frequent and fearful changes unto the very Captivity of the ten Tribes Again When God brought his people of Israel out of Egypt this was a periodical time and there was now a very great change coming upon the World and the Church therein not the like thereunto excepting in the time of the Deluge from the foundation of the World Pharaoh and the Egyptians were now to be destroyed in the Red Sea and the Church to pass into Canaan and there to settle And God signified this great change by an Earthquake properly and literally so called O God saith the Psalmist when thou wentest forth before thy people when thou didst march thorow the wilderness the earth shook the Heavens also dropped at the presince of God even Sinai it self was moved at the presence of God the God of Israel Ps 68.7 8. See also Ps 77.15 16. to the end The Earthquake therefore in my text signifies some great and eminent change brought in with shaking and affrighting Judgments commonly for the destruction of Gods enemies and sometimes for the deliverance of his People Thus you see what kind of Earthquake is here meant and what it signifieth But let us look a little further into it and compare it with other Earthquakes in this book of the Revelations which we may call Apocalyptical Earthquakes of which we find five 1. The first at the opening of the sixth Seal Rev. 6.12 2. The second at the opening of the seventh Seal Rev. 8.5 3. The third in my Text near the conclusion of the sixth Trumpet 4. The fourth at the sounding of the seventh Trumpet Rev. 11. last 5. The fifth at the pouring out of the seventh Vial Rev. 16.18 Among these this in my Text is the middlemost the two first like the two last fall in quickly the one after the other the first under the sixth the second under the seventh Seal a little before the sounding of the first Trumpet after which we meet with no more Earthquakes till the close of the sixth Trumpet in my Text which long interval takes up above a thousand years during all which time the Earth seemeth to stand still not simply but in comparison with what is now like to be at the close of the sixth Trumpet and the beginning of the seventh The world is now drawing towards its end that its shaking fits do come so fast upon it and some more than ordinary Change is hasting upon the World for there have been great Changes in it during the long Interval aforesaid and yet none of them have been called Earthquakes as this here in my Text which though it falls only upon the tenth part of the City yet it is a fair warning to all the other parts and a sure Pledge of their approaching ruine The far greater part of this Interval between the second and third Earthquake hath been taken up with the Reign of the Beast and of the Turk who in all this time have met with no such considerable Change as now they are warned to look out for and which shall shortly befall them under the seventh Trumpet but as for the change signified by the Earthquake in my Text it appertains especially to the Beast who slew the Witnesses The same hour there was a great Earthquake Great Let us consider that a little and compare it with the other four Earthquakes For they are all great and as it seemeth greater than this here in hand The first mentioned Rev. 6.12 is expresly called a great Earthquake and surely greater than this in my Text For that was so great that it shook the whole Pagan Empire and overthrew it funditùs with an utter destruction as in the Verses there following It overthrew the Pagan Emperial world the Heavens thereof the Sun Moon and Stars thereof and every Mountain and Island belonging thereunto Rev. 6.12 to the end and all the persons therein from the King to the Bond-slave This then was a dreadful Earthquake which shook and overthrew the whole fabrick of the Heathenish Empire and introduced a blessed Change as to the Christian world * Rev. 8.2 at least for a season But now as for the Earthquake in my Text though it is great yet nothing near so great as shaking only and overthrowing a tenth part of the great City Only know thus much that it will destroy the Heavens the Sun and Moon and Stars of this tenth part and overturn the little world therein For all the Apocalyptick Earthquakes overthrow Worlds the first the Roman Pagan world the second the Roman Christian World the third fourth and fifth the Romish Antichristian World after which succeedeth the Millenary World which the Apostle calls The World to come H. br 2.5 2. As for the second Earthquake at the opening of the seventh Seal and immediately foregoing the sounding of the first Trumpet Rev. 8.5 this also was a great Earthquake though it is not expresly so called For 1. A great Change followeth it as appeareth in the eighth and ninth Chapters 2. Whereas there are several expressions of Terrour when it comes as Voices and Thunderings and Lightnings and an Earthquake there seemeth to be a gradation in the words and the sorest dispensation brings up the rear and that is an Earthquake So that this also looks greater than that in the Text in hand 3. Compare the Earthquake in my Text with the next to it under the seventh Trumpet and though this here is great yet that is greater so as it is not in my Text. 1. Because accompanyed with Lightnings and Voices and Thunderings and great Hail 2. Because it is the immediate fore-runner of those Vials which shall utterly destroy the Beast Whereas the Earthquake in my Text shakes only a tenth part of the City and makes way for the seventh Trumpet 4. Compare it next with the Earthquake at the pouring out of the seventh Vial Rev. 16.18 And though this in my Text is called great yet that is greater and indeed the greatest that ever was For mark what the Text saith of it There were Voices and Thunderings and Lightnings and there was a great Earthquake such as was not since men were upon the Earth so mighty an Earthquake and so great and the great City was divided into three parts This Commotion and concussion made the great City to fall asunder And great Babylon came into remembrance before God to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath and every Island sted away and the mountains were not found and there fell upon men a great hail out of Heaven every stone about the weight of Talent c. Well therefore may it be said There was not so great an Earthquake since men were upon the earth For now also the Romish Antichristian world is wholly destroyed and the Millenary introduced For in these three last Earthquakes it is observable that there is a gradation that in my Text is exceeded by that verse last and this exceeded
