtrictly concerning them, that we ſhould be careful both of what we heard, and how we heard; that when they did come, Chriſtians might not be ſurpriz'd; for praemonitus, praemunitus; and pray God give us his grace to guard our ſelves againſt them.

I am not ignorant that theſe perſons here reprov'd, vogue themſelves, and would fain have the reputation to be eſteemed by others p. 7alſo for Queen Elizabeth's Proteſtants, but I doubt if we bring them to the touch, they will come nigher Queen Maries Papiſts, and that both in their Religion, and in their Civil notions. As to their Religion, if you will ſee a Queen Elizabeth Proteſtant, if you pleaſe to look but in the Statute-Book, in Anno decimo tertio Elizabethae, and the 12th Chapter, you will find a whole Parliament of them, and upon Church work too; and which is yet more, upon the Miniſters of the Church; and there you read that to the end that the Churches in the Queens Majeſties Dominions may be ſerved with Paſtors of ſound Religions, they enact that every perſon under the degree of a Biſhop that ſhall pretend to be a Miniſter by reaſon of any other form of Inſtitution Conſecration or Ordination, than what was injoined by Parliament in the days of King Edward the 6th. or was then in uſe, ſhould declare his aſſent, and ſubſcribe to all the Articles of Religion, which only concern the Confeſſion of the true Chriſtian Faith, and the Doctrine of the Sacraments.

Here's your tenderneſs of a true Queen Elizabeth Proteſtant, that let their Ordination be what it would, and their eſteem for Ceremonies what it would, ſo they would but ſubſcribe and aſſent to thoſe Articles of Religion, that only concern'd the confeſſion of Faith, and the Doctrine of the Sacraments, they judg'd them of a ſound Religion, and fit to be Paſtors of our Church. Which I doubt theſe our hot-ſpurs would judg fitter for a Goal, if not the Gallows. By which you ſee that Queen Elizabeths Proteſtants judg'd it their duty to open the Church doors as wide as might be, to let honeſt and ſound Miniſters in, and not according to the mode of our times, and theſe Proteſtants here of ours, bar the doors up by their Laws, to keep them out: if they declar'd their aſſent to the faith and doctrines of the Church only, you ſee her Proteſtants admitted them; and would not keep them out, becauſe they could not conſent and conform to the Ceremonies thereof. No, they would not rob and deprive the Church of God of the gifts and graces, nor of the help, uſe, and ſervice of ſo many ſound and able Paſtors that were Orthodox in their faith, becauſe they could not comply with a few (I will not call them idle and uſeleſs) but I am ſure very unhappy Ceremonies. So that by this you may ſee how much our rigid Church-men are out in their Religious meaſures in boaſting themſelves for Queen Elizabeth's Proteſtants.

Nor will you find them leſs different from Q. Elizabeth's Proteſtants p. 8in their Civil concerns, than you have ſeen them in their Religious notions. For the Proteſtants in her time were circumſtanced extreamly like to what we are now. For the Papiſts ſaw that they could not carry back the Church of England to Rome, unleſs they could cut Her off, and therefore all their plots and deſigns were calculated againſt Her life then, as they are againſt his Majeſties now. Only ſhe was bleſſed with a thorough belief of their villany; ſo that ſhe was ſaved by faith, even as to her natural life. Now her Proteſtants perceiving there was no end of their Plots, and that firſt or laſt they would have her life, and there withal deſtroy the Proteſtant Religion alſo, if by ſome extraordinary act they did not prevent it; they did by an univerſal agreement enter into an Aſſociation, by which they mutually engage themſelves to repair to their Arms, and ſtand by and aſſiſt each other in theſe three caſes: In caſe of the Queens death; in caſe of a foreign Invaſion, and in caſe of any Popiſh Inſurrection. And in particular, they obliged themſelves to one another, that when ever the Queen fell, they would all ſall on the Papiſts, and revenge her death upon them. And this put a preſent end to all their Plots and deſigns againſt her for ever. For when they ſaw the people were come to a point, and that conſpiring againſt the Queens life was but conſpiring againſt their own lives, they had done with their Plottings, and could live quiet like other people all the remaining part of her life. This extraordinary Act Queen Elizabeth's Proteſtants did of themſelves, and in an Interval of Parliament; and that age was ſo far from condemning it, as any way factious, ſeditious or rebellious, that ſhe her ſelf in the very next Parliament, which was held in viceſſimo ſeptimo of her Reign, ratified, confirmed, and made it a Law, and to laſt as long as ſhe lived.

Now if you compare theſe our Proteſtants (that we are here reproving) with hers in this point of Civil right, I doubt you will find them as unlike her Proteſtants, as but now you did in their Religion. For how barbarouſly did they clamor every where againſt their fellow Proteſtants the other day, but for carrying on a modeſt and harmleſs Petition for the Parliaments ſitting? And how did they be rogue and be rebell all thoſe worthy Gentlemen that either promoted or countenanced it? How then would they have bellowed and roared, if they had enter'd into ſuch an honeſt Aſſociation as you ſee Queen Elizabeth's Proteſtants did? Wherefore take the reproof home to your ſelves, and do not boaſt your p. 9ſelves any more for Queen Elizabeth's Proteſtants, if you be of that ſtamp; for you ſee you are ſo far from being of their nature, that bate but the bare name, you have nothing of her Proteſtants in you. And I am perſwaded it were good for our Church if you had not ſo much as the name neither.

Thus much for Reproof. Come we now to caution.

2ly. Is it ſo that wicked men are plotters, and the only plotters the world has in it? then,

Firſt, Be cautious of their company, lay hold on all occaſions to ſhun and avoid it; and ſay with the holy Patriarch, Gen. 49.6. O my ſoul, come not thou into their ſecrets, unto their aſſembly my honour be not thou united. And think with him that the ſafety of your honour, nay your very ſouls lyes in declining their company; for what would you be in their company for? you put your ſelves but under a conſtraint, and too often into a ſnare alſo. For if you ſpeak, they deal by you as they did by the Royal Prophet, Pſal. 56.5. Every day, ſays he, they wreſt my words. And indeed it is very hard for you to comport your ſelves in wicked company; for either you will ſpeak too much to pleaſe them, or too little to pleaſe your ſelves. And if you be ſilent and ſit with your tongue in your mouth, then you ſeem to aſſent to all they ſay; ſo that neither ſilent nor ſpeaking are you ſafe. Wherefore reſolve with the Pſalmiſt to keep agreeable company; for he profeſſes to God Almighty, That he was a companion to all them that feared him, and of them that kept his precepts, Pſal. 119.63. And Kings uſed to keep ſuch good company as it is no diſparagement to be reckon'd their companion. And think not that this caution extends it ſelf no farther than that you ſhould eſchue the company of Papiſts; for we may truly ſay in our day, as St. Paul ſaid in his, They are not all Iſrael which are of Iſrael. Not all Proteſtants that comes to Church. Would to God they were. But ſince they are not, my next wiſh is, would to God they would appear what they really are, and not lye ſheltering themſelves within the pale of our Church, and under the umbrage of Proteſtants, promote the Popiſh deſigns. They are eaſily known; for what our Lord ſaid of theſe wolves in ſheeps clothing is eternally true, by their fruits you may know them, Mat. 7.16. For they are of a ravenous bloody nature, and tarry among us but to teize one Proteſtant on another; and make one Proteſtant a Wolf and a Devil to another. I ſpeak not at random, I know what I ſay. For look all the Country round, and you will find none p. 10neither Magiſtrates nor Miniſters ſo ſavage to diſſenting Proteſtants, as thoſe which I am now a cautioning you againſt; and which without any breach of Chriſtian charity give you too ſufficient reaſon to believe, that they can make as good Papiſts to morrow as they are Proteſtants to day; ſo that the Popes ſickle is in our harveſt already, and he makes theſe inſtruments of his wound the Proteſtants intereſt with their own weapons. For thoſe very laws made againſt Papiſts they impudently wreſt them againſt Proteſtants; and theſe very Juſtices that this day perſecute them for their Nonconformity to our Church, ſhall if Popery were but turned Trump, burn all that do not conform to it to morrow, as in the Marian days they did; for the profeſſed Papiſts were no more able then, than they are now to deſtroy the Proteſtants. No, it was this wicked crew of masked Papiſts, that falling in and tacking about, ſuckt the precious blood of all our Brethren then, as they thirſt to do ours now. Theſe, theſe, are the worſt of wretches, and ſuch as truly no man of an honeſt mind can hardly ſpeak of them with patience; theſe worry ſome of our flock for you muſt pardon me if I reckon diſſenters of the Proteſtant flock) that they may keep their hand in ure, till their beloved time comes to butcher us all. If Martin Luther were alive, he would call theſe the Devils Magiſtrates, and the Devils Miniſters, not Gods. And I am ſure it were happy for the Church of England if it had no ſuch Magiſtrates nor Miniſters in it. For were theſe but gone to their own party, true Proteſtants would better agree, and cement againſt the common enemy, than theſe wretches will now ſuffer them to do. For they know that Rule, Divide & impera; and therefore make one of us run upon another to keep up our rancor and hatred one againſt another, and the better to, prepare their way, and make it eaſier for them to ſlide in their beloved intereſt, through our diviſions, to ruin us all. Of theſe therefore beware as of the Devil, whoſe firſt begotten children they are. And let every true Proteſtant fly their company, and ſcorn their ſociety with a juſter indignation than a publick and profeſt Papiſt. For theſe you can guard your ſelves againſt, but there is no guard againſt them; for they walk with you to the Houſe of God as friends, like thoſe bloody and deceitful men in Pſal. 55. and lye in the boſom of the Church till they ſting her to death. Of theſe mens company therefore principally beware.

