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SERMON XIII:

Of TRUST in GOD.

A

FAST SERMON,
Preach'd January 18. 1711-12.

PSALM CXXiv. 8.

Our Help is in the Name of the Lord, who made Heaven and Earth.

I

N the great Difference of Vol. II. Opinions there is amongst✔ us concerning Peace and War, the Liberty and Intereft of this Nation and all Europe; amidst the great Contradiction of Confidence on one fide, and Fears and Jealoufies on the other, I

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was

Vol. II. was not long deliberating what Text to pitch on as a proper Subject for this Day. For whether we have Peace or War, God only can give us Security in the one, or Victory in the other; and therefore thefe Words prefently occurr'd to my Mind, Our Help is in the Name of the Lord, who made Heaven and Earth.

. I fhall from them endeavour thefe
Two Things.

I. Exhort you to put your Truft in the
Lord.

II. Shew you what Way we are to take that we may obtain his Help.

I. To perfuade you to put your Trust in the Lord, I fhall make ufe of these Three Arguments.

1. Because we ftill ftand in need of his Help.

2. Because Truft in any thing elfe may deceive us.

3. Because he is abundantly able to help us, who made Heaven and Earth.

Thefe Three Motives are all fuppos'd or express'd in my Text. And,

1. Because we still ftand in need of his Help. God has done great Things for us; but he must do greater still, or we

may

may perish in the Sight of our Haven: Serm. The Sword of France has not prevail'd XIII, against us; but the Gold and Silver of Peru and Mexico may: The Enemy may corrupt and divide those whom he could not defeat, and destroy by Subtilty and Artifice, by Hypocrify and Falfhood, those whom he could not overthrow by plain Force. In one Word, unless God infatuate the Counsel and defeat the Policy of French Abithophels, and poffefs our Counsellors with found Wisdom and an upright Sagacity, Peace may prove more fatal to us than War; for Hiftorians have ever obferv'd, that the French have more than repair'd by their Treaties what they have at any time loft by their Wars: And on the other hand, if the War continues, unless God preferves among our Forces Unity and a mutual Confidence, unless he infpires them with Vigilance and Induftry, the Stream of Succefs may foon be diverted into another Channel. I fpeak not this as if I had any Ground to think that Affairs would be manag❜d and fall out ill (I pretend not to be a competent Judge of these Matters) but to put you in mind how many Ways we are liable to Danger, that this Confideration may be a Motive to you to put your Truft in God, and to pray earneftly and

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Vol. II. inceffantly to him to give us either a safe, lafting, and honourable Peace, or Victory and Success in War.

2. There is nothing but God which can be reasonably trufted in. Hope or Confidence repos'd in any thing else has no Foundation; 'tis a Houfe built upon the Sand. Shall we trust in Man? His Cunning is Folly, his Power Weakness, his Mind mutable, and his Life fhort; and this one thing alone, i. e. Mortality, without taking in the reft, is fufficient to difcourage any one from relying upon Man. How eafily may open Violence or fecret Treachery; how eafily may Excefs, Negligence, or fome latent Seed of fome unforefeen Diftemper rob us of the most vaIfa. ii. 22. luable Life? Ceafe ye from Man, whofe Breath is in his Noftrils; for wherein is he to be accounted of? But fuppofe Man were truly a great Thing; fuppofe his Life were not liable to fo many Accidents and Difeafes, how easily may a fudden or unaccountable Turn of Affairs or Humors deprive us of the Benefits of their Parts and Abilities, rob us of their Service, and render the best and greatest Men useless to us? He must be very young who has not obferv'd Inftances enough of this nature in a Nation as mutable as the Seas and Waves with which we are encompafs'd.

pafs'd. Shall we truft in our Forces? Serm. How foon may Confederacies be divided XIII. and diffolv'd? Or if they hang together by Neceffity and Intereft, how weak are the Hands where the Hearts are difunited? How unlikely are thofe Efforts to prove fuccefsful which are distracted and undermin'd by various Jealoufies and different Views? Shall we then truft in our Wealth? 'Tis commonly and truly faid this is the Sinews of War. I cannot pretend to calculate the Gains, or Loffes, or Expences of this Nation; but fuppose the best, suppose, as fome would have it, that we are richer now than we were Twenty Years ago, yet if Men are not willing voluntarily to part with their Money, or if it be fo placed that Government itself cannot come at it, what Affistance, what Safety can we hope for from it? We may be poor in the midft of our Heaps, and our Wealth may be a Prey, tho' it cannot be a Defense. Finally, Shall we trust in the Depth of our Counfels and Projects? I have faid enough before to anticipate this Error, yet I'll add one Thought more: What Good can the Wisdom of a Nation do it when it is divided against it felf? When our Parts are employ'd not to deftroy the Enemy, but to deceive, fupplant and destroy one another? 'Tis plain

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