the Revelations relating to the sufferings of the Church viz. 1260 days and 42 months and time times and half a time i. e. three years and an half For so many days are so many months and so many months are so many years a day being put for a year so that there is a singular answerableness in these numbers and therefore if we extend the three days and an half i. e. three years and an half to four years and an half we break the proportion and correspondence that is between these three numbers 2. How will this notion hold if at the end of four years and an half there should be no more shew of a Resurrection than there was at the end of three years and an half I come therefore to an Affirmative Answer First There are several Resurrections mentioned in the Scriptures 1. The Resurrection of the Soul from the death of Sin to the life of Grace 〈◊〉 5.25 Eph. 2.1 2. The Resurrection of the Body at the coming of Christ 1 Thess 4.16 And theâ—e two Resurrections are in instanti or in a very short and quick time as it is said of that great change 1 Cor. 15.52 In thâ—â—twinkling of 〈◊〉 3. There is the Resurrection of the Jews at their Conversion â—for so it is calied Ezâ—k 37.12 13 14. Rom. 11.15 4. The Resurrection of the Witnesses in my Text. And these two last are not so peedy as the two former but have their gradual Process and â—eâ—â—ral â—ucceeding steps For as touching that of the Calling or Resurrection of the Jâ—ws 1. There is a noise 2. A shaking Ezek. 37 7.-11 3. A coming together of Bone to Bone 4. Sinews and Flesh coming upon them and skin â—â—veâ—ing them 5. The breath of Life coming into them 6. Their 〈◊〉 upon their feet as an exceeding great Army So for the raiting of the 〈…〉 1. The Spirit of Life from God entreth into them 2. They fraud upon their feet 3. They hear a great voice from Heave saying Come up hither Secondly I answer that the Resurrection of the Witnesses seems to answer to the coming of the Children of Israel our of Egypt for spiritual Babylon is called spiritual Egypt ver 8. Which Deliverance was a kind of Resurrection as appears from the resemblance there made to Abraham in a vision Gen. 15.9 10 11. Now the Children of Israel arose our of their bondage by degrees for their Resurrection was not complete till they rose out of the Red Sea and sang the song of Moses Ex. 15. For till then they were not quite free from the â—â—yptians They made several steps out of Egypt to the other side of the Red Sea viz. from Rameses to Succoth from Succoth to Etham from Etham to Pihahireth from Pâ—hahiroth to the red Sea Numb 33 5-9 And therefore that remarkable day spoken of Exod. 12.40 41 42. is not to be understood of Israels complete Resurrection but that day was remarkable for the beginning of it 3ly There is a great Analogy between literal and spiritual Babylon and the coming of Gods people out of that and of the rising of the Witnesses and their deliverance from this Now the people of God arose gradually out of literal Babylon For 1. When the seventy years of their captivity were fulfilled Jer. 29 10.-15 the Text tells us that they must call upon the Lord and go and pray to him and seek him and search for him with all their hearts and then he would be found of them then they should do it i. e. at the end of the 70 years This then was their first motion in their Resurrection they must first of all rise upon their knees And Daniel did his part in this Calling Praying Seeking Searching And when did he do it In the second year of Darius the Son of Ahasuerus of the seed of the Medes in which he was made King over the Realm of the Chaldeans Dan. 9.1 This then was after the accomplishment of the 70 years because the Kingdom of the Chaldeans was now at an end For note what Jeremy saith It shall come to pass when 70 years are accomplished that I will punish the King of Babylon and that Nation saith the Lord for their iniquity c. Jer. 25.12 It is apparent therefore that the 70 years were now ended and that the time of the Jews deliverance was come and yet you see after that very time did Daniel thus call pray seek and search This I say is remarkable as also that after this time it was that our Lord Jesus Christ the Angel of the Covenant made intercession for the deliverance of his people Zach. 1.12 Saith he O Lord of hosts how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the Cities of Judah against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years God therefore seemed to delay a while some may say after the 70 years were ended that our Lord Jesus saith How long when the years were expired Yea but God did not delay one moment Hab. 2.3 for the Jews Resurrection was now begun for they were upon their knees and Christ was interceding for them and in them The Spirit of Life from God acted this way in them in their first motion their rising was somewhat like as when a man riseth out of his bed and falls down upon his knees by his Bed-side and prayeth If any man now should enquire and say is such a man risen it might truly be affirmed that he is so though he be down upon his knees at present Isa 26 1â—9 It was prophesyed of the coming of the Jews out of Babylon that their dew should be as the dew of the herbs and that the earth should cast forth her dead Their Resurrection out of Babylon should be like the Resurrection of Herbs in Spring which arise out of the earth by degrees And also when they did come out of Babylon they came not out all at once but at several times some of them in the first year of King Cyrus upon the Proclamation which he made Ezr. 1. Others in the Reign of Artaxerxes came out with Ezra the Scribe Neh. 2. 