both in respect of the seven hills upon which Rome stood and was built and also in respect of the seven Supreme Governments of Kings Consuls Dictators Emperors c. by which that City and the Roman Polity have been governed and which resided there as their great Metropolis yet it is plain to me that by this Beast is for the most part or altogether meant the Popedom and Romish Church since it became an Idolatrous and Persecuting Church And when the Popedom and Church of Rome hath stood 666 years from its first assuming the Nature and Disposition of a Beast of Prey when 666 years are compleated from the time that it first put the true and faithful Servants of God to death in a notorious and remarkable manner then shall the Popedom and Romish Church be destroyed in a most dreadful manner and then shall the third and last Woe be executed upon it And these 666 years do begin as I conceive about the time of the Waldenses and Albigenses and about the year of our Lord 1160. What was done before that time may be looked upon as done in the Minority of the Beast before he came to his full growth and not to be reckoned of but about that time he became of a full Stature and Strength and in a bloody and remarkable manner did destroy the Sheep and Church of Christ and thousands lost their Lives and perished by him And about that time and about the year 1160 do these 666 years begin And when they shall be ended this third Woe cometh which may be said to come quickly in respect of this far longer distance of time that hath been between the first Woe and this second Woe 15. And the seventh Angel sounded and there were great Voices in Heaven saying The Kingdoms of this World are become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign for ever and ever The seventh and last of these Trumpet-Angels here soundeth to Usher in the seventh and last Scene of Affairs of the Church as they are divided under these seven Trumpet-Angels For after the time of this seventh Trumpet-Angel is expired an End is to be put to this World and there is to be time no more as the Angel sware Rev. 10.5 And the Angel lifted up his hand to heaven and sware by him that liveth for ever and ever That there should be time no longer But in the days of the voice of the seventh Angel when he should sound even the Mystery of God should be finished as he hath declared to his Servants the Prophets In the end of the days of the voice of the seventh Angel the Mystery of God is to be finished and this World then is like to be at an End In this Sacred and Mysterious Book of the Revelation there seem to me to be three Septenaries or distinct Sets and Orders of Prophecies The first is of seven Churches the second of seven Seals and the third of seven Angels sounding with their Trumpets And in the times of the three last of these Trumpet-Angels were to be three grand Woes as the Angel declared Rev. 8.13 And I beheld saith St. John and heard an Angel flying thorow the midst of Heaven and saying with a loud voice Woe Woe Woe to the Inhabitants of the earth by reason of the other voices of the Trumpet of the three Angels which are yet to sound The first of these Woe 's was in the time of the fifth Trumpet-Angel and is now long since past the second which is to be in the time of the sixth Trumpet Angel is now at hand and the third is to fall under the time of the seventh and last Trumpet-Angel and will be fulfilled hereafter as I said before And the time of the seventh Trumpet-Angel doth begin presently after this second dreadful Woe shall be executed And upon his sounding there were great voices and acclamations in Heaven as it was represented to St. John in this Vision declaring that the Kingdoms of this World that is a considerable part of them were become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and hereby shewing that they will then be so indeed and will then become Protestant Kingdoms and sincere Professors of the pure Word of God and live and act according to the blessed Precepts and Commands of the Gospel of Christ And then he shall Reign over them to the World's end and be owned by them for their Lord and Master and his Sacred Laws shall then stand valid and in force with them and neither the Pope of Rome nor any other such cruel and sinful Lord shall any more in such a manner Tyrannize and Domineer over them and Persecute them and drive them to Idolatry or any other notorious violation of the Sacred Word of God 16. And the four and twenty Elders which sat before God on their seats fell upon their faces and worshipped God Upon this wonderful Work that Almighty God had wrought here upon earth for his Church and faithful Servants the Elders of the Court of Heaven were represented to St. John as falling upon their Faces before God and worshipping of him in this profound manner and hereby shewing that the Church then ought and will magnify him in an exceeding high manner For these Elders seem to allude to the Jewish Sanhedrim and great Council and are the Representatives of the Christian Church as we may see Rev. 5.9 10. where they say of the Lamb For thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every Kindred and Tongue and People and Nation And hast made us unto our God Kings and Priests and we shall Reign on the Earth By declaring that they were redeemed by the blood of the Lamb and that they should Reign on the Earth they shew that they are the Representatives of the Christian Church 17. Saying We give thee thanks O Lord God Almighty which art and wast and art to come because thou hast taken to thee thy great Power and hast Reigned And here is their Song of Thanksgiving and ascribing of Glory to Almighty God who was from all Eternity and endureth to all Eternity upon the account of what he had done for his Church and Servants because in the Day of Anguish and Distress he had in such a wonderful manner stretched out his Omnipotent Arm and rescued them from the very Jaws of Death and Pit of Destruction and given such a Proof of his irresistible Power 18. And the Nations were angry and thy Wrath is come and the time of the dead that they should be judged and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy Servants the Prophets and to the Saints and them that fear thy Name small and great and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth This is a Narration of the Elders shewing their high Approbation of what God had righteously done Declaring that the Popish Nations were angry and enraged against the Protestant Church and true Servants
I have here written to you I desire also your earnest Prayers for the Good of the Protestant Church and of all the Members thereof and particularly for my self that my Faith may not fail nor my strength be too weak in the Day of Tryal but that I may persevere to the end and not lose my Crown of Life and be exiled and banished from the glorious presence of God the fountain of all true joy and Happiness and be sent to the Infernal Shades of Death below and the Regions of Eternal Darkness and Misery And the God of all Love and Mercy preserve and keep us all from falling away from him and grant that his watchful Providance and the Light of his Countenance may always attend us here through this Vale of Misery that we may find Help and Comfort from above when we can meet with none here below Which God of his infinite Mercy Grant for his dear Son Christ Jesus's sake Amen A Quotation taken out of the Remarkable Predictions of the Holy and Learned James Usher Archbishop of Armagh as it was written by the Person who heard it from his own mouth not long before he dyed and published with Licence in the year 1678. I Then presumed saith this Person to enquire of him what his present apprehensions were concerning a very great Persecution which should fall upon the Church of God in these Nations of England Scotland and Ireland of which this Reverend Primate had spoken with great confidence many years before when we were in the highest and fullest state of outward Peace and Settlement I asked him