THe great God who lives and Reigns for ever , whose power is infinite , and Kingdome without end , he hath set bounds and terms of Being to all things and places in the world ; 't is hée that can kill or make alive , save or destroy , and who dare say , what doest thou ? Eminent examples of his terrible Iudgements hath the Lord left upon Record , as a warning to his people that they may escape the snare , and avoid the punishment that is due to sinners . Our God is a consuming fire , and if his Wrath be kindled but a little , who is able to abide it ?

A sad Example of Gods Iustice , is now before our eyes ; The Lord hath made of a Defenced City , a heap , and well may wée now say , our Crown is fallen from our heads ; But let us a little enquire into the words before read ( and many Nations shall passe by this City ; ) Hath it not béen a receptacle for strangers , and the wonder of other Nations , what place in the world better scituated , more populous , and more advantagious for Trades , and have not the flower of other Nations passed by this City ? yea , lived in it ; but now must every man say to his Neighbor , wherefore hath the Lord done thus to this great City ? And now my dear Friends , let us seriously enquire into the Reasons , wherefore the Lord hath dealt so severely with this great City ? There is reason enough , if every man would but look at home , to his own heart , But Oh those great , crying , and God provoking sins ! which hath caused the Lord to turn his face against us , and to cast off this City ; I shall name but a few of the greatest ; As

1 Blaspheming , and Cursing the holy Name of the great Iehovah , taking his holy Name in derision into their ungodly mouths , swallowing down oaths and blasphemies , as they do their provisions , and daily bread , as in Rev. 13. 5 , 6. and there was given to him a mouth , speaking great things and blasphemies , and he opened his mouth to blaspheme against God , to blaspheme his Name , and his Tabernacle , and them that dwell in Heaven ; This power was given to the Beast , and Oh! how many impious wretches take this power to themselves , to blaspheme the Name of God , to speak evil of the Holy of Holies ? such as those the Apostle Paul delivered over to the Devil ; Oh Friends holy and reverend is his Name , be serious at the very thoughts of it , and take heed that the Name of God , nor the word of God be not blasphemed ; it might make ones heart to ake to hear those Dreadful blasphemies and Curses in our stréets , as if there were no God to hear or avenge ; but our God is a God of Iudgement , blessed are all they that trust in him ; This wee may reckon amongst the number of the great sins that hath brought down this great Indgement , and made our City a Sodom , and of a place flowing with milk and honey , to be a barren Desart .

2. Drunkenness is a crying and provoking Sin , Wo to the Drunkards of Ephraim , so woe to the Drunkards of England , yea , of London ; you have drawn down judgments , you who have added Drunkenness to Thirst , now the Lord hath given you a Cup of Wrath to drink ; well then , let me say with the Prophet Joel , Awake yee Drunkards , and weep , and houl , all yee drinkers of Wine , because of the new Wine , for it 's cut off from your mouths . Joel 1. 5. Oh! how many have wallowed in this beastly sin ? have made a God of their bellies , and have gloried in their shame ?

The hearts of men have béen over charged with surfeiting and drunkenness , and now , how many hath God taken in their Cups , and made their Habitations Desolate , yea , to become a ruinous heap ; those who have gloried in that beastly sin , and have caused others to abuse themselves also , may now sit down in sorrow , having not enough to satisfie according to reason ; the dreadful curse that was pronounced against Jerusalem , the same is fulfilled in us , that he would fill the Inhabitants of the Land with Drunkenness , this may be reckoned among the Catalogue of the God provoking sins , why God should deal so severely with us , and cause his anger to smoak against us .

3. Whoredome is another crying and provoking sin ; as the Lord spake of Jerusalem , so justly may it be spoke of London , and of England , I have seen thy Adulteries , and thy Neighings , and the lewdness of thy whoredomes , and thine abominations , on the hills , and in the fields ; woe to thee , oh Jerusalem ! wilt thou not bee made clean , when shall it once be ? Woe to thée , oh England , England , wilt thou not stick to defile thy self ? the Lord would cleanse thée but thou wilt not bée cleansed : but now Whoremongers and Adulterers , God will judge , his spirit shall not alwaies strive with man , for he also is dust .

And oh you provokers of God! those late dreadful Flames are nothing to the Flames of hell , to the torments of the damned ; these touched but your Substance , but the other shall touch your Souls , and make you roar under the extremity of your pains for ever .

Oh England ! put away thy Whoredomes , Jerusalem played the Whore , and would not be satisfied : As in Ezek , 16. 28. and in the 25. v. Thou hast built thy high place at every head of the way , and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred , and hast opened thy feet to the multitude that passed by , and hast multiplyed thy whoredomes , and what was the end of all ? It provoked God to anger ; oh therefore , let not whoredomes take away thy heart , for no such shall Inherit the Kingdome of God .

