A LETTER From a Stranger to a Minister, clearly showing by the Unerring Light of Nature and Scripture, not only what Sin is, and has done to Angels and Men, and why the one cannot, and how and by whom the other is delivered therefrom, and what is expected from 'em thereupon, and what return has been made for the same: But how Antichristianism, by the Brightness of our Lords Coming, seems to be dwindling into nothing; maugre all opposition, of cunning selfish Men. And that the Great Revolution( so much in Expectation, and so assured to us by Divine Revelation) is near approaching; and what precedes it, and will attend it, and how all are concerned in it; and what they, but the Clergy especially, are to do in order thereunto, to qualify and fit themselves for it.  The Secrets of the Lord are with them that fear him. 
SIR,  
CHARITY you know obliges me( tho' a Stranger to you) to think well of you, and consequently to believe the Character that goes of your Ingenuity and Integrity, to be true; which if it be, the ensuing Queries, Hints, and Remarks, are the fittest for you, and the likeliest to serve you, and by you, others too; for which end they were penned, and designed for you, by one who believes that God Almighty, infinitely Wise, Holy, Just, and Good; is ever to be feared, and revered, loved, and obeied, praised, and pleased, worshipped, and served, according to his own Will, declared in his own revealed Word; so Sacred, that nothing ought to be added to it, astered in it, or dimiminished from it; and who is assured, that whatever is therein contained, nor yet fulfilled, shall at the time appointed, be accomplished.  
And from thence I conclude, that the Holy catholic Church( how much soever neglected, slighted and despised) shall then be visited, inspired, and exalted, as promised; and all her Enemies( how violent, virrulent, numerous, and mischievous so ever they be) shall then be suppressed, subdued, and dispersed, as threatened, and that the Dead shall be raised and judged, and this World dissolved and changed, into another infinitely better, as prophesied; wherein all Angelical Men with their Arch-Angelical King, shall for ever Live and Reign; possessing the Places, and enjoying the privileges, of all those Angels who turned Devils: And that the Wicked shall be turned into Hell, there to remain for ever in unquenchable Fire, reaping there, with Terror, what they sowed here with Pleasure, in their own mixed corrupt Nature, sunk then thro' the inequality of its Mixture, into its own proper Center of Darkness, Wrath, and Anger; where every Sin of every Sinner, is the very Fuel of that dreadful Fire; the more Sin therefore Angels and Men bring thither, the greater they make it, and the fiercer they find it.  
Now if all this be thus, my first Query is, Whether Sin is not infinitely viler than the vilest thing in Nature? Whether it makes not every Sinner a mere Monster, like nabuchadnezzar his Figure? Or is any thing more defiling, deforming, provoking and destroying, afflicting and tormenting than Sin? And is not Sin so, because it it the Transgression of the Law? The holy and perfect Law of Liberty, that God of his infinite Mercy has from Eternity, sixth as a universal Boundary between Life and Death, Love and Wrath, to secure every intellectual Creature in the one, and out of the other? Is not then the Wages of Sin Death, and the Effects thereof Wrath? And can any thing be worse than these? Or could the Angels do worse, than Transgress such a Law as this? For did it not turn their angelic Forms into diabolic Worms? And cast them down like Lightning from Heaven, into Hell all of a sudden? There to remain, and never to return any more again to Heaven.  
Now neither this, nor any thing else, that follows, will suprize us, or seem strange to us, if we with Spiritual Eyes( like those of the Apostles) view the abyss, that infinitely vast, endless, and boundless Space, that lies so apparent to Sense, that from thence arises the perceivance, yea assurance of its Existence, and take notice that nothing is there, but God in his Divine Nature, in his Abissal Will and Desire, ever everywhere Infinitely, Gloriously, Harmoniously, Joyously, and Unchangeably Existing from Everlasting; long before the Existence of any other Being. But when it pleased him to will his own Manifestation, he by his Abissal Essential Will, willed or spake the angelic Heavens and all the Angels therein, into Being; out of the infinite various powers and properties of his Abissal Desire, all which according to the sixth predominancy of every quality, rendered them in figure, nature, and temper, distinct and different from each other, as Men, the Stars, and every thing here are.  
