and as the flower of the field the grass withereth the flower fadeth but the Word of thy God O Church of England shall stand for ever Heaven and Earth will sooner fail than one Tittle of Gods Word Where the Word of a King is there is Power but how much more where the Word of the everliving God is when it is set on by his Spirit which is a Spirit of Power of Might and of Majesty It is a meek and a quiet Spririt an humble and a holy Spirit and it is the highest loftiest and most noblest Spirit it is such a Spirit that it will enable them that will be ruled by it for to attain retain maintain and proclaim that which is most noble excellent and advantageous for the great Honour Peace and Prosperity of a King and Kingdom Let all People in all Nations rejoyce in him that made them let the Children of Zion be joyful in their King The Lord shall Reign for ever even thy God O Church of England unto all Generations therefore praise him all ye Nations let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord Praise him for his mighty Acts who can express the Noble Acts of the Lord they are so many and great Not men or Angels His wondrous Works in the Land of Ham and fearful things by the Red Sea The Lord is good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works the Lord is great and greatly to be Admired and Adored he is clothed with Honour and Majesty who covereth himself with Light as with a Garment who stretcheth out the Heavens like a Curtain who layeth the Beams of his Chambers in the Waters who maketh the Clouds his Chariot who walketh upon the Wings of the Wind who maketh his Angels Spirits his Ministers a flaming Fire who laid the Foundations of the Earth that it should not be removed for ever the Lord of Hosts is his Name To be much in meditation of him will be sweet to the Soul and health to the Body I will be glad and rejoyce in the Lord as long as I live I will sing praise to him while I have my being for he hath redeemed my Life from Destruction and hath Crowned me with Loving-kindness and tender Mercies who satisfieth my Mouth with good things so that my Youth has been renewed as the Eagles Well may my Soul therefore bless the Lord and all that is within me bless his holy Name Bless the Lord O my Soul and forget not any of his Benefits who forgiveth all thine Iniquities and healeth all thy Diseases The Glory of the Lord shall endure for ever the Lord will rejoyce in his Works the Lords Throne is in the Heavens and his Kingdom ruleth over all Therefore bless the Lord ye his Angels that excel in Strength bless ye the Lord all ye his Hosts ye Ministers of his that do his pleasure bless the Lord all ye his Works in all places of his Dominion Is it not in vain for the Church of England for to pray O God make speed to save us O Lord make hast to help us and do not mind and regard when and by whom he will do it by whom can do it when he will so he will do it by whom he will and not when and by whom Wise Strong Rich and Learned-men please the meaner and weaker the Instrument is whom Almighty God doth use the greater is the Sin of them that do him slight under-value and refuse Long may the Church of England look for Peace and meet with Trouble look for Health and meet with Disappointment when she is not careful to mind the Day of her Visitation Shall the Stork in the Heaven know her appointed time and the Turtle and the Crane and the Swallow observe the time of their coming And shall not the Servants of the Lord understand his Mind so as to endeavour to prevent his Judgments Are they not counted wise-men that have the Law of the Lord with them But are not such wise-men many times dismayed ashamed and taken when they do reject the Word of the Lord and rely upon the Traditions and Inventions of Mens making and framing which are neither agreeable nor suitable to the Word of God which is the Word of Life and of Power What wisdom is in such men then that wisdom which will deceive them Who is so blind as they that should see most and deaf as they that should hear best Is there no Balm in Gilead is there no Physician there Doubtless there is Is not the Lord the Lord Jehovah in whom is Everlasting Strength in Zion Is not her King in her and for her and with her Why then is not the health of the Daughter of Gods people recovered Is there not any that stirs up himself to take hold of the true and everliving God as they ought and should do therefore hath the Lord who is full of Wisdom Power and Strength hid his Face from us And by reason of our many great and grievous Sins we have all been very much afflicted and consumed But where is the man that lays it so to heart as to stand up in the Gap to make up the Hedge so as to turn away Gods Wrath that for a long time has burned like Fire against England Scotland France and Ireland Who can stand before the Lord who is most great and most good when once he is angry doth not the Mountains quake at him and the Hills melt And is not the Earth burnt at his Presence yea the World and all that dwell therein when he pleaseth Therefore the Wicked and all the Workers of Iniquity the Seed of Evil-doers the Children of Disobedience the Enemies