A WARNING TO THE Inhabitants of Barbadoes Who live in Pride Drunkennesse Covetousnesse Oppression and deceitful-dealings and also to all who are found acting in the same excest of Wickedness of what County soever that they speedily repent and return from the evil of their wayes and no longer make a sport of wickedness but seek the Lord while he may be found least the Lord destroy them in his fury and take them away in his anger and give them their portion in utter darkness who now spend the day of their Visitation carelesly out of the fear of the Lord where shall be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth for ever Also something to the Rulers of Barbadoes that they rule rightly and do justice on the wicked who are Peace-breakers and Transgressors of the pure Law of God VVritten by one who waits for the redemption of the Seed of God and the destruction of the wicked one the man of sin written by a friend of Truth and Righteousness John Rous. OBardoes Barbadoes who excels in wickedness pride and covetoustousness oppressing cheating and cozening dreadful and terrible 〈…〉 practises the Lord who is a consuming fire and everlasting burning will render to every one of you according to your wayes horror and 〈◊〉 will take hold on you you covetous ones who strive to get you care not how who enlarge your Estates by violence and encrease your wealth by wickedness the cry of the oppressed is entred into the ears of the Lord of Sabbath who will speedily come to pour forth his plagues upon you you wicked ones and execute his righteous Judgements upon you who live in fraud and deceit and act trecherously against your neighbors the day is come nigh wherein you shall have no excuse for your filthiness but the wrath of God shall be revealed in flames of fire against you ye Earth-worms Tophet is prepared of old wherein ye shall be turned if ye repent not and in that place you shall have doube returned upon your heads now if you slight the day of your visitation and go on in your ungodliness heaping up wrath against the day of wrath wherein God the righteous judge will render unto the wicked according to his works then shall the goods which ye heaped together by violence and oppression torment you and of the fury of the Lord God ye shall drink who now do spend your time in ungodliness and do make your hearts as adamant and harden your fore-heads as brass against the Lord who hath given you a day to repent in but unto you who spend your time in wantonness will the portion of the wicked be given which is in the Lake which burns with fire and brimstone for ever Remember Dives you that trust in your riches and despise the poor your Riches will not save you from partaking of Dives portion if you repent not and turn to the Lord and forsake your oppression pride and filthiness wherein you are exalted Wo unto you Drunkards who are like Swine wallowing in your filthiness and devouring the creatures upon your lusts who think nothing good enough for your selves but shut up your bowels of compassion towards them that want the wants of the poor the Lord doth see the cry of the hungry doth bear witness against you ye Gluttons who spend the creation on feasting and rioting but regard not the wants of the needy you rejoice in the destruction of the creatures and in your feeding without the fear of the Lord but feed not the hungry how many have perished for want of the creatures which you have devoured upon your own lusts how many have been murdered by many of you by detaining of that which was necessary for them from them will not the Lord enquire for the blood of those who have been destroyed through your hard-heartedness yea the day is coming wherein the Lord will inquire diligently for their blood then wo unto you oppressors and tyrants you gluttons and drunkards for the Lord will return double to you if you despise this the day of your Visitation you gather together and rejoice in spending the creatures which you have gathered upon your lusts you eat and drink and rise up to do that which is wicked and say in your hearts Shall we be controubled by any one or who shall have dominion over us ye eat and drink and spend your time in vanity but remember not that the Lord will visit you for these your ungodly actions and if you turn not from these your evil wayes your portion shall you have in utter darkness where shall be weeping wailing and gnashing of teeth for ever Howl you proud ones who are exalted in your own strength the day is coming yea and near at hand wherein the Lord will strip you of your pride and take away your glory and shame and confusion shall cover you ye that beautifie the outside and deck your selves with dainty colours and new invented fashions that men may admire your beauty and honor you for your gay clothing dreadful and terrible will the day of the Lord be to you how beautiful will you be when the just judge shall appear And know you careless ones who are at ease in the flesh sporting your selves in the day time the Lord will strip you of your beauty and instead of joy and lightness of heart shall you have sadness and mourning for ever if you repent not your glory and your beauty is odious unto the Lord he hates your painted outsides your fashions are abomination to him and you that now despise the beauty which is acceptable in the sight of God even the forsaking uncleanness and departing from wickedness and walking in that which is just and upright you shall have instead of beauty burning and instead of ease sorrow howling and lamentation and instead of flattering one another in your deceit as now you do you shall with one consent curse the day of your birth and howl and lament for the wo and misery that shall come upon you Now seek the Lord while he may be found To day if you will hear his voice harden not your hearts go not on still in your wicked practices and spend not your time now in idle vanities lest you be taken away in the midst of your pleasures and be cast into the Pit from whence there is no redemption And all you young men and young women who have not yet acted in the same excess of wickedness as you Parents have done whereby they have provoked the Lord to anger and have rebelled against the holy one of Israel remember your Creator in the dayes of your youth and spend not your time in vanity take heed unto that which checks you in secret when you do that which is contrary to God minding it his will lead you out of the wayes of the wicked and you will come to see wherein your forefathers turned aside from the counsel of the Lord and have despised the love of
