THE Scriptures are full of these comfortable Pro­mises, which are as so many. Pillars to support the Righteous Church and People of God from fink­ing under the Troubles of this present World; many are and have been the Plots and Persecu­tions raised by the Malice of wicked Men against them, and yet as often have been delivered; yet sometimes God suffers those Instruments of Cruelty to go on in their Designs un­till his People are brought to the brink of Ruine, and then in a moment he turns the stream of Destruction upon the Au­thors thereof, while he preserveth his People by his Migh­ty Power.

What a desperate pinch were we brought to this Fifth day of November: Now we were in the Fire indeed, a Fire kindled in Hell, a Sulphurean Fire, into which, not only the three Children, but the three 'States of our Realm were enwrapped, and all bound together, to have perished with one Crack. Let us pause here, and consider the danger of our Extremities, that we may be stirred up the more fee­lingly [Page 2]and heartily, to magnifie the Mercy, Power, and Goodness of the Lord, manifested in our Delivery: Con­sider how cunningly it was contrived, how cruelly it was in­tended, how nearly atchieved, how miraculously discovered, for the cunning in contriving, what secrecy of Care, what secrecy of Persons, the place, a place of Darkness, and there­fore fit for a work of Darkness, the secrecy of the place seem­ed to invite them to this bloudy Design, even as the opportu­nity of time smiled upon them, and promised to be the un­happy Midwise, to deliver the Actors (who big with their Conception) of this monstrous Burthen: Let me now take you hand in hand, and lead you to this dark Cave, this hol­low Den, this fiery Aetna, this tormenting Tophet, I know not what to call it, Grammar, Logick, Rhetorick, all are posed, no Art can yield a work Emphatical enough for this artificial Phalarian Invention, a strange Engine, it was inven­ted for the torment of Innocents, but (as that of Phaleris) turned to the torment of the Inventors. See here what Bar­rels of Powder packed close together! what piles of Wood billetted over those Barrels! what Barrels of Iron mingled with those Piles! Of all resemblances, methinks a Tophet sits it best, see the description of Tophet, and parallel them, Isaiah, 33.33. Tophet is ordained of old, yea, for the King it is prepared, he hath made it deep and large, the Pile thereof is Fire and much Wood, the Breath of the Lord like a stream of Brimstone doth kindle it. Lo here a right Tophet ordained of old, hatched in the latter years of the Reign of our late Queen Elizabeth, prepared not by God, but by Men; nay; not by Men; but by Devils, was it not dig­ged deep, and made large, made for the King, yea, and the Queen, Prince, Prelates, Lords, Commons, all the burning of it was Fire and much Wood, a stream of Power, as a River of Brimstone, was to kindle it, a right Tophet; some place Hell in the Centre or midst of the Earth; here you might have found it somewhat beneath the superficies of the Earth: thus were there Villanies buried in the Bowels of the Earth, Isaiah, 29.15. They dig deep to hide their Counsel from God and Man; the Persons will be as secret as the Place.

