Seasonable Counsel TO An Afflicted People IN A LETTER To the Distressed INHABITANTS OF WEM In the County of SALOP After the dreadful FIRE which consumed that Market-Town March 3. 1676 7. Written by Andrew Parsons M.A. and sometime Minister there LONDON Printed for E. Brewster and Tho. Parkhurst at the Crane in St. Pauls Church-yard and at the Bible and three Crowns in Cheapside near Mercers-Chappel 1677. To my dear Friends of Wem who have suffered by the late dreadful Fire BEloved people when I first heard of that devouring Fire how could I be otherwise affected than Nehemiah was Chap. 1.4 when he heard Jerusalem lay waste and burnt He was astonished wept and prayed to the God of Heaven And oh that my prayers may be as effectual and successful for you as his were for them then Wem would be built again as Jerusalem was the glory of whose second Temple exceeded that of the first as did also their own Houses and habitations Hag. 1.4 But is Wem burnt indeed What Wem the place that God hath blessed and where he hath as signally manifested his power goodness forbearance and mercy as in any place you or I ever knew And is this lot and fate at last befallen Wem What! to come down so wonderfully and in a little more than an hour for her beauty to be turn'd into Ashes Sure this Fire who ever kindled it here like that of Sodom came down from the Lord out of Heaven it was so fierce and unquenchable Therefore if other great and stupendious providences have passed as unregarded by us this must not if we mean to prevent the flaming vengeance of God next upon our selves O Wem thou wast a Town saved by the Lord from Pestilence when you do remember God shot his Arrow in Shrewsbury on one hand and Whitchurch on the other but the impression of this quickly wore off and yet the long-suffering of God still waited the holy and righteous God is slow to wrath and he was long a coming to Wem expecting still his Gospel preached there might find better acceptance and prevail more to the amendment of their lives In the mean time he visited other places and uttered his voyce in dreadful flames in Drayton the sound whereof had it not been for a general and moral deafness would have been shrill in your ears crying Wem look upon Drayton and learn to be wise in time in this thy day know the things that belong to thy peace and safety God called but Wem would not answer yet still Gods bowels wrought strongly towards Wem as of old toward Ephraim how shall I give thee unto the flames Make thee as Admah Hos 11.8 I 'le practise in like manner upon another place also it may be then they will hear and fear and do no more wickedly so a Fire and that a dreadful one was in Newport Now God said as in Zeph. 3.7 Surely they will fear me in Wem and break off their sins which are greater some circumstances considered so iniquity should not be their ruine But behold no returning yet such as God looked for and though divine Justice cryed Wem is incorrigible let it utterly perish yet mercy triumphs further over justice No saith God I will not destroy it utterly yet as I did Sodom there are righteous in it who though they be sleepy yet the firing of one little house this happened March 76. almost out of harms way may awaken them if others would not hear being come home to them to contend likewise by Fire this might well be received as a strong Alarm at the Gate But at this time God repented and therefore Wem repented not yet after all this Five Months after God would Fire one Beacon more in the highest place in the heart of the Town and if he must be put to quench it himself with the Clouds because they did it not with their Tears the next shall be an unquenchable Fire which was March 3. 76. I would not have made mention of those neighbour Towns upon whom the hand of the Lord was heavy but that I feared then I should lose my chief design which is to advance the infinite riches of Gods forbearance to aggravate your sin and to make way the better for your deeper humiliation and repentance but especially though your houses be in Ashes that you might put your mouths in the dust and justifie God in all his righteous proceedings against you that you may have nothing to say against God but to turn your complaints against your selves as the People of God in like cases always have done And if this was the effect at present of this dreadful stroke I hope you will experience another hereafter which is to do you good in the latter end Of two evils God would chuse the least for you he would burn yours but not you he knew that Tophet would be a worse place for burning than Tabora Numb 11. If a people were set upon sin so that there was no saving them but by Fire if they were not burnt they might be damn'd if their houses were not desolate their salvation was endangered if they would not so carefully look for a House in Heaven so long as they had where to lay their heads here on earth he must cure by burning And my dear Friends you are not the first that God practised this way upon his own People the Jews were consumed by Fire and other horrible judgments at last sent packing away to Babylon your suffering not the one half of theirs and yet all was for their good Jer. 24.5 And therefore my dear Friends give me leave to tell you that now under this stupendious providence is your day Now is your critical time for making or marring for Body and Soul hear and your Souls shall live repent and your Town shall be built and you and not others shall inhabit it No Conscience can be so stupid but must conclude that as this dreadful stroak by all circumstances was from an angry God in Heaven so from thence it brings this errand Now or never repent you did burn lately you must turn presently I tell you this Providence admits no delay you must sin no more lest a worse fire come or you come to a worse fire God says to you as well as to his People burnt out of old Consider your ways Hag. 1.5 O would to God you were my dear friends so come to your selves as the Prodigal was to run and cry Father we have sinned against Heaven else the Heavens would not so furiously have blown the flames that did consume us The Town consumed in little more than an hour O that the People of Wem were like the men of Issachar who understood the times and knew what they ought to do Then I would comfort you who have lost your Houses you should instantly have a House without hands made sure to you in Heaven for ever Would not that be a bonefire indeed that consumed your lusts
