Anointed into bondage and will not allow him a liberty to worke where and upon whom he pleaseth but would restrain him to their scanty measure the principles of the flesh and so though the world allow Christ the name of King Priest and Prophet yet they will act â—hese Offices themselves both over him and over his body the Church Ey but Gods two faithfull witnesses shall not only prove that Christ is King Priest and Prophet in name only but that he is those in â—ule in operation and powre proving it in â—heir own experience which in time the world â—hall see and be ashamed though for the present they will not see nor be ashamed for â—heir envy to Christ and his fellowes And â—hen shall the glory of the Father be advanced â—nd the song of the Saints shall set the Crown of glory upon the head of him that sits upon the Throne and upon the Lamb for evermore For then all Nations shall see the word â—nd councel of the Father fullfilled that the â—erpents head is bruised by the seed of the woman This is their testimony which I lay â—own generall but the witnesses prove their Testimony by particular experiences as hereâ—fter I shall relate some CHAP. III. Who these two Witnesses are that God speaks of to whom he will give power to Prophesie in sackcloth a thousand two hundred and sixty daies NOw the second thing is to shew who these two Witnesses are which God speaks of I will give power to my two witnesses And these are the word of God and the Spirit of God or Christ in flesh and Christ in Spirit or the Anointing in the person of Christ after the flesh or the Anointing in the flesh of Saints And these are but one in respect of nature one Spirit and one flesh one body as I have shewed But they are two in respect of their appearance or manifestation in or to the world The man Christ Jesus who was borne of the Virgin and dyed by the hands of the Jewes at Jerusalem he is the one Witnesse And the body of Saints in whom the Spirit of Jesus Christ dwells who are persecuted for the same testimony that Christ held they are the other witnesse And my understanding herein is built up as followes ☞ There are three that bear witnesse in Heaven The Father the Word and the Spirit and these three are one But one Witnes though three names or denominations By Heaven I understand the Church or the City Zion in whom the Anointiug dwels and in â—hem and to them the witnesses of those three â—n one is satisfaction enough and the Saints â—ife is bound up in that divine manifestation and â—hey live in that life and see light in that light The son of righteousnes the Lamb the Anointng is the light of that City which makes it Heaven The Testimony of men to the Saints is noâ—hing they have no peace nor joy in their hearts till God himself do witnesse to them by â— lovely manifestation of himself taking them â—p into his own rest And this is God in three discoveries which make up but one witnesse both in and to Zion the Church not to the World first but to them first and afterward to the World Then there are three that bear witnes in earth The water bloud and Spirit and these three â—re one but one witnesse though 3 denominaâ—ions making one perfectman Now by Earth understand either the Saints before they have a cleare manifestation before their filthy garments be quite taken off them For then they look upon Christ after the flesh and seek for testimonies of the Fathers love and promise in a â—itterall way and God condescends to the weaknes of their flesh for in the fulnes of time God â—ent his Sonn made of a VVoman made under the Law to redeem them that were under the Law that we might receive the adoption of Sons according to the promise Gen. 3. 15. Or Secondly by Earth I vnderstand mankind all sects and Nations as they are considered one flesh or one earth of which all of us are made even one created humanity And unto this earth God sends water bloud spirit in two appearences to witnesse this his faithfulnesse that what he spake shall come to passâ— That the seed of the woman shall bruise the Serpents head God cals these his two witnesses because they are two discoveries of his own wisdom and power For first By water bloud and spirit I understand to be our Lord Jesus the seed of the woman a perfect man according to the flesh who 〈◊〉 the first faithfull and true witnes the humane â—ody of Christ and the eternall spirit that dwelt â—herin or that power which God gave I wil give power to my two witnesses c. And God gave this is power when the holy Spirit descended like a Dove upon Christ Jesus when he was baptized and came straight-way out of the water This power God gives to both his witnesses but to his humane body first If you look into the Evangelist Iohn you shall find that one of the Souldiers with a spear pierced Christs side and forthwith there came out water and blood now the water and blood declared Jesus