God and have crucified the Lord of Life hearkning unto that which checks and reproves for swcaring and lying scoffing and scorning and speaking evil of the things you know not you will come to see that which leads out of it and leads into the way of God and that those who are out of the way of God have no right to the Promises that are made to the righteous and look not at those that are elder then you as examples to do wickedly but wherein that which is unclean and contrary to God is discovered and manifested unto you forsake it least you walking in the pathes of the wicked and forsaking the way of the just with the wicked be condemned do not do wickedly because your Elders do so but in the time of your youth seek after the Lord that you may be hid when he shall rent in pieces and destroy those that despise his commands and will none of his reproofs though you be young yet is there something that testifies against sin in you which doth condemn you when you act that which is unjust and do to others that which you would not be done to your selves living and abiding in this you shall be examples to thofe that be old and keeping to that which is just in moderation and sobriety you shall exceed those who have lived many yeers and have spent their time in vanity better is it to forsake the vanity and pleasures of your youth then spending your time in vanity to come to repent when it is too late O be not vain in your minds nelther be exalted in that which will not frand but seek after the Lord that in his will you may come to delight and in his presence you may come to rejoice And you whose Parents are great in the Earth and do seek to make you great in the Earth also take heed to your selves seek not the pleasures of this world for they will indure but for a time I have seen the pleasures of this world and I know what it is to rejoice in the world and what it is to delight in vanity and have seen the end of all this That it is but vanity and folly and madness for if one should enjoy what heart can defire yet an end of that would come and a time when that joy shall be left when the beauty of earthly things shall fade away then will sorrow and trouble take hold of all those that delight in earthly things and have not delighted in the Lord. I have delighted in vanity and set my heart upon folly but blessed be the Lord I have forsaken it and now do know I have a reward though not in the earth yet in that which will endure for ever if I had lived in pleasure and spent my time therein wo would have been the end of my pleasures and lamentation the end of my delight but now is my joy in the denial of that which formerly I delighted in and peace and joy and delight I finde in forsaking that which formerly I lived in which naturally all youth do eagerly desire after And so I desire That in the same in which I live ye also who are young may come to live that so no longer you may delight in the earth and earthly things but seek after the Lord and the things that belong to your peace seek not after riches in the earth for riches make them wings and flye away but lay up treasures in heaven which will never decay Seek not after the horror of the world for that honor must be laid in the dust but seek that honor which is of God which will endure for ever Glory not in any thing which is below for the Lord is coming to stain the glory of all flesh but seek ye the glory of God Delight not your selves in youthful pleasures but delight in walking in that which will lead you to uprightness and a godly couversation if you walk in it this will shew you what is contrary to God and will lead you to God who are faithful to it but will be your eternal condemnation who despise it And all you Enemies of God who have made your bands strong in wickedness who have made a Covenant with Hell and Death who because the Judgments of the Lord are not speedily executed have set your hearts to do wickednesse wo is me for you ye hard-hearted ones who have not hearkned to the Lord but have been as deaf Adders which have not heard though the charmer charmed never so wisely you have made a mock of the Servants of the Lord and have despised those that have been sent unto you but have rejoyced in your own corrupt Teachers whom ye have heaped up according to your own ungodly lusts your Teachers will not stand in the day of the Lord for they are in the steps of the false Prophets which the Lord ever sent his Prophets to cry against they are greedy dumb dogs who lye down and love to slumber who make a prey upon the people their desires are after the Earth they seek the fleece and not the good of the flock they are such as go in the way of Cain and their desires after the earth are large long have they been teaching among you and are you not still as wicked as ever you were They are not sent of the Lord therefore shall they not profit the people at all though they be drunkards and live in filthiness yet will you hold them 〈◊〉 the Lord abhors such Teachers for they strengthen you in your wickedness by crying peace unto you when destruction is neer at hand and when these Teachers are made manifest unto you by the children of the Light and they are moved in love to your souls to declare