Now because they all proceeded from him, and were to Live, Move, and have their being in him, he( that they might ever so remain) willed them to will into his Will alone, and ever abide therein; which had they done, they had never known Sin, nor fallen from Heaven, into the Condition they are in; and that in every thing they might fully answer the good Will and Pleasure of their Creator, he created them like himself, in Number, Weight, and Measure, that all their Powers( like his) might ever move regularly and in order, mildly and meekly, harmoniously and sweetly, joyously and pleasantly, graciously and gloriously like the Deity; as it was their Interest and Duty, their Wisdom and Discretion to do; and to enable them thereunto, he communicated to them his Grace, that was sufficient for that purpose. And did not God Almighty in conformity to his own Blessed Trinity, make a Threefold angelic Hierarchy? And assigned to each of them a distinct Kingdom of there own; and was not that of theirs, who are fallen, as extensive as the whole visible Creation?  
If Angels in Scripture be styled Flames of Fire? And if that Fire have a Center? And if that Center consists in Darkness, Wrath and Anger? And if their standing in Heaven, was upon their good Behaviour? Were they not in danger of falling into that dreadful Center, and of remaining therein for ever, when ever their Flames of Fire, thro' their disorder should be divided asunder? And what but Sin, Self-elevation, the Transgression of the Law of their Creation, could bring such a division upon them? And was not that very Law( in Mercy to them) engraven on their very Constitution to prevent the same? And yet was there not, for all that, a whole Hierarchy( related mostly to the Second Person of the Holy Trinity) whose Flames of Fire( for that reason) shone with a greater splendour, than either of the two other, moved with the Lustre of that splendour, to Aspire, to Domineer, and Insult over God, and Nature, and every Creature? And did they not all, for the carrying on this their Design, concur together to move the Brisker, to look the Greater, shine the Brighter, and aspire the Higher.  
And did not this their mental irregularity and disorder, set on Fire the whole Sphere and Course of their Nature? And so divided their Flames of Fire asunder, and thereupon put their whole Kingdom into confusion and disorder; and so all of a sudden sunk them and sent them into their own dark and dismal Center, there to remain for ever. And what more resembles these dark, fiery, fierce and unsavoury Devils, than the Snuffs of Candles, when there Flames suddenly Extinguishes?  
Thus Sin has turned Angels into Devils, and thereby deprived them utterly of all their Glory and Excellency; and involved them in Divine Severity, in its utmost Extremity, to all Eternity, without Remedy; Not for want of any Mercy in the Deity for their Recovery, but for want of a Capacity in them to receive and improve the same; to which Capacity so wanting( consisting in Humility and Self-resignation) they have an utter aversion; setting every thing at defiance, that has the least tendance towards their Deliverance, if it any way savour of Repentance, Faith and Obedience; To all which they have an utter abhorrence, choosing and resolving Eternally to perish in Wrath and Anguish, rather then quit, deny and loose their own selfish, hellish, and devilish Wills, Lusts and Lives. And is not this the only cause that renders all Endeavours and all gracious Offers, for their Conversion and Salvation of no use.  
Now when these Angels by their thus falling from Heaven, had spoiled their whole angelic World, and were for their spoiling it, Eternally separated from it( no more to disturb it) and justly driven quiter thro' it, into the very Center and Bottom of it; and their Chained, Confined and Reserved for further Punishment and Exposement, at the Great Day of judgement. Was not then this visible World of ours, Created out of all the spoiled Powers, of that invisible World of theirs? And were they not thereupon healed? And how, was it not by that New Light, which the first Day of the Creation God willed into Being? And which thereupon sprung up in every thing to their healing joy and satisfaction; and did not this, as a Divine Blessing, so infuse itself into them, as caused them to begin to Move again( tho' in a more exterior and inferior manner) as they had done in their own Old World before it was spoiled; and did not Paradise then every where here appear again in Figure? And did not this continue thus, till Man by Sin spoiled this new healed World again? For did not the Curse, that for this came upon it, make a vast Alteration in it, and so rendered it less Paradisical, yet Habitable and Tolerable, yea and still Capable of Answering the great End, of propagating and supporting Mankind, for which it was designed?  
