GOING NAKED A SIGN OH Church of England This is unto thee who livest in oppression and cruelty pride and covetousness a day of misery is coming upon thee thy nakedness and shame is coming upon thee as an armed Man from which no Man can hide thee neither Hills nor Mountains shall be able to hide thee in this the Day of the Lord neither shall the Clefts of the Rocks preserve thee from the Day of the Lords Controversy with thee Thy nakedness and thy shame is near to come upon thee from it thou shalt not fly Oppression and cruelty hath been as a Staff for thee but the Lord is risen to break thy Staff of oppression and thou shalt be left naked though thou hast seemed to be the glory of the Nations with thy deceitful Covers but now thou shalt be left naked and Nations shall be ashamed of thee Howl and weep ye Teachers for the Lord is gathering his people from you and ye shall devour his flock no more The Day is coming upon you that none shall buy your Wares any more ye Merchants of Babylon All your scarlet colours the Lord our God is coming to take off Then your nakedness shall appear to many Nations and you shall sit as a widow and there shall be none to comfort you Distress and anguish shall take hold upon you and pain as a Woman in travel and is not able to bring forth so shall your misery come upon you The Decree of the Lord is gone out against all unrighteousness he will surely reward every one according to their works for as a Troop of Robbers lie in wait for a Man so a company of Priests by consent lie in wait to murder the Innocent Lambs of God and for their sakes the Lord is risen in his mighty power to break the bonds of wickedness and to set the oppressed free for the Lord hath heard the groaning of his seed and he is risen to deliver to bring it out of Captivity and from under the Taskmasters where his seed hath been long oppressed by unreasonable Men But the Lord will spare no longer but he will reward the Oppressors double into their bosoms and his seed he will deliver Oh howl and weep your day is far spent Night is coming upon you that you shall not have a Vision and nothing shall be left to cover you As naked shall you be spiritually as my body hath been temporally naked in many places in England as a sign of the nakedness and shame that is coming upon the Church of England who liveth in Oppression and cruelty and all who lift up a weapon for her shall fall in the shame with her which will surely come to pass So all sober people consider your ways and turn to the light which comes from Jesus that with it you may be gathered unto the Lord from the false Teachers to the teaching of the Lord from the false worships to the worship of the Lord in spirit and in truth For a necessity was laid upon me from the Lord God of life to be a sign But before I was given up to the thing it was as death unto me and I had rather if it had been the Lords will have died then gone on in this service But when the Word of the Lord came unto me saying Go on and prosper It was sweet unto me as the honey and the honey Comb. And blessed saith Christ are those that hears my Word and keeps it William Simpson LONDON Printed for Robert Wilson at the Black-Spread-Eagle in Martin's near Aldersgate 1666.