Prophet Elijah For the worshippers of Baal were so numerous that Elijah thought there was none but himself that did worship the God of Jacob. But there was seven thousand that had not bowed their knee to Baal And these were the oyl and the wine that should not be hurt by compelling of them to hurt their consciences by worshipping a false God as the generality of the people did thorow the darkness of their mindes They being the black horse for the ignorant dark power of the Head-Magistrate to ride or sit upon For as the horse is black so is the rider with ignorance and darkness in spiritual worship Onely he that sits upon the black horse is the dark power of reason Therefore the Apostles calls it the power of darkness for it is the dark reason of man that doth act deeds of darkness Therefore called the power of darkness and the deeds of spiritual darkness in point of worship is called by the Revelation of John he that sits upon the black horse Because he commandeth all people to worship his imaginary God And the people thorow the darkness of their understandings they do obey and so they become in point of spiritual worship a black horse For the dark power of reason to sit or ride upon c. CHAP. XVIII ANd in the 7 verse it is said And when he had opened the fourth Seal I heard the fourth beast say Come and see and in the 8 verse John looked and behold a pale horse and his name that sate on him was Death and hell followed with him and power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth to kill with sword and with hunger and with death and with the beasts of the earth I would have the Reader to minde the interpretation of this pale horse because everyone of us must be a pale horse for death to sit upon Except we be swallowed up of life as Moses and Elijah was Which I nor no man else at this day doth know he shall So that death must ride upon all sinful flesh Now to give you the meaning what this pale horse is it is no other but the sinful soul of man and woman Therefore as the Scriptures saith When sin entred into the world then death entred in upon it So that as soon as ever the souls of Adam and Eve had let sin enter into their souls Then death entered for death did ride upon sin and sin did ride upon the soul of ours first parents According to that saying of God in the day that thou eatest thereof meaning the forbidden fruit thou shalt dye the death So that as soon as sin entred into their souls death entred also So that the souls of Adam and Eve became as a pale horse for death to ride upon For there was not onely the fear of this first death but the fear of eternal death also Which made the soul of Adam to fear therefore he went to hide himself For the fear of death will make the soul to look pale so that it will become a pale horse for death to ride upon For by sin entering into the world death got power over all life So that death sits upon all life both upon man and beasts For the beasts are made subject to death by reason of the fall of man Onely I would have the Reader to understand this secret that the creatures the beasts were created of God on purpose to be killed for the nourishment of man But if sin had never been committed by man death would never have entered upon the life of man nor beast That is no beast would have died naturally as they do now But what were killed on purpose for some use so that no man would have had such lose as some men now have Some are undone by the dying of Horses others by Cows and others by Sheep and this is death that hath entered into the world upon the beasts For the sin of Adam brought death upon all his posterity and upon the beasts also as aforesaid So that the life of man and beasts is become a pale horse for death to sit upon And the fear of death in Adam did make his soul to look pale And so it doth in all mankinde the fear of death it makes the stoutest heart to look pale especially when the fear of eternal death is not taken away As very few men in the world have the fear of the second death taken from them So that their souls look pale indeed so that the generality of men and women have the fear of eternal death that sits upon their souls so that they are that pale horse that death rideth upon And hell follows immediately after the first death the second death and hell go both together hand in hand These things I say will make any soul to look pale This I can experience both by my self and others before I came to know the true way of redemption And because you the Seed of Faith may know that the soul of man is that pale horse that death sits upon Which sin did cause to enter upon all life I say this death it entered upon the life of God himself So that God died unto sin that is to satisfie sin that sin which brought death with it might enter upon the life of God and kill that life in God for a moment But the life of God being more strong then death it pierced thorow the body of death and quickened a new life again So that he overcame death in that death could not keep him under it As it doth the first Adam and his posterity It is much like unto a valiant soldier who by his valor and strength passeth thorow a body of men well armed And by his getting thorow that body of men he comes to rout and scatter them and gets the victory over them So was it with Christ the onely God he laying down his Godhead life it being in the Manhood unto death he passed thorow death and killed that which did kill him to wit sin death and hell These being mighty strong enemies too strong for any created soul or life to encounter with None could do it but the life of the eternal God himself For sin lyeth heavy upon the soul of man and death is the king of fears it maketh kings to fear and tremble at the sight of it And hell is worse then death it self yet these strong enemies are overcome by the blood of the Lamb and in all those that have faith in it and doth truly understand it So that you that have faith may see what this pale horse is John speaketh of and what death is that sits upon the pale horse And what power they have given unto them over the four parts of the earth Even to kill with the Sword and with hunger and with death and with the beasts of the earth The pale horse and death hath power given them over all life in the four
sufferings for truth he cometh to have the witness in himself that his name is written in the Book of Life and that his name shall not be blotted out no not by God himself 6. Him that overcometh will I make a Pillar in the Temple of my God and he shall go no more out and I will write upon him the Name of my God and the name of the City of my God which is New Jerusalem which cometh down out of Heaven from my God and I will write upon him my new Name This Pillar in the Temple of God it signifies the great strength of faith and patience that was in the Church of Philadelphia So that their great faith should enable them to suffer with such patience that they should become a Pillar in the Temple of God that is their faith should be as a Pillar to encourage and strengthen and bear up those that were more weak in faith and more fearful to suffer But he that overcometh shall be as a Pillar to bear up the weak even as a Pillar of a Church of stone doth bear up the building that standeth upon it For the Temple of God is no other but true Believers they are called by the Spirit The Temple of God and he that is strong in faith and doth overcome all persecution by patient suffering for his faith in God he shall be made a Pillar to help bear up the Church of God And he shall go no more out That is he shall go no more out from being a Pillar but he shall be esteemed of God a standing Pillar in his Temple to all Eternity So that God will write upon him his own Name and the name of the City of God The Name of God is to be a King Priest and Prophet So that he that overcometh as aforesaid shall have this name written upon his heart King Priest and Prophet unto God And as for the name of the City of God New Jerusalem which cometh down out of Heaven from God which New Jerusalem I have opened what it is in the Interpretation of the Eleventh of the Revelation And as for the New Name God will write upon him I have shewed what it is before 7. