apt to believe that many who have been driven out of this World with the Fire of Persecution and with the merciless Torments of cruel Men have departed hence with as much if not more ease than many that have died quietly upon their Beds and undisturbed by the sinful and restless Troublers of this World And if so then we have no great cause to draw back or to be sore afraid even in the worst of Times and Dangers To animate us the more then herein let us remember how victoriously many Saints have gone out of this World to those unspeakable Joys that are prepared for them in the next And as Paul saith Rom. 8.37 have been more than Conquerours thro' him that loved them in all the Tryals and Combats that they have been exercised with And seeing that we are listed Souldiers under Christ Let us follow them in a meek and patient suffering of all the Adversities and Injuries that befal us here for keeping the Faith of Christ and a good Conscience towards God Let us be perswaded as St. Paul was Rom. 8.38 39. That neither Death nor Life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord Let us look unto Jesus the Captain of our Salvation the Author and Finisher of our Faith who endured such contradiction of Sinners against himself Who for the joy that was set before him endured the Cross despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the Throne of God Heb. 12.2 Let us consider him that we may not be wearied and faint in our minds but be faithful unto death that we may not lose our Crown of Life But if we will not be prevailed upon by all these powerful Arguments and Persuasions to keep Faith and a good Conscience and to stick close to our Profession even in the worst of Times If the glory of such sufferings and the unspeakable Reward that doth await them If such assurances of Divine Help and Assistance that Almighty God will never be wanting to us but will have us always under his watchful Eye and will always grant us Succour and Strength answerable to our needs If these will not prevail with us Then we may farther take notice what a miserable condition such Revolters will be in that for fear of Persecution shall forego their Profession Such are like to lose their Lives as our Lord sheweth Mar. 8.35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it And such as are ashamed of him and his words must expect the same measure again to their great and eternal Reproach as our Lord shews ver 38. Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my Words in this adulterous and sinful generation of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy Angels And those that deny him must look for the same return again to their utter confusion Matt. 10.33 But whosoever shall deny me before men him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven The Apostle's words also are now especially to be heeded and laid to heart Heb. 6.4 For it is impossible for those saith he who were once enlightned and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the world to come If they shall fall away to renew them again unto repentance seeing they crucifie to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to an open shame And saith he again Heb 10.26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the Truth there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery Indignation which shall devour the adversaries And if we Protestants should turn to the Popish Religion we may expect that this will be our condition And to conclude we may see that all Cowards that are not at all valiant for the Truth are like to go to the Lake that burns with Fire and Brimstone Rev. 21.8 But the Fearful and Unbelieving shall have their part in the Lake which burneth with Fire and Brimstone And this consideration also will be of great use to keep us from Backsliding and falling away from our Christian Profession to any Idolatrous or to any other sinful Practices that are not consistent with the Truth of the Gospel when we so plainly see as here we do That such Revolters must bid adieu to all the Bliss and Happiness that is promised in the Gospel and are like to go to the grand Apostate and to that everlasting Fire that was prepared for him and his Angens Matth. 25.41 And if these Arguments will not prevail with us I know not what will Seeing then that the Concerns before us are so very great the avoiding of Eternal Woe and Misery and the obtaining of Eternal Life and Happiness depending upon our good Behaviour and Christian Carriage here Let us be wise then betimes and shew our selves Men and not be like Solomon's Fool that had a price in his hand to get Wisdom but had no heart to it Prov. 17.16 Let us not to avoid a little Suffering here forfeit our Title to the Crown of Life and the blessed Kingdom above and run into endless Misery and Destruction For this will be prodigious folly and madness But seeing it is the Lord alone that must keep and uphold us all or else we shall be sure to fall and all the Watchman's care without his good Protection is to no purpose Ps 127.1 Let us then be careful and diligent to call for his blessed Help