THE TRUMPET Of the LORD Sounded forth unto these THREE NATIONS As a WARNING from the Spirit of Truth especially unto Thee Oh ENGLAND who art looked upon as the Seat of Justice from whence righteous Laws should proceed Likewise unto Thee thou great and famous City of London doth the Lord God of Vengeance sound one WARNING more into thine Ear that if possible haply thou mayest hearken unto him and amend thy life before it be too late With a Word of wholsome Counsel and Advice unto thy King Rulers Judges Bishops and Priests that they may prize the Day of their Visitation before it pass away As also a Word of Prophesie of the sore Destruction that is coming upon them if they Repent not Together with a few Words unto the Royal Seed which is chosen of God and separated from the World to do his Will for ever By one Who is a Sufferer for the Testimony of Jesus in Newgate ESTHER BIDDLE LONDON Printed in the Year 1662. One Warning more from the Lord God of Vengeance sounded forth unto Thee Oh City of London OH London London The dreadful Lord God of Everlasting strength which faileth not his notable terrible and dreadful Day is coming upon thee as at noon day and from it thou canst not escape neither canst thou quench God's Fire which burns as an Oven which is overtaking thee Oh the burden of the Lord concerning this Treacherous and Backsliding City Oh! Calamity upon Calamity Misery upon Misery Plagues upon Plagues Sickness upon Sickness and one Disease upon another will the Lord God of Power bring upon thee and the Lord will destroy thee from being inhabited unlesse thou dost repent from the bottom of thine heart and lead a new Life and abhor thy self in dust and ashes The Everlasting Counsellour and Prince of Peace is come and coming to take Peace from thee and to hide comfort from thine Eyes Oh! wo is me for thee my heart is even broken within me and mine Eyes as a Fountain Floweth forth before the Lord in thy behalf that the bitter Cup which thou and thy joyning Sister hath to drink may be taken away if it be his will Oh! that thou wouldt return unto the Lord as Nineveh did who received the Message of Cod And the King came from his Stately Throne and humbled himself before the Lord and his Soul was obedient unto the higher Power which is God and all that had a being in that City both Man and Beast was covered with Sackcloth and ashes Three dayes and three nights they humbled themselves before the higher Power who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords who is Governour amongst the Gods even he repented himself of the Evil which he thought to bring upon them and accepted of their Humiliation Oh London it would be well for thee to consider thy wayes and Worship and Religion and search with the Light and let the Light shew thee whether thy wayes and Worship and Law is pure which is given forth in thee if it be not so I pray thee as in Christ stead let his Light lead thee into his way and Judgements and Worship and Religion which are holy that thy Soul may be saved in the Terrible Day of the Lord for there are hundreds in thee that do not know their right hand from their left neither can they discern the Power of the Lamb from the Power of the Beast Therefore hath the Lord stayed his fury from breaking forth upon thee yet a little while and the Mighty hand and out-stretched Arm of the Lord which is stretched forth from Sea to Sea will come upon thee suddenly Oh thou City saith the Lord who formed thee in the womb and gave thee Life and Breath and hath been as a tender Father and loving Nurse even from thy Cradle have not I made the Earth to bring forth her Corn and Oyl and Wine for thee have I not cloathed the Earth with Grasse and the dew to descend upon it and the softly Showers of Rain have not I caused to distill upon thy Flowers and Vines that they might give a Fragrant Smell unto thee how have thy Streets and houses been dressed with the glory of them and have not thine eyes beheld the Glorious Collours of the Flowers and Workmanship of my hands the which many of you shall see no more because of my destroying Angel Oh London have not I who am the God of the whole World placed a glorious burning Fire in thee which all the water in the Sea cannot quench which gives light in thee and unto thee and all Nations which is my witness in every man which stands up for me against all manner of Sin hath not the Lord broken up the Seals of the great deep and opened the Fountain of Everlasting Life in the midst of thee to wash thee from thy Leprosie and to heal thy putrifying sores Oh! thou art full of running sores from the crown of thine head to the sole of thy foot there is not a free place have not I opened a well of pure water to bathe and make thee white I the Lord of Host hath caused my Sons and Daughters and