WE are this day assembled together to pay the tribute of our devout­est praise and thanks to Almighty God, as for the latest, so, perhaps, for the greatest Deliverance that ever he hath wrought for [Page 4]this Church and Nation. 'Tis the onely tribute this which a Creature can pay to his Creatour, and 'tis that which our Cre­atour daily expects from us, and which he declares to be highly acceptable and well pleasing in his sight; Whoso offereth me praise, saith he, glorifieth me. Psal. 50.23. But though this duty be continually to be performed by us, and (as the Apostle ex­horts us, Eph. 5.20.) we ought to give thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; foras­much as every day, every hour, we par­take of his goodness, and taste of his mer­cy and loving kindness: yet then is it espe­cially and most indispensably necessary, when by shewing some signal and extraor­dinary favour toward us God himself calls for it, as it were by a voice from Heaven. And this is our present case; every minute circumstance of which we have described to us, and presented to the life in this por­tion of Scripture.

• I. Here is our danger that threatned us. Cursed Sons of Belial combine together, and contrive an Hellish Plot to destroy us. [Page 5] They encourage themselves in an evil matter, &c.
• II. Here is God's gratious deliverance from this danger. But God shall shoot at them with an arrow, &c.
• III. Here is our duty thereupon. All men shall fear, &c. These are the things which my Text offers to our consideration: of which in order.

And first, Here is a Plot contrived to de­stroy us. They encourage themselves in an evil matter: they commune of laying snares privily; they say, Who shall see them? They search out iniquities; they accomplish a diligent search: both the inward thought of every one of them and the heart is deep. Which words contain a most exact description of the methods and devices which cunning and malitious Traytors make use of in contriving and managing the most execrable and devilish Plots and Conspiracies for the Subversion of the Government under which they live. The Psalmist here traces their footsteps all along, pursues them from their infancy to their maturity, from their first trembling initiation into Sedition, through all their secret whisperings and murmurings, their stollen Cabals and Conventicles, untill [Page 6]they are become Masters of the Mysteries of Treason, and are ripe fruit for the accursed Tree. And so I shall endeavour to expose them to your view in the same method that the Royal Prophet hath prescribed to us. And First, They encourage themselves in an evil mat­ter. Though it be most true that all men are conceived and born in sin; yet it is as true that no man can all of a sudden, and as it were in a moment, become a complete sin­ner, and arrive at the height and perfection of Wickedness and Villany. But though that secret infection which the sin of our first Pa­rents hath conveyed to all their posterity (if it be not subdued and restrained by the grace of God) be strong enough, and sure enough, to bring any man to Hell, by breaking out into common and ordinary sins, which (un­repented of) will certainly lead him to the chambers of death: yet to become one of Sa­tan's principal Agents, one of the chief Mini­sters of State in the Kingdom of Darkness; this requires Pains and Sweat; and he must serve a most insufferable Apprenticeship that will attain to it: and whosoever will em­barque his Soul on this manner for Hell (especially if he hath been born and bred in [Page 7]a Christian Church) must endure many sad conflicts and storms in his Conscience, before he can thoroughly make shipwreck of his faith, and fit himself for the desperate at­tempts of so fatal a voyage. When the Pro­phet Elisha told Hazael what cruelty he should shew toward the Children of Israel (2 King. 8.) that he should set their strong holds on fire, and should slay their young men with the sword, and dash their children, and rip up their women with child, he answers him, as if he were astonished at such actions; What, saith he, is thy servant a dog, that he should doe this great thing! And yet he did doe it afterwards, as the story shews us. And so likewise it is not at all improbable but the most bloudy minded of all the Traytours that were concerned in this late Conspiracy, should a man have surprized him on a sud­den, and asked him, If he would undertake to stab the King, or to fire a Blunderbus in his Face, before he had been fitly prepared to hearken to such proposals, would have rejected the thing with horrour, and have lookt upon it to be compared with Nero's in­satiable thirst after bloud, when he wished that the people of Rome had but one neck, [Page 8]that he might destroy them all at a blow. For though a man must be beholding to a tender Conscience, and to the assistence of the Divine Grace to preserve him from smal­ler sins, and to enable him to abstain from all appearance of evil; yet such horrid crimes as this of Treason, Assassinating Kings, and ru­ining Kingdoms, and procuring the destruc­tion of (perhaps) more than an hundred thousand innocent persons in a moment; I say, such villany as this looks so dreadfull and ghastly, that even common humanity startles at the sight of it, as if Hell it self were open to its view, and it had a full prospect of the terrours of the Infernal pit: and therefore it is not to be propounded to any persons but such as by a previous preparation are duly fitted and qualified for it. And so David tells us here that the Conspiratours lay their designs accordingly; and the beginning and rise of all Plots is this, They encourage them­selves in an evil matter. Those that are al­ready thoroughly disposed for Treason them­selves, that they may draw others into their confederacy, labour to possess them with an ill opinion of the Government; and, that the infection may spread it self the faster [Page 9]through all parts of the Kingdom, they cause lying and seditious Pamphlets and Libels to be dispersed abroad, to defame the King and his Council, and to terrifie the hearts of the credulous Vulgar with groundless Fears and Jealousies. By such strategems as these, to­gether with the help of the Pulpit Incendia­ries, that forced the Gospel of Peace to sound an Alarm of War, and to command Rebelli­on instead of Obedience, did this unhappy Nation lately lose its King, its Liberty, and its Religion, and was reduced to most wretched Slavery under Tyranny, Schism and Heresie. And in the very same manner was this last Conspiracy begun, fomented and carried on; and as direfull effects would it certainly have produced, had not God been gratiously pleased to discover it, and (I hope) utterly to defeat and confound it: and the Morning Star is not a more infallible sign of approach­ing day than such methods as these are of Plots and Treason being in agitation. By this means it comes to pass that the Mouths of the Common people are opened, and, as the Psalmist expresses it at the third verse of this Psalm, They whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, [Page 10]even bitter words against those Governours; against whom they ought not to frame so much as an evil thought: and every prag­matical Fop, that perhaps hath not brains sufficient to make a good Constable, takes upon him to be a mighty Politician, and arraigns and censures the most prudent and advised proceedings of the King and his Council. And while they that study to be quiet, and to doe their own business, leaving the management of State-affairs to those persons with whom God hath entrusted them, are lookt upon to be Betrayers of the Subjects Liberty, they onely cry themselves up for the zealous Asserters of it who most evidently shew that they design to invade it, by tram­pling upon the Laws both of the Gospel and the King, and in defiance of the former boldly calumniate and revile the latter, de­spising Dominion, and speaking evil of Dignities. And thus much of the first step towards Treason mentioned in my Text, and 'tis no small one neither: They encourage themselves in an evil matter, by mooting sometimes upon a Case of Treason, and letting their tongues loose to talk seditiously against the Government.

