A CALL, In the Universal Spirit of CHRIST JESUS, TO ALL THE Wicked and Impenitent Sinners in the World: But more especially to the Inhabitants of England WITH THE City of LONDON, That they all may Repent and turn to God, with all their Hearts, before his Wrath be more kindled, and his future Judgements more appear to Punish the Inhabitants of the Earth for their manifold horrible Sins and Transgressions. This came upon me to write, at the apprehension I had of that sudden Fear which many People were Surprised with, at the late Earthquake, of what should befall them. J. P. Isa. 29.6. Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of Hosts, with Thunder, and with Earthquake, and great Noise; with Storm and Tempest, and the Flame of devouring Fire. Rom. 2.5. But after thy Hardness and Impenitent Heart, treasurest up to thyself Wrath against the Day of Wrath, and Revelation of the Righteous Judgements of God. London, Printed, and Sold by T. Sorole, at the Crooked-Billet in Holywell-Lane, in Shoreditch, 1692. A Call in the universal Spirit of Christ Jesus, to all the Wicked and Impenitent Sinners in the World, etc. O! Fear, Tremble, Quake, and be Astonished all ye Inhabitants of the Earth, and the Sea, unto whom Woe and Calamity belongeth, when you perceive or hear of the Lords shaking the Earth, and causing it to quake: Quake and Tremble, you that so much have scoffed at and contemned Quaking and Trembling at the Word of the Lord; now he is come terribly in his Judgements, and his Hand is lifted up in Judgement, he causeth the Earth to tremble at his dreadful presence; and now his Judgements are in the Earth, that the Inhabitants thereof may learn Righteousness; and be awakened to Righteousness, by the many Warnings that the Lord gives this Generation of Evil-doers: Ah! quake and tremble in this hour of God's Judgements, all you Proud and Wanton ones; you Stiffnecked and Rebellious ones; you Drunkards, Swearers, Liars, and Cursed speakers, who call God to Damn your Souls: Howle, howl, lament, lament with great Lamentation and Weeping, you Covetous ones, whose Hearts and Affections are set upon the Earth and Earthly things; and all you , Heady, Mockers and Despisers of those who are good, the Lord is much grieved with your Works of Darkness and great Abominations, which you continue in, filling up the measure of your Iniquity, wherewith you cumber the Ground; and many appear as if they were fitted for Destruction. What know you how soon the Earth, which God hath shaken, may open upon you and swallow you up quick, and you come to perish in your Sins; you who have in a high degree abused, and slighted the Lords Mercies, For bearance and Long-suffering to you-ward, and set at naught his Counsel, and would have none of his Reproof; you have despised his Correction, refusing to take Warning from the Lord God, who sent many faithful Servants in his Name and Fear to warn you. Therefore is the Righteous and Just God filled with Indignation, and come to plead with you in his Wrath and Vengeance; for Vengeance is his, and he will repay it for the Evil and Wickedness done, and the Provocations wherewith the Inhabitants of the Earth have provoked God to wrath, for the Wrongs and Injuries against him, and one to another; for they that do wrong, shall receive for the Wrongs that they do; for God is no respecter of Persons nor Parties, such as every one soweth, such must he reap from the righteous Judge of Heaven and Earth, who will do all men Right, and is Equal in all his Ways, and will be Righteous in all his Judgements for evermore; when his Judgements are in the Earth, He will punish the Wicked in his Wrath, and vex them in his sore Displeasure; Although the merciful God hath a long time strove with you by his good Spirit, and spared you, you will not always find it so, you Mockers at Quaking and Trembling at the Word of the Lord; now is the Lord making you to quake and tremble, and Pailness of Face and Horror must come upon you, and take hold of you suddenly. In the time of the EARTHQUAKE that came from God, the 8th Day of the 7th Month, 1692. in London, and many other places of this Nation of England, as well as other Countries, I saw in London many struck at that present with a sudden Fear of what might come upon or befall them, but few minded or rightly considered what they had done against Almighty God, to provoke him to Anger and great Displeasure: few were prepared to die the death of the Righteous then, if Death had come upon them, which many feared greatly, when by the Earthquake so many Houses in the City of London, with the Subborbs, were so terribly shaken, that many People were in expectation that their Houses would fall down upon them, and others fearing that the Ground would have opened to sink them down: I was in a great concernment and trouble of mind, for to hear and behold so many People in a sudden expectation of the Death of their Bodies, whilst unsensible of there being dead in their Sins and Trespasses, and so much unprepared for such a final Change or Dissolution of their outward man, they having not Repent of their Wicked Works, nor turned from the Evil of their Ways and Do; and but few did I see that did turn their Minds towards the Lord, to feel him inwardly, or that did turn to him with all their Hearts, who by his great Power did shake the Earth outwardly; but few