Commission of the Gospel defie the living Jesus and the Worship set up by his Apostles And in this regard this Babylon John speaketh of may be said to be a spiritual Babylon who made all the nations of the earth to drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication And as certain as the other Babylon was destroyed with a perpetual destruction when the seventy years was accomplished So will this Babylon aforesaid be destroyed with an eternal destruction when the time apointed of God is accomplished And as the Jews nation were under Babylons yoke so were the Saints in the primitive time or in the Commission of the Gospel under the yoke of persecution of this spiritual Babylon And this spiritual Babylon who made all nations drunk with spiritual fornication in worshipping of Idols and Images as aforesaid is that great City Babylon is called a great City because she made all nations to become idolatrous For when a man doth bow down and submit to worship any idol Image or form of worship that is false it not being set up by command from God he may be said to drink of the cup of spiritual fornication More might be said of this thing but I shall have occasion to speak of it hereafter onely this is to be minded here that the Saints in all this time of the Commission of the Apostles did not drink of the cup of fornication That is they were not polluted with worshipping of idols and images or any false worship but did cleave close to the faith and worship of Jesus I mean those that did truly believe the Apostles doctrine and those that were converted by it in the time of their Commission their Worship differing in every thing from the worship of the whore of Babylon Even as the worship of the Jews did differ from that great City the whore of that Babylon as aforesaid This is the true interpretation of the great City the spiritual Babylon who made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornications As you may see in the ninth verse And the third Angel followed them saying with a loud voice If any man worship his Image and receive the mark in his forehead or in his hand in the tenth verse the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God c. So that none of the Saints after they truely believed did worship the Beast nor his Image nor practice that manner of worship that was set up by the power of the beast Neither did they receive his mark neither in their foreheads nor right hands That is they did not submit to his worship neither willingly nor unwillingly so that the Saints did not drink of the wine of her fornication at all in that they did not worship any idols images or forms of false worship which was set up by this great City the spiritual whore of Babylon Whose torment is expressed in the verses following both she and all those that drunk of her cup of fornication and received the mark But I shall pass by those verses which speaketh of that there being more sayings hereafter that speaks much of the torments of the whore of Babylon and those she committed whoredom with Therefore I shall pass by that and two verses more there being little matter in them but what is commonly known by all so I shall proceed to the fourteenth verse CHAP. XLIV ANd I looked and behold a white cloud and upon the cloud one sate like unto the Son of Man having on his head a golden Crown and in his hand a sharp sicle This Son of Man John saw sit upon the white cloud I declare it was no other but Christ the onely God though said by John to like unto the Son of Man He may well be said to be like unto the Son of Man because he be is the Son of Man for he called himself so For saith he when he was on earth the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinners meaning himself And other places in Scripture where he calls himself the Son of Man Now to know why Christ called himself the Son of Man he being the Son of God nay God himself it will be worth the unfolding of this mystery To this I say he calls himself the Son of Man because he took upon him the nature of Man in the womb of Mary the virgin That is he gained the Godhead nature and Manhood together in the womb of Mary the Virgin and there cloathed the Godhead nature with pure humane flesh So that he when he was born into this world was perfect God and Man according to that saying Isaiah the nineth To us a childe is born to us a Son is given he shall be called the mighty God the everlasting Father with other titles of the divine Godhead yet a childe a perfect man childe born of a Virgin And she conceived in her womb by the Holy Ghost that is by the holy God so the Virgin she being the Mother that bare Jesus and brought him forth into this world as other children are brought forth into this world In this regard he did call himself and is called by the Spirit the Son of Man For he taking the nature of Man upon him and being born of a Virgin he may call himself the Son of Man That is he is the Son of Man but by the Mothers side but not by the Fathers side For by the Fathers side he called himself the Son of God and so he was yea he was God himself The parrallel is much like unto Cain and Abel they were both brothers by the mothers side but not by the father For they had two several fathers Adam was the father of righteous Abel and the serpent-angel was the father of cursed Cain as the Scripture doth plainly prove if understood by the Reader For it is not written no where in Scripture that Adam begot Cain Yet notwithstanding Eve was the mother of them both and so Cain and Abel were brothers by the Mothers side but not by the Fathers side So likewise Christ was the Son of God nay God himself by the Fathers side but by the Mothers side he was the Son of Man And in this sense he called himself The Son of Man And this Son of Man is that Son of Man John looked and saw sit upon a white cloud having on his head a golden crown and in his hand a sharp sicle This cloud he sate upon it was that cloud the Apostles speaks of Hebr. 12. Wherefore seeing we also are encompassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses Now what this cloud is it is expressed in the eleventh chapter concerning the faith of the Patriarchs and Prophets and Saints who had the righteousness of faith in them beginning at righteous Abel Enoch Noah Abraham Isaac Joseph Moses David Samuel and the Prophets with other Saints who suffered wonderful strange deaths for their Faith These and many more were