whether he did believe those sad times to be past or that they were yet to come To which he answered That they were yet to come and that he did as confidently expect it as ever he had done adding That this sad Persecution would fall upon all the Protestant Churches of Europe I replyed That I did hope it might have been past as to these Nations of ours since I thought that though we who are the People thereof have been punished much less than our sins have deserved and that our late Wars had made far less devastations than War commonly brings upon those Countries where it pleaseth God in judgment to suffer it yet we must needs acknowledge that many great Houses had been Burnt Ruined and left without Inhabitants many great Families impoverished and undone and many Thousand Lives also had been lost in that bloody War and that Ireland and Scotland as well as England had drunk very deep of the Cup of God's Anger even to the overthrow of the Government and the utter Desolation almost of a very great part of those Countries But this Holy Man turning to me and fixing his Eyes upon me with that serious and ireful look which he usually had when he spake God's Word and not his own and when the Power of God seemed to be upon him and to constrain him to speak which I could easily discern much to differ from the countenance wherewith he usually spake to me He said thus Fool not your self with such hopes for I tell you all you have yet seen hath been but the beginning of sorrows to what is yet to come upon the Protestant Churches of Christ who will ere long fall under a sharper Persecution than ever yet has been upon them and therefore said he to me look you be not found in the Outward Court but a worshipper in the Temple before the Altar for Christ will measure all those that profess his Name and call themselves his People and the Outward worshippers he will leave out to be trodden down by the Gentiles The Outward Court says he is the formal Christian whose Religion lies in performing the outside duties of Christianity without having an inward Life and Power of Faith and Love uniting them to Christ and these God will leave to be trodden down and swept away by the Gentiles But the worshippers within the Temple and before the Altar are those who do indeed worship God in Spirit and in Truth whose Souls are made his Temples and he is honoured and adored in the most inward thoughts of their hearts and they sacrifice their Lusts and Vile affections yea and their own wills to him and these God will hide in the hollow of his Hand and under the shadow of his wings and this shall be one great difference between this last and all the other preceding Persecutions For in the former the most eminent and spiritual Ministers and Christians did generally suffer most and were most violently fallen upon but in this last Persecution these shall be preserved by God as a Seed to partake of that Glory which shall immediately follow and come upon the Church as soon as ever this storm shall be over For as it shall be the sharpest so it shall be the shortest Persecution of them all and shall only take away the gross Hypocrites and formal Professors but the true Spiritual Believers shall be preserved till the Calamity be over-past I then asked him by what means or Instruments this great Tryal should be brought on He answered By the Papists I replyed that it seemed to me very improbable they should be able to do it since they were now little countenanced and but few in these Nations and that the hearts of the People were more set against them than ever since the Reformation He answered again That it would be by the hands of Papists and in the way of a sudden Massacre and that the then Pope should be the chief Instrument of it All this he spake with so great Assurance and with the same serious and concerned Countenance which I have before observed him to have when I have heard him foretel some things which in all humane appearance were very unlikely to come to pass which yet I my self have lived to see happen according to his prediction and this made me give the more earnest attention to what he then uttered He then added That the Papists were in his Opinion the Gentiles spoken of in the 11th of the Revelations to whom the outward Court should be left that they might tread it underfoot They having received the Gentiles Worship in their adoring Images and Saints departed and in taking to themselves many Mediators And this said he the Papists are now designing among themselves and therefore be sure you be ready This was the Substance and I think for the greatest part the very same words which this Holy Man spake to me at the time beforementioned not long before his death and which I writ down that so great and notable a Prediction might not be lost and forgotten by my self nor others This gracious Man repeated the same things in Substance to his only Daughter the Lady Tyrril and that with many tears and much about the same time that he had exprest what is aforesaid to me and which the Lady Tyrril assured me of with her own mouth c. FINIS
be a warning to all other Churches and at all times that they also are like to have their Candlestick removed when they grow unfruitful under the blessed Light of the Gospel and begin to abuse it Rev. 2.7 He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches The Period of this Church therefore is not to be placed till the 18th year of the Emperor Adrian at the soonest and till about the year of our Lord 135 and Dr. More hath placed it too soon in placing it in the 10th of Nero and in the year of our Lord 63. For it is not to be placed till this Candlestick was removed and till about the year 135. The Epistle to the Church in Smyrna ver 8 11 seems to be directed to the Christian Church some time before Dioclesian's Persecution which began about the year 303. For herein our blessed Saviour doth take notice of the Tribulation and Hardships that they had undergone in the Persecutions that they had already endured but yet notwithstanding this he tells them that they were still to have Tribulation for ten days that is for ten years days being put for years as I have said before I know thy works saith our Saviour ver 9. and tribulation and poverty but thou art rich And I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not but are the Synagogue of Satan That is I know the tribulation and sorrow that thou hast sustained in the Persecutions that are past and the Poverty that thou art now under in respect of the things of this World but thou art rich in Spiritual Treasure that is more pretious than Gold tried in the fire and will one day be thy glory and comfort too And I know the blasphemy of the Gnosticks and such wicked Wretches that say they are Jews that is which pretend to be Christians but in truth and reality they are not but are the Synagogue and Servants of Satan living impure lives and blaspheming my Servants because they take up the Cross and suffer Martyrdom for my sake as I have commanded them And because this was the sharpest Persecution of all our Saviour doth here advertise them of it beforehand and encourage and fortifie them against it saying ver 10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer Behold the Devil shall cast some of you into prison that ye may be tried and ye shall have tribulation ten days Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a Crown of Life Thus doth our Saviour advertise them of and animate them against this bitter Persecution of ten years which was begun by Dioclesian and was carried on after he resigned up the Empire The ten days are put for ten years and that this Persecution lasted ten days Eusebius affimeth lib. 8. chap. 15. And when Constantine the Great had overcome all the Adversaries of the Church and became a nursing Father to it then those Christians that survived enjoyed a Crown of Life and Happiness here and those that suffered death enjoyed a better in another World And seeing this Promise was compleated by the year of our Lord 324 