any man will hurt them mind a little It seems then first That there will alwaies be some in readiness to hurt the witnessing people of Christ though they be impowered to witness from Christ himself Though the Saints and People of God be impowered by Christ himself for to bear their Testimony There will alwaies be some or other to hurt the witnessing people of God If any man will hurt them Them that are Witnesses But Secondly though men do hurt the witnessing people of God they shall not go unpunished If any man will hurt them fire proceeds out of their mouths and devoureth their enemies Though the enemies may hurt the witnessing people of Christ the enemies shall be hurt themselves they shall not go unpunished But Thirdly They shall not only be punished that hurt the witnessing people of God But they shall be punished with a So He must in this manner or So he must So be punished So how so So look in what way he thought to have hurt the witnessing people of God So shall he be hurt look by what mens he sought to hurt the people of God by the same hand and means shall he be hurt himself But So so by fire coming out of their mouth by the prayers of the people of God they shall be blasted and consumed not by sword not by might nor by strength but by fire coming out of their mouth So So he shall not only be punished but be punished with a so that hurts the witnessing people of God Oh my beloved friends why do you shut your mouths why should you not be much in prayer what doth fire come out of the mouth of the witnessing people of God to devour their enemies and will you shut your mouth and not pray Oh! where will Opposers appear what will become of those that hurt the witnessing people of God O wo to them Oh! what a dangerous thing is it to oppose the prayers of the people of God This is the fire that comes out of their mouth whereby those that hurt them are scorched And therefore let men take heed how they hurt any of the witnessing people of Christ and let all those that are witnesses pray You that are witnesses now open your mouths for fire proceedeth out of your mouths to devour the enemies that hurt the witnessing people of God Open your mouths wide And so I have done with the fifth thing The Guard whereby the Witnesses are guarded in the daies of their Prophesie 6. The sixth thing remains and that is what are the great things that these Witnesses will do in the end of the daies of their Prophesie and of their Sackcloth Why briefly thus In the general 't is said These have power to smite the Earth with all plagues as often as they will That is as I humbly conceive pouring out the seven Vials in Rev. 16. the seven Vials are poured out upon the earth and why is it spoken of here That they have power to smite the earth with all Plagues But to shew that at least some of the Vials shall be poured out before the Witnesses are slain But not to fix there more particularly First These have a power to shut Heaven that it rain not in the daies of their Prophesie What 's that Certainly it must relate unto Elijah That Elijah prayed and by his prayer he shut the Heavens that it rained not for three years and an half Plainly it relates unto Elijah as can be Elijah prayed and by his prayer he shut the Heavens that it rained not for three years and a half Well but what are the Heavens here Those cannot be understood litterally but spiritually As it is said in the 8th verse Their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great City which Spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt The Heavens here cannot be understood litterally but spiritually what then what are the Heavens then and what is the shutting of the Heavens that it rain not The Heavens are the highest power so that look when the Witnesses have power to restrain the highest power in Church and State from their wonted influence then is this word fulfilled that they have power to shut Heaven that it rain not in the days of their Prophesie I say the Heavens are the highest powers look when the Witnesses do restrain the highest power in Church and State from their wonted influence Then is this word fulfilled Secondly They have power also to turn water into blood What 's that plainly it must relate to Moses who turned Rivers and turned waters into blood What 's that It cannot be understood litterally but spiritually still What 's that then Why thus These waters are to be understood spiritually and so you read in Revel 16. The Sea and Rivers were turned into blood Look therefore when the Witnesses shall have power to turn the still waters of a State or Nation into War and Blood Then is this Word fulfilled But how came the Witnesses to have power to do this It may be not legally for it is not said here And I will give power unto them to shut the Heavens but these have power to shut the Heavens and these have power to turn waters into blood 't is not said here I will give them power as 't is said before it may be this may be done and not legally But when shall this be done It must be done immediately before their slaying I pray mark the coherence here They shall have power to shut the