Handmaids to leave both Father and Mother House and Land Wife and Children and indeed all outward things to come unto thee rising up early in sore Travels and labours to warn thee and call thee to Repentance that thou mightst be saved before my dreadful stroke be struck at thee which will not fail have not they shewed thee many things which hath come to passe I have shewn and am shewing Signes in Heaven and Earth in thee which shall make the keepers of the house to tremble have not the dead been raised the blind made to see the Lame to walk the dumb to speak the Leopards been cleansed in thee have not I made the Elements to melt with fervent heat the Powers of Heaven have been shook by me the Sun have I turned into darkness and the Moon hath lost her Light The old Heaven and the old Earth hath the Lord made to passe away at the Brightness of his coming and as I have worked and suffered in you so I will do until I have made up my Jewels which I am perfecting through sufferings in thee And until I have gathered my Seed from the four winds in thee into my Bosom from whence it came until then will I work and bear the burden of iniquity even until the Seed suffering measure is come to an end and then shall not my eye pitty nor hands spare thee but I will bathe my sword in thy blood and I will give thee blood to drink even as thou hast done by my Innocent Lambs even so will I do by thee and as they have seen their blood lie in thy Streets so shalt thou see thine and the day will be hot and terrible that is coming upon thee unlesse thou dost repent I the Everlasting God have looked down out of my Holy Habitation and
with the wicked in persecuting the Innocent surely there reward will be great in Heaven My Friends I was once of this Religion which is now in Power I was signed with the sign of the Cross baptized into the Faith my Godfathers and Godmothers Promised and Vowed that I should forsake the Devil and all his works the Pomps and Vanities of this wicked World and all the sinful lusts of the Flesh and that I should keep Gods Holy Will and Commandments all the dayes of my life and when I was young my Father had me Bishop'd thinking thereby to gain a blessing for me I spent many years in Oxford where the carriages of the Schollars did trouble me in that day they were so wilde after the best sort of Religion and custom of the Nation was I brought up then the Lord drew me to this City where I applyed my heart both Evening and Morning and at noon day unto reading and hearing the Common-Prayer when there was but one place of Worship left in this City I went to it and when there Books were burned I stood for them for my heart was wholly joyned unto them and when the King's head was taken off my heart and Soul was burdened that I was even weary of my Life and the Enemy waited to devour me then did the Lord take away my hearing that I was deaf as to all Teachings of Men for a year then that Faith which I was baptized in did no good for all that the Man and Women had promised and vowed I should do I could not forsake the Pomps and Vanities and sinful lusts of the Flesh I run into and they stood alwayes before my eyes my cry was continually unto the Lord that I might put off that body of death which hindred me from his presence then did the Lord carry me to a Meeting of the People called Quakers where I was filled with the dread and Power of the Lord and it raised my Soul to bear Testimony to the Truth and after a little season the Lord set my sins in order before me and every idle word which I had spoken was brought to my remembrance where I received a just reward from the Lord and so came to have Peace of Conscience with my Saviour which I never could obtain whilst I walked with those People Oh my Friends I can truly say ever since I was a Child the witness of God pursued me and what ever I did I had no Peace in this worship or Service which is now in being it tired and vexed my tender Soul to see what a sad estate I was in but now Glory be to the Lord I am set at Liberty from this vain Religion which never profited me at all and would you have me to conform to this Religion which keepeth the Soul in the grave hay I shall never conform unto this worship whilst I have breath but shall bear my Testimony against it for I know the powerful Cod is risen to throw it down and wo be to all that uphold it Oh your Rulers be it known unto you if you will not do Justice and ease the oppressed and set the Captives free the Lord will overturn you and destroy you from being a People as he hath done in years past for his sword is in his hand and it will cut you down unless you do repent ye shall likewise perish One Warning more to the Bishops Priests Deacons Friers and Jesuites OH Woe be unto you Bishops Priests Deacons Friers and Jesuites and