hand in hand to punish the righteous and to oppress the just and to oppose Christ and his Kingdome yet he whose glorious reign is begun in the earth who is the King of Saints and Governour of heaven and earth he will pluck them from their stately thrones and disinherit them of their mortal life unless they turn to the sword which will cut and to the axe which will hew to the fire which will burn them then wilt thou come to know the Circumcision which is made without hands and a baptizing into Christs death and if a baptizing then a death of deaths unto all mortal and visible and dying things then wilt thou be a new creature All old things will passe away the old heavens and the old earth will be burned up and a new heaven a new earth will be created in righteousness wherein the Lamb dwelleth whose Name is called the Word of God who is the light of the world and was given of the Father a light to lighten the Gentiles and to be the glory of his people Israel This light checks thee in secret when no mortal eye seeth what thou art doing this light beholds thee and this is Gods swift Witness which he hath placed in man which is only and alone sufficient to lead into immortal life although the blind guides who are of the cursed stock of Ham sayes that this light which is in man is natural and not sufficient of it self to lead to God This is my testimony friends which I must bear amongst you for the true light against all that doth oppose it who hath been a Citizen with you in this bloody City and have been feeding with you upon the husks with the Swine and alienated from God and a stranger to his life as you are at this day whilest I was one with you in your Religion and Worship my soul was hungry and was even black with thirst I had almost fallen in your streets for want of the Bread of Life no peace nor true rest amongst you could I find yet mornings and evenings and at noon-day I sought the Lord but could not find him because I was not in his way neither did I hearken to his light neither could any of your chief Priests tell me where the Lord was to be found but told me in heaven but what heaven was and where it was they knew not the light which is pure condemned me and no peace with the Lord could I find amongst all your dead worships and earthly performances but at length the Lord â—ho is rich in mercy he looked down from his holy habitation and he saw there was no help amongst men nor no refreshments to be received from their Ministry but my soul was dying and fainting away with a numberless number besides me by reason of our sins transgressions then the Lord sent in fulness of time his Servants into this City F H and E B who spoke the Word of Eternal Life whereby my weary soul was refreshed and the dead heard and lived and glorifies the Lord in the land of the living Glory and honor be given to God who sent them furnished with the treasure of knowledge and wisdome and to speak comfort unto the prisoner of hope and I amongst many in this City may blesse the hour and the time that they came in the Power and Spirit of God to visit this City for by their coming was I turned from darknesse to light and from Satans power to Gods and they were instruments in the hand of the Lord to bring me to his Kingdome the Lord God in his endlesse love hath made me forsake this City with all the glory and pleasures of it and I see another City and do inhabit a more durable habitation which will never fade away but will stand me in stead for ever and by the light of Christ which is eternal was I brought to this habitation and if ever thou comest to God thou must own this light which thy Teachers speak against if thou wilt love the light it will lead thee in a path which thou hast not yet trodden in there is no Lyon or Lyons Whelp hath trodden in this path no vultrous eye hath seen it therefore thou must come forth of thy fallen estate thy whoredomes and ungodlinesse before one step thou canst tread in therefore repent and come and drink freely of our Fountain and eat of our Rock who liveth for ever O! my hearts desire unto the Lord is that you may be saved from your sin and purged from your iniquities and be made clean by the blood of the Lamb before you return to the dust from whence you came and shall be seen no more For friends there must be a laying down of the earthly and as that is laid down there is a receiving of the heavenly but if you live in sin and die in sin then is there no redemption from sin sin separates from God the waâ—â—â— of sin is death and after death to Judgement Hell is preparâ—â— for the wicked and the worm which shall never die and the fire that shall never be quenched is the sinners portion who lives and dies in sin For there is no repentance in the grave nor no remissinn of sin after death but as the tree falleth so it lieth as Death leaveth you Judgement will find you and as the lightening shineth in the East unto the West so is the coming of the Son of man in his day upon all sinners He will come as a thief in the night upon thee then what secret corner hast thou to hide thee in or what remote place canst thou