These Catholick Conspirators, to make all sure, to sow their Lips fast, swear a Silence, and bind that Oath with the Sacrament, and did what in them lay, as far as God would give them leave; but let no Man henceforth wonder at the Fury of that Romish Catiline, who forced his Followers to pledge each other in Healths of humane Bloud. Behold here that Romish Catesby, with his 'Complices, take the Bloud of God, and as they maintain it, the real essential Bloud of the Son of God must be caroused, to give up their Lips from the Discovery of this Hellish Design! thus closely was it car­ried on, so lapped in the Mantle of Darkness that none but the Devil, as they gave it out (the Lord was far from their thoughts) could unvail it, and pluck off the Mask from this Hag; yet was their Cruelties no whit inferiour to their Secre­fie: Let me begin in the VVords of Moses, Deut. 4.32. Ask of the Days of old, that have been since God created Man upon the Earth, from one end of Heaven unto the other, if there came to pass such a great thing as this, or ever the like was heard of; search all Chronicle, turn over the Records of all Nations, no Age, nor Story, Humane or Divine, can match this match­less Bresident, the Massacre of France, the Slaughter of the Indies, wherein Worlds of People were most cruelly made a­way, all heinous transcendent Crimes falls short of this. Nero that Spring of Bloud, and Monster of Men, as the Sto­ries Record, wished all the People of Rome had but one Head, that he might chop it off at a Blow; that which was but de­sired of Nero was not wished only, but plotted and attempted by these Antichristian Nero's; had their Plot taken effect, not the Head of Rome but of England had been cut off at a Blow. Nero caused the City of Rome to be fired, and laid the blame on the Christians; if their Train had blown up our Church and State, the Imputation of so foul a Fact by these Equivocating Catholicks, must have been cast on our innocent Protestant Brethren. These famous Kingdoms, by a blessed Peace-maker, our late Soveraign King James the First, united into one happy Monarchy, had been with one Blow and Blast in a day, an hour, a moment, perished, e'er they knew who hurt them; no Sect, no Sex, no Person, nor Age might be [Page 4]spared, no, not those of their own Religion; the Powder, like the Duke of Medina's Sword, would have known no diffe­rence between Protestant and Papist; the King's Majesty, the Golden Head of this Land, the Lord's Anointed, and the Breath of our Nostrils, his dear Queen; his Princely Heir, the Pledge of our succeeding Hopes; the noble Lords and Barons, the Shields and Shoulders of our Land; the Reve­rend Bishops and Clergy, the Chariots and Horse-men of Isra­el; the grave Sages and Judges, the Hands of our Land for Execution of Justice; the Flower of our Gentry and Com­mons, the Feet of this Land; root and branch, priest and people, head, root, branches, eyes, shoulders, arms, hands, feet, all, all, should have been torn up, and mounted on high to fall headlong; their Carcasses mangled and burnt, by an unheard of kind of Execution; in their Wrath they digged down a VVall, and in their Anger would take away a whole Nation as one Man. Cursed be their Anger, for it was fierce and their Wrath, for it was cruel; into their Secrets let not the Righteous enter: My Soul be not thou joined with their Assem­blies; How near was it come, even to the point of Exe­cution! the Children were at the Birth; we had but the bur­ning of a Match to live; not a hair's breadth between us and this Death, these Flames. How miraculously was this Plot discovered! How opportunely were the Traytors de­feated the Wisdom of the King came from the Inspiration of the Almighty; strange it is to consider what English his Majesty did pick out of a dark Letter; he that sits in Heaven made their own Hands and Pens to betray all, Eccles. 10.20. Curse not the King, no, not in thy thoughts; for the Fowls of the Heaven shall carry it, and that which hath Wings shall declare the matter. If the Lord had not been with us, among us, for us, and put a VVord of Divination into the Lips of our gracious Soveraign, we had all been, long e'er this, as Sodom and Go­morrah, Kings, Princes, Nobles, Peers, Prelates, Judges, Gen­try, Commons, our Peace, Plenty, the Gospel of Peace, the Comfort of our Lives, and the Life of all our Comforts, al [...] had vanished into Ash-heaps: Thus am I fallen upon the Authour of this Great Deliverance, who kept us in the Fire, [Page 5]that the Flame did not so much as kindle upon us; so literaily are the VVords of this Propnesie fulfilled of this Church and State, who kept us, Jehovah, (saith my Text) Jehovah saith, this day I will be with thee; the safety of the Church consists in the Presence of the Lord; Jehovah is that Cloud which gives light to the Israelues, strikes terrour into the E­gyptians, and takes off the VVheels of their Chariots; Jeho­vah is that VVall of Fire that fenceth his Elect, and consumes his Enemies; the Lord is my Rock and my fortress: so David. The Name of the Lord is a strong Tower, into which the Righteous Nation shall enter: so Solomon. This Tower is invincible, this Bullwark impregnable, this Fortress is out of Gun shot, and therefore cannot be battered; this VVall reacheth higher than the Heavens, and cannot be scaled; the Lord is ever with his Church, what he speaks of the Temple, the Type of the Church, needs must it be verified of the Church, the Truth of that Type, 2. Chron. 7. Chap. ver. 16. I have chosen this place that my Name may be there for ever, and mine Eyes and my Heart shall be there perpetually; there is he present and Resident, and that not as a naked Spectator to behold their Miseries, but as a tender Father, as a mighty Saviour, as a tender Father com­miserating their distresses, caring the Cares, grieving the Griefs, and fearing the Fears of his Chosen; in all their trou­bles he is troubled, when the Foot has trod upon in Earth, the Head cryes from Heaven, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? he is present. Secondly, As an Almighty powerfull Saviour; Is there any thing too hard for him? Is his Arm shortned? Did not he wound Rahab? Smite the Dragon? Overthrow the Horse, and his Rider? make a Path in the great VVaters, and allay the heat of the Fire? he works with means, without means, against means, and doth whatever he will in Heaven or Earth: Hath not he set bounds to the Sea, though it rage and foam, here it must stay, thus far it shall come and no fur­ther; here the proud VVaves must be broken. Hath not he Satan in a Chain, and all his Instruments, that they cannot pluck a hair from the head of his Servants without his leave and licence? Behold now the safety, the security of the Church! If God be with us who shall be against us? if God [Page 6]be with us, what need we fear what Man can doe unto us, Men or Devils? No marvail if the Prophet Command, fear not he that is thus guided, thus guarded; how can he fear or faint? so the same Prophet, Chap. 51. ver. 12.13. I even I, am he that Com­forts thee, who art thou that thou shouldest be afraid of a Man, and of the Son of Man, which shall be made as Grass, and forgettest the Lord thy Maker: and Jehovah hath undertaken to be the Lord-Protector, or Lord-Keeper of his red Vine, Isaiah 27.3. I the Lord do Watch over it by night and by day; he will de­fend it against secret Treacheries, these are night Assaults; against open Hostilities, these are day Assaults: What tho' the Ramping Lyon go about about continually, seeking whom he may devour? Is not the Lyon of the Tribe of Judah as vigi­lant to defend, as Satan to assault? The Destroyer of Israel never slumbreth nor sleepeth; no more doth the Keeper of Israel, he also never sleepeth, never slumbreth; let their Ene­mies be never so many, all Nations to him are but as the dust of the Balance, the drop of a Bucket, as nothing, less then naught; let their Enemies be never so mighty, he hath their hearts in his hand, can turn them as the Rivers of Waters, and make our Enemies at peace with us, changing their stabs into kisses; he hath their heads in his hand, and can infatuate the wiliest Herod, the craftiest Achitophel, turning their Councils into folly; he hath their hands and horns in his hand, and can either bind them to their good Behaviour, or knock out the Teeth of grators before they bite; let them dig deep to hide their Plots, the Lord will go beyond them, let them join hand to hand, they shall not prosper; we may say it, we may sear it, we must belive it, we have had experience (never any Church more of the like) what it is to have such a Protectour, whose power is unresistable, his Will unchangeable, his Skill un­fearchable; whose Greatness is such, that he can do what he will, whose Goodness is such, that he will do what he can, and ever magnifie both his Greatness and Goodness, in the protection of his Israel, and in the conversion or confusion of his Enemies. Witness this Day of days, on the Morning of our Fifth of November, they would have blown us up; on the Evening of their Fifth of November, God beat them down.

