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took the enemies in the pit which they digged, and hath filled your hearts with joy, and given you another day to praise him. Can you upon this day of thankfgiving doe leffe then enquire, What fhall we render unto the Lord: I will tell you what he calls for,and expects from you, and I beseech you by thefe mercies of God that you render it unto him: That you prefent your bodies and your faules a living facrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable fervice, that you feare him and glorifie his name, for he only is holy.

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Fourthly, and principally,confider the late facred Covenant and vow which you have all entred into, you have not only entred into it your own felves, but intend to draw the whole Kingdome with you, into the Oath of God, let me minde you what you have done, you saw we were defigned to destruction, and that Gods meer mercy hath hitherto prevented it, You fee there are ftill destructive and trayterous de fignes in hand, in feverall parts of the Kingdome, you acknowledge your own fins with others, have deferved all thefe judgements which either lye upon us, or are threatned against us,and as a means to prevent our utter ruine, you think it neceffary to enter into this Covenant with almighty God, and you have done it, wherein you acknowledge the defert of your own fins,and you confeß your hearty forrow for them, and your reall intentions to amend your own lives, and what you will further doe to fave and preferve Religion, and all this you have done in Humility and reverence to the Divine Majefty, calling the God of Heaven, the fearcher of all hearts to witnese your integrity, as you will answer it at that Day, when the fecrets of all hearts fhalbe difclofed. Think now how deeply you

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are engaged, and brought under the curfe of God, if you perform not this folemn Covenant; Think how borrid a thing it will prove, for any of you to ftand as perjured men before God, in marters of fuch confequence, Shall he break his Oath (faid God of a Ezck.17.15. King) andbe delivered? Shall he escape that doth these things? O Beloved, It is a fearfull thing (in fuch cafes especially) to fall into the hands of the living God, to whom you have appealed, and whofe vengeance, if you wilfully fail, you have invocated upon your own heads.

Lay therefore your hands upon your heart, and think what your purposes and Refolutions are in thefe few things, which I fhall mention to you.

Firft, for what is paft; what reall forrow have ye in your hearts, for thofe fins which you call God to witneffe you are thus forry for? How grievous is the remembrance of them, how intolerable do you feel the burthen of them? or do you take Gods Name in vain, calling him to witneffe of the forrow for those things which he knows you take pleasure in Think what answer you will make to this,

Secondly? What are your Refolutions for time to 2. come. You know what blafphemies, what prophaneneffes, what uncleanneffes, you have hitherto lived in; what irreligion and libertinifme your felves and families, have hitherto been guilty of, elfe you would never have acknowledged, your fins to have deferved thefe judgements; Now I demand, what you refolve to do for time to come: Do you purpose to go on in your old ways, He that was unjust, to be unjuft ftill; he that was filthy, to be filthy ftill, and had no other purpose, but to lead the Kingdom a dance,

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to go before them in the formality of a fervice, without changing your Leopards fpots, or your Blackmoors skins; or in truth, be you refolved, being changed by the renewing of your minde, to become new creatures, to ferve Chrift in newnesse of spirit, that Chrift alone may reign as Lord and King hereafter, both in your hearts, and lives, and families, as Tofbuah did, when he bid the Ifraelites choose whom they would ferve,for himself,he was refolved,though he went all alone, He and his family would ferve the Lord.

Thirdly, as you are Parliament men, what are your purposes concerning your faithfulneffe to Chrift, and the Caufe of Chrift, and his Church committed to your hands? If you fhould altogether fail, deliverance will come another way, the Gates of Hell shall never prevail against the Church of Chrift, But are ye really refolved,to fave the Church and Kingdom, though your felves fhould perish in the attempt or do you intend under pretence of being factors for Chrift, to drive a trade for Satan and Antichrift, to betray Religion and Liberty? or to trade in both the Indies, to have a ftock going on both fides, that you may fave your own stake, which fide foever win or lofe, to fave your own skin, whatever become of the Kingdom: Like a certain Depot. of Servia, (of whom I have read in the Turkish Hiftory) who lived among the Chriftians, and kept correfpondence with the Turk; who was a publike wor Shipper of Christ, but a fecret circumcifed Turk, that that Turkish mark might fave him, if need were: Have any of you fuch cunning devices, to procure externall fafety with the certain ruin of your fouls

Honoured,

Honoured, and Beloved, I hope better things of you all, though I thus fpeak, I hope you purpose accor ding to your Covenant, and what God requires and expects at your hands, to stick close to Chrift and his Caufe, to fink and fwim with the Church, and Cause of Chrift, with fingleneffe of heart, and unwearied refolutions, to carry on the work of God, to value your felves onely as his Inftruments, and let him do by you, and with you, what is good in his

own eyes.

And for your Encouragement, let me fpeak a little 3. Use of of the third Use, which the Church here-makes of Encouragethefe great and marvellous, thefe juft, and true wayes, ment. and judgements of this King of Saints, which is a Propheticall Prognoftication, and foretelling of what shall further happen upon the pouring out of every viall; and that is,more and more people, and nations fhall come in, and submit to Jefus Chrift; the Nations shall come and worship before thee, for thy judgements are made manifeft: And this inables me for your comfort,to help you to an answer of the most difficult question, and moft perplexing thought,that I am perfwaded is in the heart of moft men living at this day, viz. God hath caft our Lot in very perplexed times,all the banks are broken down, all Gods judgments feem to invade us at once, and Gods administration to the Kingdom is fuch, that the wisest man cannot gueffe, by Gods dealing to day, what he intends to do with us to morrów; Sometimes the Lord enables a handfull of ours, to chase thousands of the enemies; Sometimes multitudes of ours flee, as at the fhaking of a leaf, when none pursues them; Sometimes we have rare Inftruments unexpectedly raised up; by and by very usefull men

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Dan. 2.29.

Dan.8.13. Pfal. 7 .74.9.

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are taken off, and hopefull men prove treacherous; Sometimes the Lord feems to intimate (as in a Cock pit) that one fight fhall end the bufineffe, one way or other; otherwhiles, all things are fet as if there would be a lengthening out of these unnaturall wars, untill the Cities and Countries are utterly spoiled, and the Land wafted without inhabitant: Nowin these calamitous times, every mans thoughts run, as Nebuchadnezzars, with defire to know what should come to paffe hereafter, and to demand with that Saint, How long it fhall be to the end of these troubles, and all complain, that there is no Prophet to tell us how long, neither can I blame them as curious, who are modeftly folicitous to know what will be the event of these things, for even the Prophets and holy men of God 1 Pet.1.10,11 heretofore, fearched diligently to know what, and what manner of times the Holy Ghoft intended, when he fpake of the fufferings of Chrift, whether in his Perfon, or in his members. Now my Text gives (I fay) a fatisfa itory answer, to this difficult Queftion, and I undertake (without fear of being cenfured, to be wife above what is written) to tell you what will be the issue and event of all these troubles..

All Proteftant Writers do agree, that we are under the pouring out of fome one or more of these seven vialls, Some think the fourth viall is now powring out upon the Sun of the Antichriftian world; Others the fifth, upon the throne of the Beast, there are,that think we are come as farre.as the fixt viall, and the river Euphrates is drying up, I will not determine which of them it is, it is fufficient, (which of them foever it be) my Text affures me the event shall be this, which is the event of every viall, Antichrifts

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