fly unto for shelter seeing our God is potent over Sea and Land and his eye is over the whole world and his hand is stretched over all living O! the Rocks and the Mountains shall not cover thee nor dens nor holes nor caves of the earth shall not shelter thee but the Lord will be avenged of thee and plead with thee himself who is a just God and a Saviour and will give unto every man according as his works shall be from whose presence the wicked must depart O! blessed and happy for ever are all they who knows a redeeming from amongst men and from a vain and a light conversation by the precious blood of the Lamb O! give thanks to God fro ever that he hath and is giving you a possession in the durable inheritance that never fadeth away you are built upon the Rock of Ages never to be removed O! let us dwell together in the unity of the Spirit and in the bond of love for ever that we may stand for ever witnesses against this wicked and perverse Generation who have not the fear of God before their eyes whom God will destroy as he did the old world and they shall be as ashes under the soals of the righteous feet O London in the presence of the Lord God I declare unto thee thy peace is not
but have none and for the dawning of the day but it shall not appear glad tidings shall be hid from thee sorrow and trouble and fear shall compass thee about thou shalt wish for death rather then life and for the grave but shall not find it then shalt thou seek to thy Priests thy Rulers and Judges who have caused thee to erre thinking thereby to get peace but shalt find none the earth shall not bring forth unto thee her encrease as in times past and as thy vultrous eye hath been delighted with vanity and thy adulterated ear hath been filled with curiosities of strange voices and thy heart hath been filled with lust pride and vanity thy tongue exercised with cursing swearing and lying cheating and cozening and taking the Name of the Lord in vain and as thy feet hath walked after pleasures and thy hand hath handled deceitfulness guile and fraud and have been all servants unto sin and fulfilling the devils will even so must the Vengeance and Plagues of the Lord be powred out upon the Man of Sin which hath captivated thy mind and misled thy members which was created only and alone to serve the living God the Creator of Heaven and Earth O! what rioting swearing cursing and drunkenness murder whoredome and theft is found in thee which grieveth the soul of the righteous cozening and cheating deceiving souls for dishonest gain buying and selling the Words of God on the Market day and in the Idols Temple all this is found in thee which Words of God the holy men of God spoke them to the people freely as they had freely received they coveted no mans gold or silver but having food rayment they were therewith content and they who preached freely were Co-heirs with Christ who had purchased a City for them whose Builder and Maker is God they said to the Scribes and Pharisees which sate in Moses Chair who had the Prophets words read amongst them that they would not enter in themselves nor let others to enter in They said also that they might all prophesie one by one and if any thing was revealed to one that stood by he was to speak and the first was to hold his peace for God is a God of Order but in this our day which is the Lords and the time wherein we are cast if any in the Spirit of the Lord come amongst you and be moved to speak in his power thou beatest and bruisest and hallest before thy Magistrates and castest into prisons by this we see plainly and clearly that thy Religion is not the pure Religion and that thy Church is the Church of Rome and thou art governed by the Whores power which God is laying wast and dashing to pieces in this his glorious day Thy clouds of Religion be they never so thick they are seen thorongh in the light and power of God we do measure the height the length depth and breadth of all thy Religion thy Sun is eclipsed and thy glory is fallen O thou Lucifer Son of the Morning thy portion is in the lowermost hell thy part and lot is vanished away and thy beauty is driven away as the dust in the Summers day before the wind woe from the Lord God of Power be unto thy lawyers for they have stollen away the key of knowledge O the oppressed groaneth under their cruel tyranny of oppression they lie in wait to ensnare the simple and to beguile and intrap the honest-hearted but the Lord loveth the pure in heart and preserveth them out of the Lions mouth and out of the paw of the Bear glory be to God on high Dominion and strength be given to his Son for evermore Howl ye Lawyers weep bitterly ye Rulers and Judges lament ye Priests for the day of Gods account is coming on and it hasteneth wherein the Book of Conscience shall be opened wherein your sins are written as with the point of a Diamond and out of the Book of Life you shall be judged according as your works shall be so shall your reward be for our God is pure and immortal he will torment the wicked and plague the ungodly and cast into the pit for ever O! I most humbly beseech you as