that this 2300. dayes doth point out so many full years that the Church partly of the Jews and partly of the Gentiles shall lie under the captivity of the blaspheming horne in his severall shapes And so points out the oppressions of the Church of the Jews the destruction of the City Jerusalem and the destroying of the Temple and all those wastings of the Church both before Christ came among the Jews and since Christ came among the Gentiles and so comprehends the Tyranny both of the Dragon corrupt Magistracy And the Tyranny of the Beast the Antichristian shapes over the holy City from the end of the 70. years captivity in Babylon to the time of the end that the Beast shall reigne no longer And I believe that this 2300. dayes are a full number of years that the Church of the Jews and Gentiles have suffered and must suffer under the Serpents power till the appointed time be finished from the end of the 70. years captivity for when Daniel asked the Angel what should be the end of these things he said go thy way Daniel for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end pointing out to us that the Jews were yet to suffer many things before the Gentiles be called But when God speaks that his Witnesses shall prophesie 1260. dayes and that the holy City or the Host shall be trod under foot 42. months which are one and the same tearm of time as hath been shewed I believe he points out the very direct time of captivity that the Church of the Gentiles shall undergo under mystery Babylon or the blaspheming horn And therefore when the Angel was shewing the vision of these things to John Saith he seale not the sayings of this Prophesie for the time is at hand or the time of the 1260. dayes are upon the beginning and the time of the Jewish Church is come to a period And as God was pleased to shew unto John the beginning of those 1260. dayes captivity so I believe God is pleased to shew his Servants now that these 1260. dayes are very near an end And that the Kingdoms of this world shall become the Kingdoms of Christ and he shall take to him his own power and reign for ever and ever Even so come Lord Iesus I shall now proceed hither to we see who it is that kills Gods two Witnesses Even the wisdom and envious power and policy of corrupt flesh that would be as God and sit in Gods Temple and rule over all that is called God The corrupt wisdom blind zeal and meritorious actings is forcibly pressed upon the Saints by the flesh before the believing in the free grace and love and gift of God yea the flesh honours it self and dishonours God and all that worship God or that live in him yea the flesh rules and strives mightily and hath a great prevailing power to enforce men to attend upon her preparative use of means which she calls means and self-actings to get knowledge comfort life and will not suffer men nay nor the Saints some-times to honour God by waiting upon him and wheresoever you see the flesh active if God be pleased to teach you shall see the flesh both in your self and in others to slight despise and undervalue God though to your present apprehension you think you honour God but truly we dishonour God when we would worship him in the way of the flesh and will not wait upon him in his own way It remaines now to shew how the Beast or flesh doth kill the two Witnesses And this phrase killing is but a fuller declaration of that compleat captivity under the blaspheming horn in his severall shapes for the space of 42. months or three dayes and half or 1260. dayes which are all one and then that God that gave his witnesses into the hands of the Beast to be killed raises them up to life again and as Solomon said the righteous is delivered and the wicked falls into his place for upon their rising the Beast is killed and he dies for ever but the killing of the witnesses is not everlasting neither is their death eternall for God will raise them up from death and of the life and Kingdom of the two witnesses there shall be no end But how are the Witnesses slain why truly when the wisdom and powers of the Beast rules in full strength then the Father hath so determined that the witnesses shall be trod under foot and killed but this killing is but in the eye of the world not in the eye of God and Saints for because I live saith Christ therefore you live and the world sees me no more but you see me And there are three dispositions of the Beast to be considered in killing Gods witnesseâ— First consider the spirit of envy and heart-burning that is in the flesh against Gods Witnesses As first the flesh of every man within in the secret of his own heart doth rise and fret against any truth which doth principally advance God and deny self we cannot bear the truths of God at first hearing nor ever till God make us able I speak in experience my own flesh declared its rebellion against God in this particular Tell a man that he hath no knowledge no faith in God and his heart swels presently and thinks you wrong him tell him him his own humane learning and workings are abomination to the Lord and that he must lay aside his beloved actings and wait onely upon God for knowledge and faith his heart swels and cannot endure to hear of waiting upon God And truly God is more honoured by our waiting then by the multitude of our self-actings Tell a man that God doth and wil give his Spirit to Tradesmen now-a-dayes as he gave himself to husbandmen and Fishermen formerly and that these being taught of God are Ministers which God sends forth and that humane Schollars that are not so taught of God are no Ministers but such as run before God send them though they have the ordination of humane authority his heart presently swels against this and he cries it down for an Error and cannot endure to heare that God should teach any but schollars that any should preach glad tidings from God to sinners but such Schollars Here the flesh within every man labours to kill Gods witnesses for the flesh grudges to give God his liberty to doe with his own what he will and the flesh would have something in it selfe it hath a secret grudging to acknowledge all wisdom faith and life must be given of God and that his actings can get nothing And if there were not an inward root of bitternes in every mans heart against truth there would not be such strivings and wars amongst men as there is the flesh of every man envies the Anointing and would not have God to reign in him but by secret grudgings and swellings