7.7 which was 13 years after Ezra's coming forth Neh. 2.1 with Ezr. 7.7 8. Ezr. 7.1 Others with Nehemiah in whose days also the bondage was not quite ended Neh. 9.36 37. So that it was upon that account also a kind of gradual Resurrection or coming forth It is true there was liberty of returning granted by Proclamation in the first year of King Cyrus but there fell in certain impediments that hindred both the speedy progress of their coming forth and also of their carrying on of Religion when they were come unto Jerusalem for fear was upon them Ezr. 3.3 and much opposition they met with for some years for the people of the Land weakned the hands of the people of Judah and troubled them in building and hired Councellors against them to frustrate their purpose all the days
light and help from the Spirit and see what it doth amount unto However wait for a while loâ—ger and time will prove a sure Interpreter REV. XI 12. And they heard a great Voice from Heaven saying unto them Come up hither And they ascended up to Heaven in a Cloud and their Enemies beheld them IN the former Verse we find the Witnesses upon their feet in this we find them upon the wing In the words you may observe 1. A Call given them and it is by a Voice 2. It is a great Call for it is a great Voice 3. From whence it cometh from Heaven 4. The Witnesses hearing it They heard a great voice 5. What it saith viz. Come up hither I shall only paraphrase upon the verse and conclude with application And they heard a great Voice from Heaven Heaven is put for the Church here upon Earth For as the Church is distinguished from her seed Chap. 12.17 So here from her Witnesses The meaning therefore is There comes a voice out of the Church to the Churches and Ministers to rise up yet higher and nearer Heaven For the Spirit speaketh in the Churches to the Churches as you may see in the second and third Chapters of this Book of the Revelations This I take to be the meaning of the words 1. It seems to be set here in opposition to the Beast who is said to ascend out of the bottomless pit ver 7. The Beast lives in Hell upon Earth the Saints in Heaven 2. It stands also in opposition to the former condition that the Witnesses were in who but now lay dead as it were upon the earth and now behold they are called up to Heaven 3. This Heaven is the same that is mentioned ver 19. but that is the Church of God and therefore so is this Now the voice that calls to them from this Heaven is a great Voice declaring a loud call Here then is a Commission and Warrant given them to prophesie again and to follow their former employment and not in the least to be discouraged for their Call is very clear distinct and audible it being a great voice And some do conceive that this Call comes from men in publick place and I should be glad it might prove so but I much doubt of it upon these grounds 1. Because it is said That when they ascended up to Heaven in a cloud their Enemies beheld them Now these enemies are those who lately slew them and therefore were men of Place and Power And still they are the men they were as very Enemies at the Resurrection and Ascension of the Witnesses as when they slew them Therefore surely these could not call them They who beheld them as Enemies when they ascended up to Heaven would never call them up to Heaven 2. It is said in the following words That in the same hour there was a great Earthquake and the tenth part of the City fell and in the Earthquake were slain of men seven thousand These are the enemies spoken of in my Text as I shall further shew you when I come to ver 13. So that this call here comes not from men in publick place they are enemies you see after the Resurrection and at the Ascension of the Witnesses And the Voice here comes from Heaven which is no place for the enemies of the Witnesses This Voice then comes from the Spirit of God in the Churches working an inward powerful instinct and impression in these Witnesses c. They heard a great Voice It is not said that others heard it It is somewhat like the voice which Pauâ— heard from Heaven Act. 22.5 when he was near unto Damasâ—â— They that were with him saw the light that shined about him but they heard not the voice of â—im that spake to him That is They did not hear it distiâ—â—tly for the men that journeyed with him stâ—od speechless hearing a Voice Act. 9.7 but seeing no man It was a Voice and a great clear distinct voice but in Paul's ears only not in theirs So here c. But what is the subject matter of this call Come up hither Not lâ—â—g ago there was a great voice or vote from Heâ—â— against these Witnesses and now there is a voice from Heaven to them and foâ—â—â—em The first was from the Beast ascending out of the Bottomless pâ—â— this is from the Spirit speaking from Heaven to them The first cryed Dâ—â—â— with them This from Heaven cries Up with them Come up hither The first laid them as it were upon the Earth in the streets This calls them up to Heaven Quest But what shall they do there Answ Wherefore as if the voice should say Here is more work for you the Church is rising higher than it was It is nearer Heaven more pure and refined more set upon Separation more elevated above the world and preparing for more glorious times approaching under the seventh Trumpet and therefore Come up hither which intimateth that formerly they preached lived and conversed at a