Christ to be a true and reall man the seed of the Woman according to the word and Councell of God and so the VVord was made flesh and dwelt among us and we saw the glory thereof as the glory of the onely begotten Son of God full of grace and truth Now Physitians say and it is a truth that the heart of man hath adjoyning to it a bladder or skin of water which cools the heat of the bloud Which they call the Pericardium And the Spear piercing Christ to the heart did break that skin of water and so there came out that water and blood that was in his heart this shews he was a man the seed of the Woman And then for the spirit or power that was in Jesus Christ declares him to be one faithfull witnesse for though hisfufferings were so great that he sweat drops of blood yet there was no sin or murmerings against God found in him but he was still full of the sprrint of humility and patience of love and of faithfulnesse to God his Father who had assigned him that cup to drink And likewise was still full of the spirit of love to poor lost sinners that flood in need of this his death or else they could not have bin reconciled to God and this unbsameable spirit of his gives testimony to Heaven and Earth that Christis the great power of God and so the world to the councel of his Father For indeed no son of man besindes him could be found to suffer the like intolerable burden of wrath and yet beare it with such a patient understanding loving faithful and pittiful spirit towards others as Christ did Now this humane body of
sackcloth-profession of Saints in the dayes of the little horne the Beast and whorish spirit or as I may say Judas spirit of self-love and hypocrisie that must reign in the world for a time Thus we see it is Jesus Christ after the flesh and his spirit ruling in the flesh of Saints which are Gods two Witnesses The spirit of Christ sent down into Saints or rather the Saints taken up into fellowship with that spirit according to the Fathers promise and love to his Sons and Daughters in the latter dayes which must prophesie in sack-cloth one thousand two hundred and sixty dayes and it can be no other but these in whom the power of God dwels and rules And there are divers discoveries of this truth laid down by God himself as a testimony from him that these two are his Witnesses in the four five and six verses of that seventh chapter of the Revelations In the fourth verse These two witnesses are â—aid to be the two Olive Trees and the two Candle-sticks standing before the God of the whole Earth Now I conceive that these two Olive-trees and two Candlesticks can be apâ—lyed to no other but to the two appearances of the Anointing First In the body or flesh of Christ Secondly In the flesh of Saints that is to say Christ and his spirit And marvel not that I say Christ and his spirit are the two Candle-sticks because the Scriptures in other places call Christ and his spirit the lights of God as indeed they are and by Candlesticks are properly meant the Churches or particular societies of Saints as St. John writes But in this place the light that is held forth is this eternal councel of God That Jesus Christ is this Son by whom he will bruise the Serpents head and reconcile sinners to himself and by no other name or power whatsoever So that when Christ was visibly seen upon the earth in the day and hour of his sufferings or time of his sack-cloth prophesying he and his spirit in one person were the Candle-stick in whom this mystery of God and truth of his councel did burn and shine forth to the world and therein they were a certain witnes of the Father But set that day and houre aside and then properly the Churches are called Candlesticks in whom Christ and his Spirit burnes bright and shines gloriously Men or Women Magistrates or Ministers or churches cannot be called these two Candlesticks because the churches ate taken up and moved by Christ and such as were un-willing are made willing to beare the testimony of God by the almighty working of Christ in them that beleeve But now christ and his spirit was never unwilling to bear witness to this purpose of the Father for as soon as ever the Father had declared his will Loe I come saith Christ to doe thy will O God And therefore the Father glories in Christ and makes proclamation to all the World That he will have all men honour the Son as they honour the Father Then again they are called two Olive-Trees and these cannot be Men and Women Magistrates or Ministers but onely Christ and his Spirit If you looke into the fourth chapter of Zechariah there is mention of one Golden Candlestick which I conceive is the generall Church of Christ or the great Congregation as David speaks the mysticall body of Christ the Saints or City Sion And then there is mention of two Olive Trees by the Candlestick one upon the right side of the Bowle and the other upon