Christ is an active and loving witness bearing record of the Father wish courage and he did not receive his testimony from any creature but from the Father For the Son can do nothing of himself but what he seeth the Father do and whatsoever he doth the Son doth likewise Jesus Christ was not compelled to bear witness to the Father as a malefactor is compelled to bear the sentence of justice but he undertook to bruise the Serpents head voluntarily he suffered freely and dyed freely seeing it was the will of his Father he took up death which was the desert of our sins willingly and voluntarily as soone as the Father had declared his councel concerning him Behold saith Christ I come to do thy will O God And no man takes away my life for I lay it down of my self I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it up again New if the blood of Buls and Goats and the ashes of an Heifer sprinckling the unclean sanctifyeth to the purifying of the flesh how much more shall the bloud of Christ who through his eternall spirit offered himse f without spot to God purge our Consciences from dead works of humane formes and fleshly actings to serve the living God in spirit and truth The Scriptures are plentifull to prove this In the Evangelist we see Christ beares witnes of himself That he is the Son of God and told the Jewes that unlesse they believed that he was He they should die in their sins The Pharisees told him his record Was not true because he bare record of himself but saith he My record is true and I am one that bear record of my self and my Father that sent me beareth witness of me I have many things to say and judge of you but he that sent me is true and I speak unto the world those things which I have heard of him And when ye have lifted up the Son of man then ye shall know that I am he and that I do nothing of my self but as my Father hath taught me so I speak And St. John Writes Grace and Peace to the seven Churches that is to the complaeat number and body of Saints from jesus Christ who is the faithfull and true witnesse And again unto the Angel of the Church of Laodicea Write thest things saith the Amen the faithfull and true witnese the beginning of the creation of God And by this we see that jesus Christ he was Gods first witness Then secondly The Saints or City Zion or the mystical body of Christ This is Gods other Witness And these doe not receive their testimony from men but from Jesus Christ And their testimony is still the same that Christ bare witness to and therefore they are said to suffer for the Testimony of jesus Now this second witness is not to be restrained to Magistrates Ministers particular men or women but to all the body consisting of learned unlearned poor and rich men and women in whom the spirit of the Son dwells and from whom they receive their testimony neither are they compelled to bear witness but through the same anointing they professe God willingly and they finde it is pleasing to them to acknowledg the Father as to take their meat and drink therefore certainly those that have neither will nor skill to bear witness to the Father unlesse they have a directory from men and those that never worship God without a humane power to encourage them Yea ☜ rather they that would fain have a humane power establisht to suppresse Gods Witnesses it is a manifest sign that they themselves are none of his Witnesses Now I conceive that water bloud and spirit as I mentioned before points out the Saints which are the feed of the woman likewise and as our Lord Jesus our head gave testimony in his appointed time prophesying in sackcloth so the Saints his body in whom the spirit rules giving testimony in their appointed time And the understanding people in all Nations Kinreds Tongues and People do see their testimony and how they have bin slain in the streets of the great City Babylon three dayes and an half as I shall declare how I conceive it if God please Now these Saints are not only learned Schollers in humane wisdome but such as the world counts fools neither are they Gods witnesses that are compelled by humane Lawes to worship God For these witnesses declare their testimony willingly against the wisdome of the flesh neither is there here and there one Saint that are called Gods witnesses but all the Saints in one body three in one water bloud and spirit make up one witness Now this spirit or this anointing that is in Saints which indeed is Christ the Lord their righteousness is a faithfull witness likewise This is he that came by water and bloud and not by water only but by water and bloud and this Christ came not only in himself but in his Saints whom he sanctifies and washeth in his bloud and it is the spirit that beares witness because though the bodies be weak yet the spirit in them is truth it