lower rate than now they must and are here called to do For the Churches are risen and all things in the Churches are higher and got up nearer unto Heaven and the Saints must now live far above their former selves Wherefore abide no longer where you are but Come up hither And in this Call there is a motion implyed Come which hath a term from which 1. The Earth or a lower condition of living before when the Witnesses savoured too much of the Earth and when their Spirits lay prostrate during the time of their slaughter For as the death of the Witnesses was in a special manner Spiritual their spirits being low and dead so now their Spirits are raised up higher 2. They move and rise up from Antichrist and his Pollutions and all his earthly and hellish waies of Worship Mixtures and base conversations 3. From that Bondage and servitude which the Witnesses were lately in unto the Wills of men before their Resurrection so that sometime after their Resurrection there will be a very great change in the Churches of Christ as to purity of Doctrine and Worship and Holiness of walking and Gospel-liberty far beyond what was before Thus you see their Call cleared 2. I come now to their Obedience to this Call or great Voice from Heaven And they ascended up to Heaven in a cloud and their Enemies beheld them In which words there are three things considerable 1. Their Ascent to Heaven 2. In what manner in a Cloud 3. Who saw them thus ascending their Enemies beheld them 1. They ascended up to Heaven The great Voice is accompanied with great Power that the thing commanded is soon accomplished They willingly and readily attend the Call declaring that their hearts were wholly in it Come up hither Lo we come and must we yet be more separate from sin and sinners as to communion with them and from Antichristian pollutions and from the world We desire nothing more And
with the Gospel which shall now begin to flourish when the tenth part of this City is fallen When the City begins to fall the Gospel shall begin to rise in equal proportion and never fall again There will be no Balm for this bruise no Cordial for this Consumption the great Whore shall now begin to abate of her flesh by that time that this Earthquake hath done reckoning with her her Arm shall be so broken that there shall be no Roller to bind it that it may be healed and strengthned And thus you have heard the first Effect of this Earthquake opened the next followeth 2. And in the Earthquake were slain of men seven thousand The New Translation rendreth it Capita hominum heads of men The Old Nomina hominum Names of men and so the Original hath it the meaning whereof is by an Hypallage Men of Names i. e. famous men The Grecians I suppose borrow the expression from the Hebrews who call eminent and renowned men Men of names as you may see 1 Chron 5.24 and 12.30 The Text there compared with the Margine in your Bibles where Men of names in the Hebrew are called famous men in the Text. And hence men of no name in the Hebrew are called base men by the Translators Job 30.8 By this then you see the meaning of the expression in my Text for these seven thousand men of Names are Viri nominati as Junius and Tremelius render the same word named or famous men They are therefore men of eminency and fame as if one should say Dukes and Earls and Lords and Knights and Esquires and Gentlemen and Prelates and Judges and Counsellours and Doctors and Collonels and Captains and Magistrates Officers c. Now of these men of Names there are slain in this Earthquake seven thousand i. e. very many Seven being a number of perfection and often used in this Book of the Revelations as seven Spirits seven golden Candlesticks seven Seals seven Trumpets seven Angels seven Vials so here seven Thousand i. e. a great number And of these it is said That they were slain in the Earthquake the Spirit of God perhaps alluding to such an effect of natural Earthquakes as when they throw down Towns or Cities and bury many of the Inhabitants in the ruines For this here is called a great Earthquake and therefore whenever and wherever it comes there will be a terrible shake both of Persons and Things viz Houses Inhabitants Lands Goods Moneys Inheritances Callings Trade Liberty Health Relations Life and many other Comforts Mens hearts will shake fear and tremble and some perhaps will cry to Rocks and Mountains It maketh me to think of the case of the Philistines 1 Sam. 14.15 16. when God committed them among themselves and when they sheathed their Swords in one anothers bowels there was a trembling saith the Text in the host in the field and among all the People insomuch that the Garrison and the spoilers also trembled and the Earth quaked so that it was a very great trembling or a trembling of God and the multitude melted away and they went on beating down one another Such a kind of Earthquake peradventure it may be when the Mighty man and man of Name shall stumble against the mighty and both fall down together Briefly It will be such a shake as will make a man to eat his bread with quaking and to drink his water with trembling and with carefulness as sometimes the Prophet did Ezâ—k 12.18 At what time the Sword shall devour flesh and be drunk with the blood of the slain from the beginning of revenges upon the Enemy And when shall this be Upon the back of the Witnesses Ascension when once a Reformation on their part riseth upon their rising for then and not till then will this Earthquake be which yieldeth some matter of Comfort to the People of God that they are so well prepared against such a shaking time for now that they are drawing nearer to God he will be their strong Tower to which they shall run and be set aloft Wherefore though the Heavens and the Earth shall shake the Lord will be the hope of his People and the strength of the Children of Israel So much for this Effect of the