And are not these things, one way or other, hinted to us in Scripture? And yet plainer in Nature, how chil'd, numb'd, and spoiled, are things here in Winter? And how revived, cured and healed in Summer? And does not Faith, the Evidence of things not seen, confirm and explain the same? And may we not be convinced as much by it, as by Sight? For are we not as sure, that a three that grows and bears Fruit, has a Root, tho' we never saw it, as we are of the Fruit we see growing on it? Is not Believing then as convincing as Seeing? Why else is it written, That by Faith we understand, how the Worlds were framed? And if this way we know that great Secret; Why may we not know by it( all things bearing witness to it) that this World was made out of one that was spoiled? And that it, to that is as Deeds to Words, more visible, gross and palpable; and that the Angelical Worlds are to this, as Thinking is to Speaking, and is not the spoiled World healed by Gods Word? And is not his Word his Will? And his Willing his Speaking? And his Speaking his Creating; and were not all things spoken into Being, out of his Abissal Wisdom?  
If those Powers that composed an angelic World, before 'twas spoiled, compose this when healed and made more gross; may we not well suppose, that this World, so Originated, must have been when Created, excellently well fitted and furnished, qualified and accommodated, to receive and entertain another New angelic Hierarchy of Men? All then Ideally appearing in the Glass of his Wisdom, as arising out of the very same Fountain, that the other fallen Hierachy had done; the be●ter to sit and qualify them, to possess their Places, enjoy their privilege, and to be their Judges; and was not Adam then designed for their Prince and Head? And for that reason made in the Image of God, and endowed with an angelic Constitution; and was he not made single alone, that all his Off-spring( then virtually in him) might Angelically be generated gradually out of him? As afterwards they were to be regenerated out of the Second Adam; upon whom( for their sakes) all the Angelicallness of the first Man came; and who being Born of a Virgin, was entirely one like him.  
If the Image and Likeness of God, be referred to the things that are made, by his Holy Will and Word;( for by them he is manifested, and without them not to be understood) must not Adam, if made like them, be made like God in his own Divine Manifestation? So called to distinguish it from another of a different Nature, when all the Evil of this World and Hell, was brought forth by his Wrath( thro' Sin) into Manifestation. Allowing then this just and necessary Distinction, must not Adam, in his Creation, be a most Excellent Divine Holy Man, in his Body Spiritual, and in his Soul and Spirit, his flamme of Fire and Light, Angellical; clothed with the Glory of God, and fed with his Word, that he Eat in all his Paradisick Fruit? And was there not besides that, another sort of Fruit, carrying a mixture of Good and Evil in it? And did not that mixture in part proceed from Divine Wrath? And was it not( for that reason) Death for Adam to Eat thereof? And was not this the Cause, why in Mercy to him, it was forbidden him? And not to try him, as some imagine.  
And was not the Devil( who hated Man, because he was to succeed him, in his Throne and Kingdom) so sensible of this, that( having nothing of his own worth offering him, wherewith to tempt him) he made use of this mixed Being to ruin him? When he set all its Beautys and Glories before him( as he after wards did before our Lord) to 'allure, entice, and draw him by them, out of Heaven into them; and was he not so successful therein, as soon to taint and stagger him; and cause God to say of him, it was not good for him to be alone? And was not the Woman when taken out of him, first in the Transgression? And upon his joining with her therein, did they not withdraw from Heaven, and it from them? And cleaved to this World and it to them; and did they not thereupon become in their Bodies bestial, and in their Souls Diabolical? And thus Sin defiled, deformed and destroyed them; and so became most vile and mischievous, to them and all their Off-spring.  
And what would have become of them, if God had not been Merciful to them? Must they not after a short and uncertain time spent here in Sin, Vanity and Vexation, sunk thro' a Temporal Death into Eternal Wrath? But God of his infinite Mercy, to prevent this Severity, from falling thus heavily on him, and his Posterity, was pleased to give his only Begotten Son, to become the Second Adam to every Man, that what we lost in the first, we may all find again in him, thro' our unfeigned Repentance, Faith and Obedience.  