and Succour at all times and never trust to our own strength and abilities but let us always be mindful of that Divine Instruction of our blessed Lord and put it in practice Luke 21.36 Watch ye therefore and pray always that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of man And now that all men may be the more sensible of the heavy judgment of God which I affirm to be at hand I shall here add the Eleventh Chapter and some other places of the Revelation of St. John which do particularly treat of the second grand Woe of that sacred Book which is the judgment that I speak of And that this Eleventh Chapter may be the better understood of all men I shall add a short explication of it according to that little Insight that I have into this great Mystery wherein through God's help I intend to be plain that the meanest Capacities may in a good measure understand it if they will and may clearly see that this judgment is there foretold and therefore will certainly come to pass Revelation Chapter XI 1. And there was given me a reed like unto a rod and the Angel stood saying Rise and measure the
Servants of God shall then be preserved when many others are like to perish Many of you Reverend Brethren by your late Miscarriages in taking the New Oaths c. have put your selves into a worse Condition than otherwise you would have been in and after a short time I suppose you will be fully convinced of your Error in so doing But by your sincere and hearty Repentance and earnest Prayers to God and by all other good Endeavours to this purpose and especially by the blessed Help and Assistance of Almighty God which we must all rely upon I hope you may recover your Ground and be able to stand against Popery and so preserve your Souls and Lives too if God sees it good to spare them or else may be able chearfully to lay them down if he shall require it at your hands I hope and am fully perswaded that Mercy doth yet wait upon you and that if you will now return and repent you may be saved But if ye still proceed on in your own ways and despise the Goodness and Long-suffering of God which doth now in an extraordinary manner waite for your Return to him If you now stop your Ears against all the loud Cries and Calls to Repentance and persist on to Backslide more and more If you now slight all the kind Invitations and Warnings of Providence and instead of repenting should fall to the Black Religion of Rome There is then no Peace nor Comfort for you that I know of but a Tremendous expectation of Judgment and Fiery Indignation which will consume all before it With Eyes therefore full of Tears and with a Heart full of Sorrow and true Christian Charity and Compassion as I hope do I earnestly entreat and beg of you That you would not now Trifle with Eternity when you are upon the very Brink of Destruction and have but one moment of time to provide for your Security and to save your selves in Remember poor Esau that could find no place for Repentance tho' he sought it carefully with Tears when once the Sentence was past against him Heb. 12.16 17. Gen. 27.33 It was then irrevocable and all his Tears and his exceeding bitter Cry could not alter it And when once the Heavens now are covered with thick Darkness your Cries will hardly pierce thro' it and find access to the Throne of Mercy And when once the consuming Fire of God's Wrath is kindled it is not a few Tears that will quench it In the Bowels of Christ Jesus then and by all the Endearments of a Christian Brother do I earnestly beseech you now to return and thankfully to accept of the Overtures of Mercy while Mercy may be had before abused Goodness be turned to Wrath and Mercy it self be shut up in displeasure against you For then you may cry aloud for Mercy like the Worshippers of Baal 1 Kings 18. and find as little answer and regard as they did But if you will now repent and return to God with all your heart and firmly resolve to abide by him at all times I hope you will readily find him and find him a God ready to help and succour you now in the greatest Straits and Dangers And to animate us all the more herein we may see that we have very great Encouragements in the Sacred Word of God patiently and contentedly to undergo all the Persecutions and Sufferings that befal us here for doing our Duty to God and keeping a good Conscience and sticking close to our Profession and the Truth of the Gospel And First We may see that this is declared to be a blessed thing when Men suffer for Righteousness sake and those that do so are pronounced blessed and happy Behold saith St. James 5.11 we count them happy which endure And saith St. Peter 1 Pet. 2.19 For this is thank-worthy if a man for conscience towards God endure grief suffering wrongfully And ver 20 But if when ye do well and suffer for it ye take it patiently this is acceptable with God And 1 Pet. 3.14 But and if ye suffer for righteousness sake happy are ye and be not afraid of their terror neither be troubled And to this purpose 1 Pet. 4.14 If ye be reproached for the Name of Christ happy are ye for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you