God himself onely So that as he was the Creator of all things he had this Name written on him as he was the Creator Jehovah God Almighty I am that I am this was the Name of God as he was the Creator and this name was written on his Spiritual body which was his vesture for his God-head Spirit to live in but now God is become flesh and hath cloathed the Godhead Life with a garment of flesh as a vesture and shed his most precious blood he being in the condition of a Son or a Servant he made himself capable of the pains of death and so died unto Sin that is to satisfie sin for nothing could satisfie sin but the blood of God And by his dying unto it he destroyed sin in that death could not keep him under it For if death could have kept that body of Christ in the grave so that it might not have risen again then sin and death would have lived for ever and ever and this world would have had no end So that by this death of God he hath conquered sin death and hell for the Seed of Adam that they shall have no power over them not as to keep them under eternal torments But on the contrary he hath by his death overcome sin death and hell so as to make them serve for the eternal torment of the seed of the serpent who have acted sin So that as he hath gone thorow the condition of a Redeemer and overcome sin death and hell upon those two considerations aforesaid By the body of his flesh he hath purchased to himself as he is the Redeemer a name written on that body of flesh which is called his vesture King of kings and Lords of lords But here is one thing more to be minded that this death of Christ was that which treadeth the wine-press of the wrath of Almighty God For God was wrath with sin and nothing could punish sin but an eternal death so that God having no way to destroy sin and to be even with the serpent that brought sin and death into the world not onely to himself and his own seed but also to Adam and his seed So that God being willing to avenge himself of the serpent and his seed and to restore Adam and his Seed again he took upon him the Seed of Abraham which is the nature of Adam and not the nature of Angels of whose nature the serpent was of And so clothed the eternal spirit with a body of flesh and so offered up the eternal spirit unto death that he might destroy him that had the power of death which is the devil which devil is no other but the spirit of reason in man So that as death was in the devils hands before Christs death yet now by his death he hath gained the power of death himself â—nto his own hands So that now he will deliver his own seed from it and will inflict the same death eternal upon the devil and his seed as he would have done upon God and his seed So that the wrath of Almighty God it was against sin and death which the serpent brought into this world upon all the seed of Adam and the body of God by the assistance of the eternal spirit must tread the wine-press of it That is the eternal spirit was the life of the blood that was in that blessed body so that he poured out his soul unto death and was offered up throw the eternal spirit and this was the treading the wine-press of the wrath of Almighty God he being the Almighty God himself and by this work of Redemption he hath a Name written upon that body of flesh he suffered death in King of kings and Lord of lords I confess these things are deep mysteries hard for me to explain in words and more hard to be understood by those who know not what revelation doth mean For things of this nature cannot be explained with that ease as other matters may which is more easie to understand but the Seed of Faith may see what is meant by the wine-press of Gods wrath and who it was that treadeth it in that his soul was made an offering forsin and so hath a Name by his sufferings King of kings and Lord of lords as aforesaid CHAP. LXXVII IN this sixteenth verse John hath concluded the marriage of the Lamb with the joy and glory the Saints shall have in heaven over the destruction of Babylon that is over the destruction of all wicked persecuting men from the beginning of the world to the latter end thereof and by what means these things hath been accomplished Even by that sharp Sword that goeth out of Christs mouth in giving his Angels command to pour out the vials of his wrath upon the earth and by his own garment dipt in blood hath he accomplished glory and eternal happiness to the Saints and shame and endless misery to the reprobate So that in the latter part of this chapter the Spirit doth call to rememberance the great destruction of that great City Babylon and doth incite the Saints in heaven to increase their joy in heaven by feeding upon the destruction of that great whore who caused all the nations of the earth to drink the wine of her fornication as you may see in the seventeenth verse Verse the seventeenth And I saw an Angel standing in the Sun and he cryed with a loud voice saying to all the fowls that she in the midest of heaven Come and gather your selves together unto the Supper of the great God These fowls that fly in the midst of heaven are the Saints they are called by the Spirit the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven and these fowls are invited to Supper with the great God Hâ—â—â— the Reader may see that Christ is the great God for they sup with him they were married unto that is the Lamb they were married unto and he the fowls of heaven must sup with Also this is he that is King of kings and Lord of lords even the great God and that which the great God and the fowls of heaven must have to supper it is set down in the 18 verse Verse the eighteenth That ye may ear the flesh of Kings and the flesh of Captains and the flesh of men and the flesh of horses and of them that fit on them and the flesh of all men both free and bond both small and great This verse doth imply all both great and small that fought under the banner of the beast and the false prophet which false prophet signifies the spiritual Power of the whore as aforesaid and the beast signifies the Civil Power or Head-magistrate who committed fornication with the woman and so joyned together to fight against God and his Saints And these Kings Captains and mighty men and small and great they were all authorized by these two Powers aforesaid to fight against God and his Saints and so they did persecute and kill
