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A34984 An alarum sounded in the borders of spiritual Egypt vvhich shall be heard in Babylon, and astonish the inhabitants of the defiled and polluted habitations of the earth. And the power of the Prince of Darkness called into question; and he himself examin'd by the truth, how he came to raign over mankind; and how long his time shall be, till he comes to be cast out of his dominion, and the creature be deliver'd from under his tyranny; to serve God in spirit and in truth, as Christ, the prince of peace, has order'd them. Also the number of him whom the world hath wonder'd after, found out; and demonstrated to be near at an end: and withal, that it is no wayes unlawful, nor in vain, both to hope, and to expect the utter desolation, and destruction of sin in this life, and the setting up of perfect righteousness in the souls of men, where sin has too long raign'd. Written in a testimony to the truth, and against the false position of the devil, and his servants; by a servant of God, Steven Crisp. Crisp, Stephen, 1628-1692. 1671 (1671) Wing C6922; ESTC R215182 35,940 50

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Record of Zachariah and Elizabeth his Wife Luke 1.2 that they were both Righteous before God not by an Imagined Righteousness but in regard to their Couversation walking in all the Commands and Statutes of the Lord unblamable but if they had been under the Power of Sin and not freed from it they had been neither unblamable nor Righteous but must at least have Transgressed some of the commands of the Lord or else they could not be Sinners Also Nathaniel in whom there was no Guile which could not have been John 1.48 if he had been under the Power of Sin And much more might I write upon this Subject to shew how that many by this one Faith in all Ages have been delivered from Sin and become the Children and Servants of God and therefore those that are Partakers of this Faith in this Age may hope and expect that the same Work may be wrought in them and this is no presumption And if these Sin-pleaders should say that there is none Partaker of this Faith now at this day and therefore cannot be made free from Sin they will exclude themselves which they will hardly do because they would fain have a Name of being Believers though they deny the Work of the True Faith in themselves Further let us consider what these strong Pleaders for Sin have to fortifie themselves withall They say they have the Scripture to plead withall for Sin which certainly was never the intention of the holly Spirit by which it was given forth But say They It is written in 1 Kings 8.46 For here is no Man that sinneth not Answ This is very true neither do I plead that any man is free from Sin all the dayes of his life except Christ but have confessed they are all Sinners by nature untill they be changed and besides there it is but spoken of a People that were under the Law of which the Apostle sayes that it made nothing perfect but said he the bringing in of a better Hope did but the Law did not purifie the Comers thereunto according to the Conscience but when the Offerers had offered there remained an Evidence of Sin in the Conscience but what is that to the Christians who are come to know a better Hope and the Blood that purifieth the Conscience for that same Apostle that said the Law made no man perfect under which Law Solomon was as also that People concerning whom it was said there is none that lives and sinneth not notwithstanding the same Apostle said that it was the bringing in of a better Hope that did it And what are these Fighters for Sin and Sin-pleaders become so Zealous that they will rather deny the better Hope then to cease from Sin if not then there is a possibillity to be made perfect by the Blood of Christ which the Blood of Bulls and Goats could not do An other Objection is brought forth that is That the Apostle Paul said that Sin lived in him and that the good that He would do He did not and the evil that He would not do that He did Answ That Paul knew the passing through such a State is without question and is not denied but this does not prove at all that he never knew no better State or that he never came to perfection for in that place he makes mention of three States First How it was with him when he lived without the Law of God in his liberty to fight against the Truth and he thought he might do many things against the Name of Jesus Secondly He declares of his Convincement and how it was with him then when he knew he should not do no more against the Truth and yet not being wholly changed he did things which he knew he ought not by reason of Sin living and dwelling in him and that State he did not call Happy or Blessed as these blind Professors do at this day that takes up a Rest in this State and say they can never be Redeemed out of it for he speaking of such a Condition cryes out for Deliverance calling it a miserable Condition which plainly sheweth that his eye was upon a further and better State unto which he also beareth Witness saying he was made free by the Law of the Spirit of Life both of the Law of Sin and of Death in which time he was yet in the Body Now what ●eason have these