And whosoever hath learnt this lesson well is in a fair way to proceed farther: and he that hath conceived an ill opinion of the King and his Government, that finds him­self uneasie under it, and dares openly de­clare these sentiments of his to others, must needs be supposed to be inclinable to engage in any design by which he may have any probable hopes to mend his condition; and will doubtless lend his helping hand, or head, or purse, or perhaps all of them rather than fail, to free himself from that yoke with which he is pinched. And this is the direct method of the Traytors here in my Text. After they have sufficiently encouraged them­selves in an evil matter by their factious and seditious discourses, and begin thoroughly to understand themselves, and find that they are all birds of the same feather, all Mur­murers and Complainers alike, afflicted with the same Grievances, and unanimously a­greed upon the same Verdict against the Government, we need not wonder if the next news we hear of them be, That they are entring into Solemn Leagues and Cove­nants, and Associations; that they are con­triving [Page 12]Plots and Conspiracies, and that They commune of laying snares privily, and say, Who shall see them? Thus Absalom after he hath alienated the hearts of the people of Israel from King David, and stollen them unto himself, presently heads the Faction that he hath raised; causes himself to be proclaimed King in Hebron, and consults with Ahitophel how to murther his Father David, and to possess himself of his Crown and Kingdom. And whosoever hath seriously considered the seditious and tumultuous behaviour of the Sectaries amongst us for these four, or five, last years, ever since the breaking out of the Popish Plot; surely must either be one of the Party himself, or else must apprehend that they had some dangerous designs in hand. For when the Papists threatened the life of the King, and the destruction of our Religion, who would have imagined but that the other Dissenters, who pretend to be such furious Zealots against Popery, and such irreconcileable enemies to Antichrist, would at that time especially have bent all their forces against Rome, and have exposed the devilish Doctrines of that Church concerning Equivocation, the Pope's Absolving Subjects [Page 13]from their Oaths of Allegeance, and Excom­municating, Deposing and Murthering Kings, and the like? These would have been worthy Subjects for the pens of Protestants. But instead of this, whilst the Papists threaten us in the face with a damnable Plot, the other Dissenters at the very same time charge us in the Rear; and, as if they were glad of such an opportunity to serve his Holiness, with a great deal more than ordinary fury and bit­terness fall foul upon the Church of England: and I am very confident that within these four last years they have written more sediti­ous and infamous Pamphlets against his Ma­jesty, our Bishops and Clergy, and our Church as it is by Law established, than in any four years besides since the late Rebellion. And now who, that hath but half an eye in his head, can chuse but see and conclude from such circumstances as these, that the Church of England is a greater eye-sore to these men than that of Rome; and that the two main Ceremonies with which their tender Consci­ences are chiefly offended are Monarchy and Episcopacy: the latter of which Christ will undoubtedly continue in his Church even unto the end of the World, and I hope he [Page 14]will preserve both of them as long in this Land from the rage and violence of unreaso­nable and wicked men. I say, who that hath impartially considered these things could expect any thing less than some treasonable Plot from such restless Troublers of our Israel; and that they that had taken all this pains by their factious Writings and Discourses to encourage themselves in an evil matter, as they had begun, so they would go on likewise with the Traytors in my Text, and soon after commune of laying snares privily, and say, Who shall see them?