in Christ stead leave off your covetousness with your hypocritical Religion your fained prayers and abhor your selves in dust and ashes that repentance and amendment of Life you may know with the Lord before thy house of clay be dissolved for the Son of Life weepeth over thee as he did over Jerusalem O that thy eyes were open and thy heart unvailed that thou mights see how good the Lord is unto all the sons and daughters of men and how long he hath tendered his mercy and grace unto thee and hath held forth his hand with a cup of blessings for thee but thou hast joyned issue with the transgressor and art rebellions and stiff-necked against the Seed of God the Lord God make thee sensible of thy back-slidings and heal thee if he see it good O! my soul is truly powred forth unto the Lord for thee that thou may est not inherit the Lake which is prepared but peace and rest for thy immortal soul thou mayest find for the soul is immortal and there is no mortal thing can satisfie thy soul but the presence of the Lord which is far beyond the gold of Ophir or the Onick stone O! what wouldst thou give for peace with God when thy day shall be turned into darness thy table shall be made a snare unto thee and thou shalt be like the hearth in the Wildernesse which seeth not when good cometh thy lovers shall pass away trouble shall compass thee round about then if thou hadst the whole world thou wouldst give it for peace with God but then will thy day be sealed up and there will be no place found for repentance therefore I desire thee in the dreadful power of God put not the day of the Lord afar off but let the Sword of the Lord cut down and the fire burn up all that is contrary to God and away with thy Idols down with thy Images pluck down thy high places for the Lord will be avenged of thy Groves thy strong Okes and tall Cedars and he will ride upon thy high hills and thy fenced City will he lay waste and he will ease the innocent and deliver the oppressed thy prison doors shall be broke up and the bonds of iniquity burst asunder the agreement made with hell and death will be disannulled and though many of us have been halled out of your Mass-houses and have been halled before Magistrates both by Papists and Protestants yet know this that our God in whom we trust he lives for ever and he sits as Judge amongst the Gods O! the fury of the Lord is gone forth against the wicked and they shall not prosper and although they may reign for a while and build their nests in the stars for a short time and joyn
durable neither will thy Faith remain it is as the raging Sea whose waves are up and down and thou art tossed in thy mind as a Ship upon the Sea driven with a mighty wind thy hope is in man and it faileth thy joy is dying and will die away O! therefore put thy trust in the living God and not in man whose breath is in his nostrils that thou mayest be saved from the day of wrath which will suddenly come upon the families of the earth All Nations shall partake of his wrath and all Tongues of his fury for all flesh hath corrupted its way before the Lord all flesh hath sinned and come short of the glory of God so all flesh must know the wrath of God executed upon the wicked for the Lord hath determined a Consumption to come upon the whole earth therefore O earth earth hear the Word of the Lord and be thou separated from your uncleanness and live before the Lord that all the dayes of thy appointed time thou mayest wait till the change comes for nothing but life will stand before the Lord who is immortal And know this of a truth that this is written in pure love to thy soul O London the righteous is oppressed in thee and the innocent cryeth in thy streets by reason of oppression O! feed the hungry and cloath the naked and hide not thy self from thy own flesh for you are all made of one blood and one mould upon the face of the whole earth He that saith he loves God and doth not feed the hungry and cloath the naked and judge the cause of the poor and needy he is a lyar and doth not the truth And know this ye Judges and Rulers and Magistrates that there is a Judge above you which will call you to an account and will judge you out of the book of Conscience and give you a full reward and you shall all know in the day when the Lord rips off all coverings and takes peace from the earth that there is a Deliverer in Sion which will deliver his righteous seed and none shall hinder and although we are despised in thee and hated by thee yet the Lord who is the everlasting Councellor and Prince of Peace he is our Redeemer who is the portion of our cup and the lot of our inheritance we have none in heaven but him nor upon earth that can deliver but he he wil plead our cause with them that hate us and our innocency shall appear as the Sun in her ful strength we shall be as a morning without clouds when the Lord shall arise and take the honor to himself and exalt his Kingdome above the heavens and his Dominion above the stars then shall Jerusalem be the praise of the whole earth and they shall rejoyce in her who now mourneth and say one to another Come let us stand