on their part he is evil spoken of but on your part he is glorified This we see is a most blessed thing and highly acceptable in the sight of God when Men suffer for Righteousness sake and keeping a good Conscience towards Almighty God Secondly We may see that such as endure constant to the end and forsake not their Profession for any Persecutions that befal them shall be sure to be saved from Eternal Death and Destruction and often tho' not always from Destruction here in this World when they are in great danger of losing their Lives God then in a wonderful manner delivering them by his good Providence out of all their Troubles and Danger This is often declared by our blessed Lord in the Gospel that such as endure constant to the end shall be saved Matt. 10.22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my Name 's sake but he that endureth to the end shall be saved And Matt. 24.12 13. And because iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold but he that shall endure to the end the same shall be saved And these words are not so to be confined to one particular State of the Church as to exclude all others but so as to be Instructions to Christians at all times when there is need of such and such in an especial manner doth this present juncture of time seem to me to be The Church while it is Militant here below is always like to be subject to Persecutions and when these grow very smart and sharp the love of many is like to grow cold But that this may be no great discouragement to good Christians at such a time and may not make their heart to grow faint when they see so many to fall off they are to encourage themselves with such Sacred Consolations as these And saith our Lord Mar. 8.35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the Gospel's the same shall save it The exposing of our Lives to hazard upon this account is the best way to preserve both Life and Soul too and so I believe it will be now Thirdly We may see that our blessed Lord doth promise abundant reward even in this Life to all such as do sustain any loss for his sake and the Gospel's Mar. 10.29 30. And Jesus answered and said verily I say unto you there is no man that hath left House or Brethren or Sisters or Father or Mother or Wife or Children or Lands for my sake and the Gospel's But he shall receive an hundred fold now in this time Houses And to this purpose in
of God resolving to put an end to the Protestant and pure Church of Christ And that the Wrath of God then came upon them and prevented them from doing of it and defeated this bloody design of theirs And that it was time then that these Dead Men that were dead in trespasses and wickedness and past all hopes of being Reclaimed and brought to Repentance should be judged and sentenced to Destruction according to their great Sin and Wickedness And that it was time then that God should think upon all his faithful Servants and all such as fear his Name of what Rank or Degree soever they be and reward them according to their Piety and the faithful service that they have done for him And that he should destroy and Sentence to Corruption those of the Romish Church that destroy the Earth and corrupt all the Morals of Mankind For this is here related as past 19. And the Temple of God was opened in Heaven and there was seen in his Temple the Ark of his testament and there were lightnings and Voices and thundrings and an Earthquake and great hail And The Temple of God saith St. John was opened in Heaven And hereby seems to be meant that the Protestant and pure Worship and Service of Almighty God shall then be publickly set up again and celebrated in publick Churches to the Praise and Honour of his great and glorious Name and that all men shall then have free access to his sacred and pure Worship again and to all the Mysteries of the Christian Religion which seem to be meant by the Ark of his Testament being seen therein to wit That all men shall then be admitted again to draw nigh to God in his Church and Temple and sacred Worship and admitted to his Table again in the holy Communion And the lightnings and Voices c. seem to shew the great acclamations and shoutings of joy that there shall be then and the Psalms of praise and thanksgiving that shall then be heartily sung to Almighty God and the great alterations that shall then be made for the better ordering of Affairs both in Church and State The third and grand Woe of all is to be executed in the time of this seventh Trumpet-Angel about the year 1826 as I have said but the Angel having declared ver 14 That the third Woe cometh quickly the farther treating of this Woe seems to be put off till some Chapters after upon which I shall briefly touch by and by I have here endeavoured to make this sacred and infallible Oracle as clear as I well can that the Light thereof may now shine forth and that it may Proclaim aloud to the world this second dreadful Woe that is now at hand That men may now at the last be admonished and prevailed with to repent and amend their lives seeing the heavy Wrath of God now hangeth over our heads