unbelieving Hearts do not hinder him Be warn'd then by the Example of the Spies ye false Reporters and ye Murmurers and Complainers by the Israelites lest you provoke the most-high God to Anger and make him swear in his Wrath That none of you all which have either seen with your Eyes or heard with your Ears the many great Deliverances which the Lord of Hosts hath wrought for this Kingdom before our time but more especially not many years since by the Hands of our most gracious K. William that mighty Prince of Valour whom the Lord hath raised up for to be a Deliverer of his reform'd Church shall ever be so happy as to live to see or hear of Mercy and Truth met together and Righteousness and Peace to embrace each other in all parts of Europe Oh be asham'd and blush ye false Reporters and causless and unjust Murmurers and Complainers and give the Lord the Praises due unto his most holy Name and render unto the King the Honour and Obedience which is due unto his Majesty who hath graciously given you your Lives for a Prey when as ye were appointed as Sheep to the Slaughter Good God! Wherefore doth a living Man now complain Whereas not long since you would willingly have given all that you had for your Lives and Safety And do ye now grudg to pay a little Mony towards the War Is it possible that Christians should be thus ungrateful and forget their Danger so soon and be willing to return again into Egypt I mean Are you willing to be reduc'd to Popery Slavery and Arbitrary Power again Or rather to be in subjection to French Dragoons God forbid Search then and try your ways and meddle no more with our blessed Governors and Government which does not concern you But busie your Heads about your own Occasions and turn thus again unto the Lord And then we have no cause to fear but that God even our own God shall give this Kingdom his Blessing God shall bless their Majesties and their Forces and prosper their Arms both by Sea and Land and all the ends of the World shall fear him because they shall see or hear of the mighty Salvation which he hath wrought for his Church and People Secondly This may caution and admonish the whole Nation in general but in a more especial manner you that belong to the Fleet or Army in this most deceitful Age of ours for to take heed and beware of all disaffected and treacherous Persons which have no fear of God before their Eyes and therefore will make it no scruple of Conscience to start aside from their Duty and Allegiance unto their present Majesties like a deceitful Bow upon the first occasion And let me declare my Mind freely and tell you That I am persuaded there are not a few who have listed themselves in this present Service both by Sea and Land on meer purpose as Joab speaks of Abner to King David 2 Sam. 3. 25. to deceive their Majesties and to know their going out and their coming in and to know all that they do and what Forces they have by Sea and Land in a readiness and then to inform the Enemy therewith the first opportunity And therefore I may boldly say you that are gone forth to War cannot be too circumspect and diligent in searching the Minds and Hearts of all those employed in the Service And to further you herein we beseech the great Searcher of all Hearts and Tryer of the Reins for to discover all evil and disaffected Persons and private Traytors daily both by Sea and Land that so they may be put to Shame and Confusion And we will heartily pray That the everlasting Arms may be underneath their Majesties King William and Queen Mary that they may be compass'd about with the Favour and Protection of the Almighty and prosper in all their ways But let all their Enemies O our God fall down and flee before them and their Arms Amen What can Rebels expect at the Hands of the Immortal King which is immutable and most faithful But that he should command such unfaithful Persons to be bound Hand and Foot and cast among their Fellows the Apostate Angels there to be kept in everlasting Chains under Darkness and to dwell with devouring Fire and everlasting Burnings For the terrible and most holy God declares to us That he equally abhors both the Blood thirsty and deceitful treacherous Man And wise Solomon tells us That whoso provoketh the King to Wrath and is deceitful to him Sins against his own Soul Prov. 20. 2. He means thus That the Soul of a Traytor shall suffer in the World to come altho' his Body may escape it here on Earth For be it known unto all Men That a King that rules in the fear of the Lord and according to the Truth of his holy Word can never be honour'd or obey'd enough by his Subjects and ought to be priz'd as dear unto that Kingdom as the Eye to the Body and is as necessary for its Prosperity as the Sun is to the Firmament which gives both Light and Life and makes all the Earth become fruitful That Counsel of Vegetius unto a Prince is not to be despised What you have to do confer with many what ye will do with very few or none but your own self For there are no better Counsels than those which the Enemy knoweth not before they are put in Execution But to speak to you that are employ'd by their Majesties in this Holy War Let me charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the