A SAD MESSAGE FROM HEAVEN Threatening Destruction to ENGLAND: EXCEPT Speedily prevented by real Repentance and amendment of LIFE. Prov. 28.2. For the Transgression of a Land, many are the Princes thereof. But, Woe to them for their day is coming, the time of their Visitation, Jer. 50.27. LONDON, Printed for Tho. Vere, and are to be sold at his shop at the upper end of the Old-Bayley, 1648. Symptoms of Ruin, OR, The Sword and Famine, the Attendants of Oppression. Whatsoever things were written aforetimes were written for our learning, Rom. 15.4. But, a jer. 6.10,11,13. To whom shall I speak and give warnning that they may hear (saith the Prophet.) Behold, their ears are uncircumcised they cannot hearken. The word of the Lord is to them a reproach, they have no delight in it. 11 Therefore am I full of the fury of the Lord, I am weary with holding in, I will pour it out upon the children abread. 13 For from the least of them even to the greatest of them, every one is given to covetousness, And from the Prophet to the Priest every one dealeth falsely d Isa. 1.23. A wonderful and horrid thing is committed in the land, Thy Princes are rebellious and companions of Theives, Every one loveth gifts and followeth after rewards. e jer. 22.27. Their Princes in the midst thereof are like Wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood and destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. f Micha 2.2. They covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses and take them away, so they oppress a man and his house: Even a man and his heritage. g Mark 12.40. Which devour widows houses, and for pretences make long prayers. Yea thus saith the Lord, h Ezek. 33.31. They come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words but they will not do them, for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness. i Amos 3.10. For they know not to do right saith the Lord, who store up violence and robery in their Palaces. k Psal. 14.4. Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? Who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the Lord l Psal. 53.4. Behold ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness, ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voices to be heard on high. m Hos. 9.15. For all their princes are revolters. n Isa, 56.11. They are greedy dogs which can never have enough. o Hag. 1.7. Therefore Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Consider your do. p Isa. 58.5. Is it such a fast that I have chosen, will ye call this a fast? and an acceptable day to the Lord? q Amos 5.16.21.22. Therefore the Lord the God of Hosts, the Lord saith thus, I hate and detest your Fast days, and I will not smell in your Solemn Assemblies, Though you offer me burned offerings, and your meat offerings, I will not accept them. r Isa. 66.3. He that killeth an Ox, is as if he slew a man, He that sacrificeth a lamb, is as if he cut off a dog's neck: He that offereth an offering, as if he offered swine's blood, And he that burneth Incense, as if he blessed an Idol. s Isa. 1.15. And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hid mine eyes from you, yea, when ye make many prayers I will not hear, your hands are full of blood. t Prov. 2.13,14. Who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness u Amos 5.23,24. Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked, Therefore, Take away from me the noise of your lying, for I will not hear the melody of your Viols. But let judgement run down as water, and righteousness as a mighty stream. w Isa. 58.6,7. Is not this the fast that I have chosen to lose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke. 7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out into thy house, and when thou seest the naked that thou cover him. x Mat. 9.13. Go ye and learn what that meaneth, saith our Saviour, I will have mercy and not sacrifice. For y Ps. 25.10. All the ways of God are mercy and truth. z Pro. 14.2. He that walketh in his uprightness feareth the Lord, But he that is perverse in his ways despiseth him a Ezek. 2.3 4. But They and their fathers have transgressed against me, even to this very day, for they are impudent children and stif-hearted. b Deut. 32 5. They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children, they are a perverse and crooked Generation. c Isa 66.3. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, & their soul's delights in their abominations. d jer. 18.12 13. And they say— But we will walk after out own do, and we will every one do the imaginations of his evil heart. 13 Therefore thus saith the Lord, ask ye now amongst the heathen who hath heard such things. * Isa. 1.2 Hear Oh Hearens and give ear Oh Earth, I have nourished children, and they have rebelled against me. * Isa. 5.3 4 judge I pray you between me and my Vineyard: What could I have done more for them. e Ps. 107.6. When they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, he delivered them out of their distress. f Mat. 11.21. And if the mighty works which had been done in you had been done in Tyer and Sydon they would have repent long ago in sackcloth and ashes. g job. 37.14. Hearken unto this, consider the wondrous works of God. h Hag. 1.7. And Consider your do. l Deut. 32.6. Do ye thus requite the Lord O foolish people and unwise? m jer. 5.29. Shall I not visit for these things saith the Lord? shall not my soul be avenged on such a Nation as this? n Deut. 23.25. I will heap miseries upon them, I will spend mine arrows upon them. o jer. 13.14 25. And I will dash them one against another, the father and son together saith the Lord, I will not pity nor spare nor have merry but destroy them. 25 This is thy lot, the portion of thy measure from me saith the Lord, Because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood p jer. 11.22. Therefore thus saith the Lord of Hosts, Behold I will punish them, their young men shall die by the sword, and their sons and their daughters shall die by famine. q Eze. 7.27. And the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled, and I will do unto them after