the left side thereof Now these two Olive-Trees are Iesus Christ ☜ and his Spirit the one being under the other over the Church which are the two Armes of God imbracing the Church in love For first God sent the humane Body of Christ to testifie his love to the Church and to comfort her in all her asslictions Because he was afflicted for them and with them and therofore in that he himself hath suffered being tempted he is able to succour them that are tempted and this is the Olive-Tree upon the left side of the Candlestick Then secondly God sent his Spirit the comforter to testifie his unchangeable love to the Church and to lead her into all truth because he is the Spirit of truth And so in the bodily absence of Christ the Spirit which is the Lord our Righteousnesse ruling as a King in love in them doth counsell comfort sanctifie and remaines with the Church for ever and so doth establish the covenant of Grace to them to be an everlasting Covenant And this is the Olive Tree upon the right side of the Candlestick And further Zechariah goeth on making mention of two Olive Branches which through the two golden pâ—pes empty the golden Oyle out of themselves And the Angel said to Zechariah Knowest thou not what these be And he said No my Lord Then he said These are two Anointed ones that stand before the Lord of the whole earth Now these two Olive Trees and these two Branches that thus empty themselves with constant running and so feed the Church with life and light which is that golden Oyle that they empty out of themselves and which the Angel likewise called the two Anointed ones they cannot be meant of any other but Iesus Christ in his own particular person in the flesh and he spiritually in his Saints For there is none that hath the seven pipes the seven Lamps and the seven eyes which are the seven spiritual power of God in his hand but onely Iesus Christ for the Spirit descended and rested upon him And in him dwelleth the fulnesse of the God-head bodily And then secondly because none stands by the Lord of the whole earth as the Angel told Zechariah but onely Jesus Christ and his eternall Spirit who is both the outward and the inward Lord and King of Saints And this is cleared by Gods own word to Daniel when God shewed to him what was written in the Scriptures of truth There is none saith God holdeth or standeth with me in these things but Michael your Prince that is Iesus Christ in his two-fold discoveries in the flesh of the Man Iesus and in the flesh of Saints by the same Spirit and the great promise of the Gospel for the exalting of Iesus Christ the Anointed and the Anointing is this Sit thou saith God on my right hand or stand by me untill I make thine enemies thy foot-stool Now brethren you know that the Church and Sainrs doe not receive light life grace from any other but from Christ Of his fulnesse we receive grace for grace Therefore these two Olive-trees these two Candlestickes which John speakes of and these two Witnesses which God glories in and calleth His Witnesses must needs be meant Christ and his Spirit or the two appearances of God in Iesus and in his Saints There is one phrase mose in that fourth verse which is this These
earth in proving in their own experience this to be a truth that the seed of the Woman shall break the Serpents head and there are none that acknowledge the Father and beare witnesse to him herein but onely these two against all the world and Babylon All others wander after the Beast Flesh self But these only whose names are written in the Book of life admire God and make their boast only in him continually But Iesus Christ the Head he beares witnesse by the power of the Father in him The Father that dwelleth in me saith Christ he doth the works and the Saints they beare witnesse by the power of Christ Which is the Father likewise that is in them as in him But the Saints receive this power at the second hand for the anointing that Was powred upon the head of Christ Iesus fell down to the skirts of his garments and so his meanest member Partakes of that anointing and by his power the Saints doe all things and without him they can doe nothing The Spirit of God gives a second testimony that the two witnesses are Iesus Christ in his flesh and Iesus Christ spiritually in the flesh of Saints and can be no other For saith he in Rev. 11. 