do you good Wem shall flourish and men did not so much marvel at its desolation but they shall as much admire your restauration But if you fulfill the Proverb 2 Pet. 2.22 The dog is returned to his vomit and the sow to the wallowing in the mire I tremble to think what will befal you in the latter end but I hope better things of you things that accompany salvation I shall forbear because my Letter hath gteaten'd beyond my first intention to write to them whose Houses and Goods were preserved from being consumed by this dreadful Fire because there is a book Printed in 67 called Counsel to the Afflicted will give them better advice than I can which begins at pag. 293 which book some of their Neighbours can and will willingly accommodate them with the reading of and any others may have it I suppose at Mr. Parkhursts at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheapside London And now my Friends I commend you all to the grace of God whom I beseech to comfort you under your present grievous Afflictions which I doubt not of if you will but hear his voice which crys aloud unto you Micah 6.9 Hear the rod and who hath appointed it And put in practise this Counsel given in much love to your souls from the unworthiest of Christs Servants sometime yours And. Parsons ERRATA Pag. 4. Line 4. for March read May. POssibly this Letter may come into more hands besides theirs to whom 〈◊〉 have particularly written who have also suffered in like manner with them Where ere it comes I shall follow it with my Prayers that it may contribute something to revive the sense in all places which are not a few in England these â—ate years people had when the heavy hand of God by Fire was upon them Great judgments are to be kept in remembrance and to be improved for promoâ—ing repentance and the fear of God all our days yea the memory of them should be conveyed to posterity after us as Joel 1.3 Tell your children and let your children tell their children Men think unworthily of Gods Judgments if they suppose they are only to be regarded a few days Men and Brethren who have suffered by so great and unusual Fires as have been in our Land What were your thoughts when your eyes were sadly beholding those terrible flames Were they not such as these We have anger'd the great anâ— terrible God whose fury hath brokeâ— out in these terrible flames Wo unto uâ— we must repent or else our souls and bodies as well as our houses and goods wilâ— be also as dry stubble to this Consuming Fire Lord what wilt thou havâ— us to do We will sin no more but offeâ— our bodies and souls a living and acceptable sacrifice to God for ever It cannot be hurtful it may be profitable if I the unfittest of those that makâ— mention of the Lord be your remembrancer of these promises made to God iâ— the day of your distress the word is gonâ— out of your mouth and recorded in Heaven and ye cannot go back It is therefore your wisdom and musâ— be your chiefest care that these bonds bâ— taken up and that payment be made oâ— these vows lest execution be taken out oâ— the Court of Heaven and a worse thing come unto you than the dreadful Firâ— could procure there can be no security against greatest fears and dangers till Gods anger be turned away so long as his hand is stretched ouâ— still past misery may be but the beginning of future sorrows As a Minister of the Catholick Church I have Authority from Christ to speak if I could to the whole Nation or where-ever he hath a Church in the World being call'd thereto but if I had opportunity and power answerable to desire I would chiefly if not only confine my self to put those places and people where the merciless Fire hath been so raging for a few years past in remembrance whether they have answered the call of God when he cry'd then so loud O Drayton New-port Marlborough London Northhampton Southwark with many other places of note in England which have suffered the vengeance of fearful Fire you were once in ashes have you repented in dust and ashes I make no question but your respective Ministers cryed aloud calling you to repentance the main Errand which my Letter goes on as seasonably but much more powerfully than I have done to the place and people I once belonged to But Men and Brethren what answer and return Methinks God hath pickt out these and other burnt places the light of whose flames was seen all the Countrey over to be the purest and visiblest patterns of Piety towards God and sobriety towards men of all places in this Kingdom and if they should not prove such should I speak too hardly if I did adventure to say it shall be more tolerable in the day of Judgment for any other place in the Kingdom than for these What can be said for these places when Christ speaketh saying What could I have done more You would not be reasoned which my faithful Ministers