there is here on earth and there is a King of heaven to sit upon that Throne of Glory as there is many kings here in earth which doth sit upon Thrones of glory here Because this world is in many Kings hands therefore divided into many Kingdomes and that is the very cause that earthly Kings fight and kill one the other But the Kingdom above the Stars is but one kingdom and hath but one King over it and this King is no other but God himself which sitteth upon the Throne of Glory But I shall have occasion to speak something more of Thrones hereafter therefore I shall say no more of it here onely this will give you a little light into it CHAP. VI. ANd because men might be throughly convinced that Jesus Christ is the onely God I would have them to consider these places of Scriptures and the interpretation And see if they will bear any other sense and being well grounded upon that they will understand the whole matter the better Therefore I shall pass by some verses in this chapter I not conceiving them to be of so great concernment as this is The 8th verse of this chapter John meaning Christ where he saith I am Alpha and Omega the beginning and the ending saith the Lord which is and which was and which is to come the Almighty Here you that have faith to believe may understand that Jesus Christ is the beginning and the end the Lord Almighty And as John being in the Isle of Patmos as he saith in the 9th verse for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ here John seemeth as if he did suffer persecution for two that is to say for God and for Jesus Christ yet in the 10. and 11. verses he concludes them both in one saying That he was in the spirit on the Lords day and heard behinde me as he saith a great voice as of a trumpet I would have the Reader to observe that the Seventh-day Sabbath which was given to the Jews was called the Lords day Because it was given by the Lord Almighty to Moses and by him given to the people of Israel and so called the Lords day So likewise the Resurrection of Christ it being the first day of the week is called the Lords day also Now here being two Lords-days and yet but one Lord of them both how shall this matter be reconciled Thus the Lords-day which was made by the power of his Creation is one thing and the Lords-day that is made by the power of his Redemption is another Because the Lord Almighty was in two several states as thus when he created the world and made man in his own image and likeness he himself was a spiritual substance a body in form like a man but no flesh blood and bone This God was when he created man and all things else but when God became flesh he was in another condition he now having flesh blood and bone that he might work a Redemption to the Seed of Adam to a more excellent condition then that was wherein he was created and a more miserable condition to the seed of the serpent then he was created in And this I would have the Seed of Faith to understand that the same God which created man I say the same God redeemed man which thing is two proper and distinct works for one and the same God to do Therefore distinguished by two several denominations of Father and Son Neither was it proper for God after he became flesh to create any thing Neither could God have redeemed mankind to an eternal happiness but by his becoming flesh Neither could any serpent or devil have put God to death if God had not took upon him the nature of man For the nature of man cloathes it self with flesh blood and bone and so is made capable to be put to death by the seed and nature of reason which is the serpent or devil But I shall speak more of Gods death hereafter onely this I would have the Seed of Faith to minde that twofold condition of God as aforesaid And then you will not stumble at Johns saying that he did suffer for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ As if they had been two distinct things and so he doth in some other places in this book of the Revelation as in the first chapter verse 5 he saying And from Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness c. Which doth intimate to the seed of reason as if there were two Gods But I declare it is spoken with relation to Gods twofold condition that is to say the proper power and work of God as he was the Father it was to create And the proper power and work of God as he is the Son it is to die and to redeem And yet all but one God but in two conditions or in two states therefore set forth by the revelations in the Scriptures under nomination of Father and Son Therefore I would willingly have the Seed of Faith to understand the twofold condition of God And then the Scriptures which doth seem to contradict one the other will be reconciled in one and so there will be a great deal of peace arise from the right understanding of the Scriptures And the cause why where is so much dissatisfaction in reading the Scriptures by the professors now adays it is because they understand them not this I know by experience But as I said before as there was a twofold state in one God So likewise there was two Lords-days as aforesaid yet but one God But the meaning of John when he saith he was in the spirit on the Lords day I declare his meaning was the day of Christs Resurrection And this he calls the Lords-day that is it was the day of Gods rising from death to Life in that death was not able to keep him under for death doth keep every creature under it neither could any creature nor Son of God overcome death but God himself Therefore Christ must needs be God the Father of all Life in that he gave life to all creatures in his creation And nothing could procure by his death a Resurrection of a new life and an eternal Redemption but the blood and death of God himself Therefore let the Seed of Faith lay as much trust upon the blood of Christ believing it to be the blood of God as they can The more weight they lay upon it the more peace and satisfaction they shall finde So on the contrary those that deny and call it blasphemy for a man to say that God did die I say there is no salvation for such a man neither will he finde any benefit by the blood of Christ because he looks upon it to be but the blood of the humane nature or the blood of a man notwithstanding the Scriptures is so full to prove that Christ is God and Christ he died therefore God did die And this
