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that during the time of the vialls, his Churches have much bitterneffe, and the Tayle of every ftorme in fome degree lights upon them, yet muft they overlook their own fufferings, and be filled with joy for the judgments executed upon Chrift's, and their enemies; and not deferre their prayfes till their deliverances be compleat, but upon every new deliverance to them, and upon every new judgment upon the enemies, have their mouths filled with new and renewed fongs of prayfe and thanksgivings to God,as we doe this day.

Thefe & many fuch like general obfervations from the words are obvious to every eye, & very feafonable and fuitable to the mercies celebrated this day, I defire that they may not lightly be paffed over in your thoughts,though I fhall fay no more of the,purpofing to confine my fpeech to one only obfervation, which indeed is the very por of the Text,the burden of the fong,and to apply it for the fame ends and uses for which it is here recorded by the Holy Ghoft:viz.

The workes of Chrift in the pouring out the vialls of his Arine of the wrath,in taking vengeance of the Antichrift and his followers, are great and wonderfull, fit to be wrought by him onely who is the Lord God Almighty, juft and true, well becoming the King of Saints."

Explained.

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Firft, they are great], Works whether of Mercy, or Judgment are great, when they are the effects either of great wifedome in their contrivance, or of great power in their production.

Secondly, works are [ marvellous, or wonderfull, Jin a threefold refpect: Firft, fuch as are rare and unufuall, which feldome happen, these draw mens eyes after them, and make men wonder at them. Se

condly,

condly, fuch as are unexpected, which come prater pem, things which no body would think to come to paffe. Thirdly and chiefly, things are wonderfull, which are beyond our comprehenfion, whereof we cannot fee the caufes, whofe height and depth cannot be measured, fuch as nothing but the power of an infinite and Almighty God can bring to paffe.

Thirdly, [Iuft: ]Wayes are juft, when they are according to a right rule; and wayes of judgement, (of which my Text) are then juft, when they are according to the nature, kinde, and degree of the finnes against which they are executed. Thou art righteous, Revel. 16.5,6. O Lord, because thou hast judged tbus; for they have fhed the bloud of thy Saints, and Prophets, and thou haft given them bloud to drink, for they are worthy: Even fo Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judge

ments.

Fourthly, [True: ]Wayes are then true, when according to Covenant, when done according to what was foretold, and these wayes become a King of Saints: other Kings often deal unjustly, bearing the fword, to execute wrath upon them that do well, ftrengthening the hands of them that do evill, condemning the righteous, and acquitting the wicked, and often untruly breaking their Oaths, falfifying their Covenants; but this King of Saints doth fomanifeft his righteous judgements, that his people fhall be able to fay, According to their deeds, and according to his Word, hath he repayed fury to his adverfa- Ifaiah 59.18. ries,recompenfe to his enemies, and his enemies (though with gnashing of teeth) fhall acknowledge with Adonibezek, As we have done, fo hath God done unto us. Judg.1.7. Now that Chrifts judgements, hitherto manife

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The Doctr. fted in the pouring out the vialls of his wrath, in confirmed. thus farre deftroying this great Antichriftian enemy, are thus great, and wonderfull, thus juft and true, may By inftances, easily appear to every carefull Obferver of the Church-ftory in thefe parts of Christendome, this last Century of years, fince this work hath been in hand: The particular inftances are too many to be related in a Sermon, I shall mention onely fome few things, which as fo many continued threads, have run through this whole peece of his workmanship; firft, in the greatnesse, and wonderfulneffe; fecondly, in the truth, and righteoufneffe of them.

First, these works have been great and wonderfull for the kinde: When the Antichriftian Empire which at first was contrived with that wifedome,and underpropped with that ftrength, ruling even the fouls and confciences of men, and had prevailed fo farre, that all the Kings and States of the World were fo drunken with the Whores Cup, that they, not onely kiffed her well-favoured face, but as fo many brute beafts lay at her foot-ftooll, proftituting all their power and ftrength unto the Beast, and under her command, making warre even against the Lamb himself, and helping to drink the bloud of his Saints, none daring to queftion the truth, or rather divinity of her Commands, fo that he could glorifie her felf, and fay in her heart, I fit as a Queen, and fhall fee no forrow; now that fuddenly, it should be put into the hearts of most of the European States, to hate this Whore, to endeavour to make her defolate and naked, to eat her flesh, and burn her with fire, how great and marvellous doth this speak the work for the kinde of it: Who but the Lord God Al

mighty

mighty could do this? It is certainly the Lords doing, and must be marvellous in our eyes.

Deut.32.36.

Albertus

Secondly, if we confider the time, which our Lord Chrift was pleased to make choyce of, for the effecting these great works, they will appear yet more wonderfull; even when his Church was at the lowest, when he saw that their power was gone, and there was none fhut up or left, when the enemy was come in like a flood, and no man to lift up a standard against him, when la. 59.16,& he faw that there was no helper, even then put he on righteoufneffe as a breaft-plate, and an helmet of falvation upon his head, and the garments of vengeance for his cloathing. Who can be ignorant of these things who knows not the low condition of Germany, when Luther firft appeared, though onely against the notorious abuse of the Popes Indulgences, and other luxuriant branches of his Tyrannicall ufurpation infomuch that a Bishop withing him well, yet defpairing Crancius. of fucceffe, counfelled him (as the Story reports) after this manner; Frater, frater, abi in Cellam & dic, Miferere mei Deus. To thy beads Frier, thou wilt do no good in this work: For the people of Germany were at that time fo bewitched with the forceries of the Whore, and fo enthralled to her power, that (as that proud Cardinall too confidently boafted) they were Cajetanus. ready at the Popes command, for the redemption of Cardinalis, their fouls, to have eaten graffe and hay, more pecudum, after the manner of brute Beafts. And was not the Church in other Countries as low? namely,at the first appearing of Zuinglins, and Oecolampadius, in Helvetia, of Calvin, Viret, and Farell, in France; Cranmer, Latimer, Ridley, (especially) Bilney, and Tyndall, in England, Hamilton, Wifchart, Knox, and

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others, in Scotland? at that time,when in a word, the whole Church might have taken up that complaint, Ezek. 37. 11. Our bones are dried, our hope is loft, we are cut off for our parts, then did our Lord Chrift open their graves, and cause them to come up out of their graves, and made them live, and ftand up upon their feet, an exceeding great army; this alfo muft needs be acknowledged, to be the work of the Lord God Almighty, who is wonderfull in counfell, and excellent in working.

And as the kinde, and time, so thirdly, the confideration of the meanes, and inftruments, renders them yet more wonderfull; to effect great things by weak meanes, is an argument of great power and ftrength; That the walls of Iericho fhould fall at the Judg. 7.13.14. blaft of trumpets of rams horns; that a Cake of barley bread, tumbling into the hoaft of Midian, fhould come unto a tent, and fmite it, and overturn it, that the tent should lie along; that Gideon and three hundred men, with lamps and empty pitchers, fhould overthrow the whole hoaft of Midian, who came as grafhoppers for multitude, they and their Camels being without number; that a woman fhould compaffe a man, a weak woman fubdue a mighty man; these are New things, as the phrafe there is: Behold, the Lord hath created a new thing in the earth,a woman fhall compaffe a man,&c. And yet this you fhall fee, was no new, but Gods ufuall, and conftant courfe, which he takes in this work, pouring out thefe Vialls of his wrath, upon this potent enemy, by the miniftery of most weak, and contemptible inftruments, pulling his Church out of the dungeon of Superftition, by old caft clouts, and rotten rags, as once Ebedmelech the Ethiopian did

Jer. 31.22.

Jér.3 8.11.

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