Secondly, If by any unavoidable neceſſity you happen to fall into theſe wicked perſons company, be careful that you quit your p. 11ſelves well in it. God cautioned his Church of old, that they ſhould not walk in the ways of the wicked; and in particular, that they ſhould not ſay a confederacy to all them to whom they ſhall ſay a confederacy, Iſa. 8.12. Have a care therefore of your ſelves, and do not chime in with their guilt, either in accuſing the innocent, or acquitting the wicked; for they will tell you that there is no Popiſh Plot, but that there is a Presbyterian one. Have a care now, do not let their wicked company make you give the lye to your conſcience. But as far as true prudence, and the circumſtances are on you will permit, be bold and valiant for the truth, and give not up the tender loving kindneſs of God in ſo miraculous and glorious a diſcovery of their Plots, to gratifie the luſts of a few treacherous and ſottiſh bruits; what did Divine mercy give you this ſalvation and deliverance, with ſuch an out-ſtretched arm, that the Hiſtories and Annals of no Country nor Age can ever parallel, to the intent that you ſhould throw it away again to pleaſe that very ſpirit and party that you are delivered from? were you ſaved not by bow, nor by ſword, nor by battel, nor by horſe, nor by horſemen, but by the Spirit of the Lord working on the minds and conſciences of the very Inſtruments themſelves; and giving them no reſt nor peace till they had made their diſcoveries; and will you let wicked men perſwade you to throw this ſtupendious mercy back into the very face of God Almighty again? Have a care! for how juſtly may our deſtruction come as a whirlwind, if ungrateful to Heaven and our own ſelves, we ſhall be guilty of this ſin? But I muſt make haſte to Exhortation, or the time will prevent me.

3. Well, is it ſo that wicked perſons are Plotters, and the only Plotters? then be exhorted to come out of that eſtate that expoſes you to ſo much hazard. Conceive you heard the Lord Jeſus ſpeaking you almoſt dead with that dreadful doom, Go ye curſed, Mat. 25.41. For the wicked here, and the curſed there, are ſynonimous, according to that in Prov. 3.33. The curſe of the Lord is in the houſe of the wicked. For the wicked here will be the curſed there; and the curſed there, are the wicked here. Nay, if there were a ſentence beyond, Depart ye curſed, it were due to theſe wicked Plotters here in the Text. For if you read the latter end of the 25th. of St. Matth. where the eternal and indelible doom of the curſed is written, you will find nothing but negatives charged on them, I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat; I was thirſty, and ye gave me no p. 12drink; I was a ſtranger and ye took me not in; naked, and ye clothed me not; ſick and in priſon, and ye viſited me not. Theſe are the crimes of thoſe curſed ones. But the wicked, whom we are diſcourſing of, not only did not mimſter to them in their diſtreſſes, but plotted, contrived, and laid out all their power, parts, and cunning, to bring them into thoſe diſtreſſes. And if they be damn'd that did not viſit the members of Chriſt when they were caſt into priſon, what damnation are theſe worthy of that caſts them into priſon? And if they that would not give them harbour, nor bread to eat, nor water to drink, nor raiment to put on, when they were ſtrangers, and a hungry, thirſty and naked, are in ſuch a damnable eſtate, in what a damned condition muſt theſe wicked be in here in the Text, that by their curſed plots and helliſh conſpiracies, took their harbour from them, and that took away their bread from their bellies, and their clothes from their backs? With what face can theſe behold the incenſed brow of the Lord Jeſus, the great Judg of quick and dead, when he ſhall come to plead the cauſe, and vindicate the ſufferings of thoſe juſt perſons that they have plotted againſt? As ever therefore you would eſcape their damned doom, be exhorted to come out of that eſtate that does expoſe you to it.

And that this Exhortation may be the more effectual, I ſhall farther enforce it with a few Conſiderations.

Firſt, Conſider, that till you do obey this Exhortation, and depart from the eſtate and condition of the wicked, you are in open rebellion, and engaged in publick acts of hoſtility againſt God: And what do you think it is nothing, or but a light thing to be an enemy and rebel againſt God? We of the Clergy keep a huge deal of ado againſt rebels and enemies to the King and Government, and we do well if we level our diſcourſes right, and point our weapons againſt ſuch that are ſo indeed. But we muſt be ſure that in thoſe warm diſcourſes, we do not like thoſe in Pſal. 11.2. bend our bows, and make ready our arrows upon the ſtring, that we may privily ſhoot at the upright in heart. For elſe inſtead of wounding our enemies, we do but deſtroy our friends. For do not think becauſe a conſcientious man diſſents from us in a few Ceremonious obſervations, and the external modes and faſhions of our publick Worſhip, that therefore he is preſently to be dagger'd to death as a rebel and p. 13enemy to the King and Government; a practice to which too many of us of the Clergy have too great a propenſity. For if we make Nonconformity to publick injoined Worſhip the Shibboleth or Characteriſtical note of Rebellion, farewell to all our Martyrs; we muſt begin a new computation, and reckon with the Romaniſts all thoſe glorified ſouls for arrant Rebels; and ſo we muſt the bleſſed Apoſtles themſelves alſo, and doom at one breath all the generation of the juſt, which would be a plot to purpoſe, but how becoming Proteſtants, I leave to their more cool and ſedate conſideration that are moſt apt to be immoderately hot and furious in this matter. Only this I'le add, that if our Lord may be believed, they are more to blame that impoſe thoſe offenſive things upon the Church of Chriſt, than thoſe that cannot conform to them. For he hath planted his wo againſt him by whom the offence cometh, not againſt him that taketh the offence when it comes, Mat. 18 7. Thoſe therefore that lay out more zeal than knowledg about thoſe wens of Worſhip, that rather deform and miſhape our Chriſtian unity than beautifie or adorn it, would do better, and give a better account of the faithful diſcharge of their Miniſtry to Jeſus Chriſt whoſe Embaſſadors they pretend to be, if they would imploy their Talents about this Exhortation, in calling out men and women from the number and eſtate of the wicked that plotteth againſt the juſt, and ſhew them plainly from the word of truth, that while they continue in that condition, they are but enemies and rebels to the God of Heaven, and ſtand engaged in open acts of hoſtility againſt him, and muſt fall under that condemnation, Mat. 19.27. But thoſe mine enemies which would not that I ſhould reign over them, bring them hither and ſlay them before me. And ſhew them from the holy Scriptures that while they continue ſuch, both they and all that ever they do are an abomination to the Lord. If any thing that they do were acceptable, one would think it ſhould be their prayers, and Religious ſervices; but even theſe are an abomination alſo, Prov. 28.9. and in Prov 15.8. the wiſe man tells us, That the ſacrifices of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayers of the upright is his delight. It is a very groſs miſtake therefore to think that our coming to Church, and our mumbling or ſaying over a few prayers here with the Congregation, is the total of all Religion; and to imagine that we are in a good eſtate becauſe of this. For alas, this may be, and I fear but too much is Vox & praeterea nihil; and if you remain wicked, this doth but add to your abominations. For this is but like p. 14the Scribes, Phariſees and Hypocrites, paying tythe of mint, cummin and annis, whiles they omitted the greater and more weighty matters of the Law, mercy, judgment and faith, Mat. 23.23. Wherefore let others ſow what pillows they pleaſe under your elbows, to make your wickedneſs eaſie to you; and let them cry, peace, peace to you as long as they will, I muſt preach to you the word of Truth, which ſays expreſly, That there is no peace (ſaith the Lord) unto the wicked, Iſa. 58.22. And now whether you will believe the Lord and his word, or believe them that ſooth and flatter you up in your wickedneſs, at your own peril be it. For I am reſolved by the help of God to diſcharge both the parts of my Miniſtry with faithfulneſs, that as I am commanded to ſay to the righteous it ſhall be well with hm, ſo I will alſo ſay as I am commanded, Wo unto the wicked, it ſhall be ill with him, Iſa. 3.10, 11. This is the firſt Conſideration; come we now to the ſecond.