5. If any man will hurt them fire proceedeth out of their mouth and devoureth their enemies And if any will hurt them he must on this manner be killed Now mark this is one part of honour which the Father hath given his two witnesses to kill enemies by fire that proceedeth out of their mouth For when Paul spake of the destruction of the Man of Sin or mystery of iniquity it is not to be done by an earthly power of prisons and punishments But the Lord Jesus himselfe saitn he shall consume him with the Spirit of his mouth and with the brightnesse of his comming And in the great Battell of God Almighty when Christ and his Saints fought with the Beast and the Kings of the Earth which is the wisdome of the flesh strengthened by humane Authority the Text saith That the Beast and the false Prophet were taken as other places say God takes the wise in their craftinesse and they were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone that is they were plunged into a deep vexation of spirit so that they gnawed their tongues with anger which is as terrible to that proud spirit as a fire of brimstone to tender flesh And the remnant were slaine with the sword that proceeded out of the mouth of him that sate upon the Horse By remnant I conceive is meant the common people that were deceived by the learned wisdome of the Beast but when she was destroyed first that was the main upholder of deceit then the people were undeceived and convinced by the word of truth in the mouth of the Anointed And whereas they Wandred after the Beast now they admire at the wisdome and power of Christ for the Word of his mouth is a sharp two edged Sword and when that appeares no policy or strength of flesh can stand before it which would make void the councel of God by her directories and blessed reformation as the flesh called it Therefore if any will hurt Gods two faithfull witnesses that is if any will deny them or their testimony and turning them and their witness into a lie as all ungodly men do turning the grace of God into wantonness and so making void Gods eternall councel in their thoughts words and practises so far as lies in them after this manner they shall be destroyed that is not by prisons whips or punishments of men nor by any Carnall weapons but by the spirit of truth that proceedeth out of their mouth Every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God and this is that spirit of Antichrist whereof you have heard that it should come and even now already it is in the world He that denies the Anointing to be manifest in the flesh of the person Christ Jesus is Antichrist but this none denies if any do they be very few for all sorts of professors acknowledge Jesus Christ to be born of the Virgin and to be a man and so come in the flesh But there are but few that confesse that the Anointing is manifest in the flesh of Saints or that Christ who is the Lord our righteousnes doth rule in beleevers from one single person to the whole City which are his body scattered up and down the world And if they do confesse this yet when Christ doth manifestly appear to dwel and rule in the flesh of his Saints they will not freely acknowledge it but presently stand off and call it a delusion or blasphemy for any to affirm that the same anointing for kind as was in the flesh of Iesus Christ doth rule and dwell in the flesh according to the measure of the gift of Christ and in this sense there are many Antichrists that deny Christ to be come in the flesh And what do these Antichrists do but hurt Gods Witnesses or deny that power the Anointing which God hath given to his Witnesses or if they acknowledg the one witnes to wit Iesus Christ after the flesh yet they deny the second Witnes the Saints which is Christs mystical body or Christ in his spirit manifesting this testimony in their flesh as he did in their own person That the seed of the Woman should bruise the Serpents head But he that believeth on the Son of God hath the Witness in himself That is be that belieyeth in whole Christ Head and Members a perfect man consisting of divers members hath the Witnes in himself the truth is in him as it was in Iesus But he that believeth not God hath made him a lyer because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son Then farther God proves Christ in his two-fold appearance that is in his own person and in flesh or persons of his Saints to be his two witnesses for saith he in the 6. verse of the eleventh chapter of the Revelations These have power to shut Heaven that it raine not in the dayes of their Prophesie and have power over waters to turn them into bloud and to smite the Earth with all plagues as oft as they will By Heaven I conceive may be understood either God himself or his Church If we understand God to be that Heaven that the witnesses have power to shut that it rain not in the dayes of their Prophesies then I conceive the meaning is two-fold thus first they have power to stay the hand of God from raining and powring down destruction upon the Beast all the dayes of their prophesie because God hath said they shall prophesie in Sackcloth one thousand two hundred and sixty dayes So that God hath given the power of destroying the Beast out of his hand or hath tyed up his