where Dr. More sets the period of this Church I do not think good to alter it or any thing else that he hath well done but shall let the year 324 remain still for the period of the Smyrnean Interval of the Church But the Tribulation ten days cannot well be understood of the ten Persecutions because before all these Persecutions this Church had undergone no Tribulation but our Saviour doth here take notice of the Tribulation that they had already undergone and yet tells them that they were to have ten days of Tribulation more And some of these Persecutions also were before the Ephesine period of the Church The Epistle to the Church in Pergamos Rev. 2 12-17 seems to be directed to the Christian Church some time before the Waldensian and Albigensian Wars but after the suffering of the Waldensian and Albigensian Martyrs that suffered about the year 1160 and presently after that time For herein our Saviour doth mention his Martyr Antipas that was slain among them v. 13. And by this Martyr Antipas I understand the Waldenses and Albigenses and the Martyrs that suffered under the Popish Persecutions about the year 1160 and presently after that time and before the year 1200. And here our Saviour also doth accuse them because they had some that held the Doctrine of Balaam and the Doctrine of the Nicolaitans which he hated v. 14 15. That is which did not live such pure and chast lives as they ought but were too much given to their fleshly lusts and pleasures And these our Saviour admonisheth to repent and amend and if they do not he threatneth to come quickly upon them and to fight against them with the Sword of his Mouth ver 16. Repent saith he or else I will come unto thee quickly and I will fight against them with the sword of my mouth By this fighting against them with the Sword of his Mouth I understand the Waldensian and Albigensian Wars after the year 1200 when so many hundred thousands of the Waldenses and Albigenses were killed with the Sword in France and other places between the year 1200 and the year 1242. And seeing what our Saviour here threatened was fulfilled by the year 1242 where Dr. More setteth this period and when he saith the Waldensian War was ended I shall not alter the period of this Pergamenian Church but let it remain at the year 1242 where he hath set it The Epistle to the Church in Thyatira Rev. 2 18-29 seems to be directed to the Christian Church some time before the Reformation For herein our blessed Saviour doth take notice of their Charity or Love and of their Service Faith and Patience that they had shewed under the Popish Persecutions and that their last works of this kind did exceed the first v. 19. And he blameth the Princes and Governors of the Church that had some sense of Piety towards him and yet adhered to the Romish Church because they suffered that Woman Jezebel to teach and seduce his Servants to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed unto Idols v. 20. That is because they suffered the Papacy and Church of Rome to seduce his Servants to commit Idolatry and to make them join in their sinful Religion and did not cast off the Popish Authority and Religion seeing things were then come to that maturity that they might do so But as for those that had already cast off the Popish Religion our Saviour exhorteth them to hold fast and to persist on in leading their lives according to his blessed Word ver 24 25. But unto you I say and unto the rest in Thyatira as many as have not this Doctrine that is of the Romish Church and which have not known the Depths of Satan as they speak that is which have not known and practised the deep Mysteries of
threatneth to spue them out of his Mouth ver 16 and to have no more to do with them as being nauseous and loathsome to him And this is to be fulfilled at the end of the World And if the period of the Philadelphian Church falls about the year 2826 as I have said before then it seems probable to me that the period of this Church and the end of the World will be about the year of our Lord 3000 and when the World hath stood about 7000 years from the Creation of it For the Reverend Archbishop Usher I suppose is not much mistaken in setting the Birth of our Saviour in the year of the World 4000 for I am apt to believe that he was born about that time And the Week consisting of seven Days and the often using of the number Seven in the sacred Scriptures may make it seem the more probable that the World may consist of seven Millenniums and endure just seven thousand years And altho' the World should endure just 7000 years yet our Saviour's Words will still prove a verity and truth as they are applied to the end and last period of the World Matt. 24.36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man no not the Angels of Heaven but my Father only For as no man now can tell exactly how many years are passed since the World was Created so will no man then be able to know exactly when the 7000 years will be expired and compleated I know not the Day and Hour when this second Woe will fell nor the the Day and Hour when the third Woe will fall nor the Day and Hour when the End of the World will be Thro' the good Hand of God so much Light I have as to be able to give warning of these two Woes and to advertise men to take care that they do not perish therein and to let them know when they are approaching but not to tell them the Day and Hour when they will come nor the Day and Hour when the End of the World will be Thus much for the seven Epistles to the seven Churches The seven Seals Rev. 6. and chap. 8.1 do represent and signifie so many successive Scenes of Affairs here upon Earth from the beginning of the Church to the end of the World And how I understand them I shall here briefly set down The White Horse at the opening of the first Seal Rev. 6.1 2. and the Rider thereof with a Bow and a Crown that went forth Conquering and to Conquer I understand to be a representation and signification of the propagation and progress of the Gospel under the auspicious Conduct of the blessed Jesus from the beginning of the Christian Church till about the 16th year of Trajan and the year of our Lord 113 or there about The Red Horse at the opening of the second Seal Rev. 6.3 4. and the Rider thereof that had a Sword given unto him and power to take Peace from the earth and that they should kill one another I understand to be a representation and signification of that great Scene of Blood and Slaughter both of the Martyrs and others from about the 16th year of Trajan till Constantine had overcome Licinius and the year 324. I take the Red Horse and the Rider thereof with his Sword to represent and signifie the great Wars and Bloodshed that was in the Roman Empire in this Interval of time The Black Horse at the opening of the third Seal ver 5 6. and the Rider thereof with a pair of Ballances in his hand I understand to be a representation and signification of that black Scene of Affairs during the time that the Barbarous Nations over-ran the Roman Empire from Constantine's time till towards the time that the Saracens set up their Kingdom at Bagdad and till about the year 740. In this Interval there was a black and calamitous Scene of Affairs great Fires Earthquakes Inundations and Plagues and the Goths Hunnes and Vandals and other Barbarous Nations caused great Bloodshed and plundered and spoiled all before them and caused great Scarcity and Famine For great Armies tho' they find a Land like the Garden of Eden full of all plenty and store yet do soon make it a desolate Wilderness consuming and destroying all before them and putting a stop also to tillage and agriculture do soon bring a miserable Famine upon a Land and Nation And that there was to be great Scarcity and Famine in this Interval of time the Voice in the midst of the four living Creatures doth shew ver 6 saying A measure of wheat for a peny and three measures of barley for a peny and thou shalt not deal unjustly in the oyl and Wine The measure here is something above a quart and