against your deceit that is held up by you under the pretence of worshipping God these you take hold of as Transgressors and as your Enemies though you have nothing to say against what they declare How can you stand before the Lord How will you stand in the day when he shall appear when his Wrath shall burn as an Oven Think you that God is not the same God against wickedness as ever he was ye cannot serve God and the Devil be not deceived God will be avenged of you who despise the day of your visitation and turn the grace of God into wantonness You that now laugh shall mourn and you that still go on in wickedness shall howl and lament when sorrow shall take hold on you and misery which shall have no end O that you were wise to consider O that you would consider and forsake your wicked actions that so in the day of the Lords wrath you may be hid for truly great is the abominations wherewith you have provoked the Lord to anger Ye have multiplied your iniquities beyond many Nations you have gone beyond the heathen who have not heard of God in your wicked cursed sinful practises have you provoked the holy
One of Israel the heathen seeing your abominations which have dwelt among you looking at you as to have more Knowledge have committed the like filthiness as you have done and you have been to them as patterns and examples of wickedness The Lords controversie is great with you O ye Inhabitants of Barbadoes you have exceeded the sins of Sodom the abominations of the Heathen are found among you and think you to escape the fury of the Lord if you still go on in wickedness O no do not deceive your selves for of the righteous Judge of Heaven and Earth who will not condemn the righteous nor acquit the wicked shall you receive a just reward even according to your abominations O consider betimes be not as the horse and mule who are without understanding let the love of God and the patience of God draw you to obedience you cannot escape the hand of the Lord if you still walk with hard hearts and stretched out necks Large hath the love of God been towards you that for all your abominations he hath not consumed you but hath given you a time to repent and hath sent his servants among you to declare his Truth among you and his will that you might be left without excuse and you have despitefully used them and have made a scoffe of what they have declared ye cannot long stand you cannot reign for ever though you be exalted among the Stars yet will the Lord bring you down even to the dust Take heed take heed repent repent ye sturdy Oaks and tall Cedars the Sword of the Lord is drawn which is for the slaughter of his Enemies and for hewing in pieces those that despise his love for the wickednesse of Sodome and Gomorrah did the Lord destroy them with fire and brimstone and the same wickedness is found among you and your sin is far greater in that you have despised the couniel of the Lord and have delighted in iniquity above measure that hath been declared among you O ye Inhabitants of Barbodoes which was not declared in Sodom nor Gomorral for if it had it would not have been resisted as it hath been among you Tremble before the Lord you wicked ones tremble before the Lord you oppressors of the poor tremble before the Lord ye Enemies of goodness whose delight is in doing wickedness and in acting that which is contrary to God Ye persecutors ye persecute Christ for your enmity is not against the creature but against the spirit by which the creature is guided and because you cannot reach that for it is out of your reach you seek by all means you can to cast lyes and false accusations upon the creature and if it lay in your power you seek to destroy it but blessed be the Lord who is the preserver of those that trust in him that keeps those that serve him for he it is that preserveth us out of the hands of unreasonable men Remember the portion of those that saw Christ naked and clothed him not saw him hungry and fed him not a stranger and took him not in and in Prison and visited him not their portion was Hell prepared for the devil and his angels and think you to fare better then them who live in the same wicked practices and you do exceed them for they were to depart into hell because they did not shew kindness unto Christ but you shew him all the unkindness that lieth in your power you will not only keep from visiting him in prison but you will seek to cast him into prison you do not only see him a stranger and not take him in but you will he being a stranger cast reproaches and false reports upon him that none may take him in O that you were tender to consider of your ungodly practices and seek for remedy while it may be had for truly the day will come when it will be too late to repent Shut not your eyes against the Light stop not your ears against the voice of Equity for if you do the time shall come when you shall cry and shall not be heard Wo is me for you ye are a sottish children a people that delight in rioting and uncleanness how often would the Lord have gathered you but ye would not Darkness hath been your delight to keep company with whores have you rejoyced in your love is gone after harlots there is no love in you towards the Lord from the highest to the lowest is covetousness loved yea pride and oppression is delighted in and by your wicked practices are the hearts of the righteous made sad the proud man among you is accounted blessed Will ye not yet consider O ye people How long will ye delight in vanity and rejoyce in setting your selves against the Lord Ye cannot prosper in your way your desires are to do lewdness wickedness and unrighteousness do ye delight in but justice and uprightnesse purity and holiness is made a laughing-stock among you the simple-hearted ye deride as a fool he that departs from iniquity ye look at as if some strange thing had happened unto him blood is found in the midst of you yea the blood