being the anointing which they have received from the holy one And when Christ had not only freely shed the water about his heart but the bloud in his heart also as a price laid down for sinners he that saw it saith the text meaning God and the spirit of God that was in Christ aâ—â— those few Saints then present bore record 〈◊〉 his record is true and he knoweth that he 〈◊〉 truth that ye might believe All the whole body of Saints both 〈◊〉 and Gentiles are Gods Witnesses for one â—â—â—â—rit unites them into one body But I beâ—â—â—â— that those that live in the time of the new Testament while the little horn-beast and whorish spirit had a ruling power allowed him of God though I mention three names yet they are all one enemy to Christ I conceive I say that these are they to whom God hath given power to prophesie in sack-cloth one thousand two hundred and sixty dayes And these are they that are slain in the streets of the great City Babylon that is by the power of the Beast Yet the Saints of old are to take part of this honour stand in this lot because they these have all one spirit and if God had appointed them this sackcloth honor they would have been faithfull witnesses of God as well as these Nay in their time they bore witness to God against the same spirit of the beast though he had not the same power as he hath now Mordecai Hester the Jews gave a faithfull testimony to God against proud hypocritical and bloudy Hamon And likewise Daniel the three Children did bear witnese to God Faithfully against the hypocriticall and bloudy practices of Darius councellers which sufferings of them then did but type out the
he was the Son of God when he was supposed to be about 30 years of age as Luke speaks we read not of any thing that he did till this time that he was baptized and the Spirit descended upon him And from that time till he was crucified as I have gathered by books it was supposed to be about three years a half which is about this account which the Spirit calls 1260 days according to the days of a week it is but about 17 dayes difference The like number of dayes is spoken of Rev. 12. And the woman fled into the Wildernesse where she hath a place prepared of God 1260 dyes This I conceive was the same tearm of dayes according to the number of the dayes in a week that one Saviour did prophesie here in the world among men And this points out unto us the time of the battell that was fought between Michael our Prince the seed of the woman and the Dragon or the power of darknesse ruling in the corrupt posterity of Adam For if the Serpent and his seed could have made Jesus Christ to have sinned by their temptations then the Serpent had conquered him and had broken Gods head But Jesus Christ held out to the end and sinned not as he that saw it bore witnesse and his witnesse is true therefore he broke the Serpents head and became a faithfull witnesse to his Fathers counsell Now all the time of this bettell the church was kept by the power of God at a stand and there Were no voyces heard but silent for the space of halfe an houre that little time of 1260 dayes and God and Angels Saints and Men were spectators of this great battell between the Serpent and Christ But when Christ had finished his testimony he laid down his life and the Serpent and his seed thought they had conquered him and began to rejoyce and make merry as Revel. 11. 10. And then was made manifest in heaven that is in and to the Church by the Father the Spirit of truth That Christ by death had overcome him that had the power of death which was the Devill Then there was heard a loud voyce in heaven in the Kingdome and victory of Christ Now is come Salvation and Strength an◠〈◊〉 Kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ for the accuser of our Brethren is cast down which accused them before God day and night And they the Church overcame him the Serpent by the blood of the Lambâ— the death 〈◊〉 Jesus Christ and by the word of their testimony the Fathers promise That the seed of the Woman should bruise the Serpents head And they loved not their lives unto death They would rather dye as the Martyrs did then they would deny this testimony of Jesus One thing note here That as the silence in heaven for the space of halfe an houre points out the time of tine battell between the Serpent and Christ in the flesh so likewise it points out the spirituall combat between the Spirit of Christ and the flesh or the Serpents power in every beleever For so long as the Flesh and Serpent accuses their consciences before God day and night and every disobedient action that will breake their peace is laid before them they cannot sing praises but mourn bitterly for as yet God hath given them no testimony of his love in pardoning of them and of receiving them into his enjoyment this is the writing time or the halfe houres silence till God give deliverance But when the Anointing sets the poor souls free from these accusations by a satisfying discovery of his love then there arise voices of â—raises and thundrings-forth of thankesgiving â—o God day and night even as the accusation formerly was day and night And truly here is great comfort to every particular member of Zion to know that the wisdome and power of their corrupt flesh which fights against the Anointing and accuses their consciences day and night before God presenting God to be an angry God to them when as indeed he is loving yea and love it selfe to poore sinners I say for them to know that it is conquered and the life and power of it is taken away by Christ the Anoiuted it is comfort And when Christ who is the Lord our righteousnesse