Heavens immediately before they are slain and to turn water into blood immediately before they are slain just before the three years and a half that they lye dead upon the earth For when did Elijah shut the Heavens but immediately before the three years and a half of drought When did Moses turn the waters into blood but immediately before the coming out of the Children of Israel out of Egypt So here immediately before the Witnesses are slain and they lye three years and a half as dead immediately before they have power to shut the Heavens that it rain not and to turn waters into blood Now therefore to draw to a Conclusion whensoever you see all these things come to pass I will not apply them to times or places this or that time or place But when you shall see all these things come to pass one treading upon the heel of another when you shall see that the Witnesses have power to shut the Heavens that it rain not to restrain the highest powers both in Church and State from their wonted influence And that they have power to turn water into bloud and still Nations into War and then immediately upon it they shall be slain and so lye dead deprived of their functions and vital operations as if they lay dead Then lift up your heads and comfortably say hopefully say Now now comes the three years and half which is the last time Now is our Salvation near for God will bring
Faithful witness Rev. 3. write These things saith the Amen the true and Faithful witness That is Christ Christ is the true and the faithful witness and therefore those that are his they must be witnesses too that they may be conformed to him Thereby they also overcome as you have it in Rev. 12. And they overcame him by the Bloud of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony They overcome by the Bloud of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony by witness-bearing So then the Saints and people of God they are Christs witnesses In Anti-Christian times they are Christs witnesses and if they be thus described why then should not we look unto this work especially Bearing of witness to the truths and wayes of Christ This is the work that we are born for For this cause saith Christ was I born and for this cause came I into the World that I might bear witness unto the truth This is the work of our Generation witness-bearing to the truths of Christ in opposition to the waies of Anti-Christ in Anti-Christian times This is the work of our Generation This is the work which there is a thousand years of glory and comfort promised unto above other things as you read in Rev. 20. This is the work Witness-bearing to the truths of Christ in opposition to the wayes of Anti-Christ This is the work that hath the Crown and Name of Martyrdom A Martyr what 's that but a Witness Every witness more or less is a Martyr We take the word only for them that dye But every witness is a Martyr This is that work which sometimes is necessary to Salvation Rom. 10. 10. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto Salvation This is the work I say therefore that sometimes is necessary unto Salvation And this is that work which Jesus Christ will own and acknowledg before all the world He that confesseth me before men him will I confess before my Father and all the Angels in Heaven And if this be the great work why should we not all of us look to this work especially this witness-bearing You will say what shall I do that I may be found faithful in this witness-bearing what shall I do that I may witness a good confession in these dayes of ours Something by way of Rule Something by way of means and yet not long because I must pass on to other things Rule 1. Something by way of Rule Be sure that your testimonies do agree Though there be 100 Witnesses about a business if their witness don't agree 't will be of little worth And now so it is Christs Witnesses this day are divided into many Opinions and Perswasions but they may agree in the main for Christ they may all agree in opposition unto Anti-Christ If that you wouâ—â—â—ave your witness valid and good labour you thaâ— are the witnesses for unity in your testimony Tâ—â—re are three saith the Apostle John that bear witness in Heaven speaking of Gods testifying of the truth of Grace There are three that bear Record in Heaven the Father the Word and the Holy Ghost these bear witness of Christ and their witness is good why For these three are One 1 Joh. 5. 