Is Jehovah the deliverer of his Israel? Why let God then have the Honour of his own Work; not our Wit, not our Wealth, not our Goodness, not our Greatness, not our Friends, not our Bulwarks, but the Lord only; It was the Lord's doing, let it ever be marvellous in our eyes: This is the day which the Lord hath made, let us be glad and rejoyce. Let the wicked Politician, the Machiavilian Atheist sacrifice to their own Nets. We will cry with that Kingly Prophet, Not unto us O Lord, but unto thy Name we give the Glory. The whole praise of so glorious a Rescue, how great so ever it be, which indeed is exceeding great, is only due to Jehovah. Let the King say, it is the Lord that giveth great Deliverances unto his David, and sheweth mercy to his Anointed, and his Seed for ever. Let the great Peers & Princes say it is not our Arm that hath sa­ved us, not our mighty Strength, but the Strength of Israel, Jehovah. Let the House of Aaron say and sing Praises unto the Lord that hath done wisely, discovered our Enemies, broken their Snares, and we are escaped. Let all England say, If the Lord had not been on our side, if the Lord had not been on our side, when men rose up against us, they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us. Praise waiteth for thee O God in Sion, who is like our God, who doth great and wondrous things. Honoured for ever be that Noble and Ho­noured Society (The High Court of Parliament) that to all Ages hath set a day apart, for the Honour of that God, who is the Protector of his Sion, the Detector, the Destroyer of his and their Implacable Enemies: Go on still, O Noble Senate, let King, Prince, Peers, Prelates, Commons, all conspire to Honour the God of Heaven by enacting such solemn Panage­ricks to Jehovah, and the God of Honour will Honour you; this Church, this State, your Posterity; the Ge­neration to come, shall bless God for the deliverance of this Day; for the Record of this Deliverance, for this pub­lick Gratulation upon Record: Blessed be that God which hath put it into the Heart of that great Assembly, with an unanimous and free Consent to enact it for a Law in Israel, and an Ordinance in Jacob for ever. If ever we forget this Mercy, let our Tongues cleave to the Roof of our Mouths, [Page 8]and our Arms rot from our Shoulders; let all Faithful, Loy­al, true hearted English Protestants, with one Heart and Voice cry, Amen, Amen.