Now that this was thus done, is most certain, but how 'twas done Stupendious and Astonishing, Infinitely beyond all human Comprehension, and impossible to find out, without a Divine Light, how all this was wrought and brought about? How the Son of God could become the Son of Man, be Born of a Virgin, and Live and die without Sin, and Rise again and not see Corruption? How and which way he took away Sin and finished Transgression? And brought into his own Person, our own Everlasting Righteousness in their stead and room? How he could be made of God, Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification and Redemption, to every Man who receives him, loves and obeys him? How he could overcome the World as he did? Be in it, and not of it, but infinitely above it, to do whatever he pleaseth in it, and with it, and at last to Dissolve and Change it. Again, who but he could have undergone the weight of Sin? And born up, and overcome Death, Hell and Wrath? And deliver Men therefrom; who but he could( by his Word) raise the Dead, and judge and separate the Good and Bad; did ever Man Live, Act, and Speak like him? Could Sin have been removed, and Transgression finished, the Devil vanquished, Hell and this World subdued, and our Nature restored and perfected, had not our Lord Lived, Suffered and Dyed, Revived and Ascended as he did? And was not his Living, Suffering, Dying, Rising and Ascending into Heaven, so far from giving any just occasion of Offence to either Jew, Turk or Heathen, that nothing( considering the Nature of Sin) can more effectually convince them, of his being the Messiah, the Son of God and Man, the Promised Seed of the Woman, the Saviour of the World, the Second Adam our Lord from Heaven.  
Thus every thing was done, that can be done for Men, without them, to Sanctify and Save them by the Second Adam, in his own Person; and is not every thing doing, that can be doing within them, to make the same effectual to them, that Christ may be formed in them, and they transformed by him into the Image, Life and Glory that God gave them, and designed them when he made them? What else is the meaning of the Grace of God thatis within, and comes upon every Man, but to do all this for him? Does not every thing within and without Men, show them their direct way to Heaven, and what they are to do and forbear to get thither? What is more necessary for the Body, then Eating and Drinking, Sleeping and Breathing, Digesting and Evacuating? And what's more easy to every Infant Capacity? And are not things also necessary for the Soul as easy? What else would become of all Fools and Mad-men, Children and Heathen? For are not they, as well as others his Off-spring, whom he loves, and would have and save? And are they not in their inmost Faculties, ever under the gracious influences of his Loving Kindness, judgement and Righteousness; wherewith he ever Exercises all the World, to reduce all Men( at least) to their Sense of Feeling, that they might feel after him, to seek and find him, and so will into him, and become Eternally Holy and Happy in him. Nay, is not the Word that made us, and was made Flesh for us( from whence Nature and Scripture arises) engrafted in us on purpose to enlighten and enliven us, direct and guide us, sanctify and save us?  
And are not all Mankind, made by this Word, of one Mind? And is this not so great a Truth, that it needs no Proof? For of this every Mans own Experience, is a sufficient Evidence; for who in their Senses, in this and in all Ages, are not or were not ever desirous of all fullness of endless Happiness, without the least mixture of any Uneasiness? And herein we are all unanimous, and not a Dissenter among us, and does not the Ideas of these our desires show us that God and not this World is the only Object, and our inward, not our outward Man, the only subject of this Happiness? And does not this teach and oblige us, to turn with our inward Man, from all Sin, from every thing that's vile and vain, to God( the chiefest good) alone? And make his most Holy Will and Word, our entire and constant Rule and Guide, in Thought, Word and dead; and is not the one of these Negative, and the other Positive Holiness? And is not this Holiness, the only way to this Happiness? For springs not Happiness out of Holiness, as naturally and as necessary, as Melody out of Harmony?  