Elect Angels for to hold fast your Loyalty your Allegiance and Obedience unto our gracious King and Queen without wavering And make it one part of your business for to provoke one another daily thereunto now in these evil Days above all other times and so much the more as you see or hear of the hour of Battel approaching Wherein I I question not but the strong God will manifest his great Power and mighty Arm unto the World and especially against your Enemies in your behalf if you do but trust in him and call upon him duly by Prayer But in the next place as this ought to caution and admonish every one in the whole Nation to beware of disaffected Persons and Traytors So in a more peculiar manner to take good heed of provoking the most-high God to Anger against us or our Hosts by our unrepented of and unmortified Sins We know that Righteousness exalteth a Nation but Sin is a Reproach to any People And for it the Land it self mourns and the Fleet and Army is in no small danger because the weight of our National Transgressions do out-weigh others I am affraid in the Ballance of the Sanctuary Oh that all persons then from the highest to the lowest would but seriously turn to God with Fasting Weeping and Mourning Oh that the whole Nation would but be of one Mind and Heart upon our
part against the Enemy of God and his Truth But which is yet a farther Addition to the Churches comfort That if her Enemies be better provided for War and preparâ—d for Battel seemingly and externally yet nevertheless the most holy and terrible Majesty of Heaven and Earth who is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all in all and without whom all other helps and means are invalid and insignificant is of a certain departed and gone from them and their Idolatrous and Superstitious Camp As we may collect from the Record of the Spirit of Truth which says What Concord hath Christ with Belial And what Agreement hath the Temple of God with Idols Oh! can we imagine that the most holy One who charges the Angels with Folly and is of purer Eyes than to behold evil will abide or continue there and among such a People where the Glory which is due unto none but him alone is day by day given another and his Praise to graven Images See Isa 42. 8. It cannot be thought justly of him for he is a jealous God and when he doth visit he will do it to the purpose But on the other hand it cannot be denied but that the omnipotent Jehovah may seemingly withdraw his Presence and hide his blessed Face for a small Moment from his Church which is the only Excellency wherein he delights and as dear to him as the very Apple of his own Eye Yet be it known that he will never fail nor forsake her but rejoyce over her as a Bridegroom doth over his Bride and will give her his holy Spirit to comfort her and guide her into all Truth Nay he will be with her always even unto the end of the World And this leaving of his Church for a while is for her everlasting good for the Tryal of her Faith Patience and Constancy which is more precious than of Gold that perishes tho' it be tryed by Fire That she may be found a holy and reform'd Church without Spot and Blameless unto Praise and Honour and Glory at the appearing of her dear Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ 1 Pet. 1. 7. And since the Lord of Hosts himself is our Portion and Inheritance our best and only Help and Strength our safest Defence and Horn of Salvation on whom alone we wholly depend in these deceitful Days wherein no trust is to be given to Man Then there is no cause for us to be cast down or any ways dismayed at the blasphemous Speeches of any wicked Rabshaketh or at the Pride and Arrogancy of an Idolatrous Sennacherib Tho' he hath laid waste some small Towns and Villages that are adjacent unto his Territories and reproached his Maker the everliving God O tarry ye the Lord's leisure with Meekness and Patience ye Children of the most-high For yet a little while and he that shall come will come and will not tarry Oh the Thoughts of the most Just and Terrible God are not as ours and his ways are past finding out For there 's no doubt of it but he suffers him to fulfil the number of his Sins and fill up the measure of his Transgressions which are not perhaps full ripe for Judgment And then he will cause his own Terribleness inevitably to deceive him and the Pride of his own evil Heart to lay him low in an Hour that he is not aware of as his did sometimes to Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon while the very Word was in his Mouth And who can tell but that his Day is come and that happy time is at hand wherein the most terrible Majesty of the eternal King the mighty Lord will call him to an account for all his Wickedness and the Blood of his Saints and dear Children which he spilt like Water and will shew his Power on him by making him to know and feel That the Most-high ruleth in the Kingdom of Men and giveth it to whomsoever he will And none can stay his Hand or say unto him What dost thou Nay will compel him at last to confess with Adonibezek saying As I have done so God hath requited me Dan. 4. 25 35. Judg. 1. 