of the Gospel and the Protestant Religion will be ashamed confounded and at last destroyed if that they do not in time humble themselves under the hands of the Great and Mighty God who is Possessor and Commander of Heaven the Earth and the Sea and all things that in them be The Righteous shall rejoyce and be glad but the Sinners in Zion in the Church of England will be afraid Fearfulness hath surprized the Hypocrites already Who among the Sons of Men in the Church of England that can dwell with Devouring Fire Who among them can dwell with Everlasting Burnings He that walketh Righteously and worketh Righteousness that speaketh uprightly he that despiseth the Gain of Oppression that slacketh his hands from holding of Bribes that stoppeth his Ears from hearing of Blood and shutteth his Eyes from seeing of Evil he shall dwell on high his place of Defence shall be the Munitions of Rocks in time of Famine he will be fed Bread shall be given him his Waters shall be sure he shall see the King in his Beauty he will behold the Land that is very far off But what will become of them that serve graven Images and boast themselves of Idols they will be ashamed and confounded in these Days of the Gospel if that they do not
of Faith which is the Power of the God of Heaven Men of Renown have Subdued Kingdoms wrought Righteousness Obtained Promises Stopped the Mouths of Lyons out of Weakness were made Strong have waxed Valiant in Fight and turned many to Flight Divine Faith which is more Precious then Gold will Enable a Man to be as bold as a Lion stronger then Samson and Wiser than the Devil in the overcoming of Evil and the doing of Good in his Generation for the great Honour of God the King and Nation but the want of so Excellent a Jewel as Divine Faith which is a Supporting and a Comforting Grace will make all the Workers of Iniquity throughout the whole World to Tremble for all their Carnal Wisdom Power and Strength it is not said that a Man shall Overcome the World by his Wisdom Power and Strength but by his Faith by Beleiving in the Son of God and owning of him and appearing for him It is by Faith I stand and by Faith that I do Understand the Mind of the God of Heaven what is to be done among the Sons of Men the Wisest and the Chiefest among them in these Days of the Gospel for the great Honour and Renown of the Protestant Religion for the great Joy and Triumph of the Church of England for the great Honour and Exaltation of our Royal Soveraign His Majesty of Great Britain and for the great Joy Peace and Prosperity of many Kingdoms To Write and to Speak the same thing again and again it is needful when it is Suitable and Seasonable Profitable Comfortable and Advantageous to a Person a Family a City or a Kingdom In these Days of the Gospel and in the Reign of our Royal Soveraign His Majesty of Great Britain it will be known who are Sons of the Church of England and who are Sons for the Church of England many may be Sons of the Church of England that be a Burden and Reproach to the Church of England but to be a Son for the Church of England doth Imply to seek the Good and Welfare of the Church of England the Peace and Settlement of the Church of England the great Joy and Triump of the Church of England which will bring great Honour and Exaltation to His Majesty of Great Britain and great Peace and Prosperity to his Kingdoms There is a Generation among the Sons of Men that have a Name to Live and are Dead that be pure in their own Eyes but yet not Cleansed from their Iniquities these are too Wise for to say our Saviours Prayer and the Church of England's Prayer because they have been so long Ruled by the Prince of the Air who Rules in the Children of Disobedience and is Active with them in all their Treasons These have made the Church of England Black with Reproaches cast upon her but she is Comely in her Graces before the God of Heaven and in her Carriage before Wise and Understanding Men but before them that be more Nice then Wise she is Despised in their Eyes But in these Dayes of the Gospel the Lord who is most Wise and most Strong will make it appear who be for him or against him and his Annointed our Royal and Gracious Soveraign The Lord whose Wisdom is unsearchable and his Power unresistable is a Wonder-working God the Wonders that he has wrought for his Children when they have been Sould and Bought is to be Admired and Remembred by all Persons in all Nations How was the Jews sold and bought to be destroyed by that wicked Haman and flattering Courtier But what did he get but shame and confusion for he was taken in his own Net did fall into his own Pit and his violent Dealings came down upon his own Pate for he was hanged upon the same Gallows that he built for faithfull and honourable Mordecai What got the Spanish Aâ—adâ— and the Gun-powder Traytors against Englands Royal Church and State Were they not ashamed confounded and many destroyed O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works unto the children of men How many times has the Lord of Hosts saved and delivered England again and again when that they have been sold and bought to have been destroyed by the Pope