Or what was the meaning of the Holy Ghost, reproving the World of Sin, because they believed not on him, the Son of God and Man? But that they might believe, and be saved from their Sins by him, or of Righteousness, because he went to his Father, and they saw him no more; but that they might know he only was Righteous who did so, that thro' him they might become Righteous too, which no other way they could be; or of judgement, because the Prince of this World is Judged; but to mind them that if judgement passed on him, there was no escaping for them; and what was and is the unsteady of all this? But to fit and prepare us, to act herein as becomes us, to Repent and Believe as God commands us, to put off our Old Man, and to put on him the Second Adam, as our New Man; that our Sinful, selfish Sensual Man, may indeed be Crucified, Dead and buried with him; and that the essential Wills of our Souls( the best and all that's left of our true selves, may be entirely, humbly, and hearty resigned and subjected to him, in every thing; that being Born again of him, we may not Sin against him, but Live in the Power of his Resurrection, and so have our Conversation ever with him, in Heaven; and is not this the Sum of the whole Duty of Man? Yea, and of his Interest too; and does it not take in the whole of Gods designs of his Goodwill towards him; for will not this render him as Holy and Happy, as God made him? And if this be the only way to become so, is it not our Interest and Duty to walk therein continually? That we perish not Eternally.  
And to encourage us to this, are not the Angel●… Circumstances, and Enoch's Prophesies, and what befe●… the Old World, Sodom and Egypt, the Israelites, th● canaanites, and the Ninevites; Manasseth, and Hezechiah, the Publican and Prodigal Son, Judas and the Thief on the across, and many other Instances of Divine Mercys and Severirys, all set before us in our Bibles, for this very purpose? And do they not show us, how to distinguish between our True and False( Natural and Spiritual) Selves? And how large are they in describing the worse of these? When they tell us that the Natural Man( be he otherwise never so Wise and Cunning) neither does nor can rightly discern, any thing that's Spiritual and Divine; and that there is none Righteous, no not one; there is none that understands, there is none that seeks after God, they are all gone cut of the way, they are altogether become unprofitable, there is none that doth good, no not one, their Throat is an open sepulchre, with their Tongues they have used Deceit; the Poison of Asps is under their Lips, whose Mouth is full of Cursing and Bitterness; their Feet are swift to  shed Blood, destruction and Misery are in all their Ways, and the way of Peace they have not known, there is no fear of God before their Eyes. Thus the whole World stands justly Charged upon Record, in his Word, of being Guilty before God: And may we not from thence justly conclude, that the Natural Man, in things of the Highest Concern, ought to be in no Esteem? And so far from being admired, that he is not to be headed or regarded, but every thing he Speaks, Writes or Prints to be suspected, and heard and red with great Caution and Circumspection, if we would not be deluded; and does not this highly recommend the Holy Scriptures to us? And gives our Bibles the pre-eminence of all Books, as proceeding from a Divine Fountain, and written by Divine Inspiration, and attested with Miraculous Approbations from Heaven, containing therein the heights and depths of infinite Wisdom and of things to come, all surpassing the Natural Mans Understanding, so that all his Comments thereon signify nothing to the Spiritual Man, who by Scripture Revelation( without any such Interpretation) is made perfect and wise to Salvation.  
But is there not quiter another Character( infinitely better) given of the Spiritual Man in Scripture? For is he not there styled, a New Creature, a partaker of the Divine Nature; as one coming from Heaven, from the Second Adam, and so exactly like him in every thing, that he is as Wise, Good, and virtuous, is the other is Foolish, Bad, and Vicious. Nay, does not Nature as well as Scripture teach us, to distinguish our Twofold Selves; but if any doubt of it, the taste of a Grape or any Fruit, before and after it's Ripe, will convince him of it. And does not the profane and Hypocrite, ever causelessly Hate and Persecute the virtuous and the Upright? And that merely out of spite, because they are Born of the Spirit, and Claim a Right, thro' Grace, by it ( not of Work or Merit) to their lost angelic Birth-right found again, and Purchased for them, and Promised to them, by the Second Adam, from whom they derive their Being, being Born again of him; but the other lay claim to the same, by virtue of their Primo-geniture, being Born after the Flesh, and so the Natural Off-spring of the First Adam, in his Degeneration; and is not Cain the First-born, and the first murderer( who for this very reason, slay his own Brother) a most Exact Figure?  