But the Psalmist pursues them yet farther, and in the next words sets forth their indefa­tigable industry, and the utmost efforts of their diligence and subtilty in labouring to effect their designs. They search out iniqui­ties; they accomplish a diligent search: both the inward thought of every one of them and the heart is deep. After they have communed of laying snares, of contriving a Plot, their next business is to consult together how to manage it and carry it on with all possible secrecy and security. And for this end, before ever they offer to strike a blow, they draw, up an [Page 15]exact Scheme and Platform of their whole work, assign to every man his particular Office and Station, and agree, to every little punctilio, in what order and method to pro­ceed, that their Conspiracy may be sure not to miscarry. Thus they search out iniquities. And if ever any Traytors did so, certainly ours that were concerned in this late Plot did it to the height: They accomplished a di­ligent search; they compassed both Sea and Land to gain Proselytes, and had their Agents in Holland, as well as in England and Scot­land; and both the inward thought of every one of them and the heart was deep.

How cunningly they had laid their designs the King hath acquainted us in his Declara­tion; by which we may see how far their malice extended; that they aimed not their Blow at his Majesty onely, but at all his Loyal Subjects, at all that were friends to him and the Church, and were resolved not to stay their hands from shedding bloud, untill they had thoroughly purged the Nation both of Loyalty and Religion.

And now we are come to the last Scene of this bloudy Tragedy; a Scene that must necessarily end in the death either of the [Page 16]Innocent or of the Guilty, either of the Traytors or of the King. They say, and are resolved that the King shall die: but God saith, and hath decreed, that it shall be themselves. They design to shoot Bullets at their Sovereign, but God determins to pre­vent them by shooting an Arrow at them themselves: And so I come to the second part of my Text, which is,