form of a white horse it is not much material for it the spirit will call the righteousness of Saints a white horse who shall gainsay it But however the white Robes of the Saints who are washed in the blood of the Lamb are as a white horse for God their King to ride upon So that if you understand the interpretation of this white horse you may the more easily know the meaning of the other three horses Also it is necessary to know who doth ride or sit upon this white horse I declare by Revelation from the holy Spirit that he which John saw sit on the white horse it was no other but Christ himself It was he that had a bowe and a crown was given unto him it may be said the crown was given unto him as he was the Redeemer For this crown of Glory that was given unto him it was as he was the Redeemer and not as he was the Creator And as he was the Redeemer he sate or rode upon the white horse And he went forth conquering and to conquer That is he being the author of the righteousness of Faith as he was the Redeemer that he made the Saints so pure and white that they became a white horse for him to sit upon So that they were able by their faith in the blood of the Lamb to suffer tribulation and death it self So that they became more then conquerors for he that suffereth persecution for the name of Jesus he doth conquer more then he that doth persecute and put to death So likewise Christ that sate upon this white horse as he was the Redeemer he went forth conquering and to conquer That is he went forth in the power of faith by which he created all things he went forth to redeem the Seed of Adam that was fallen under death and the fear of eternal damnation So that death and hell got power over Adam and his Seed so that Christ riding upon the white Horse of innocency or the righteousness of Faith he went forth conquering and to conquer That is he went forth to die to shed his most precious blood and by his giving himself up unto death He conquered over sin death and hell Therefore it is said in Scripture Oh death I will be thy death oh grave I will be thy victory That is he will get victory over the grave as he did over death for he destroyed death in that death could not keep him under it for ever in that he passed thorow it He got victory over the grave in that the grave could not keep him inclosed in the earth So that he went forth conquering and to conquer never leaving off until he had conquered all his enemies That is to say sin death devil hell the grave these all were his enemies and he hath conquered over them all by his becoming flesh and by his suffering of death upon the Cross as he was a Redeemer or as he was God the Son and these enemie did Christ which sate upon the white horse go forth conquering and to conquer to redeem the Seed of Adam And this is the true meaning what is meant by the white horse and by him that sate thereon and by his conquering and to conquer And the bowe which he had it signified the power he had to shout and kill those spiritual enemies which is sin death hell and devil Which could no ways have been killed but by giving his life up unto death and by his passing thorow death and quickening into life again he killed death sin hell and the devil With this dart of offering up his soul unto death it being shot thorow sin death and hell by the strength or bowe of the power of faith in God And as for the Crown that was given him it is spoken with relation to the Son-ship of God as he is a Redeemer So that the Crown of Glory that he hath given him it is attributed unto him as he is a Redeemer For the work of Redemption is counted by the redeemed ones more worthy of a Crown of glory then the work of creation So that this Crown of glory that is given to Christ that sate upon the white Horse it is in relation to his work of Redemption in that he conquered over all those spiritual enemies as aforesaid So much for the first and second verses CHAP. XVI IN the 3 verse it is said And when he had opened the second Seal I heard the second Beast say Come and see And in the 4 verse There went out another horse that was red and power was given to him that sate thereon to take peace from the earth and that they should kill one another and there was given unto him a great Sword These four beasts which John saw in the vision did signifie unto him those wonderful Transactions which were and should be acted here on earth in the state of mortality in the time of the four Monarchies And signified unto John in the way of vision by four horses Now the second horse that did appear to John in the vision was a red horse and power was given to him that sate thereon to take peace from the earth and that they should kill one another This Monarchical Government went forth upon a red horse that is shedding of blood should be the greatest work he that sate thereon should do It was called a red Horse because of the much shedding of blood so that the blood of men is called a red Horse even as the righteousness of faith is called a white Horse And as the souls of the Saints were made white with the blood of the Lamb so are these souls made red with shedding of one anothers blood So that every mans soul became a red horse and he that sate upon this red horse had power given him to take peace from the earth and for that purpose theâ—e was given unto him a great sword Now this great Sword it was to kill and in killing one another peace must needs be taken from the earth So that this Kingly Power though they were many Kings yet they are called but him that sate upon the red horse So likewise though there were many thousand slain and had their blood shed yet they are all called but A red horse so that there is but the horse and his rider for Kings and Magistrates do ride upon the people in that they command the people to kill one another So that people which go to fight to shed one anothers blood may well be called A red horse for they make their souls as red as scarlet with blood-shed And the power of the Magistrate doth ride and sit upon this red horse for he hath a great sword given unto him to command persecutors to kill one another and they must obey and become a red horse or else they must be killed themselves Thus in short I have given you the signification of the red horse and of him that sits thereon For