Finally, doth the security of the Church, State, all lie in the presence of God? Where God is, there is no Danger; as where he is not, no safety; O keep him while we have him, drive him not from you who is our Buckler, our Shield, all in all unto us, keep him in his Word, in his Sabbaths, in his Ordinances, and he will keep you. Would you know in a word, what drives the Lord from a Land, a People? Sin; nothing but Sin can do it, and Sin will do it, Your sins have se­parated between me and you; where Sin is countenanced, main­tained, multiplied, there is no harbour for the Almighty. He is a God of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, what communion be­tween God and Belial, light and darkness, Christ and Antichrist? Sin chases the Lord away, and leaves that person, that Na­tion naked, unfeigned, exposed to the Malice of Men, to the Fury of Satan, to the Flames of Hell. Every wilfull Sin­ner is a Traytor to God, his King, and Countrey, as well as to his own Soul. Away with beloved darling Sins, away with those wasting King-killing State-ruinated Sins, Idolatry, Contempt of God's Word, Worship, Sacraments, Sabbath, Ministers, Scandalous enormous Impieties, out-facing Autho­rity: These if they should be found among us, will kindle a Flame in our Cities, Countrey, a worse then Powder-Flame, that shall burn to the bottom of Hell.

If we our selves betray not our Souls, our Church, our State, our Kingdom, in vain shall the Gates of Rome repine at the prosperity of England; if we pull not down our own Walls with our own hands, no Engines of theirs shall ever batter them; if we do not open the sluces and floud-gates, the Inundations of that Romish Nilus, with her marish Wa­ters, shall never over flow our Banks; if we carry not Flax, Tinder, Gun-Powers, in our own bosomes, and strike not Fire with our own fingers, their Matches shall never take, their sparkles shall not burn, the flame shall not kindle upon us.

For God's sake therefore, for your Souls sake, for your Country's sake; if you love your King, Country, Peace, Plenty, the Gospel of Peace, your Goods, Friends, Children, away with the toleration, dispensation of known, gross, scandalous, notorious, enormous Impieties; maintain a per­petual correspondence, with your Heavenly Father; be in League with Heaven; delight to Honour him, his Name, Word, Worship; Sacraments, Sabbaths, Messengers, that he may delight to Watch over you; serve him who saved us, and therefore saved us, (that we being redeemed from this black and horrid Sulphurean Treason, and so wonderfully delivered us from the wicked Designs and subtle Snares of our malicious Enemies) we might serve him all the days of our Life, and devote all our Actions unto his Glory:

The which that we may, God of his infinite Mercy be pleased to work in us a true and unfeigned Repentance, that we may at the last merit the Throne of Grace, where sitteth the Lamb Eternally in the Heavens, unto whom be most-duly rendered all possible Praise and Adoration.