is pleased to cast the Serpent out of your flesh and to take possession and dwell in you himselfe then you shall be freed from all those accusations and from the malice of the accuser and be made able to sing by experience Now is come salvation and strength and the Kingdome of our God and the power of his Christ to my soule for the Prince of Darknesse and powers of my flesh that fought in me against the Anointing or Spirit of truth is now cast out For God hath pardoned all my disobediences and taken me into his own rest Therefore honour and glory be to him that sits upon the Throne and to 〈◊〉 Lamb for evermore And now the Dragon being vexed and 〈◊〉 of wrath because he is conquered and câ—st out of heaven even every particular member of Zion he rules strongly still in the children of disobedience or in the Serpents 〈◊〉 in whom he dwels and raises all cruell perâ—â—cutions against the church out of whom he is cast and in whom the Anointing rules And of whom according to the flesh the Lamb Jesus Christ was born And as Paul spake of Isaac and Ismael that he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that Was born after the Sprit even so it is now he or they in whom the Serpent rules persecutes him or them out of whom the Serpent is cast and in whom the Anointing rules who is the Lord our Righteousnesse But saith John unto the woman or church was given two wings of a great Eagle that she might flie into the wildernesse into her prepared place where she is nourished for a time times and halfe a time from the face of the Serpent I conceive that the soule by the wisdome and love of God is carried into a condition of sensible barrennesse both in it selfe and in others in which condition the soule is under Gods protection from the face of the Serpent so that this Wildernesse spoke of is a very safe condition or hiding-place from the Serpent wherein the soul is fed and nourished by God and not by any creature for a lime times and halfe a time that is the Church and every particular member is fed and protected by God all the severall degrees of the dayes of The Beast as hath been shewed And here I shall mind two things First what this Wildernesse is not Secondly what it is First ☞ when men are in a good conceir of their own Wisdome Learning and Strength as the Jewes were that thought they had all knowledge to discerne Truth from Errour and therefore when Christ
act righteousnes chearfully The flesh and the lusts of it ruled strongly in me now holines rules in me so that I can look back and see my strong sins and lusts lie like dead enemies before me and my heart rejoyceth in the Anointing who hath given me the victory And now I see That the love the self-denial the inward rejoycing of my heart to advance God above all things is Christ the Anointing in me the hope of my future established enjoyment of God And this is my life and this my life is hid with God in the Anointed in this glory of Christ thus revealed in me and to my sight feeling that the Serpents head is broken in me in part and shall be quite broken at the resurrection at the day that my body is raised out of the dust In this I rejoyce with joy unspeakable Formerly my life and joy was bound up in creatures in riches in friends in self-satisfaction in my pride covetousnes and contents of the flesh Ah but now my life is the enjoyment of my God His wisdom I glory in His will His love His spirit of truth I glory in Not only to heare of these without by the voice of others but to feel the working dwelling and ruling in me To hear that Christ was raised from death and from the grave is joy But to see and feel Christ the Anointing raised upon me and to feel him who is the spring of life to be opened in me and to send forth sweet manifestations of God to my soul this is much more joyous and full of abundance of inward refreshments But the foul sees and feeles more of this glory within it self then it can relate in words And when once the Saints can speak this in experience then the Serpents head is broke in them the seed of the Woman and they seal to the truth of the Fathers word and now their testimony is finished And this was Pauls case while the Serpents power and head ruled in him he was a blasphemer and a persecuter as himself confessed but when the power of God appeared to break the Serpents head in him then saith he but I have obtained mercy and by the grace of God am made to preach and to acknowledge and practice that faith of God which once I endeavored to destroy But when the Witnesses had thus finished their testimony and proved the word of the Father true in their own experience then the Beast that ascended out of the bottomles pit made War against them and kil'd them Now here mind first what is the bottomles pit I conceive it is the corrupt heart and flesh of man for there is no end of the pride envy ignorant self-conceited subtilty and hurtfull nature of it against Christ the Prince of Princes and being far below God For let a man live ten thousand Million of years and the sinfulnes of his flesh will not lessen but grow worse and worse and rise higher and higher in wickednes against righteousnes and peace if Christ do but let him alone so that the depth of this pit being so far below God may be well said to be bottomles But this is spoke after the manner of men for no man can search the bottom of his heart but God knowes the full depth of it it is not a bottomles pit to him though it be a bottomles pit to men Then secondly mind That the Beast that rises up out of this bottomles pit is the wisdom and power of it branching it self forth into divers forms of Church-Government