and this Woe is now ready to be executed upon us That they may now be awaked out of their carnal security and take some effectual means for their own safety seeing the Danger is so great and at hand and there is but one step between them and the Pit of Destruction And let all the Bishops and Pastors of the Protestant Church now read over with hearty attention the Epistle to the Church in Sardis and look upon it as directed to themselves There they may see that they are too tardy and too negligent of Christ's Flock even according to the Divine and Infallible Censure of our blessed Lord himself Rev. 3.2 Be watchful and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to dye For I have not found thy works perfect before God Be watchful and double your diligence and look after and strengthen that little Flock of Christ that remaineth and is ready to dye and perish For your works you see are not found perfect before God Let all the Bishops and Pastors of the Protestant Church now take care to cherish and strengthen their Flocks and especially to fortifie and strengthen them against Popery that they may not be devoured by that Beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless Pit I here give publick Warning to all the Bishops and Pastors of the Protestant Church that our blessed Lord is coming and at hand and therefore let them take care That their loins be girded about and their Lights burning and they themselves like unto men that wait for their Lord Blessed are those servants whom the Lord when he cometh shall find watching Luke 12.35 And ver 43 Blessed is that servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing Of a truth I say unto you that he will make him Ruler over all that he hath But if any man will not take warning but put his confidence in an Arm of flesh and trust to Carnal security If any will not prepare for such a Coming of our blessed Lord as I here warn him of but will put the Evil Day far off and out of his thoughts and sing Requiems to his Soul and pursue his pleasures and delights Let that man know that these very words of our blessed Lord shall be verified upon him Rev. 3.3 If therefore thou shalt not watch I will come on thee as a thief and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee And how our Lord will then treat such a man he hath plainly told us Luke 12.45 46. But and if that servant say in his heart my Lord delayeth his coming and shall begin to beat the men servants and maidens and to eat and drink and to be drunken The Lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him and at an hour when he is not ware and will cut him in sunder and will appoint him his Portion with the unbelievers And let all the Protestant Bishops and Pastors and all men else take care that this be not their Condition and Doom at this time Now is the time that the Angel is to be sent forth with the Seal of the living God to Seal the Servants of God in their foreheads and to mark them out for Protection and Deliverance that the destroying Angels may not hurt them Rev. 7.2 And let all the Pastors of the Protestant Church take diligent care that they may be fit and well qualified for such an Angelical and Divine Mark of Mercy and Protection And let them use their utmost endeavours that others may be so too and may be Registred in the Book of Life both for Salvation at this time and also in the world to come Now is the time that the gloriously adorned Woman the pure Church of Christ is like to undergo her hard and sore Travel when the great red Dragon will wait and stand by her ready to devour her hopeful Off-spring as soon as it is born Rev. 12.1 And let all the faithful Pastors and Members of Christ's Church now implore the Divine Assistance of Almighty God That now seeing the
the Popish Religion as they call them but are in truth the deep Mysteries of Satan I will put upon you none other burden but that which you have already hold fast till I come That is persist on in your reformed Religion till I come to give you freedom from your Popish Persecutions c. And here our Saviour doth threaten this Jezebel that is the Papacy and Church of Rome ver 22 23. saying Behold I will cast her into a bed and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation except they repent of their deeds And I will kill her Children with death And what our Saviour here threatneth I conceive had its completion towards the latter end of this Thyatirian Interval in the Plagues and Wars and other Calamities that were then inflicted upon the Popedom from about the year 1500 till 1558 the Pope himself being then taken prisoner by the Emperor Charles Vth. and Rome being taken and sacked c. And here also our Saviour doth promise to give power over the Nations to him that overcometh and keepeth his works unto the end v. 26. And seeing this Power over the Nations was granted to the Protestants in these Kingdoms when Queen Elizabeth came to the Throne therefore with respect to these Kingdoms of England and Ireland I shall set the period of this Thyatirian Church at that time when Queen Elizabeth came to the Throne