did wisely and earnestly attempt no nor be burnt out of your sins which the power of my anger and my out-stretched arm attempted also Beloved Christians you have been pul'd out of the Fire but were you purifi'd in the Fire Have you testifi'd the truth of your repentance for those sins that were the chief fuel for the fire which the wrath of the Lord did kindle Have you testifi'd indeed the sincerity of this repentance as the believing Corinthians did 2 Cor. 7.11 as all the Saints recorded in Scripture did by reformation of life This Nation is sick and ready to dye for want of repentance and reformation God hearkens and hears men look and enquire from one end of the Kingdom to another who shall begin be the first and best example of this real universal and effectual reformation that England though it droops may not dye Sure these great places who all had this loud call from Heaven God calling out of the Fire unto them are to be first I am sure God expects and designs such so to be Joel 2.3 12. The Fire devoured before and the voice of the Lord comes after saying Turn unto me with fasting weeping and mourning So when the Citys of Judah were burnt with Fire the design of God was that the filth of the daughter of Zion should be cast away Isa 1.7 God hath the same expectations from you O people whom the Fire of the Lord hath destroyed and laid waste Hath God ever since waited for this when shall it once be O give not God occasion to speak of you as he did of Judah Amos 4.10 Ye were as a brand pluckt out of the burning yet have ye not returned unto me Though Judah thus offended by being incorrigible O let not cause be given for God to set this brand upon you He had you in the Fire to melt you under his hand to work you up to his good pleasure but you failed his expectation as much as they did Zeph. 3.6 7. But I hope better things from these places who have passed through the Fire I hope then they pray'd effectually like David O God create in us new hearts that we might lead new lives and walk in a perfect way in our new houses that we might sin no more that so we might be burnt no more Which shall be the earnest prayer also of their souls well-wisher A. P. April the 5th 1677. FINIS
thee I hearkned and heard this Sabbath and that Sermon by former and latter calamities when shall it once be never if not after this fire They shall be smitten no more they shall be awakened no more sleep on now but this know your damnation sleepeth not I called far and near lowder and lowder all to no purpose I 'le hold my peace till the day I say Go ye cursed into everlasting fire I hope my dearly beloved Friends you will take the course before prescribed to prevent this sentence and to escape that punishment but if not know assurely the fire of Wem was purposely to make the fire of Hell hotter than else it would have been Can you bear with my using this sharpness will ye indeed bear with me I use it because of my hearts desire unto God that you may be saved I love you therefore you will bear with me and therefore I warn you saying Miss the wise improving of this hour of fire this firy tryal and it may be as much as your immortal souls are worth Good sirs good sirs Do not return to folly again lest Satan should beguile you of this golden opportunity to work out your salvation with fear and trembling O should I hear or see that Wem which hath been a boyling-pot over so fierce a fire yet still doth retain her scum to mix and settle again I should cry out beware there is death in the pot Should I live again among you though I should see goodlier houses yet I would lye in ashes if those that owned them did not more own Religion and the good ways of God than for some years before the fire they have done if they did not return from their sins to the Lord after they had so fallen by their iniquity In the mean time God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you till God open a door that I might teach you the good and the right way 1 Sam. 12.23 that the greatest sense of this dismal Fire may continue upon you lest you come under the same condemnation with them Psal 28.5 They regard not the works of the Lord nor the operation of his hands therefore we will destroy them I need not tell you again there is a worse Fire yet the Fire that burns souls is a thousand times worse than yours yea than that which must burn the World Let your fire put you in mind of that Did you run to and fro in the streets while the flame did fly as fast on the top of your houses sighing sobbing and at last swooning What Town so miserable as ours for behold in one hour we are poor and miserable and naked Was there at once a common screeking-cry O my house is burnt the cruel flames are eating quite up my habitation All is gone saith another I am as poor as Job saith a third all undone all undone What a dreadful time and cry will that be then when the whole world shall be burnt up O what weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth will there be then when the Lord shall come from Heaven in flaming fire and render vengeance to them that know him not and obey not the Gospel of his Son burning the World first and then the Throne for Judgment shall be set God knows where that the wicked and unbelieving inhabitants of all the earth may be doomed and burnt with everlasting fire Yours was a sad cry at the general conflagration it will be sadder but the saddest loudest and killing screek of all will be at the pronouncing upon Reprobates that dreadful sentence Go ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels I hope also by this Fire you will be convinced as the people were 1 Kings 18.38 39. When