Prophet Elijah For the worshippers of Baal were so numerous that Elijah thought there was none but himself that did worship the God of Jacob. But there was seven thousand that had not bowed their knee to Baal And these were the oyl and the wine that should not be hurt by compelling of them to hurt their consciences by worshipping a false God as the generality of the people did thorow the darkness of their mindes They being the black horse for the ignorant dark power of the Head-Magistrate to ride or sit upon For as the horse is black so is the rider with ignorance and darkness in spiritual worship Onely he that sits upon the black horse is the dark power of reason Therefore the Apostles calls it the power of darkness for it is the dark reason of man that doth act deeds of darkness Therefore called the power of darkness and the deeds of spiritual darkness in point of worship is called by the Revelation of John he that sits upon the black horse Because he commandeth all people to worship his imaginary God And the people thorow the darkness of their understandings they do obey and so they become in point of spiritual worship a black horse For the dark power of reason to sit or ride upon c. CHAP. XVIII ANd in the 7 verse it is said And when he had opened the fourth Seal I heard the fourth beast say Come and see and in the 8 verse John looked and behold a pale horse and his name that sate on him was Death and hell followed with him and power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth to kill with sword and with hunger and with death and with the beasts of the earth I would have the Reader to minde the interpretation of this pale horse because everyone of us must be a pale horse for death to sit upon Except we be swallowed up of life as Moses and Elijah was Which I nor no man else at this day doth know he shall So that death must ride upon all sinful flesh Now to give you the meaning what this pale horse is it is no other but the sinful soul of man and woman Therefore as the Scriptures saith When sin entred into the world then death entred in upon it So that as soon as ever the souls of Adam and Eve had let sin enter into their souls Then death entered for death did ride upon sin and sin did ride upon the soul of ours first parents According to that saying of God in the day that thou eatest thereof meaning the forbidden fruit thou shalt dye the death So that as soon as sin entred into their souls death entred also So that the souls of Adam and Eve became as a pale horse for death to ride upon For there was not onely the fear of this first death but the fear of eternal death also Which made the soul of Adam to fear therefore he went to hide himself For the fear of death will make the soul to look pale so that it will become a pale horse for death to ride upon For by sin entering into the world death got power over all life So that death sits upon all life both upon man and beasts For the beasts are made subject to death by reason of the fall of man Onely I would have the Reader to understand this secret that the creatures the beasts were created of God on purpose to be killed for the nourishment of man But if sin had never been committed by man death would never have entered upon the life of man nor beast That is no beast would have died naturally as they do now But what were killed on purpose for some use so that no man would have had such lose as some men now have Some are undone by the dying of Horses others by Cows and others by Sheep and this is death that hath entered into the world upon the beasts For the sin of Adam brought death upon all his posterity and upon the beasts also as aforesaid So that the life of man and beasts is become a pale horse for death to sit upon And the fear of death in Adam did make his soul to look pale And so it doth in all mankinde the fear of death it makes the stoutest heart to look pale especially when the fear of eternal death is not taken away As very few men in the world have the fear of the second death taken from them So that their souls look pale indeed so that the generality of men and women have the fear of eternal death that sits upon their souls so that they are that pale horse that death rideth upon And hell follows immediately after the first death the second death and hell go both together hand in hand These things I say will make any soul to look pale This I can experience both by my self and others before I came to know the true way of redemption And because you the Seed of Faith may know that the soul of man is that pale horse that death sits upon Which sin did cause to enter upon all life I say this death it entered upon the life of God himself So that God died unto sin that is to satisfie sin that sin which brought death with it might enter upon the life of God and kill that life in God for a moment But the life of God being more strong then death it pierced thorow the body of death and quickened a new life again So that he overcame death in that death could not keep him under it As it doth the first Adam and his posterity It is much like unto a valiant soldier who by his valor and strength passeth thorow a body of men well armed And by his getting thorow that body of men he comes to rout and scatter them and gets the victory over them So was it with Christ the onely God he laying down his Godhead life it being in the Manhood unto death he passed thorow death and killed that which did kill him to wit sin death and hell These being mighty strong enemies too strong for any created soul or life to encounter with None could do it but the life of the eternal God himself For sin lyeth heavy upon the soul of man and death is the king of fears it maketh kings to fear and tremble at the sight of it And hell is worse then death it self yet these strong enemies are overcome by the blood of the Lamb and in all those that have faith in it and doth truly understand it So that you that have faith may see what this pale horse is John speaketh of and what death is that sits upon the pale horse And what power they have given unto them over the four parts of the earth Even to kill with the Sword and with hunger and with death and with the beasts of the earth The pale horse and death hath power given them over all life in the four