4 Provoking sin , which greatly heightned the Lords wrath and much helped the kindling of those cruel flames , is Pride ; as the Wise man saith plainly . Prov. 16. 18. Pride goeth before destruction , and an haughty spirit before a fall ; this was the sin of Sodome , and this was the sin of London , even pride and fulness of bread , as you may read in Eze . 16. 47. As the Daughters of Jerusalem , so the daughters of London , went with stretched out necks , mincing as they go ; little thinking that those that walk in pride , the Lord is able to abase ; through pride of heart , men exalted themselves , and despised the cry of the poor , and turning aside from the cause of the fatherless and widdow ; but hear what the Lord saith of proud persons , or places , Jer . 50. 31. Behold , I am against thee , O thou most proud , saith the Lord God of Host , for the day is come that I will visit thee , and v. 32. And the most proud shall stumble and fall , and none shall raise him up ; I will kindle a fire in his Cities , and it shall devour all round about him . As the great God pronounced a woe against the pr●de of Ephraim , so justly might he do against England as in Isa . 28. 1. Woe to the crown of pride , to the drunkards of Ephraim , so woe to the crown of pride , and to the drunkards of England and London ; oh therefore be humble , and let not pride of heart deceive thée .

5. Prophaning the Lords Holy day , and abusing and despising of holiness , is a grievous provoking sin , because of which , God will avenge himself , and that spéedily ; and hath not England béen sadly guilty of this sin ? without holiness , no man shall see the Lord .

Oh how hath the Lord béen wroth with those , who have béen wilfull breakers and prophaners of his Holy day ? the Lord , who is otherwise the God of mercy , commandeth Moses to stone to death that man , who out of a presumptuous minde , should go to gather stickson the Sabbathsons ; the fact but small , yet the sin the greater , because , for so small an occasion , man should presume to break so great a Commandement : Many fearful examples of Gods Iudgement by terrible Fires , have in our daies béen shewed upon divers Towns , where the prophanation of the Lords day hath béen countenanced : Stratford upon Avon , was twice , upon the same day twelve month , being the Lords day , almost consumed with Fire . Teverton in Devon-shire , whose remembrance , as a good man said , made his heart to bléed ; was warned by Godly Preachers , and was threatned that God would bring some eminent Iudgement upon them for their horrible prophanation of his day . Not long after , on the third of April , 1598. God , in less than half an hour , consumed with a suddain fearful Fire , the whole Town , except only the Church , the Court-house , and the Alms-house , and above fifty persons consumed with the flames , and above four hundred houses all in flames together : and now since , in the year 1612. the whole Town was again fired and consumed , except thirty houses ; surely they are blinde that cannot sée the finger of God . But to come home to our dreadful Calamity in London , lately one of the famousest Cities in the World , which lamentable Fire began on the second of September , in the year 1666. being the Lords day in the morning , continuing burning till Wednesday following , about five in the afternoon , almost to the utter subversion of it , wherein at least , within the Walls , and without , were totally destroyed , fourscore and ten Parishes , with Parish Churches , to the utter undoing of many thousand families , so that we may complain with the Prophet in the 2 Jer . 15. v. The young Lion roared upon him and yelled , and they made his Laud wast , his City is burnt without Inhabitant : Oh for this , ye Inhabitants of England , gird you with Sackcloath , lament and houl , for the fierce anger of the Lord is not turned back from us ; Oh our City is burnt with fire , as the Prophet Isaiah saies ; but yet the Lord is to be praised for his Iudgments , as it is in Isa . 25. 1 , 2 , 3. Oh Lord ! thou art my God , I will exalt thee , I will praise thy Name , for thou hast done wonderful things ; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth , for thou hast made of a City an heap , of a defenced City , a ruine , a palace of strangers to be no City . The Lord hath done this , let the people be silent , and not murmur at the heavy hand of God , for it is the Lord that gives and takes away , blessed be his Name .

Well now , Oh Earth , Earth , Earth , hear the Word of the Lord ! Oh England , hear that thou maist live , fear Gods threatnings , and take warning by your Neighbors chastisements , remember the Tower of Shiloe , those eightéen upon whom the Tower of Shiloe fell , and slew them ; Think you those were greater sinners than others , or above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem ? I tell you nay ( saith Christ ) but except you repent you shall all likewise perish : Luke 13. 4. Oh think not your selves secure , or that you are better than others , because the Lord hath spared your Towns , and Cities , and Habitations for you , and destroyed London ; 't is for your sins as well as Londons sins , and you shall all smart in this Calamity ; except you repeat and return to him , he hath more Arrowe in his Quiver , he can do by his great power , great works , and who can say to him , What doest thou ? Oh then ! what use will England make of this fore Iudgement ? Hath not our Land cause to mourn ? and if it were possible to wéep tears of blood , and cry mightily to the Lord , that yet hée may turn away his Wrath , and receive us graciously . The Lord will hear the desire of the humble ; Thou wilt prepare thy heart , and cause thy ear to hear , Psal . 10. 17. Come then and bée humbled , lye low at Gods Footstool , peradventure hée may hear , and pardon , and deliver ; Let us go into his presence ; and begge his Spirit of prayer , least his Wrath be poured out against us , because we call not upon his Name : Let us pore lesse upon worldly things and enjoyments , séeing the vanity of all things 〈…〉 the Sun , and the unstedfastnesse ●nd mutability of them .

Fly from sin , that is the way to escape punishment ; Kéep close to God , and hée will kéep close to you , leave not him , and he will not leave you ; Let the thoughts of those dreadful flames never fly from your hearts , and let it cause a returning and relenting spirit that yet the Lord may come and be a defence to us , and appoint salvation , for Walls and Bulwarks , then shall we say : we have indéed a strong City , and Oh thou King of Glory open thou the everlasting doors of our souls and enter in , and then shall we be at peace with thée for ever , Amen .