7. What mean then all these causless and unjust Murmurings and Complainings in our Streets which I hear about the Times Know ye not what the Preacher speaks Say not thou What is the cause that the former Days were better than these For thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this Eccles 7. 10. What 's the Matter O foolish People and unwise that ye have not Patience to wait God's time Do not ye understand this That you cannot have an Apple or a Nut but you must tarry its proper Period and let it bud and blossom and knit and grow and ripen And does not the Apostle tell thee That the Husbandman waits with long Patience for the precious Fruits of the Earth And must you be impatient and limit God in his own Work It is a grief to think on it that there are a sort of People among us which are not unlike to those Spies apt to bring an evil Report upon their Majesties Forces by Sea and Land and extolling the French in all Company always wheresoever they go Sure such are evil-minded and unbelieving Hearts The Spies said The Land of Canaan was a Land which did eat up its Inhabitants and all the People thereof were Giants or Men of a great Stature And so persuaded the Children of Israel they were not able to go up against them they were so strong Thus they consider'd not that the most high God was with them whithersoever they went that he was their Defence and Strength and fought all their Battels Whereupon they provoked him to Wrath against 'em and he destroyed those Spies and false Reporters before his Face by the Plague for their evil Reports and sware that not one of them which had seen his Glory and Miracles which he wrought in Egypt and in the Wilderness and yet for all murmured and complained against his Deputies Moses and Aaron should enter into the Land but die in the Wilderness for their Unbelief â—ave his Servants Caleb and Joshua In like manner our false Reporters Murmurers and Complainers cry Ah we shall be all ruin'd and undone by the French And tho' they do not say they are Giants yet all their Cry is They are too strong for us not considering that the Almighty God is our Defence Depart then from among God's People ye evil and unbelieving Hearts for you weaken the Hands of the Almighty and discourage his People as much as you can But let me tell you to your Faces That the mighty God hath deliver'd our Nation sundry times out of far greater Dangers than I hope we are now in And sure I am that the Lord's Hand is not shortned that he cannot save us now as well as he hath done in our Fathers and Fore-fathers days Yea not long since in our own Remembrance if our crying National Sins our Murmurings Complainings without cause and our wicked and
Rebel not ye against c. The Words do naturally teach us these three Lessons 1. That when once the Lord is departed from a Nation or People Fleet or Army it cannot prosper or stand Their Defence is departed from them 2. That God only is the best and safest Defence of his Church against her Adversaries And the Lord is with us 3. That to fear the Lord of Hosts himself and not the Arm of Flesh or to be very Couragious in Fighting God's Battel is a Duty required of all his People but especially of those which are called thereunto by lawful Authority and a principal means for to keep the Lord with or among such a People or Army For says the Text Fear them not Of these in their order by the assistance of the Holy Ghost which openeth and no Man shuts and shuts and no Man openeth who can shew forth the Praises of the Most-high out of the Mouths of Babes and Sucklings and whose Grace is sufficient to enable the weakest Instrument First That when once the Lord is departed from a Nation or People Fleet or Army it cannot prosper or stand The truth of this I shall endeavour God willing to make out two manner of ways 1. From the Nature of God And 2. From the Testimony of his Holy Spirit First From the Nature of God who is the Fountain and Original from whence springs all our Happiness and Comfort and from whom alone every good Gift and every perfect Gift comes As Health Strength Grace Meekness Goodness Faith Prosperity and Plenty It is he that gives us such fruitful Seasons and fills our Hearts with Joy and Gladness It is the Lord Jehovah alone that giveth Salvation unto Kings and delivers his Servants from the hurtful Sword It is that Almighty and Eternal Essence who is the great and glorious Creator of all things and Judg of all Men and Searcher of all Hearts and Rewarder of such as diligently seek him who preserves maintains and upholds all other Beings whatsoever both in Heaven above in the Earth beneath and in the Water under the Earth by his most infinite and unlimited Power and Omnipotency And therefore he will have Mercy on whom he will have Mercy he hath the same Soveraignity and Power of us and over all Kingdoms and Nations as the Potter hath over the Clay of the same Lump to make one Vessel unto Honour and another unto Dishonour He removes and sets up Kings and disposes of Kingdoms and changes Times and Seasons according to his Pleasure For the Earth is the Lords and the fulness thereof the World and they that dwell therein So that he can do whatsoever he will with the World He hath founded the Earth upon the Seas so that 't is