Rent their Hearts or considered their Ways, to turn to God, to look to him and wait upon him in Humility, Reverence, and a Godly Fear; but many did I behold with stretched out Necks, and wanton Eyes, full of Pride, Vain Glory; and great Abominations were acted and committed in the Fairs at Smithfield and Southwork, and other places, as if God did not see, nor yet regard it. Ah! sinful City and Nation! will you not see? will you not consider nor lay these things to Heart, and Repent of your Crying Sins and great Abominations? Have not your Sins long cried for Wrath and Vengeance to fall heavy upon you? O! that you would once come to hear & obey the Voice of the Lord, and his threatening more Judgement and greater Calamity yet to come upon this City and Nation, if speedily you do not Repent, and turn to God, from all your Transgressions and horrible Abominations wherewith he is so much provoked, and the Name of Christ Jesus, which you profess in Words, dishonoured: Be ye all assured, that the Judgements come and threatened, are not intended or sent where they come, that any should slight or disregard them, but seriously to consider them as so many Warnings from God, to the Wicked, for them to beware and take heed how they continue any longer in Sin, Rebellion and hard Heartedness against the Lord, lest sudden Destruction come upon you, that you will not be able to escape or flee from; you that declare your Sin as Sodom, what know you how swiftly the Destruction may come? O! remember and forget not that great Calamity which God Almighty of late brought upon Port-Royal in Jamaica, and how many Persons in a moment perished, who may be were not more wicked than many in England are: O! why will you die in your Sins, by remaining and abiding therein? Why do you retain your Hardness and Impenitency of Heart, treasuring up Wrath against the Day of Wrath, and the Judgement of the great Day? Will neither past, present, nor future Judgements alarm or awaken you? Will you still stop your Ears, close your Eyes, and harden your Hearts against the Lord? Have not many of you made your Hearts as an Adamant? Are you not past feeling of what God intended for the awakening of you [out of your sleep in Sin and Death] by that great and lamentable Plague and Fire in this City, and other Places? And is not War a heavy Judgement and Calamity wherever it continueth long? Do you forget these things, and him that sends or suffereth them to come in any Nation as he pleaseth? O! tremble before the Lord! fear and dread his holy Name! Weep and howl for the Misery that will come upon you speedily, except you Repent, except you Cease to do Evil, and Learn to do Well, in your time and day given you of God to Repent in; you seed of Evil-doers, and Children that are Corrupters, you Proud and Wanton Ones, you Stiffnecked and Rebellious Ones, you Drunkards, Swearers, Liars, Whoremongers, and cursed speakers, who call God to damn your Souls; Cease from the Evil of your cursed speaking, with all the Evil of your Ways and Do: Repent, repent, and lament bitterly for so often Piercing, vilifying, and putting to shame the Lord of Life and Glory, Christ Jesus, of whom you make some outward Profession, but God searcheth and knoweth your Hearts; he heareth all your cursed blasphemous Words, and seethe all your wicked Ways and Do, whereby you provoke the Lord to wrath in a great degree of Wickedness, and foul Abominations acted and committed daily by many against the Lord, which will prove your Ruin, who do not take warning in your day and time, which is but short, that God will allow you in this World; consider the precious time God already hath afforded you, and call to mind the many Warnings you have had from God, through his faithful Servants, who have been stirred up in the Spirit of the Lord to pronounce his Woes and Judgements that should fall upon the Wicked and Ungodly, that did refuse to take warning, and amend their ways. Consider the Eternal Power of the Lord, which he is come to make known in the Earth, and in the Kingdoms of men, and over all he hath appeared to shake the Earth, and the Heavens, and all Nations; the Lord is come with Power and great Glory, to shake the Earth inwardly that is set in man's Heart, that it may be removed out of the Heart, and so preparation may be in the Heart for the Lords appearance, to shake and remove that which is to be shaken, either inwardly or outwardly, and so People may come to the Knowledge of that which cannot be shaken with the Wind. O Earth, hear the Word of the Lord, and be astonished ye Heavens, fear and dread before him all ye Nations of the Earth, and People of all Languages and Persuasions whatsoever, put no longer the Evil day afar off from you; you high and low, rich and poor, bond and free, that have caused the Seat of Violence to draw near; but put far from you all your Envy, Wrath, Bitterness and Cruelty that so long hath had place in you, and hath been vented forth by many of you in Words and Actions against the appearance of the Lord, and that which is good, wrought by him in People, and in the World; which you should have received, loved, and made choice of; you that have been and are Gainsayers and Opposers of the Appearance and Work of the Lord in your day, how have you called good evil, and evil good; put Light for Darkness, and Darkness for Light; Sweet for