all other Officers under you for the Lord is risen in Power yea he is risen in dreadful and terrible Wrath Oh! I have seen I have seen this Night the dreadful Flames which the Lord God will cast you into Oh! your Communion-Tables which you sacrifice upon unto Devils and not unto the living God your Altars which you bow down unto and make an Image of will the dreadful Lord of Vengeance overthrow in his fiery Indignation your Surplices and Tippets and all your loathsome Robes which you dress your selves withall which are like unto a menstrous Cloth before the Eye of the pure Jehovah he will rent them all off who is the Bishop of our Souls Oh you Bishops Priests Deacons Friers and Jesuites once more will the Judge of Heaven and Earth plead with you because you are a blood-thirsty Generation you are a building of Zion with blood and Jerusalem with Iniquity as your Forefathers did in the dayes of old Therefore will the Lord of the Harvest cast you heaps upon heaps as stones in the street and as mire in the high-way the Lord of Heaven and Earth loaths your Worships your Singing and the Noise of your Organs doth the Lord abhor and instead of your instrument of musick will the lord make you howl and lament bitterly in so much that the Earth shall be astonished and your Downfal shall be so great that Nations shall fear and tremble before our God your Communion and Union is with Devils and unclean Spirits and not with the powerful God which creats a new Heaven and a new Earth and this shall you see fulfilled in its time and season for the Lord hath determined your utter Destruction both Pope and Bishops both root and branch from off the face of the Earth Oh it hastens it hastens and Wrath will not stay In this glorious day in which Zion is rayed in beauty bright To stand in her strength against this dark Night Whose Clouds are so many and Skie so dim That Zions Beauty can hardly be seen But the Lord is risen in this his glorious Day To sweep Bishops PrElates and Clouds away Babylons Destruction is very near let all the World fear for evermore A few Words unto the Royal Seed which is chosen of God and seperated from the World to do his Will for ever OH Friends blessed are you of the immortal God who are centred in the City of refuge which is made without hands which indeed is the lot and inheritance of the unspotted Lambs whose Hearts are after nothing but the Glory of God which is the Crown and Cause of rejoycing of his Sons and Daughters who do inhabit in and about this City who are come to the Church of the First-born and to the innumerable company of Angels and to the SpIrits of just men made perfect Oh! my beloved Ones your Life is above this City and denies the Vanity of it and it loaths the Worship that abounds in it Oh! it is well with you for the Lord hath made you up as his Jewels and Pillars in his House for ever Oh! my Friends who do inhabit in and about this City who are convinced of the Abominations and Uncleanness that is committed in her I am moved of the dreadful and terrible God to warn you that you do not joyn with her Spirit neither in word nor thought for assuredly the day of her pain and sorrow is at hand in the which she shall weep bitterly and
have beheld the Sufferings of my People notwithstanding the noble and worthy Acts that have been done by my People in thee how hast thou Bruised Beaten and Knocked down Killed and Spilt the blood of my innocent Lambs and haled them into thy nasty Prisons until they die Oh! the blood of the innocent is found in thee which cryeth aloud for Vengeance unto my Throne Drunkenness Whoredom and Gluttony and all manner of Ungodliness Tyranny and Oppression is found in thee Thy Priests Preach for hire and thy People love to have it so Rioting and ungodly meetings Stage-Playes Ballad Singing Cards and Dice and all manner of Folly not in corners only but in the high places of thy streets wicked works actions are not punished by thee and hundreds may meet together to commit folly and take the name of the pure God in vain and cause his soul to mourn and abuse themselves with his Creatures until they can neither go nor hardly speak Taverns and Ale-houses are frequented day and night and are seldom disturbed by the Magistrates or sent to Prison or Bruised or Knocked down but they that are Innocent and cannot lift up a hand or bear Arms for or against any man and have no evil or hard thought in their Hearts against any one neither do they speak evil of things they know not or contemn Magistracy but reprove Sin in the Gate and ungodliness in the Streets and so have made themselves a Prey these are they that are Punished by thee and whose Sufferings are deeper than any People upon the Earth besides Oh London the sins of the old world is found in thee art thou guilty or not guilty