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my Throne even as I also overcame and am sate down with my Father in his Throne Here the Reader may see what the Spirit doth mean by overcometh That is he overcometh sin death and hell within himself these being principalities and powers within a man Also he overcometh all persecution and the malice of the devil the spirit of reason without a man These things I say are overcome by the power of Faith in suffering patiently for truth as aforesaid For this was the way that Christ did overcome all his enemies and when he had overcome by his death sin in that he dyed unto sin And he overcome death in that he was deaths death Also he overcame hell in that the grave was not able to hold him under Therefore it is said by the spirit Oh death I will be thy death oh grave I will be thy victory Also he overcame by his sufferings the spirit of reason the devil who always persecuted the Prophets and Saints I say he overcometh by his death this spirit of reason the devil in that he hath procured by his death an eternal damnation to all persecuting spirits So that he hath overcome them and will kill them with a second death where will be weeping and gnashing of teeth for evermore And he overcometh these enemies aforesaid he is sate down in the Throne of the Father That is he is sate down in the same Glory as he had when he was the Creator or the same Glory which he had before the world was Even so in like manner shall every Prophet Apostle and Saint that overcometh those enemies aforesaid by the power of his Faith and his patient sufferings for truth To him will Christ grant to sit with him in his Throne that is he shall sit with Christ or be with Christ in the Kingdom of Eternal Glory Even as he himself after his sufferings is sate down in the kingdome which he had before the world was Which is called by the spirit the Throne of the Father in relation to that twofold condition in God as I have shewed in this Treatise following Thus in short I have given the Interpretation what is meant by those seven several Blessings given by the Spirit to the seven Churches of Asia and how they all differ one from another and yet all have relation to one and the same thing even to eternal happiness joy and glory in the presence of Almighty God their God their King and Redemeer CHAP. IV. I Would have the Seed of Faith also to understand that Christ the onely God is he which did send forth these seven Spirits unto the seven Churches Therefore called by the Revelation of John the seven Spirits which are before his Throne The seven Spitits I declare by Revelation that they are but one Spirit even the Spirit of Jesus Christ the onely wise God blessed for ever and ever Onely this I would have the Seed of Faith to understand that this one spirit of Christ it hath seven several operations or workings in the seven Churches Therefore called by the Revelation of John seven Spirits before the Throne Therefore you may read that John in his writing to the seven Churches of Asia giveth seven several Blessings as aforesaid So likewise he cometh with his message to the seven Churches with seven several titles and yet all from one God and one Spirit As thus First he writeth to the Church of Ephesus with this title Saith he that holdeth the seven Stars in his right hand who walketh in the middest of the seven Golden Candlestickâ— These Golden Candlesticks are the seven Churches Is there any spirit that can walk in the middest of the hearts of the seven Churches but the Spirit of Christ which is God surely no. Secondly John writeth to the Church of Smirna These things saith the first and the last which was dead and is alive Is not Jesus Christ the first and the last Was not he dead and rose again And so is alive Surely it is This was the saith of John and the rest of the Apostles and it is my faith also Thirdly John writeth these things unto the Church in Pergamos Saith he who hath the sharp Sword with two edges This Sword with two edges it cometh out of Christs mouth I suppose all men that profess the Scriptures will confess it Fourthly Unto the Church in Thyatira he writeth These things saith the Son of God who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire and his feet are like fine brass Here the Spirit of Christ gives himself forth under the title of his Son-ship but to the former Churches he gives himself forth under the title of the Father-hood Yet under the title
form of a white horse it is not much material for it the spirit will call the righteousness of Saints a white horse who shall gainsay it But however the white Robes of the Saints who are washed in the blood of the Lamb are as a white horse for God their King to ride upon So that if you understand the interpretation of this white horse you may the more easily know the meaning of the other three horses Also it is necessary to know who doth ride or sit upon this white horse I declare by Revelation from the holy Spirit that he which John saw sit on the white horse it was no other but Christ himself It was he that had a bowe and a crown was given unto him it may be said the crown was given unto him as he was the Redeemer For this crown of Glory that was given unto him it was as he was the Redeemer and not as he was the Creator And as he was the Redeemer he sate or rode upon the white horse And he went forth conquering and to conquer That is he being the author of the righteousness of Faith as he was the Redeemer that he made the Saints so pure and white that they became a white horse for him to sit upon So that they were able by their faith in the blood of the Lamb to suffer tribulation and death it self So that they became more then conquerors for he that suffereth persecution for the name of Jesus he doth conquer more then he that doth persecute and put to death So likewise Christ that sate upon this white horse as he was the Redeemer he went forth conquering and to conquer That is he went forth in the power of faith by which he created all things he went forth to redeem the Seed of Adam that was fallen under death and the fear of eternal damnation So that death and hell got power over Adam and his Seed so that Christ riding upon the white Horse of innocency or the righteousness of Faith he went forth conquering and to conquer That is he went forth to die to shed his most precious blood and by his giving himself up unto death He conquered over sin death and hell Therefore it is said in Scripture Oh death I will be thy death oh grave I will be thy victory That is he will get victory over the grave as he did over death for he destroyed death in that death could not keep him under it for ever in that he passed thorow it He got victory over the grave in that the grave could not keep him inclosed in the earth So that he went forth conquering and to conquer never leaving off until he had conquered all his enemies That is to say sin death devil hell the grave these all were his enemies and he hath conquered over them all by his becoming flesh and by his suffering of death upon the Cross as he was a Redeemer or as he was God the Son and these enemie did Christ which sate upon the white horse go forth conquering and to conquer to redeem the Seed of Adam And this is the true meaning what is meant by the white horse and by him that sate thereon and by his conquering and to conquer And the bowe which he had it signified the power he had to shout and kill those spiritual enemies which is sin death hell and devil Which could no ways have been killed but by giving his life up unto death and by his passing thorow death and quickening into life again he killed death sin hell and the devil With this dart of offering up his soul unto death it being shot thorow sin death and hell by the strength or bowe of the power of faith in God And as for the Crown that was given him it is spoken with relation to the Son-ship of God as he is a Redeemer So that the Crown of Glory that he hath given him it is attributed unto him as he is a Redeemer For the work of Redemption is counted by the redeemed ones more worthy of a Crown of glory then the work of creation So that this Crown of glory that is given to Christ that sate upon the white Horse it is in relation to his work of Redemption in that he conquered over all those spiritual enemies as aforesaid So much for the first and second verses CHAP. XVI IN the 3 verse it is said And when he had opened the second Seal I heard the second Beast say Come and see And in the 4 verse There went out another horse that was red and power was given to him that sate thereon to take peace from the earth and that they should kill one another and there was given unto him a great Sword These four beasts which John saw in the vision did signifie unto him those wonderful Transactions which were and should be acted here on earth in the state of mortality in the time of the four Monarchies And signified unto John in the way of vision by four horses Now the second horse that did appear to John in the vision was a red horse and power was given to him that sate thereon to take peace from the earth and that they should kill one another This Monarchical Government went forth upon a red horse that is shedding of blood should be the greatest work he that sate thereon should do It was called a red Horse because of the much shedding of blood so that the blood of men is called a red Horse even as the righteousness of faith is called a white Horse And as the souls of the Saints were made white with the blood of the Lamb so are these souls made red with shedding of one anothers blood So that every mans soul became a red horse and he that sate upon this red horse had power given him to take peace from the earth and for that purpose theâ—e was given unto him a great sword Now this great Sword it was to kill and in killing one another peace must needs be taken from the earth So that this Kingly Power though they were many Kings yet they are called but him that sate upon the red horse So likewise though there were many thousand slain and had their blood shed yet they are all called but A red horse so that there is but the horse and his rider for Kings and Magistrates do ride upon the people in that they command the people to kill one another So that people which go to fight to shed one anothers blood may well be called A red horse for they make their souls as red as scarlet with blood-shed And the power of the Magistrate doth ride and sit upon this red horse for he hath a great sword given unto him to command persecutors to kill one another and they must obey and become a red horse or else they must be killed themselves Thus in short I have given you the signification of the red horse and of him that sits thereon For