God's gratious deliverance from this danger that threatened us. But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded. So they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves: all that see them shall flee away. There are many devices in a man's heart, saith Solomon; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord that shall stand. Prov. 19.21. Certainly the devices of these Traytors of ours were many and bloudy. Their part was Malice and Cruelty; but God's part is Mercy and Justice met together: to us Mercy, whom he hath delivered; Justice to them, whom he hath confounded, and snared in the work of their own hands. They had found out so convenient a place for the execution of their Treason, that had the King come by that way according to their expectation, [Page 17]it had been morally impossible for him to have made an escape; but he must have run directly into the jaws of Death. But never­theless the counsel of the Lord that shall stand. The Persons of Kings are sacred: they have their Guard in Heaven as well as upon Earth, and God himself stands in the congre­gation of Princes. And though sometimes for the sins of a wicked people whom he hath a design to punish he permits even good Kings to fall by the hands of the Sons of Belial; yet for one treasonable Plot that he suffers to take effect he disappoints many; to shew how tender he is over the Persons of his Vicegerents, and that Kings are the parti­cular care and charge of his Providence. And never did this Providence of his more clearly and gratiously manifest it self, than in those many signal and wonderfull deliveran­ces which he hath wrought for our present King, whom he hath so often rescued from the very brink of Destruction, and covered with his own hand from the weapons of his enemies, and from the instruments of Death. And surely he must be an Atheist, or worse (if possible) one that believes there is a God, but is resolved to fight against him and [Page 18]flie in his very face; if after all this he can either plot or speak evil against him whom Heaven it self hath so plainly declared to be its Favourite. But never did the hand of God more visibly appear in his preservation, than it did in the discovery and disappoint­ment of this late hellish Conspiracy. When the Traytors had gotten all things in a readi­ness, and waited onely for the fatal hour: when they had laid their snares so privily, and contrived their Plot so strong and sure (as they thought) that vain was the help of Man; then God himself arises to protect his Anointed, and to scatter his enemies: he shoots at them with an arrow, and suddenly are they wounded. By a gentle and mercifull correction he prevents a most severe and dreadfull judgment; and by a light afflic­tion of one small and inconsiderable part of the Nation he preserves the whole from a most lamentable destruction. By a sudden (though a very auspicious and happy) Fire he drives away the King from his Recreations to make an escape for his Life, and so defeats and blasts all the designs of the Traytors. This disappointment strook such a terrour into their hearts; that although some of [Page 19]them were so hardened in Villany, that they presumed to proceed in it still, and held farther Meetings and Consults for the carry­ing it on, yet others began to tremble, and fear that God fought against them (as most certainly he did) and so their mischief would return upon their own head, and their violent dealing would come down upon their own pate, and they should be sure to perish themselves in the Attempt: And thereupon they begin to think it high time for them to leave off plotting any farther against the King's Life, and to provide (if possible) for the security of their own, by surrendring themselves up to his Majestie's mercy, and making a full confession and discovery of the whole Con­spiracy, to the utter confusion and ruine of the rest of their Confederates; some of them being thereupon immediately apprehended, and the rest forced to save their lives by flying from the Sword of Justice, exactly according to the words of the Psalmist in my Text; So they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves: all that see them shall flee away.

And now we have seen what these bloudy-minded men would have done against us, and what God hath done for us; it is highly reasonable in the next place to bethink our selves of our own duty, and to consider what obligations this great Deliverance which God hath wrought for us hath laid upon us. And for this David gives us instructions in the remaining part of my Text; And all men shall fear, and shall declare the work of God; for they shall wisely consider of his doing. The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and shall trust in him, and all the upright in heart shall glory. Which words (without any nice di­vision of them) recommend to us in general these two Duties. First, A Duty of Thankful­ness to God; to consider wisely of his doing, to declare his work, and to praise and magnifie his Name for this great and undeserved mercy which he hath shewed toward us. Secondly, A Duty of Caution; to take heed and beware of such manner of men as these, that encourage themselves in an evil matter, that commune of laying snares privily, and labour to disturb the peace and tranquillity of our Church and Nation by stirring up Faction and Sedition amongst us, and contriving [Page 21]Plots and Conspiracies against the Govern­ment. All men shall fear.