But now what use Men have made of all these Dicoveries, Advices and Advantages, our Bibles, our Histories, our Consciences, our Senses, and Experiences do inform us? And may we not easily and rightly guess, how things come to such a pass? That the Natural Man influences all before him, and all submit to him, and are guided by him, as if it were their Interest and Duty so to be and do; for why may not he to gain a point turn Saint, as the Devil an Angel of Light? And what was it but his seeming Devotion, and his human Learning, that brought him into the Esteem he is in? And is not that the reason, why Preaching, and Praying, Reading, and Hearing, baptizing, and Communicating, passes for Religion among these sort of Men? For have they not thereby a fine opportunity of Advancing, Enlarging and Perpetuating their own Reputation, their Grandeur and Gain, in Managing, Ordering and Dispensing every thing relating to this kind, of Verbal, Formal and External Religion; and do they not cunningly and designedly slight and over look the Divine Definition. the Apostle gives of Religion, when he makes it to consist in Purity and Charity only, devoid of all Formality and Hypocrisy?  
If there has been, within the Memory of Man, a mean illiterate Tradesman, who has Written largely and deeply of Divinity and Philosophy, by Divine Inspiration; and if such a one( after so long a time) be little known, and what he has Written in little esteem; is it not an ill Sign, that antichristianism, is yet too much every where prevailing, not withstanding our so long pretended separation therefrom? When with so much seeming Devotion, we left the Idols of Wood and ston, and favoured those of our Ambitious, avaricious, and Luxurious Desires within, which Defiles a Man, keeps up the Schism, and him in the Faction, as much as the other does or can. And is not this the reason why the Reformation has made so slow a Progression for so long a time, and does not this press hard upon us, to Entertain a thorough Scripture Reformation?  
Again, is not this Revelation a good Sign, of such a Divine Revolution near approaching? Wherein we shall cease from Man, and from leaning to our own Understandings, and Trust in and Exalt God alone; and when this is universally done, will not all antichristianism soon dwindle into nothing? And the Kingdoms of this World thereupon soon become the Kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; when all Debauchery, Hypocrisy and Cruelty shall cease, or give place to Piety, Truth and Charity. When all things shall return to what they were in the Primitive time, when the Apostles lead angelic Lives, wrought Miracles, spake all Languages, healed all Diseases, and some with the very shadows of their Bodies, had all things in common, and none said any thing that he had was his own. And thus Lived and Dyed our ever Good and Blessed Lord, and thus Adam and his Off-spring had Lived, had they not sinned; and thus Live now all the Angels of God in Heaven, having nothing of their own, but all in common; and who ever in these Days Lives thus, Lives he not like a Christian of the first Edition?  
If schism flow from Sin, and Faction from schism, as the Stream from the Fountain, must not all Sinners be Schismatical Factions Creatures? But are we not all Sinners? 'Tis true Naturally all are so, for we are all Born in Sin, as coming from him, who involved himself and all his Off-spring therein. But Spiritually 'tis otherwise with many, for the New Creature( if we believe the Scripture) is no Sinner, for he is Born again, and cannot Sin for the reason there given: And is not this the Spiritual Man, that so much notice therein is took on, as a just Man who gives to every one their own, and for that reason, has nothing left him to Live on, but Faith alone, that's given him from Heaven. Again, if Schism be a separating ourselves from the Communion of the Holy catholic Church of the First-born, and from God and his Angels in Heaven; and if Faction be a Combination of Devils and Devilish Men, uniting and resolving to do all they can, to run down the same, and to annoy and destroy all that adhere thereunto; can any thing be more vile and odious, dangerous and mischievous to the Factious( considering the Circumstances they were in) than this Schism and Faction?  
Did not such a Power attend on our Lord when he came into the World as drew all Men to him, and enabled them to press thro' him, with violence into Heaven; and did they not thereupon( tho' illiterate and mean in the Worlds Esteem) soon became a Royal Priesthood. a Wise and Holy Nation? A kind of First-fruits of the Harvest to come, and may we not see thereby, what a Harvest that will be, when it comes, as shortly it will do? Are not the things in our Bibles, inserted therein for Example to all Persons and Churches in all Ages, and are we not to try all Principles and Practices thereby?  