Pleaders for Sin to believe that Paul was in all these three States at once and if not Why not in the last being the other two are but fore-going States leading to the third especially considering the many other Testimonies which he gives of his being perfect and of those that by his Ministry were brought to perfection saying concerning himself Timothy and Silvanus We can do nothing against the Truth and in an other place he testifies That he has fought a good Fight kept the Faith and finished his Course Now if it was finished then there was no more to run and if the Fight was Fought then the Enemies were no more alive as they were when Sin lived and dwelled in him Again he sayes in an other place We preach Wisdom among them that are Perfect That is after the explication and Sence of these Sin-pleaders We preach Wisdom among none except among those that are already departed out of this World and gone to Heaven And again As many of you as are Perfect be so minded That is to say after their explication let none be thus minded before they be dead Again at last Dear Brethren be perfect And of one mind c. But this they say cannot be in this Life And again he sayes to the Hebrews You are come to the spirits of just Men made perfect and to God the Righteous Judge of all c. But where were these Hebrews were they yet alive or were they dead if dead How came his Epistle to meet them But a wilfull Blindness is come over many of these Servants and Ministers of Darkness and they have rebellious Hearts against the Light that discovers their Sin and would lead them out of it But because they have more love to Sin then to the Light therefore they seek to cover themselves so much But the Day is come that has discovered them and their deceitfull Coverings will not longer cover them An other pleading is of that which is spoken by the Apostle John 1 Joh. 1.8 If we say we have no Sin we deceive our selves and the Truth is not in us Out of which words every miserable and pitifull Souldier of this great Prince of Darkness thinks he may Arm himself sufficiently to fight against that which would deliver them and make them free But if this Scripture were seen and read with that Spirit by which and in which it was written then it would appear that this John was not such a great Friend to Sin and the Devil who is a Father of Lyes as they would have him to be
that the Enmity is great in the first birth and so that although he grew up to be an Offerer yet he did not grow up in dominion over the Serpent nor over the quality of the Destroyer in himself and that sort of Offering was more acceptable to the Devil then to God And now mark that man was a Sinner and yet religious his Sin and Religion were consistant and could have place together at one and the same time in one man as it is now with the Professors of this Age who say they are Sinners and that their best Works are polluted and defiled with Sin and that they must remain so whilst they live and yet they will seek acceptance with God in these poluted Offerings notwithstanding they do profess him to be pure to whom they Offer Thus was this first Sacrificer blind and darkned and so are many Thousands after him and the dominion of the Devil was over him First Deceiving him by Leading him to Expect an Acceptance because he Offered though with an Evil Heart Secondly to lead him into the evil which had kept him from acceptance Thirdly by making him so Wrath and Angry because he was not accepted against his Brother that did well and was partaker of the one sure Faith of the Elect Seed of God And the Serpent having thus darkned his mind then he durst come before him with a Lye though he was a Man of whom Eve thought that she had gotten him from the Lord perswading him that if that Faithfull Abel was out of the Way that then it would be better with him So he hearkned to the Counsel of this evil spirit and shed Innocent Blood about Religion here Persecution got his entrance into the World by one that was an Offerer and an evil Doer together a fit Instrument for such a Work But behold what became of this Man the Blood which he had shed and the Earth which had drunk it up cry'd for Vengance against this bloody Offerer and he fear'd exceedingly and said He could not bear his Punishment and said Every one that finds me will slay me and to prevent that he went and Built a City in the Land of Nod hear was the beginning of Fortifications which was to defend the Transgressor for the Righteous have a Tower namely the Name of God and there they are safe without such Gates or Walls Now let every one consider how little right this spirit had in all these things but he entred by a Lye and Reigned by a Lye and Darkness and deceit was his defence for his Government and how little reason there is to plead for such a spirit let the wise in heart judge It would go beyond my present aime and purpose to trace this spirit who is called the Devil and Satan the Dragon and old Serpent through all Ages since the beginning to see with how little Truth Right or Equity he came up to Reign among Men. The understanding Reader of the Scriptures of Truth can see it clear enough and it is a great wonder and one of the greatest that is in that part of the World called