Three of these unfortunate Persons receiving His Majesty's Gracious Reprieve, viz. Richard Wallace< no role > , Richard Wynne< no role > , and Samuel Gibbons< no role > , to the remaining Two (viz. Humphrey Angier< no role > , and Joseph Middleton< no role > ) and to others present, I preach'd the Day preceeding their Execution, from the following Words, Psal. vii. ver. 11, 12, 13.

God is angry with the Wicked every Day; if he will not turn, HE will whet His Sword; HE hath bent his Bow, and made it ready: HE hath also prepared for him the Instruments of Death.

From whence we took Notice,

First, That tho' the pure God is every Day angry, to give Men strength of Body, and to see 'em employ it in Robbing, Spoiling, and Plundering; To give Men the happy Faculty of Speech, and to hear 'em using it to abuse and Blaspheme his Holy Name; yet he whets his Sword, and does not immediately destroy them in a Moment, in order to their Repenting, and buying off (as it were) the Punishment, by a sincere Change; wherefore the Guilt must be more agravated, if they do not turn from Sin, but remain, till Justice and the Law overtake 'em, and in part force 'em to return to their Father, God; And consequently such a compell'd Repentance, (if we may so say) must put the Offender upon double Diligence, or he will find his Performances not efficacious.

Secondly, That tho' Sufferings and Punishments are inflicted by Man, they mediately proceed from God; who, tho' he is Infinite, always prepar'd alike, always arm'd with a sufficiency of Power; yet is described by the Psalmist, when he Surveys relentless Sinners, as in a Posture of War, with bended Bow, and ready to whet his Sword. (As also Deut. xxxii. ver. 40.)

Thirdly, How Sinners might avoid the Sword of Vengeance, and the Instruments of Death, to wit, by Turning. Tho' some Instances there may have been, of Robbers who have return'd to a sober Life, and in the midst of their Repentance, have been inform'd against by a Comrade, Apprehended and Executed; yet commonly to turn from Vice, is, to save even the Temporal Life. But altho' a Man's Former Vices may so find him out, and the Treachery of an old Companion, so hardly bear upon him, that Turning cannot preserve his Life here, it will yet most certainly obtain him an eternal Life hereafter: If he turns not purely to save himself, and to prolong his Life, but to please God, and benefit Man.

Lastly, We consider'd what was meant by Turning: How they were to prepare for the Holy Sacrament: How they were to spend that last Night of their Lives: How they were to Behave themselves at the time of their Deaths: That it was their Duty to confess to the World the Robberies they had committed, lest innocent Persons might be suspected; and also to satisfy those Families that they had injur'd; Nor ought they to fancy their Repentance was sincere, unless it led 'em to do all the Good they could before they left the World.