it had not as yet an Ecclesiasticall power And when John writ his Epistles this Babylon was in rising towards his greatnesse but it was not set upon the Throne by the Kings of the Earth as yet But when the Dragon that is Magistracy out of joynt and the Leopard that is a spirit of whoredome pretending love to God but intending to advance it self above God had committed fornication together then they begat this Beast or Ecclesiasticall power to kill and suppresse not men and women simply but the manifest appearance of God in them And then the purity of the Scriptures of the Gospel was corrupted and the practice of it quite altered and the invention of selfe-seeking flesh set up in the room of it and sharp punishing lawes were made to forbid Fishermen Shepheards Husbandmen and Tradesmen for ever preaching of God any more but Schollars bâ—â—d up in humane letters should onely do that work So that the manifest appearance of God in the man Christ Iesus as it was left in writing had a dark veil of humane inferences and selfish conclusions drawn over it and ever after the manifest appearance of God in the Saints was suppressed likewise For the Beast which hath a limited time and power to reigne by God will not suffer God to reigne by him but takes away his liberty and would destroy Gods Being and will not suffer God to reveale himselfe any more in flesh and this is called the time of Gods patience and long-suffering so that the witnesses or the manifestations of God in flesh were slain in that Citie Babylon and lie dead in that street in which also the flesh or body of Iesus Christ was crucified and slain But that slaying was but the history and God leads us as we are able to beare it from carnall knowledge to spirituall and divine knowledge and that crucifying is nothing in respect of the other For to suppresse the appearance of God in flesh is the main businesse the Serpent aimes at for if the Serpent could kill this as he killed the flesh and so hinder the appearance of God in his sons and daughters in these latter dayes according to his ancient promise then hee would prove God a lyar that the seed of the Woman should not bruise the Serpents head and then the Serpent would prove the onely Being which he strives to maintain I but God will make his own counsell good and he will raise up his Witnesses again which the Beast hath killed and supprest and God will make himselfe visible to all men dwelling and ruling himselfe in man and subduing the Serpent under the feet of mankinde according to his promise That the seed of the woman shall bruise the Serpents head But further in that eleventh Revelations and tenth verse it is said That after the witnesses were slain they that dwelt upon the earth rejoyced over them and made merry and sent gifts one to another because these two Prophets tormented them that dwelt off the earth I shall not speak much of this for they that are acquainted with histories or have any experience can tell what rejoycings there have been in all ages of the Beast when the appearance of God in humane flesh by martyrdom or punishment hath been supprest and the wisdome and learning of the Beast which the whole world wonders after is advanced And if men of the earth such as have their hope and comfort in this world only could destroy the appearance of God in such as they call Round-heads among whom there are pretious Saints they would rejoyce mightily but some that are so called are meerly carnall and are but as the Chaffe among the Wheat or Weeds among good Corn For it is the bright appearing of God in the Saints casting down all formes and customes of the Beast which doth torment the world at this very day as the bright shining of the Sun doth mightily offend a weak-sighted eye And indeed if this worshiping of God in Spirit were or could be beaten down and proved an error and if every man were or could be forced to maintain and practice one outward lazie formall customary and tyth-oppressing way of pretended Divine worship which pleases the flesh for it nurses up pride coveteousnesse ignorance oppression and is the mother or harlot rather of all abominations and if men might be freely taught that they shall goe to heaven though they seek it not by faith onely but as it were by the workes of the Law that is by bidding them doe what they are able and Christ will doe the rest and so joyne Christs merits and mens workes together O then cry some it would be a merry world and we should have good times again Ah! But the dayes of the Beast are done and God is putting a stop in the street of Babylon and taking away that limited power and is beginning to raise up his witnesses that is God is beginning to manifest himselfe more abundantly then formerly in the flesh of his Saints the seed of the woman and more plentifully dividing to every one his portion severally as God will according to the measure of the gift of the Anointing even as hee did manifest himselfe to dwell bodily in the Anointed Jesus who is the fulnesse of him that