AN ALARM, Sounding forth unto all the Inhabitants of the Earth, as a warning before the Vials of everlasting wrath be poured forth upon them. THE Lord of Hosts, whose Name 〈◊〉 whose Way is everlasting, whose 〈◊〉 ●●●●reth for ever, whose Power is unlimited, 〈◊〉 Mercy endures for ever; whose judgements are just and true, and all his Ways are equal; whose presence is dreadful unto all the double minded; whose bright appearance is a fierce Whirlwind of fire, and his voice as the terribleness of many Thunders; all the bowels of the Earth are ripped open by the dread of his powerful voice; and all the created Earthly things passeth away as if they had not been, because of the presence of the Almighty, and the fierce terror of the Lord of glory, who is now arising as a Giant unto the battle, and as a mighty man of valour unto the War; Who a long time hath held his peace, and hid his face, but now saith the Lord, will I arise and roar like a Lion, and utter my voice like a man of war; yea I will arise as a Lion out of a Thicket, and a young Lion out of the Forest; and I will thunder from Heaven, and darkness shall be upon the Earth, and with the fire of my jealousy shall the wicked be consumed, and th● ungodly as the smok● that v●n●sheth for ever. Wherefore come all ye brambles of the Earth, and gather yourselves together all ye briers, thorns and thistles, and all ye strong oaks and tall cedars; yea, all ye fruitless trees tha● long have cumbered the ground, behold, the day is at hand that you shall be consumed for ever and as the stubble ready dry before an unquenchable fire, [that is kindled with the fierceness of the Wind of the Nostrils of the Most High] so shall all the bram●●●● of the earth be. Wherefore assemble yourselves together O ye Heathen, and stand up to judgement O ye Princes and Rulers of the Earth, and prepare to meet the Lord, whose Trumpet is sounding an Alarm out of the holy Mountain to gather the whole host of the Heathen to battle, and the people who know not God to the slaughter of the great King. A rise ye Idol shepherds, awake ye blood thirsty Rulers, stand up together ye fatted Bulls, let all the wild Horses stand to the battle, saith the Lord of Hosts, that I may pour out my indignation like fire upon them, & consume them as in a moment for ever; that I may give you blood to drink, & fill you with torment for evermore; for thus saith the Lord, Once more will I arise & confound mine Enemies, and ease me of mine Adversaries; and I, even I will fill the Heathen with horror, and all mine Enemies with the blackness of darkness; a fire will I kindle in the bowels of the scornful, and in the proud shall the flames burn for evermore; and all the Earth shall know that I the Lord in the midst of them am mighty in power, and that none is able to deliver out of my hand: Therefore shall the shepherds howl for ever, & the Priesthood of England be confounded & covered with a perpetual shame; the Nations afar off shall hiss at them, and the Ages▪ to come shall call them accursed; for the day is at hand that not a Tongue of all the dogs of Egypt shall be lifted up against the seed that long hath groaned under the bondage of cruel oppressors, who by't with their teeth, and imagine evil upon their beds, and lay snares for the souls of the innocent, and watch for iniquity to devour the simple Therefore shall these things come upon you, an unbelieving generation, whose hearts are hardened, ears stopped, & eyes closed, & many of you sealed up unto the great day of everlasting destruction, which upon you the seed of evil-doers is stealing unawares; neither shall you believe the things that are hastening upon you, and declared unto you, for the Prophets & Seers are covered, a deep sleep is upon the brutish Pastors, and the vail is upon the heart of all who are under the old covenant, and many of them are given up to the hardness of their hearts, ●nd their consciences are seared, and such have yet a measure of wickedness to fill up, and then upon them the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction, shall the flames of everlasting burn be poured forth for ever from him that sitteth upon the Throne, Wherefore woe to the inhabitants of the earth for ever, woe to the proud and lofty ones, woe to all the hard hearted, abominable, and unbelieving, the devil is come down among you, the old Dragon is head in you, the god of the world hath blinded your minds; the subtlety of the Serpent hath deceived you, and now Woe is your portion, you are undone for ever; your King is the Angel of the bottomless pit; Gog and Magog are your chief