Secondly, Conſider, that till you come out of your wicked eſtate, as you are Gods enemy, ſo God is your enemy; and how dreadful is the condition of thoſe that have God for their enemy? what to have that God for your enemy in whom you live, move, and have your being? that God that gives you your daily bread, and is the very breath of your noſtrils, to have him for your enemy? 'Twas a mighty concern that Job that righteous and upright man was in from his apprehenſion that God held him for his enemy, Job 13 24. but how much more his concern would have been, if he had apprehended God to have been his enemy, you may ſee in that of Saul; for when Saul had ſo ſin'd againſt God that he would anſwer him no more, neither by Prophets, nor by dreams, he applied himſelf to the Witch of Endor, and makes his complaint thereof to the ſpirit that ſhe had raiſed. But ſee what a cooling anſwer he receiv'd from the Spectrum in 1 Sam. 28.16. Wherefore then haſt thou asked me, ſeeing the Lord is departed from thee, and become thine enemy? And 'tis ſaid in ver. 20. That when Saul heard this, he ſtraightway fell all along on the earth, and was ſore afraid, ſo that there was no ſtrength in him. And no marvel, for it's enough to ſtrike you ſtark dead, unleſs you are ſenſeleſs ſeared ſinners, to hear that God is become your enemy; when he that ſhould be your beſt and greateſt friend, he that alone can reſcue and deliver you out of your enemies hands, for him to become your enemy himſelf? Lord, what killing news muſt this be to any ſoul that will but ſeriouſly p. 15conſider it? You read in the 5th of Daniel, that King Belſhazzar made a great debauch for no leſs than a thouſand of his Lords; and as they were buſie in taking up of their cups, and praiſing the gods of gold, and of ſilver, of braſs, of wood, and of ſtone, at the ſame inſtant came forth fingers of a mans hand, and wrote over againſt the candleſticks upon the plaiſter of the wall of the Kings palace; and the King ſaw the part of the hand that wrote; then the Kings countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, ſo that the joints of his loins were looſed, and his knees ſmote one againſt another, v. 4, 5, 6. O! ſo will yours do, you will be in a dreadful twitter, when God declares himſelf your enemy, as here he did to him. Your heart will fail, and the very powers of nature will diſſolve within you. And therefore among all the Lamentations of Jeremiah, though they are every one exceeding ſad, yet methinks there's none ſo diſmal as that in Lam. 2.5. where the Prophet complains, The Lord was as an enemy; and yet this was but as an enemy neither, but even that was ſufficient, the Prophet tells you, to increaſe the mourning and lamentation in the Daughter of Judah: As well it might, for it totally alters all the methods of Gods Providence towards a people, and puts as it were another nature into the Almighty. For he that is love it ſelf, is turned all into anger. God is angry (ſays the Pſalmiſt) with the wicked every day, Pſal. 7.11.

The greateſt conſternation, and among the greateſt perſons that ever was heard of in any Hiſtory in the world, I believe, by perſons, eſpecially of their quality, is that which you read in Rev. 6.15, 16. for the Text tells you, That the Kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, hid themſelves in the dens, and in the rocks of the mountains: What! the King of the earth, and the rich men, nay the chief Captains, and the mighty men take to their heels and run away, and hide themſelves at this fearful rate! and not only to do thus, but to invocate the very mountains and rocks in which they hid, to fall on them, and hide them yet more ſecurely? why! what's the matter? what's the cauſe of this mighty prodigious conſternation? Why nothing elſe, but that the Lord was their enemy, and the great day of his wrath and anger was come, and they were not able to ſtand it. And do you think to be able to ſtand when ſuch mighty men as theſe muſt fly to corners? Do not therefore alter the methods of his Providence, nor change the procedure of the Almighty towards you. For though he profeſſes that fury is not in p. 16him, Iſa. 27.4. yet he alſo tells you that he will make his fury ſmoke againſt the wicked. Now conſider this all you that forget God, leſt be tare you away, and there be none to deliver, Pſal. 50.22.

Thirdly, Conſider, that till you come out of your wicked eſtate, you are under the curſe of God, and all the prayers of the Church are againſt you. You come hither and think to have a ſhare in the Churches abſolution; but you are miſtaken, it belongs not to you; read the Abſolution, and you will ſee that we are to declare and pronounce to the Lord, people being penitent, the abſolution and remiſſion of their ſins; but what's that to you? we are to declare, That God pardoneth and abſolveth all them which truly repent, and unfeignedly believe his Goſpel. But what's this to you, whiles you remain wicked, will not repent, unfeignedly believe, nor perform the conditions of Abſolution? In Numb. 22, and 23. chap. you may ſee a wicked King bribing a wicked Prophet to curſe the people of God; the Hiſtory is of Balack and Balaam; but as Balaam ſaid to Balack, How ſhall I curſe whom God hath not curſed? Chap. 23.8. ſo muſt I ſay to you, how can we bleſs whom God hath not bleſſed? What do you think that Commination, Prov. 24.24. of which we have ſpoken already, is to go for nothing? Would you have us to undergo the curſe of God, and the curſe of men, to bleſs thoſe that are accurſed of God? I'le not flatter ye; they are curſed Miniſters that undertake ſo curſed a work. What, would you have us to debauch the bleſſings and curſes of God? and betray and pervert the uſes of our higheſt truſt? For we are to pronounce none bleſſed, no, nor curſed neither on earth, but ſuch as we have a ſure ground to believe from the word of God, will receive the ſame ſentence from our great Maſter the God of Heaven, whoſe Miniſters we are in this dreadful adminiſtration; and what ſhall we bleſs the wicked which the whole Book of God tells us the Lord abhors? Or curſe the righteous, in whom the Scriptures aſſure us is all his delight? How ſhall we anſwer and juſtifie theſe Cenſures at the Bar of Chriſts Tribunal? And would to God the Guides and Governours of our Church would lay this thing more ſeriouſly to heart than I doubt they do. And conſider Chriſt gave them not the power of the Keys, to accommodate their luſts of pride, envy, covetouſneſs; nor that they ſhould caſt or ſhut good men out of the Church, and let or keep the wicked in, as I alſo doubt is ſometimes done. For this is utterly to ſubvert and over-turn the whole p. 17deſign of the Goſpel. For the deſign of the Goſpel in all the Inſtitutions thereof is, that Chriſts Church might be a pure Spouſe unto him, not a beaſtly and impudent Harlot. Pray you read Revel. 22.15. and you will ſee what manner of perſons they are that Chriſt ſhuts out or excommunicates: Without (ſays that great Text) are dogs, and ſorcerers, and whoremongers, and murtherers, and Idolaters, and whoſoever loveth and maketh a lye. And if we ſhould ſhut out all theſe from our Church, I mean all thoſe that are publickly and notoriouſly ſuch (as certainly it is our duty to do) I fear we ſhould have but pitiful thin Congregations. How therefore we ſhall anſwer to Chriſt, the letting in theſe dogs into his fold of the Church, and our ſo induſtriouſly keeping his ſheep out, is, if I miſtake not, our higheſt concernment to conſider.

But I proceed: As thoſe you ſee that are in a wicked eſtate, are our enemies to God, and as ſuch are under the curſe of God; ſo the Prayers of the Church are againſt them. Let God ariſe, and let his enemies be ſcattered, was the ancient ſtanding Prayer of the Church of God. But how diſmal is that Petition of the Royal Prophet, Pſal. 59.5. where he prays the Lord God of hoſts, the God of Iſrael, that he would not be merciful to any wicked tranſgreſſors? So that you ſee the Church which by their prayers helps to open the door of mercy to ſinners, ſhuts it upon the wicked by their prayers, and prays againſt them in terminis (for what David prays for here, is the prayers of the Church) Be not merciful, O God, to any wicked tranſgreſſors. Nay, you find Deborah and Barack not content to pray that God would not be merciful to ſuch; but expreſly pray for their periſhing. For in their Song of Thankſgiving in the 5th. of Judges, upon the occaſion of Jaels ſlaying Siſera, they conclude it thus, So let all thine enemies periſh, O God. And if you remain ſome of them, all this prayer muſt needs reach you. And the holy Pſalmiſt makes the like prayer in Pſal. 68.2. for there he prays thus, As wax melteth before the fire, ſo let the wicked periſh at the preſence of God. What then, are you mad to periſh? and will you abide in that eſtate that muſt end in periſhing, and where the prayers of the Church of God binds you over to periſhing? Be exhorted therefore from this conſideration to come out of that periſhing and deſtructive eſtate wherein you are, that the prayers of the Church of God may be engaged for, and not againſt you. For this prayer of theirs will be heard, Pſal. 110.1. The Lord ſaid unto my Lord, ſit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footſtool. And p. 18this ſaying of the Lord is quoted no leſs than ſix times in the New Teſtament; ſo that you may lay your ſouls upon the certainty of it; and what, would you be made the footſtool of Chriſt? to be trampled upon and trodden down to the loweſt Hell? for, be as proud, and be as opinion'd of your ſelves as you will, here's your portion if you remain Gods enemies. What, did you not hear but juſt now in what a tremble the Kings of the earth, the great, the rich, the mighty men were in that were enemies to God? and are you mad to be in that fearſul diſtraction too? Did you not hear how they run from Mountain to Rock to hide themſelves? Pride your ſelves therefore as you will, and trample on your Brethren as long as you will, your Plumes muſt come down with a vengeance; for 'tis ſaid by him that will never alter the word that is gone out of his mouth, you muſt be made an everlaſting footſtool, and muſt be trodden under foot eternally, if you live and die in that condition. Wherefore, as you love your ſelves, and as you love your ſouls, come out of that condition that expoſeth you to ſo much hazard, and wherein you muſt periſh, it may be, here, but to be ſure for ever hereafter.