their ways, and according to their do will I judge them. r Isa. 3.11. woe to the wicked it shall be evil with him, for the reward of his hands shall be given him. s Ps. 7,16. His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate. t Deut. 32.41,42. If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on indignation. I will render vengeance to mine Enemies, I I will reward them that hate me. 24. I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, And my sword, shall devour flesh. u 1 Sam. 15.33. And as thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. w Rev. 13.9,10. If any man have an ear to hear let him hear. 10 He that leadeth into captivity, shall go into captivity, And he that killeth with the sword, shall be killed with the sword x Mich. 7.13. The land shall be desolate, because of them that dwell therein for the fruit of their do. y Pro. 12.14. And the recompense of a man's hands shall be rendered unto him. z judg. 1.6,7, And Adonibezeck said threescore and ten Kings having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table, as I have done, so God hath requited me. a 1 Sam. 7.9 10,11,12. And Nathan said unto David. 9 Thou hast killed Vriah the Hittite with the sword and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. 10 Therefore the sword shall never departed from thy house. 11 And I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of the sun. 12 Thou didst it secretly, but I will do it before all Israel, and in the sight of the sun. b For there is nothing hid that shall not be manifested, neither any thing kept secret but that it shall come abroad c 1 Cor. 3.8. And every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. d Ps. 18.25,26. With the upright man thou wilt show thyself upright, and with the froward thou wilt show thyself froward, e Mat. 7.2. And with what measure you mere it shall be measured to you again. f Gen, 9.6. Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed, for in the Image of God made he man. g Mat. 26.52. And jesus said— put up again thy sword into his place, for All they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. h Jam. 4.1,2,3,4. From whence cometh wars and fightings among you come they not hence? even of your lusts. 2 Ye lust and have not, ye kill and desire to have. 3 That ye may spend it on your lusts. 4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Therefore i Ps. 68.30. scatter thou the people that delight in war, yea, Thus saith the lord k Amos 9 1. I will slay the last of them with the sword, he that fleeth of them shall not flee away, and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered. For * Ezek. 6.12. He that remaineth and is besieged shall die by the famine, thus will I accomplish my fury upon them. l Mic. 2.1,2,3. And now Oh ye Princes this commandment is for you; if ye will not hear to give glory to my name, saith the Lord of Hosts, I will even send a curse upon your blessings y●…, I have cursed them already, Because ye did not lay it to heart. 3 Behold I will corrupt your séed and spread dung in your faces even the dung of your solemn feasts m Hos. 9.9. For they have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibiah (judges 1) Therefore he will remember their iniquities he will visit their sins. For, n Job 35.9. by reason of multitudes of oppressione they make the oppressed to cry, they cry out by reason of the arm of the mighty. o Job. 20.19 Because he hath oppressed and forsaken the poor, because he hath violently taken away an house which he built not. p Ps. 94.9.10. He that planted the ear shall not he hear, he that form the eye shall he not see? He that chastiseth the Heathen shall he not correct? He that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he know? q Isa. 49.26. For the oppression of the poor, and for the sighing of the needy I will arise saith the lord r Ps. 12.5. And I will feed them that oppressed thee with their own flesh and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with new wine. * Isa. 10.13,14 For he saith by the strength of my hand have I done it, & by my wisdom I have removed the bounds of the people, and have rob their treasuries, & I have put down the Inhabitants of the land, as a valiant man. 14 And my hands hath found as a nest the riches of the people, and as one gathereth eggs that are left have I gathered all, etc. * Hab. 1.16. Thus they sacrifice to their net, and burn incense unto their Drag, Because by them their portion is fat. Therefore s Ezek. 21.9,10,11,28,30,31. Thus saith the Lord a sword a sword is sharpened and four bished. 10 It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter, it is furbished that it may glitter. 11 And it is furbished to give into the hands of the slayer. 28 For the slaughter it is furbished, to consume because of the glittering. 30 I will judge thee in the land of thy nativity. 31 And I will pour out mine indignation upon thee, I will blow against thee in the fire of my wrath, and deliver thee into the hands of brutish men, and skilful to destroy. t Deut. 28.10. A Nation of a fierce countenance which shall not regard the person of the old, nor show favour to the young. u Ezek. 21 32. For, Thou shalt be as fuel to the fire, thy blood shall be in the midst of the Land. w Isa. 10.5,6. Oh Assyrian the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. 6 I will send him against an hypocritical Nation And against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like mire in the streets. x Ps. 149.8. To bind their Kings with chains, and their nobles with links of iron. y Hos. 4.1,2,3,9. For the Lord hath a controversy with the Inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. 2 By swearing, and lying, and killing and stealing and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood. 3. Therefore shall the land mourn, and all that dwelleth therein shall anguish. 