I have compared all thy Writings to Parables; and from the Bible are Parables; and I shall now come to Parables here, from the Epistle-I have sent my angel unto thee To warn the Churches here-- What on the Serpent there was cast, And now 's the time it so must burst- What Blasphemy was judg'd by ye? Then, how will you appear? Out of my mouth I'll spue you all; You don't regard that you have err'd, Against My Name; then now I'll shame Because your love I now will prove For soon the cause, I know, you'd prove, If you had love for ME: So if you 've not I'll tell your lot, For I shall spue you all, If sickly is your love to ME, If you do say that blasphemy And never try to stop her hand, Because to you, I'll prove it true, The Jews they did not so appear: But worse than they you Gentiles be, To judge she doth blaspheme, And never come the truth to see, In honour to MY NAME. Then blind you be, I now tell ye, Yea, miserable and poor; Because your hearts are gone from ME→→ You judge your earthly store Enrich you all; but now I call, Your nakedness I see; How, void of grace, you now must fall, That have no love for ME; Then eye salye here must now appear To open all your eyes; Or else the ditch the blind may fear, This very LAND, where now I'm com In SPIRIT to appear, For to give eye salve now to men, MY KINGDOM now is nigh at hand, So now take care, I warn you here, From misery-mankind will see And that you may lift up your heads Because the visions do appear So I'll go on where man did name", You must discern what there is penn'd, My Gospel must be know'd, That so must come, I tell thee plain, Then judge my prophets true, And then the victory you shall gain ; I'll do again, ye sons of men, You must repent and now relent Your ruin now will come; Because 'tis you my angels warn'd, I say by my Command. Then how, Oh! ENGLAND will you stand For to protect your land, If I appear to spue you here, As lukewarm friends to ME? Yourselves with it you must compare ; For now I this tell thee: That with the FRENCH you can't compare N.5 For hot and cold they be: Hot in the zeal of their pursuits; And love to ME quite cold. Then this to ENGLAND sure must be→ * See the Prayer read on the Fast Day, p. 11. Only part of the chapter was commanded to be read, N25 That this epistle doth allude, And if MY NAME thou dost blaspheme, There is not love enough in man For GOD and MAN to stand, For like the wind it now shall come, I told thee there I'd bring the stroke; And now they've own'd the stroke is come!! If they deny my judgments here, When they have warn'd them in the Fast, And said the papers thou must seal ‡. But now my mind I shall reveal: Since men have own'd MY WORDS are true, I'll bring all mysteries to thy view: I meant to have them own it first, And then the truth I meant should burst, How I from shadows did begin, And brought my judgments in the Spring; • On Thursday afternoon the wind was very high and roared like thunder, when our friend was writing the Communication in answer to the Prayers for the Fast. + See p. 5, in the Prayer for ourSovereign, and in p. 25 of this book. Joanna was ordered to seal up some newspapers, and all the papers to be laid by. And now mankind have own'd it true, Now, my dear Miss Townley, you see the wis dom of God joined with his power in fulfilling the words that have been always said to me, that out of their own mouths HE would condemn MANKIND. You know how I was told, the shadow of judgments began in our land when the King was first seized with illness, in the very month that was mentioned that dangers would begin; but as no man would own the visitation of the Lord in it, you know I was ordered to seal up the Newspapers, and say the mark still stood in the dark for man. But now men have brought that mark to light themselves, by their owning the visitation of the LORD to our SOVEREIGN for the transgression of his people, which was in my Prophecies; for though I said, if the shepherds did not lay it to heart, the Lord would cut the land; but it was on the King the first stroke was to come; and now that they have owned it, the LORD hath publicly explained it. So I do not fear who seeth the letter; for if the Bishops have any love for their King and Country, and they have owned 25. N°5 the cause, now let them try to remove the effect. Now what have you or I to fear, when we are guided by a God so wondrous in wisdom, so wondrous in working, so wondrous in council, power, and truth, that would not permit me to say, publicly to the world, the judgments were there begun, before the wise and learned had publicly confessed it? Now call to your remembrance the former words.-By the 29th of May men's wisdom I'll confound, and in June I'll prune the sons of men; and now in their own wisdom they are cut down; and where is the man who can withstand the wisdom and power of a God, whose footsteps are hid in the great deep and whose paths are past man's finding out? And though our weak sight cannot see how HE will bring all things to pass that is spoken in my writings; yet, I see that GOD, whose wisdom never has erred, is now shining brighter and brighter, to the perfect day. So we shall see the SALVATION of the LORD, if we are perfect in obedience to his Command. But I am clearly convinced of the truth of the words last year," that they all stood but as water pots, before the time was come that the Lord bringeth every truth to light; and we have seen things but as trees walking; yet, I trust soon we shall see all things as men.' Since I had finished writing my own judgment to you, from the wisdom of the Lord in this wondrous working, I was answered by the SPIRIT in the following man ner : Now from thy words I'll answer here— Before I prov'd it by their hand, To make them own MY JUDGMENTS TRUE, |