Came not Antichrist in soon after the Apostles and their Disciples were Dead and gone? And when he came, turned he not all Religion into form? And all Christendom upside down? And is not this the Man of Sin? And will he not soon become the Son of Perdition? And if this be his Doom and that his Disposition? What reason can be given, why so many Protestant Clergy-men seem so inclinable to him, as in favour of him to be so fond of, so kind to, and so farmiliar with the worst sort of Men? The most vicious and profane, who daily dares( as well as daily preys) God to Damn 'em, out-doing therein the Devils themselves, who not without great Cause, Believes and Trembles, at every sensible apprehension of the near approaching Wrath to come; but if they design not this, design they not something else, much worse? To run down or ruin a sort of Sober and Serious Men of the Protestant Religion, out of mere Spleen, for disowning them and their Faction.  
But if this their most Unchristian Combination, that debauches such Multitudes of Clergy and Lay-men, be not soon broken, it will break them; as the like has done others before them, whereof our Bibles gives us manifold Instances, but none so pat to this purpose as that of the Pragmatical Factious and Schismatical Levites and Reubenites, so exactly resembling, if not prefiguring a sort of Clergy and Lay-men, at Rome, elsewhere, and at home, as daring and aspiring as them, whom the Lord so severely taught what it was to combine together( under any pretence whatsoever) to Sin and Rebel against him, their supreme and only Sovereign, from whom they derived their Being, and to whom they owe( for that reason) all Obedience and Subjection.  
And now Sir, if your Ingenuity be from Heaven, from the Divine Anointing; and not only from Arts and Parts, and human Learning, 'twill soon show you, what God in this Case requires of you, and expects from you, and if you be truly sincere and hearty, 'twill expeditiously engage you to act accordingly, in the Spirit of Meekness as becomes you. But if you, and those whose Office it is, to help in such a Case as this, should utterly fail us, so that nothing this way be soon done, 'twill probably be done shortly in another, infinitely more severe, by him who is a Jealous God, and a Consuming Fire; who will not be Mocked, but will cause every Man to Reap what he sows; as he daily and hourly does, as all sensibly feels and knows, who Transgress his Holy Laws, save only those, who by their reiterated Impietys have seared their own Consciences, and lost 〈◇〉 the crowd of their Lust, their best, inmost, and highest revived and renewed Senses and Faculties, those faithful Moniters of our Dutys, constant Reprovers of our Vices, and most useful Discoverers of our Losses, our lost Lives, and Images, Graces, and Places in paradise, what and where both it and they now are, and how and which way, they may again be had and reinjoyed.  
Now if they only be Wise, that are Wise for themselves, are they not Fools who thus Destroy themselves, their Souls and their Senses, by their Vanity, Lusts and Vices? And yet is not this the common practise of all Sinners? And are they not for this accounted Fools in the Scripture? For if this be the only time for our growing into an Angelical or Diabolical Form, according to what we here take in, love, like and set our Hearts upon; must not all those be only Wise, who daily grow by their virtuous Lives into their own first and lost angelic Images, which fits them for, and admits them into paradise? And are not all those Fools who neglect this and Eternally Perish?  
Why are the Vicious so Ambitious of seeming Religious, do they think their Formalities will compensate for their Extravagancies? Or is it to serve a Turn, and please a Faction? Why doth the Practical atheist so boast of being a Conformist? When he knows 'tis all false, mere show and flourish; for who are Conformists, but those who in their Lives comform to Gods Laws? Or who separatists, but they who separate themselves from the Holy catholic Church by their vicious Lives? Are not all true Believers, in all Spiritual Matters, ever guided by the Holy Scriptures, and where they are wanting, by the Light of Gods most Holy Word, engrafted( and shining) in them; and act they not therein, like Wise and Rational Men? For if God be True, and every Man a liar, how can they do wiser, than to be guided by him in every thing, and by them in nothing? And had Men done thus all along from the Beginning, how happy had the World been? How full of Love, Peace and Union, and how free from War, Mischief and Confusion? Again, who but Sinners are Dissenters; for Dissent they not in all their Ways from the Holy Rules of the Holy Scriptures? And without Repentance shall they not as such, at our Lords Appearance, be for ever separated from his Presence? From Heaven and Happiness, into Hell and Wretchedness.  