filleth all in all And God doth this that his Saints may worship him not in bare formes of godlinesse and customes of Religion in a self-seeking way of pride and coveteousnesse expressing bitternesse of spirit to others thar differ but that they may in his strength worship him in love sincerity humility and in spirit and truth inwardly rejoycing and glorying continually in God onely At this the Nations of the World will bee mightily angry when it appeares more plentifull and I beleeve it will appeare ere long For saith the Angel in the vision after three dayes and halfe the spirit of life from God entred into them and they stood upon their feet and great fear fell upon them which saw them Now I conceive yea it is cleare to me that these three dayes and halfe are upon the very period and finished point three dayes are compleatly past and the halfe day is â—now in being and this halfe day must be shortned too for the Elects sake so that the time will not bee long before the glory of God that is made known in secret be preached on the house top And they heard a great voyce from Heaven saying Come up hither And they ascended up to Heaven in a Cloud and their enemies beheld them The two Witnesses heard God speake out of Heaven it was a lively voyce it was not the dead voyce of a man speaking out of a Book And what is this Heaven Why truly as the Firmament is called Heaven in the history because the created Sun Moon and Stars those glorious lights are seated there so wheresoever
together be manifest in them call you this likewise what you will I am confident it speaks like the Dragon and is of the Image of the Beast and part of the half day But I will speak one work of comfort to the Saints your captivity under the Antichristian power is come to the half day or half time and the Lamb will nourish and feed you before the Throne or under the eye and protecting care of God in this half time as he hath fed the Church with love and watchfull care in the 3 dayes that are past And the power of this blaspheming horne that will not acknowledge Christs testimony nor suffer others to acknowledg him this day of his is and shall be shortned for the elects sake And I believe ere long we shall heare the Angel say it is done her 3 dayes and half or her time times and half time is now accomplished And the stone which is cut 〈…〉 Mountains without hands even 〈…〉 Christ our righteousnes shall destrâ—â—◠〈…〉 workings and Kingdom of darkne◠〈…〉 in the Saints and likewise 〈…〉 power that Satan exercised over 〈…〉 he trod them under foot the 42. 〈…〉 now Christ will reigne himself for 〈…〉 ever for of his Kingdom there shal1 〈…〉 And then the world shall see by experience that word of Solomon to be made good That when the wicked that is the flesh rules the City mournes but when the righteous that is Jesus Christ rules the City Zion rejoyces and there is great shouting for joy among the Saints when they can speak by experience and say O rejoyce rejoyce for the Lord God Omnipotent reignes And now doth the Sonne of righteousnes rise higher in the bright manifestations of himself upon the soules of his Saints And the day of Christ begins to shine more clear even that one day as Zachariah calls it which did appear in the hearts of Saints formerly for Abraham saw it and David saw it and rejoyced to see it And truly this day of Christ this sweet discovery of the Fathers love to poor sinners began to dawne upon the seventh day in course after the Creation of all things for Adam sinned upon the sixth day towards the close of the day or cool of the evening And then the seventh day in course should have been a day of punishment or destruction to Adam for his disobedience I but the Son of our righteousness rises presently and love appeared in this promise that the seed of the woman should bruise the Serpents head and so stopped the breakings forth of wrath and made it a day of joy and gladness unto lost sinners And therefore when the Jews told Christ he was a finner because he had broke the Sabbath-day when he had but cured the lame Man upon that day Why saith Christ my Father worketh hitherto and I work that is All the six dayes was my Fathers time of working and making all things but the seventh day is my day and now I work to bruise the Serpents head and to save that which was lost And therefore I say this one day of Christ did dawn upon the seaventh day from the creation and the Sonne of righteousnes hath rose higher and higher in the discoveries of himself or his Church though the thick and cold clouds of flesh and self-love both in our selves and in the world hath darkened the beames of it from us I but now the Winter is near past the Summer is come the flowers appear in the earth that is the glorious workings of the Anointing in the spirit of Saints The time of the singing of birds is come that is all the Saints begin to