for thy time draweth near wherein thou must give an account unto me who am a dreadful and most terrible Judge unto that Spirit which leadeth thee into Persecution Oh! thou art grown numerous and very great thy beam reacheth unto Heaven and thy Glory unto the end of the Earth and thou hast Crowned thy self with Dignity and hast built thy Nest among the Stars and sitteth as a Queen thou hast made thy self strong and hast said in thy Heart Thou shalt not see Sorrow thou seest no Scarcity within thy Gates but Fulness within thy Pallaces But know this as from the Lord thou bloody City thou shall know his terrible stroak who is God Almighty He will plead with thee as in the Valley of Jehosaphat even with the Fire of his Wrath and the glittering Sword of his Spirit Oh! thou famous and beautiful Harlot who art beautified with the Glory of Egypt thou hast played the Whore with many Lovers Oh! thy Bed is defiled and thou hast forgotten thy Creator which maketh my Soul to mourn thy strength shall become weakness and thy Glory shall perish thy beauty shall be turned into ashes and thy honour shall become contemptable because thou art covered with a dark Cloud of Sin and Transgression and so cannot behold the Lord Envy hath misled thy mind which hath caused thee to Imprison his Messengers not only them of thy own City but Strangers who hath forsaken all to visit thee in Bowels of Everlasting Love and thus hast thou rewarded them which is contrary to Christ's Command which is to love Strangers In the Dayes of Old they received Strangers and washed their Feet and gave them to eat and to drink but thou briusest and knockest them down and keepest them in Prison from their Families and hast said The Parish will look after them Oh thou merciless City dost thou think to obtain Mercy from the Lord How many Families hast thou seperated the Wife from the Husband and the Husband from the Wife and the Mother from her Children and the Servant from the Master not suffering them to see each other for a time The Lord hath said Cursed is He that separateth a man from his Wife and dust not thou bring that Curse and many more upon thy head we have been found in no Plots nor Risings but have seeked the good of all Souls and the Prosperity of all Nations in Olivers Dayes and ever since we have been gathered out of the Worships and Vanities of this City and could not Bow unto Hammon we have been a suffering People and nothing could be found against us but concerning the Worship of our God which must disanul all unjust Laws made by Man The Medes and Persians had nothing against Daniel but concerning his Faith and I know Daniels Spirit liveth amongst us Therefore consider what thou art doing for in vain dost thou set up Briers and Thornes in Battle against the terrible God for by the brightness of his Coming shall they be burnt up for assuredly the Lord will arise mightily for his Seeds sake for as a Lyon roused up is he come who is the munition of Rocks and as a she Bear bereaved of her young Ones will he roar and disquiet all thy Inhabitants Oh London God hath a remnant in thee which he hath marked for his own which shall escape the Wrath that is to come Glory Glory Songs of Everlasting Praises be rendered unto the living God who hath not left himself without a witness in thee Oh London If thou wouldst return saith the Lord Almighty I will heal thy Back-slidings and forgive thee all thy Sins I will withdraw my bitter Cup which I have filled full of my Indignation and I will cover thee with my Garment of Everlasting Love and I will be married unto thee even as a young Man marrieth a Virgin never to be seperated I looked down from the Throne of my Glory and I saw thy distressed Condition thou art as a Sheep without a Shepherd as upon the Mountains of Prey and art scattered hither and thither amongst the Clouds of Religions thou knowest not which way to turn thou art like the Dove thou canst find no rest nor footing for the soal of thy foot thou art liable to be torn by the Woolfs and devoured by the Lyons thy TeachErs are removed into corners And thou art disposessed of thy wonted Houses and Service Therefore saith the Lord do I pitty thy ConDition and if thou wilt hearken unto me who am near thee in thy Heart and in thy mouth at thy down lying I am with thee and in the night season I visit thee and at thy uprising I call thee to repentance how many years have I born with thee as I did with the old World but my Patience came to an end and my Wrath waxed hot and so it will against thee if thou wilt not hear my beloved Son which I have sent a Light into the World and if thou wilt learn of the Light which shines in thy Heart then thou wilt be on heaps no more neither will thy Teachers and Worships and Church be any more removed into Corners but thou wilt be built upon Christ the Pillar and Ground of Truth who is the Church of the First-born then wilt thou have Fellowship with the Lord and thy-Glory