First, here is a Duty of Thankfulness to God for this gratious Deliverance. This is the duty of this day, to which God hath so signally obliged us, and which the King in his Name commands us to perform. And whosoever performs it not sincerely and cor­dially, most humbly and devoutly offering up to the Divine Majesty the sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving, surely hath neither any true Religion nor Loyalty in his heart; but in contempt both of God and the King, doeth what lies in his power to pull down a Curse instead of a Blessing upon himself and the whole Kingdom. For where God sows plentifully he expects to reap so too: and when he bestows upon us extraordinary fa­vours, it is but just that our gratefull sense and acknowledgment of them should be, as far as is possible, answerable. And he can be no better than an enemy to his King and Countrey that will not acknowledge the dis­covery and disappointment of this hellish Plot to have been a peculiar and extraordina­ry demonstration of the Divine Goodness toward us. 'Tis a Mercy that hath continu­ed [Page 22]to us as great a Blessing as we can desire; and has delivered us from as dreadfull a Judgment as we could fear. A Mercy that hath preserved our Church from being made the second time a Den of Thieves, that would have establisht Schism and Heresie among us by a Law; and given us as fair a Plea for Damnation, as ever we had for our Liberty and Property. A Mercy that hath freed us from the heavy Curse of having the Kingdom of God taken away from us; and in­stead thereof hath confirmed that Kingdom unto us, and hath settled amongst us (I hope surer and firmer than ever) the best Religion under the happy government and protec­tion of one of the best of Kings. I speak not this in flattery; but as a truth of which I am so confident, that I make no doubt but that the very dissatisfied party of the Nation themselves, if they look round about, can­not name any one King now reigning in Christendom whom they would rather have to rule over them than He under whose Go­vernment they are at the present so restless and uncasic. But the truth is, they would have no King at all, but a Commonwealth: and so it is a plain case, that if our Saviour [Page 23]himself (as the Fifth-Monarchy-men dream) should come down from Heaven incognito, and reign over persons of such Principles as these, he would meet with as bad entertain­ment amongst them, as he did amongst the Scribes and Pharisees. They would be sure to treat him with Libels and Lampoons, and endeavour to perswade the people that he intended to introduce Popery and Arbitrary Government. If then ever any Nation had, certainly we have reason to say with Israel, If the Lord himself had not been on our side; if the Lord himself had not been on our side when men rose up against us; they had swallowed us up quick, when they were so wrathfully displeased at us. But praised be the Lord who hath not given us over for a prey unto their teeth. Since God hath been pleased to stretch out his om­nipotent Arm to defend us, and to preserve our Liberty, our Lives and Fortunes, and (which ought to be dearer to us than they all) our Religion from the fanatick and brutish rage and fury of the worst and most inexcu­sable generation of Schismaticks that ever in­fested the Church of Christ; if we pour not out our hearts in the devoutest praise, and adoration, and thanks to our Almighty Deli­verer; [Page 24]surely we are the most ungratefull wretches that ever received any favour from Heaven. The Psalmist tells us here in my Text, that to praise and magnifie the Name of God for such a Deliverance as this that he hath wrought for us is a piece of Wisedom: For, saith he, they shall wisely consider of his doing: and then not to doe it must necessari­ly be an evident demonstration of Folly. And therefore whosoever neglects the duty of this day, and refuses to give unto God the ho­nour that is due unto his Name, proclaims him­self to be a Fool, and that in the worst sense: either an Atheistical fool, that regards not the works of the Lord, nor the operation of his hands; or else a Rebellious fool, that in his heart favours the design of the Traytors, and inwardly grieves and repines at the Goodness of God that hath disappointed it. If then we desire to escape the just imputation of Folly and Sin, let us all this day wisely consider of God's doing, and declare his work. And that we may doe it wisely indeed, let us be carefull to praise him (as our Church teaches us to pray that we may) not onely with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up our selves to his Service. The Son of Sirach tells [Page 25]us, that Praise is not seemly in the mouth of a Sinner: But if we utter Praise in Wisedom, then the Lord will prosper it. Ecclus 15.9.10. And so saith David in my Text; The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and shall trust in him; and all the upright in heart shall glory. Let us there­fore this day make a new Covenant with the Lord our God to walk in his ways, and to keep his Commandments. Let us search and examine our hearts narrowly; and cleanse and purifie them, that there may be no accursed thing in them to defile our Sacrifice, and to render the Tribute of our Praise unpassable in the Court of Heaven. Thus if we doe, God that hath hitherto protected us will protect us still, and scatter our enemies that delight in bloud. But if we doe otherwise, with that Rod which he hath at this time onely shewed us in great Mercy to affright us into Obedience, and with which he hath once already most severely chastised us, he will e'er long in his just Anger dash us in pieces. I shall conclude this Point with the Prophet Samuel's Advice to the people of Israel, 2 Sam. 12.24, 25. Onely fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your heart; for consider how great things he hath done for you. But if ye shall still doe wickedly, [Page 26]ye shall be consumed, both ye and your King And so I proceed to the second duty recom­mended to us in these last words of my Text: and that is