Earthquake And the remnant were affrighted This is the third Effect of it The Remnant Here is Mercy in the midst of Judgment that all in this tenth part of the City are not slain a remnant liveth and escapeth God is so far here from destroying the whole City that he destroyes not all the Street But yet the Remnant are affrighted flying like as the People fled from the Earthquake in the daies of Vzziah Zach. 14.5 Or as the Israelites that were round about the Tents of Korah and his Company fled when the Earthquake swallowed up the Rebels saying Lest the Earth swallow us up also Numb 16.34 This is the case of this Remnant who are not simply afraid but affrighted and e'en at their wits end they are not slain with the Earthquake but almost kill'd with fear yet spared and have their lives given them for a prey God might justly have destroyed the whole Street where his Witnesses were slain and lay dead but he is satisfied with the Sacrifice of the lives of Seven thousand men of Names and it is somewhat what a considerable price for if so many men of Names fall how many thousands of little or no name are slain together with them As Ahasuerus said to Ester The Jews have slain five hundred men in Shusan the Pallace and the ten sons of Haman what have they done in the rest of the Kings Provinces But God's Eye is especially upon the Fatlings and the best of the Flock that they may be offered up in sacrifice to him and it is somewhat like his sacrifice in Bozrah and his slaughter in the Land of Idumea where his sword is filled with blood and made fat with fatness with the blood of Lambs and Goats and with the fat of the kidneys of Rams when the Unicorns come down with them and the Bullocks with the Bulls in the day of the Lord's Vengeance and the Year of Recompences for the controversies of Zion Isa 34.6 7 8. And it is also considerable that what is wanting in the Number of the slain is made up in the fall of the Tenth of the City a part only are slain but the whole City falleth in a degree 4. And they gave Glory to the God of Heaven This is the last Effect of the Earthquake But how do they give God glory 1. By confessing their Sins especially in ought that they did relating to the slaying of the Witnesses My Son saith Joshua to Achan give glory to the Lord God of Israel and make confession unto him Josh 7.19 2. They repent also of the sins which they confess for therein also is God glorified Rev. 10.9 3. They give God the glory of his Patience and tender mercy in sparing them
man and shall be removed like a Cottage Why what is that which presseth it down so greatly It followeth And the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it and it shall fall and not rise again It must needs be a marvellous weight that makes the Earth thus to move yet such is the weight of sin 2. More particularly there is the cry of blood in the Street as I have said and it is the cry of the blood of the Witnesses For though they are not literally slain i. e. not as men but as Witnesses yet the Lord calls it and accounts it a slaughter yea and their very enemies account them as naturally dead and they are greatly Oppressed Vexed and Silenced Imprisoned Impoverished and cruelly handled and so that it hasteneth also the Death of some of them Jer. 2.34 and reacheth also to the blood as I may say of many thousands of Souls who depended upon their Ministry and such blood hath a loud cry in the ears of God and such a cry will shake the Earth wherever the sin is committed and remains unpurged You know how the Martyrs under the fifth Seal cryed with a loud voice Rev. 6.10 12. saying How long O Lord holy and true dost thou not Judge and Avenge our blood on them that dwell on the Earth What then followeth And I beheld when he had opened the sixth Seal and lo there was a great Earthquake c. You have heard before of the greatness of that Earthquake and how it shook and quite overthrew the whole Roman Pagan Empire 2 King 24.4 You know also that the blood shed by Menasseh could not be expiated by the greatest reformation that was ever wrought but the whole Land of Judah was at last shaken to pieces for it That land is extreamly deplored that lyeth under the guilt of blood especially of slaying Christ's Witnesses See 2 Chro. 36.15 16. It layed Jerusalems house i. e. the Temple desolate Matth. 23.37 38. And when the Jews killed the Lord Jesus 1 Thess 2.15 16. and the Prophets and persecuted the Apostles forbiding them to Preach to the Gentiles that they might be saved they filled up their sins and the Wrath of God came upon them to the uttermost This is a filling and a finishing sin even Reformation it self were it equal to Josiah's cannot save that land from a great Earthquake and from such Vengeance as will make the ears of them who hear it to tingle What saith the Prophet The City sheddeth blood in the midst of it that her time may come thou art become guilty in thy blood and hast caused thy dayes to draw near and art come even to thine years Ezek. 22.3 4. 