and Crown and Beauty shall never have an end but thou shalt be the Glory of the whole Earth and the Beauty of all Nations and Kings shall come to thy rising and Princes to the brightness of thy Glory there is no City upon the Earth can say as thou canst in this latter day for the Power of the Lord hath been shed abroad in thee and thou hast been visited more than any therefore prize the Son of the Lord least thou art cast into utter Darkness for it is I the Lord that chaineth Leviathan which no man can tame who am God and there is none besides me by my Wisdom the World was made and the Heavens framed I created the Sea and caused the Rivers to run into it and have set the Sands as swadling bands that it cannot over-pass and this is my decree which I will have sealed unto my people I am the Quakers God and will be with them unto the end of this World and in the end they shall be with me in my Glorious Kingdome where they shall be kept from their Persecutors and lye down in joy peace and tranquility with the rest of my holy Martyrs and Prophets and Apostles in years past and I am utterly against all that do oppose them who am a terrible God and will bring the wickedness of the wicked to an end but the righteousness of the righteous doth live with me This is my Decree and it shall live for ever and remain World without end and if thou canst cause the rain from raining or the Stars from shining or the Sun from going her Course or giving light to the Nations then mayest thou alter my Decree with my People whose seed shall be for number as the sand upon the Sea shore and for Multitude as the Stars of Heaven and they shall shine in Glory more brighter than the Sun at noon day in the Firmament of my Power when the generation of the wicked shall be cast into the Lake which is prepared of God for the King of darkness and his Subjects The Trumpet of the Lord sounded forth unto England Scotland and Ireland with a Word of wholsome Advice and Counsel to the King Rulers and Judges thereof OH King this is my Counsel unto thee and thy Rulers and Judges Oh! hearken unto the Light of Christ in your Consciences that it may bear rule in your hearts that you may Judge for the Lord and oppression may be expel'd in your Dominions Oh! that you would do Justice and love Mercy and walk humbly with the God of heaven then would the Lord give you length Of dayes and a long life Peace and Plenty shall be in your Dominions every one shall sit under his own Vine and Fig-tree and none shall make them afraid joy and tranquillity shall be in your Palaces this shall you see and know to be accomplished if you will leave off oppressing the Righteous and set the Captive free Oh ye Rulers Judges and Justices and all People high and low be it known unto you from the mighty Judge of Powerful Majesty that he is risen who will scatter Rulers in his anger and will pluck down Kings in his wroth Oh! the anger of the Lord waxeth hot against all workers of iniquity and he will set his oppressed seed free which cryeth unto him for deliverance and know this what cruelty soever be in your hearts against us the Lord will confound it and bring it to nothing for the Lord is on our sides and we fear not Imprisonment Banishment Fine or Tortures or whatever the wrath of man can inflict upon us for our hearts are firmly fixed upon the Lord and we are freely given up in Body Soul and Spirit to suffer for God's Cause Oh you Rulers if the Lord suffereth you to Banish us I know that the Lord will go along with us as he did with Abraham in a strange Land but know this we shall leave a seed behind us which shall be your tormentor and shall witness for us when we are gone Oh Lord I commit our case unto thee who art faithful and keepeth Covenant for ever and I know thou wilt fight our Battel and plead our cause with the mighty on earth who would destroy us from being a People if thy Power did not preserve us Glory and Honour be given unto thee who hath compassed us about with songs of everlasting praises and we may blesse the hour and time that thou raised up a People in the North even a dreadful and terrible Army who Marched swiftly in thy Power through the Nations and by them we were convinced and turned towards the Lord and they shall be the dread of all Nations and God hath crowned them with an everlasting Crown which neither Men nor Devils shall be able to take from them Oh you Rulers and Judges of these Nations do you think to overcome us or make us yeeld by keeping them in Prison which you think are our Teachers and Ring-leaders nay Christ is our Teacher and he cannot be removed into a corner who is the Antient of Dayes and will cause