case as aforesaid will speak no better things then the blood of Abel But the very same thing will cry aloud for vengeance as the blood of Abel and as their blood did that was slain under the altar as John saw in his vision Therefore the blood of Christ is said to speak better things then the blood of Abel But this I must tell you it speaketh better things to those that have faith in his death and so are washed by faith in his blood To those it speaketh peace joy life and salvation to the soul and these are better things then the blood of Abel or the blood of the Saints which speaketh to the soul fear horror death and eternal damnation These be the things that the blood of Abel and all innocent blood doth speak and the blood of Christ will speak the same things as Abels blood doth to those that persecuted and put him to death at that time So that according to the serpents desire his blood will be upon them and their children for the serpents children are those that walk in the steps of their fathers and as they that put him to death were the seed of Cain their father as Christ said To those Jews that sought his life he said unto them You are of your father the devil and his works you do for he was a murderer and a liar from the beginning And who was he that did the first murder was it not Cain and they were his children and all persecuting men since have been their children And in persecuting the innocent Saints they justifie the deeds of their fathers that persecuted Christ and their persecuting of Christ in so doing they justified the deeds of the devil their father that slew the Prophets and Cain that slew Abel The grandfather of all persecuting devils for worshipping of God contrary to the tradition of their fathers So that the blood of righteous Abel the blood of Christ and the blood of the Saints will be upon the consciences of the persecuting seed of the serpent and upon their children who walk in the steps of their grandfather Cain And this hath and will be fulfilled upon all the children of those persecuting Jews which put Christ to death So that his blood will be upon them and their children for these are their children and may be called so who are the seed of the serpent who walk in the way of their fathers who did kill the Lord of Life And so his blood will be upon them and their children as they did desire So that his blood doth cry as the blood of Abel did for eternal vengeance For none will shed blood upon that account but the serpent or devil and those that are his children So that you whose understandings are enlightned may see that there is a vertue and power in the blood of Prophets Apostles and righteous men which are Saints who suffer for the true declaration and worship of God To cry unto the Lord for vengeance upon those that shed their blood And the Lord will hear the cry of blood more then he will the cry of the Saint before his blood was shed For the very deed of murther for Religion sake hath the reward of vengeance in it So that God the rightous Judge must needs do right to reward every one according to his works So that the suffering of persecution and death for Truths sake as these Saints did as John speaketh of shall have a blessed reward as is said in the 11 verse Those that were slain under the altar for the word of God and the testimony they held they had white robes given unto every one of them And it was said to them Rest yet for a little season until their fellow servants also and their brethren that should be killed as they were should be fulfilled So that you the Seed of Faith may know that these souls that were slain under the altar were not yet in heaven neither is those white robes yet put upon them notwithstanding it is said there were white robes given them For surely if those souls had been in the heaven of glory with their white robes of the rightousness of faith upon them God would never have bid them rest a little season untill their fellow servants and brethren were killed as they were So that it may be clear to you that have faith in the death of the soul and of a resurrection that there is no souls go to heaven without bodies So that souls cannot go to heaven and put on white robes to stand in the presence of God without bodies So that these souls which cried for vengeance mustly still in the earth and rest a season untill the rest of the Seed of Faith hath passed from death as you have So that God may raise you all together and cloth you all with white robes of rightousness and immortality and glory at the resurrection at the end of the world So that you may all be rewarded and clothed with white robes together and not some served this year and other some the next but you shall all be happy together So that you must rest yet a little season untill all things is accomplished and then I will bless you with an everlasting crown of life Because you suffered death for my name in witnessing to me and I will avenge your blood upon mine and your enemies that persecuted and put me and you to death They shall have their reward also which reward of their deeds will amount to no less than to eternal damnation where the black and dark fire of hell shall burn in their souls to eternity Which shall cause them to cry Oh the eternity the eternity with sorrow pain and shame And when you Saints shall receive your eternal joys then shall your enemies receive their eternal sorrows Which is not yet neither will it be until all things be fulfilled which the Scriptures hath foretold of which cannot be long as men do vainly imagine Because the true Witness of the Spirit is now extant in the world who hath declared and made manifest the mystery of the true God becoming flesh and what the right Devil is with many other heavenly mysteries So that you that have faith in this Commission of the Spirit shall at the end of the world receive with the rest of the Saints white robes with them and you will not think it long for Faith doth look upon eternity as real as if it were in present being So that John might say by h s revelation in his vision that he saw under the Altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God c. and the white robes that were given unto them Because he by faith knew that God will give those that are clothed with the white robes of the righteousness of Faith a Crown of everlasting joy and glory at the end of the world which is as sure as if it were in present being Therefore by