the French King and the King of Spain But the God of Heaven doth Night and Day watch over and defend this Nation to bring the Enemies of his Gospel to thame and desolation that will not conform and reform to the Pretestant Religion as it is Established in the Church of England For a long time the Turk the Pope the French King and the King of Spain have kept many Nations in slavery for the Devil and their own lust But the time is come that in these days of the Gospel and in the Reign of our Royal Sovereign will their Wisdom their Power and Strength their Honours and Riches their great and high Places be soon laid in the dust but for the great Honour and Renown of the Protestant Religion for the great Joy and Triumph of the Church of England for the great Peace and Prosperity of many Kingdoms will His Majesty of Great Britains Crown and Kingdoms flourish among all Nations while there is a Generation So that the God of Heaven will bless the Earth with great encrease and among all people in all Nations there will be a Free Trade great Joy and a lasting Peace It becomes all the Ministers of the Gospel all wise strong rich and learned men that will prove themselves faithful to the God of Heaven to His Majesty of Great Britain to the Protestant Religion and to the Church of England for to countenance and encourage this Noble Design that Divine Wisdom and Power has enabled me for to make known in time for the great Joy Peace and Prosperity of Mankind Let the man be what he will or whom he will whom the great Great and the Mighty God doth stir up to engage with him for to make known his Mind for the great Honour and Exaltation of a Kings Person and the great Peace and Prosperity of many Nations that Man ought to be minded and regarded by the Wise Godly and the Learned because that his Work is high and honourable Work pleasant prositable and delightsom Work and will prove victorious glorious and crowning Work it will Crown the God of Heaven with much Glory among the Sons of Men and our Royal Sovereign His Majesty of Great Britain with great Honour and Power over them over all Heathen and Popish Kings Priests Princes and Emperours in the world That this may be done and well done let all that do profess the Protestant Religion that can pray pray for the long life and prosperous and victorious Reign of our Royal Sovereign his Majesty of Great Britain that the Lord would enable him to be as Good as Great and keep him at all times and in all places as the Apple of his own Eye the Lord deliver him always
Church of England They that believe will be saved but they that will not labour and endeavour to believe in the Son of God who became the Son of Man will be ashamed confounded and at last destroyed For there is no other remedy for Mans Recovery but by obeying the Gospel Therefore consider what so great a Prince as the Lord of Life and the King of Glory has done for the Sons of Men Let all fall in love with him for if Unbelieving Jews and Bruitish Atheists and Wicked and Bloody Papists and Rebellious Dissentors and Sectaries do not endeavour to love him who is altogether lovely their condition is sad for the present and worse for the future but I hope that in these Gospel-days and in the Reign of our Royal Severaign his Majesty of Great Britain that Jews and Gentiles will come into one Fold and that all People in all Nations will know the True God and Jesus Christ so as to love serve and to honour him For the Lord has promised and he will make it good for to give unto his Son the Heathen for his Inheritance and the uttermost Parts of the Farth for his Possession And who knows but that the time is come that in these days of the Gospel and in the Reign of our Royal Sovereign his Majesty of Great Britain it is to be done This high and honourable work this pleasant profitable and long desired work this victorious glorious and crowning work that will crown the God of Heaven with much glory among the Sons of Men and his Majesty of Great Britain with great Honour and Power over them over all Heathen Popish Kings Priests Princes and Emperors in the World that will not submit to the Gospel and the Protestant Religion as it is taught in the Church of England That this high and honourable work may be brought about by the Lords Annointed his Majesty of Great Britain the God of Heaven has stirr'd me up in time to make known his Mind for the great Joy Peace and Prosperity of Mankind Therefore let the Righteous rejoyce all that be faithful to the God of Heaven to his Majesty of Great Britain to the Protestant Religion and to the Church of England but let the Wicked tremble and all the workers of Iniquity be ashamed for in his Majesties Reign will the Righteous flourish and in his days there will be abundance of Peace so that Strife Contention and Wars in these Gospel-days will cease and throughout the whole World among all People there will be a free Trade great Joy and a lasting Peace Therefore let the Heavens rejoyce and let the Earth be glad let the Sea roar and the fulness thereof let the Fields be joyful and all that is therein then shall all the Trees of the Wood rejoyce for the Lord who is most