4. And in all the dark corners of the land to set up lights that may shine; for these owls fly in the dark. They cannot endure the light of the gospel by any means. They see the breath of God's mouth is too hot for them ; and they must be consumed at length by that, by the preaching of ihe gospel. Not with the sword, but with the sword of Christ's mouth. Anti- christ must especially be consumed. And they know this by experience. Therefore they labour underhand. They will not be seen in it, but oft- times others are insti'uments more than they are aware, to stop the preaching of the gospel by all the policy they can.
5. Again, as I said before, popery is a kingdom of darkness, and nothing will undo it but light ; therefore we should labour to cherish all good learning. It is a notable means to assist against popery. Julian knew that well enough. Therefore he would not suffer parents to send their children to school, but to be brought up in ignorance. And so papists would have a neglect of learning that might help this way.
6. And because they labour to reign in division, let us labour to unite ourselves, and not break upon small matters, but to join together with one shoulder, as one man, against that malignant generation, and mark those among us that are the causes of division ; as the apostle saith, ' Mark them, they serve not Christ, but their own bellies,' Philip, iii. 19 ; they serve their own turns that reign in division. Let us labour as much as may be if we will join strongly against the enemies of God and his church, to unite our forces together, and not to entertain slight matters of breach one from another.
28 THE UNPROSPEBOUS BUILDER.
7. And with these let us join our prayers to God, and our thanksgiving. Wo are not thankful enough that God hath brought us out of the kingdom of darkness ; not only out of the darkness of sin and Satan, but from the darkness of popery. ' We have not been thankful to God for that deliver- ance in Queen Elizabeth's time, out of the Egyptian darkness, and the deliverance in our late king's time, and deliverances in later times, we are not thankful enough. And we begin to shew it in not making much of religion, and growing in further and further obedience of religion. Is this our thankfulness to God ? What, doth religion hurt us ? Are we not beholden to God for our religion, and to religion for our peace and deliver- ance ? Hath not God witnessed the truth of our religion from heaven by deliverances ? Hath not God been with us strangely by the confusion of the plots of others. And how do we requite it ? By growing to a lukewarm temper. A lukewarm temper is odious in the sight of God. * I would thou wort hot or cold,' saith Christ, Rev. iii. 15. The best religion in the world is odious if it be cold. God will not endure us to join the ark and Dagon, Christ and Belial. Certainly, if we do, God will spue us all out. It will be the confusion of the church and state, and yet this is the thank- fulness that we give to God for the gospel of peace, that we have been so much beholden to him for.
Therefore it is good to take occasions, as we have one' ministered this day, to call to mind the former dealing of God to us, in the gunpowder treason and other deliverances, which we have had several occasions upon this day to speak of. And, to come nearer ourselves, let us stir up our hearts to thankfulness, which is the main end of this day, and among the rest for our gracious prince, that God hath delivered him as the three children in the tiery furnace (j). They were kept and preserved untouched of the fire ; so God hath preserved him in the fiery furnace. The not being thankful for these things will be a means for God to lay us open to his and our enemies. Therefore let us make use of this day especially to stir us up to thankfulness. To go on.
8. For the building of the walls of Jericho what should I speak of popery and the like ? We should labour to overthrow that Jericho. All of us have vowed in baptism to fight against the world, and the devil, and the main enemy of all that is within us, that is, our flesh. We could not be hurl by them. We betray ourselves, as Samson betrayed himself to Delilah. Those that are baptized, and especially that have renewed their vows by solemn fasting, and renewed their covenant in taking the com- munion, as there are none of us all but have vowed against our corruptions and sins in baptism, and have renewed their solemn vows in the com- munion and in public fasting. Well, when we go about to strengthen our corruptions, and the corruptions of the times in the places where we live, what do we go about ? To build the walls of Jericho again. What do we go about, but to strengthen that that God hath cursed ? There is nothmg under heaven so cursed as this corruption of ours, that is the cause of all the curses of the creatures, of all the curses that ever were, or shall be, even to the last curse : ' Go, ye cursed, to eternal destruction,' Mat. XXV. 41. This pride, and sensuality, and secret atheism and infidelity that v,-e cherish, and love more than our own souls, this is that that many go about to build, and oppose all the ways that are used to pull down Jericho, and hate nothing so heartily as the motions of God's Spirit, and the means that God's Spirit hath sanctified to pull down these walls of Jericho.