of death And being slain by them And these seven Churches having their power and strength to suffer from Christ the Lamb slain they walked in his steps in the way of suffering Therefore called the seven horns of the Lamb or the Lambs seven horns And as for the seven eyes which the Lamb had they are called the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth You may remember that I have shewed before what the seven spirit before the Throne is And these seven spirits which the Lamb hath are the very same That is they are all but one spirit of Christ onely this one spirit doth operate and work seven several ways to wit in the seven Churches of Asia Therefore said to be sent forth into all the earth Because the sound of these seven Churches of Asia of their gifts and suffering went thorow all the earth Therefore called the seven spirits of God yet I would have the Reader to understand thus much That the Lamb that had power to open the book the same Lamb had the seven horns and the seven eyes Now if these seven eyes were the seven Spirits of God then the Lamb must needs be God For the Lamb had the seven Spirits in him and he sent them forth unto the seven Churches of Asia Onely this I would have the Reader to understand that here he is called God as he is a Lamb slain Or as he was in the condition of a Son and a Redeemer So that what power honor or glory soever be attributed to God by the redeemed ones It is with relation to the Son-ship of God He being a Son he is called a Lion and called a Lamb which titles belongeth onely to the Son-ship of Christ He being the onely God though in a two fold state and condition as aforesaid And in the 7 verse it is said And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sate upon the Throne This he that took the book out of his right hand that sate upon the Throne It was the Lamb and this Lamb is Christ and Christ is God and Christ is called the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world He may well be called the Lamb of God because he is God For who can take away the sins of the world but God But God must become a little childe of flesh blood and bone and grow up to a man that he may be capable to suffer the pains of death In that he shed his most precious blood before he could take away the sins of the world And this Lamb which was slain here spoken of by John was no other but God himself But he being now in the condition of a Son in that he had been slain and was now risen again and had accomplished the work of Redemption he was able to sit down in the midst of the Throne And to take the book out of his own right hand as he was the Father and Creator of all things And as he was the Son or Lamb which shed his precious blood to redeem his people from their sins it was his proper work and place to take the book out of his own right hand as he was the Creator and to open the book and loose the seven Seals thereof For in his opening the Book of Life he found the names of all the elect seed written therein which were washed and redeemed with his precious blood Therefore it is said That no man in heaven nor in earth nor under the earth could open the Book but the Lamb onely So that this Lamb must needs be God the Father as well as God the Son for who can open the Book of Life but God himself But he must open it as he was God the Son therefore said to take it out of the right hand of him that sate upon the Throne c. CHAP. XIV ANd in the 8 verse The four beasts and the four and twenty Elders fell down before the Lamb. And in the 9 verse They sung a new Song saying Thou art worthy to take the book and open the Seals thereof for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood c. I would have the Reader to mind these words why the four beasts and the Elders did sing a new Song Observe it is called a new Song in opposition to the old song As the Gospel of Jesus is called the New Testament and the Law of Moses is called the Old Testament So likewise there is the song of Moses and of the Lamb that is the song of the Lamb. Now the Song of Moses may be called the old song or the first song because Moses the Prophets and Elders of Israel and Saints under that Testament I say they gave praise honor and glory unto Christ as he was God the Father and Creator And as he was the Creator he blessed them with temporal blessings and temporal deliverances So that Moses and the people of Israel sing praise unto God for his wonderful works which he had wrought by the hand of Moses As you may read in the Scriptures in the Song of Moses how wonderfully he doth praise honor and magnifie the God of Israel who had gotten himself a great and terrible name among the heathen And this is called the song of Moses or the old or first song because it was the first manifestation of God as he is the Creator For Moses was the first man that gave us to know any difference of the God of Israel from the God of the Heathen And this manifestation as Moses gives us is that we might know God as he was the Creator and did deliver his people in a more wonderful manner then any other heathen gods could do And in this regard Moses and the Elders of Israel gave praise honor and glory unto the God of Jacob He delivering them out of so many temporal dangers and not onely so but blessing them with many temporal blessings which caused this song of Moses to be sung by the children of Israel And in this regard the song of Moses may be said to be old or the first song he being the first commissionated man to write that which we call the Old Testament Therefore the song of Moses may be called an old Song Because the song of the Lamb is more new for redemption was after creation therefore called a new Song It is called a new Song in relation to a new condition as the Song of Moses was with relation to temporal blessings as aforesaid But this new Song of the Lamb is with relation to spiritual and eternal Blessings So that John in his vision was sensible upon what account this new Song was sung And he seeing in the vision the four beasts and the four and twenty Elders fall down before the Lamb. Having every one of them Harps and golden Vials full of odours which are the prayers of Saints Now these golden Vials are meant
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
