taken no notice of him but I beseech you again consider seriously what befel you on Saint Michael the Archangels day last past and know what an Angel Michael is said to be in Scripture 1. He is said to be the chief Prince of warlike angels Dan. 10.13 Rev. 12.7 and you know one angel is able to destroy in a moment of time the greatest and stoutest army that ever was witness Sennacheribs army whereof there was of them destroyed by an angel in one night a hundred fourscore and five thousand 2 Kings 19.35 2. Michael is said to hold with the man cloathed in linnen which gives you to understand that he is for the Surplice and for the true worship of God and not for confused vain janglings and bablings Dan. 10.5.13.21 3. He is also the Prince of the people of God and their angel to protect them against which people you have appeared much to destroy them hitherto Dan. 10.21 But take heed what ye do against the Protestant Church hereafter for since Michael is come whom they so much acknowledge as you may see by the Collect for that day that they desire God to succor them help them by his angels And that Michael hath appeared according to their prayer and the promise which is that in the time of need God should send him to stand up for his people Dan. 12.1 1 Thess 4.16 2 Thess 1.6 7 8 9. I say again take heed for though you be a terror to poor men you are nothing in the hand of Michael the mighty Angel who we believe will deliver us and hath for that end shewed his hand against you the last Michaels day to note to you by that day and what befell you on it that he is against you But now you wil ask me why do we take notice of his day I answer Do not you take notice on Gregory or Magnus day being Sept. 3. to be a good day for you yet that day this yeer proved to be the Lords day therefore I say since that you have such estimation of Sept. 3. that though you do not keep it as an holy day to worship God on it yet you make it the chief day for your enterprise why should not we then having all our hopes in heaven take notice on Sept. 29. it being the Archangel Michaels day set apart to worship God on seeing he is the angel which God hath promised to send from heaven to deliver us and truly being that your Higness hath seen and we finde such a prodigious omen to fall upon that day we ought the more to acknowledge it and to believe that the angels of God are come down to deliver us and it is high time all other hopes are gone now for our enemies are potent they have got all from us Therefore from whence should we look for help but from heaven And lest you should say that we are popishly affected in worshipping of angels I say we worship him onely whom the holy angels worship even God who created all things and his son Jesus Christ by whom he created all things and the holy Ghost which sanctifieth the whole creation yet God forbid but that we should have the holy Angels in great estimation for his sake that sends them and for their works sake and for their own sake because they are them which glorifie God in the highest degree for if we are to have men in very high esteem because they exhort us 1 Thess 5.12 13. by how much more ought we to esteem the Angels of God sent to do for us that which men cannot do for us and truely we may err in the worshiping of men for they are vain-glorious and apt to exact from us that reverence not due to them but the Holy Angels are of another nature so that we cannot err in that worship we do unto them for they will tutor us so that if we give unto them more then is meet they will reprove us therefore I say it is better since we do not know the degrees of Angels that we fall down flat before a Holy Angel then stand against him for all the Angels we read of did not refuse such a worship and who can tell which is the Angel of Gods presence And though that angel Rev. 22.8 9. did acknowledge Saint John insomuch that he called him his fellow-servant and therefore would have no worship from him he being as honorable as himself because he was the beloved Apostle and Evangelist of Jesus Christ yet it is a question that if the same Angel at that time had been sent to the Emperor of Rome And that he had faln down before the Angel whether the Angel would not have taken it as a due worship from the Emperor and yet destroy him with all his persecuting hoast as he did Senacheribs except by repentance and amendment they had prevented it And truely those people are in a sad condition when the Angel of the Lord is sent to persecute them Psal 35.5 6. And they like Balaam going on still with their wicked intention and cannot see the Angel with his drawn sword Numb 22.22 23. nor will not be admonished I have told the people of England and specially the chief of them what they should do and what would follow if they did it not And now the Angel is come my work is done for he that is able to bring it to pass hath taken it off my hands One ass did reprove the madness of Balaam 2 Pet. 2.15 16. so that he saw the Angel of the Lord and was saved from the present danger Numb 22.33 but the six horses which saw the Angel reproved the madness of this generation and they will not see the Angel and repent Oh miserable men do not you see the Scripture fulfilled in this act of God how justly at this time may the Church of England which you so persecute sing the song of Moses and of the Lamb Exod. 15. Rev. 15.2 3 4. And what comfort is it for them to see the Angel of the Lord engage for them and encounter with their enemy I am sure it makes many glad heart But what a joyful song should we sing to see you return againe to the Church and the King Oh it would be a joyful day to England and since the Angels are become your adversaries we can expect no less then to see either your suddain return or your suddain destruction And who can help it while ye go against God and his Church and deprive your true and lawful King of all his right Who dare petition to God for such a people that are resolved not to repent of such high inquity that all the world rings of it the sin of Sodome was nothing to it yet God came down purposely to destroy them poor ignorant souls and did it and do you that have the Law and Gospel to instruct you commit such evils and think to escape temporal and eternal punishment What argument