the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the sacrifice with the wood the stones and the dust took all as yours did They fell upon their faces and said The Lord he is the God the Lord he is the God So say you verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth that is long-suffering but not ever suffering who if he be not sanctified by a people will sanctifie himself upon that people God will come and right himself although he may be slow yet he will be sure you have often heard by the hearing of the ear that there is a great and terrible God now your eye have seen Oh fall down and kneel before everlasting burnings and a consuming fire the Lord of hosts who hath all creatures of his Army to fight against them that fight against him will overcome when he judgeth Fire and Water Flies and Frogs Men or Angels good or bad what Regiments he pleaseth to Muster and Commission must and shall accomplish that whereto he send them If God said to those Male-contents Numb 12.8 Were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses one iâ— Commission under him Well then must you be afraid to sin proudly and presumptuously any more for ever againsâ— the Mighty God and Lord of Hosts himself Do not begin again to provokâ— him I hope God hath put the sword up into the scabbard and there it wilâ— rest and be still if you do not draw it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 should be sorry and tremble to hear â—fter this fire of any Flagrans peccatum â— e. debauched practises to bear date afâ—er the 3d of March 1676 then that â—ire was Upon your repentance you are purged from your old sins God repents and â—s he repented and said he would drown â—he World no more so if Wem thus sin â—o more then he will burn it no more And therefore I beseech you prepare no fuel for a second burning if you do who knows the Power of Gods anger he may second it with the second death You must sin wickedly no more against a God that hath you at Command to do with you in two Worlds what he will By the light of this Fire also you may see to write vanity and folly upon all things in this life and upon the â—nordinate loving caring and seeking after them that which did full your heads and your hearts imploy your hands and six days in a week were too little for Body and Soul to be extended to the utmost for them but Gods day and all must be taken in the snatching flames have caught hold on and they are yours no more May not some Neighbours take one another by the hand and bring them to their respective Ruines and say Neighbour if that was a mans God he loved most then here in this heap of rubbish and ashes lyes my God to whom I did sacrifice rising early and lying down late I see by this Fire my God was a dunghil God and to the dunghil it must go O the folly the folâ—â— of a mortal man thus to busie an immortal soul which is to stay in the body but a little while and that a purpose to get grace to make it meet for
that ye might be meet to dwell in that brave House though it burnt your earthly tabernacles together That wind did blow you good indeed if the Spirit of God was in it consuming the while your sins and purifying your Souls were your Houses built to day and burned again to morrow you might afford to bear it if Christs Fathers House in Heaven by the Spirit of adoption be sealed securely unto you which then it would be Now my Brethren having this house I have been speaking of in hope if you do repent which this present Providence crys and calls aloud to you to do if it had been done sooner your houses might have stood if it be not done now your houses may never be re-built if they be you may not live to dwell in them and where shall ye dwell then Oh the houses in Hell are woful houses will you without delay obey this voice Oh that while I am writing I could be assured you are repenting that some good man or other would come to me with good tidings The people of Wem are much changed and refined by the Fire there are like to be more new creatures among the poorer sort than new cottages the Church is burnt yet the people passionately say Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord to the house of the God of Jacob weeping as they go I will not despair I hope God will hear prayers and give you repentance unto life After Gods voice I beseech you by the mercies of God let the voice of his and sometime your unworthy Minister be heard repent and amend your lives I need not go to particulars to press this repentance the sad Providence of God hath wrought so I hope as to save me this labour and brought your sins fresh to your remembrance Though I cannot yet sure God doth hear your own Consciences peaching you viz. Ah this is for my going prayerless to bed if our houses had been Churches and we spiritual Priests to offer morning and evening Sacrifices unto God of broken and contrite hearts this would this might never have been but I did rise early and made more haste than good speed out of my own house that I might be in the Ale-house rise early to follow strong drink follow it indeed when I stand at it the whole day I came thither a man but I went thence a brute Shall I mention burning my house 't is the infinite mercy of God I my self am not burning in Hell Yonder yonder stood the house where I consumed so much precious time where I spent most of that which cost me so much sweat and labour where I was drinking and debauching my self while my family at home wept and sighed for want of bread or something else This fire was for our profanation of the Sabbath a Judgment particularly threatned for this sin Jer. 17.27 God threatneth Zach. 5.4 to burn houses