sing Halelujah for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth within and begins to reign in the world and the voice of the turtle is heard in our Land that is the voice of the Lord Christ our rightousnes is heard and seen to rule in our flesh And now the Beast or wisdom and power of our corrupt flesh or Serpent within us is wounded to death and she shall reign no more And so by the multitude of divine discoveries self-love and confusion shall be destroyed in the flesh of Saints and their very flesh shall be made that land of righteousnes even the branch or the Lords own planting the Inheâ—â—tance of their Father in whom the King of Righteousnes and the King of Peace shall dwell and rule for ever And by the multitude of these Saints whom Christ will raise up like drops in a shoure of raine for number All the oppression injustiee false shewes and formes of Gods Worship shall all be destroyed in the World and judgement shall run down our streets like a stream and righteousnes like a River And though there be a people still on earth in whom the wisdom and power of the flesh dwells as yet there must be yet the power of it shall be kept under and suppressed by the power of Christ the Anoining in the Saints for a certain terme of years appointed by the Father And then he will let Satan loose again who shall stir up those children of disobedience in whom he dwells to joyn together in one mind and spirit of malice and of fleshly wisdom and force which is Gog and Magog 〈◊〉 destroy the holy City the Saints the body of Christ and house of God But then shall the wrath of the Lamb be made manifest to their destruction and then comes the End That the Son shall deliver up the KINGDOM unto the Father CHAP. V. The Witnesses were to be slain when they had finished their Testimony NOw in the next particular we are to mind the time when the Witnesses are to be slain and that is when they have finished their Testimony as John speaks When they shall have finished their testimony the Beast that ascendeth out of the bottomles pit shall make war against them and shall overcome them and kill them These two Witnesses I conceive may be said to have finished their testimony when by manifest experience they have made it appear that the seed of the Woman hath broken the Serpents head and so have proved the Word of the Father to be true And this they have done for first Jesus Christ in his own person he broke the Serpents head when he trod under his feet all the subâ—â—wit and power of the Serpent and prevailed over all his temptations so that Satan could find nothing in him and so by death overcame him that had the power of death which was the Devil Secondly Jesus Christ breaks the Serpents head in the Saints when he makes them able to speak out of experience I was proud saith the soul now God hath made me humble I was envious now God hath made me love even my enemies I loved and acted injustice now God hath made me to hate injustice and to love truth in my heart and to
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
not suffered to act in their full strength or appear out of that cursed fountain of darknesses till God pleased to let them loose therefore they were evill because bound up or imprisoned in such an evill stinking River Secondly These four Angels were evil in respect of their nature for I believe they are four spiritual powers of wickednes As first wicked craft and subtilty in the strength of it 2. Hypocrisie in the strength of it 3. Envy in the strength of it And 4. A murdering cruelty in the strength of it Now these four Angels or powers of darknes were bound up within the very body of the Serpent and not suffered to act in that violent universal strength as they do till this sixth Angel sounded And now being let loose they stir up every one in the four quarters of the earth and vex and torment you day and night for men in whom these powers rule they have no rest And men are stirred up in Armies to kill and slay But whom do they slay Not the witnesses though they think so in their heart as it is spoke of Gog and Magog but those men only who have not the Seal of God in their forehead or as it is said before the Inhabitants of the Earth And truly the strong subtil craft unparalleld hypocrisie extream envy and inbred cruelty that is expressed in the four quarters of the land of the world too against the Saints that are branded Sectaries Schismaticks Anabaptists Round-heads doth appear plain to me to be those three powerfull Angels of darknes which are let loose in the spirits of men even in that spirit of darknes that hath overspread the Earth man-kind like the over-flowing River Euphrates therefore they are evil Angels Thirdly consider how doe these Angels slay the third part of men Why truly I believe it is not their killing of their bodies only though it may be in these great