But if we scruple the Existence of Heaven or Hell, will not Nature in all its Impresses on all our senses thoroughly Convince us, that all the Scripture saith of both, is the very Truth? For what makes the World look like Heaven but the Sun? And what but its perpetual withdrawment therefrom, can render it as Terrible as Hell? Or can any thing of this Nature be more clear that Heaven and Hell( in the minutest Circumstances of either) are here every where represented in Figure, by all the Fruits and Effects, Results and Products of Summer and Winter, of Good and Bad Weather? Comes not all the Good of this World from Heaven, and all its Evil from Hell, and Hell from the Devil, and the Devil and his Angels from Sin? For had they kept themselves from Sin, they had kept in Heaven, and kept Hell from ever being felt or known; and how Terrible so ever Sin is to them, 'tis not so to Men in their mixed Being, it receiving such Allays therefrom, that its Terribleness cannot reach us here, after that dreadful manner it can and will do hereafter, when Death strips us of this Mixture, and turns us into Devils, into never dying Fierce and Fiery Worms, and so renders our Natures( according to the predominancy of our desires) exactly like theirs. And if we believe all this, as we cannot choose, if we believe our Senses, that are given us to direct, secure and save us; and Live as we believe, shall we not led a Divine Life in Heaven, whilst on Earth? As every Man doth who Lives by Faith, if Faith be the Substance of things hoped for, and those things be Heaven, and the things thereof and therein; and if Faith bring us thro' the New Birth into a Divine Life, if it Justifys, Sanctifys and Saves us, if it overcome the World for us, and Substantiates Heaven to us, which otherwise would hardly be discerned by us, tho' within us; how ought we to value, prise and improve it, be thankful for it, and Live by it? That we may be Eternally Holy and Happy thro' it.  
If our Bibles tell us that the Last Days shall be perilous, because Men shall be Lovers of their own selves, Covetous, Boasters, Proud, Blasphemers, Disobedient to Parents, Unthankful, Unholy, without Natural Affection, Truce Breakers, false Accusers, Incontinent, feiree Heady and High-minded, Lovers of Pleasures more then Lovers of God. Having a Form of Godliness, but denying the Power thereof. And if they charge all this on false Teachers and their numerous Followers, whose Successors by degrees, thro' several succeeding Ages, have contributed much to bring things to this dismal pass; and if they also show us not only the dreadful Consequences of this horrible Wickedness, that thus flows in upon us( and abounds among us) from those Spiritual Wickednesses in High Places, that has filled us with all manner of Filthiness and superfluity of Naughtiness, but what the Righteous should do in such times, and in such cases as hese, but especially those whom our Lord chooses, qualifies and employs in his Service, as his Ministers and ambassadors. How Zealous( like Moses, Phineas and Elias) they should demean themselves; by their good and virtuous Examples, their fervent and frequent Prayers, and by all other their prudent and pious Endeavours, to do all they can to Convince. Convert and Reform every Man: And to stop the overflowing Stream of Sin, that Abomination of Desolation, and to divert those just Judgments from falling upon us for these Causes, that so long has hung over us, threatening to destroy us, and if these be our Duties? What says our Consciences, they have no greater Influences over us, but have been so shamefully neglected by us; and does it not therefore insinitley behove us( as we value Gods Glory, our own Safety, and others Prosperity) to be more Zealous and Conscientious herein for the future. And if this Letter shall be of any use for this purpose, to advance and further any thing of this nature, 'twill fully Answer the hearty desire of its Author, who desires nothing more, but that every Man, every human Creature, should ever endeavour to the utmost of their Power( after the way and manner, they are directed by the Holy Scripture) to rectify every Error, and reform every Misdemeanour, that God their Saviour might delight in them, and they in him for ever, according to the gracious design of his own good Will towards them, and of all the great and good things he has done for them, and bestowed on them.  
And now Sir you'l oblige me, if you'l excuse the trouble I have given you, and take no notice of me, nor inquire after me, nor no way reply to me; for I love Peace and Privacy to that degree, that nothing but a real or seeming necessity, could have induced me( considering my own superlative Deficiency, and others unaccountable Tenacity) to appear thus publicly. I am in great Sincerity( tho a Stranger to you)  
Sir, 
 Yours 
 To Serve you.