being contrary to Christ in every thing and so makes war against Gods witnesses in all their actings either inwardly or outwardly And this Beast or blind subtil hypocriticalnes of the flesh will not suffer Christ the Anointing to rule in the flesh but she will rule therein and over Christ too this is the Beast which hath his seat in every Son and Daughter of Adam Now John speaks of a smoak that rises up out of the bottomles pit and this smoak I conceive is either the inward inventions accusations and workings of the flesh within like a cloud hiding the Son of righteousnes from the soul as long as he can Or else it is the outward actings of the wisdom of the flesh in hypocrisie and provocations from men which is like an overflowing wave of powerfull wickednes which drownes the souls of men under ignorance and darknes that they know not what to do or else pufs up their minds with a vain confidence that they worship God according to his word when as it is manifest they have not so much as the letter of the word to warrant their practices and so this smoak becomes a strong delusion to them in whom the Beast reignes with power Then thirdly mind there is a King of this bottomles pit and that is Satan the spirit of darknes that rules in the children of disobedience or the Prince of the Ayre The Ayre I conceive is the element wherein the Beast or whorish spirit lives and that is either the time which God hath given her to reigne in or else the humane compulsive and coersive power exercised by Satan against Christ his Saints compelling the Saints to forsake the spirituall way of Christ and to honour the God of forces and of Silver and Gold which they know not as Daniel speaks for take away this power or let but the Angel powre out his Viall upon this Ayre and the Beast dies her time is done or accomplished So that here is the bottomles pit the corrupt flesh Then the Beast that ascendeth out of this bottomles pit and that is The wisdom of the flesh which is enmity against God And then here is the King of this bottomles pit Even Satan or the universall power of darknes that leads poor sinners captive at his will And yet these three are but one power of darknes in three discoveries fighting and making War against Christ and his testimony But the Anointed will destroy this power of darknes and translate his mysticall body into his own Kingdome of light and liberty And when they had finished their testimony the Beast shall make War against them and shall overcome them and kill them Before I proceed it is needfull to clear one Scripture of Daniel that may raise a scruple In that which I have already writ it appeares that God said the Witnesses should prophesie in sack-cloth 1260. dayes But when one Saint spake to another Saint and asked how long shall be the vision of the daily sacrifice and the transgression of desolation to give both the Sanctuary and the Host to be troden under foot The Angel answered unto 2300. dayes Then shall the Sanctuary be clensed Now this time of Daniels vision was 14. Generations except the 70. years captivity before Christ came therefore I conceive
would cast God out not under the name of God but under the name of an Errorâ— For truly our flesh will envy Truth it will not envy Error the flesh will kill its enemy not its friend Barabbas must live and Christ must die and so Christ who is God blessed for ever is put to death under the name of a Deceiver and a man full of errors And thus the Flesh in every man labours to kill Gods witnesses even the Declarations of truth within it selfe by grudging because he cannot beare it Secondly this spirit of envie which ariseth in the flesh against Gods witnesses whose testimony honours God doth not onely appeare inwardly in the sensible feeling of a mans owne corruptions when God begins to teach him but it appeares outwardly likewise in other mens actings to the view one of another As the envy of Darius his counsellors against Daniel the envy of Herod against the Child Jesus and the envy of the Scribes and Pharisees against Christ his Apostles who threw down the letter of the Law which the Jewes doted upon and set up the spirituall practice of the Gospel which they could not endure This envie in the Flesh is the first on-set of the Beast to kill Gods witnesses A second disposition of the Beas is the spirit of subtill policy and hypocriticall craft that laies wait to ensnare Gods witnesses and makes his mountain strong against God And this crafty hypocrisie appears in every man likewise for when God hath found out a mans iniquity and begins to shame the Flesh that he may save the Soul the heart wil not with humility acknowledge it self sinfull but will have many turnings shifts and policies to justifie himself though his conscience tell him he is guilty So while the Witnesses of God prove the man a sinner his flesh still would fain be esteemed righteous and labours to kill the Witnesses If the heart be found guilty of pride coveteousnesse envie unfaithfulnesse or any uncleannesse it hath many winding pretences to cleare himself and so prove God the liar But well though the fleshly conscience smother and kill Gods Witnesses within it selfe and by his shifts avoids shame and so rejoyceth in his innocency got by lying craft yea and rejoyces over that testimony from God that bore witnesse against his conscience As when the witnesses were slain in in that 11. Revel. all that dwelt upon the earth that were tormented by them rejoyced at their death Even so all the wisdom love joy and peace in sin that were tormented in a man by the testimony of truth against them now they all rejoyce