7. And saith he at the 8. v. There are three that bear witness on earth the Spirit and the Water and the Bloud The Spirit I come to know that I am the child of God by the testimony of the Spirit bearing witness with my Spirit that I am the child of God And I come to know that I am the child of God by the witness of water by the testimony of Sanctification And I come to know that I am the child of God by the testimony of Bloud by the testimony of my Faith relying upon the Bloud of Christ And these three agree and these three agree in One. The testimony is good because they agree in one So in our testifying of Christ If our testimonies do agree our testimony is good that 's the first thing We have bin too much divided God knows we have and he hath punisht our Divisions with Divisions 't is time to unite our testimony If you would bear witness unite your testimony 2. If you would witness a good confession in these dayes of ours then you must be willing to own the truth of Christ to own it whensoever you are called thereunto 't is said our Saviour Christ he witnessed a good Confession before Pontius Pilate Pray what kind of witness was it was it any long confession or large nâ— â—ut the manner on 't was this when they call'd him before them to give an account of any fact he left them to prove it When they called him to give an account of the Doctrine that he held Art thou the King of the Jews then he owned it He left them to prove the fact and he owned the truth so should we do And indeed if that we be not willing for to own the truth when we are called thereunto why how can it be that the mark of the Father should be written upon our Foreheads only We read of the followers of the Beast that they received a mark in their right hands and in their Foreheads both why in the Forehead and why in the hand In the Forehead sometimes to wear it openly And in their right hands to put it into their pockets and to hide it They can own it sometimes and sometimes they can hide it but the followers of the Lamb they have the mark of their Father only in their Forehead Therefore I say If we would witness a good Confession we must be willing to own the truth whensoever we are called thereunto 3. If you would witness a good confession in these dayes of ours then you must be willing also for to suffer for the truth of Christ Those that cannot suffer for the truth of Christ and run the hazard of a suffering they cannot bear their witness fully See how they go together in Rev. 13. 10. Here is the patience and Faith of the Saints The Faith of the Saints and their Patience do go together So in chap. 14. ver 12. Here is the Patience of the Saints here are they that keep the Commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus Patience and keeping the Commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus they go together And therefore that 's a third thing 4. If you would witness a good Confession then take heed that when you hav born your testimony you do nothing that may revoke the same either directly or by consequence Some bear a good testimony to the truths of Christ but then they revoke their testimony by somthing that they do afterwards either directly or by consequence Mark what is said of John in Joh. 1. 20. 't is said of him He confessed and denyed not but confessed I am not the Christ He confessed and did not revoke his testimony He
his Truth his Worship his People Things God delights in his Name When the Solemn Assembly is under Reproach his Truth is derided his Worship defiled his Children persecuted and his Name dishonoured Who can behold all these things and not bleed and not be affected there withall That 's a third 4. Look when the Solemn Assembly doth lie under Reproach then all the People of God the whole Generation of the Righteous are afflicted distressed and as a Lamp despised before him that is at ease Who would not grieve to see the necks of all the people of God lye upon the block together ready to be cut off Pray do but mind that place in Esther 'T is said there that when the Decree came out upon the Jews that their necks lay all upon the block in the third of Esther The Decree was given in Shushan the Palace and the King and Haman sate down to drink but the City Shushan was perplexed The City Shushan Why the City Shushan 'T is not said the Jews What was the City Shushan Jews No there were a hundred to one in the City that were no Jews I but the Neighbours of the people of God were perplexed O then is the City Sushan perplext in such a day and shall not the Jews themselves be perplext shall they not be affected much with it Then all the Saints their necks lie upon the block Look but into the Psalms and you shall see that when the Temple of God is defiled The reproach of the house of God and the persecution of the Saints go together Psal 79. 1 2. O God the Heathen are come into thine Inheritance thy Holy Temple have they defiled they have laid Jerusalem on heaps the dead bodies of thy Servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the Heaven the flâ—sh of thy Saints unto the beasts of the earth their bloud have they shed like water round about Jerusalem and there was none to bury them we are become a reproach to our Neighbours I these two go together the defilement of the house of God the reproach of the Solemn Assembly and the persecution of the Saints likewise Now who can see these things and not be affected 5. The School-men say That power which cannot be resisted is a cause of grief If evil be coming and I be able to resist it I am not much affected but if evil comes like an armed man and I cannot resist it this causeth grief Now when the Solemn Assemblie lies under Reproach evil comes upon the People of God like an armed man They cannot resist it hear's grief then 6. The School-men say All grief doth arise from the