Captains; Cain is your Father; Nimrod the mighty Hunter, the builder of Babel, is your elder brother; the great Whore is your Mother; Ishmael and you are of one house; Pharaoh and Haman are your companions; Judas the betrayer of the Just, is near unto every one of you, and the life of the just cries for vengeance upon your head; the glittering sword of the Most High is drawn to cut you down for ever; the Axe to the very root shall now come, and root and branch shall be cut off for ever. Wherefore all ye Sorcerers, Witches, and sons of the Whore, with all blasphemers, who say you are Jews, and are not come to the true circumcision, but servants of sin, and so the Synagogue of Satan; and all you false Prophets who seed at Jezabels' Table, and not at the Table of the Lord, nor never drunk of the blood of the new Covenant, to cleanse you from all sin, but are daily drinking the cup of Fornication, now come all together, the Standard of the Lord is lifted up against you, and you shall have to drink for ever the cup of the Wine of the fierceness of the everlasting Wrath of the Lord Almighty, and he will plague you with the Beast & the Whore together for evermore, and your seed shall be cut off the Earth, and your children from among the living▪ your memorial shall rot for evermore, and your Name blotted out from under heaven, and all that hear of you, shall hiss at you, and an astonishment and a hissing shall you be unto all people. Where are Queen mary's Judges and bloody persecutors? Where are King Char's his Nobles, and the glory of his mighty men, and the number of his horsemen, and the multitude of his oppressing army, and unmerciful tyrants, who sought to drive down all by their devilish power, who were as high in Wickedness, Tyranny, and cruel oppression, as any of you who are this day thirsting for blood? Where are your Cardinals, Jesuits, Friars and Monks? Where are your Bishops, Archbishops, Deacons, and Deans? Where are your Abbots, Abbeys, Nunneries, and Bishoprics? Where are your Altars, Crosses, Candlesticks, Tippets, Surplises, and Common-Prayer-books? Where are your Rails about your Tables, your Organs, Choristers, and singing-boys. Even as your eyes have seen the overturning of all these, so shall the offspring and residue follow after; and then shall the Priests howl, and the lamentation of the shepherds be heard in all the Land and the great men, and the rich men, and all the mighty of the Earth shall lament bitterly, and many of them shall curse their God, and their King; for their Torment shall come in one day, and there shall be none to deliver; then shall your high places of Worship be left desolate, and the Temple of the beast destroyed for ever, and all the Idols burnt with fire, & the abominations of Molech confounded for ever, & the Whoredoms of the Whore punished with an everlasting destruction; & all them that have committed Fornication with the painted Harlot, shut up in the bed of torment and in the Winepress of the fierceness of the Wrath of the Almighty for evermore. In that day shall the songs of your Temples be turned into howling for ever, the place of holy Worship laid desolate, and the dung of your solemn Feasts spread upon your Faces; your rottenness shall appear, and your unsound parts be made manifest; the Skirts of the Whore shall be discovered, & all your nakedness that long in secret have committed Fornication with her, shall now appear to your everlasting shame. And this shall come upon you as a Whirlwind, & overtake you as a Thief in the night, and when you cry peace, then shall destruction upon destruction come suddenly, and you shall not escape; torment shall take hold upon you; and anguish shall seize upon your inward parts; a fire shall be kindled in your bowels for ever, which shall burn, and none shall quench it. Oh who shall stand in that day! or who shall be able to endure the terror of the Wrath of the Almighty! surely all the ungodly shall be as the grass that is cut down in the heat of Summer, and all the unrighteous as Fuel fitted for the fire: oh! whither then will the sinners fly for help, or the wicked for a refuge? Where shall the liar stand? or how shall the proud endure? What shall be the end of them that know not God? and where will they be hid that obey not the Gospel of his Son? Why certainly into the Lake must they be turned, and with an utter overthrow shall be condemned for ever, as it is written, The wicked shall be turned into hell and all that forget God. Therefore lament, O ye Inhabitants of the Earth, for the Lord is become your enemy by reason of your sins, he is