the penny here is about seven pence half penny of our Money And when a man can buy but a little above a quart of wheat with seven pence half-penny it shews that there must be great scarcity and dearth And as Dr. More observeth tho he be quite mistaken in his Interpretation here the Choenix which is the measure here was an allowance of food for a day and the penny here was the wages of a day's labor And there must needs then be great scarcity and famine when a man's labor would only buy him food and there is nothing left to buy him cloaths and other necessaries and to help to maintain the rest of his Family And what is here predicted was accomplished in the scarcity and famine that was caused by these Barbarous Nations and the other famines that God sent upon them in this Interval of time The Pale Horse that had Death for his Rider and Hell or the Grave for his Attendant ver 7 8 at the opening of the fourth Seal I understand to be a representation and signification of the great Scene of Mortality and Destruction of men during the time of the Saracens from about the year 740 till about the year 1150. That this was to be a Scene of great Mortality and Destruction of men is here shewed ver 8. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth to kill with the sword and with hunger and with death that may be with the pestilence and mortal diseases and with the beasts of the earth And these seem to have had their completion in this Interval of time when the Saracens over-ran so great a part of the Roman Empire and men so far as I see might be destroyed all these ways The Souls under the Altar at the opening of the fifth Seal ver 9 10 11 I understand to be a representation and signification of the great Scene of Martyrs viz. of the Waldenses and Albigenses and the Martyrs that suffered under the Popish Persecutions from about the year 1150 till about the Reformation and the year 1558 when Queen Elizabeth came to the Throne At the opening of this fifth Seal saith St. John I saw under the altar the Souls
to come upon them And according to these places of the Sacred Scriptures do we make profession in St. Athanasius's Creed Which Faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled without doubt he shall perish everlastingly And we may clearly see that the Romish Religion is flat contrary to the first and second Commandments of the Decalogue This is the grand Commandment of all viz. Thou shalt have no other Gods before me Exod. 20.3 But this grand Commandment do the Papists violate and make Petty Gods of the Saints and worship the Elements of Bread and Wine in the Sacrament and make Gods of them And they make and worship and bow down to Images flat contrary to the express Letter of the second Commandment They teach for Doctrines the Commandments of Men and preach another Gospel which Christ and his Apostles preached not in that they preach up the Pope's Supremacy as a fundamental Doctrine in their Religion and Purgatory and Popish Pardons c. which are not in the Gospel of our blessed Lord and Saviour but are repugnant to it and therefore they do incur the Curse of the Apostle in preaching another Gospel And herein we may see that they sin with a high hand in that they stifle the Sacred Word of God and will not let the Common People know it that they may keep it and do it contrary to God's express Command who would have all Men to know his Sacred Word and Commandments and to do them And instead hereof they order their own Precepts and Traditions to be observed and kept Thus superseding and over-ruling the whole Word of God by their own Commands at their own will and pleasure thus exalting themselves above God himself in keeping his Sacred Word in an unknown Tongue from the People and ordering their own Commands to be kept as the supreme Commands of all And the Papists are accounted no better than Gentiles Heathens and Pagan Idolaters by the Sacred Oracles of the Revelation of St. John as I understand them And you may see that Archbishop Usher and Dr. More these Learned and Pious Men are of the same mind and Dr. Barrow another Learned and Pious Man saith little less See Dr. More 's Antidote against Idolatry and Dr. Barrow's Treatise of the Pope's Supremacy We may see that there is no hope of Salvation for such as are of this Communion so long as they continue therein And I wish that all well-minded Papists would seriously lay these things to heart and take a due Care to save their Souls and not suffer themselves to be deluded to their Eternal Woe and Destruction But farther Thirdly We may see that Righteous and Holy Men would by no means be driven to break the Sacred Commands of Almighty God and to depart from his Blessed Word but would rather part with their Lives than do so The three Children would not be driven with all the Terror of a Fiery Furnace to fall down and worship King Nebuchadnezzar's Image contrary to the express Command of Almighty God Dan. 3. The Church in Pergamos would not deny the Faith of Christ tho' they dwelt even where Satan's Seat was and in those Days too wherein Antipas the faithful Martyr of Christ was slain among them and they are highly commended for so doing Rev. 2.13 I know thy works saith our Lord and where thou dwellest even where Satan's seat is and thou holdest fast my Nome and hast not denied my faith even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr who was slain among you where Satan dwelleth The Church also in Philadelphia is commended for keeping the Word of God Rev. 3.8 And St. John doth shew that many have been put to death for the Word of God and for adhering and sticking close to the Truth and giving Testimony to it Rev. 6.9 I saw under the altar saith he the souls of them that were slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held And Rev. 20.4 And I saw saith he the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God By these Instances and many more that might be alledged from the Sacred Scriptures and other Authors we may see with what great Courage and Magnanimity righteous Men have stood to the blessed Word of God and maintained it and have chosen rather to resist even unto Blood than to be driven from it or to violate it in any notorious manner And this doth shew that we ought to do so too and may serve for a sufficient disswasive to us to keep us from falling to Popery tho' we run very great hazard in standing against it But Fourthly We may farther consider that we are under several solemn Engagements that are flat against Popery We of the Clergy especially and many others have taken the Oath of Supremacy and many of us have subscribed the Declaration called the Test We have read and given our Assent to the 39 Articles of Religion and have subscribed the three Articles in the 36th Canon And these in many particulars are all directly against Popery And if we should now fall to Popery we shall notoriously break and violate all these solemn and sacred Engagements to the contrary and be most wretchedly perfidious and shew to the World that there is no Truth and Faithfulness in us but that we are cursed lying Children And according to our great Wickedness herein if we should do so shall we be dealt with For we are plainly told Rev. 21.8 That all lyars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone And it will be sufficiently manifest both to Men and Angels too that such we are and that in a high manner too if we have no regard to all these solemn Engagements which we call God to attest and bear Witness to If then we have any fear of God before our Eyes and would avoid his dreadful Wrath and have his Favour which is better than Life it self If we have any regard to the grand Concerns of our Souls and our eternal Well-being and Happiness in another World If we would avoid that dismal place where the Prince of Darkness and the Father of Lyes is to have his residence and abode Then we must have a care that we do not violate the sacred Word of God and these solemn Engagements that we have made but resolve rather to part with our Lives tho' it be at the Stake than to break them and fall to Popery But I am apt to believe That the standing against Popery in a Meek and Christian manner with Spiritual and not with Carnal Weapons will be the best way to preserve both Life and Soul too and that such as do so shall be preserved alive when many others that fall to Popery on the one hand or that rise up against Authority on the other shall perish and lose their Lives And Archbishop Usher doth shew that the sincere and faithful Worshippers and
