now I have ordered thee to warn the Bishops and the Clergy in May; and now in May the Fast is; and out of their own mouths will I condemn them all, if they are neither hot nor cold, but lukewarm; for the Letters were written to warn the Clergy before the Fast came; therefore I ordered one to be hastily sent to the Bishop, and to have the Letters hastily printed. So if they are now lukewarm, they are condemned from the very Scriptures they have placed. If they say they have wisdom and want nothing, then I tell them they are blind and naked. I have counselled them to buy of me true gold; that they may be clothed, that the shame of their nakedness may not appear; and to anoint their eyes with eye-salve that they may see; for as many as I love I rebuke; and this Nation I have rebuked, as there are many in it whom I love; but let them not think the French are sinners above all men, because they have done these things. I tell them nay, but unless they repent they shall all likewise perish. Now let them mark the lesson in Isaiah, the 38th chapter,-In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death, and a Sign was given him from the Lord. Now let the learned answer what the Sign was for? Could I not have restored him without giving him a Sign, and do the thing I had promised him? Could he not take my word without a bond? Yet I gave a Sign to Hezekiah. And now I have given Signs unto the Nation : If they turn unto ME, as Hezekiah did, my threatenings shall go backwards; and I will save this Nation, that is condemned to die by judgments; but if they will not lay it to heart, as Hezekiah did, they shall fall by the Signs of the convulsions placed in the Child. So here is the Sign set before them; and the Signs of the Gospel are now come, from the many false Christs that have appeared. Two false Christs have written to thee; therefore I ordered thee to keep their letters, to prove that false Christs were come; and two others have told thee they were the Christs, and wanted thee to trust to them for Redemption. Yet they confess they never were visited by the Spirit of Prophecy, or had any power given them of working of Miracles. So the Sign of false Christs hath appeared unto thee, as well as the Signs of Tumults and War. But I should act like men, to come to one part of the chapter and not go through the whole. For I tell thee, that chapter is like thy writings.-The shadow fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem, and what followed after to my disciples; but the end was not then; for men have stopped where I shall begin-When ye see Jerusalem compassed with armies, know the desolation is nigh; and that desolation followed Jerusalem. But can man say the end followed then-to see ME come in a cloud with great PowER and GLORY? I tell thee no-But now the time is at hand, that all these things shall be fulfilled-and man's Redemption draws nigh: For the Kingdom of GoD is nigh at hand. But the fulfillment of the chapter is as much neglected by man, as they have proposed not reading it through; for I tell thee, men stop where they ought to begin. Now I shall come to the 20th verse of the other Lesson-Believe in the Lord your God, so shall you be established; believe his Prophets so shall ye prosper. See the xxxviith Psalm the 9th verse to the 16th-Those that wait upon the Lord shall inherit the earth; and the xlixth Psalm at the 4th verse-I will incline mine ear to Parables. Now I tell thee, the very Chapters and Psalms, which they have chosen, allude to the last days. The Sign given to Hezekiah of the Sun's going backward, is a Sign how all shall go backward, when those that wait upon the Lord shall inherit the earth. For those Signs were given for the end. And now I shall speak from Parables : The xxxviiith of Isaiah. † 2 Chron. xxth chapter. 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, I say, the every blame. And now 's the time it so must burst Not hot nor cold you came: What Blasphemy was judg'd by ye? Then, how will you appear? Out of my mouth I'll spue you all; My honour I see here 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, So if you 've not I'll tell your lot, For I shall spue you all, If sickly is your love to ME, To let my honour fall. If you do say that blasphemy Is in this Woman here, And never try to stop her hand, Because to you, I'll prove it true, The JEWS they didnot so appear : In fiery zeal they stood; 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 Yea, miserable and poor; ye, Because your hearts are gone from мE 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 e e salve here must now appear To open all your eyes; Or else the ditch the blind For I shall now chastize may fear, This very LAND, where now I'm come 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 head 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 Or else, I say to thee this day, 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 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 The mysteries I'll unfold, See the Prayer read on the Fast Day, p. 11. + Only part of the chapter was commanded to be read. That this epistle doth allude, And if MY NAME thou dost blaspheme, There is not love enough in man 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!! I say, MY shepherds every where If they deny my judgments here, When they have warn'd them in the Fast, From their own words I now shall burst; And said the papers thou must seal ‡. Since men have own'd MY WORDS are true, I meant to have them own it first, And then the truth I meant should burst, And brought my judgments in the Spring; That in thy Book was printed there: 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 t'ais book. Joanna was ordered to seal up some newspapers, and all the papers to be laid by. |