Revelation of John is more clear that God did die then any other Scripture as you may see in the 11. verse of this Chapter in the 10. verse he was in the Spirit on the Lords day what day that was I have shewed before And John heard behind him a great voice as of a Trumpet in the 11. verse saying I am Alpha and Omega the first and the last and what thou seest write in a book and send it unto the seven Churches c. And in the 12. verse John turned to see the voice that spake to him and being turned he saw seven Golden Candlesticks these seven Golden Candlesticks were the seven Churches of Asia as aforesaid And in the 13. verse and in the midst of the seven Golden Candlesticks one like unto the Son of Man cloathed with a garment down to the foot and girt about the waste with a Golden Girdle This great voice which John heard it being as the sound of a trumpet came from no other but from Jesus Christ the onely God he being that Alpha and Omega the first and the last Which bade John write in a book what he had seen And in the 12 verse John turned to see the voice and in stead of seeing the voice he saw him that spake the voice And he was like unto the Son of Man cloathed with a Garment down to the foot Now what this Garment is I shall unfold hereafter There is many other glorious expressions in this Chapter to set forth this Son of Man in his glory but I shall pass by them onely this I would have the Seed of Faith to minde that this Son of Man which John saw in the midst of the seven Golden Candlesticks who was cloathed with a Garment down to the foot I declare it was the same Alpha and Omega which spake that great voice and John turning to see this Alpha and Omega he saw him like unto the Son of Man Therefore I would have the Seed of Faith to observe that there is no seeing of God the Alpha and Omega neitheir by vision nor by faith but in the form of a man Therefore called the Son of Man so that though Christ be called the Son of Man yet he is nevertheless God For he is the Alpha and Omega the first and the last as you may plainly see in the 17. verse of this chapter Where he saith And when I saw him I fell at his feet as dead and he laid his right hand upon me saying unto me Fear not I am the first and the last I am he that liveth and was dead and behold I am alive for evermore Amen and have the Keys of hell and of death Here you that have faith in the true God may clearly understand that this Jesus Christ which is called the Son of Man iâ— the Alpha and Omega the first and the last Also it may be as clearly understood by the Seed of Faith that God did die For if God be Alpha and Omega the first and the last as I think all men will confess then I say the same Alpha and Omega and the same first and last is he which was dead and is alive for evermore And was there any God that suffered death and rose again but Christ Hath any God the keys of hell and of death in his hands but Christ onely And that you may see the truth of this that Christ is Alpha and Omega the first and the last though become a Son having flesh blood and bone that he might be capable to suffer the pains of death as aforesaid Yet he is looked upon by the eye of Faith to be the first and the last the Lord Almighty he being the same as the Prophets prophesied of as you may see Isaiah the 41. and 4. verse Who hath wrought and done it calling the generations from the beginning I the Lord the first and with the last I am he So likewise in the 44. of Isaiah and the 6 verse Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel and his Redeemer the Lord of hosts I am the first and I am the last and besides me there is no God I would have the Seed of Faith to understand that this Lord and this God which is the first and the last that Isaiah speaketh of is the same that John speaketh of in the Revelation onely the Prophet speaketh of him as he was in the condition of the Father and was to redeem his people from their sins but John speaks of him as he is a Son and that he hath suffered death and redeemed his people And so John calls him the first and the last as he was a Son and suffered death but is now alive for evermore Amen Yet all but one God even the the man Christ Jesus who is that Alpha and Omega the beginning and the end the first and the last he who was dead and is alive and behold he is alive for evermore And no other God hath the keys of hell and of death but Christ onely which he hath purchased by his own blood his blood being no less then the blood of God the Alpha and Omega the first and the last as aforesaid CHAP. VII IN the 19. verse of this chapter John is commanded to write the things which he had seen and the things which are and the things which shall be hereafter To whom he was to write it was to the seven Churches of Asia and in the 20 verse which is the last verse of this chapter he interprets what the seven Stars which he saw in Christs right right hand is and what the seven Golden Candlestciks are therefore I shall say no more of it here And as for what John did write to the seven Churches of Asia it is set down in the two chapters following those two chapters treating onely upon the seven Churches of Asia and the chief things in those two chapters I have interpreted already and the chief things which are of most concernment in the first Chapter I have also interpreted therefore I shall go to the 4th Chapter but I suppose it will be necessary to the Reader for me to shew what a resemblance and likeness there is between the seven Churches now in Europe in these our days and the seven Churches of Asia And how the Angels of the seven Churches which is the Ministers or Speakers do agree with the seven Angels of the seven Churches of Asia I have spoken something of them in the Interpretation of the 11th of the Revelation but I shall speak a little more of them here because it is something necessary to inform the Reader Therefore minde the distinction between the one and the other We read that the seven Churches of Asia had seven several names as may be read and according to their good practice and their bad they were either reproved or commended as I have shewed before So likewise the Ministers of the Seven Churches of Europe may be called seven Angels