by the loud out-cries of the flesh God suffering it the truth is slighted and the conscience quieted upon carnall grounds through carnall policy But when the determined time is accomplished that God will raise up the spirit of his Son in thee who is killed by and lies buried under thy corruptions then God will destroy thy flesh all thy carnall joy peace and all thy own self-works shall be burned and he will make thee confesse thy selfe a sinner and a wicked man When God hath given thee experience that he hath broke the Serpents head in thee and so hath revealed his Son in thee and filled thee with joy and peace of himself taking thee into his rest into his kingdome and glory by the rising of the bright morning Star and the resurrection of Gods truth the Anointing within thee then the envy policy and all the wickednesse of the flesh acting against God shall be destroyed And the Anointing which is the Lord our Righteousnesse shall dwel and rule in thee for thee for ever which is thy redemption And secondly this spirit of hypocriticall craft against truth appeares in others likewise to the view one of another by slighting the testimony of God by a two-fold policy first by devising carnall customes and false formes of worship which are pleasing to the flesh not according to the command and example of Scriptures which the flesh pretends to follow and yet doth not Here is truth killed by the subtill inventions of the flesh which are cried up for sound learning Secondly the Flesh kils Truth by working subtilly with the higher powers of the earth the Magistracy which God hath set in the world by which he preserves peace and outwardly punishes them that doe evil I say the flesh works subtilly to deceive this and gets an Authority here-from to make Lawes Canons Directories Ecelesiastical or Classical Constitutions to compel all men to an uniforme conformity to all her inventions customs and formes of worship agreed upon And this is the subtilty of the little Horn or the King of a â—erce countenance which Daniels vision speaks of whose power shall be mighty but not by his own power For truly this Ecclesiasticall power is no power which God did ordaiâ— or make but is a power which the crafty Flesh hath got from the Kings of the earth whereby the Flesh doth destroy wonderfully the mighty and the holy people And likewise through his policy God still suffering it and having appointed a time for the Flesh to act its part in against God mind that He causes craft to prosper in his hand and he shall magnifie himselfe in his heart and by peace or by pretending of peace shall destroy many he shall also stand up against the Prince of Princes here is the up-shot of the Fleshes malice and policy But he shall be broken without hand Now mark All this crafty hypocriticall policy of the Beast is not to move Gods witnesses to be faithfull to give God all the glory but to intangle them in and by the usurped power and unjust Lawes and Constitutions of the Flesh because the Witnesses beare testimony that the Flesh woâ—ld reigne as God and would sit in the Temple of God that is in created man but their testimony is that God will destroy this Serpent and will reigne himselfe in his own House even Man And this we have experience of that the Canons and Lawes that have been made and confirmed by humane Authority to maintain Directories and Ecclesiasticall forms of worship did not suppresse wickednesse for ungodly men that wondred after the Beast and honored the Flesh still have their liberty in sinfull practices But they have insnared and suppressed the Saints that worship the Lamb that is God in Man or the holy breathing in mans flesh And this is the second on-set the Beast makes to kill Gods witnesse As Darius his crafty counsellors got the King to signe a Decree which they pretended would be for his honour and welfare but the subtill intent was to entrap and kill Daniel who was Gods friend A third disposition in the Beast is the spirit of cruelty which puts all those Lawes and Canons in execution to kill Gods Witnesses And the flesh in every man is very
a little higher and yet below God too in the use of Gods Ordinances but in an outward profession to the flesh living by sense through a meer form and custome and humane These meet with woe sorrow for a literall profession exposed them to the lash but to worship God in spirit carries away the smart when the flesh is let loose it prepares misery to it self and to all that live after the flesh The third woe is yet to come and I have nothing to say of it only I greatly rejoyce in expectation of that universall glory which God will reveal to his Saints and into which they shal be taken up when those dayes come But the middle woe or the second in course is now in being And there are great troubles to be acted in the world but yet for the comfort of the Saints two things are to be noted First that under the sound of the sixth Angel that pronounces the woe The death of the Beast is declared and that his determinate time is quite finished and though he strive mightily like a dying hog for life at the last gaspe yet he shall never reign again in Majesty established by an usurped Law over Christ and his Saints as he hath done for his time times and dividing of a time his 42. months and his three dayes and half are upon the point of expiring And the Lord Christ is beginning nay hath begun to take the Kingdom and to reign of whose Kingdom there shall be no end Secondly note that under the sound of the sixth Angel the Witnesses are to be killed but to arise from death and ascend up to God in the Cloud And their rising is the