raining snares as thick as hailstones upon you, and the wise men shall be taken in their own craftiness; Judges led away fools, Princes laid in the dust, Diviners turned mad; and a curse will come upon all your goodly things; your glory shall vanish as the dust, & your beauty shall be as the dung upon the Earth, your riches shall eat you up as a Moth doth a garment; your chiefest delights will be your greatest torment; for the Lord is making the Earth empty, and woe to the inhabitants thereof for evermore, no deliverer in it shall be found, neither yet any to comfort you, therefore shall the young man weep & wail, and the strong man cry bitterly; in that day the Priests shall howl, the honourable lament, and the ancient go mourning all the day long; for the Lord is changing times and seasons, and the iniquity of the people is ascended up, and the remembrance of the wicked is come before him, and once more will the Lord shake his hand against the wicked, as in the day of Sodom, and overturn the oppressors, as in the day of Pharian, and shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea; and this shall be known when the Lord passeth through the Earth with his grounded staff, and battles of shake. And in that day shall your solemn meetings be confounded, your high places left desolate and your goodly Temples defaced; bats and owls shall then build in your Steeplehouses, and they shall be for the Fowls of the air to lodge in the night; the unclean beasts, and spirits of devils do, and shall resort thither; a den ●or dogs shall it be made; your bells shall come down after your Organs, and your Temples shattered as the old Abbeys, and a perpetual shame shall come upon all them that have been, & are upholding the outward temple made with hands, wherein God dwelleth not, and they themselves a den of thiefs, and full of rottenness; therefore astonishment of heart shall come within, and destruction and overturnings without; fear on every hand, and amazement shall come upon all flesh; then shall the Vinedressers be ashamed, and them that preach peace to the Wicked shall no longer be hid. Wherhfore all you that have been Parliament members, & all Judges, Mayors, Justices, and Constables, and all other Officers & people whatsoever, that have been upholding the wicked and oppressing the just, & have been hatching mischief against, and acting all manner of cruelty you could invent upon the servants of the Most High God; behold, the Lord will kindle a fire in your bowels, which shall burn in the night-season, and with all your striving against it, and vain hope, shall you not be able to quench it; and when you should go to your grave in peace, even than shall the pangs of hell lay hold upon you, and utter darkness shall compass you in on every side: oh! fierce, furious, & with unspeakable violence will the plagues of God come rolling in upon you like the unmerciful mighty waves of the Sea, which none can stop; for verily When I was sick in Prison, and for a long time so weak that neither I, nor any friend then with me, did never know any one, and recover strength in the body again; at which time I gave up my life, and took my leave of friends, and lay down in the Father's love, not feeling sorrow or pain, friends hardly then knowing whether I breathed or not; in which time I saw things unutterable: and though heaven was opened, and two angels by my sides to bear me away into the everlasting rest, yet was I left only for this end, For the work of the lord amongst the sons of men for a time, and so came into the body again, and having seen before the way that all the wicked shall go out. And this I eternally witness to be true, and now this Paper is written as a warning from the lord by one that came as from the dead, and yet many of you will not believe. and plainly I have seen the way that all the wicked shall go, and the place that they shall abide for ever, and none of their greatness in the world shall save them from it; and I have seen the place where the innocent (whom you hate) & all that die in the Lord shall sleep in the infiniteness of fullness of the Fountain of the Father's unspeakable mercy, and unlimited love, where they shall rest in the fullness of God for ever and ever; and the entrance thereinto is easier, and more to be desired then to fall into asleep, (the sting of death being taken away.) And this I know, and testify what I have seen and so warn all you (the Enemies of the Lamb, his dear Members, and your own souls of the day that is coming upon you, and the vials of Wrath that therein will be poured forth upon you, who