another and said Holy holy holy is the Lord of Hosts the whole earth is full of his glory Likewise the four and twenty Elders fall down before him that sate on the Throne and worship him that liveth for ever and ever and cast their Crowns before the Throne saying Thou arâ— worthy O Lord to receive glory and honor and power for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created Revel 4. and 10 and 11 verses Here you may see that the four beasts and the four and twenty Elders gives glory unto Christ the onely God as he was the Creator and in the condition of the Father He being the Lord Almighty the Lord of Hosts the Alpha and Omega the first and the last he that liveth for ever and ever in that death could not keep him under as aforesaid But in the 5 chapter the four and twenty Elders give glory unto this Christ the onely God as he is a Son And hath redeemed them and so doth the four beasts also And as for the four and twenty Elders I shall say nothing of them here because I have spoken of them in the Interpretation of the 11th Chapter of the Revelation So I having given the interpretation of the chief things in the fourth chapter of Johns Revelation I shall go unto the first chapter and give the interpretation of the chief things in that also CHAP. XI IN the first verse of the 5 chapter John saw in the right hand of him that sate on the Throne a Book written within and on the backside sealed with seven Seals Why doth John say he saw in the right hand of him that sate upon the Throne a Book written within and sealed on the backside with seven Seals when as he that sate on the Throne was no other but God the Creator of all things And Jesus Christ is he that created the world and all things therein as aforesaid And yet he that had the Book in his right hand was not to open the Book nor to loose the Seals thereof The meaning is this that Christ Jesus as he was God the Fatherâ— and Creator of all things it was not his proper place and work to open the Book with seven Seals For it doth belong to him as he is God the Redeemer For as I said before God did and doth act according to the twofold state and condition he was in So that he had the Book of Life in his right hand as he was God the Creator but as he is God the Redeemer he must take the Book out of his own right hand and open it and loose the Seals thereof For John in his vision did see Christ to sit upon the Throne as he was God the Father and the Creator Also in his vision he saw Christ sit upon the Throne as he was God the Son and as he suffered death and so redeemed mankinde And in like manner he and the Elders give thanks and praise unto him as he is the Creator And sometimes they give thanks unto him all together as he is the Redeemer Yet all but one God however it doth seem by Johns vision as if there were two when as it is spoken with relation to a twofold state and condition in God But who can understand but the Seed of Faith Therefore I would not have the Seed of Faith to stumble at these sayings of John which doth here and there speak as if there were two Gods But consider he speaks it but by way of vision and all visions can never be understood so clear and plain as interpretation is For I am certain that John did believe in no other God but one even Jesus Christ the onely wise God blessed for ever and ever though spoken of with relation to a twofold condition as I have shewed before This Book which was in Christs right hand as he was God the Father I declare it was the Book of Life wherein was written the names of all the elect seed of all the seven Churches of Asia and of all the elect seed of the seven Churches of Europe I say the elect seed are all written in that Book of Life which is in Christs right hand and the seven seals on the backside of this book they were the seven visible Churches of Asia That is they were sealed up by the doctrine and faith of the Gospel they received the holy spirit of promise whereby they were sealed in their souls with the holy Spirit of promise that they were redeemed unto eternal happiness by the blood of the Lamb. And this I say that the witness of the spirit of Faith in the conscience here in mortality it is but a sealing up to the day of glory Therefore what assurance witness or sealing soever a man hath in his soul in this life it is called by the Revelation of John but a seal on the back side of the book of Life For those seven Churches of Asia were sealed with the holy Spirit of promise in that they believed the doctrine of Christs death and resurrection and so they were sealed in their hearts with the assurance of eternal life their names being written within the book of Life And because there was seven Churches of Asia which did truly believe and were sealed in their souls with the assurance of everlasting life They are called seven Seals on the backside of the Book of Life For all sealing of this side of death it is called but sealing on the backside of the Book of Life For it is much like unto a book or letter the matter and substance is within the letter or book but the seal is without or on the backside But he that breaketh open the seal of the letter or book he seeth what is within So is it with Christ he having the Book of Life in his right hand wherein the elect Seed are written and the assurance of faith which the elect Seed of the seven Churches of Asia had and as others have are called the seven Seals on the backside of the Book of Life Which no man in heaven nor in earth could open the Book nor loose the Seals thereof but Christ as he is God and Redeemer You that have faith may see what is meant by the Book and by the seven Seals on the backside c. CHAP. XII IN the second verse John saw a strong Angel proclaming with a loud voice Who is worthy to open the Book and to loose the seals thereof And in the third verse And no man in heaven nor in earth neither under the earth was able to open the book neither to look thereon I shall pass by these two verses there being but little matter of concernment in them but I shall go to the 4 verse And I wept much because no man was found worthy to open and to read the Book neither to look thereon Here John was at a hard set in his vision when he saw God have a B ok
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
