YOU drive furiously over the necks of King and Parliament, Lawes, Covenants, Loyalty, Pri­viledge, and no humane thing can stand before you: You are now fac'd by the majesty and light of God, while you are asleep in a dark night of earthly affaires: You have appealed to God in your second Declaration, but did not expect so sudden an answer: 'Tis eternall and almighty truth that must and will prevaile; if you come into it, 'twill save you; if you turne from it, you forsake your own mercy; if you op­pose it, you dash your selves in pieces; you cannot go from it, or besides it, but into the darknesse of hell: The Lord is here obbraiding your unbeliefe, but mour­ning over his Jerusalem; with love to your persons, but with fierce anger against your practises: I would you had those lively and fresh evidences of your per­sonall and everlasting good in your owne breasts, as I have; your eternall state is sure; 'tis your present wandrings that are here condemned; Blindnesse hath happened to you in part; and this is the time of casting you away; you will have a time of being received againe; you are now broken off through unbeliefe, you will be graf­fed in againe: 'Tis your falt now, you shall have a re­storing; you will wonder to behold so much goodnesse to your enemies, and so much severity to you. Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdome and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgements and his wayes [Page]past finding out! I have reproved you sharply or cutting­ly, it's proper for you, with vengeance to save you, and to pull you as firebrands out of the fire; your condition re­quires it; Gentlenesse is abused, mercy despised, you have a long time trampled upon kindnesse, and obsti­nately refused the word of the Lord: You must remem­ber my Sermon to you at Windsor upon that Text. O­verturn, overturn, overturn; 'tis Scripture still, and that word lives in and upon you. Saltmarsh his message quickly followed it, Depart from the tents of these un­righteous men, he lives still: And Mr. Pinnels Admo­nition from the Lord following that: These, and o­ther testimonies against you, have been sleighted and disobeyed; your sinnes grow greater, and the anger of God hotter against you; your reprieve is not your salvation; you are growne to a height of confidence and presumption upon your successes; your necks are as iron, and your browes brasse; and you walke uncon­troulable in your way, triumphing as the onely Prin­ces in the earth, as sit to sway the Scepter of England, and all nations; as the onely righteous, honourable people in the world; the great Lords of the Land: Therefore it pleases me to powre contempt upon you, to be shod with scorne and indignation, and so trample upon Princes as morter. Except I should deale thus with you, you would not be sensible of what I say, being hardned against mercy; and having done all you have done against love; Prosperity slayes fooles, and therefore the rod is fit for their backs.

I know my dealing is just and righteous to such as you are, being (as Phil. 3.18, 19.) Enemies to the Crosse [Page]of Christ; seeming friends to his Gospell, Ministry, and Kingdome, but enemies to his Crosse: You hate to thinke that those faire beginnings of your peace and deliverance, should come to end in shame and death; you cannot thinke of leaving your hopes of outward glory, and lying downe quietly, to let the world tram­ple upon you: This you count folly, whose end is De­struction: Destruction you practise, 'tis your worke, 'tis your end, you cannot see beyond it, and you are hastening to it, it is the center to which you tend; and therefore I cannot but shew it you, that you may stop your course before the pit shut her mouth upon you: whose God is their belly; Your faith, understanding & God, is sunke into your bellies, and your rule, your strength, your confidence is only in sensuall and bruitish things; your raised spirits into the things of God are buried in an inferiour region of grosse, dull, carnall affaires, and except I should pierce deep, your slow bellies would not find eares: Indeed you are so lost and drown­ed in sensible things of the world, and so eager in seeking for those things your belly, your carnall affecti­ons require of you, that I doubt you will be deafe to what I say. Whose glory is in their shame; you are full of glory in your great things that you have done; wonderful things, a mighty presence of God. But in sum, what is it? You have torne a poore, sinfull Kingdome in peices; You have executed wrath upon your Brethren, Friends and Country-men; You have laid desolate your Fa­ther the King, the Parliament your Mother, your own Country; this is your glory to be executioners; As­syria the rod of my anger: What a crowne is this? Have you restored, blessed, healed, comforted, saved any? [Page]No, you have but plunged the Kingdome and your selves into a pit of darknesse and confusion: When the things of God are proposed to you, to suffer for o­thers, to love enemies, to do good to all, to blesse all; you glory in your shame, and say, you serve the Lord in this, and there be lower as well as higher dispensations: You are indeed servants of God, so was Nebuchadnez­zar, so is the Devill; and you do the work of God, but 'tis base drudgery, 'tis his strange work, to be instru­ments of his vengeance; and tis a lower dispensation in­deed, to dispense curses, not blessings, to be below in hell, exercis'd in the wrath of God; not above in hea­ven in the glory and love of God; and for sons, heires, so you would be thought, to take pleasure in such mean employment, is vile and unworthy: Who mind earthly things; this is another property of yours, your minds are now captiv'd to the earth, deep in the low­er parts of the earth, pleading the earthly cause of earthly people, or digging caves and holes in the earth to secure an earthly peace to your selves.

'Its high time to withstand you, and to rebuke this destroying Angel; for 'tis not men only that suffer from your violence, but the Lord; your sword goe so deep, That it peirces thorow his soule also: You are gone so far in dissolving the foundations of government, that you are come to him that upholds the pillars of the earth: You reach to the head of principalities and pow­ers, to the Lord who is the author and upholder of all these things; he is in these poore, broken and despi­sed Ordinances of his, and sensible of every blow that is given to them: You have digged thorow the wall of flesh and men, and broke downe that partition wall that [Page]divided them from God; and now you are in the bowels of the Lord, these miserable, broken powers are now the Lord: Go on to teare and rend, you will at last look upon him whom you have peirced, and mourne.

The King and Parliament cry unto God in their di­stresse, saying, Doubtlesse thou art our Father, though A­braham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not, Thou, O Lord, art our Father, our Redeemer. Though you in the greatnesse of your faith, and confidence in your priviledges, as high as Abraham and Israel in your lite­rall forme, doe not know them, yet the Lord ownes them, and will hear their cry and deliver them.

Your proceedings are against the Lord; and though you say these things you doe must be done till Christ come; and when he comes, then 'tis true, there will need none of these things to secure your selves, but as yet you must act as men: In this, you say, your Lord de­laies his coming, and so drunk with your prosperity and victories, you beat your fellow servants.

But here you will finde your Lord in an houre that you were not aware of: You say he will come and destroy you and your waies in time, but he is already upon you, and you are not aware of it, and cuts you asunder; opens your inward parts, divides the secrets of your hearts, and appoints you a portion with hypocrites and un­believers, where is weeping and gnashing of teeth: You act against God, and God against you; Your soules loath him, his soule loathes you.

Finally, Heres nothing written but what was writ­ten in your hearts; 'tis the opening your owne soules; 'tis but what you have fear'd, and that punishment which your owne humiliations and confessions have [Page]acknowledged just and due to you: Nothing but what I have suffered for acting in those waies in which you are; What measure hath been measured to me by God, that doe I measure to you: And as I lay it on you, so I suffer it with you, and shall be content to suffer till you are restored from this condition of shame and wrath, to honour and love, and so dwell with you in these ever­lasting burnings, which will purifie you from all your filth.