THE VOICE OF MICHAEL THE Archangel To his Highness The Lord PROTECTOR For the Salvation of himself and the three Nations Presented by ARISE EVANS Thus saith the Lord Stand ye in the ways and see and ask after the old paths where is the good way and walk therein and ye shall finde rest for your souls but they said we will not walk therein Jer. 6.16 Also I set watchmen over you saying Hearken to the sound of the trumpet but they said We will not hearken Vers 17. Printed 1653. or as the vulgar think it 1654. May it please your Highness MY Lord your own words delivered Sep. 12. as your speech page 36. sheweth that sometimes there is a necessity for a man to speak and that pure necessity hath no law I would there were no cause for me after I had spoken so much for you to the discontentment of all my friends and also to you all for your advantage If you had followed mine advise according to the prophesying of God in your behalf as you have it in all my books specially in my book called your Vindication I say I would there were no cause for me to have expostulated these things with you now and in such a manner as this is seeing I have so often by writting and printing shewed what by right you should do And as this twelve moneths I have been so I am now kept off by them that attend you from having such conserence with you as heretofore I had and therefore I am forced to print what I would have but spoke or write hoping it may come to your hands and thence to your heart yet leaving out something which in private might be physical unto you because I dare not commit them to the Press and so make them subject to foolish censures My Lord It was no small grief unto me when I hard that which befell you last Saint Michaels day though some to comfort me said that it made much for me because said they therein God hath appeared to maintaine my affirmations and to consute your high assertions in your speech lately published All glay be to God who did speak to you in this time of need though by a thunder I would not declare it if I knew a better interpreter that would deal more faithfully with you concerning it then I shall do for I believe though I be but a mean instrument yet I am appointed of God to tell you that it was Gods love to rebuke you and it was his mercy to save you and good may come to you of it If you desire to understand what is Gods meaning by it I answer his minde is That you turn from your own designes NOW and do Gods designs GODS DESIGNE is made known unto you already by my books that is briefly to stablish King Charles and the true Religion I mean Bishops as we had before and for that end God saved you Your own designe is made known also by your going about to do the contrary for which cause God rebuked you And I pray you consider it God did not speak to you in an unknown tongue nor deny all your assertions wherein you call him to witness in a language that you cannot understand and there was much of his love to you in that Isa 28.11 but he answered you by your own words For whereas you say p. 37. of your speech That you could sooner be willing to be rolled into your grave and buried with infamy then part with that government which did establish you a supreme I pray consider whether you were not rolled very neer your grave so that a little more had done it Behold it is hereby clear God disowns your government and your being set up by him and they whom once ye counted the good people say as much and them who ye counted the bad people say no less who then is for ye but a sort of lukewarm people that will turn with every winde and what trust can you repose in them Oh lay these things to heart and know that God hath told you by this also as I have told you often by writing and will you not yet hear Oh take heed lest the trumpet of God wax louder and louder Exod. 19.19 untill you be forced to hear My Lord I have no pleasure in telling you these things but it is needful I should do it for I finde men yea Ministers and your own too do not deal faithfully with you it is true they tell you of sin in general termes and give hints also in publike of this very judgement before all men to your dishoner yet they do not examine the cause why and shew you for what great sin this threatning hand of God appeared against you The Magicians dealt not so with Pharaoh when they saw God appear for Israel but told him plainly This is the finger of God Exod. 8.19 And how doth Joshua take on when he saw the judgement of God upon them and what enquiry doth he make untill he found out the sin which was the cause of it Josh 7. Yea the very heathen were so troubled when they saw a sudden tempest come upon them that search is made with all speed to finde out the sin and cause of it Jon. 1.4 5 6 7 8. And how was Pharaoh troubled with his dream untill he found out an interpreter and what great benefit came unto him by knowing the truth of it Gen. 41. And what a stir Nebuchadnezzar kept about his dream though he had forget it so that he would have destroyed all his wisemen because they could not tell him both his dream and the interpretation thereof had not Daniel answered his expectation and who can blame him for it the matter is worthy of all that seeking after Dan. 2. was not also Belshazzar troubled when be had prophaned and dishonored Gods holy vessels and saw his sentence of death written before him on the wall was not he troubled for an interpreter to open it Dan. 5. and though the news to him was bad yet how gloriously doth he reward Daniel according to the manner of the two former Kings And David had his Prophets that told him of his particular sin and he gladly heard them and was obedient 2 Sam. 12. 2 Sam. 24. and when a judgement came David enquired himself for to know the cause of it 2 Sam. 21.1 but see the contrary spirit Amaziah though sometimes a good King yet when the Prophet told him of his particular sin he could not endure him 2 Chron. 25.2.7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17. And Herod gladly heard John Baptist and did many things as he would have him do but when John comes to deal faithfully with him and told him of his own darling sin which by no means he could endure to hear of then John's head must be taken off rather then Herod would part with his sin Mark 6.17 18 20.27 Therefore my Lord blame me not though I