And thus much for the Conſiderations: come we now to a ſecond Branch of the Exhortation.

Secondly, Is it ſo that wicked perſons are Plotters, and the only Plotters that the world has in it? then be exhorted to judg rightly of things; do not follow a giddy, heady humour that would make you paſs a precipitate judgment; but weigh things well in your mind, and be not raſh and haſty to paſs your ſentence before you have conſidered it. It may be you may be under the miſtake that Ahab King of Iſrael was; for in 1 King. 18. you read of one of the greateſt miſtakes, and between two of the greateſt men that you find in all the Scriptures, for it was between the Prophet Elijah and King Ahab, and about this very point that we are upon. For in the 17th verſe it is ſaid, That when Ahab ſaw Elijah, that he ſaid unto him, Art thou the troubler of Iſrael? A pretty rough complement at the very firſt meeting! and I do verily believe that it was Ahabs judgment, and that his lend ungodly Courtiers, and the worſer part of his Clergy had perſuaded him fully into an opinion, that this great and holy Prophet was he, and only he, that troubled Iſrael. But let us ſee what Elijah anſwers to this charge; p. 19and that you have in the very next verſe thus, And he anſwered, I have not troubled Iſrael, but thou and thy fathers houſe, in that ye have forſaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou haſt followed Balaam. A very home and ſmart anſwer. Wherefore here muſt needs be a great miſtake ſomewhere; for the King charges the Prophet, and the Prophet the King; the King makes the Prophet to be the troubler of Iſrael, but the Prophet denies the charge, and makes the King to be ſo; and ſo he was indeed; for Elijah, proves him ſo. From which we may learn, that it is not impoſſible but that even in our days the troublers of Iſrael may be filed to a wrong account. But you will ſay, Was not Elijah the troubler of Iſrael, when St. James tells you, That he earneſtly prayed that it might not rain, and it rained not in Iſrael for the ſpace of three years and ſix months? Jam. 5.17. I anſwer, no, you calculate amiſs; as all men do, that go not to the beginning of accounts; for they were the troublers of Iſrael that counſelled thoſe guilts and ſins that brought theſe judgments upon their heads, not the holy Prophet that prayed; this is a falſe and deceitful computation; like theirs that cry out on Forty one, and the miſeries that Forty one brought upon the Nation; but not a word of the wickedneſs of the preceding years that brought thoſe miſeries of Forty-one upon us, not a word of thoſe Perſecutions for Conſcience ſake, that made ſo many thouſands of good Proteſtants chuſe rather to leave their native Country, to leave their Friends, their Relations, their Livelihoods, Trades and Occupations, and go with their Wives and little ones, to dwell in the vaſt and howling Wilderneſſes of America, than to live here any longer; and that the poor Pagans were more kind and tender to them than we their fellow Proteſtants. Not a word of thoſe barbarous and inhumane ſtigmatizings, brandings, gaggings, Pillorings, ſhameleſs whippings, and cutting off ears, inflicted with other oppreſſive judgments and proceedings by the High Commiſſion and Star-Chamber Courts, Judicatories fitter for Spain than for England, Turks than Chriſtians; by which the Liberties Fortunes and Properties of the People of England were invaded at pleaſure.

I am loth to proceed on this unpleaſing Subject, or elſe I could ſpeak of the diſcontinuance of Parliaments; not a word of the Maſſacre in Ireland, which was plotted before, but perpetrated in Forty one; where not Two or three hundred, nor Two or three thouſand only, but Three hundred thouſand, Men, women, p. 20and Children were murthered in cold blood, or otherwiſe deſtroyed and ruined in leſs than two years time, as ſaith Sir John Temple in his Hiſtory of that Maſſacre. Not a word of all theſe and a thouſand miſchiefs beſides, that brought the Calamities of 41; but 41, 41, is croaked out every where; Ay, would to God I could not ſay in too many Pulpits too; as if it were the firſt year that ever our Engliſh world had in it; when to ſpeak plainly, it was the intolerable wickedneſs of ſome Courtiers, joined with the pride, inſolence, and covetouſneſs of too many of the Clergy for many years together, (from whence occaſion was taken by ſome aſpiring and covetous men on the contrary ſide for their private intereſts) that brougth that deluge of Judgment on us. For when they ſaw the iniquity of their heels begun to compaſs them about, and threaten their heads, they fomented a War in Scotland firſt, and afterwards in England, to ſave themſelves and their fellow Conſpirators from the ſtrokes of Juſtice. It were well if theſe things were buried in oblivion, and not daily called to remembrance by crying out, 41, 41, upon all occaſions; and that the preſent Court and Clergy may not tread in their ſteps, and bring both King and Kingdom into the ſame or like miſeries again, is, I am perſwaded, as ſeaſonable, as it is an honeſt and orthodox prayer.

And now what I have ſaid on this occaſion, I call God to witneſs, I have not ſpoken out of prejudice, but what I do verily believe in my ſoul are the words of ſoberneſs and truth, and the modeſteſt account that the matter will bear. Be not then apt to build on miſtakes, which are but falſe foundations, though they have never ſo great authorities to back them, but receive this word of Exhortation to judg rightly of things; which if you do, it will enable you to diſcharge two duties, which are neceſſary and important at all ſeaſons, but in a more and eſpecial manner ſeaſonable at this juncture.

Firſt, It will enable us to have more tender thoughts for diſſenting Proteſtants.

Secondly, It will enable us to ſee more clearly through all the Arts of our Profeſſed Enemies.

Firſt, It will enable us to have more tender thoughts of diſſenting Proteſtants; becauſe when we come to judg rightly of things, p. 21we ſhall come to ſee the Humanum eſt orrare, and that we our ſelves are ſubject to miſtakes; that we ſhould bear with, and forgive that in others which we would have born and forgiven in our ſelves; we ſhall ſee that the government and dominion of the Conſcience belongs only to the Lord, and not to us, and that in that reſpect they are anothers ſervant, and not ours, and that to their own Maſter they muſt ſtand or fall. We ſhall then ſee that if we exerciſe any other courſe on the Conſcience than prayer, perſuaſion, found reaſon and Evangelical means and arguments, we leave the Goſpels amicable artillery, and go to the Devils Armory for force, and the Church of Chriſt ſtands in need of Satans ſtrength to ſupport it. We ſhall then clearly ſee, that we do but juſtifie the Papiſts practiſe upon us, by our practiſe on our fellow-Proteſtants. For by the ſame rule, and on the ſame reaſon that we force theſe to conform to us, may they force us to conform to them. For if we will be judg of our diſſenting Friends Conſciences in their little ſeparations from us, why ſhould not the Papiſts be judg of our Conſciences in our greater ſeparation from them? Wherefore our judging rightly of things, will teach us this tenderneſs, and that condeſcending temper and comportment that was in Abraham to Lot, Gen. 13.8. Let there be no ſtrife, I pray thee, ſays Abraham, between thee and me, for we are brethren. We ſhould then ſee that the Papiſts rage is equal, if not exceeding, to them as to our ſelves; and therefore the right judging of things will help us to argue thus. What, does it become us to weaken our ſelves, and cut off our own ſtrength? We, the whileſt we have our diſſenting Friends with us, have work enough to ſtemm the tide, and keep out Popery: does it become us to deprive our ſelves of the one half at leaſt of our Friends, by falling foul with our diſſenting Brethren? God forbid. In the 9th of St. Mark and the 88th verſe, you will find St. John giving an account to Chriſt of a ſomewhat ſingular and pecullar paſſage, and our Lords reply concerning it, very worthy of our obſervation. Maſter, ſays St. John, we ſaw one caſting out Devils in thy name, and he followed not us. Now ſee the Lords anſwer in the two following verſes: But Jeſus ſays, forbid him not; for there is no man which ſhall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly ſpeak evil of me, for he that is not againſt us, is on our part. Learn now from this anſwer of our Lord your own duty; what, do you ſee men buſie in caſting out Devils, and caſting out Devils too in Chriſts name, engaged in the ſelf-ſame work p. 22that you are engaged in, and will you forbid them? God forbid. And remember this command of Chriſt, forbid them not: Ay, but they do not follow us: What of that? they are on our part, they are of our ſide ſtill for all that, therefore forbid them not. As if our Lord had ſaid, What, will you leſſen your own party? will you fall upon your own ſide, becauſe they do not follow you in every thing, when they are doing the great work of the Goſpel, that you your ſelves are doing, your diſpoſſeſſing men, and caſting out of Devils? God forbid!

