Christ hath been pleading with England these fourscore years and more by the word of his Gospel, for his worship and for ⟨image 201⟩his Sabbaths, and yet the inhabitants are not persuaded. Nay, he hath been pleading these six years by threatenings,1 and fire, and sword, and yet can prevail but with very few: And though these bloody arguments have been spread abroad, and brought home to people from Parish to Parish, almost as far as the word hath gone, so that there is scarce a Parish in many counties where blood hath not been shed & the bodies of the slain have not been left, yet the generality of England is no more persuaded, then they were the first day of their warning; and they have not heard the voice of the rod, which hath cried up and down their streets, Yet O England, will ye not sanctify my Sabbaths, nor call upon my name, nor regard my word, nor turn from your worldliness and wickedness? God hath given them a lash and a reproof, a wound and a warning; he hath (as it were) stood in their blood with the sword in his hand, and among the heaps of the slain hath he pleaded with the living, and said, What say you? Will you yet worship me, and fear me, and take me for your Lord? And yet they will not: Alas, yet to this day England will not; Let me here write it, and leave it upon record, that God may be justified, and England may be shamed; and posterity may know, if God do deliver us, how ill we deserved it, or if he yet destroy us, how wilfully we procured it: And if they that pass by shall ask, Why hath God done thus to a flourishing and prosperous land? You may give them the true, though sad answer, They would not hear, they would not regard: He smit them down, he wounded them, he hewed them as wood, and then he beseeched the remainder to consider and return, but they never would do it: They were weary of his ways, they polluted his Sabbaths they cast his word and worship out of their families, they would not be at the pains to learn and obey his will, nay they abhorred his Ministers, and servants, and holy paths, and all this to the last breath: When he had slain five thousand or eight thousand at a fight, the rest did no more reform, then if they had never heard of it:
Christ hath been pleading with England these fourscore yeers and more by the word of his Gospel, for his worship and for ⟨image 201⟩his Sabbaths, and yet the inhabitants are not perswaded. Nay, he hath been pleading these six yeers by threatnings,1 and fire, and sword, and yet can prevaile but with very few: And though these bloody arguments have been spread abroad, and brought home to people from Parish to Parish, almost as far as the word hath gone, so that there is scarce a Parish in many counties where blood hath not been shed & the bodies of the slain have not been left, yet the generality of England is no more perswaded, then they were the first day of their warning; and they have not heard the voice of the rod, which hath cryed up and down their streets, Yet O England, will ye not sanctifie my Sabbaths, nor call upon my name, nor regard my word, nor turn from your worldliness and wickedness? God hath given them a lash and a reproof, a wound and a warning; he hath (as it were) stood in their blood with the sword in his hand, and among the heapes of the slain hath he pleaded with the living, and said, What say you? Will you yet worship me, and fear me, and take me for your Lord? And yet they will not: Alas, yet to this day England will not; Let me here write it, and leave it upon record, that God may be justified, and England may be shamed; and posterity may know, if God do deliver us, how ill we deserved it, or if he yet destroy us, how wilfully we procured it: And if they that passe by shall ask, Why hath God done thus to a flourishing and prosperous land? You may give them the true, though sad answer, They would not hear, they would not regard: He smit them down, he wounded them, he hewed them as wood, and then he beseeched the remainder to consider and return, but they never would do it: They were weary of his wayes, they polluted his Sabbaths they cast his word and worship out of their families, they would not be at the pains to learn and obey his will, nay they abhorred his Ministers, and servants, and holy paths, and all this to the last breath: When he had slain five thousand or eight thousand at a fight, the rest did no more reform, then if they had never heard of it:
- 1How many of those twelve deplorable abuses, which are the pillars of Satans Kingdom, which Cyprian mentioneth, are not common in England? 1. A man of knowledge without works. 2. An old man without Religious devotion. 3. A young man without obedience. 4. A rich man without alms. 5. A woman without chastity. 6. A Gentleman without virtue. 7. A Christian contentious. 8. A beggar proud. 9. A Bishop negligent 10. A congregation without discipline. 11. A Nation without Law. 12. A King unjust. Read Jer. 9.12, 13, 14.How many of those twelve deplorable abuses, which are the pillars of Satans Kingdom, which Cyprian mentioneth, are not common in England? 1. A man of knowledg without works. 2. An old man without Religious devotion. 3. A young man without obedience. 4. A rich man without alms. 5. A woman without chastity. 6. A Gentleman without vertue. 7. A Christian contentious. 8. A beggar proud. 9. A Bishop negligent 10. A congregation without discipline. 11. A Nation without Law. 12. A King unjust. Read Jer. 9.12, 13, 14.