us to increase dayly and to grow as Calves in the stall we are not like the World who must have a Priest to Interpret the Scriptures to them and when he is removed they are scattered and knows not what to do but my friends we witness the Scriptures fulfil'd who hath said in the latter dayes He would pour out his Spirit upon Sons and Daughters and they should Prophesie and they shall all be taught of me and great shall be their peace and in righteousness shall they be established So the Lord doth not speak unto us in an unknown Tongue but in our own Language do we hear him perfectly whose voice is better than life and for this cause doth the unlearned hate us and the uncircumcised revile us because we cannot own the Teaching that is of this World but that which cometh immediately from God and that is pure and refresheth the Soul and holdeth up the head in the day of Battel and it causeth us to meet together to worship the Lord as we ought to do and Oh you Rulers and People it is in vain for you to strive against us for the God of heaven is with us Oh England Scotland and Ireland but more especially thou O England that art the most fruitful and famous Land in which the Lord hath been pleased to make manifest his Life and Power Beauty and Glory more than in any Nation under the Heavens in so much that he hath raised his sons and daughters from death to life and hath made them bold and valiant Souldiers for his Testimony which he hath given them to bear forth unto all Nations and by the Glorious and Powerful Word of Life which hath proceeded out of their mouthes hath thy Judges and Rulers been convinced of the evil of their way and have been made to confesse to the Truth both Priests and People both High
shall make all astonished who are from the Power and Life of God Oh my Friends keep to the Power and to the Judgements of the just Judge that that eye and thought that would look out at her Glory and that would think to sit at ease in her Borders let that be judged and accursed for ever that would have any Life below the Son of God Oh my Friends call to mind the years past how pretious and fresh was the Love of the Lord in your hearts when he first visited you in this City Oh! did you think any thing to dear for him could you not have laid down your Lives for his Truth were you not glad when you were robbed of your Glory and bereaved of your choicest Jewels even for the Lords sake Oh my Friends I can bear you record in the sight of God who was a fellow feeler of your Integrity and Faithfulness unto the Lamb. Oh! you tender Ones with whom my Soul hath Union keep to that pure and undefiled Love even to the measure of God's Grace that it may teach you continually to deny all things that is of this World and unclean in this City that you may stand every one in your measures as Lights in this dark City for the Lord of the Heavens and the Earth hath placed you in and about this City as he hath done the Sun Moon and Stars and there you in the Firmament are to stand fixed in him who is the glorious morning Star you must not wander least you cease to give Light in the place where you are set for remember they that wandered were reserved in Chaines of Darkness until the Judgement of the great Day which is near at hand to give unto every one a just reward Oh! you beloved Friends of God this I have to say unto you from the mighty God although you are set as marks for the mighty men to shoot at and as a by-word in the mouth of the Beggars and are reckoned the worst of all People not worthy to live upon the Earth yet know this that the Covenant of the Lord is made with you and his Power and Life shall not depart from you nor from your Seed for evermore Glory Praises and Power eternally be rendered unto the Lord who reigneth in the Heavens who never altereth but liveth a God for ever Oh my Friends this is the earnest desire of my Soul that we may keep close unto our Maker even to bear a pure holy and faithful Testimony in our Generation against all that do oppose the Lamb in this City as the Prophets and Apostles and holy Martyrs have done in their day against all false Gods Worships and Worshippers we have the same Spirit to fight against in this City as they had in the World before Therefore my Companions and fellow Sufferers have we not need to stand up for God's Cause for the which we have and are called to bear forth our Testimony in so deep Sufferings as we have come through and if we are to drink of a deeper Cup yet let us be thankful unto the Lord of the Harvest for it is for the gathering of the Exiles into Abraham's bosome and the poor thirsty Soules unto the place of broad Rivers Oh! rejoyce and give Praises unto God on high who hath begun his Work and will finish it in his time Oh my Friends let us keep clear of this