Well then, ſhall we ſuffer the Papiſts to perſwade us againſt this command of Chriſt, to deſtroy our own party, our fellow Proteſtants, becauſe in every punctilio they follow not us, that thereby we may weaken our own ſide, and ſtrengthen theirs? God forbid. A right judgment of things will enable us to reaſon thus: Why would the Papiſts have us perſecute the Presbyterians, but becauſe they are Proteſtants? Why would they ſharpen and keen our rage againſt Diſſenters, but becauſe they are Proteſtants? Would they ever deſire their deſtruction with that eagerneſs that they do, but becauſe they are Proteſtants? Well then, if the Papiſts deſire their deſtruction as Proteſtants, ought not we deſire and endeavour their preſervation as Proteſtants? If the Papiſts would ruin them as a part of the Proteſtant intereſt; nay, and if I may ſpeak it without offence, as the tighteſt and briskeſt part of the Proteſtant intereſt, ought we not as ſuch to endeavour the preſervation, and to give them all the demonſtration that can be that we have laid aſide thoſe little fooliſh prejudices that the crafts of our enemy, and our own heats and inadvertency had put upon us? and that we are now returned to ſome ſobriety, and do clearly ſee that there is no one argument that either the Papiſts or our ſelves can bring for our perſecuting our fellow-Proteſtants, but is a cogent argument for us to love them, and as much as in us lyes to endeavour their welfare and preſervation? Thus you ſee that our judging rightly of things, works in our minds more tender thoughts for our diſſenting Proeſtants.

Secondly, As our judging rightly of things does enable us to have more tender thoughts for Diſſenters, ſo it enables us alſo to ſee more clearly through all the arts of our profeſſed enemies. We ſhall then ſee every ſtep they make more diſtinctly, than when our judgment is mudded and blinded, we are able to do. Hence is it that you p. 23find the Apoſtle Paul, praying ſo earneſtly for the Epheſians, that the eyes of their underſtanding might be enlightned, Epheſ. 1.18. for he knew that they had a wily Devil to deal with, and that he and his wicked inſtruments would find out ſuch a world of tricks, and arts and ſhifts, that unleſs the eye of their underſtanding were enlightned that they might judg rightly of things, and ſee through all their deceitful veils and pretences, it was impoſſible but they ſhould be deceived; but this detects their deceit, and diſcovers all their juglings, ſo that you are not taken in their ſnares. How many little tricks and arts have the Popiſh party played upon us within this year and half laſt paſt? Into how many various forms and ſhapes have they caſt their deſigns, on purpoſe to deceive you? Firſt a Popiſh plot, then a Presbyterian plot, and now the Prentices plot; and yet all three Plots theirs, and all tending to one and the ſelf-ſame end, the deſtruction of the Proteſtant Religion. For like lines in a Circumference, though by their art they ſeem to make them come from never ſuch oppoſite parts, yet they all meet in the Center. Their firſt Plots primarily aimed at cutting off the King, which the wiſdom of God and the courage of the Parliament hath yet preſerved; and becauſe the Gentlemen of the Nation, and true lovers and honourers of their King, their Country, and the Proteſtant Religion, put out themſelves in Parliament, in the Country, and every where, at ſo bold and daring a rate, they ſuſpended the perpetrating of their Villany on the Perſon of his Majeſty, and new ſhaped and painted their ſecond Plot principally againſt them; knowing that if they were but out of the way that always interpoſed and flung themſelves between danger and his Majeſty, they ſhould ſoon recover the point again, and compaſs their firſt deſign of killing the King, as they would themſelves; and therefore under the notion of Presbyters and Presbyters plotting againſt the Royal life, which above all things they ſtudied to preſerve, they would have deſtroyed thoſe Gentlemen; though if you look their Meal-tub Liſt, you will not find one of forty of them Presbyterians. But ſuch is their Villany, and ſuch the Debauchery of the age for that Villany to work upon, that they and their Partizans reckon every one a Presbyterian and Fanatick that hath not one cloven foot at leaſt. Now the Methods of this Plot were all to be managed by Subornations, that thoſe Worthies might have fallen as tranſgreſſors by the weight of the Law, as by the arts of wicked Jezabel, righteous Naboth did; and when their p. 24curſed hand had been in, every man ſhould have been made a Presbyterian that had ought to loſe. For to be rich, to be wiſe, to be faithful, qualifications that in our Anceſtors days were wont to create eſteem, are with this wicked crew become the higheſt crimes. Men of honour, conſcience, and true worth, that will rather periſh than betray their God, their King, and their Country, are in this Plot the very Butt of all their fury. In 2 Sam. 3.33. you find King David lamenting over dead Abner thus, Died Abner as a fool dieth? But had this Prodigious wickedneſs took, we muſt have lamented all the excellent men of the Kingdom at another rate, and not only ſaid, Died theſe as fools die, but died theſe as Knaves, as Rogues, as Villains die? We muſt have lamented thus, Died all theſe as tranſgreſſors, as Rebels, as Traytors die? what, by the hand of Juſtice? and by the ſtroke of the Law? It was one aggravation of our Saviours ſufferings, That he made his grave with the wicked; and that he was numbered with the tranſgreſſors; as every ſoul muſt needs be that falls by the hands of falſe Witneſſes. For the Judg will tell you, that he muſt pronounce ſentence according to the Verdict; and the Jury will tell you, that they muſt give their Verdict according to the Evidence: So that if God had not moſt miraculouſly prevented, many worthy Souls in the whole Nation had been cut off by a few ſuborned Villains. Nor was this Plot calculated only againſt their Lives, but againſt their Fortunes, againſt their Honours, and againſt their Poſterity. For they would have affected the child unborn with it. A Villany of ſuch a reaching magnitude, as if it were layed in the very depths of Hell, as undoubtedly it was. The Wife could not here have lamented the loſs of her Husband alone, nor the Children the loſs of their Father alone, as in other deaths they uſe to do, but muſt have lamented their own loſſes alſo. That's in my opinion a very ſore threatning that the Lord ſpeaks concerning Jehojakim the ſon of Joſiah King of Judah, in Jer. 22.18. They ſhall not lament for him, ſaying, Ah my Brother, or Ah my Siſter; they ſhall not lament for him, ſaying, Ah Lord, or Ah his glory. For ſo mourners uſed to compaſſionate one another. So in like manner here one child could not condole with another for the loſs of their worthy Father; but all condole their own loſſes; the Brother that might have ſaid to the Siſter, and the Siſter to the Brother, Ah Brother, and Ah Siſter, what a dear and matchleſs Father have we loſt! how gracious was he in his Speech! how courteous in his carriage! how ſound p. 25in his Counſels! how prudent in his Reprooſs! and ſo have run over all the charms of his whole converſation; and that would have gone on in their Lamentations, Ah what a glory was he to our Family! what a glory to his Friends! what a glory to his Country! muſt now have cried out, O Brother, and O Siſter, how hath our Father undone us! how hath he deſtroyed our Fortunes! ruined our Family, and laid our very blood under a Legal attaint? And certainly in this regaad as well as others, are theſe kind of men ſtiled in Scripture the ſons of Belial; and therefore you find among the inſtructions, that Jezabel gave in her Letters to the Elders of the City, for the cutting off of Naboth, that this was one, That they ſhould ſet two men, ſons of Belial before him, to bear witneſs againſt him, ſaying, thou didſt blaſpheme God and the King. But for ever bleſſed be God that they digged this pit as low as Hell, yet his gracious hand followed and found them out, and hath enabled us to ſing that they are fallen into it themſelves; and to him alone be the glory thereof. For this Plot was detected by the immediate hand of Heaven, and not by man. For it lay too deep for humane wiſdom to fathom it, it was only the Almighty that could, and did find it out. And therefore this ſecond Plot failing, on comes their third, and if England be wiſe their laſt Plot that ever they ſhall make upon us; and this, if we may judg of Hercules by his foot, and the whole by the part already detected, was, That ſince they could not cut off the King by their privy Conſpiracies, nor the Worthies of the Kingdom by their falſe Witneſſes, they would now go directly to work, and cut off both and all, by a bloody Maſſacre; though we hope the ſame loving-kindneſs that blaſted both their former attempts will alſo this; but beware the third time, is a rule that we Learned in the beginning of our days, and pray God the arts of our enemies may not make us forget it now. And to draw in the more company to abet this bloody work, the burning Oliver and the Rump were to umbrage and initiate it on the Stage. For a few looſe Prentices, and a number of unaccountable perſons, were to begin the tumult under that pretence, and when the rout was up, the actors themſelves were to have appeared and played their part. And though great diſcoveries have been made thereof, yet many wiſe men doubt that we are not yet beyond the danger of it. Wherefore if now after all this, Juſtice be not done on this wicked bloody generation, both King and People have reaſon to fear that they are under that diſmal ſentence denounced by the p. 26Lord on Ahab for ſparing Benhadad, 1 King. 20.41. Thy life ſhall go for his life, and thy people for his people. I am as little for perſecuting the Papiſts upon the account of Conſcience as another. But yet I muſt ſay, that a man that makes it his conſcience to plot my deſtruction, and the deſtruction of all that's dear and precious to me, and is ſo reſtleſs at it, that as ſoon as one Villany is diſcover'd, he forms another; and by repeating his Plots again and again upon me, gives me ſuch infallible aſſurance that he will never be quiet till he hath cut my throat. I confeſs I think I ſhould be a great debtor to my own ſafety, ſhould I not deſire he might be ſent to live a little further of; and this is no more than what the common juſtice due to humane ſociety does require, and our very Laws themſelves do warrant. For if one private perſon may demand as his right, the ſecurity of binding to the Peace any one that he avers on his corporal Oath he goes in danger of his life from, certainly that Juſtice is not to be denied to a whole Nation. And ſince no tye of Law is ſufficient to bind them to the Peace here, ſure it is but juſtice to ſend them elſewhere, that the Nation may be ſecured; and that they may have the leſs cauſe to complain of ill uſage, let them in Gods name carry their eſtates with them.