for swearing and forswearing and was it not a wonder of mercy my house stood so long O the Scripture sure is the Word of God I 'le go no farther than the fulfilling of it for a proof O my folly my folly saith this and twenty men more whose hearts ran after their covetousness I have cared and laboured plotted and contrived with all my might a whole age for that which thieves might have stolen which fire hath utterly consumed in one hour How shall I answer God who gave me so long time since I have nothing left now to shew what I did all this while I have little knowledg of the things of God to shew I have few good works to shew I was a true lover of the Mammon of unrighteousness it was in my heart so that I was an Idolater and sacralegious person all that while What have I employed a soul a precious and immortal Being about things that it could never have content in And are these now gone in an hours time Look yonder all that I laboured for and loved above my soul is now some carts full of rubbish and a few handfuls of ashes I have spent my time well that am now level'd with the poor man that could arrive to no more than to see a little meat in his cubbard My Heaven hath took Wings and fled from me and what a Heaven now shall I have Lord shew me my folly or I am undone The House of God is burnt saith another And now if God should reckon with me for all the sins I have been guilty of there What a fire did I deserve to feel Here stood my seat where I slept so much while I waked my ears were stopt because my mind was devising evil devices and was prejudiced against the Preacher and his Doctrine both especially the Application I do now wonder and wonder again at my self that while I heard there the glad tidings of the Gospel sounding in my ears I should be no more affected than the pillar I leaned unto There I was invited to the marriage-supper yea I was promised in case I would consent my Maker would be my husband and if I would be for him he would be for me Matth. 18. But I made light of it and disdainfully said I pray have me excused though that while I had no other sutors than the Devil the World and the Flesh whose motions I embraced though my early vow in baptism enjoyned me by the Command of God upon greatest penalties to forsake them all There we call to remembrance the Minister cited and applied the words of Moses to the two Tribes and half Numb 32.22 Behold you have sinned against the Lord and be sure your sin will find you out We were told there over and over that we had God to serve souls to save death to pay an account to give a sentence to receive and eternity to live in But these things did not move us so as to stop our running to all excess and committing iniquity with greediness as if we could not soon enough provide fuel not only for this fire which hath consumed us but for a worse which if God be not infinitely gracious to us through Jesus Christ will be consuming of us for ever And now methinks I hear you sigh and cry Men of God help us what shall we do The wrath of the Lord is gone forth the fire of his indignation hath begun upon our houses what must be done to quench it that it might not reach our souls that we may not suffer the vengance of eternal fire Christs Counsel to the impotent man John 5.14 Sin no more lest a worse thing come unto thee is proper and seasonable for me and you My friends come let us return unto the Lord for he hath torn us and he will bind us up he hath burnt you and he will then build you up Knowing the terror of the Lord sure this Exhortation will obtain Burnt children will dread the fire O tell thy lusts that have been as dear as thy right
hand and eye unto thee I 'le be revenged This month you have made me lye down in sorrow and if you live I am sure you will make me dye and live in sorrow for ever I have seen and felt and therefore dread the terrible God who taketh vengeance on those that will go on in sin though this voice by Word and Rod cry never so loud Wherefore I abhor my self in dust and ashes I will forsake my sins This this is that my friends you must do or else you will be undone worse a second time at death you will be utterly undone It is not enough to go up and down in the Ruines looking wistly sighing deeply and saying Alas alas so the friends of that mystical Sodom and Babylon shall do Revel 18.10 But you must say By the grace of God and in the strength of Jesus Christ we will amend our lives for time to come 't is time 't is high time we have received the first but we will take heed of the worst fruits of sin We will never love that more which hath done more hurt in one hour than it did us good all the days of our life Strong drink will burn the colour of it in the glass shall tempt me no more A Christian beast will be a Monster in my account for ever And therefore I will never put my bottle more to my Neighbour to make him drunken no never after God hath put such a cup of his fury into my hands and made me drink up the dregs thereof Oh that God would say as Isa 51.22 thou shalt no more drink it again I did swear and blaspheme and my tongue was set on Fire of Hell 'T is true I was the more emboldned through the weakness of the Law wanting execution but God hath now required the penalty and by his grace I 'le forfeit no more his Law is holy just and true He will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain If God should say the next Oath thou swearest I 'le burn thy house I hope notwithstanding my house should stand for my posterity after me to dwell in I am of another mind now I shall never more think that they who will wickedly and commonly swear can serve God with reverence and godly