were but shadows and no real thing or substance Onely things produced out of the strength of his own imagination it being stronger then others it did subject the imaginations of others under it And so they were deceived by it their phantasies being dazled and over powered by his knowledge and wisdom in the dark power of reason the devil He could present to their dazled phantasies such like shapes and signs as aforementioned Likewise it was in John Tancy his heart to have offered up his son to a diabolical Diety that he might attain to a greater and higher spiritual power then he had yet attained unto With other strange things he did and would have done had not the Law of the Land been against such things to put them to death He would have done much like Manasses 2 Kings 21.6 who made his son pass thorow the fire So that wonderful strange things may be attained unto by the spirit of reason in man when it is religiously about But I shall speak no more of these things here onely these few lines are to let the Reader to see what strange things hath been acted here in England by men upon a religious account and many more which I will not mention now CHAP. XXXIX BUt I shall open a little what is meant by receiving the mark of the Beast in the right hand or in the forehead The mark of the beast is this when a Head Magistrate or Chief Council in a Nation or Kingdom shall set up by his or their power and authority a Set-form of Worship he or they having no Commission from God so to do And shall cause the people by their power and authority both small and great bond and free to worship after this maner of Worship that is set up by authority as this beast did else they shall be persecuted or killed This Form of Worship so set up without a Commission from God it may and is called by the Spirit An Image for all people to worship by vertue of that Power that did set it up For this I must say that all manner of Forms of Worship which are set up by men who have no Commission from God they are but Idols and Images And who ever doth worship God in those Forms of Worship set up by Non commissionated men they may be said to receive the mark of the beast in the right hand or in the forehead But there was alwayes in most parts of the earth one Supream Power in all Nations that had power to set up Form of Worship as an Image and to command and compel all those that were under their power to worship the Image set up by the Power or by the Beast For all Head-Magistrates are called Beasts as well as Kings else the people have not been suffered to buy nor sell but have been persecuted and killed even as they were at that time by the beast that had two horns like a Lamb. For whosoever would not receive his mark either in his forehead or his right hand that is if they would not worship the Image set up by the beast they should be killed or not suffered to buy nor sell That is not to trade which is as bad to some as death it self So hath it been ever since and will be to the end of the world little or much For let the Reader consider how many have lost their lives for not submitting to the Worship or as I may say Image that hath been set up by the Papists The multitude of people that Power hath slain and persecuted upon that account are hardly to be numbred by man So likewise the Episcopal Power of Worship hath for their Image persecuted and put to death many Also the Presbytery for their Worship or Image have persecuted and put to death many witness New-England Scotland and other places The Independent also for his Worship or Image hath been guilty of persecution The Baptist they also have been guilty of persecution for his Image or Worship witness that one particular of James Naylor For that little Parliament that punished him were most of them Independents and Baptists so that all men when they are in power fall to persecution for Religion if men differ from them in point of Worship And as for the Ranter and Quaker they never were in power so that their persecuting spirits for Religion cannot be seen yet all these seven Churches have an Image to worship That is they every one of them doth set up a several Form of Worship but all false for none of them knoweth the true God neither hath any of them a Commission from God to set up such a Form of Worship as they do So that all Forms of Worship in what manner soever that are set up by Non-commissionated men who are not authorized of God their Forms are but Images or Idols and the Worshippers are Idolaters and doth receive the mark of the beast either in the forehead or in the right hand For the spirit of reason in man is the Beast that sets up Worship as an Image let it be in high or low but more especially in higher Powers who have power to command people to worship his Image And in so doing they do receive the mark of the beast in their foreheads or right hand Now a man may be said to receive the mark of the beast in his forehead when as a man doth worship in that form and manner as is set up by the beasts authority willingly then doth a man receive the mark in his forehead And when a man receives the mark of the beast in his right hand it is when men doth worship and bow down to that form of worship or Image set up by the beast against a mans own mind or unwillingly for fear he shall suffer if he do it not This is to receive the mark of the Beast in his right hand For if the mark of the Beast be not seen in the forehead or in the right hand they shall either be killed or not suffered to trade That is to buy and sell one of these he must be sure to suffer if he hath not the mark in either of those two places aforesaid That is if the people doth not come to the publick worship set up by the Beast either willingly or unwillingly it was known that they had not received the mark of the Beast neither in the forehead nor in the right hand It is called the right hand because the right hand is that that subscribes or writes his name to any thing of concernment So that no man should buy or sell save him that had the mark or the name of the Beast or the number of his name Now observe he that had the name of the Beast or the number of his name were those men that were in offices and places in the Beasts dominions or that had a badge of the Beasts arms upon them For they knew the number of Beasts which