Bitter, and Bitter for Sweet, being unacquainted with the Eyesalve, you cannot see aright into the things of God, nor distinguish them from the contrary: So you Justify the Wicked, and would take away the Righteousness of the Righteous from them, in your Blindness and Darkness that you are in; you have shut the Kingdom of Heaven against men, would neither enter in yourselves, nor suffer them that would; Woe unto you whited Walls and painted Sepulchers, you appear beautiful to People, led into and kept in Darkness by you; but the Lord hath a Controversy with you, you Idol-Sheepherds, who seek your Gain from your Quarter, but seek not the jost Sheep, nor watch for the Soul: What account can you give of your Flooks which you are set over by men, and come to them as sent of men, by whom you expect to be upheld? Are not many of your Flocks starved, instead of being fed by you? Wherewith will you have to Answer the chief Shepherd and Bishop of Souls, Christ Jesus, whose Ministers followed his Example, and fed the Sheep and Flock of Christ with Spiritual Meat, whom they had the oversight of; they laboured with great diligence to beget People that heard them, to God, that they might believe to the saving of the Soul; they did not turn any from, but to the Light of Christ Jesus, that they might love it, believe and walk in it, and become Children of it: But the Ministers made and sent by Man, have stumbled at, hated and rebelled against this Light, and some in their blind Zeal, without divine Knowledge, have contemned it, and encouraged there Hearers, in their contemning of the Light of Christ, with which they are lightened, instead of turning People from Darkness to the Light of Life, which is the Cause why so many Nations, Peoples, Kindred's and Tongues yet sit in Darkness, and under the region of the shadow of Death; and is the very Cause why so much Sin and Error is spread over the Nations and Kingdoms of this World. Now are the Nations and People made Drunk, and stagger with the Whore's Cup, which she hath put into their Hands to drink, which is the cause of there stumbling, and so much falling into the Pit, and why so many are still snared and taken in that which is Evil, which by the Light of the Lord, the Light of the World, if they would turn to it, they might all see, and also avoid the appearance of Evil in the temptation thereunto; and Peoples being in Darkness from this Light, is the cause why they do not see the Hand of the Lord, when lifted up in Judgement; 'tis but few will regard it before they feel it come heavy upon there Heads; altho' God be laying waste Countries near us, and hath brought Desolation in the Earth, yet little is this laid to Heart by such as at present are spared from being so smitten, as some Countries have been and still are, although possibly not greater Sinners, or more sinful Nations than this, and yet sorely punished, wasted and spoiled by the present Hand of the Lord in Judgement. And if the People of this Nation go on in these grievous Sins and Trespasses in Rebellion against God, he will certainly make them sick in smiting of them, and put them in Fear, and Astonish them more and more, and lay their Honour and Glory in the Dust, as he hath done in other Countries already; for how soon can he work Wonders to the Amozement of People and Nations! How soon can he lay a City on Heaps, and make a strong Nation desolate! What is a fenced City or strong Nation before the Lord! when he in his Wrath entereth into Judgement, and pleadeth with People in his sore Displeasure: who can turn away his Wrath, or stop him from pouring out his Fury and Indignation? of which now the Inhabitants of this City and Nation are apparently warned by the late dreadful Earthquake, that you all might prepare for whatsoever may follow after it, and not perish in your Pride, you Proud Ones, nor you Drunkards in your Drunkenness, nor you filthy unclean persons in your Filthiness and Debauchery, nor you Swearers, Liars, Cursed Speakers, or Covetous Ones, might die in your Iniquity, nor any Evil which the City and Nation even so horribly abounds with. And Repent, Repent all you Backsliders, who are revolted and slidden back from the Truth and Way of God; and love and have chosen the Way of the Wicked, which is Darkness, whereby you have been led, and have walked in Crooked Ways and Bypaths, and taken a liberty out of the Truth, and use it to your own and other People's hurt, and to the grief of the pure and holy Spirit of the Lord God eternal. I have Compassiod truly in my Heart towards some of you, that have a Sincerity remaining yet in you that know the Truth, and that no Lie is of it, how beit ye do not obey it, nor do after the pure Requiring of it; the Lord is angry with you, and will now plead with you in his Wrath, except you Repent and turn to the Lord and his Truth (with your Hearts) which you own and profess in Words, but are gone from the Life and Power of it. I know some of you began well to run in the Heavenly Race, that God by his Light set before you, and walked many Years on with the Flock of God, in the Path of the Just, in much Love, Unity and Concord; but afterwards departed in your Hearts from the Lord, his Truth, and the comfortable Society of his People, and the Lord is much displeased with your Spirit of Separation and Division; and you Backsliders in heart shall