Inhabitant of the earths woe even to such as have no hope but in this life it will be and it begins to be a time of woe to them for all creature comforts helps and communion shall be taken away and dead to them And I believe we are under that sound oppression and injustice doth so mightily abound in the Kingdoms and Magistracy of the world for when the seventh Angel sounds then Christ or the Anointing â—ho is King of righteousnes and King of Peace shall reign in the Kingdoms and Magiâ—tracy of the world for a certain space or a thousand years as the Scripture speaks which yet generally doth not appear though this Kingdom of Christ doth begin to appear in among the Saints that are scattered abroad The Beast is giving up his last breath and his violent kicking and sprawling troubles the whole world for a little time for the spirit of the Beast is the life of the Inhabitants of the Earth therefore I believe the Witnesses are not in killing but in rising from death and that the world must see ere long which will be a third woe to them when they shall see poor despised Saints whom no man regards to partake of the glory of the City of God and they themselves put by There is one passage of Johns Vision while â—his sixth Angel sounds which gives light hereunto the words are these Loose the four Angels that are bound in the great Riverâ—uphrates And the four Angels were loosed c. These are four evill Angels as I conceive which stir up the four quarters of the Earth to enmity against every appearance of God so that there shall be risings up of much bitternes in the East West North and South among the Sons of men against God though they think not so for they think their cruelty is godlines and they think their malice is zeal and they think their oppressing imprisoning murdering the Saints under the name of erroneous Round-heads doth God good service And it appears they are four evill Angels because they were bound up like prisoners in so bad a place as in the River Euphrates and they were prepared for this time that is For an houre a day a moneth and a year to slay the third part of men It appears they are four evill Angels if we consider first what the great River Euphrates is I believe this Euphrates is the spirit of the Beast or the very Serpent himself which like a great River overflowes every Son and Daughter of the first Adam And this River Euphrates is to be dried up when the sixth Angel powres out his Violl so that the way of the Kings of the Earth might be prepared The meaning to me is this That when this spirit of the Beast is dried up destroyed and subdued then the Kings of the East or such in and upon whom the Son of righteousnes rises first which are the Elect or City Sion they come and take the Kingdom and the Anointing in them who is the Lord our righteousnes reigns in the earth that is in mankind forever and ever The spirit of the Beast or Serpent is called Euphrates because as the River Euphrates in the History overflowed a great part of the Earth So this spirit of darknes overflowes man-kind and drownes them in ignorance pride covetousnes malice disobedience discontent deceived zeale but when this is dryed up as it must be when the seaventh Angel sounds then the Nations appeare for God And the Saints are called Kings of the East for their knowledg and for their faithfulnes to God for as the wise men or Kings of the East found out where Jesus Christ lay when he was born but would not tell Herod who laid wait to kill him but went another way So these spiritual Kings of the East or as Daniel calls them the wise or understanding people They know where the Anointing appears and they know that the Kingdom of Christ is spirituall for the Anointing teaches them all things and they have experience of the love sincerity humility peace and the like which are the Laws and walls of that Kingdom And likewise they know that the spiritual powers of darknes as ignorance pride envy discontent hypocrisie self-love and the like is the Serpent that would destroy Christ or the Anointing for if pride ruled which is the Serpent in the Children of disobedience then humility which is Christ in the Saints must be destroyed And if malice reign then love which is Christ in the Saints must die And so of all the rest And the Saints knowes this therefore in the second place they are called Kings of the East because they do not betray Christ into the hands of Herod the Serpent but they hold forth the power of Christ in faith and patience till God finish his work thereby destroys the enemies Now when pride covetousnes injustice envy self-love and the like is dried up like a River that cannot run Then the way is prepared for these Kings of the East to take the Kingdom and to reign in with Christ and righteousnes for ever and these four Angels were bound up in this River Euphrates and were