of the innocent which cryes in the ears of the Lord and he is risen in much indignation against the ungodly VVherefore now take heed to your selves for you cannot flye from his presence you cannot hide your selves from his all-seeing eye ye who fight against the Lord shall be destroyed you have not only resisted man but ye have resisted the Lord of life your hearts are made fat you live at ease in the flesh but a day of sorrow a day of woe and misery will speedily come upon you ye earthly-minded ones who account gain godliness who glory in that which is your shame who are feeding your selves against the day of slaughter wo is me for your wilfulness you are a people who drink iniquity as an Ox drinks water and draw iniquity with the cords of vanity And this do I declare to you in plainness of speech for I cannot flatter you in your wickedness as your Teachers have done for many yeers but in plainness of speech do I declare against your wicked Practises From one who is a lover of your souls but an utter Enemy to your cursed practises known by the name Iohu Rous. Bardoes 10. d. of the 8. month 1656. TO you who are Rulers in Barbodoes am I moved to write see that you turn not the Sword which is put into your hands against those that do well but against those that do evil so will you be a terror to the evil doers and a praise to those that do well To the Light of Christ Jesus in all your consciences I speak by which you shall see if you abide in it who are those that do well and who are those that do evil he that is in Cains way in strife hatred envy and seeking after the reward of Balaam he doth evil and hath cast the Law of
God behinde his back and is for judgement and is condemned with the Light now if any are moved of the Lord to declare against these blinde Guides beware I warn you from the Lord of taking hold on such as peace-breakers and evil-doers for he is a peace-breaker and an evil-doer who is in those wayes that Christ cryed wo against and the Law of God takes hold of him and he is for judgment the Light of Christ Jesus in all your consciences shall witness what I speak to be true the Prophets and Apostles were sent of the Lord to declare against such as sought for their gain from their quarter and did preach for hire and divine for money and did make trade upon the people and if men did not put into their mouths they did prepare war against them and such as had cast the Law of God behinde their backs and these were upheld by the Powers of the earth and because the Servants of the Lord declared against them they many of them were put in Prison and suffered much now you will confess that these were not Christian Magistrates neither did they rule for God but did with their power oppose him in his wayes and persecuted his servants for reproving both Magistrates Priests and people for their wickedness and idolatry Jezabel threatned Elijah because he was zealous for the Lord of Hosts and slew the Priests of Baal 1 King 19.2 Ahab caused Micajah to be put in Prison because he witnessed against the false Prophets and declared the truth as he had received it 1 King 22. Jeremiah was put into the Dungeon because he declared the word of the Lord faithfully Jer. 38.1 to the 7. Iesus Christ who was the dear Son of God when he was manifested in the flesh was crucified by the powers of the earth because he spoke the truth and Barabbas who was a murderer was let go as you may read in the Scriptures And by the Light I see the same ruling now as was then that a drunkard may come to a house of VVorship and stay there quietly but if one come to witness against the deceit there committed and spiritual wickedness in high places he is straightway taken hold on as an evil doer are not you who live in their practices opposers of Christ so well as those which Christ spoke of who should hale them out of the Synagogues and bring them before Rulers for his name sake are ye not Enemies of God ye who persecute and imprison those who come among you to declare against your false wayes are you not in the same wayes as the Rulers and People were who persecuted Stephen to death and slew James and imprisoned Peter Silas and Paul for witnessing against their false wayes and worships and truly it is so come to pass in this generation that though he be a drunkard that is set up to be a Teacher or a vain person or a lyar or a prophane one yot if any come to declare against his filthiness in obedience to the Lord they are taken hold of as evil-doers but the day is coming wherein the secrets of al hearts shall be made manifest and you who are set to do justice shall be called to an account for the power wherewith ye have been intrusted remember the portion that the Lord will give to the evil Servant when he comes who eats and drinks with the drunken He will cut him assunder and will give him his portion with the hypocrites there shall be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth be not exalted in your own strength and make not your own wills your Law but see that the righteous Law of God be exalted which respecteth no mans person but doth justly towards all and doth take hold on the evil doer whether he be rich or poor high or low for he that respects persons commits sinne and is convinced of the Law as a transgressor and is for judgement Now you who are Rulers I charge you in the presence of the living God That to the Law of God in your consciences you take heed which doth judge the King and the Beggar the Ruler and he that is ruled for doing that which is contrary to Truth and Justice by this if you are ruled you rule for God and he that is not obedient to you is an evil doer and the sword of the Lord is against him and he is condemned by the Light but if you forsake the Law of God then pride and oppression is exalted and the righteous are not regarded but he that departs from iniquity is made a prey upon JOHN ROUS THE END