â—hat is all creatures according to the instinct of nature do shew forth honor and glory unto a Divine Being who hath created all things for his own glory So that there is an exceeding great Crown of glory upon the head of Christ Jesus as he is the Creator and the other Crown of glory upon his head it is as he is the Redeemer For Redemption in all those that are concerned in it is of more worth and of higher esteem than the work of Creation is So that this work of Redemption it hath procured to himself a a Crown of glory of more weight then the work of Creation So that all Crowns of glory he hath upon his head they are all included in these two and the white horse he doth fit upon it is the righteousness of Faith For by this righteousness of Faith he conquered death hell and devil and by this Faith he hath made war with these spiritual enemies and by the same power of Faith he will overcome and destroy all temporal enemies with an eternal destruction as John doth speak of as if it were already done as aforesaid Verse the twelfth His eyes were as a flame of fire and on his head were many Crowns and he had a Name written that no man know but he himself As for his eyes being as it were a flame of fire that is onely to signifie the exceeding glory and brightness of his eyes They are so piercing that he can see thorow Angels and men so that no mortal man can look upon him no more then the eyes of a man are able to look upon the Sun in its brightness and as for the many Crowns upon his head I have spoken of that in the verse before But it is said And he had a Name written that no man knew but he himself The meaning is this there was no man knew his Name that was written upon him but he himself until he did reveal it to some man For who knew him by the Name of Jehovah God Almighty until he revealed it to Moses Also who knew his name was the Word of God as in the thirteenth verse had he not revealed it unto John As it is said in the Gospel of John In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God So that his name must needs be the Word of God and how should any man know this but he himself until he did reveal it unto some man so that when the Name of God was known to no man but to he himse f The thing was then a secret thing but now it is revealed unto man it doth belong unto us and to our children For secret things belong unto God and revealed things to us and our children So that when God hath revealed any secret or heavenly mystery unto man it may not then be called no more secret but man may know it in a measure even as God doth himself So that the Name of God is known by his servants the Prophets Apostles and Witnesses of the Spirit and by his Saints to their exceeding great joy and glory so that his name is known to others now besides himself CHAP. LXXIV VErse the thirteenth And he was clothed with a vesture dipt in blood and his Name is called The word of God The Reader may remember that when I came to the thirteenth verse of the first Chapter of Johns Revelation I found such a like saying as this that is John saw in the midst of the seven golden Candlesticks one like unto the Son of Man clothed with a garment down to the foot Which garment I said I would open hereafter so that now being come to it again I shall open what is meant by this garment down to the foot and by his vesture dipt in blood This Son of Man John saw in the middest of the seven golden Candlesticks it was no other but Jesus Christ and this Jesus Christ is the onely wise God as I have shewed before And it is he that John saw clothed with a garment down to the foot and it is he that is clothed with a vesture dipt in blood Now the word Vesture and the word Garment signifie both one thing onely this is to be minded by the Reader what the Spirit doth mean by this garment down to his foot and his vesture dipt in blood The meaning of the Spirit is this The eternal Spirit it became flesh so that the flesh of Christ was a garment or a vesture that did clothe the God-head Spirit with So that he being clothed with flesh from the head to the foot this flesh is called by the Spirit a garment down to the foot So that this garment of flesh is that vesture dipt in blood according to that saing of Isaiah the Prophet Isaiah 63.1 Who is this that cometh from Edom with dyed garments So in the second verse Wherefore art thou red in thy apparrel and thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine-fat This prophesie of Isaiah is that God would become flesh and so clothe himself with a garment of flesh so that this garment might be made red with blood That is the whole body of flesh which is called the garment of the God-head-life might be made red even as one that treadeth the wine-fat For if a man should tread the wine fat of the grapes with no other apparel on but his flesh onely it would make him look red as if he had been treading in a pool of blood Even so doth the Prophets words signifie when he saith Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel and thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine-fat As if the Prophet should say Wherefore doth thy flesh which is thy apparel or thy garment look red for thou hast been treading the wine-press of the wrath of Almighty God like unto him that treadeth the wine fat of the grape So that thy flesh which is thy garment down to the foot must needs look red with blood for the garment of his flesh is that vesture dipt in blood This the Prophets did see by the eye of Faith and so they called the flesh of Christ a Garment red like the wine of the ripe grape in regard he had not yet suffered death in the flesh but was to suffer But the revelation of John saw that he had suffered death in that flesh and therefore saith And he was clothed with a vesture dipt in blood meaning his flesh was dipt in blood in that he had trodden the wine-press of the wrath of Almighty God that is he trod the wine-press of his own wrath against sin For he is the Almighty God himself though he clothed himself with a garment of flesh that he might be capable to die and that ason the devil might be the more capable to put him to death r That the garment or vesture of flesh he had on him might be dipt in blood for the redemption of the Seed of Adam to an
God himself onely So that as he was the Creator of all things he had this Name written on him as he was the Creator Jehovah God Almighty I am that I am this was the Name of God as he was the Creator and this name was written on his Spiritual body which was his vesture for his God-head Spirit to live in but now God is become flesh and hath cloathed the Godhead Life with a garment of flesh as a vesture and shed his most precious blood he being in the condition of a Son or a Servant he made himself capable of the pains of death and so died unto Sin that is to satisfie sin for nothing could satisfie sin but the blood of God And by his dying unto it he destroyed sin in that death could not keep him under it For if death could have kept that body of Christ in the grave so that it might not have risen again then sin and death would have lived for ever and ever and this world would have had no end So that by this death of God he hath conquered sin death and hell for the Seed of Adam that they shall have no power over them not as to keep them under eternal torments But on the contrary he hath by his death overcome sin death and hell so as to make them serve for the eternal torment of the seed of the serpent who have acted sin So that as he hath gone thorow the condition of a Redeemer and overcome sin death and hell upon those two considerations aforesaid By the body of his flesh he hath purchased to himself as he is the Redeemer a name written on that body of flesh which is called his vesture King of kings and Lords of lords But here is one thing more to be minded that this death of Christ was that which treadeth the wine-press of the wrath of Almighty God For God was wrath with sin and nothing could punish sin but an eternal death so that God having no way to destroy sin and to be even with the serpent that brought sin and death into the world not onely to himself and his own seed but also to Adam and his seed So that God being willing to avenge himself of the serpent and his seed and to restore Adam and his Seed again he took upon him the Seed of Abraham which is the nature of Adam and not the nature of Angels of whose nature the serpent was of And so clothed the eternal spirit with a body of flesh and so offered up the eternal spirit unto death that he might destroy him that had the power of death which is the devil which devil is no other but the spirit of reason in man So that as death was in the devils hands before Christs death yet now by his death he hath gained the power of death himself â—nto his own hands So that now he will deliver his own seed from it and will inflict the same death eternal upon the devil and his seed as he would have done upon God and his seed So that the wrath of Almighty God it was against sin and death which the serpent brought into this world upon all the seed of Adam and the body of God by the assistance of the eternal spirit must tread the wine-press of it That is the eternal spirit was the life of the blood that was in that blessed body so that he poured out his soul unto death and was offered up throw the eternal spirit and this was the treading the wine-press of the wrath of Almighty God he being the Almighty God himself and by this work of Redemption he hath a Name written upon that body of flesh he suffered death in King of kings and