â—hat is all creatures according to the instinct of nature do shew forth honor and glory unto a Divine Being who hath created all things for his own glory So that there is an exceeding great Crown of glory upon the head of Christ Jesus as he is the Creator and the other Crown of glory upon his head it is as he is the Redeemer For Redemption in all those that are concerned in it is of more worth and of higher esteem than the work of Creation is So that this work of Redemption it hath procured to himself a a Crown of glory of more weight then the work of Creation So that all Crowns of glory he hath upon his head they are all included in these two and the white horse he doth fit upon it is the righteousness of Faith For by this righteousness of Faith he conquered death hell and devil and by this Faith he hath made war with these spiritual enemies and by the same power of Faith he will overcome and destroy all temporal enemies with an eternal destruction as John doth speak of as if it were already done as aforesaid Verse the twelfth His eyes were as a flame of fire and on his head were many Crowns and he had a Name written that no man know but he himself As for his eyes being as it were a flame of fire that is onely to signifie the exceeding glory and brightness of his eyes They are so piercing that he can see thorow Angels and men so that no mortal man can look upon him no more then the eyes of a man are able to look upon the Sun in its brightness and as for the many Crowns upon his head I have spoken of that in the verse before But it is said And he had a Name written that no man knew but he himself The meaning is this there was no man knew his Name that was written upon him but he himself until he did reveal it to some man For who knew him by the Name of Jehovah God Almighty until he revealed it to Moses Also who knew his name was the Word of God as in the thirteenth verse had he not revealed it unto John As it is said in the Gospel of John In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God So that his name must needs be the Word of God and how should any man know this but he himself until he did reveal it unto some man so that when the Name of God was known to no man but to he himse f The thing was then a secret thing but now it is revealed unto man it doth belong unto us and to our children For secret things belong unto God and revealed things to us and our children So that when God hath revealed any secret or heavenly mystery unto man it may not then be called no more secret but man may know it in a measure even as God doth himself So that the Name of God is known by his servants the Prophets Apostles and Witnesses of the Spirit and by his Saints to their exceeding great joy and glory so that his name is known to others now besides himself CHAP. LXXIV VErse the thirteenth And he was clothed with a vesture dipt in blood and his Name is called The word of God The Reader may remember that when I came to the thirteenth verse of the first Chapter of Johns Revelation I found such a like saying as this that is John saw in the midst of the seven golden Candlesticks one like unto the Son of Man clothed with a garment down to the foot Which garment I said I would open hereafter so that now being come to it again I shall open what is meant by this garment down to the foot and by his vesture dipt in blood This Son of Man John saw in the middest of the seven golden Candlesticks it was no other but Jesus Christ and this Jesus Christ is the onely wise God as I have shewed before And it is he that John saw clothed with a garment down to the foot and it is he that is clothed with a vesture dipt in blood Now the word Vesture and the word Garment signifie both one thing onely this is to be minded by the Reader what the Spirit doth mean by this garment down to his foot and his vesture dipt in blood The meaning of the Spirit is this The eternal Spirit it became flesh so that the flesh of Christ was a garment or a vesture that did clothe the God-head Spirit with So that he being clothed with flesh from the head to the foot this flesh is called by the Spirit a garment down to the foot So that this garment of flesh is that vesture dipt in blood according to that saing of Isaiah the Prophet Isaiah 63.1 Who is this that cometh from Edom with dyed garments So in the second verse Wherefore art thou red in thy apparrel and thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine-fat This prophesie of Isaiah is that God would become flesh and so clothe himself with a garment of flesh so that this garment might be made red with blood That is the whole body of flesh which is called the garment of the God-head-life might be made red even as one that treadeth the wine-fat For if a man should tread the wine fat of the grapes with no other apparel on but his flesh onely it would make him look red as if he had been treading in a pool of blood Even so doth the Prophets words signifie when he saith Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel and thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine-fat As if the Prophet should say Wherefore doth thy flesh which is thy apparel or thy garment look red for thou hast been treading the wine-press of the wrath of Almighty God like unto him that treadeth the wine fat of the grape So that thy flesh which is thy garment down to the foot must needs look red with blood for the garment of his flesh is that vesture dipt in blood This the Prophets did see by the eye of Faith and so they called the flesh of Christ a Garment red like the wine of the ripe grape in regard he had not yet suffered death in the flesh but was to suffer But the revelation of John saw that he had suffered death in that flesh and therefore saith And he was clothed with a vesture dipt in blood meaning his flesh was dipt in blood in that he had trodden the wine-press of the wrath of Almighty God that is he trod the wine-press of his own wrath against sin For he is the Almighty God himself though he clothed himself with a garment of flesh that he might be capable to die and that ason the devil might be the more capable to put him to death r That the garment or vesture of flesh he had on him might be dipt in blood for the redemption of the Seed of Adam to an