City let us not tast nor handle any of her Works for her works are Vanity and falshood the Poyson of Aspes is under her tongue and Deceit is in her hands therefore it is good that we bear a faithful Testimony for the most high against this Generation and if our lot be to die and we appointed to be Slain for the same it will be well with us our Souls shall be received into the bosome of the Father where we shall glorifie God day and night and shall be free from Oppression Oh dear Hearts be not afraid of the threatnings or proud looks of vain Man which is but like a bubble he can but kill the Body but cannot kill the Soul Oh! be continually prepared to die that none may be afraid of Death when it comes for it may come suddenly when ye are asleep or in the twinckling of an Eye Oh! that then the rest which God hath prepared for his People may be entred into or else Misery and Pain will be found which is the Reward of the Slothful and Disobedient the Way of the Righteous is Life Eternal and the Path of the Just is a burning and a shining Light which our Eyes have seen and our hands have handled of the Word of Life by which we have been preserved unto this day and I am certain if thousands of thousands should rise up against us they shall not prevail for the Lord the mighty Jehovah is with us and will fight our Battel and plead our Cause with the mighty Ones of the Earth we need do nothing but stand still in Gods Salvation which is the saving health of all Nations and will plead with all Tongues and Kindreds of the Earth who do oppose Him And his Lambs and Babes who walketh in his holy Path which is Life to the upright in heart Oh! the Wisdom Power and Glory of the unlimitted God what tongue is able to declare it or what heart can conceal the infiniteness of the Riches of the Judge of Heaven and Earth it even fills the Heart with Love and Life and over-shadows the Soul and Mind with the Glory and Beauty of the unspotted Lamb which taketh away the Sins of the World Oh! the weight of his Glory I am even swallowed up with the incomprehensibleness of it Oh! the height and the depth of it is past finding out by the Wisdom of this World Oh my Friends is not that God amongst us who created Adam in Innocency and Eve of the Dust of the Earth did not he cause Abraham to leave the Land of his Nativity and go into a strange Land and did he not compass him about with Strength and Power and gave him Favour in the sight of the People and is he not the same God still Yes although the Earth may wax old and Heavens vanish away as smoak and the Elements with fervent heat yet he remains unchangeable who is our head Oh! What is all the World before him who is Judge of Judges and King of Kings it's but as the drop of a bucket in his sight and a thousaud Years is but as one day with our God Therefore it is expedient for all Friends to watch and wait and Pray least they enter into Temptation And this have I seen my beloved Friends this night as from the Lord that there must be a watching and waiting for the Invisible Power of the Lamb to arise to move to pray to speak and then it will be a pure and a holy Sacrifice which the Lord will accept Oh my Friends let us whilst we have
and Low Rich and Poor hath the Lord visited in this day of great Salvation and everlasting love so that none could plead inorance but many like Demas hath denyed the Truth and Imbraced this present evil World And now Oh England will the Lord try and prove all thy Inhabitants from the King that sitteth upon his Throne unto the Beggar that sitteth upon the dunghill even all sorts of professors and prophane Oh! the Fire is kindled and the Furnace is even hot in the which your works and worships Faith and Religion must be tryed and that which will not remain in the Furnace must be consumed by the Fire of the Lord for the most high and Glorious King is a trying and purifying his Children in the Furnace as Jerusalem that they may come forth as pollished Silver and well refined Gold and he hath brought many through the Furnace and hath set them as Pillars in his house to bear forth a Valiant and Noble Testimony of what they have seen tasted and handled of the Word of Life unto thy inhabitants and unto the whole World that they may fear that dreadful God who made Heaven and Earth in whose sight the whole World is but as the drop of a Bucket and at whose presence the heavens shall wax old as a garment that moths have eat and the Element shall passe away with a great noise the Earth shall be dissolved and all things therein shall mourn and the souls shall fail before him which he hath made Oh! let your King and Queen Dukes and Earls Lords and Ladies Judges and Rulers and all Bishops Deacons Priests and People in these three Nations and all the World consider their wayes worships and