when you have felt torment in yourselves, have then let wrath arise up in You, whereby You have been filled with envy against a harmless people, upon whom then (to get ease of that torment) You have acted that cruelty which afterwards the light of Christ in Your own consciences hath condemned You for, and the same will condemn all You for ever that repent not. And these things will certainly come to pass, and then shall all the heathen know that the Lord is the same that ever he was, and that he hath heard the cry of the oppressed, and seen the affliction of his people, and taken notice of all your secret contrivances against them who are born of, and led by the spirit, who are as the sound of the wind unto You, that know not whence they come nor whither they go, who now suffers by you with Christ, and shall reign with him for ever and ever, when he who is their life, shall appear to confound Zions enemies for ever, and overturn the very foundations of the wicked, though never so great and high, and bring down the mighty from their ungodly seats, and overturn the inventions of the Wicked, & pour forth everlasting judgement upon the beast, and all them that bear his mark, or worship his image; & when the Whore shall have blood to drink, and the mouths of her Merchants stopped for ever, and all them that love, and make lies their refuge, with all the unclean and unbelieving (who receive honour one of another) and all the bloodthirsty turned into the Lake, then shall righteousness spread over the Nations as the morning-dew, and holiness as the light of the Sun in Summer; and judgement run down as Water, and peace spring up as a Fountain that overflows, and is never dry. In that day shall the poor of the flock be gathered, and the outcasts of Israel return; deliverance shall come to the captives, and joy to them that have mourned; the wilderness shall then rejoice, and the desert be glad for evermore; springs shall arise in the desert, and a Fountain shall be opened in the wilderness, the Standard of the Lord shall be lifted up on high, the scattered in the desert, and the meek of the Earth shall flow unto it; Nations shall turn unto the Lord of Hosts, and people be gathered to the banner of the Most High; they shall feed together as the Lambs in the morning, and be satisfied as the Flock in Summer; and then shall Zions mourners be comforted and filled with joy for ever; then shall they shout aloud for joy, with hallelujah for evermore, when the smoke of the torment of the Whore (her lovers and her brats) ascends up as the smoke of Sodom for ever and ever. Then shall glory, and honour, and praise arise from them that were beheaded for the testimony of Jesus the light of the world, and unto him that sitteth upon the Throne, and the captives shall come out of their captivity, and the prisoner out of the pit; and every bondman shall be s●t at liberty, and those that are at ease and liberty in the flesh, shall be bound with chains of everlasting darkness for ever & ever, & they shall be tormented day and night in the presence of the holy Angels, and in the presence of the Lamb (who is light) even all them who will not that he should reign who is the Lamb and the light; and then shall they see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who wandered up and down and were strangers and pilgrims on the Earth; these with all their Seed then shall they see in the Kingdom and Dominion of God, and they themselves shut out, and so the parable of the rich man and Lazarus shall they know fulfilled. Wherhfore woe, woe, woe to the Inhabitants of the Earth, and (all you the Enemies of the Lamb, by reason of the judgements that are) yet to come, for your proud flesh, which is as the flesh of horses, shall be as dung upon the Earth, and your flesh is to be given unto the Fowls of the air to feed upon; for the day of the great slaughter is at hand, and the battle of the great King shall be set in order, and every battle of the Warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood, but this shall be with burning and Fuel of fire, and blood shall all them have to drink who are found in Babel the great whore, that long have made the great men of the earth rich, in whom the blood of all the Saints is found, from Abel unto this day, wherein she & her children are thirsting for the blood of all them who believe in the light. Written upon the seventh & eight days of the second month, by him who suffers by some of God's Army in the House of Correction, and Common-Goal for Hampshire, called Humphrey Smith. THE END. London, Printed for Tho. Simmons, 1658.