other places And I do believe that such as sustain any loss and run any great hazard at this time to keep a good Conscience towards God shall be well rewarded even in this World besides what they may expect hereafter in another But Fourthly For our great Comfort and Encouragement herein we have many promises of a blessed Reward hereafter in Heaven for suffering for a good Cause and for Righteousness sake Eternal Glory and Happiness shall then be sure to be our Reward for such high Obedience as the suffering meekly and patiently for the sake of the blessed Jesus is Matt. 5.10 saith our Saviour Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsly for my sake Rejoyce and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in Heaven And to this purpose Luke 6.22 Blessed are ye when men shall hate you and when they shall separate you from their company and shall reproach you and cast out your name as evil for the Son of man's sake Rejoyce ye in that day and leap for joy For behold your reward is great in Heaven for in the like manner did their Fathers unto the Prophets And those that forsake Houses and Lands for Christ's sake and the Gospel's shall besides their reward here in this World inherit Eternal Life and Happiness in the World to come Matt. 19.29 and Mar. 10.30 And in the world to come eternal Life And saith St. Paul Rom. 8.17 If so be that we suffer with him that we may be also glorified together For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us Christ ought to have suffered and so to enter into his Glory Luke 24.26 And if we will be his Disciples and followers we must expect to do so too and to enter in by the strait Gate of affliction But our sufferings here will bear little or no proportion to the Glory that doth await us for them For if St. Paul could say fo who hath given us so large an account of his sufferings 2 Cor. 11.23 much more may we say so And again saith St. Paul to Timothy 2 Tim. 2.12 If we suffer we shall also reign with him And saith St. James 1.12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation for when he is tried he shall receive the Crown of Life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him And this is our Lord's promise by St. John to the Church in Smyrna Rev. 2.10 Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a Crown of Life And all are to hear what the Spirit saith to the Churches ver 11. And again Rev. 3.21 saith he To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my Throne even as I also overcame and am set down with my Father in his Throne To this high Dignity is the faithful Sufferer like to be advanced Fifthly For our farther Comfort and Support in all the Sufferings that we meet with for Christ's sake and for keeping a good Conscience towards God we may see that God doth regard and pity us in all our distresses and afflictions and that he will then succour and strengthen us and not suffer us to be over-powered and born down with the violence of such temptations as we have not strength to resist and withstand Tho' our Trials sometimes may be sharp yet if we have recourse to him and call upon him in that due manner that we ought we shall be sure of a supply and shall have strength sufficient for all the Combats and Encounters that we shall meet with Our God is a God of Love and tender Compassion towards his Creatures and faithful Servants and will not desert and forsake them in the Day of Anguish and Distress but will hear and succour them when they cry to him for help This he declareth by the Psalmist Psal 50.15 And call upon me in the day of trouble I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify me And saith God by the Prophet Isaiah 49.15 Can a Woman forget her sucking Child that she should not have compassion on the Son of her womb Yea they may forget yet will I not forget thee The care of these tender Mothers towards the Children of their own Womb is not comparable to that of God towards his faithful Children And saith the Apostle Heb. 13.5 6. For he hath said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee So that we may boldly say the Lord is my helper and I will not fear what man shall do unto me And our Saviour doth promise to be constantly with his Church as need shall require Matt. 28.20 And lo I am with you alway even unto the end of the world Amen And saith he Matt. 10.30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbred Fear ye not therefore So great is the Care that God hath of his Servants that the smallest matters belonging to them are all regarded and minded by him and due care is taken about them And saith St. Paul 1 Cor. 10.13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man but God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that ye may be able to bear it God by his infinite Wisdom and Power will so order all things that we shall be able to overcome the temptations that we meet with some way or other if we do our utmost endeavours and he will so help us that we shall not be over-powered by them Sixthly For a fuller confirmation of this viz. That God will always be ready to help us in our greatest needs we may see that he hath always been with his faithful Servants in a remarkable manner and afforded them extraordinary Help and Assistance when their Need and Necessities have required it In an extraordinary manner was he with Joseph in the Prison with David when Saul sought to take away his Life with Elijah when Jezebel would have put him to death with the three Children in the Fiery Furnace with Daniel in the Lions Den with Paul when he was brought before Nero the Roman Emperour and with Stephen when he was put to death These and many more that might be alledged to this purpose are like a Cloud of Witnesses to confirm this to us viz That God will be sure to be with his faithful Servants in the worst of Times and Dangers to assist them with his Almighty Arm And as the sufferings of the Apostles did abound so did their inward Joy and Strength 2 Cor. 1.5 And in the midst of their sufferings could they rejoyce 2 Cor. 12.10 Col. 1.24 such sweet Influence and Communications of his Love and Goodness did God then afford them And I am
apt to believe that many who have been driven out of this World with the Fire of Persecution and with the merciless Torments of cruel Men have departed hence with as much if not more ease than many that have died quietly upon their Beds and undisturbed by the sinful and restless Troublers of this World And if so then we have no great cause to draw back or to be sore afraid even in the worst of Times and Dangers To animate us the more then herein let us remember how victoriously many Saints have gone out of this World to those unspeakable Joys that are prepared for them in the next And as Paul saith Rom. 8.37 have been more than Conquerours thro' him that loved them in all the Tryals and Combats that they have been exercised with And seeing that we are listed Souldiers under Christ Let us follow them in a meek and patient suffering of all the Adversities and Injuries that befal us here for keeping the Faith of Christ and a good Conscience towards God Let us be perswaded as St. Paul was Rom. 8.38 39. That neither Death nor Life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord Let us look unto Jesus the Captain of our Salvation the Author and Finisher of our Faith who endured such contradiction of Sinners against himself Who for the joy that was set before him endured the Cross despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the Throne of God Heb. 12.2 Let us consider him that we may not be wearied and faint in our minds but be faithful unto death that we may not lose our Crown of Life But if we will not be prevailed upon by all these powerful Arguments and Persuasions to keep Faith and a good Conscience and to stick close to our Profession even in the worst of Times If the glory of such sufferings and the unspeakable Reward that doth await them If such assurances of Divine Help and Assistance that Almighty God will never be wanting to us but will have us always under his watchful Eye and will always grant us Succour and Strength answerable to our needs If these will not prevail with us Then we may farther take notice what a miserable condition such Revolters will be in that for fear of Persecution shall forego their Profession Such are like to lose their Lives as our Lord sheweth Mar. 8.35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it And such as are ashamed of him and his words must expect the same measure again to their great and eternal Reproach as our Lord shews ver 38. Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my Words in this adulterous and sinful generation of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy Angels And those that deny him must look for the same return again to their utter confusion Matt. 10.33 But whosoever shall deny me before men him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven The Apostle's words also are now especially to be heeded and laid to heart Heb. 6.4 For it is impossible for those saith he who were once enlightned and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the world to come If they shall fall away to renew them again unto repentance seeing they crucifie to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to an open shame And saith he again Heb 10.26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the Truth there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery Indignation which shall devour the adversaries And if we Protestants should turn to the Popish Religion we may expect that this will be our condition And to conclude we may see that all Cowards that are not at all valiant for the Truth are like to go to the Lake that burns with Fire and Brimstone Rev. 21.8 But the Fearful and Unbelieving shall have their part in the Lake which burneth with Fire and Brimstone And this consideration also will be of great use to keep us from Backsliding and falling away from our Christian Profession to any Idolatrous or to any other sinful Practices that are not consistent with the Truth of the Gospel when we so plainly see as here we do That such Revolters must bid adieu to all the Bliss and Happiness that is promised in the Gospel and are like to go to the grand Apostate and to that everlasting Fire that was prepared for him and his Angens Matth. 25.41 And if these Arguments will not prevail with us I know not what will Seeing then that the Concerns before us are so very great the avoiding of Eternal Woe and Misery and the obtaining of Eternal Life and Happiness depending upon our good Behaviour and Christian Carriage here Let us be wise then betimes and shew our selves Men and not be like Solomon's Fool that had a price in his hand to get Wisdom but had no heart to it Prov. 17.16 Let us not to avoid a little Suffering here forfeit our Title to the Crown of Life and the blessed Kingdom above and run into endless Misery and Destruction For this will be prodigious folly and madness But seeing it is the Lord alone that must keep and uphold us all or else we shall be sure to fall and all the Watchman's care without his good Protection is to no purpose Ps 127.1 Let us then be careful and diligent to call for his blessed Help and Succour at all times and never trust to our own strength and abilities but let us always be mindful of that Divine Instruction of our blessed Lord and put it in practice Luke 21.36 Watch ye therefore and pray always that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of man And now that all men may be the more sensible of the heavy judgment of God which I affirm to be at hand I shall here add the Eleventh Chapter and some other places of the Revelation of St. John which do particularly treat of the second grand Woe of that sacred Book which is the judgment that I speak of And that this Eleventh Chapter may be the better understood of all men I shall add a short explication of it according to that little Insight that I have into this great Mystery wherein through God's help I intend to be plain that the meanest Capacities may in a good measure understand it if they will and may clearly see that this judgment is there foretold and therefore will certainly come to pass Revelation Chapter XI 1. And there was given me a reed like unto a rod and the Angel stood saying Rise and measure the
Child is come to the Birth there may be strength to bring forth 2 Kings 19 â— and that the Fruit of her Womb this Royal and hopeful Issue may be delivered from the bloody Talons and merciless Paws of this red and fiery Dragon and may be caught up to the Throne of God and there preserved that in due time he may Rule all Nations with his strong and iron Rod. Now is the time That that Grand and Set Battel is to be fought between Michael and the Dragon Rev. 12.7 For now will Michael the Archangel and all the Host of blessed Angels that are under him exert and put forth their utmost strength and power and use their utmost vigilancy and Industry for the supporting and upholding of the pure Church of Christ and to keep the Servants of God from Revolting and Backsliding and falling to Popery and being driven by the Terror of men to fall down and worship the Beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless Pit And now will the Dragon also set his shoulder to the work and he and his black Regiments will labour with Might and Main to extinguish and utterly to put an End to the pure Christian Church and to drive all the faithful Servants of God to desert and forsake him and to turn to the Popish Religion and to join with the Beast of Rome which God hath declared to be a grand Rebel against him and his Kingdom And now therefore it is the Duty of every good Protestant and especially of the Bishops and Pastors of the Protestant Church to be at their most ardent Prayers to Almighty God and to implore his Help that he would have Mercy upon his Church and preserve it from being destroyed by the restless Enemies thereof Now is it their duty to lift up their incessant Cryes to the blessed Jesus that he would make good that Promise to his Church Matth. 16.18 That the Gates of Hell should not prevail against it That he would now hold up his Auspicious Hand while this Battel is fought as once Moses did upon a like occasion Exod. 17.11 and that he would stretch out his Almighty Arm for the support of his Church and Servants and Succour us frail Creatures in the Day of Tryal and Grant Success and Victory to Michael and his Angels who is represented as General of the Christian Forces Now let all the valiant Souldiers of Christ put on the whole Armour of God that they may be able to stand against all the Wiles of the Devil Eph. 6.11 For we are now to wrestle not with flesh and blood against the bodily strength of a single man as wrestlers do But against Principalities against Powers against the Rulers of the darkness or the dark and sinful Rulers of this world against spiritual wickedness in high places Wherefore let us take unto our selves the whole Armour of God that we may be able to withstand in the evil Day and having done all that is in our power that we may stand Let all the faithful Servants of Christ now give all that little help and assistance that they can in so righteous and sacred a Cause as this is when the Church and Spouse of Christ lyeth at the Stake and wherein the blessed Jesus and Saviour of the World requireth their service And then if they fight valiantly in this sacred and Renowned Cause and persevere to the end then let them expect his Euge Well done thou good and faithful Servant Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord Matth. 