religions and fear and tremble before the mighty God who hath the hearts of Kings and Rulers in his hand times and seasons are with him the Dominions of the World are at his disposing who is the high and lofty One and doth Inhabit Eternity what is the Pope or the Kings of the Earth will he not bring them to judgement and turn them to dust again from whence they came Oh you high and lofty ones who spendeth God's Creation upon your lusts and doth not feed the hungry nor cloath the naked but they are ready to perish in the streets both old and young lame and blind lyeth in your streets and at your Masse-house doors crying for bread which even melteth my heart and maketh the soul of the righteous to mourn did not the Lord make all men and women upon the earth of one mould why then should there be so much honour and respect unto some men and women and not unto others but they are almost naked for want of Cloathing and almost starved for want of Bread and are you not all brethren and all under the Government of one King Oh repent least the Lord consume you and be ashamed and cloath the naked and feed the hungry and set the oppressed free Oh King thou art as head under God over these three Nations the Lord hath set thee as overseer to see Justice and true Judgement Executed in thy Dominions Oh! let all unjust Lawes and unrighteous Decrees made in thy dayes and before thy dayes be all disanul'd and made of none effect and henceforth let there be good and wholsom Lawes Established that all the honest-hearted in thy Dominions may worship the God of their Life without any molestation and if thou decreest any thing let it not grieve the Lord for the Lord God of Israel looketh for better fruit at thy hands than he did of all that are gone before thee for in the time of Ignorance God winked but now is the glorious Light of the Morning risen and God calleth all men every where to Repentance Oh you Rulers Priests and People of these three Lands I most humbly intreat you to learn Wisdom before it be too late and prudence before it be hid from your eyes Oh! leave off your old wayes and Worships and observing Dayes Times and Seasons and learn the new and living way which is the way in the Wilderness though a wafering man or a fool shall not err therein this calls for Holiness and Purity without which you cannot see the Lord therefore consider you are but Men and made of the dust of the Earth and you know not how soon you may return to your long homes and shall be seen no more have you the length of your life or the number of your dayes in your own hands have you the command of Death or can you stay its stroke nay you are but as potsheards broken by the hand of the Potter you are here to day and gone to morrow your Beauty is as the grass and your glory as the Flower thereof cut down by the hand of the Mower your Crown is mortal and will fade away Ah poor dust and ashes why do you persecute us even to Death for no other cause but for worshiping the God of Heaven Oh! do you think that the Lord is such a one as your selves or are you so vain to believe that he winks or joyns with you in Persecuting Knocking down and spilling our blood in your Streets and Murdering of us in your Prisons nay nay although he hath suffered such things to be done for the Tryal of our Faith and the filling up of the measute of your Iniquity which is near full Now will I arise saith the dreadful and terrible God who am cloathed with Vengeance as with a Robe and with Zeal as with a Garment and I will tear and devour and for Sions sake I will not be quiet and for my beloved Jerusalem I will not be silent but I will roar and thunder forth my voice out of my Holy Mountain and the Beasts shall tremble the Earth shall be as a smoke the tall Cedars shall fall and the stirdy Oakes shall be plucked up by the Roots and all things of this World shall be afraid the Bats shall go into their Holes and the Lyons into their Dens when the Lord appeareth in his Beauty to make Inquisition for blood then shall your hearts fail you for fear of those things that are coming upon you in that Terrible Day all your lovers will do you no good and your familiars will stand afar off then must you be left to the Judge of Judges where you shall see the Book of Conscience opened where your Indictments will be read at large and he will Judge you according as your deeds shall be Oh then if you have not done Justice nor loved mercy or did the thing that was Just in the sight of the Lord then shall you be Banished from the presence of the King of Heanen for evermore into utter darkness where is weeping wailing and gnashing of Teeth and you shall be a stink to Ages to come Oh! blessed and happy will it be for those Judges and Rnlers and Poople who hath clean hands and pure hearts and have not joyned