Lord of lords I confess these things are deep mysteries hard for me to explain in words and more hard to be understood by those who know not what revelation doth mean For things of this nature cannot be explained with that ease as other matters may which is more easie to understand but the Seed of Faith may see what is meant by the wine-press of Gods wrath and who it was that treadeth it in that his soul was made an offering forsin and so hath a Name by his sufferings King of kings and Lord of lords as aforesaid CHAP. LXXVII IN this sixteenth verse John hath concluded the marriage of the Lamb with the joy and glory the Saints shall have in heaven over the destruction of Babylon that is over the destruction of all wicked persecuting men from the beginning of the world to the latter end thereof and by what means these things hath been accomplished Even by that sharp Sword that goeth out of Christs mouth in giving his Angels command to pour out the vials of his wrath upon the earth and by his own garment dipt in blood hath he accomplished glory and eternal happiness to the Saints and shame and endless misery to the reprobate So that in the latter part of this chapter the Spirit doth call to rememberance the great destruction of that great City Babylon and doth incite the Saints in heaven to increase their joy in heaven by feeding upon the destruction of that great whore who caused all the nations of the earth to drink the wine of her fornication as you may see in the seventeenth verse Verse the seventeenth And I saw an Angel standing in the Sun and he cryed with a loud voice saying to all the fowls that she in the midest of heaven Come and gather your selves together unto the Supper of the great God These fowls that fly in the midst of heaven are the Saints they are called by the Spirit the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven and these fowls are invited to Supper with the great God Hâ—â—â— the Reader may see that Christ is the great God for they sup with him they were married unto that is the Lamb they were married unto and he the fowls of heaven must sup with Also this is he that is King of kings and Lord of lords even the great God and that which the great God and the fowls of heaven must have to supper it is set down in the 18 verse Verse the eighteenth That ye may ear the flesh of Kings and the flesh of Captains and the flesh of men and the flesh of horses and of them that fit on them and the flesh of all men both free and bond both small and great This verse doth imply all both great and small that fought under the banner of the beast and the false prophet which false prophet signifies the spiritual Power of the whore as aforesaid and the beast signifies the Civil Power or Head-magistrate who committed fornication with the woman and so joyned together to fight against God and his Saints And these Kings Captains and mighty men and small and great they were all authorized by these two Powers aforesaid to fight against God and his Saints and so they did persecute and kill
white stone and in the Stone a new name written which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it IV. The Blessing of the Church of Thyatira And him that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end to him will I give power over the Nations and he shall rule them with a rod of Iron as the vessels of a Potter shall they be broken to shivers as I received of my Father and I will give him the morning Star V. The Blessing of the Church of Sardis Him 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 will confess his name before my Father and before his Angels VI. The Blessing of the Church of Philadelphia Him that overcometh will I make a Pillar in the Temple of my God and he shall go no more out and I will write upon him the name of my God and the name of the City of my God which is New Jerusalem which cometh down out of heaven from my God and I will write upon him my new name VII The Blessing of the Church of Loadicea To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my Throne even as I also overcame and am sat down with my Father in his Throne He that hath an â—ar let him hear what the spirit of Revelation in John hath said unto all the seven Churches of Asia CHAP. II. The interpretation of the several Blessings THis Tree of Life in the middest of the Paradise of God the Tree of Life is no other but the Person of Christ and the eating of it is believing in him to be the onely God this is to eat the flesh and drink his blood 2. He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death this second death is an eternal death that is a living death and a dying life that is always dying yet never dead this is called by the spirit the second death which all true believers shall be freed from so that they shall not be hurt of the second death 3. He that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden Manna and will give him a white Stone and in the stone a new name written which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it This hidden Manna is that peace and satisfaction every true believer hath in his minde in believing in the true God so that the mind or spirit doth feed upon those sweet refreshments that floweth from their faith in the true God For those motions of faith that doth arise in the mind it feedeth upon the assurance of everlasting life for eternal life is that hidden Manna which every true believer doth eat of So that the spirits of true believers doth eat of this hidden Manna of eternal life even as the Jews did eat of that Manna that Moses gave them in the Wilderness which Manna is called Angels food That Manna Moses gave them to eat it did signifie the Law by which the holy Angels did live by and by that holy Law the Angels do live that Law being written in their natures of pure reason And by their feeding upon that Law that is by their perfect obedience to God their Creator they do live in his presence for ever So that the Manna that came down from Heaven it was but a type or figure of the Angels Law written in their natures by which they live in the presence of God to eternity So likewise there is a Law written in the nature and seed of faith that is to say in every true believer and by this Law written in his heart he cometh to perfect obedience of faith and so liveth by the faith of the Son of God as Paul saith But I say true believers now they live by the faith of God himself and so it may be called the faith of Gods elect So that every true believer doth eat of the hidden Manna that is they eat the flesh of Christ for he is that bread that came down from heaven that whosoever doth eat thereof shall never dye So that to speak properly the flesh of Christ is that hidden Manna and that refreshments and assurance of eternal life as I said before is but types and figures as the other Manna was to the Jews So that every one that doth truly believe in the true God he doth eat of the hidden Manna it may well be called hidden Manna for indeed it is hid from the greatest part of the world and very few there is that doth eat of it at all For none doth eat of it but those to whom it is given but the Angels Manna is eaten of by every man and woman in the world And as for this white Stone this white Stone signifies clean hearts as thus whereas the heart before it was a heart of stone or a stony heart and not onely so but it was a black stony heart defiled with ignorance blindness darkness and unbelief So that the heart was compassed about and covered with the fear of hell and torment of soul and now this black or red stony heart it is purified by faith in the blood of the Lamb. It having a new Law written in it that is the Law of faith and so causeth men to walk in Gods Statutes which Statutes of God is to believe those whom he sends and that Faith will purifie the heart of that ignorance darkness and unbelief So that in spiritual matters the heart of man will become a white stone it is called a white stone because it is cleansed from those things aforesaid and made white by faith in the blood of the Lamb. So that this white stone is no other but a new heart or the old heart made new by the power of Faith And as for the new Name that is written in this white stone this new Name is a secret knowledge and assurance that he is one of the redeemed of God So that he hath the Name of the second Adam written in his heart even as all men have the Name of the first Adam written in their hearts because all men are in the fallen state by nature children of wrath And so every man can read his name in that he can read it in his own heart they all being under the name of the first Adam But the name of this second Adam which is called A new Name which none knoweth saving he that receiveth it this experience will witness that no man can know that secret knowledge and assurance of his own redemption by the second Adam but he that hath it written in him by the finger of Faith So that all that do receive this white stone they have this new Name written in it which they themselves can read to their eternal joy and glory though others cannot who have it not 4. He that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end to him will I give power over the Nations and he shall rule them with a rod of iron