deal faithfully with you God speaks by visions once yea twice and man perceiveth it not then GOD is gracious sends an interpreter one chosen from among a thousand to shew man his way and to keep him from the pit Job 33.14 15.23.24 For a man in a great sin is as one in a deep sleep over a pit and though God speaks aloud to him he cannot hear for the sweet rest that he takes in his prosperity and sin will hardly suffer him to awake before he falleth into the pit and then it is too late It is a great grace for a man when he is told of his particular sin not to deny it but to confess it and forsake it Prov. 28.13 How sweet a thing it is to see Davids Confession when Nathan had taken him as in a net by making him pronounce Judgement against himself 2 Sam. 12.13 And how grievous a thing it is to see a man hardned like Pharaoh in his sin when his own Magicians tell him Exod. 8.9 This is the finger of God Oh my Lord God hath spoken once or twice to you let him speak no more to you after this manner lest you smart to the purpose for it I am sure he hath a part in you that he will not loose he will put you to the greatest afflictions that ever was in the world yea beyond Jobs rather then you shall go on in your sin Oh then return at this one voice as Saint Paul did who a little before was as resolute to the contrary as you can be I know my Lord you are wise and exceeding wise and that by your wisdome you think to stand glory not in it but know this that God takes the wise in their own craftiness Job 5.11 12 13 14 15. 1 Corin. 3.19 20. Therefore do not think or say within your self because I am wise I am rich I am strong Jer. 9.23 I will go on to keep out such a party be not deceived any longer for God is wiser stronger and richer then you he knoweth wherefore he hath designed you And though he suffered you to go on with prosperity thus far and you think it is pleasing to God yet you will finde it is not so I do verily believe that your Speech came from your heart and you thought God went along with you all this time for God did foresee that an eminent man should have a strong erring confidence as once Paul had being utterly deceived in his thoughts of God at the time when he came to judgement and therefore hear what he saith Psal 50.4 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23. But unto the wicked God saith What hast thou to do to declare my Statutes or that thou shouldest take my Covenant in thy mouth seeing thou hatest instruction and castest my words behinde thee When thou sawest a thief then thou consentedst with him and hast been partaker with adulterers Thou givest thy mouth to evil and thy tongue frameth deceit Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother and slanderest thine own mothers son These things hast thou done and I kept silence thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thy self but I will reprove thee and set them in order before thine eyes Now consider this c. 1. Mark my Lord Psal 50.16 17. He tells of your presumption in declaring his Statutes as if you were called to do it and of your casting away behind you his instruction and his true Ministers who are lawfully called and enabled to declare to you the truth perfectly even the Ministers of the Church of England 2. Mark my Lord vers 18. He tells you how you consent with those theevish Kings who like Nimrod Gen. 10.9 think it is lawful for them to take what they can get by the sword and of your partaking with men in spiritual adultery or false worshipping of God 3. Mark my Lord vers 19. He tells you this Thou givest thy mouth to evil and thy tongue frameth deceit that is against God the King and the Church and yet you thinke it is not so 4. Mark my Lord v. 20. He tells you of your sitting in State and wronging the King who is the son of your true and onely mother the Church of England 5. Mark my Lord He tells you that God did let you go on all this time and say nothing to all that you did wherefore you never doubted but thought surely God in a more extraordinary manner was with you and your army then he was with any people on earth as your speech shews page 37. therefore he tells you that you are mistaken in your thoughts of God and that you are adverse before him in your works â—â—â—ch he sets in order before your eyes that he now will let you know his minde and reprove you indeed and tear you in pieces except you order your conversation aright verse 22 23. and make your peace as Zacheus did Luk. 19.8 My Lord thus righteous David or rather God smites you that you might turn to him Psal 141.5 Isa 9.13 Doubt not but that I give you the true meaning of Psal 50. and that you are the person there signified vers 21. For I have the spirit that David had because he and I was anointed together and I believe that you will say that you have seen some of the effects of my anointing by my prophesying which already have been fulfilled And to prove my anointing look in 1 Sam. 16. vers 3. saith God to Samuel thou shalt anoint unto me him whom I name unto thee vers 11. Samuel saith to Jesse send and fetch him for we will not sit down till he come hither vers 12. the Lord names me and bids him anoint me as you see And the Lord said Arise anoint him for this is he Now observe according to the command and promise vers 3. Thou shalt anoint him whom I name vers 12. he doth not name David but arise and if you observe the holy word takes off all objections and lest some should say God bide Samuel who was sat down arise to anoint David therefore saith Samuel to take off that conceit vers 11. We will not sit down till he come hither so that it is clear that as David was anointed with oile as you see by the History so I was anointed by the spirit as you see by the mystery and by many other places I could prove it therefore I believe that I have as good authority to do what I do as any man hath and I hope my Lord you will not despise it though perhaps many whose case is miserable that have not tasted of the heavenly gift Heb. 6.4 nor known the quickning power and operation of the work of God upon their souls Heb. 4.12 13. 1 Cor. 15.45 will both despise it and reject it Now my Lord I see and you may see that you have been mistaken in God and in his Church all this while for it is Gods time to help his people