troubles many are and doubtles shall be killed in that sense but it points out a worser death then that of the body for they kill the very minds and consciences of men And it is thus These four Angels shall be so powerfull in mens spirits and spread so universally over the earth of man-kind That many that are convinced of a false worship and unjust wayes that are practised generally shall out of slavish fear of men and out of shame to own God his wayes at this time are so contemptible and so generally reproached slandered and hated thaâ— a third part of men shall turn Hypocrites and practice wayes contrary to their knowledg and will say do subscribe and fight laugh scosse reproach and kill the Saints yea do any thing so they may have the flattering word of their carnall Neighbours and not be called Round-heads Anabaptists or Independants these names whereby the Saints are branded are so odious And truly these men are slain for the fearfull and unbelieving shall have their part in the lake which is the second death And every Parish through this Kingdom and the World too at this very day are full of these dead men and women But these four Angels are spiritual powers of darknes which do not appear in apparitions and visions but being let loose in mens spirits they rule and work there And the multitudes of men whom they violently stir up are called Armies of horse-men as you may read which declares their strength and their swiftnes to do hurt pointed out by the strength and swiftnes of horses Now these Armies of horse-men or multitudes of men put upon violent and unreasonable actions by these four evil Angels are the appearing cause that doth hurt and kill weak spirited men and women by over-awing them And out of the mouthes of those Armies thus set on fire there proceeded fire smoak and brimstone by which the third part of men were killed By smoak is betokened false Doctrines threatnings reproaches scoffes oppressions and bitter provocations Brimstone betokens persecution whips plunderings prisons And fire betokens fire and faggot hanging murdering or putting them to death in any kind that do not submit to the wayes of these four Angels And this is further cleared by the 19. vers. The power of this Army whereby they do hurt is in their mouths and in their tails That is they call their own inventions and lies the Doctrines of God and against them that do not submit thereunto First they give out bitter reviling language and threatning speeches to plunder imprison and kill And thereby over-aw men and make them afraid and ashamed to own God and so kill them And if this doth not do then their power is in their tails when by the Authority of the Civil Magistrate whom these four Angels have deceived they over-awe men by punishments whips prisons plunderings and death for this followes the other as the tail follows the head And therefore mind That when threatnings reproaches and bitter language goes before prisons and death followes if they can but deceive the Magistracy which is Gods Ordinance and get an Authority by craft from him so to do And thus the four Angels by their Armies deceive and kill weak men and make them out of slavish fear and bashfull shame to disown God and to say or do any thing to preserve themselves from danger And the rest of the men that were not killed by these plagues repented not That is though these Armies of men in whom these four Angels rule with violence were not themselves over-awed by this slavish fear and bashful shame because they are audacious bold and desperately confident in wicked wayes And though they do see poor weak men over-awed by them and made to do any thing not out of sincerity of heart to God but out of hypocrisie and fear to their usurped power of wickednesse They have neither piety in them to see men so enslaved but rather glorie in it neither do they repent of their own works and false Idolatrous worship which is self-invention neither indeed can they for the four evil Angels being let loose rule in them So that these that repent not of the works of their hands are the master-upholders of the Beast against God such as repent not of their pretended plat-forms and customes of pretended divine worship which have no warrant from God Such as repent not of their covetousnes after silver and gold by rich Tythes nor of their murther in reviling imprisoning and killing the Saints nor of their fornication in loving themselves riches creatures honours more then God But though they do not repent yet they shall not reign alwayes like Lords over Gods Inheritance For God hath and doth proclaim by the voice of the sixth good Angel that time to the Beast shall be no more his dayes are near done And secondly after that the spirit of life from God hath raised up the two Witnesses there were seven thousand slain
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