9 And there shall be like people like Priests, and I will punish them for their ways, & reward them for their do. z Jer. 5.31. The Prophets prophesy falsely, and the Priests bear rule by their means, and my people loves to have it so? But what will ye do in the end thereof. a Jer. 14.14. The Prophet's prophecy lies in my name, I send them not, they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination and the deceit of their own heart, b Jer. 7.8,9,10,11. Behold ye trust in lying words that cannot profit. 9 Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and walk after other Gods (for ye cannot serve God and Mammon, Mat. 6.24.) 10 And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say we are delivered to do all these abominations. 11 Is this house which is called by my name, become a den of théeves in your eyes, Behold, I have seen it saith the lord c Jer. 25.29. Therefore I will call for a sword. d Isa: 34.5. My sword shall be hathed in Heaven, it shall come down upon the people of my curse to judgement. e Isa. 17.10.14. And because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore behold at eventide trouble, and before the morning he is not, this is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us. f Zeph. 13.13, Their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation, they shall also build houses and net inhabit them, and they shall plant vineyards but not drink the wine thereof. For g jer. 51.56. The Lord God of recompenses shall surely requite. h Isa. 29.13,14,9,10. Wherefore thus saith the Lord, forasmuch as this people draw near unto me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart from me, and their fear towards me is taught by the precepts of men. 14 Therefore behold I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a mervelous work and a wonder, for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. 9 Stay yourselves and wonder, cry ye out and say, they are drunken but not with wine, they stagger but not with strong drink. 10 For the Lord hath poured out upon them the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes, your Priests and your Rulers hath he covered. i Tit. 3.3. For they are foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures. living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But if ye by't and devour one another, Take heed ye be not devoured one of another, for thus saith the Lord, I will call for a sword, and every man's sword shall be against his brother. For the sword shall devour from the one end of the land even unto the other end of the land and no flesh shall have peace. m Ja. 5.1,2,3,4,5. Go to now ye rich men weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. 2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments motheaten. 3 Your gold and silver is cankered, and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire, ye have heaped treasures together for the last day. 4 Behold the hire of the labourers which have reaped down your fields which is of you kept by fraud, cryeth, and the cries— are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabbath. 5 ye have lived on earth and been wanton, ye have nourished your hearts as in the day of slaughter. Therefore, n Ezek. 7.5,6,17,18,19. Thus saith the Lord an evil an only evil behold is come. 6 An end is come it waiteth for thee, behold it is come. 17 All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be as weak as water. 18 They shall gird themselves with sackcloth, horror shall cover them And shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon all their heads 19 They shall cast their silver into the streets, and their gold shall be removed, their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord, they shall not satisfy their souls nor fill their bowels, because it is the stumbling block of their iniquity. o Mat. 27.6. Because it is the price of blood. p Amos 2.6. for they have sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes. q Pro. 1.19. So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain, which take away the lives of the owners thereof. r Zep. 3.7. I punished them but they risen early and corrupted all their do s 2 Kin. 17.17. and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the lord t Ps. 62 4,9. they delight in lies, they bless with their mouths but curse inwardly: Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie; To be laid in the balance they are altogether lighter the● vanity u Rom. 3.10,11,12 13,15,16,17,18. As it is written there is none righteous no not one. 11 There is none that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are altogether become unprofitable, there is none that doth good no not one. 13. Their throat is an open sepulchre with their tongues have they used deceit, the poison of asps is under their lips. 15 Their feet are swift to shed blood. 16 Destruction and misery are in their ways. 17 And the way of peace they have not known. 18 There is no fear of God before their eyes. w 1 Tim. 3.1,2,3,4,5. For this know, that in the latter days perilous, times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous boasters, proud 3 Without natural affection, Covenant-breakers, false accusers, incontinent fierce, despisers of those that are good. 4 Traitors, heady high minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God. 5 having a form of godliness but denying the power there of x Mat. 18.7. For it must be that offences come saith our Saviour, but woe unto them by whom they come, y Mat. 23.13,14. Therefore, Woe unto you scribes and pharisees hypocrites, for ye shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men, for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer others, yea, them that are entering to go in. 4 Woe unto you scribes, pharisees, hypocrites, for ye devour widows houses, and for pretence make long prayers, therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation z Ps. 10.7. The Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men but within ye are full of hypocrisy, and iniquity. a Deut. 27.17,18,24. Therefore cursed be he that removeth his neighbours landmark cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander out of the way cursed be he that smiteth his neighbour secretly, and all the people shall say Amen Amen, Amen. FINIS. Imprimatur john Downame.