express these heavealy Secrets as well as I could rather than to bury them with my self alone So that who ever doth read this Treatise of the Interpretation of this Book of the Revelation of St. John I say they must take it as it is and let them remember that God seldom chose Learned men to declare the mysteries of his kingdom but let that pass When I had weighed and pondered in my minde this great mystery of God that God became flesh I was moved in my minde to express my self thus unto God Oh Lord God of truth thou that wert from eternity and hadst thy being of thy self a spiritual body in form like a man thou who knowst no beginning of thy self neither dost thou know any ending of thy self yet thou by thy own wisdom and power became very man clothing thy spiritual body with pure humane flesh onely the Life of that body was no other but the Godhead Life so that thou madest thy self a little lower then the Angels also thou madest thy self capable to suffer the pains of death by thy own creatures and so thy vesture was made red it being dipt in thy own blood for the Redemption of thy own seed the seed of Adam It is thee O Lord that wert the first revealer of heavenly secrets unto mankinde some thou hast revealed thy minde unto by voice of words some by secret inspiration of thy Spirit and others thou hast revealed the mysteries concerning thy self and thy kingdom by the Spirit of Faith that doth arise out of its seed so that the original of all true Revelation and understanding the mysteries of thy kingdom it doth come from thee Oh Lord God of truth so that I can truly say with Moses the Prophets Apostles and Saints Blessed be the Lord God of truth who hath revealed unto me the mystery of God and the mystery of the right devil with the interpretation of many other heavenly secrets spoken of by John in this Book never revealed before unto Prophet or Apostle therefore unto thee O Lord God of truth thou that art King of kings and Lord of lords who art that Alpha and Omega whose garment of flesh was made red and whose vesture of flesh was dipt in his own blood for the Redemption of mankinde thou who art the first and the last even he that was dead but is alive and behold he liveth for evermore to thee onely be ascribed all Allelujah of praises by me thy servant whom thou hast chosen when I thought not of it Also let Allelujah blessing glory and honor be given unto him by all those that doth truly understand and believe these things interpreted in this Treatise I say again let us give all praises honor and glory unto our God our King and our Redeemer even the Lord Jesus Christ both now and for evermore Amen Amen CHAP. LXXX AS for this twentieth Chapter it is onely a relation of things done before and as for the chief things in this Chapter concerning Satans being bound for a thousand years and after the thousand years was expired Satan was let loose with many other things depending thereupon they are opened already in the Interpretation of the eleventh of the Revelation Onely I shall give a word or two to shew what is meant by Gog and Magog This Gog and Magog is the Turk Pagan and all heathen men who never professed the worship of Moses nor the worship of the Gospel that is the same spirit that was in the heathen in former time who were called by the Spirit Gog and Magog as you may see Ezekiel 39.1 Thus saith the Lord God behold I am against thee O Gog. And in verse 6. God will send a fire on Magog So chapter 38.2 Son of Man set thy face against Gog the land of Magog and in the 3 verse and say Thus saith the Lord behold I am against thee O Gog the chief Princes of Meshech Now this Gog and Magog spoken of in Ezekiel it was no other but Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon he I say is called by the Spirit Gog as in 2 Chron. 36 6 and all his princes who had great armies who helped him to fight against Jerusalem and they are called by the Spirit Magog as you may see 2 Kings 24.1 2. Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon came up that is he came up to fight against Jerusalem and there came against Jerusalem bands of the Caldees and bands of the Syrians and bands of the Moabites and bands of the children of Ammon these all came against Judah to destroy it and so they did according to the word of the Lord. And these bands of men aforesaid are called by the Spirit Magog so that it may be clear to the Reader that this Gog and Magog spoken of by John it is meant all the Heathen power upon the face of the earth in that the heathen hath three parts of the world in his hands For this is to be minded by the Reader that this Gog and Magog spoken of by the Prophets they were Heathen powers and people who never did profess nor confess the Scriptures of truth And this Gog and Magog John speaketh of are Heathen men also for the same spirit that was in that Gog and Magog it doth run in the line of that seed even to the end of the world So that the Heathen that shall be destroyed at the end of time may be called Gog and Magog as the other Gog and Magog was destroyed after the seventy years were expired they were destroyed with a temporal destruction but this Gog and Magog John speaketh of they will be destroyed with an eternal destruction at the end of time For this spirit of reason the devil or Satan that was bound for a thousand years and when the thousand years was expired he was let loose which things I have opened in The Interpretation of the eleventh of the Revelation This spirit of reason the devil as aforesaid it being loosed out of prison which prison I have shewed what it is in that book aforesaid so that this Satan being loosed he goeth forth to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth as in the eighth verse of this chapter Gog and Magog to gather them together to battel the number of whom is as the sand of the Sea So that the Reader may see that Satan shall go out to deceive the nations that are in the four quarters of the earth which four quarters doth signifie all the world for the world is divided but into four parts and all these four parts of the earth they are deceived by this spirit of Satan which spirit of Satan I have shewed what it is in my other writings but this is to be minded that the Saints the Seed of Faith are excepted by the Spirit for though they live in the four parts of the earth yet they are not deceived by the spirit of Satan not as to their eternal perdition as the other