spiritual the Son of God whose eyes are like a flame of fire and his feet like unto fiue brass This is he that treadeth the wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God as in Revel 19.15 Now as the vial of Gods wrath was poured out upon the natural Sun in that the Sun had power to burn up Sodom and Gomorrah as aforesaid So likewise the Son of righteousness had the vial of Gods wrath poured out upon him also In that he treaded the fierceness of Gods wrath that is his own wrath as he was the Creator So that he suffered death at the hands of his creatures which death is called by the spirit the wine-press of Gods wrath And this wrath being poured out upon the Son of Righteousness he hath power given him to scorch men with fire That is he hath power to scorch the consciences of wicked men with the fire of hell This power also doth he give to every true Prophet and Apostle and Minister whom he doth chuse And as the death of Christ is called the fierce wrath of God so likewise it may be called a fire for the wrath of God may be called a fire though executed in several other ways So that this death of the Son it being charged upon the consciences of all wicked persecuting idolatrous men and women by the Apostles Prophets and Ministers chosen by them It doth scorch their consciences with the fear of eternal death which is the fire of hell as in the nineth verse And men were scorched with great heat and blasphemed the Name of God which hath power over these Plagues So that every true Messenger of Christ hath power to scorch the consciences of men and to kindle the fire of hell in all persecuting spirits and false worshippers who worship false gods And this fire and heat was very much poured out by the Apostles and those Ministers ordained by them in the primitive times so called For none knows what those persecuting beasts and false worshippers who received the beasts mark did suffer nor how their consciences were scorched with the fire of hell even whilest they were in this world which was but a taste of what shall be hereafter But this taste it made them blaspheme against him that had power over these Plagues For the minde of man is so desperately wicked that if he could destroy that God that hath power over these Plagues even as they did those his messengers and the Saints that believed them But the Saints may see that there is a secret spiritual power in every true Messenger of God to scorch the souls of persecuting and despising men and women with the heat of hell fire this I know to be true by experience as well as by faith For the doctrine of the true God and his true Worship it doth torment the souls of the seed of the serpent inwardly as the heat of the Sun doth outwardly to a mans body and men are more subject to blaspheme for the torment within then they are for torments without Because the one is but for a time but the other is for eternity So that the spiritual scorching with great heat is that John chiefly intends in this chapter in relation to the torment of mind that was upon those beasts that persecuted the Saints and all those that received his mark as aforesaid In the time of the Apostles Commission and with relation to the end of the world Thus in some measure I have given the litteral and spiritual meaning of the fourth Angel pouring out his vial upon the Sun and of the 8. and 9. verses CHAP. XLIX VErse the tenth And the fifth Angel poured our his vial upon the seat of the beast and his kingdom was full of darkness and they gnawed their tongues for pain This fifth vial it hath a twofold meaning that is a litteral and spiritual meaning The litteral meaning is in relation to the vial or plague that Moses poured out upon Egypt as you may see Exodus the 10.22 23 And Moses streched forth his hand towards heaven and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days and in the 23. verse They saw not one another neither rose any from his place for three days c. Here the Reader may see that this vial was poured out in the natural upon Egypt and upon the seat of the King of Egypt Pharâ—ah being king Therefore called the beast and the seat of the beast signifies the power and authority that Pharaoh had over all the land of Egypt And this Vial being poured out upon the seat of the beast it signifies upon all those that were under his government That is that were of his own people so that there was thick darkness in the Kings palace and upon his servants no place free as there was upon the inhabitants of Egypt so that darkness was all over the land of Egypt no place free For if any place had been free from darkness in the land of Egypt then I say the vial had not been poured out upon the seat of the beast So that this vial Moses poured out of thick darkness it was upon the seat of the beast that is upon King Pharaoh in whom the power and authority of Egypt did stand So that when darkness was poured out upon the King in whom the light of all the Laws of Egypt did shine forth upon the people if the Seat in whom the Law is placed be darkned then the people which must obey must needs be darkned also For where a King or Head Magistrate hath power given him either from God or from man to make Laws for people to obey that power and authority is called by the Spirit the Seat of the beast And when God doth pour out the vial of his wrath upon this Authority then I say the vial may be said to be poured out upon the Seat of the Beast so that the Reader may see what is meant by the Seat of the Beast Now I have opened a little what is the litteral or natural meaning of the fifth Angel pouring out his vial or plague upon Egypt and what the Plague was and what the Seat of the Beast is I shall now also give you to understand the spiritual meaning of these things aforesaid Observe there was many Pharaohs that were Kings of Egypt in those four hundred years that Israel was in bondage in Egypt yet all these King Pharaohs are included in that one King Pharaoh unto whom Moses was sent So that all the Kings of Egypt are counted by the Spirit but one King Pharaoh And all those Plagues which Moses poured out upon Egypt it was upon this King Pharaoh even until God had utterly consumed him and he did in the Red-sea these things were fulfilled in the history and in the natural at the beginning of Moses Commission And that beast Pharaoh king of Egypt his actions of oppression to the Israelites they were upon the temporal