be filled with your own Ways and Evil Devices, your separation will become Loathsome and an Abhorrence to all who are spiritually minded, and the longer you cleave to it, the worse you will be, more hardened and separated from God and your own good, being separate from the Spiritual Fellowship and Communion of the faithful Flock of Christ Jesus, the only Saviour and Redeemer: your shelter in the World and spirit of it will fail, when Calamity cometh upon Evil-doers, lean thereon never so much, and flee to it as much as you will for help, that help will stand you but in little stead, in this dreadful Day of God's Judgements, you will be judged; and your Works of Darkness punished, by the great Judge of Heaven and Earth, who will Reward every man according to his Works. And all you great Pretenders to Reformation, who are out of the Life and Power of God, and are even strangers to the divine Nature of Christ Jesus, and know not him within you, the Hope of Glory, being Ignorant of the Life and Power of Christianity, which you do profess in Words, and outward Appearance; Repent, repent, the Lord hath a Controversy with you; he will afflict and punish you yet more and more for your Sins, which you stand charged with, and are found guilty of in the Eye of the great Judge of Heaven and Earth, especially you that have afflicted or helped forward the Afflictions the of Righteous and their Sufferings, as Evil Instruments in the hand of Satan, and by his Power; the Lord will afflict you, and sorely punish you for your Iniquity and Wickedness, which you have acted and committed against the Lord and his Faithful Servants, when Persecution did arise because of the Word: How many pretend Preachers, or Ministers of the Word, who have in their Malice and Envy raised or spread abroad false Reports against the Truth and Innocent Professors thereof, to hinder the progress and spreading of the Truth of God, with their Lies and Scandals against the Upright and the Just, who have been and are Doers of the Truth, and Faithful Followers of Christ Jesus: Woe, woe, from him is coming upon you, you whited Walls and painted Sepulchers, and all you Daubers with untempered Mortar, your inward Darkness and Blindness of mind is seen, that you are black inwardly; you whited Walls, your Whitening wherewith you white your outside, is seen and discovered with the Light of Christ Jesus; your painting yourselves with the Prophets, Christ's or the Apostles Words, whilst you are from the Life of the Word, and the safe Guidance of the Spirit of Truth, that will profit you little, nor cover you in the day of the Lords Wrath; God will shake and undo your Directory or Church-Faith, made by Men, whereby many have been kept from waiting for the Spirit of God, and to receive Faith from him, which purifieth the Heart, whereby the only true God is pleased; you may appear fair and beautiful before men, you Idol-Sheepherds, and principal of the Flocks, and gatherings together about worship of God, whilst you do not Spiritually know him; the Shame of your Nakedness will shortly appear to the People, blindly led and deceived by you, and daubed over with your untempered Mortar; howling and bitter Lamentation will come upon you; many are desiring Eyesalve that they may see, and such who buy that, will see, and more loathe and hate your Merchandise, how finely painted or daubed soever it may appear outwardly to Men, you Wolves in Sheep's clothing, many do see, and Nations will abhor you and your dishonest Gain, which so long you have sought and gaped after: People comes to see your Deceit, and are ashamed of your Covetous Practices, and your Works of Darkness. I was constrained in the Spirit of the Lord God at this time to write, and upon the occasion and Remembrance of the Judgements of the Lord already past, as well as what now is; with a deep Consideration of what may yet proceed from God, as Threatened by the late Dreadful EARTHQUAKE, to call all People to Repentance and Amendment of Life speedily, before it be too late; that those so very grievous provoking Sins and Abominations now committed in this City and Nation, with many other Cities and Nations, may be Repent of, which indeed hath kindled Gods fierce Wrath to that degree, which may bring great Ruin and Desolation, if you continue therein; but if by Repentance, Weeping and Lamentation, you yet turn to God with all your Hearts, and put away the Evil of your Ways and Do from before the Eyes of the Lord, from the highest to the lowest, both Rich and Poor, Bond and Free; and not add Sin to Sin, as you have long done, and which now abounds almost every where; who knows yet but God may turn away his Wrath now threatened to be poured forth and executed. So Rend your Hearts, and not your Garments; be truly humbled under the Hand of the Lord, that is now lifted up in Judgement: Fear the Lord, and believe in his Name, cease from Evil, and do Good in your time, for upon such the Lord will have Mercy, they will not die in their Sins when they die, but will die in the Lord the Death of the Righteous, and will have the Reward of the Righteous, even Everlesting Rest and Peace: Which that you all may come to know and Inherit, and that it may go well with you in this World, and that which is to come, is the real Desire of your Friend, and a faithful Wellwisher of all Mankind; James Park. THE END.