25.21 And saith our Lord to the Church in Sardis to the Pastors and Members thereof even to the present Christian Church as I understand it and as Dr. More also hath interpreted it Rev. 3.5 He that overcometh the same shall be clothed in white raiment and I will not blot out his name out of the Book of Life but I will confess his name before my Father and before his Angels Those that overcome in this Grand Battel against the Dragon in this splendid manner like Victors and Conquerors are they to be clothed their Names are like to stand Registred in the Book of Life as those that are like to enjoy eternal Bliss and Happiness And to their unspeakable joy and endless glory they will be had in honor before Almighty God and his Angels But if any man draw back his Soul will have no pleasure in him Heb. 10.38 And our Lord hath told us Matth. 10.33 That whosoever shall deny him before men him also he will deny before his Father which is in heaven And now let all the Bishops and Pastors of the Protestant Church remember that bitter Curse which the Angel pronounced against the Inhabitants of Meroz Jud. 5.23 Curse ye Meroz said the Angel of the Lord Curse ye bitterly the Inhabitants thereof because they came not to the help of the Lord to the help of the Lord against the Mighty And let them take care that there may be no cause for the Archangel Michael now to pronounce such another bitter Curse against them for their backsliding at this Day when this great Battel of the Lord upon the account of his Church is to be fought And here we are taught how we must prevail and overcome Rev. 12.11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their Testimony and they loved not their Lives unto the death These are the means by which we are to overcome at this time and not by carnal Weapons viz By procuring an interest in the Blood of the blessed Jesus and by a meek and patient suffering for his sake and a firm resolution rather to dye than to depart from the Testimony and Faith of Christ and violate and break his sacred Commandments freely offering up our Lives to him if he should call us to the Cross to suffer Martyrdom for his sake And for our great Comfort and Encouragement herein saith the Apostle 2 Tim. 2.12 If we suffer we shall also reign with him And saith St. John Rev. 14.13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me Write Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from hence forth yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labors and their works do follow them And again saith he Rev. 20.4 And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the Word of God and which had not worshipped the Beast neither his Image neither had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years This is the first Resurrection Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first Resurrection on such the second death hath no power but they shall be Priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years See Dr. More upon this place And for our great stay and sure support in such a fiery Tryal saith our blessed Lord Matth. 28.20 And lo I am with
you alway even unto the end of the world Amen Which words I hope I may thus paraphrase with respect to this great juncture of time My incessant Care and watchful Providence shall always attend you my Servants and I will never be wanting to you but will be ready to assist you always with my Counsel and Help if ye will hearken to me and carefully observe the motions of my Hand And even now in this dark Day and fiery Tryal that is coming upon you mine eyes shall be continually upon you and my hand stretched out to uphold and strengthen you and Death with its gastly looks and dreadful face shall not then too sorely affright and terrifie you when ye dye Martyrs in my Cause And know that it is I the Saviour of the world that am the sure and faithful Watchman and that I do now advertise and give you warning of the dark Days that are coming upon you and the heavy Woe that is to follow them that ye may know these things beforehand and may not be surprized at them when they come to your astonishment and prejudice For it was I that awoke my Watchmen and set them to give warning of the Evil approaching otherwise they had been taken in a drowsie and sleepy Condition I am faithful in what I promise and according to my Word Lo I am with you now and at all times even unto the end of the World Amen The second Woe which is now at hand and like to fall as I conceive upon the Protestant Kingdoms chiefly is like to be very dreadful But yet the third Woe which is like to fall upon the Popish Kingdoms and within the jurisdiction of Rome about 130 years hence is like to be far more dreadful for so do these sacred Oracles plainly seem to declare Then is the terrible Vision of the sixth Seal as I conceive to be consummated and completed Rev. 6 12-17 And I beheld saith St. John when he had opened the sixth Seal and lo there was a great Earthquake and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair and the moon became as blood and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth even as a figtree casteth her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together and every mountain and Island were moved out of their places And the Kings of the earth and the great Men and the rich men and the chief Captains and the mighty men and every bondman and every freeman hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains and said to the mountains and rocks Fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne and from the Wrath of the Lamb For the great Day of his Wrath is come and who shall be able to stand This Seal may in part belong to this second Woe that is now approaching but it will be consummated and compleated as I conceive when the third and last of these three dreadful Woes cometh And then Woe Woe Woe to Rome and the Romish Church for then are all these dreadful things like to be fulfilled and compleated according to the sense and meaning of them And the Destruction of new and Mystical Babylon is set out in as prodigious a manner as the Destruction of old Babylon was Isaiah 13.9 as if the Frame of the whole world should then shake and tremble and be disordered at that Day and as if the Terror of it should be like the Terror of the last Day when the Heavens and the Earth shall be dissolved and as if men should then be surrounded with Blackness and Darkness on every side and should then seek to hide themselves in the dens and caves of the rocks and call to the rocks and mountains to hide and shelter them from the fiery Wrath and merciless Cruelty of that Day that should have no Light nor Comfort at all in it Then will be the time that the great Harvest of the earth the great Harvest of Sin and Iniquity will be fully ripe and fit for the Sicle and shall then be cut down and cleared away Rev. 14 14-16 Then will the great Winepress of the Wrath of God be trodden Rev. 14.19 20. And the Angel saith St. John thrust in his sicle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth and cast it into the great Winepress of the Wrath of God And the Winepress was troden without the City and blood came out of the Winepress even unto the horses bridles by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs O Dreadful What an astonishing treading of the Winepress of the Wrath of God is this like to be when Blood shall thus flow from it like a great River whose Stream shall swell and rise as high as the horses bridles and not be stopt before it hath run a thousand and six hundred surlongs What an Akeldama and field of Blood will Rome and the jurisdiction thereof then be But thro the good Providence of God this great and stupendious Winepress of the Wrath of God shall be trodden without the City Not without the City which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt Not without the City of