easily sunk being a bad Foundation and establishes it upon the Flouds and that 's as dangerous a Situation according to human Sense and external Appearance But yet by the infinite Power of that Almighty God who laid the corner Stone of the World and hath set due Bounds Bars and Doors unto the proud swelling Sea whose Waves roar and toss themselves yet can they not prevail but dash themselves into pieces it is that this mighty Mass is supported It is he alone that makes the Earth bring forth that our Garners may be full affording all manner of Store and our Sheep may bring forth thousands and our Oxen strong to labour and gives us all things liberally and upbraids not Oh there 's nothing can prosper without his Blessing who is the Foundation of all Blessings neither can any thing be done without his Providence over us his Spirit to guide us and Grace and Strength to enable us who measureth the Waters in the hollow of his Hand and meeteth out Heaven with a Span and comprehendeth the Dust of the Earth in a Measure and weighs the Mountains in Scales and the Hills in a Ballance Isa 40. 12. Therefore if this most blessed and omnipotent God once but gather unto himself his Holy Spirit his Breath Protection and Preservation from a Nation If he once depart from a Fleet or Army then that Nation Fleet or Army which is without God with or among them cannot but sink and perish because the very Elements in their kind will then Fight against them as the Stars in their Courses fought against Sisera When the Lord Jehovah is departed from a People then its Courage and Strength its Rock of Salvation and Defence its Refuge Sanctuary and Fountain of Blessing its Giver of Grace and Safety yea it s only Friend and Giver of Victory in Battel is gone away and there can be no prospect to such a People but Ruin and Destruction This we find in the Case of all the Kings of Canaan tho' they were mighty and had vast Armies Yet notwithstanding when they once perceived that the great God the supream Majesty of Heaven and Earth was departed from them and with the Israelites and assisting them wonderfully in all their Undertakings and in drying up the Waters of Jordan for them to enter the Land of Canaan Then presently all their Hearts melted within them for Fear and there was no more Spirit in them because of the Children of Israel Josh 5. 1. And therefore our Church prays Wilt not thou O God go forth with our Hosts Give us help from trouble for vain is the help of Man without thee Through God our Forces both by Sea and Land shall do valiantly and 't is he alone that shall tread down our Enemies 'T is said of Sampson that after his Head was shaven he became weak and like another Man and he said I will go out as at other times before and shake my self Observe For he wist not that the Lord his Strength was departed from him Judg. 16. 20. In like manner the Adversaries of God and his true reform'd Church may yea and do take Counsel together against our Sovereign Lord and Lady King William and Queen Mary as they have done at other times against Queen Elizabeth of blessed Memory but it shall come to nought and their Strength like Sampsons shall deceive 'em because the Lord is departed from them The common Enemy of Truth and Oppressor of Righteousness and Peace in Europe may vaunt himself as at other times and say Is not this great Babylon that I have built Have not I overthrown Towns and laid waste fenced Cities Have not I expell'd from my Kingdom all those that would not obey me rather than God By the might of my Power and for the Honour of my Majesty because I must and will be obey'd else I will set my Blood-thirsty Dragoons upon them But he considers not that the Lord is departed from him and that his vast Army shall be smitten with Terror Look well then O thou Enemy of Truth and Peace upon the Hand-writing on the Wall for it may well make thy Countenance change and thy Thoughts to trouble thee and the Joynts of thy Loyns to be
we shall see him Face to Face Oh what Fleet or Army is there on Earth or in the whole World that can harm you if ye be Followers of God as dear Children and Doers of that which is good and well-pleasing in his Sight What human Force or Power can possibly be able to stand before or against you if your Hearts are but perfect towards God For the Eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole Earth to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose Hearts are perfect towards him and who sincerely endeavour to walk in his Laws which he set before us 2 Chron. 16. 