3. There is yet another cry and that is from the Prayers of God's people especially from under their Affliction No doubt but the cries and sighs and groans of the Children of Israel in Egypt were accompanied with many Prayers and it brought such vengeance upon Egypt as you have scarce read the like God never forgets the cry of the humble Ps 9.12 Exod. 22.23 If but a poor Widdow or Fatherless child be afflicted and they cry at all unto me I will surely hear their cry saith the Lord. And know thus much that the Prayers of one distressed Child of God may be such that they may shake the very Earth it self What saith David In my distress I called upon the Lord Psal 18.6 7. and cryed unto my God He heard my voice out of his Temple and my cry came before him even into his ears Then the Earth shook and trembled the Foundations also of the Hills moved and were shaken because he was wroth c. The Prayers of David in his distress shook Heaven Earth and Sea And wherefore is it that God saith I will shake the Heavens and the Earth and the Sea and the dry land and I will shake all Nations and the desire of all Nations shall come I say wherefore is this and whence proceedeth this great concussion Even from the desire of all the Saints that live among the Nations in the world They are oppressed and persecuted in the world and they cannot be quiet upon this they cry out and utter their desires O that Jesus Christ would come and deliver us and plead our cause and relieve us in our distresses and call the world to a reckoning Even so come Lord Jesus come quickly I tell you This will cost the world a sound shaking Little do people imagine what the force of God's peoples prayers is they have an Earth-shaking power in them The praying Saints are a thundering Legion Samuel no sooner cryeth to the Lord 1 Sam. 7.10 but he heareth him and answereth him with a dreadful discomfiting thunder upon the Philistines And when the Saints fall to prayer at the close of the seventh Seal Rev. 8.3.5 presently follow Voices and Thunderings and Lightnings and an Earthquake Act. 4.31 When Peter and John were returned from their persecutors to their own company Act. 15.25 they betake themselves to prayer which was no sooner ended but the place was shaken where they were assembled together And when Paul and Silas prayed and sung praises to God in the prison and in the stocks suddenly saith the Text there was a great Earthquake and the foundations of the prison were shaken and immediately all the doors were opened and every ones bonds were loosed and the Keeper of the prison drew his Sword and would have killed himself And do we think now that all the prayers that have been made within these few years by the Saints in the world will not end in a dreadful Earthquake God hath already answered his people and will again answer them by terrible things in righteousness Thus you have seen the procuring causes of this Earthquake I shall conclude with some Consectaries Informations and Exhortations flowing from what hath been opened to us 1. By what we have heard in the Explication of this thirteenth verse we have a further proof of what sometime I said That the Witnesses are slain not in all parts of the great City but in some one eminent Street thereof that hath not quitted and cast off the power of the Beast wherefore I thus argue Where the revenge of God is inflicted for the slaying of the Witnesses there and there only are the Witnesses slain But the revenge of God is not inflicted upon the whole City for the slaying of the Witnesses but only on a tenth part thereof Therefore in that tenth part thereof and there only are the Witnesses slain For God proportioneth his Revenge unto the place of the slaughter making it commensurate and adequate thereunto and doth not exceed the bounds thereof 2. In this dispensation we may see the singular patience of God towards the Enemies of his Witnesses in that he doth not presently bring this great Earthquake upon them they may meet with many a sore concussion during the time of
the slaughter and presently after it is over but yet God deferrs the terrible Earthquake till the ascension of the Witnesses and till that great Voice from Heaven hath said unto them Come up hither and that they have ascended in a Cloud in the very sight of their Enemies Which by the way sheweth us plainly as I touched it before that this loud voice and call unto them to ascend doth not proceed from the Powers and Rulers of this World as some have thought for these are Enemies and the men of names who are to be slain in the Earthquake presently upon the Ascension of the Witnesses They continue Enemies unto the very time of their destruction But that which I am speaking to is the Patience of God towards that Street where the Witnesses are slain for God doth not destroy the men of names so soon as they have slain the Witnesses no nor so soon as the Witnesses are risen and standing upon their feet He tarrieth till they are ascended and gives his Enemies warning enough but when once the Ascension time is over and Reformation of Churches Families and Saints on foot the Earth will forbear shaking no longer there is then but an hour i.e. a very short time between the Ascension and the Earthquake 3. We are shewed the just Revenge of God upon these Enemies in that he slayeth them a meet recompence for their slaying of the Witnesses Thus * Rev. 13.10 he that leadeth into Captivity shall go into Captivity and he that killeth with the Sword shall be killed with the Sword So here They that slay shall be slain as it is written †Gen 9.6 He that sheddeth blood by man shall his blood be shed * Jer. 51.56 The Lord God of Recompences shall surely requite he is as punctual in his Justice as powerfull in his Patience 4. In that the holy Ghost here seemeth to allude to the manner of great Earthquakes which is to swallow up houses and their Inhabitants so as Korah Dathan and Abiram were swallowed up though that was rather by the Earth renting than quaking yet swallowed up they were * Numb 16.32 they and their houses and all the men that appertained to them and their goods I say God seemeth to deal with these men of names as with those Rebels and their companions As if God should say they shall perish in the gain-saying of Kore and as so many Dathans and Abirams and Rebels against the God of Heaven for such God accounteth these whatsoever these accounted the Witnesses * Numb 16.2 And of these three men it is said They rose up before Moses with certain of the Children of Israel two hundred and fifty Princes of the assembly famous in the Congregation men of renown They were just like these in my Text viri nominatissimi men of great note and name and so Mr. Aynsworth translateth