Rome and the jurisdiction thereof for these are like then to be the Shop and Anvile of Divine Vengeance where all the Heats of Wrath and Fury are to be hammer'd But it will be trodden without the holy City and pure Church of Christ God then so over-ruling and ordering Affairs that his faithful Servants shall not then be dipt in this bloody Stream And our Lord then making good his Promise to the Church of Philadelphia his beloved Spouse Rev. 3.10 Because thou hast kept saith our Lord the Word of my Patience I also will keep thee from the Hour of Temptation which shall come upon all the World to try them that dwell upon the earth From this dark hour of Tryal and judgment is the Church in Philadelphia then to be preserved as a recompence for her sore Travel and great exercise of Patience that she is now to undergo in the end of the Sardian Church and after this second Woe is past the Philadelphian Church I hope will begin Then when the third Woe cometh are all the seven last Vials of the Wrath of God to be poured out upon the earth and upon the City which Spiritually is called Egypt and it is like to be plagued in such a manner as heretofore the Land of Egypt was Rev. 16.1 Then is the water of the great River Euphrates to be dryed up that the way of the Kings of the East may be prepared to come in to the Fall of great Babylon Rev. 16.12 Then are the three unclean Spirits like frogs proceeding out of the mouths of the Dragon the Beast and false Phrophet to go forth to gather the Kings of the whole world to the Battel of that great Day of God Almighty And then they
are to be gathered into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon which shews that they are all there to be destroyed where this vast Army shall be drawn together Rev. 16.14 16. Then is to be that grand Earthquake such an Earthquake as the world had never known before ver 18. And there were Voices saith St. John and thunders and lightnings and there was a great Earthquake such as was not since men were upon the earth so mighty an Earthquake and so great Then is the Earth to be shaken in such a manner as it had never been shaken before with the Tumults of War and Armyes and Battels and bloody Tragedies that shall then be acted upon it Then is great Babylon like to be shatter'd and rent to pieces ver 19. And the great City was divided into three parts And great Babylon came in remembrance before God to give unto her the Cup of the Wine of the fierceness of his Wrath. The great City of Mystical Babylon is then to be divided into three parts but never an one of these three parts will be left to uphold the Papal Chair For then will the Kings of the earth that have committed fornication with her and her Merchants and Paramours and Lovers that doted upon her be glad to make their escape from her Torment and Burning and to stand afar off for fear of it and there to pour out their doleful lamentations for her when they behold the smoak of her Burning Rev. 18.9 And of the ten Horns it is said Rev. 17.16 These shall hate the Whore and shall make her desolate and naked and shall eat her flesh and burn her with fire And then will they be ready to curse the day wherein they were made such Slaves and Drudges to the Papacy and Popish Religion And of the Beast and false Prophet it is said Rev. 19.20 And the Beast was taken and with him the false Prophet These both were cast alive into a Lake of fire burning with brimstone which shews that they shall be totally destroyed and swallowed up with a swift and merciless Destruction Then when this third Woe cometh are all the Popish Princes like to lay down their Scepters and to bid Farewel to all Regal Authority for so do these sacred Oracles shew Rev. 16.19 And the Cities of the Nations fell saith St. John That is all the Popish Principalities and Polities shall then fall to nought and be destroyed And under the sixth Seal it is said Rev. 6.15 And the Kings of the earth and the Great men hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains and said to the mountains and rocks Fall on us and hide us Then are all the ravenous Fowls of heaven to be called to the Supper of the great God That they may eat the flesh of Kings Rev. 19.17 18. And I saw an Angel standing in the sun saith St. John and he cryed with a loud voice saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven Come and gather your selves together unto the Supper of the great God That ye may eat the flesh of Kings and the flesh of Captains and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of them that sit on them and the flesh of all men both free and bond both small and great When this third Woe cometh Then not only the Popedom and Popish Church and Religion but even the very City of Rome also shall then in a Violent manner be totally destroyed and no Artificer's hammer shall any more be heard therein and the sound of the milstone is then like to cease there and no candle is to shine there any more Rev. 18.21 And a mighty Angel saith St. John took up a stone like a great Milstone and cast it into the Sea saying Thus with Violence shall that great City Babylon be thrown down and shall be found no more at all Here we have the Type of Rome's dreadful destruction viz. that it is to be like the violent dashing of a great milstone into the Sea And ver 22 And the voice of harpers and musicians and of Pipers and trumpeters shall be heard no more at all in thee and no craftsman of whatsoever craft be he shall be found any more in thee and the sound of the milstone shall be heard no more at all in thee And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee and the voice of the Bridegroom and of the Bride shall be heard no more at all in thee The very City of Rome it self is then like to be totally consumed and nothing left but the sad Ruins thereof to declare to Posterity That there once stood the great City that Spiritually was called Sodom and Egypt which was the great Metropolis and Den of all the bloody Tyrants and cruel Persecutors of the Church and Servants of God and the place where Satan himself kept his black Court Rev. 2.13 These Melodious and joyful voices and comfortable sounds shall then totally cease there and the hideous howlings of the beasts of the desert are then like to succeed in their room Rome then is like to become the Rendezvous of Daemons and the Cage and Receptacle of all hateful and uncouth birds For this is the proclamation of the Angel that came down from Heaven Rev. 18.2 And he cryed saith St. John mightily with a strong voice saying Babylon the great is fallen is fallen and is become the habitation of Devils and the hold of every foul Spirit and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird The Satyrs and Goblins may then dance there and the Owls may take it for their habitation All the doleful Creatures of the twilight may then resort thither that are fit to howl and hollow forth the sad Ruin and Desolation of this place and to proclaim to the World That Rome's Day is at an End and the dismal Night of Darkness is come upon her And this third Woe also will come in a surprizing manner upon all such as are wrapt up in Carnal security and are too intent upon their worldly Concerns and eagerly pursuing their sins and wickedness This our Saviour sheweth declaring that his Coming at this third Woe should be like the coming of a thief Rev. 16.15 Behold I come as a thief Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments lest he walk naked and they see his shame Let all men then take care to be upon their watch and look to it that they be not surprized in their sins and filthiness to their eternal shame and reproach And saith the Angel Rev. 18.8 Therefore shall her plagues come in one day death and mourning and famine and she shall be utterly burnt with fire This seems to intimate that her plagues should come unexpectedly one upon another and she is to be totally consumed And it seems probable that the City of Rome the Mystical Babylon will then be burnt down with fire And as Noah gave