fear If God will hear my prayers and grant me his grace I 'le have other imployment for my tongue for time to come I 'le pray and out of my mouth shall proceed blessing buâ— I will curse and swear no more It iâ— said one fire will fetch out another poor man who hast broken the third Commandment may be more than a hundred times a day How happy wouldest thou be if God should make the firing of thy house a remedy to fetch the fire of Hell out of thy tongue O I will boldly come into thy company for time to come when I shall be sure not to hear the language of Hell When I shall comfortably converse with a man a Christian and not with a Devil incarnate My friends my friends these are heavenly resolves to drink and swear and sin no more I pray God that these thingâ— thou bindest thy self to may be bound in Heaven for your help herein standâ— in the name of the Lord through him alone who must strengthen you you can do these and all things Were I among you since this awakening Providence I am perswaded I should have much such like work as John the Baptist had if I was able to do it every one ran unto him after he had preached cuttingly Luk. 3.9 saying Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be cut down and cast into the fire His Ax was so keen that it divided between the marrow and the joynts and made them cry out what shall we do then Publicans and Soldiers yea all sorts came with their sores John tells them what must be done but to be sure he refers them farther to one that came after him yet was before him who had the Balm that never failed and shed wherewith to make a playster that would never fall off without effecting the cure So after this loud preaching of God in flaming fire many of your Consciences are scorched Here say you was a fire indeed which put us in mind to purpose of the fire of Hell great were our frights and fears by that but to tell you the truth we are afraid of our souls if they should burn also that would be worse than the burning of the whole world because our souls are better than the world It is true we are convinced and our sins do trouble us but the fire is not out for our pain and anguish still continues What shall we do Truly I should be glad of such company and such complaints too sure this work pleased John and so Ministers of Christ work gladly all days of their lives and have joy in hope that this greatest recreation will be at the end of their work also as it was at the end of John's preaching in the place before mentioned But are you scorch'd indeed doth the sore of your sin since the Fire run especially in the night that you weep when ye used to sleep Are you truly troubled with the greatness and number of your sins which the light of this Fire through the grace of God hath made discovery of O then come away make haste linger not the Gospel is an Hospital the great Rabbi and Master of it calleth thee where all sort of such maymed ones have lain The door is open day and night for all such the worst have been cured without money and without price Thy case thou sayst is sad thy case I say is not desperate I would not venture my soul rashly for a world but I would pawn it this once if thou be truly penitent and canst look unto Jesus and hast faith to say as Mary and Thomas did Rabboni My Lord and my God Though thy sins were as scarlet they shall be as white as snow Christ bids thee look unto him and be saved as sure as they that were stung with the fiery Serpents when they looked upon the brazen Serpent were healed Numb 21.9 So thou that lookest with a mournful craving steady and believing eye on Christ the truth of that which was his type thou shalt as certainly be saved But then as they that were stung did beware of the venomous teeth of the fiery Serpents ever after So when thou art made whole thou must sin no more watch and pray continually that thou enter not into temptation I say watch and pray this counsel was never so seasonable as now Satan knows Gods expectations from you now after this sweeping Judgment are high he knows if such opportunities of breaking the league with sin and making peace with God be lost nothing more kindles the wrath of God to leave you for ever that you may dye in your sins this may make him swear in his wrath I would have purified
glory to spend time and strength about that which is a heap of vanity and which is worse to purchase it with the hazard of everlasting happiness Such a one is to purpose an Object of pity whose riches are gone but the sinful getting of them remains to be a witness against him before that Judg of quick and dead For a man to get riches and lose them and after lose his soul for getting them is desperate folly and madness and the â—orriblest cheat that the Devil can put â—pon man and therefore for time to â—ome I hope you will forsake him and â—ake the Scripture for your guide for â—eeking the things of this world Matth. â— 33 John 6.27 To seek them for Gods sake not for their own because â—e commands and in the order he appoints giving them such estimations and â—ffections as he allows and if you would do so my friends and return in your duty and prime love to God you would had you little or much live far happier lives than if you should have for the future much more than ever ye did possess I beseech you in dear compassion to your souls take heed of chusing that way which makes the getting to Heaven so difficult which is blockt up by the love and cares of this World I beseech you my dear Friends joyn your earnest prayers with mine to God to give you new hearts that through his assisting grace henceforward ye may seek the things that are above the fiery Region