upon Mount Sion and sit down upon the holyhill for our God and his Christ reigneth over all the whole earth O! this is a blessed estate which the â—ighteous doth inherit but as for the wicked they are as stubble throughly dried and the Word of the Lord is as a fire and they must be burned up and be shut without the gates of the City where the Lamb treads the Wine-press of Gods wrath So in the fear of the Lord repent and amend thy life least God sweep thee away into the pit of utter destruction out of which there is no redemption Oh London the Lord God of Heaven and of Earth he is burdened with thy vain Religion who maketh a profession of God and of Christ and yet liveth in lust and vanity pride and vain-glory in swearing and curfing and yet is covered with a covering which the Lord will take away O how doth gluttony abound in thee rioting and sporting in the day time thou knowst not how almost to go along the streets thou art so proud and haughty and the poor in thee are ready to famish for whose estate and condition my heart is pained within me old and young blind and lame lieth in thy streets and at thy Masse-houses doors crying for bread who are almost naked for want of cloathing and fainting for want of bread and yet thou canst passe by them in thy gaudy apparrel and our-stretched neck with thy face decked with black spots which are the marks of the Whore the Beast and the False Prophet which is not the attire of Sarah Abrahams wife Thou knowest not what to eat nor what to drink nor wherewith to be cloathed thy mind is so vain and thy Religion is so aiery and if any of these that are blind or lame or destitute of a being asketh of thee a penny or farthing thou sayest thou hast it not for them O! remember the Lord will call thee to an account and truly a sad day it will be for thee when he shall take thy peace away who hath lavishly spent Gods Creation upon thy lusts and hath not distributed thy morsel to the poor and to the needy the light of Christ in thy Conscience condemns thee for thy not so doing and from that thou canst not fly that shall be thy condemnation for ever if thou hatest it and thy salvation for ever if thou lovest it O! tremble and quake before the Lord ye sons of Sodom and Daughters of Gomorrah who doth inhabit this mortal City which doth-corrupt and will die away your glory the Lord will bring to nothing therefore keep to the light which condemns you that an entrance into the immortal Kingdome you may find Woe be unto all thy Usurers who hoardeth up the unrighteous mammon and doth not lend to the poor and distressed and saith they have it not for them the rust of their money in the Day of Judgement shall rise up against them and Gods swift Witness in their own hearts shall condemn them which lives for ever therefore all ye Usurers Soothsayers and Star-gazers that inhabiteth this place and elsewhere repent for Gods plagues and Judgements is to be executed upon you and upon all that lendeth an ear unto you you Star-gazers and Astrologers who can discern the face of the Sky but doth not know the signs of the coming of the Son of Man whose glorious appearance will discover your dark works that you act in the dark night and tho night shall passe away and you shall know a day of Judgement and see him whom you have pierced of whom the Sun Moon and Stars bears testimony and keepeth their station with God therefore its good for you to know the Rod of God to instruct you in his path and to lead you to his Kingdome and this is the desire of my soul that you may all inhabit peace and rest with the King of Heaven and Earth So know that your day of visitation is now the Lord doth hold forth unto you mercy and peace therefore imbrace it whilst it is tendred unto you least you be shut out and
ye that have followed Christ the Heir of Life and Salvation and doth follow him in the straight way and narrow gate your portion is eternal if you dwell therein and look not out at the over-turnings of men and their power and what they may inflict upon you or cause you to suffer hardships for your Religion which you profess in truth and righteousness but look to the Lord who hath the heaâ—ts of all the Sons and Daughters of Adam in his hand and as a river of water he can turn them whither soever he will therefore my dear beloved friends who are friends of God let us dwell together in the life immortal and let us be compassed about with Gods righteousness and strength for ever that if the Lord suffereth that we should suffer death for our Religion which is pure let us choose it rather then life and joyfully and heartily and patiently imbrace it and bear it for our God is good and in the midst of flames he hath and will be with us and from the waters he will deliver us in the sixth trouble he hath been with us and from the seventh he hath delivered us glory be to him who is as a wall of brass round about us and as a flame of fire he compasseth us about he was with the Patriarchs in the deepest of their calamities the Prophets in times past he upheld and was their meat and drink and in him they rejoyced and with him they suffered