of people that are deceived by them who were the first brothers of this idolatrous worship set up by non-commissionated men I say they are all counted by the spirit but a whore in that they and all people who doth joyn in worship with them they do commit fornication in their spirits with idols So that who ever doth worship false gods by the instigation of the false prophet or false priest he doth commit fornication or whoredom with idols So that this is to be minded that all opinions in worship that people are in who hath not a true Commission from God to be a Minister or Preacher he and they do all commit fornication with idols For every opinion in religion that doth not worship the true God they do commit fornication with idols Neither can they do otherways because their teachers are false like priest like people Also this is to be observed by the Reader that the Revelation of the Spirit it hath onely relation to those peoples that do profess and confess the Scriptures So that Johns Revelation hath relation to all those that confess the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Gospel of Jesus and the Apostles and not relating to the heathen who never heard of the Scriptures So that all those false worshippers under the Law of Moses and all those false worshippers under the Gospel of Jesus they are called by the spirit that great City Babylon or mystery Babylon or a scarlet whore It is called mystery Babylon in relation to the mystery of God as aforesaid Likewise it may be called mystery Babylon in relation to that Babel that men would have built that should have reached up to heaven after Noahs flood in respect of the confusion there was in the building of it so that it all came to utter confusion and destruction So likewise there is such a confusion in all false worship and worshippers that at the last that Babylon they have built with idols thinking to reach in that superstitious way up to heaven But they shall be confused in their understandings and in the true knowledge and worship of the true God So that they shall be utterly destroyed both them and their Babel that is their worship with an eternal destruction But this is to be minded that the first mention of this temporal Babel Genes 11.4 where the sons of Noah said Go to let us build us a City and a Tower whose top may reach unto heaven And in the seventh verse God consumed this tower by confounding their language So likewise the first rise of this mystery Babylon it was amongst the Jews That is when the Jews would worship other gods besides that God which Moses did declare unto them even the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob to wit the God of Israel yet nevertheless those Jews who were the seed of the serpent they would have other gods as the Amorites and the heathen had to go before them Therefore they would have a Calf to be their God to worship as Exodus chapter 32.1 this Calf was the first false god the people of the Jews did worship Though they murmured against God and Moses many times before yet they never fell to worship idols as Gods before So that this was the first beginning of the setting up or the building of a false worship in opposition to that worship that Moses set up which was but a little before So that as soon as ever God did set up his worship by the hand of Moses that the people might come to know the true God I say the spirit of reason which is the devil in man he doth set up his worship in like manner to worship gods of his own imagination even the works of his own hands even a Calf For this Calf doth signifie all idols or false worship whatsoever For though the idols of men are many and their forms of worship many yet they all being false not worshipping the true God they do but worship a calf in stead of God And as these Jews who made this calf for a God were the first that began to build up a Babel of false worship this spirit of idolatry it did run thorow the line of the seed of the serpent until it got great power For after Moses and Joshua were gone the seed of the serpent grew in great power and did punish those that would not bow down to Baal For Baal signifies all false worship or all false gods so that when the serpents seed got power to set up his worship as Moses had power to set up the worship of God And as Moses did plague and punish those serpents for making that calf and worshipping it or any other idols in that many of them were destroyed by death So hath the false worshippers served the Prophets and Saints ever since that would not bow down to their false worship witness Jeroboam the son of Nebat who made Israel to sin and Ahab Manasses with divers other wicked kings and rulers and head-magistrates in the time of the Law who persecuted the Prophets and put them to death For telling them of their forsaking of the worship of the Law of Moses and worshipping of idols And the same spirit of reason the devil it continued in that nation of the Jews until Christ came according to that prophesie of Jacob the scepter shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh come So that there was a Scepter of Government that did remain upon the people of the Jews though they had no Jews kings a long time before So that a matter of forty years after Christs death in the destruction of Jerusalem the Scepter did depart from Judah That is from that nation of the Jews so that they are ever since a scattered people in many parts of the earth So that the Scepter that is the Government is departed from them indeed and the same spirit of persecution and idolatry it doth run along in the seed of reason the devil in the Gentiles So that the Gentile Kings and Head magistrates have been given mightily to idolatry imitating the worship of the Gospel And hath persecuted and put to death many Saints for not bowing down to that worship set up by these Gentile-Kings or Head-magistrates ever since the destruction of Jerusalem even to this day So that this is to be minded by the Reader that this mystery Babylon or great city or whore who hath committed fornication with the Kings of the earth The meaning of the Spirit is this that all Kings and Head-magistrates in the time of the Law and in the time of the Gospel who profess the Scriptures even to the end of the world That have or shall set up a false worship or idols by their power and cause the people to do the same they may be said to commit fornication with idols So that whoever doth worship false gods let it be in what form or manner it will it is all counted by the spirit but