in the Earth-quake which are these very master-builders and upholders of the Beast as I shall shew anon Well here is a great Cloud of trouble arises nay it is risen And these four evil Angels subtilty hypocrisie malice and cruelty are very bitter in the spirits of men whom they torment day and night and kill And they have condemned to death all the Saints of God in the Kingdom under the name of Round-heads and they are boldly confident they shall compasse their murther-intent but they shall never do it For the day of the Beast is ended his reign is done and the Saints shall sing that Song in experience Babylon is faln is faln For the spirit of life appears in some already and will appear in more ere long when the showre of hayl falls And God takes up his Saints to himself for the Witnesses are not in killing bnt in rising from death and ascending up to God in this Cloud the Cloud of woe shall not now fall upon them but upon the Inhabitants of the earth who have no other hope or comfort but in this life There are a few words more mentioned in Johns Vision in that eleaventh of the Revelatiticons which being fulfilled declare that the witnesses are not in killing but in rising from death It is said That they of the Nations Kinred Tongues and People shall see their dead bodies lie in the street of the great City three dayes and an half c. These two appearances of God in flesh which testifie of God that is The appearance of God in the man Jesus and the appearance of God in the Saints are said to be dead bodies when they do not act and operate like themselves in the view of them whose names are not written in the Lambs book of life so long as the Beast hath a time to fit in the Temple of God and to shew himself as God no more then the dead bodies of men can do the actions of living men God the Father hath made Christ his Anointing the King Priest and Prophet to bring sinners to God but these Offices of Christ have been trampled upon by the Lawes Canons Acts and Ordinances of the Beast and have not visibly appeared to the world but the anointing of the Father in Jesus and the Saints have been like dead bodies in respect of such operations and have not acted publikely like themselves but have lain all the time of the Beast dead in the eye of the unbelieving world who have rejected them and stumbled at them till the spirit of life from God rayses them up and sets them upon their feet that is till God subdue all enemies under Christs feet the Anointing and give all rule and all authority to him But though the Beast have allowed Christ the name of King Priest and Prophet yet he hath denied Christ both the operation and honour of these three Offices and hath set the Crown of these upon his own head For whiles the Beast declares himself to be so quick-sighted that he can presently discerne what is truth and what is errour and take upon him by his usurped power to punish errours with plundering prisons and death Does he not thereby declare himself to be as God in knowledg knowing good and evil And as God likewise in Majesty by punishing every one that opposes his beastly being and so he declares himself to be an absolute infallible prophet to teach men A King to rule and punish men and a Priest to save men from death by his skil and operation And thus the Beast hath a long time acted these three Offices of Christ as himself pleased and the Anointing in Jesus and the same in the Saints have lain like two dead bodies killed under the hand of the Beast And these two dead bodies were to lie dead three dayes and an half that is the whole reign of the Beast in his three ages and an half As first the time and age of the Dragon which was Majestracy out of joynt that persecuted Christ and his Saints by open violence before the universal Bishop was lifted up by the Dragon and this is the first shape or time or age in which the Serpent appeared to kill the Witnesses Secondly The time and age of the Leopard which is that we call grosse Popery when the universall Bishop bare rule by the authority of the Dragon before there was any Church reformation And this was not so down-right violent but kils the Witnesses by a pretended Law under the names of error for indeed the appearance of God in flesh is far different from the appearance of the Serpent in flesh And the Serpent having a time to act himself and to maintain his being labours to destroy the being of God and calls the appearance of God an errour or deceiver Thirdly The time and age of the Beast with two horns like a Lamb but spake like a Dragon And this is that we call reformed Episcopacy which was of the same nature and had the same authoritive power from the deceived Kings of the earth to make war with Christ his Saints as the former had though a little more hypocritical for it came in sheeps cloathing but it spake like a Dragon for it devoured the sheep by his common Lawes Ecclesiasticall power and high Commission Courts And these two shapes of Popery and Episcopacy are called times because they are two ages or dayes of the Beast maintaining one and the same nature and compulsive and coersive power the one being more grosly abominable the other more hypocritically abominable so that here is time the Dragon and times Popery and Episcopacy faln in the world or three dayes which are visibly past and gone already in this one tenth part of the Citie England c. Here remains in being the dividing of time or halfe day which is called the Image of the Beast because it hath not the Authority of the Beast though it have the Nature and Spirit of the Beast in it And this halfe day or this dividing of time is the age of the Beast under which England Scotland and Ireland doe now groan and it may be a very hot time for the length of it but it will be but short And I have some hopes that God will make this three-fold kingdome being under one Magistracy the tenth part of the City Babylon that shall fall off first from the Beast And this is called the dividing of time because the witnesses are neither under an absolute bondage by Ecclesiasticall Lawes as formerly neither in absolute freedome because the boylings of the foure evill Angels mentioned before in mens spirits both in Magistrates common people and such as they call Ministers are so opposite against them And I beleeve that Gods two witnesses do yet lie dead publickly under the heart-burning power of discontent both of out-side professing