wise and most strong cometh he cometh to judge the Earth He will judge the World with Righteousness and the People with his Arise and shine thou Church of England thy Light is come the Glory of the Lord is risen upon thee to bring thee to great Honour and Exaltation and the Whore of Babylon the Man of Sin and the Church of Rome to great Shame and Desolation for her Idolatry and Abomination for her Lies and Fornication for the Blood of the Saints that she has slain Her time is come to be brought down with shame but the Lord will have mercy upon Sion upon his Church throughout the whole World the time to favour her is come so that great will be the Joy and Triumph of the Church of England great will be the Exaltation of his Majesty of Great Britain and great will be the Peace and and Prosperity of many Kingdoms Let not any despise the day of small things for that God that speaks peace to a Person can inable a Person to make known his Mind for the great joy peace and prosperity of many Nations Return Return O backsliding Children therefore and remember from whence you are fallen and do your first work for it was better with you than them Even since the Dissentors and Sectaries left off to be wise and to do good they have been the occasion of shedding too much Blood They left off to be wise when they made Separation which has caused Division Contention Sedition and Rebellion They left off doing of much good ever since they have refused to say the daily Prayers of the Church of England which Prayers are suitable and seasonable profitable and comfortable for all Persons in all Nations they tend very much to inform the Ignorant to Reform the Disobedient to Comfort the Weak Christian to Resolve the Doubting to Raise up those that be fallen and to Strengthen them that do Stand if they be but well used and practiced but these Prayers have been slighted and undervalued by them who are too much like many of the Children of Israel who was a proud froward and stubborn Generation Children that could talk of Faith but the Lord told them They had not Faith for they moved him to Jealousie with that which is not god they provoked him to Anger with their Vanities But what saith the Lord who has all power in his own hand and the whole Creation at command he told them that he would move them to Jealousie with those which are not a People he would provoke them to Anger with a foolish Nation And has not our Contentions and Divisions about Religion caused the Lord to afflict us and to scourge us with a foolish and ignorant People even the Papist They that provoke the Lord to Anger he will provoke them to the shame and confusion of their own Faces The Children of Israel did so far provoke to Anger the Lord who is not easily provoked that he did hide his Face from them and would see what their end would be And has not the Lord justly hid his Face from the Dissentors and Sectaries for a long time to see what their end will be How they will quit themselves like Men. They can talk like Men and walk like Men but they have acted too many of them like Children Fools and Mad-men but their own wickedness will correct them and their backsliding will reprove them for the Backsliders in heart will be filled with their own foolish ways they will lie down in sorrow And have not the Dissentors and Sectaries experience enough that have made Separation from the Church of England what it is to backslide from the Worship of God from the Word of God from the Prayers of the Church which tends to Edification Reformation and Consolation and from the ways of God whose ways are ways of Pleasantness and all his Paths Peace and from the Yoke of Christ whose Yoke is easie and his Burden Light And what have they got unto themselves but great Shame and much Confusion When Israel did cast off the thing that was good the Enemy did pursue them So since the Dissentors and Sectaries
for their great Joy Freedom and Gain so that the way of the Lord will be known more and more upon Earth and his saving Health among all Nations So that the People will praise him yea all People will praise him with new Obedience so that the Earth will bring forth great Increase and among all People in all Nations there will be a free Trade great Joy and a lasting Peace Let every Man continue in that honest and lawful Calling which Divine Providence has placed them in for it is unsuitable and uncomely for the Ministers to follow the Tradesmans Calling or the Tradesman the Ministers Work as too many have done in these days of the Gospel to the great shame of the Protestant Religion and the Church of England There is no Place Calling or Condition that will honour Men if that they be not careful to honour God and our Royal King his Majesty of Great Britain in them And when that the God of Heaven doth indue any Man with Divine Wisdom and Power for to understand his Mind what may be done and what is to be done for the great Honour Peace and Prosperity of a King and Kingdom let that Man make it known in time to that Minister whom God has set over him and the Minister to the Bishop whom God has set over him and the reverend Bishop in due time and season to the