want of the thing loved and the loss of good Now when the Solemn Assembly doth lie under Reproach there good things are lost the Saints good things There 's the presence of God in the Solemn Assembly There 's the Chariot whereby Christ rides into the souls of sinners There 's the food of Faith There 's all good things gone and therefore no wonder they are so affected But 7. Look when the Solemn Assembly doth lie un-under Reproach then the world is scandalized and the world 's offended Wo to the world because of â—ffences 't is an evil thing that the world should be offended When is the world offended when the Solemn Assembly lies under Reproach aha so would we have it Then they laugh saith Paul who is offended and I burn not We say when the sick man laughs the Physician crys he is distracted saith he Why now the Saints and People of God they are the worlds Physicians to cure them and heal them by their lives and prayers and instructions What do they laugh what do they say Aha so would we have it But when the Solemn Assembly lies under Reproach then is the world offended Then therefore is the time for the Saints and people of God to be much affected 8. Look when the Solemn Assembly doth lie under Reproach then the Devil gets up again The Devil falls by the powerful preaching of the Gospel saith our Saviour Christ Rejoyce not that the Devils fall down like lightning before you What fall what doth our Saviour Christ speak of the Devils first fall no surely but of his fall by the preaching of the Gospel When the Gospel is powerfully preached then the Devil falls But when the Solemn Assembly lies under Reproach he gets up again And what good man would not grieve when he sees how the Devil gets up again especially if he have seen the falling of the Devil before 9. Look when the Solemn Assembly doth lie under Reproach then you have a certain presage of a Famine of the hearing of the word If one could assure you that for certain there would be a Famine of Bread you would be much affected Why the reproach of the Solemn Assembly is a certain presage of a Famine of the word and the hearing of the word a certain presage of it 10. The more that any good man hath any hand in any great evil that is come the more he is affected there withall 'T is fabled of the Eagle that when the Eagle was shot looking upon her wound she was troubled But when she lookt upon the Arrow and saw the feathers of the Arrow nay then saith she I am kill'd and am destroyed by some of my own kind in regard of the feathers and this wounded her again and troubled her more that she was destroyed by some of her own kind And truly when a good man looks upon the reproach of the Solemn Assembly may he not see his own feathers Yes This reproach of the Solemn Assembly have I had a hand in No wonder therefore that it doth grieve him and that he is much affected 11. When the Solemn Assembly doth lie under reproach God is departed Take away God and I am no body saith one A good heart will alwayes say so Take away God and I am no body Now when the reproach lies upon the Solemn Assembly then God is gone God is so much departed and so much gone as the Solemn Assembly lies under reproach so much we do bear the badges of Gods departure Do you then ask me what there is in this reproach of the Solemn Assembly that the Saints should be so much affected there withall There are these two things and judge you whether there be not cause that all the Saints and people of God should be much affected and carry it as a burthen upon their souls when the Solemn Assembly lies under reproach And thus I have done with the second thing that those that are of them Those that are the true Members of the Solemn Assembly they will be very sensible of it And you see the reasons of it But Thirdly Suppose the Solemn Assembly do lie under reproach and we have been and are very sensible thereof and carry it as a burthen What then Then will the Lord turn your former sorrow into
the second or for the third part Now as we do not blame the tree for bringing forth so late because it is a winter-fruit so why should we despise some that are backward in our eyes that hâ—ng and flag as to the business of suffering why the first shall be last and the last shall be first Sixthly why should any be afraid or be discouraged because they are weak and unfit to suffer As many that are first shall be last so many that are last shall be first As there is a great deal of suffâ—ring that will come to a little so there is a little suffering that will amount to much Therefore though you be unfit as you think for this suffering work yet be not discouraged But you will say I am not afraid of suffering upon this account but I am afraid of my suffering because of my sin for now suffering times are come and we suffer for our sins and can any suffering that comes by sin turn to a good account If I did know that my suffering should turn to a good account I would never be afraid to suffâ—r but I fear my suffering will not turn to a good account because my sufferings come by sin Can any sufferings that come by sin turn to a good account I answer Yea through the grace of God When the Ark was taken were not the people in a sad condition Yes they lamented after the Ark twenty years And did not that condition come by their sin Yes Did that turn to any good account Yeâ— for Dagon falls down before the Ark the Philistims own hands brought it home again and they give glory to God So that it turned to a good account But especially that instance of David There was a Pestilence and many thousands died and did it come by sin Yes David numbers the people I but did it turn to any good account Yes for then the Lord told David where his Temple should be built 2 Chron. 