Revelation of John is more clear that God did die then any other Scripture as you may see in the 11. verse of this Chapter in the 10. verse he was in the Spirit on the Lords day what day that was I have shewed before And John heard behind him a great voice as of a Trumpet in the 11. verse saying I am Alpha and Omega the first and the last and what thou seest write in a book and send it unto the seven Churches c. And in the 12. verse John turned to see the voice that spake to him and being turned he saw seven Golden Candlesticks these seven Golden Candlesticks were the seven Churches of Asia as aforesaid And in the 13. verse and in the midst of the seven Golden Candlesticks one like unto the Son of Man cloathed with a garment down to the foot and girt about the waste with a Golden Girdle This great voice which John heard it being as the sound of a trumpet came from no other but from Jesus Christ the onely God he being that Alpha and Omega the first and the last Which bade John write in a book what he had seen And in the 12 verse John turned to see the voice and in stead of seeing the voice he saw him that spake the voice And he was like unto the Son of Man cloathed with a Garment down to the foot Now what this Garment is I shall unfold hereafter There is many other glorious expressions in this Chapter to set forth this Son of Man in his glory but I shall pass by them onely this I would have the Seed of Faith to minde that this Son of Man which John saw in the midst of the seven Golden Candlesticks who was cloathed with a Garment down to the foot I declare it was the same Alpha and Omega which spake that great voice and John turning to see this Alpha and Omega he saw him like unto the Son of Man Therefore I would have the Seed of Faith to observe that there is no seeing of God the Alpha and Omega neitheir by vision nor by faith but in the form of a man Therefore called the Son of Man so that though Christ be called the Son of Man yet he is nevertheless God For he is the Alpha and Omega the first and the last as you may plainly see in the 17. verse of this chapter Where he saith And when I saw him I fell at his feet as dead and he laid his right hand upon me saying unto me Fear not I am the first and the last I am he that liveth and was dead and behold I am alive for evermore Amen and have the Keys of hell and of death Here you that have faith in the true God may clearly understand that this Jesus Christ which is called the Son of Man iâ— the Alpha and Omega the first and the last Also it may be as clearly understood by the Seed of Faith that God did die For if God be Alpha and Omega the first and the last as I think all men will confess then I say the same Alpha and Omega and the same first and last is he which was dead and is alive for evermore And was there any God that suffered death and rose again but Christ Hath any God the keys of hell and of death in his hands but Christ onely And that you may see the truth of this that Christ is Alpha and Omega the first and the last though become a Son having flesh blood and bone that he might be capable to suffer the pains of death as aforesaid Yet he is looked upon by the eye of Faith to be the first and the last the Lord Almighty he being the same as the Prophets prophesied of as you may see Isaiah the 41. and 4. verse Who hath wrought and done it calling the generations from the beginning I the Lord the first and with the last I am he So likewise in the 44. of Isaiah and the 6 verse Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel and his Redeemer the Lord of hosts I am the first and I am the last and besides me there is no God I would have the Seed of Faith to understand that this Lord and this God which is the first and the last that Isaiah speaketh of is the same that John speaketh of in the Revelation onely the Prophet speaketh of him as he was in the condition of the Father and was to redeem his people from their sins but John speaks of him as he is a Son and that he hath suffered death and redeemed his people And so John calls him the first and the last as he was a Son and suffered death but is now alive for evermore Amen Yet all but one God even the the man Christ Jesus who is that Alpha and Omega the beginning and the end the first and the last he who was dead and is alive and behold he is alive for evermore And no other God hath the keys of hell and of death but Christ onely which he hath purchased by his own blood his blood being no less then the blood of God the Alpha and Omega the first and the last as aforesaid CHAP. VII IN the 19. verse of this chapter John is commanded to write the things which he had seen and the things which are and the things which shall be hereafter To whom he was to write it was to the seven Churches of Asia and in the 20 verse which is the last verse of this chapter he interprets what the seven Stars which he saw in Christs right right hand is and what the seven Golden Candlestciks are therefore I shall say no more of it here And as for what John did write to the seven Churches of Asia it is set down in the two chapters following those two chapters treating onely upon the seven Churches of Asia and the chief things in those two chapters I have interpreted already and the chief things which are of most concernment in the first Chapter I have also interpreted therefore I shall go to the 4th Chapter but I suppose it will be necessary to the Reader for me to shew what a resemblance and likeness there is between the seven Churches now in Europe in these our days and the seven Churches of Asia And how the Angels of the seven Churches which is the Ministers or Speakers do agree with the seven Angels of the seven Churches of Asia I have spoken something of them in the Interpretation of the 11th of the Revelation but I shall speak a little more of them here because it is something necessary to inform the Reader Therefore minde the distinction between the one and the other We read that the seven Churches of Asia had seven several names as may be read and according to their good practice and their bad they were either reproved or commended as I have shewed before So likewise the Ministers of the Seven Churches of Europe may be called seven Angels
If the Ministers and Speakers of the seven Churches of Europe be all false for want of a Commission from God what will become of all the people which are congregated and joyned to their several Ministeries To this I answer That there is a remnant of the elect seed in every one of these seven Churches of Europe that wil be saved because the election of God standeth sure but this I must tell you that there is no man or woman that is congregrated or joyned to any of these seven Churches that can have the assurance of eternal life abiding in them while they live in this world For how is it possible that the sheep should know their eternal happiness when as the shepheards do not know their own salvation no not one of them Therefore according to my revelation and faith I cannot see by the rule of Scriptures that any of the Ministers or Speakers of the seven Churches of Europe now adays that can be saved though some of their members may This may and will be thought an hard saying of me but I cannot help it neither do I speak it out of any ill will to Ministers or Speakers but could rather be found a liar in this point But I being commissionated of God and finding the Prophets and Apostles of old to speak so much against those which take upon them to be Messengers Ministers Ambassadors and Preachers of the everlasting Gospel without a Commission from Christ they are more guilty of spiritual high treason then any other men so according to the faith of the Prophets and Apostles and my faith I cannot see how any counterfeit Ministers of what Church soever should be saved in the day of account For if it be such a dangerous thing to be a false Prophet or a false Christ why should it not be as dangerous a thing to be a false Minister to go before he is sent And let Ministers take this by the way and though the Civil Power doth uphold and maintain them yet when they die God will not uphold them in it Neither will their consciences justifie them in it but you must lay down your lives under the fear of eternal death because you went to preach the Gospel and was not sent of Christ Likewise you see that false Christs and false Prophets have been punished in all ages by the Civil Magistrates and the Priests together And so they served the true Christ and the true Prophets all of them were persecuted as false But it is seldom known that a Minister was persecuted as he is a Minister not by the Magistrate but for some other misdemeanor or for speaking evil of the Civil Power but not for his preaching without a Commission from Cod. Therefore his punishment will be no less then eternal damnation I speak this not onely to the Ministery of the Nation but to the Ministry of all the seven Churches now in Europe for they do all of them preach without a Commission from God and run into the Ministry before they were sent which will be counted by the Lord Jesus but a work of iniquity And what will be the wages of such a work but eternal damnation I know I shall offend the Ministers and Speakers of all the seven Churches aforesaid but seeing they be all false they may bear the better with me and with one another For they will have wages all alike For as I said before according to the faith of the Prophets and Apostles recorded in the Scriptures and according to the faith which I have in the Scriptures there will be no salvation found for none of the Ministers and Speakers of the seven Churches aforesaid Except any of them be perswaded in their own mindes to lay it down before they die And so come to the knowledge