words verse the eighth the beast that thou sawest was and is not and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit and go into perdition and they that dwell upon the earth shall wonder whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world when they behold the beast that was and is not and yet is Yet by the Revelation of the Spirit of Faith I shall open the meaning of Johns words The Reader may remember that I gave a touch of it in the interpretation of the thirteenth chapter where I have shewed the difference between the dragons seven heads and ten horns and the Beasts seven heads and ten horns The meaning is this the Dragons seven heads did signifie seven Kings besides himself And the beast that the Dragon did give his seat power and authority unto who had seven heads and ten horns I declare his own head was one of the seven and the first head of the seven that did exercise the power of the Dragon So that this Dragon Herod that persecuted the woman he is that beast that was and is not That is he was alive in his own person when he would have slain Christ with the young children But seeing he was prevented in that and could not devour the young childe Jesus he persecuted the woman and the remnant of her seed That is all true believers in that childe Jesus they were the remnant of her seed But the earth help the woman and swallowed up the flood That is the young children that were slain by the Dragons command are called by the spirit the earth and their deaths did swallow up the flood of persecutiâ—n that came out of the Dragons mouth And this is the beast that was and is not that is he is dead and the other beast that had seven heads and ten horns he is that scarlet-coloured beast that the woman doth sit upon That is all the seven heads that this beast had his own being one they did exercise the power of the Dragon in persecuting the Saints which was the remnant of the seed of the woman whom the Dragon did persecute Now this is to be minded by the Reader that the spirit of the Dragon it did remain in the seed of reason that was in those seven heads or seven beasts though the Dragon which is the eight was dead as to his outward appearance Neither did that visible body of the Dragon appear any more but that spirit of his seed it was in his sons seed so that the same spirit of the Dragon it did run thorow the seed of reason thorow the line of those seven beasts And did cause them to persecute and shed the blood of the Saints as he did and would have done This was chiefly with relation to those Ten Persecutions in the time of the Apostles Commission And as for the Beast that was and is not and shall ascend out of the bottomless-pit and go into perdition The meaning is this that the same spirit of reason that was in the Dragon who was that beast that was and is not I say the same spirit of persecution shall ascend out of the bottom-pit of the imagination of reason that is in the other beasts that succeeded the dragon For all wicked beasts were and are guided by one spirit even the spirit of the devil which devil is no other but the spirit of reason in man And the imagination that floweth from this spirit of reason it is that bottomless pit So that this beast that did ascend out of the bottomless-pit it was no other but the spirit of reason that did ascend out of the hearts of those seven beasts aforesaid Which caused them to exercise the power of the Dragon in persecuting and sheding the blood of the Saints and so at the end of the world they go into perdition For this is to be minded that when a wicked man doth go into perdition he doth never return again because it is an eternal perdition This is to be minded also that the bottomless-pit is one thing and perditon is another For almost all men are in the bottomless-pit of their own imaginations onely those that know truth Yet mens spirits of reason may ascend out of the bottomless-pit of their vain imaginations and come to know truth but after the spirit of a man goeth into perdition there is no possibility ever to ascend out of that because it is eternal Again it is said And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder whose names were not written in the book of Life from the foundation of the world when they behold the beast that was and is not and yet is That is the ignorant and idolatrous people on the earth shall wonder when they behold the spirit of the Dragon acting it self forth in idolatry and persecution for not worshipping his image as the Dragon did So that it did seem to ignorant people to be the same beast and that the Dragon beast was risen again which made them to wonder to behold that beast that was and is not and yet is When as it was no other but the Dragons spirit in the seed which acted it self forth in the person of another beast much like unto the Dâ—â—gon or beast that was not So that â—â—â—e ignorant people that dwell on the earth they look upon 〈◊〉 going out of the body and a assuming other bodies but there is no such thing But most people on the earth then and at this day doth believe such things which doth cause their vain imaginations to wonder taking one thing for another But the elect seed whose names are written in the book of life from the foundation of the world these I say never do wonder at any such thing For they know that spirits cannot slip out of the bodies and assume other bodies but that spirit must die with the body Onely there is a spirit remaineth in the seed that is in another that may act cruelties like his or more worse but not in the same person so was it with this beast that was and is not and yet is and fo forth CHAP. LXII VErse the nineth And here is the mind which hath wisdom the the seven heads are seven Mountains on which the woman sitteth This verse is a beginning of the interpretation of Johns vision and of the beast and of the woman and so the interpretation goeth to the end of the chapter For this must be minded that John saw these things by vision and revelation when he was in the Isle of Patmots a banished man before these things were acted upon this earth which maketh his writings the more hard to understand and much more hard to interprete So that it must needs be true wisdom to know the minde of the Spirit in these mystical sayings of his Yet the revelation of Faith hath understood and given the interpretation of most of the chief things of concernment in the book of Johns Revelation These
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
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