things that ye cannot lose You have lately experienced the sad diâ—appointment of laying up treasure 〈◊〉 earth the Scripture when you have doâ—â— all will prove your best counseller 〈◊〉 lay up your treasure in Heaven You have served a bad Master all thâ— while Mammon hath put you all thiâ— while to drudg and labour in the Fire and now behold the fire hath devoureâ— your labour I pray you now stedfastâ—â— resolve one by one to change your Master chuse God for your Master Dotâ— not his word tell you Him only musâ— thou serve This is your best Master return to him from whom thou hast ruâ— away ever since the Covenant thou madesâ— with him in baptism pray him again to receive thee into his service and thou shalt be sure of better work yea better and surer wages also Is not this hiâ— Covenant with all his servants not only as Isa 33.16 Thy meat shall be given thee and thy drink shall be sure But also to give thee grace and glory and to withhold no good thing from thee Do you not remember what hath been told you and where that God will be your Father Christ your Saviour the Holy Ghost your Comforter Angels your Guardians Saints your Companions that Manna shall be your food and like the Kings daughters Psal 45.13 Your cloathing shall be of wrought gold the world shall be your servant the Devil your slave death shall be your friend and heaven shall be your home serve the King of Kings and this shall be your â—â—ire Good sirs will you with full purpose of heart resolve to serve a good God It shall never repent you of his service when you come to dye O it â—â—s brave resolving upon that which a man needs never repent of I know it â—â—rks you much that you have risen early â—ayen down late to get something together which with bleeding hearts ye saw burning together O foolish and foolish again have we all been that our lusts should guide our lives and order our labours Now we see what 's come on 't we were deaf to the word all this while that cri'd O ye fools when will ye be wise We hope through the blessing of God this Fire was good to make us wise and the Lord being with us wâ— will make proof of it for time to come Now most amiable true and lovely Religion the everlasting doors of our soulâ— are open to give thee entertainment We will set thee up and thou wilt seâ— up our houses or settle us in a house which we shall never go out of after we are once in it Now say one by one let your souls say I 'le be servant to no creature on earth I tell you I will serve the God of Heaven My Maker shall be my Master and then I am sure I am made for ever Well my dearly beloved Friends whose eternal happiness my soul indeed yearns after you have resolved now put your hands to the plow and what your hearts find to do do it with all your might you must put your All to it All is too little yet the good God will graciously accept this little All. But let me tell you before-hand there be some in the world that will give you discountenance and discouragement that will think it strange that ye run not with them as of old to the same excess of â—iot that will persecute you by mocking as Ismael did the Son by promise What you mean to grow pure after the Fire do you Thou that wast as honest a fellow as lived before I know not what to make of thee now I am afraid you will turn Changeling and grow mad I doubt you will not find me a false Prophet you will if you be real be put to this test you are permoniti but are you permuniti Do you know your posture and guard if the sword of the tongue should make this pass upon you Will you say or to the same purpose thus I did use to do so my self time was and that while sure I was doing service under the Devil whose great business in the World is to hurry some to Hell and hinder others all he can from going to Heaven But these things do not move me now I thank God that ego non sum ego here am I but not the same I am resolved to serve God if I dye for 't I shall dye the worst of deaths if I do not I am sure there is none so wicked as to except against him who said Away from me for I will keep the Commandments of my God and why then against me for saying with the same heart the same words jeer me for this and jeer the Scripture and none but Devils in the shape of men dare do so Let men continue to be godly till I reproach them for their godliness for time to come Well then having this encouragement I call you all together and desire you to make profession what you will do to glorifie God and save your Souls Shall one speak for all and the rest say Amen He that speaketh for you methinks says in the sincerity of his heart as Paul I was a blasphemer I was a Persecutor I was injurious I was this and that and what not to demonstrate the heart of man to be deceitful above all things and desperately wicked but God in mercy did bring this late Fire to enlighten me what he did upon mine was but a means his end was me He