And as our judging rightly of things will enable us to ſee more clearly through the arts of our enemies in general; ſo will it enable you to ſee quite thorough their grand cheat in particular. For that which they moſt labour to frighten us with, is, that unleſs we have their ſentiments and talk, and think of things as wickedly and impudently as they do, that we are friends to the Fanaticks, and enemies to his Majeſty; the firſt is ſaid only to divide us from each other; the laſt to prejudice the Government againſt us both. As to the firſt, I'le only ſay that I do not think that it is ſo crying a ſin as the clamor of their kind of cattle would inſinuate, to be friendly to Fanaticks; and therefore I am not at all aſhamed to confeſs for one, that as I look upon them as the beſt diſſenting Proteſtants, that are moſt friendly to the Church of England; ſo I look upon them as the beſt Church of England men that are the moſt friendly to diſſenting Proteſtants; and if all others would account ſo too, I ſhould think our ſelves in a truer union, than any act of Conformity can make, and that's all I ſhall ſay to that charge, and all that I think is worth the ſaying to it. But as to the laſt, I do confeſs that I do judg that a very great ſin, and therefore ſhall be a little longer and more particular in the examining of this charge. p. 27For I do hope that every one that makes a conſcience of fearing God, does make a conſcience alſo of honouring the King. But I doubt there is ſome miſtake betwixt us concerning this duty, and that this wicked generation call that an honouring the King, which indeed is not. For I do verily believe that thoſe Preſidents of the Kingdom, thoſe Governours, Princes, Counſellors, and Captains, that conſulted together to make that Royal Statute and wicked Decree, That whoſoever ſhould ask any petition of any god or man for thirty days, ſave of the King, ſhould be caſt into the den of Lions, Dan. 6.7. and that went to the King to ratifie and eſtabliſh that Decree, v. 8. did carry themſelves very toppingly for the Kings friends, and the only principal Royaliſts and loyal perſons that honoured the King in that Region; and ſo I believe did thoſe in the 3d of Dan. that accuſed thoſe honeſt and worthy Nonconformiſts that would not fall down and perform that worſhip that the King had commanded, ver. 12. And I do believe as they accounted themſelves the only honourers of the King, ſo they reckoned Daniel and the three Children for factious and diſloyal Fanaticks. But now I do alſo believe, that if you will but look how God Almighty, who is the true and righteous Judg, accounted them, you will ſee that thoſe wicked Court-Paraſites were under a great miſtake, and that Daniel and the three Children that refuſed to obey thoſe unrighteous Laws and Decrees, were truer friends to, and honourers of the King, than thoſe that had made and preſſed the execution of them. If you will therefore but entertain this Exhortation to judg rightly of things, you will ſee through all theſe thin and pitiful veils that theſe wicked Plotters ſpread both over their own Villany, and over your integrity, and will ſee that this is but one of their old arts, and a cheat ſo oft repeated, that nothing leſs than impudence would beſtow the pains to lick it over afreſh, and impoſe it on the world again. For did not this ſame ſpirit ever do thus? Did they not make innocent Naboth an enemy to the King, nay, and took away his precious blood upon that account, becauſe he would not part with his Vineyard, which was his Inheritance? Did they not account the Prophet Jeremiah an enemy to the King, becauſe he preſſed him to obey the word of the Lord in yielding to the Caldeans? Did they not account thoſe we laſt mentioned, Daniel, and the three Children, enemies to the King, becauſe they would not obey thoſe wicked and unrighteous Laws that the King had commanded? Did not Haman accuſe Mordecai, one of the beſt friends the King had, p. 28and all the Jews for the Kings enemies, and ſuch as did not keep the Kings Laws? and upon that accuſation obtained that bloody Decree, which was written, and the Letters ſent by Poſts into all the Kings Provinces to deſtroy, to kill, and cauſe to periſh all Jews, both young and old, little children and women in one day, Eſth. 3.13. And all this barbarous Maſſacre that was to ſpare no age nor ſex, for no other reaſon but becauſe Mordecai would not bow the knee to Haman. Did they not accuſe the very Apoſtles themſelves with this crime? Pray ſee the 17th of the Acts, in that tumult and uproar that this wicked generation made at Theſſalonica, when they haled Jaſon and divers others before the Rulers of the City? For did they not among the reſt of their venom cry out thus? Theſe all do contrary to the decree of Caeſar, verſ. 7th. Nay, our bleſſed Lord himſelf, that moſt innocent and immaculate Lamb of God, even he could not eſcape this their falſe and curſed imputation. For you find theſe wicked Plotters accuſing him before Pilate thus, Luk. 23.2. We found this fellow perverting the Nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caeſar. And when Pilate had examined the matter and found nothing in their accuſation true, and on hearing all they could ſay, could find no fault in him; and therefore ſought again, and again, and again to releaſe him; did not theſe damned Plotters for fear that holy Jeſus ſhould eſcape their bloody and wicked hands, frighten Pilate to the condemnation of him? by ſaying to him, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caeſars friend, Joh. 19.12. and that did their work; and crucified Chriſt effectually. But thoſe that judg rightly of things, they are never frightned with ſuch ſcarecrows, but know how to ſhew themſelves friends to the King, and yet friends to their Conſcience too. They will not purchaſe the reputation of loyal by any Villainous acts; for they have learned to be loyal on a more noble and better account; they know that diſobedience to wicked Laws and commands, is a greater honour to the King, and merits more his favour, than thoſe wicked Plotters that made and procured thoſe wicked Laws and commands from him. You ſee therefore the excellent ſervice that this brach of the Exhortation will do ye, to judg rightly of things.

I am not ignorant that the Papiſts and all thoſe wicked Plotters cry up their Loyalty at a mighty rate; and truly if they themſelves did not do it, I know not who would? I know alſo they ſpeak great things, and huge ſwelling words of their utter abhorrence of Oliver and the Rump. But how comes it about that theſe p. 29ſo hugely loyal Papiſts never plotted thus againſt Oliver and the Rump? How comes it about that they did not burn London down about their ears as well as about ours? Why did they not as barbarouſly butcher their Miniſters of Juſtice, as they have done ours? Why, I will not aſſign any cauſe, or load them with any thing that is not true, for they have guilt enough of their own, without our feigning any for them, and therefore I do verily believe that they were as real enemies to Oliver and the Rump, and their Miniſters, as they are to his Majeſty and his; and that the only reaſon why they did not play thoſe pranks then, that they do now, was becauſe they dared not do it. For they knew that they would have handled them without mittens, and have truſſed them up to rights, if they ſhould have gone about to trick them as they do us. For this right I will do them, that though they love wickedneſs as their lives, nor hardly are ever in their own Element but when they are acting it; yet when they ſee it muſt, and certainly will return upon their own pates, they have an excellent gift of continence, and can tell as well how to ſpeak and fawn upon a Government they hate, as well as ſtab it. Wherefore why they did not practice upon Oliver and the Rump then, as they do upon his Majeſty and his people now, was only becauſe they dared not do it. For do not let us miſtake the mettle and courage of theſe men, for they do Patrizare and are of the ſame temper with their father; and the Apoſtle St. James gives you the true meaſure of his courage, Jam. 4.7. Reſiſt the Devil and he will fly from you. They are like Witches, if you give them nothing, they can do you no hurt; or like Snakes, they can ſting no boſom but that which harbors them. We ſaw but the other day when the Parliament ſat, and when the Law was ſuffered to deal a little roundly with them, they began to run to corners, to truſs up their fardles, and look out for a fair wind. Wherefore if you but receive this Exhortation to judg rightly of things, you will ſee through all their arts, pull off their vizards, …b off their paints, and expoſe their cheats to publick view; and not ſuffer their falſe and pitiful pretences of Loyalty to impoſe on your underſtandings any longer.