of the true God For this I do affirm that no man so long as he doth exercise the office of a Minister without a Commission from God he cannot be in the state of salvation then of necessity he must be in the state of condemnation And this will be the condition of all the Ministers and Speakers of the seven Churches aforesaid And the Quakers Ministry being the seventh and last Anti-Angel that will sound until the end of the world And when the voice of this Angel did begin to sound the mystery of God is finished as he hath declared by his servants the Prophets That is the declaration of the mystery of God is and will be finished in the days of the voice of the seventh Angel Which voice is the Ministers of the Quakers as I have opened in the Interpretation of the Eleventh of the Revelation therefore I shall say no more of those seven Churches now That being the purest Angel of all the seven in respect of righteousness of life though the worst of all in point of doctrine And the Quakers Ministery doth deceive more then any of the other six For they are so Angel-and God-like that if it were possible would deceive the very elect For every one that hath but one eye that is the eye of reason may see that all the other Churches hath such a deal of corruption superstition unjustness idolatry and many other wickednesses which reason it self doth judge cannot be the way of God And that is the very cause that when people have been unsatisfied in the way of worship in the other Churches they have declined from them and have turned Quakers They being more pure in life for pureness of life giveth more peace to the minde of man then wickedness doth For every action hath a reward in it self whether it be good or bad for he that doth suffer persecution for his conscience is more to be justified then he which persecuted for conscience sake Yet nevertheless the reward of eternal life it belongeth onely unto the act of faith in the true God Which the Quakers Ministery doth not teach notwithstanding their purity of life c. CHAP. VIII NOw I have opened something what is meant by the seven Churches and the Angels sounding in the next place I shall come to open or interpret some chief sayings in the 4 chapter of Johns Revelation In the first verse of this chapter John looked and behold a door was opened in heaven and the first voice which he heard was as it were of a Trumpet talking with him which said Come up hither and I will shew thee the things which must he hereafter I would have the Seed of Faith to minde the interpretation of this chapter and they will understand the better the meaning of the 5 and 6 Chapters First it is to be understood that John saw these great and glorious things by way of vision Now I would have the Reader to understand that visions are hard to be interpreted by one that never saw them Yet as far as the revelation of faith can open them I shall do it which I know is more then any man in the world can
parts of the earth So that some being so affrighted at death they shall kill with the sword And others again shall be so fearful of death that they shall starve themselves for hunger Others again shall come under death by natural diseases even as the beasts of the earth dieth So that death that rideth upon the pale horse hath power given as long as this world doth last over all flesh that hath life For it is life that must die and death must take it into his custody and swallow up life into the belly of death Else he cannot be called death except death doth utterly annihilate life it cannot properly be called death For while life is in being death is utterly annihilated in life So that there is no being for death at all not in that mans body But when death entreth into that mans blood who was so full of life before Then death groweth more and more in the blood and eateth up the life quite into death So that there is nothing to be seen in all that life but a dead body For death hath got the life of that body in the body for the body was life before as well as the soul But death having overcome them both they are both swallowed up of death So that you may see death as he is As you did see life as he was before And not that the life goes out of the body as men do vainly imagine so that death is he that rideth upon the pale horse as I shewed before And these four horses as John speaketh of in his vision are the same horses as Zechariah speaketh of in his vision Zechariah the 6 and the 3 verse the Prophet saw in his vision four Charrets and Horses the first Charret had red horses and the second had black horses and the third had white horses and the fourth had grizled and bay horses Now the Prophet expresseth in his vision the horses in the plural number to be more horses then one of a sort But John declares them in his vision in the singular number Therefore though there be more exprest by the Prophet yet the matter and substance is all one For all horses are comprized under those four So that there needeth no further opening of the horses then there hath been For there is enough said concerning those four horses and their riders to satisfie the Seed of Faith But if one should speak never so much the seed of reason will not be satisfied Onely this I would have the Reader not to scruple because the Prophet calls the fourth horse grizled and bay when as John calls it a pale horse For grizled doth signifie death sitting upon the life as paleness doth So that the thing is all one though differing something in words So that there needeth be no further interpretation upon those four horses therefore I shall pass by them and come to the next thing of concernment CHAP. XIX IN the 9 verse of this chapter At the opening of the fifth seal John saw in the vision the souls of them that were slain under the altar for the word of God and for the testimony which they held Now I would have the Reader to consider that visions doth many times present to him that seeth it Things that are at a distance and far off as at present or neer at hand As if the thing were in present being This hath been the usual custom of those that write those visions in the Scriptures They being presented to the chosen Prophets and Messengers of the most high God Those visions so presented were to signifie either some extraordinary happiness and deliverances to a particular person or people or nation or else some great judgement and destruction to a person people or nation in the temporal as aforesaid Or else visions are presented to the understanding of man to signifie spiritual and eternal blessings To a number of people or else to signifie spiritual and eternal miseries unto a number of people So that what visions be declared by chosen men of God though the thing be not immediately at hand whether the vision doth signifie temporal or spiritual things Yet the Seed of Faith doth look upon it as if it were in present being Because they believe the truth of the thing as those Prophets of old did prophesie of Christs coming in the flesh as Isaiah saith in the 9 chapter To us a Childe is born and to us a Son is given meaning Christ c. Now the Prophet saith he is born when as he was not borâ— many hundred years after that And so other of the Prophets looked upon the birth of Christ the Redeemer as in present being For as I have said in my other Writings that faith doth look at things afar off and at a distance as neer at hand and in present being But because the seed of reason cannot do so therefore they do not prevent neither the temporal nor the eternal judgement that will come upon them But you the Seed of Faith may know that John did see in the vision by the eye of Faith the souls of them that were slain under the altar And he heard the cry of them when the fifth Seal was opened That God their Redeemer would avenge their blood on them hat dwell on the earth That is upon the persecutors that dwell on the earth Now I would have you the Seed of Faith to understand how these that were slain under the altar could cry for vengeance seeing they were dead under the altar and yet is said to cry aloud for vengeance on them that persecuted and put them to death The meaning is this that the blood of those that were slain for the testimony of Jesus it did cry vertually and efficaciously unto God that he would avenge it according to his will and promise And so God doth hear the cry of their blood that was slain under the altar I say God doth hear their cry as he did the cry of the blood of Abel it came up unto God as in Gen. 3. and 10. And God said unto Cain What hast thou done the voice of thy brothers blood cryeth unto me from the ground So that the blood of Abel did cry from the ground unto the Lord for vengeance and who must the righteous Judge be avenged of but he that shed his brothers blood And in this manner did the souls of them that were slain under the altar for the word of God and the testimony they held cry for vengeance upon those that persecuted and put them to death So that you the seed of reason may see that there is power in blood that is shed for conscience sake in point of worship to cry unto the Lord for vengeance upon those that do murder and kill upon that account And no persecutor of that nature will escape vengeance to come no more then Cain did escape that slew his brother For the blood of those that are slain in such a