would have me see one Fire that I might never feel another I thank God for ever it was a good Fire for me I find as Sampson's Riddle hath it Judg. 14.14 out of the eater comes meat The Fire like Pharoah's lean kine did eat all the fat of my substance but it made ready the Passover for me and I have eaten the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the World And now I will tell you what I will do for this God who while I thought he was undoing me hath done so much for me I will receive him into my heart and walk worthy of him in my life and if ever God send me a new house if ever I have one it must be of Gods sending as Ahasuerus did command the Governors Neh. 2.8 to supply Nehemiah that he might build so God must command his Almoners concerning Wem that it be built also I will dedicate it to the honour of God in my calling and relation What was Joshuah's resolution shall be mine As for me and my house we will serve the Lord My serving of God in his House will be but a mock-service if I do not serve him in my own There will I pray and not be ashamed I will rejoyce with singing and this shall be the burthen of my Song For his mercy endureth for ever God might have said Ashes to Ashes House and Houshould burn together The Fire began at eight at Night If it had kindled in the dead of the Night we might have been presently in the chambers of Death It is a night therefore much to be observed to the Lord a Night from which we may date our new life there was nothing but this caused joy in the Morning after heaviness enduring all Night but that we had our lives for a prey when we saw no houses left yet what cause of adoring with thankfulness that we were all alive before the Lord then our selves And doth not this lay an eternal obligation to serve him who was the preserver of us our wives and little ones After such deliverance as this given to us shall we again provoke him Can we expect to escape another time if we should slight so great salvation Make vows and pay them serve God at home and serve him in the Congregation keep his Sabbath be afraid because of the power when the Magistrate shall contend with you as Nehem. 14.17 and say what evil is this that ye do and profane the Sabbath I am afraid Sabbath-sins have been a chief cause of consuming the Timber with the Stones of thousands of goodly Houses in England within these few years How many in Shropshire where many Fires have been kindled and burning upon the Lords day so in the great City and other great places in the Nation Keep within on the Lords day your own and Gods house to keep out the flying Roll and the burning Curse O that all places round about might have a pattern of Universal Reformation in Wem as well as an instance of doleful Desolation And therefore how much doth it stand our Ministers upon to walk circumspectly to preach powerfully to preach as if they would save themselves and them that hear them As they know they are directed by their Superiors to pray so they must know it will be expected one day from the great shepherd that by Life and Doctrine they set forth Gods true and lively word Thou that teachest another teachest thou not thy self Are such like to prevail with others to bear heavy burthens when they that bind them will not touch them themselves The Prophet Isaiah thought otherwise and therefore would not give the people Precepts without joyning his own examples Isa 2.5 O house of Jacob come ye and let us walk in the light of the Lord. Good Ministers say their people shall not go to Heaven alone they will go with them and be their leaders that Church had but a name to live whose Angel was dead If the Minister be dead how should the people be lively My beloved Friends God sent this Fire to awaken us all Three Fires in Wem in three quarters of a year Ministers and People watch therefore against all sin to all duty you will say they are incorrigible offenders who will commit iniquity to be punished by the Judges after they are once burnt in the hand What mercy can you expect from your Judg who have been burnt thrice God expects superlative sufferers should be ever after incomparable reformers and to have no more to do with the unfruitful works of darkness We read in the Gospel the last shall be first Who knows but by the power and grace of God scoffers of godliness having now known the terrour of the Lord may be the first to encourage and promote it He that made so good a Paul of so vile and wicked a Saul can do this when men have been melted in such a Fire they may be moulded and fashioned by him who made all things vessels of Honour fit for their Masters use Could I see this that one hours burning hath done more for conviction and Reformation than twenty years preaching I would say God spake to such out of the Fire indeed By this Fire God hath laid a deep Foundation and if you be not wanting to your selves you may build high and make Wem a place of Renown If you would take my counsel it should be this presently get the start of all places about you and set up the Staple-trade of practical godliness there is such a mystery in this Trade that it would make you all presently rich you would have the blessings of the upper and nether springs and your latter end like Job's would be far better than your beginning Wem hath ever wanted a good Trade I am sure this course will bring one Scripture rules and examples will direct you in this Practise of Piety be much therefore in reading the sacred Book other books may be of great use but this is of infallible verity let the word of Christ therefore dwell richly in you in all Wisdom Teaching and Admonishing one another Love as brethren and companions in Tribulation let all bitterness envy and malice be put away Seek not your own things but every one anothers good grudg not brethren one against another live in peace and the God of peace be with you Take heed in the last place of grudging and murmuring against God God will not be cal'd in question for any of his works All souls are his and so are all houses to let him do his pleasure to one or t'other who shall say unto him what dost thou You must needs say he hath punished you less than ye do deserve and then there is no wrong done stand still and see the Provision God will make for you if you will vow to God that when he shall again build your houses you will write Holiness to the Lord over your doors God will delight over you to