Nay, you will not only diſcern their arts and deceits in laying their Plots, but in their hiding them alſo, when God hath detected them; for all their coverings have that fault that the Prophet Iſaiah foretold they ſhould have, Iſa. 28.20. where the Prophet ſpeaking of the coverings of the wicked, ſaith, That they are narrower p. 30than that they can wrap themſelves in it. For let them pull their coverings never ſo cloſe and cunningly about them, yet ſome part or other always appears to evince the truth of their guilt. They played the fool a great while to bubble all mankind that there was no Plot; but when his Majeſty with two Parliaments, and at leaſt twenty Proclamations, had declared it not only a Plot, but a Damnable and Helliſh Plot too, and that every week or two brought in freſh Witneſſes, and further diſcoveries, and the people pinched them upon their unanſwerable point, If it be no Plot, then we hope Sir Edmundbury Godfrey is alive; for his Murder, and no Plot are ſuch contrarieties in nature, that he which believes the one, muſt (do what he can) believe the other alſo. And when they ſaw this ſhamm would do no good, they dropt it, and had recourſe to other cheats, and were content to let it be a Plot, ſo it might be a Presbyterian one. And if now at laſt they ſhall endeavour to obſtruct the proceedings of Juſtice, it is but like applying Pidgeons to the feet, a remedy next door to the neck-verſe, it will be a comfort to ſee that their wickedneſs cannot ſtand any longer alone in judgment without this art to ſupport it; but it would be a horrible ſhame that ſuch Popiſh Villany ſhould get any Proteſtant ſupporters. But Naturaliſts ſay, Corruptio optimorum peſſima eſt; and if ſo, certainly the wicked'ſt thing that the whole world hath in it, is Corruption; and you will be ſomewhat of my mind if you but read and conſider the dreadfulleſt judgment that you find recorded in all the Word of God, Mic. 3 ult. Therefore, ſays the Prophet, for your ſakes ſhall Zion be plowed as a field, and Jeruſalem ſhall become heaps, and the mountain of the houſe as the high places of the forreſt. Good Father! what monſtrous wretches are theſe! that for their ſakes Zion ſhould be plowed, Jeruſalem laid waſte, and the mountain of the Lords houſe made as a forreſt! What! all the beauty, ſafety, and glory of the Church, and Houſe of God, totally deſtroyed, and turned into a deſolate Wilderneſs, and all this for the ſake and ſins of ſome kind of men! Good Lord! wh… prodigious wretches muſt theſe be, that provoke the moſt merciful God for their ſakes to deal thus ſtrangely ſevere with his Church! Why, read the foregoing verſe, and you'l find in the very front and firſt rank of theſe men (if it be lawful to call them men) they are ſuch as judg for reward; and truly I did well to put in that If: for the Prophet Zephaniah in his 3d Chap. and 3d verſ. is ſo far from calling them men, that he calls them, Evening wolves, p. 31which are the moſt hungry, curſt, and ravenous after their prey of any Creature whatſoever; ſo that take a man that judgeth for reward, and nothing can ſtop him: Not Religion, not Reputation, not King, not Country, nor Church, nor State, no conſiderations of Publick, nor of private weal, can ſtop his career. 'Tis a Beaſt of ſuch a greedy canine inſatiate appetite, that he runs over all, runs upon all, runs down all. And if you ſhould come from this Word of God, and ſay this ſin will lay our Jeruſalem in heaps, they will but laugh at you, and clap you up in Gaol. Let our Jeruſalem lye in heaps as long as it will, and our Church be made a Wilderneſs if it will, what care they, ſo they can but get gain? But we truſt the Lord that hath had that mercy for the King, and that mercy for his Proteſant people to deliver them thus miraculouſly from the Papiſts hands, will perfect and compleat his own Salvation, and deliver us from ſuch Evening-wolves alſo; and according to his gracious Promiſe will bleſs us with Magiſtrates as at the firſt, and counſellors as at the beginning, Iſa. 1.26.

The fourth and laſt Improvement of this truth, That the wicked are Plotters, the only Plotters that the world hath in it, is of comfort to the juſt.

For if it be ſo that the word of truth doth determine that the wicked are the only Plotters that the world hath in it, then do you be comforted in the midſt of all the calumnies that are caſt upon you. You have great reaſon to take this comfort to your ſelves, for you ſee the Lord himſelf hath determined the point on your ſide, the wicked clamor and make a mighty noiſe in the world, as if you were the only Plotters and diſturbers thereof, but you ſee the righteous holy Lord hath by his Heavenly Word determined the matter paſt all controverſie for ever for you, and ſays poſitively that 'tis the wicked, the wicked perſons, and they only, that are the Plotters and diſturbers of the World; bear then their reproach with comfort; for they do no more by you in this, than they have done by the righteous in all ages; what if you hear ſo eminent and righteous a ſoul as King David complaining, that they laid to his charge things that he knew not, as you ſee he doth, Pſal. 35.11. Can you count it much that they will lay ſuch things to your charge? If you read the ſtory of juſt and upright Job, you will ſee that ſober men and his intimate friends drew up p. 32an unjuſt charge againſt him, and will you wonder the wicked enemies do the ſame againſt you? You have a marvellous remarkable inſtance of this kind in Jer. 37. the ſeries of it lyeth thus: The Caldeans beſieged Jeruſalem, but hearing that Pharoah King of Egypt was come forth with an Army, they raiſed the ſiege. The Prophet Jeremiah aſſured them from the Lord, That for all they had raiſed their ſiege, yet the Caldeans would return and take the city; though he would make uſe of the preſent opportunity to leave Jeruſalem, and go dwell in the Country. Now as he was executing this honeſt and innocent intent, in the very Gate as he was going out, he met with one of the huffing hectoring Captains of the City, who took him and brought him back, and charged him that he was running away to the enemy; and though Jeremiah told him 'twas falſe, and that he was not going out with any ſuch intent; yet this roaring wretch would not let him go, but brought him back to the Princes, who the Text tells you were wroth with Jeremiah, and ſmote him, and put him in priſon, verſ. 15. and in the next Chapter they are eager to put him to death, For the Princes came unto the King and ſaid, We beſeech thee let this man be put to death, for he weakens the hands of the men of war in the city, and the hands of all the people in ſpeaking ſuch words unto them: For this man ſeeks not the welfare of this people, but their hurt, verſ. 4. This was a horrible charge, and yet this holy Prophet ſpake not one word to them, nor the people neither, but what he had from the mouth of the Lord; ſo in they thruſt him into a lothſome and dirty dungeon, that he might die there; as undoubtedly he had done, had it not been for a poor Ethiopian that mediated for him, and took him out from thence. For the King was ſuch a ſlave to thoſe wicked Courtiers, (that carried all before them) that he durſt not interpoſe on the behalf of this innocent and eminent Prophet, as you may read in the fifth verſe. Nay, to ſuch an abject nature, and beneath a Prince, was the ſpirit of this King ſunk, by the conduct of this curſed crew, that adventuring to ſpeak privately with Jeremiah, he was ſo afraid leſt theſe damned youths ſhould hear of their Conference, that he chargeth the Prophet in the 24th verſe, That no man ſhould know of the words that had paſſed between them. Well then, if ſo great a Prophet as Jeremiah could not eſcape the reproach of wicked men, from being charged as an enemy to, nay a ſugitive from the King, and as one that ſought not the welfare, but the hurt of the people; be comforted and know that you have nothing but what hath p. 33been the common lot and portion of all the people of God, in the reproaches and imputations that they caſt upon you.