Kings most Excellent Majesty whom the God of Heaven under him has made among the Sons of Men Supream over all Persons and Causes But if that Man be not minded and regarded by the Wise Godly and the Learned whom the most Wise God doth enable in time for to make known his Mind to prevent much Ruin to Mankind then the Wise Godly and the Learned are guilty of those Troubles and Judgements that comes both upon themselves and the Nation and they may call and cry unto the God of Heaven to help to deliver them but he will not regard them because he will help save and deliver them when he will and by whom he will Every good and perfect Gift is from above from the Father of Lights in whom is no variableness or shadow of turning Both the preparation of the Heart and the answer of the Tongue it is from the Lord. Therefore let the Man be what he will or whom he will whom he doth indue with Wisdom and Power for to understand his Mind to do his Will and to injoy his Favour in his Calling let not that Man leave his Calling suddenly nor unadvisedly but let him prove and improve his Graces in his Calling till that Authority whom the God of Heaven has set over him commands him from it I have been very backward and very unwilling to have my mind made known in print and I have been much discouraged thereunto but true Valour will take Incouragement from Discouragement That which doth require it and puts me upon it to have it done in these days of the Gospel and in the Reign of our Royal and Gracious Soveraign it is the Glory of the great and mighty God the Credit of his Holy Gospel the great Honour and Renown of the Protestant Religion the great Joy and Triumph of the Church of England the great Exaltation of our Royal Soveraign his Majesty of Great Britain and the great Shame Contempt and Terror of the Turk the Pope and the Devil and all the Workers of Evil that so many Nations may by freed from slavery and throughout the whole World there may be great Joy Peace and Prosperity This is the Lords doings who is great in Counsel and mighty in Power whose Arm is very long and very strong though he doth make use of a weak and unlikely Man therefore let it be marvellous in the Eyes of them that be most wise I hope that our Royal Soveraign his Majesty of Great Britain will countenance encourage and set forward this Noble Design that Divine Wisdom and Power has enabled me for to make known in time for the great Joy Peace and Prosperity of Mankind As for the great Exaltation of his Majesties Royal Person and the great Joy Peace and Prosperity of many Nations Great has been the Trials and Troubles of the Church of England from her Enemies both at home and abroad so great will be her Joy her Triumphs and Victory over her Enemies both at home and abroad for the Lord will restore Health unto thee and will heal thee of thy Wounds therefore fear thou not nor be dismayed for the Lord who is most Great and most Good will save thee from afar and thy Seed from the Land of their Captivity and thou shalt be in Rest and Quiet and none shall make thee afraid for the Lord who is most wise and most strong is with thee to save thee though he should make a full End of those Nations that Worship Idols and Graven Images yet will he not make a full end of thee but he will correct thee in Measure and will not leave thee altogether unpunished therefore sing with gladness for Jacob and shout among the chief of the Nations Publish ye Praise and say O Lord save thy People the Remnant of Israel the Remnant of England the Remnant of London after such devouring Wars a wasting Pestilence and Consuming Fires for the Lord who is most great and most good he kills and he makes alive he wounds and he heals he casts down and he raises up a Person a Family a City and a Kingdom when he will and by whom he will The Lord that scattered Israel has scattered England and wounded London for is there any Evil in the City but the Lord has done it by inflicting of it and permitting of it for the Workers of Iniquity the Seed of Evil doers the Children of Disobedience are Gods Rod and Gods Sword to punish his Children when they walk contrary unto him but as the End of the Rod is to be burnt so the End of the wicked is to be cut off they are such Chaff that the Lord knows when and how to scatter them and such Briars and Thorns that he can when he please with much Ease consume them Who ever hardened themselves against God and prospered What got proud Pharaoh with his Six hundred chosen Chariots and all the Chariots of Egypt but sudden ruine and destruction What got Sizera with his Nine Hundred Chariots of Iron but shameful ruine and destruction For himself was killed by a Woman and his Army of a sudden routed and destroyed What got Sennacherib that proud King of Assyria who did insult and reproach against the living God and the good King Hezekiah but in one Night it pleased the Lord to send his Angel who did destroy a Hundred fourscore and five Thousand of his Men almost two Hundred Thousand a great Army but yet not Power and Strength enough to withstand one Angel And when the proud King departed and came to Nineveh as he was worshiping his Idol-God