and at the year of our Lord 1558. The Epistle to the Church in Sardis Rev. 3 1-6 seems to be directed to the Protestant Church some considerable time before this Second Woe that is now at hand For here our Saviour admonisheth the Protestants to remember how they have received and heard concerning their Predecessors and the Reformation and to hold fast the Protestant Religion according to the blessed Word of God and not to return to the Popish Religion again And also he exhorts them to repent and mend their lives and not only to bear the dead name of life but to take care that the Spiritual Life may be quick and vigorous in them and exert and shew it self in all the vital operations thereof in all kinds of Piety and Goodness And if they will not be admonished to repent and take more care he tells them plainly That he will come in judgment upon them as a Thief and that they shall not know at what hour he will come and be sensible of his coming ver 3. And seeing this is a prophetick Epistle of our blessed Saviour directed to the Protestant Church some time before now therefore it is that I desire that all the Bishops and Pastors of the Protestant Church would carefully read it over and lay it to heart and look upon it as directed to themselves as I have said before And when this second Woe shall be past and the sinfuller part of the Church cut off and when the Protestant Religion shall be set up again after Popery hath prevailed over the Protestant Church three years and an half then I conceive the Sardian Church will end and that of Philadelphia will begin The Epistle to the Church in Philadelphia Rev. 3 7-13 seems to be directed to the Christian Church between this second Woe which is now at hand and the third Woe which is like to fall upon the Popish Church about the year 1826. That this Epistle is directed to the Christian Church before the Destruction of the Popedom and Popish Church seems plain by ver 9 where our Lord saith Behold I will make them of the Synagogue of Satan that is of the Popish Church which say they are Jews and are not but do lye that is which pretend to be Christians but in truth and reality are not but are lying deceivers behold I will make them to come and worship before thy feet and to know that I have loved thee That is as I understand it I will make them to stand in fear and awe of thee and in a submissive manner to crave thy favour and to know and be sensible that thou art protected by an extraordinary and peculiar hand of Providence And here our Saviour doth advertise his Church and Servants of the third dreadful Woe and for their great Patience doth promise to protect and keep them if they stick close to him then when all the World about them is like to be up in Arms ver 10 11. Because thou hast kept the Word of my Patience I also will keep thee from the hour of Temptation which shall come upon all the World to try them that dwell upon the earth Behold I come quickly hold that fast which thou hast that no man take thy Crown The Church and Servants of God will then be in great Danger and will see great cause to fear as is shewed in this place and elsewhere in this sacred Book and the Papists then will make their last Attempt against them But if they hold fast and keep close to God they will be sure then to be preserved and may expect a Crown when the Marriage Supper of the Lamb cometh after this third Woe as I conceive And as for the period of this Philadelphian Church it seems probable to me that it will fall about the year of our Lord 2826. The Popedom is like to be destroyed about the year 1826 as I have shewed and then I conceive the thousand years when Satan is to be bound Rev. 20.2 will begin This seems to be intimated Rev. 12.12 where it is said Woe to the Inhabiters of the Earth and of the Sea for the Devil is come down unto you having great wrath because he knoweth that he hath but a short time By the Earth and the Sea here I understand the Popish Kingdoms and the Heathen World And when the Devil is expelled and cast out of the true Christian Church from Domineering over it any more after this second Woe then he will go with greater wrath and fury into the Popish Dominions and Heathen World because he is sensible that he hath but a short time to domineer and play his games in till the third Woe cometh when he must be bound a thousand years And if the thousand years begin about the year 1826 and do signifie the full and just number of a thousand years and so far as I know they may And if the Philadelphian Church shall endure to the end of these thousand years and so far as I see it may Then the period of the Philadelphian Church will fall about the year 2826. The Epistle to the Church of the Laodiceans Rev. 3.14 22 seems to be directed to the Christian Church some considerable time before the end of the World For herein they are exhorted to be zealous and repent ver 19. And a considerable time for repentance is here to be allowed as in all the other Epistles where any Evil is threatned And if they do not repent and get out of their lukewarm condition and grow more zealous our Saviour