9. Therefore let me desire of you all for to take heed now above all other Times that your Hearts be perfect towards God and his Church towards our most gracious Sovereign Lord and Lady King William and Queen Mary towards the good and welfare of our Land and Nation and in the last place towards one another that Officers may love the Soldiers under their Command and the Soldiers be obedient and faithful unto their Officers And then the Lord of Hosts will bless and prosper you whithersoever ye go and in whatsoever you do But on the other Hand if ye Backbite and Quarrel and prove Treacherous one to another ye shall be destroyed one of another For they are the Words of none other but our great Lord and Master himself That a Kingdom a House or Army or Fleet divided against it self cannot stand but must fall into Desolation And hence we find that the Children of Israel said unto Joshua their Captain and Governour That whosoever he be that doth rebel against thy Commandment and will not hearken unto thy Words in all that thou commandest him he shall be put to death Josh 1. ult Whosoever he be that proves treacherous to our blessed Governors and present Government and will not obey their Majesties order in all Punctilio's he shall be dealt with as a Rebel and Traytor and no regard had to his Commission because he hath proved disloyal to his Prince This is the Law of the most high God concerning this Matter Therfore Rebel not ye against the Lord neither fear ye the People of the c. Thirdly and Lastly That to fear the Lord of Hosts himself and not the Arm of Flesh or to be very Couragious in fighting God's Battel is a Duty required of all his People but especially of those which are called thereunto by Lawful Authority and a principal means for to keep the Lord with or among such a People or Army The truth of this Lesson we may see confirm'd to us in the case of the Israelites here in this Chapter of our Text. For we read that they by their Fear and Faint-heartedness by their Unbelief and Cowardise when God had commanded them not to fear or to be affraid at the outward Strength and Power of their Enemies the Amorites and Canaanites thereby tempted the Lord and provoked him to Wrath because he was their Strength and Defence and fought all their Battels insomuch that he forsook 'em and departed Whereupon the Prophet Moses tells them that they should not prosper For the Lord is not among you and therefore go not up against the Enemy says he lest you be smitten of them And so they were indeed when God their Helper and Defender was not with them see vers 41 42 44 45. So the Lord of Hosts the mighty God and terrible sent his Spirit upon Jahaziel and commanded him to tell Jehoshaphat saying Thus saith the Lord unto you be not affraid nor be dismayed by reason of this great Multitude for the Battel is not yours but Gods To morrow go out very Couragiously against them for the Lord will be with you 2 Chron. 20. 1â— 17. Again the Almighty tells Joshua not to fear saying Have not I commanded thee Be strong and of good Courage be not affraid neither be thou dismayed for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest Josh 1. 9. So in the Words of our Text Rebel not ye against the Lord neither fear ye c. We might bring in a multitude a Texts to the like purpose But we shall content our selves with one or two more out of the New Testament And the first is that of our Lord and Saviour unto his Disciples then and to us even us now saying Fear not them which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul but rather fear him which is able to destroy both body and soul in â—ill Matth. 10. 28. The same Charge is given to Paul Act. 18. 9 10. Be not afraid for I am with thee c. Rev. 2. 10. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer c. I suppose these Texts are a sufficient Testimony to prove That Courage and Valour in Times of War when God calls us to fight his Battle is not only commended but also required of all his People and especially of those appointed thereunto by lawful Authority and a principal means to keep the Lord of Hosts with and among such a People It now remains that we sum up all and bring it somewhat nearer unto our selves in this pusillanimous and Faithless Generation What then must we say unto very many in this Age who are afraid at the very shaking of an Aspen-leaf and hide themselves at the beat of a Drum or sound of a Trumpet Let me ask them if they think such Pusillanimity is decent in any one who is called a Man much more whether it be consentaneous to one that nameth the Name of Christ to fear and be dismayed where no fear is And at the same Time to stand in no awe of the mighty God and terrible the supreme Governour of Heaven and Earth who is glorious in Holiness fearful in Praises doing Wonders Alas Alas this cowardise or timidity of Spirit is a grand Shame for any Soldier of Christ the Captain of our Salvation to be guilty of and it commonly hinders those from the punctual Performance of their Duty who are such fearful Hearts as we may see in Nicodemus a Ruler of the Jews who for fear durst not openly confess Christ or come by Day lest he should be seen of the Jews to be taught in that heavenly Doctrin of Regeneration or the new Birth by him who had the Words of Eternal Life and spake as never Man speaketh But on the other Hand the true fear of God and Christian Courage in the Heart of a Believer maketh him in Solomon's Phrase to be as bold as a Lion and puts him upon any thing even the most perillous Attempts in Obedience to Gods Holy Will and Commandments and in Duty and Allegiance to his Prince This was it which moved little David to encounter with the Giant Goliath the Champion of the Philistines he heard his words how he defied Israel and saw they were all afraid and dismayed and therefore he resolves with himself to go and Fight him and