the word famous in that place Men of names and he reckoneth them no less than States-men as you may see in his Exposition And the like title also is given to the oppressing Gyants of the old World whose foundation was overflowed with a Flood * Gen. 6.4 They are called Mighty men and men of Renown You see then the account of God concerning these famous ones in my Text They slay the Witnesses as Rebels and ere long themselves are slain of God as such 5. Whereas these many thousands were men of Names it may denote as Mr. Brightman observeth from the expression that God doth not fall blindfold with his judgments upon men he doth not strike Andabatarum more sed certo nominatimque even so certainly and knowingly as if he named these great men There 's for you such a one saith he and there 's your reward saith he to another naming him c. God shall shoot at them with an arrow suddenly shall they be wounded Psal 64.7 He doth not shoot like that Syrian who hit Ahab at adventure but he aimeth alwayes when he shooteth and never misseth the mark 6. God then is no respecter of persons * Job 34.19 He accepteth not the Persons of Princes nor regardeth the Rich more than the Poor .. Nay he hath a special eye upon the men of Names for you must know that this Earthquake here doth slay many a man hundreds and thousands no doubt nullius nominis of no name or fame at all but these you see are not here mentioned but only the viri Nominum the men of great renown And God will do this dreadfull Execution upon them by a remarkable hand from Heaven for Earthquakes are in a special manner from God there is no hand of man in them The mighty shall be taken away without hand Job 34.20 That is without the hand of any man God will do it by an out-stretched hand from Heaven 7. It is very observable That in Gods execution of Judgment here he falls most eminently upon the principal Ring-leaders the men of Names whose hands especially were employed in slaying the Witnesses Many others of little or no name were ingaged also in the slaughter but the men of Names stirred them up and set them on work and led them the way also by their Examples and Authority Wherefore God takes notice of them especially and the stroke falls most remarkably upon them as the great Oppressors of the Witnesses and hinderers of Reformation He takes off these therefore and removes them out of the way as intending now to bring in Reformation contra gentes virosque nominum against all opposition whatsoever For great men if not also good are great opposers of that which is good as God sometimes said to Ezekiel shewing him five and twenty of his great Enemies and among them Jaazaniah and Pelatiah Princes of the people Son of man saith God These are the men that devise Mischief and give wicked Counsel in this City Therefore prophesy against them Ye have multiplied your slain in this City and ye have filled the Streets thereof with the slain c. I will execute judgments upon you and ye shall fall by the Sword c. And saith Ezekiel It came to pass when I prophesied that Pelatiah dyed Ezek. 11.1 See also Numb 25.4 Thus when the sixth Seal was opened and that the Judgments of God fell most formidably upon the Roman Pagan Empire for the most horrid bloody Persecutions used against the Christians the most righteous God began with the ring-leaders the viri nominum are set in the front of the Sufferers viz. The Kings of the Earth and the great men and the rich men and the chief Captains and the mighty men and after them come in the men of small names every bondman and every freeman Rev. 6.15 The Earthquake there mentioned shook all the Empire from the highest to the lowest but it began with and fell heaviest on the men of Names Kings great men rich men chief Captains and Mighty men For as for the Bondmen and Freemen they were
set on by their Kings and great men and rich men and chief Captains and mighty men That is the Informers and Catch-poles and Jaylors and poor Souldiers were but as a company of boudmen to the Kings great men and men of Names and they must do what the Powers will command them but you see that will not excuse them when the Earthquake cometh but yet the Grandees are the men in the Van that are most eminently shaken and thrown down thereby they shall pay for it to the purpose 8. We may here behold the riches of God's grace that he not only spareth a Remnant of his and his Witnesses Enemies that they are not slain with the rest in the Earthquake but he giveth to them also the grace of repentance They might have drunk of the same Cup with those men of renown as being a Remnant of them especially as to their enmity but God lets them live to repent and give him glory I suppose these to be such as were persecutors as well as those others but they did it ignorantly in unbelief and therefore they obtain this mercy peradventure the other at least many of them are such as transgress of malicious wickedness and rebell against the light which is a very high provocation They are nothing like so ignorant as malicious and despighthful being desperate sworn enemies to Jesus Christ his People Cause and Interest Yet even the spared Remnant are bad enough as known and professed enemies to the God of Heaven to whom now they give glory whose glory and honour they never cared for before O the riches of the glorious grace of God that he should save such as these not only from the destruction of the Earthquake but of Hell it self Let us exalt this inestimable grace and believe love and praise and give glory to the God of Heaven for their so doing and in the mean while let none despair when such men as these repent 9. They that are the People of God and dwell in that bloody Street may have hopes that God will not utterly destroy it seeing there is a Remnant that will be spared which shall be as the shaking of an Olive-tree and the gleaning of Grapes after