and finished their testimony in faithfulness he was unto the Disciples a stay and a staff salvation and righteousness even their exceeding great reward their houses was filled with his life and power he was a mouth of utterance unto them he carried them thorough great tryals he was their meat and drink and they fed upon him in a weary Land even so can we truly say that he hath been with us in a vast howling wilderness in a strange Land and amongst strange people who have not truly worshipped the God of heaven and earth he hath been our stay and the upholder of our head in the day of battel Glory be to him who is our Rock who never leaved nor forsaked any that fears him but he watereth them with the dew from heaven and maketh them green as the grass or tender plants he cloatheth them far beyond the Lillies in the field he giveth breath and life and length of dayes for ever in his sight therefore all who have known this cloathing let it dwell with you for ever and let your hearts be upright in his sight your consciences exercised continually in the sight of God and men and the Lord God of heaven and of earth preserve us all in all and over all and thorough all up to himself The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ which is perfect and the peace which standeth for ever keep your hearts and minds staid upon him for ever out of all mortal and dying things London the 16th of the 12th Moneth 1659. E. B. Something after O London who shouldâ—t be as a nursing Mother unto thy Nation and a Pattern and Example unto all Nations for in thee and from thee doth the Law proceed and Councel is given forth which should be pure and thy Law direct whereby the Just and Innocent might be Judged in Righteousness thy Judges and Rulers should Judge for God and be guided by the just Law of God in them but for want of true Judgement and Equity the Just is oppressed and the Innocent and Harmless groaneth for want of Righteous Rulers and Godly Judges and wholesom Lawes O London thou hast sacrificed upon the Mountains unto sirange gods and that 's Cains sacrifice which the Lord accepteth not neither doth he regard your Joy and Mirth for your joy is but for a moment saith the Lord but your sorrow is for ever and for ever and your torment world without end O! my Soul lamenteth for thee to see what an estate thou art in all above the witness of the pure God in ungodliness lust pride and wantonness you spend Gods Creation upon your lusts pride and vain glory O! let the Seed of the Lord arise in you and condemn you and bear witness for me and the rest of us who are called and calling out of you and are redeeming from amongst you up to God and our Souls is sorrowful for to see how you neglect the pure way of God And likewise the day of your visitation my heart did even bleed within me to see your sacrifices knowing from whence it came and whether it went and to whom it was offered And I could have wept day and night to have seen the path of Righteousness trodden down and all trampling upon the Seed of God which lyeth low in you some in drunkenness others in swearing and taking the Name of God in vain some in pushing and haling and beating the Lambs of God and all in disorder dishonouring of God on the 21th of the 12th Month 1659. your evil works and words did exceed in that day and night and it shall rise up in Judgement against you that day and night shall you remember with all the rest of your time ill spent to your torment and utter overthrowing and know this that God will call you to Judgement and give you your portion with the hypocrites unless you repent and amend your lives therefore every one who hath any true desires after the Lord be ye separated from the wickedness that is acted in this City and from the actors of it that you may find your desires to be satisfied your souls raised up out of the pit saveth from the condemnation which is coming upon all workers of iniquity the Lord spareth and suffereth but for a time until he hath gathered his remnant from amongst you and made up his Jewels which shall live in his house for ever Then desolation and misery and a woful cry shall be heard in your streets and your houses shall be left unto you desolate and your Idols temples shall be a habitation for Owls and Birds the Satyrs shall dance there they shall be a habitation for every unclean spirit your Priests shall preach no more your Diviners shal go mad God wil dry up the tongue of the Egyptian Sea who hath opened a door of mercy in this City in due season and hath given you yet a Day to repent in but remember thy Day will be over as thy Sisters Sodoms and Gomorrahs their time was spent and the Day of their visitation is passed the Lord spared the Righteous even Just Lot whose Soul was grieved with the ungodly conversation of the wicked even so is ours this day with the unjust and impure conversation of thee O London but Juâ—t is our God and Righteous for evermore who is able to deliver us and hath delivered us out of the flames which shaâ—â— come upon you our God beholdeth all your unjust proceedings with his Seed for which he will