A Duty of Caution, to take heed of such men as these that encourage themselves in an evil matter, and labour to disturb the peace and tranquillity of our Church and Nation, by stirring up Faction and Sedition amongst us, and contriving Plots and Conspiracies against the Government. All men shall fear. This very counsel St. Paul gives to the Ro­mans; and with great importunity begs of them that they would receive it and follow it. Rom. 16.17, 18. Now I beseech you, Bre­thren, mark them which cause Divisions and Of­fences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learn­ed; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. And 2 Tim. 3.6. he tells us that of this sort are they which creep into houses and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with di­vers lusts. And the same caution our Blessed Saviour himself gives us, Matth. 7.15. Be­ware of false Prophets, which come to you in [Page 27]sheeps cloathing; but inwardly they are ravening wolves. One would think that it should be altogether needless to put us in mind of such a Caution as this, who have had sufficient experience of the cursed Hypocrisie and Cruelty of such false Prophets as these; who have seen their religious Vizards pluckt off, and having first been gulled and deluded by their fair pretences in their sheeps clothing, have afterwards been sorely wounded and torn by their wolves teeth. One would think that, if we have any consideration of what we have seen and suffered from them already by the very same strategems which they now make use of, we might easily discern that they are still carrying on the Good Old Cause, and under colour of Reli­gion and Reformation are contriving how to take, not the Kingdom of Heaven, but that of their lawfull Sovereign, by force: and that notwithstanding all their loud Clamours, and pretended Zeal against Popery, they mightily contribute towards the introducing it, whilst they build upon that very founda­tion which the Jesuits have laid; and are most helpfull Servants to his Holiness, and Journeymen to Antichrist. For though the [Page 28]learned Dr. Stillingfleet contents himself to say, Preface to his Histo­ry of the Separation. That there are strong probabilities that the Jesuits were the first that preached down Episcopacy, and the Liturgy and Ceremonies of the Church of England, since the full settle­ment of the Reformation in Queen Elizabeth's Reign: yet he hath proved the matter so clearly, that methinks any man may safely fay, That it is unquestionably true. And that unfortunate Game which the Jesuits first started hath ever since been most eagerly pursued by our Protestant Dissenters; and that to so fatal a purpose, that they have once already by this means laid three King­doms weltering in bloud. And that they have not yet quenched their thirst this last Conspiracy is a sufficient evidence. And therefore whosoever talks hotly against Po­pery, and yet is a favourer of the other Sec­taries, must either be a person that out of some hopes of mending his condition desires an alteration in the Government; or else one of those easie, unthinking people that are led captive (they know not why, nor wherefore) by those Mountebanks in Divinity that creep into Houses, and lie in wait to deceive unsta­ble [Page 29]souls. The Devil never doeth so much mischief as when he transforms himself into an Angel of light: and Treason and Rebelli­on is never like to be so successfull, as when it is carried on in Masquerade, and cloaks it self under a Form of Godliness. For all men are naturally apt to think well of persons of a strict life and conversation; and indeed Christian charity obliges us to doe so, untill we have very good reason to alter our opini­on: and when we have such reason, he that hath commanded us to be harmless as Doves, and to wrong no man so much as in Word or Thought, hath commanded us also to be wise as Serpents, to beware of wolves in sheeps cloathing; and that we may be so, he hath instructed us how to know them; even by their fruits: that is, by the Doctrines which they teach and practise. And to my know­ledge there are as devilish, and treasonable, Doctrines to be found at this day in the Wri­tings of some of the Presbyterians, and Inde­pendents, and other Sectaries, that in the late Rebellion passed for Saints among their own Party (and they that are yet living of them do so still) as I believe any man can shew in the worst of the Jesuits. And if these things [Page 30]be so, either such men are Cheats; or else the Gospel it self is false that threatens them that doe such things with Damnation. There­fore, Brethren, let us be both charitable and wise; so charitable, as to grieve for these mens sins, and to pray heartily for their con­version; and so wise, as not to be seduced by their Doctrine, nor caught in their snares. But while they run from Christ into seditious and schismatical Meetings, let us run towards him; even into the habitation of his house and the place where his Honour dwells, praying al­ways for the Peace of Jerusalem, and for the Prosperity of that Church which they labour to destroy, humbly beseeching God still to protect and defend it from the open Violence, and secret Malice of all its Enemies; that neither Popery, nor Fanaticism, nor the Gates of Hell may ever be able to prevail against it; but that it may flourish as long as the Sun and Moon endure.

Which God grant, &c.