outward trouble Or else they must worship against the light of their conscience and so sting their souls and have the torment of his mind which is as the torment of a scorpion when he striketh a man So that when men are tormented and stung in this manner both in soul and body they will chuse rather to die than to live and shall seek for death but it shall flee from them These things hath been experienced in all Ages by some and will be to the end of the world Verse the seventh And the shapes of the Locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battel And the latter part of the verse The faces of these locusts were like men Verse the eighth They had hair like unto the hair of women and their teeth were as the teeth of a Lion And in the nineth verse They had breast-plates of iron And in the tenth verse And they had tails like unto scorpions and there were stings in their tails and their power was to hurt men five months These locusts that came forth of the smoak of the pit may be said to be in shape like horses prepared unto battel in regard of their strength and preparedness of minde they had to hurt and to destroy for the faces of the locusts were like the faces of men They must needs be like men for they were men onely they were wicked men therefore called Locusts Their hair is said to be like the hair of women in regard they did wear their hair long and their teeth may be said to be like Lions teeth in respect of the readiness they had to tear in pieces with their teeth And they may be said to have breast-plates of iron in that they were exceedingly well armed Also they may be said to have tails like Scorpions because of that poisonous nature that lay in their tailes for there was a sting in it which did hurt men five months Which men are called Scorpions as that of Ezekiel chap. 2. v. 6. he speaking to the rebellious house of Israel whom he calls bryers and thorns as they were fit for nothing else but for the fire Yet they like Scorpions did endeavor to sting Ezekiel but he was incouraged of God not to be afraid of them So that wicked men are Locusts and Scorpions and do sting men about worship with persecution and death it self And this sting may be said to be in their tails when they persecute men meerly for conscience or religion sake Then is the sting in their tails and they do hurt men as the Scorpion of the earth doth hurt when he striketh a man So that great Plagues were upon the earth at the sounding of the fifth Angel Which Plagues did proceed from the smoak of the bottomless pit it being opened by that king who is the the Angel of the bottomless pit whose name is called Appollion That is the Angel of Reason that was first thrown down from heaven unto this earth even he that deceived our first parents as aforesaid which is the destroyer And this Reason that is the fallen Angels nature is that which rules in all wicked Kings and Magistrates therefore called by the Revelation of the Spirit Serpents Dragons Devils Stars Angels the devil and his angels yet all from one Angel of reason fallen And this angel of reason fallen from heaven unto this earth is the Angel of the bottomless pit of the imagination of mans heart which doth send forth that smoak locusts and Scorpions which doth sting and hurt their fellow-creatures Which doth bring such Plagues and woe upon the inhabitants of the earth which is far more then I can relate at the sounding of the fifth Angel But I shall leave the Reader to consider of it therefore I shall say no more of it here CHAP. XXVIII ANd in the thirteenth verse The sixth Angel sounded and John heard a voice from the four horns of the golden Altar which is before God As for the Altar I shall not speak of that for that hath been opened in my other Writings neither shall I speak of the voice which John heard nor of the horns he speaketh of for the thing is of no great concernment to know But I shall proceed to the fourteenth verse The voice that came from the four horns of the golden Altar which is before God saying to the sixth Angel that had the Trumpet Loose the four Angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates Now I would have the Reader to understand that these four Angels that were bound in the great river Euphrates were not good Angels but evil angels That is they were the Dragons angels that is they were four kings that were of the same seed and nature as he was For they came from the old serpent the devil which beguiled Eve He may be called the old serpent because he was the first Angel that was thrown down from heaven unto this earth And where the spirit of this Serpent-angel is in King or Magistrate they being of his seed they may be called Angels also For the devil and his angels are reserved in chains of darkness until the Judgement of the great day The meaning is this the devil was that old serpent-angel that deceived Eve as aforesaid And he being an Angel of light before he was cast down from heaven but now he being upon this earth and dissolving into seed he is become an angel of darkness Why because he hath lost the knowledge of himself what he was himself and what the other Angels were that were of the same nature of reason as he himself is I say he hath lost the knowledge both of the form of Angels and their natures and what he was himself So that he is now in chains of darkness wondering in his imagination what the devil should be Not thinking himself to be the devil and this is spiritual chains of darkness not to know what the devil is in his form and nature And those great men that came of his seed that is to say the seed of the serpent As Cain the first-born of the devil cursed Cham scoffing Ishmael prophane Esau that Dragon Herod with thousands of other kings and great men that are of his seed therefore called angels So that these angels are reserved in chains of darkness until the Judgement of the great day as well as the devil their father For they are as ignorant what the devil is and that they are angels as the serpent is what he was before he was thrown down from heaven So that I would have the Seed of Faith to know that there is no such thing as the seed of reason doth vainly imagine as to think that there is any such thing as a devil and his angels in chains of darkness out of the body of man distinct from man For there is no devil but man and what is in the body of man And this spirit of reason in man is the devil and when the spirit of
Reason hath got power in man so as to be the chief and head of many people he may be said to be an Angel though an Angel of darkness because he is in chains of darkness for the spirit of Reason is in chains of darkness almost in all men So that all men that are ignorant of the devil and of themselves may be said to be in chains of darkness And in this sense all men that are ignorant of the true God and of the right devil may be said to be the devils angels and so the devil and his Angels may be said to be reserved in chains of darkness unto the Judgement of the great day This is onely to give the Seed of Faith a little to know the difference of Angels But these four Angels that were bound at the great river Euphrates were of the Heathen Kings that did succeed after Herod the Dragon spoken of Rev. 12. And as for the great river Euphrates where these four Angels were bound the meaning is this these four Angels did border or inhabit near and about this great River Euphrates For this River was in the land of Canaan where Canaanites and other nations did dwell which Moses and Joshua did give to the children of Israel to inhabit but through their rebellion and idolatry they were disinherited and the Gentiles had it again And these four Angels did inhabit about that great River for there was abundance of land that did belong to that great river Euphrates whereby these four Angels could raise many thousand horses and horsemen as doth afterwards appear But why is it said that these four Angels were bound The meaning is this they were bound by the secret providence of God from going forth to battel to kill and slay men For they had prepared themselves with such a mighty Army thinking to destroy and slay the third part of men that should come against them in an hour if not in an hour then in a day if not in a day then in a month if not in a month then in a year So that these four Angels were prepared to accomplish all this their design in a years time But these four Angels were bound some certain time before they could do this The time they were bound it was so long as from the sounding of the fifth Angel to the sounding of the sixth Angel For there was great Plagues at the sounding of every Angel as I have shewed before And now at the sounding of the sixth Angel these four Angels that were bound are loosed And when they were loosed you may see what effect they wrought The meaning is this when the sixth Angel sounded there was leave given to those four Angels that were bound before the time being not come to go forth Now they were loosed to slay the third part of men as they would willingly have done before And for that purpose they muster up their Army as in the 16 verse John saw the number of the Army of the horsemen and they were two hundred thousand thousand And in the 17 verse John saw the horses in the vision and them that sate en them having brest plates of fire and brimstone And the heads of the horses were as the heads of Lions and out of their mouthes issued fire and smoak and brimstone by this great Army was the third part of men killed as in the 18 verse That is by the fire and the smoak and the brimstone that issued out of their mouthes And as for their horses heads being like the heads of Lions it was onely