Nor is the Old Teſtament only full of examples and inſtances of this kind, but the New Teſtament likewiſe: For the holy Apoſtle had the ſame meaſure of rage and reproach from theſe wicked Plotters (as well of this kind as all others) as the Prophets had. In Acts 16. you find St. Paul and Silas going to prayer, met a Damſel poſſeſſed with a Spirit of divination, which brought her Maſters much gain by ſouthſaying, this wench followed Paul and Silas, crying, Theſe men are the ſervants of the moſt high God, which ſhew unto us the way of ſalvation; and this ſhe did many days: at laſt St. Paul diſpoſſeſſed her of the Spirit, and in verſ. 19. When her maſters ſaw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the market-place unto the rulers, and brought them to the magiſtrates, ſaying, Theſe men do exceedingly trouble our City. And in verſ. 22. The multitude roſe up againſt them, and the magiſtrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them. And when they had laid many ſtripes upon them, they caſt them into priſon, charging the Gaoler to keep them ſafely: So as the Prophets were accounted the troublers of the places where they came, in the Old Teſtament; ſo you ſee the Apoſtles loaded with the ſame charge in the new: Nay, exceeding troubleſome. Theſe men, ſay theſe wretches here, exceedingly trouble our city. And you find them reckoned ſo troubleſom at Epheſus, that they raiſed an uproar upon them, Acts 19. where you may ſee the ſame Spirit acting them for their gain, which was, their god was going, and that put them beyond all patience: For Demetrius layed his charge thus; This Paul, ſaith he, hath perſwaded and turned away much people, ſaying, that they be no gods which are made with hands (a mighty crime, is it not?) ſo that our craft is in danger. For this Demetrius was a Silverſmith, and one of the makers of thoſe manufactured gods that St. Paul decried; and ſeeing his gain upon the wing, and ready to take its flight, he was mad, and made that uproar. Nor among the Gentiles only that worſhipped gods of Gold and Silver, of Wood and of Stone, was this wrong apprehenſion of the Apoſtles, but amongſt the Jews alſo, who had the true notion of the one and only true God: For you read in Acts 17. that St. Paul and Silas coming to Theſſalonica, and finding there a Synagogue of the Jews, went in amongſt them, and reaſoned from the Scriptures, that Chriſt muſt needs p. 34have ſuffered and riſen again from the dead; and that Jeſus whom they preached, was Chriſt: And 'tis ſaid, that ſome of the Jews believed; but the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows, and the baſer ſort (where by the way, you may note, that lewd fellows and the baſer ſort of people are, and ever were the enemies of Chriſt and true Chriſtians) of theſe they gathered a company, and ſet all the city in an uproar; and when they found not Paul and Silas, they drew certain of the Brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, Theſe that have turned the world upſide down, are come hither alſo. And in Acts 24.5. you will find the ſame Apoſtle called by Terullus the Orator, a peſtilent fellow, a mover of ſedition, a ringleader of a ſect, and an outcry made upon him, Away with ſuch a fellow from the earth, for it is not fit that he ſhould live, Acts 22.22. Comfort your ſelves then, for you ſee you have no harder meaſure than the holy Apoſtles had; you can't be called worſe than they were called, nor have more, nor greater calumnies caſt upon you, than you ſee were caſt on them; and yet I am perſwaded you do believe, that notwithſtanding all this wicked rage from theſe falſe and wicked Plotters, that the holy Apoſtles were no enemies to Caeſar, were no troublers nor diſturbers of Governments nor People, nor no ſeditious peſtilent fellows, and unworthy to live upon the face of Gods earth, as their tumults, uproars, and curſed outcrys did accuſe them for: Nay, what if our bleſſed Lord and Saviour himſelf received no better nor fairer quarter from this wicked generation? Then I hope you will be comforted and contented with your lot, remembring that holy word, The Diſciple is not above his Maſter, nor the Servant above his Lord: It is enough for the Diſciple to be as his Maſter, and the Servant as his Lord: If they have called the maſter of the houſe Beelzebub; how much more ſhall they call them of his houſhold ſo? Matt. 10.24, 25. And ſee how opprobriouſly and contemptuouſly they called our Lord ſo, Matt. 12.24. They ſaid, This fellow doth not caſt out Devils, but by the help of Beelzebub the prince of Devils. And in St. Luke 23.2. they accuſe him, ſaying, we found this fellow perverting the nation. And Joh. 9.29. We know, ſay they, that God ſpake by Moſes; but as for this fellow (ſpeaking, of our Lord) we know not whence he is. And can you be treated at a courſer or more inſulting rate than this? Be comforted therefore, as thoſe that have but the ſame ſalvage and brutiſh uſage, as the holy Prophets, Apoſtles, and our moſt holy and bleſſed Lord himſelf had from them.

p. 35And comfort your ſelves, not only becauſe God hath determined for you in his word, but becauſe God will determine for you alſo by his providences here, or by his judgments hereafter; and this comfort is annexed here to the Text: For after the Pſalmiſt had told us, That the wicked plotteth againſt the juſt, and gnaſheth upon him with his teeth; he adds for our comfort in the very next words, The Lord ſhall laugh at him, for he ſeeth that his day is coming. I have ſeen, ſays the Prophet in this Pſalm, the wicked in great power, and ſpreading himſelf like a green bay tree. All his wickedneſs had a Lawrel on it; well, and what then? One would think that now he and his wickedneſs were ſecure enough; but no ſuch matter, for in the very next verſe they are both vaniſhed, I ſought him, ſays the Pſalmiſt, but he could not be found, verſ. 35, 36. You ſee his Lawrels were ſoon withered, and all his green and flouriſhing eſtate blaſted into nothing. In the beginning of this Pſalm the Pſalmiſt exhorts us not to fret our ſelves becauſe of evil-doers; a pretty hard duty, and ſuch as even juſt Lot could hardly bring his mind to a thorough compliance with; for the Apoſtle Peter tells you, That his righteous ſoul was vexed from day to day with the filthy converſation of the wicked Sodomites, 2 Pet. 2, 7, 8. Well, but what argument doth the Prophet urge this duty upon us with, that we ſhould not fret at the wicked? why the very ſame that we are upon here, For they ſhall ſoon be cut down as graſs, ſaith he, and wither as the green herb, verſ. 2. And in the 10th verſe, Yet a little while and the wicked ſhall not be; yea, thou ſhalt diligently conſider his place, and it ſhall not be. Neither their perſons nor their places, nor nothing ſhall be left; but one and t'other, and all cut down and dried up and withered; nay, their very name and memory ſhall rot; they ſtank when they were above ground, and they rot when they are under it; and therefore you find the Royal Prophet praiſing God that he had deſtroyed the wicked, and put out their name for ever and ever. Pſal. 9.5. Men value their names next their lives (and in ſome caſes before them too) and therefore they venture upon mighty things, that their names may live, and that there may be a fame upon their memory; why even this ſhall be put out, and not put out to revive again, but the Lord ſhall put it out for ever and ever. A man would think if any could be ſecure from this, it ſhould be thoſe wicked ones ſpoken of in Pſal. 73.7. concerning whom 'tis ſaid, That they had more than heart could wiſh. To have as much p. 36as heart can wiſh, is pretty well; but to have more than heart can wiſh, certainly muſt mightily ſecure its owners; and yet by and by you ſee thoſe over-grown wicked wretches that had more than heart could wiſh, caſt down by God into deſtruction, verſe the 18th. And the Pſalmiſt burſting out into admiration of Gods Providence thus in the 19th verſe, How are they brought into deſolation as in a moment! As well he might; What! men that had more than their very heart could wiſh but juſt now, and thus all of the ſudden in a very moment brought into deſolation! Certainly, we may well cry out with the Apoſtle, Oh how unſearchable are the judgments of God! and his ways paſt finding out, Rom. 11.33. Why, here's a ſtrange winding up of their wickedneſs, a marvellous Cataſtrophe. Thoſe that inſulted but now at ſuch a wonderful rate, over the holy Prophets, Apoſtles, and even Chriſt himſelf, that fellowed up our Lord, and fellowed up his followers, and that reckoned him and them but as the filth and dreges of the world, and that eſteemed them but Mechanicks, and the very off-ſcouring of all things; and what is all this huff and rant come to this already? O what reaſon have you then to receive this comfort? and to ſay, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty, juſt and true are thy ways thou King of Saints? For there are many Promiſes that the righteous ſhall ſee theſe ſtupendious operations of the Load, as Pſal. 52.6. The righteous ſhall ſee and ſhall laugh at them. And Pſal. 107.42. The righteous ſhall ſee it and rejoice, and all iniquity ſhall ſtop her mouth. It will be their turn then to clap their hands and to ſhout for joy. For then all the upright in heart ſhall glory. It may be the bleſſed God by his gracious Providence may order it ſo, that even here your mouths may be filled with laughter, and your tongues with ſinging. But however, we are ſure it will be hereafter, when God ſhall burn up all theſe wicked droſs of the earth with unquenchable fire, that have plotted againſt the juſt. Wherefore I conclude my Diſcourſe with the Exhortation of the Apoſtle to the Theſſalonians, in the firſt Epiſtle to the Theſſalonians, the 4th Chapter, and the laſt verſe, Wherefore comfort one another with theſe words.

Now to God only wiſe be Glory through Jeſus Chriſt for ever, Amen.

FINIS.

End of the text · Samuel Palmer, The Plotters Doom (1680)