3. 1. David had a great desire to know where Gods house should be built but never was it told till now So that thus this suffering turned to a good account although it came by sin Possibly a suffering may come by sin and yet through grace it may turn to a good account But then the great Question of all is suppose thus Suppose there be such a great reward laid out for those that suffer for the Name of Christ suppose there is a great deal of suffering will turn to a little account suppose there is a little suffering will turn to a great account How shall I so order and manage my sufferings as that my sufferings may turn to a good account Indeed this is a great Question and worthy of all our consideration For answer unto this First if you would order and manage all your sufferings so as they may turn to a good account be sure of this That all your sufferings be underlaid with Godliness Personal Godliness and actual Godliness With personal godliness for if your person be not accepted your suffering will not if you be not in Christ your suffering will come to little As the tree is so is the fruit that grows upon the tree if the tree be a Crab all the fruit is but Crabs And if you be a Crab and not implanted into Jesus Christ your suffering will not be accepted And not onely personal godliness but actual godliness so as not to lie in any sin either of omission or commission For any sin is a hole in the bag of our sufferings if there be a hole in the bag all your money will run out Surely if a man lies in any sin that sin is a hole in the bottom of the bag and all the profits of his sufferings will run out though he suffers never so much for Christ and for Religion Therefore that 's the first thing be sure that all your sufferings be underlaid with godliness personal and actual godliness Secondly if you would so order and manage your sufferings as that they may turn to a good account then labour to get your understanding clear and your will free in the matter and business of sufferings For though the thing that you suffer for be never so right yet if you have not a clear understanding in what you suffer your suffering will turn to little And though you have never so clear an understanding yet if your will be not free it will turn to little You know how it was with Moses it 's said He refused to be call'd the son of Pharaohs daughter and chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God Why when was this when he came of years Why when he came of years Because then he had discretion and understanding and the Holy-ghost would shew that he did what he did understandingly in the point of his suffering and he did it freely in the point of his will for he chose rather chusing is an act of the will So that if you would have your sufferings turn to a good account labour to get a clear understanding in the matter of your sufferings and be very free in your will You will say to me How can I be freely willing to part with my house or land or liberty Yes you may be very free and freely willing to part with all in reference to the will of God your Father Christ himself said Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me He was unwilling in regard of the thing it self he suffer'd but he was very willing in regard of the Fathers will and therefore he saith Not my will but thy will be done This is the second thing let your understanding be clear and your will be free in the matter of your sufferings Thirdly take heed you run not into any suffering without a Call nor rush out of that suffering without the same Call from God Noah was in the Ark and when the waters were abated from off the earth Noah would not stir out of the Ark. Why would not Noah go out when the waters were abated Why as Noah had a Call to go in so he would have the same Call to go out A man must not run into a suffering without a Call and he must not rush out of it without a Call And therefore you shall finde Christ and the Apostles and all the Martyrs that thus they acted they would hide and go aside and avoid their sufferings but when they were in hold they would not go out though the doors were open So that that 's the third thing be sure of this that you do not run into sufferings without a Call nor rush out of sufferings without the same Call from God Fourthly if you would order and manage all your sufferings so as they may turn to a good account then set all your losses upon Christs head and upon Christs score which you may do if you do suffer for Christs cause which you may do if