that cloud the Son of Man sate upon they all expecting by faith Gods coming in flesh they being afar off That is their faith in them was satisfied that he would come though it was many hundred years after they were dead the apostles and saints afterwards were witnesses that the Son of Man was risen from the dead So that their faith was a cloud of witnesses also and the faith of Abraham Isaac and Jacob the Prophets Apostles and Saints it was that cloud the Son of Man did sit upon It is called a white cloud by the Spirit because they were never defiled with the fornication of Idols But worshipped the true God according to the Law of Moses and according to the faith of Jesus or the Gospel they not receiving the mark of the beast neither in the forehead nor in the hand That is they were not defiled with worshipping of any Images Idols or false gods whatsoever and in this regard they may be called A white cloud and this is that white cloud the Son of Man even Jesus the onely God doth sit upon As the whore in another case is said to sit upon many waters which I shall have an occasion to speak of when I come to it And as for that golden Crown that was upon his head I declare it was that honor and glory which the Prophets Apostles and Saints do attribute unto him as he is a Redeemer The work of redemption being wrought by him as he was a man he being in the form of a servant so that all the redeemed ones who are sensible of their redemption they do praise and magnifie the man Jesus the only God for his great love towards them in that they had faith to receive the benefit of his death And this honor glory and praise which is attributed unto the man Jesus by his Prophets Apostles and Saints is that golden Crown upon his head and in his hand a sharp sicle Now this sharp sicle in his hand it signfies his great power that when the end of the world shall be that he will send his Angels to reap the world even as Reapers doth corn when the harvest is ripe So when the worlds sins are ripe the harvest will be and much like unto a master of the harvest of Corn he will thrust in his sicle first then all his servants until the harvest is reaped So is it with him that sate under the white cloud when the time is accomplished and the harvest ripe he will thrust in hiâ— sicle first and then all his servants the Angels shall fall to reaping the harvest of this world And shall thrust in their sicles and reap until all be cut down that is Christ shall come in the clouds of heaven with all his holy Angels to destroy this world for ever Then will he thrust in his sicle indeed and this is the meaning of the sicle in his hand And those Angels that cryed to him that sate upon the cloud to thrust in the sicle are the holy Angels aforesaid that must help to reap the world for they have sicles also That is the Angels have power from Christ to destroy and cut down this wicked world when their sins are at the full then are they ripe fit to be destroyed even as the temporal Babylon was when their sins was ripe as in Joel the 3.13 verse Put you in the sicle for the harvest is ripe come get you down for the press is full the fats overflow for the wickedness is great The Prophet Joel spake this in relation to the reaping of Babylon the enemies of the Jews that after the seventy years captivity of Israel their enemies sins of cruel usage was at the full or ripe So that now the sicle that is the power of the sword temporal must utterly destroy Babylon the Jews enemies or reap it for the harvest of their sins and cruelties were fully ripe And the press was full that is their bodies were so full of wickedness and cruelty that they did overflow with wickedness their wickedness was so great So will it be with this spiritual Babylon when the harvest is ripe for this spiritual Babylon is so full of idolatry of idols images and worshipping false gods and persecution of the Saints That the press is full that is their bodies are so full of spiritual wickedness or spiritual fornication and persecution for conscience sake as aforesaid that their wickedness doth overflow even as the aforesaid Babylon did So that in the account of the spirit of faith this spiritual Babylon is as really destroyed and reaped their sins being ripe as the other Babylon was And as the sicle was thrust into them that they were destroyed and reaped so will it be with this as in the nineteenth verse of this chapter And the Angel thrust in his sicle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth and cast it into the great wine-press of the wrath of God The earth signifies the people and the vine of the earth signifies the wicked idolatrous worship of the people and the great wine-press of the wrath of God signifies that eternal death and destruction upon all idolatrous people who worship false gods This eternal or second death is the great wine-press of the wrath of God and in the twentieth verse of this Chapter it is said And the wine-press was troden without the City and blood came out of the wine-press even unto the horse bridles by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs The meaning is this the wine-press was troden without the City that is the destruction of the enemies of Judah and Israel it was without the City of Jerusalem so will the eternal destruction of all idolaters at the end of the world be without the City New-Jerusalem That is none of the Seed of Faith who are the holy City in the spiritual shall see their destruction For blood shall come out of the wine-press even to the horse bridles the blood signifies the extream torment it being for ever The wine-press signifies the great wrath of God pressing their souls for their wickedness to eternity Unto the horse bridles signifies the extream fulness of wickedness so that the wrath of God might walk in their souls even as an horse may do thorow blood even up to his bridle For Gods wrath will he as many horses to crush and trample his enemies under feet so that their miseries may break forth as blood for Gods horses that is his vengeance to walk thorow to eternity As for the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs that signifies a great space and distance from the City of God that is from the spiritual City of God to wit the true believers So that this spiritual mystery Babylon who made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication as aforesaid I say she must undergo the wrath of God and be troden without the spiritual City the Seed of Faith