the vintage is ended You know what devastation God maketh by his four sore Judgments Ezek. 14.22 And yet saith the Lord A remnant shall be left and they shall come forth unto you and ye shall see their way and their doings and ye shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon you Isa 6. ult God will not u utterly forsake that Street but yet in it shall be a tenth and it shall return and shall be eaten as a Teyl-tree and as an Oak whose substance is in them when they cast their leaves for so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof God will as it were tithe this tenth part and consecrate it and the land unto himself for some signal and singular service to his Name And as God will destroy the Microcosm and little world in that land by this Earthquake viz. the Sun Moon Stars and Heavens and Earth thereof so he will create new Heavens as I may say and a new Earth therein and the former shall be remembred no more Lastly We see what a shaking world we live in Let our hearts therefore hang loose to the things of this world to which they are so apt to adhere How soon God may shake us we know not and shaking especially of the earth is in order to the removing of the things that are shaken Hebr. 12.26 27. And when men are sorely shaken they had not need to take hold on things that shake and which are ready to remove away from under them they have need to lay hold on stable and abiding things that will stand fast and not forsake them If any should say This shaking may be far enough off from us Let no man think so For admit that this be not the time nor place spoken of in Rev. 11.7 8. Yet where there is any thing like it there will be that also which is as like unto this Earthquake Ezek. â—3 10 13. What saith the Lord to Ezekiel If a righteous man beget a son that is a robber a shedder of blood and that doth the like to any one of these things viz. there spoken of he shall not live he shall surely dye his blood shall be upon him That doth the like c. He doth not say That doth the very same If an Hue and Cry pursue after a shedder of blood and find a man that is very like him and apprehend him upon suspition and it falleth out upon examination that the person apprehended hath also shed blood in like manner though he is not the person that shed the blood inquired after yet he shall not live he shall surely dye his blood shall be upon him Even so c. God will never put up the slaying of his Witnesses though perhaps it may not be that slaying here spoken of but only the like unto it There is no satisfaction to be taken for the life of a murtherer nor is there any City of Refuge appointed in the law for him Numb 35.31 Deut. 21 1.-10 he must be taken away from God's altar or slain at it as Joab was otherwise the whole land lyeth under the guilt of blood You know what Hanun did to David's Embassadors who were sent to him in meer love and good will He did not slay them but shamefully abused them 2 Sam. 12.30 31. O how was the land of the children of Ammon shaken for this abuse The Kings crown was taken from his head and set on David's the Ammonites slain Rabbah sacked and plundered and the people of the Land put under sawes and harrows and axes of iron and made to pass thorow the brick-kiln And yet what is this abuse of David's Embassadors to that of Christ's which we have lived to see And what will the Lord then do how dreadfully will he avenge the high and horrible contempt of his Messengers Prepare therefore for times of great concussions perhaps they may prevent some of your deaths if not prove also the cause of them Hang loose I say to the world and be in the number of the ascenders get up above the Earth and approach nearer unto Christ in Reformation and Holiness and then if the worst should come you may sing Luther's Psalm Ps 46. And be not so sollicitous about the Earthquake as about the Ascension that immediately precedeth it for the Earthquake must come but wo be to them when it comes who are not got above the Earth It is the great mercy of God to defer the Earthquake till after the Ascension for the greater safety to his people which I conceive to be a special reason why it is deferred till then though another may be That a foundation may be layd for the carrying on the work of Reformation the better when the Earthquake is at an end And it promiseth well to the Street that God will not utterly destroy it nor take away his Gospel from it 1. In that he still continueth his Witnesses in it 2. Because Reformation and Holiness are ascending when the Earthquake cometh Now therefore let it be the care and endeavour of the People of God 1. To rise 2. To ascend 1. To rise what is that To hold forth the Spirit of Life from God They must walk in opposition to their slain condition now they were slain by the loss of spiritual life courage and activity therefore they must rise by a contrary Spirit 2. Let it be their endeavour also to ascend i. e. to reform viz Churches Families Hearts and Lives And if we must thus ascend then it will follow that we must not stay at that pitch of Reformation to which we have already attained but must yet get up higher there is a great deal more yet to be done For perhaps some may say Are we not ascended already No we are not yet come to the utmost of our Resurrection which as we have heard is gradual True there hath been a kind of rising and ascending of late years for wherefore are the Witnesses slain but for their climbing up so high in their Seperations and Professions And yet you see they must ascend up higher For we are not risen up so high above former times as we must yet rise up higher above our present selves God will not be satisfied with our Resurrection when it is come to its utmost degree but then he requireth also an Ascension which will be gradual likewise unto the time of the pouring out of the seventh Vial. FINIS