to signifie the strength and dreadfulness of them Because men are more afraid of Lions then they are of horses and as for the fire smoak and brimstone that issued out of the riders mouthes it signifies a three-fold destruction of men As thus when a man is burnt with fire alone Secondly a man may be smothered with smoak so that he die And if a man be burnt with brimstone that is a more terrible death then the other two Now by one of these three was the third part of men killed onely to signifie that some died a more cruel death then other some That is there issued out of their mouthes a more cruel usage or sentence of death to some then to others so that they had a threefold way to put them to death But all of them issued out of their mouthes onely to signifie that had a Commission to kill three several ways CHAP. XXIX SO in the nineteenth verse For their power is in their mouth and in their tayls for their tayls were like unto serpents and had heads and with them they do hurt So that the power of this great army to kill with fire and smoak and brimstone it was in their mouth and in their tails That is there issued out of their mouth fire smoak and brimstone that many men were killed of these three as I have shewed before But why is it said They had tails like serpents and had heads and with them they did hurt They may be said to have tails like serpents because the most wisest and most moderate men in reason were the hindmost part of the Army And the most Lion-like men in the fore-front So that the fore-front of men were so dreadful their horses being so numerous and so pampered that they seemed more like unto the heads of so many Lions rather then horses they were so dreadful And the horsemen that sate upon them came with such fire wrath and vengeance which issued out of their mouth which became like unto fire smoak and brimstone And these were in the fore-front of the Army and did act as if they had been Lions and as if there had been nothing else in their mouthes but fire smoak and brimstone But the tail or hinder part of the Army did act more like subtile serpents for the tail of the Army had heads and they had stings in their heads That is they had a Commission to act like serpents and to sting and hurt men as the fore-front had which had brest-plates of fire So that the fourth part or head of this great Army were to act like Lions and the tail or hinder part of this great Army were to act like serpents They having Commission so to do from these four Angels which were loosed by the great river Euphrates and in this sense it may be said that the power was in the mouth and in their tails For whosoever did escape the mouth or fore-front of fire smoak and brimstone they were sure to be stung with the tail for the tails had heads and stings in them So that if the mouth of the Lions did not kill them the heads of the serpents that were in the tails would So that what with the mouth and what with the tails the third part of men were killed For the sting of Serpents lieth in the head but the sting of Scorpions lieth in the tayl Therefore it is
Sword of the Spirit which was in the Saints Even the faith of Jesus which enabled them to suffer with cheerfulness the spoyling of their goods and not loving their lives unto the death rather than to worship the beast or his image And this was that deadly wound that the beast had in his head and this was the first day and one of the ten days tribulation the Saints did undergo For when men suffer meerly for their faith of Jesus or in innocency of minde in matter of worship they do by their sufferings wound the persecutors soules more than if they should turn again and fight with a sword of steel So that it wa◠the Saints patient sufferings that did give this beast as John speaketh of that deadly wound in his head But after a season his deadly wound was healed That is after the plague of his heart was over that he saw he should not die He grew more worse much like Pharaoh when Moses had taken away the Plague from him and his people his heart was hardened and made more cruel and worse So was it with this Beast when his conscience had the fear of the present death taken off him so that he was healed as to that Then he grew worse then he was before For now his mouth uttered blasphemy and power was given unto him to continue forty two months as in verse the fifth These forty two months hath relation to the Ten Persecutions which did last a matter of three hundred years For the spirit and power of this beast did run thorow the loins of all them seven heads they all being partakers of the Dragons power seat and authority For it runs thorow the loins of al wicked Beasts or wicked Head-Magistrates For they have all the spirit of Reason even the spirit of the Dragon though not in such a measure as the Dragon hath So that the power of this beast should continue in himself and in others forty two months That was all the days of the Ten Persecutions which time was the same as the two Prophets did prophesie which is said to be forty two months Which time was as long as the Apostles Commission did last about three hundred years as aforesaid And as I have shewed in The Interpretation of the eleventh of the Revelation CHAP. XXXVI BUt in the sixth verse the 〈◊〉 that was healed of his deadly wound he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God to blaspheme his Name and his Tabernacle and them that dwelt in heaven So that you may see now this Beast was healed of his wound he was worse and blasphemed more against the living God and against his Tabernacle Which Tabernacle was the body of Christ And those that dwelt in heaven are the Saints who worshipped by faith in the Tabernacle of God which is in heaven Therefore said to dwell in heaven and in the seventh verse It was given him that is the Beast aforesaid to make war with the Saints and to overcome them and power was given him over all kindreds and tongues and nations Now the Beast being recovered of that wound the Saints did give him he comes on a fresh and makes war against them Not onely in blaspheming against the living God or living Jesus whom the Saints did worship and serve and would not worship and serve him Therefore he makes war with the Saints and overcomes them That is causeth all those he could light of to deny their Faith in Jesus and worship as he would have them or else they must be put to death So that he did overcome many of the Saints and put them to death For power was given him over all kindreds tongues and nations That is he had power over all other people but those that worshipped Jesus To command them to worship him and that worship he did set up and all people but the Saints did obey Some for fear and some for love but all did obey to worship the beast onely those that had faith in Jesus therefore they were overcome and killed by this beast But the others the kindreds tongues nations saved their lives for the world wandred after the beast his power was so great So that all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him whose names are not written in the book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world as in the eighth verse The meaning is this that the spirit of reason in this beast and in all other beasts or Head-Magistrates that are of the seed of the serpent should have such power over the dark reason of man to worship him and the image he doth set up And the whole world lying in ignorance and darkness they are thorow their ignorance ready and willing to worship any thing that the spirit of Reason in the Head-Magistrate shall command them And the ignorance and darkness of men in point of worship is so numerous that hardly any can be seen in the world but idolaters So that it may be said that all that dwell on the earth doth worship the beast none excepted but those whose names are written in the book of Life which are but few in comparison For the worshippers of the true God are but few in comparison of those that worship the devil For the spirit of reason is the devil and what image or form of worship is set up by the spirit of reason in the Head-Magistrate having no Commission from God it is but of the devils setting up And who ever doth bow down to worship in that manner and form they do but worship the Beast and his image and so worship devils And is not the whole world at this day as well as at that time as well those that profess themselves Christians as well as Heathen Turks and Pagans under that darkness of minde as to worship false gods idols and devils So that the whole world may be said to worship the beast and his image though not all one kinde of image For every Opinion of Religion in the world hath one image or other to worship in stead of God And it must needs be so because the world doth not know the true God in his form and nature therefore they worship devils in stead of God though in divers forms and manner But I would have the Seed of Faith to mind that when I say all the world the Elect Seed are excepted For the Seed of Faith are not counted the world though they be in the world As Christ said I pray not for the world but for them thou hast given me out of the world and that thou wouldest keep them from the evil of the world So that the Scriptures doth never count the Saints the world though they be in the world So that the Scriptures may say that all the world wandred after the beast for all the world doth wander after one false worship or other but those that have their names written in the book of Life Now