Christendom that there are so many men being men of knowledge in other matters and such as set up the Scriptures so much as they seem to do calling it the Word of God the Rule of Christians the Light of the World the Guide of Life c. that they should go with such a Book in their hands pleading for the Devil's Kingdom and for a necessity that it must continue as long as there is a man upon Earth Whereas the Scripture in substance is nothing else but as a Declaration against him and his Government and sheweth how he ought to be forsaken opposed resisted and cast out and withall how that Primitive pure and holy and Righteous Law of that Spirit which is called God and is holy pure and Blessed for ever how that ought to be imbraced received and exalted in the whole Creation I say this is a very great wonder of which and of the consequences thereof the Christians so called have cause to be ashamed yea are a Reproach to the whole World and it is high time that some do arise for God and the call is gone forth Who is on the Lord's part Exod. 32.26 The Devil has an innumerable Host to plead for Sin some with Arguments and some with cruel Weapons but who is on the Lord's part that can say the Lord Reigns in Righteousness and in Truth he Judges the Earth Oh! All ye carnal Professors of God and Christ in words but in works deny him and sayes that Sin must stand and remain as long as you live Be it known unto you in the Name of the God of Heaven that where Sin remains there the Devil is Prince and Ruler And if that must remain as long as you live the Devil desires it no longer for he that will be his Servant in this life must be his Companion in the World to come But hear ye the Word of the Lord thou great Host and mighty Army of the Devil Beast Serpent and the old Deceiver who plead that his Government shall stand as long as there is a man to live upon Earth The Controversie of the Lord God Almighty is Proclaimed and begun against you all and your Prince yea the Arm of the everlasting God is stretched out against you and henceforth ye shall not be prosperous but the Dominion of your Prince shall be lessened and both his and your Power shall be weakned and your Weapons both of Deceit and Cruelty shall be broken and come to nought The Inheritance of of the Wicked shall be laid waste and the design which hath been carried on so long shall be frustrated Deceit and Falshood shall fall before the Truth and Darkness shall flee before the Light and your fortified City shall fail you and the Land of Nod will not be a hiding place for you For the Arm of the mighty God of Jacob shall scatter you as a reproach and make y●u ashamed of your Work and of your Prince Now to touch a tittle at your Arguments which the Servants of this spirit make use of for to hold ●p his Kingd●m of whi●h they say It is impossible tha● it should be brought down even as if God had given up all Man kind which is the best of his Creation unto t●e Devil and that he should keep none of them for himself to serve him till they have fulf●lled the Devi●'s work to the ●●ll and can serve him no longer Certainly t e Heathens M●ors and Indians have a better D●ctrine then these in the ground though Darkness is over their understandings as concerning God and Heaven and such things yet many of them do not judge that there is such a necessity to do evil as long as they live but abstain from that which they know to be evil and they that do so are esteemed to have their pleasures and delight in the
For in the same Chapter he had shewed before into what State they must come before they can come to have Fellowship with God viz. To walk in the Light as Christ was in the Light and those that said They had Fellowship with God and Christ as the Priests and Professors do at this day and did not come to attain unto that State to walk in the Light but instead thereof walked in Darkness such said he were Lyars and did not the Truth Now he said his Fellowship was with the Father and with the Son which could not be if he had walked in Darkness or was a Sinner or that he had not walked in the Light as Christ was in the Light for then he would have made himself a Lyar if he had been a Sinner when he said that he had Fellowship with God and Christ And therefore it ought to be well observed that John speakes there of a sort of Men that were not yet brought to confess their Sins and if such came to that Conceit and Pride as to say they had no Sins to confess and so exalted themselves above the Witness of God that reproved them then such deceived themselves But if these that are so sinfull come to own that which brings them to a Confession of their Sins then God is Faithfull to forgive such their Sins and to Cleanse them from all Iniquity Now when this is done to wit when the Creature has confessed his Sin and God has forgiven it and Cleansed him What must then that Man say Must he then say that he has his Sin still when he has it not Must he say that he is Filthy and Defiled when he is Cleansed from all that This would be a Lye and If he should be Cleansed from all Sin he must certainly be Cleansed from Lyes And if it was his Duty to confess the Work of the Devil when it was standing in him which were his Sins May not he now being Cleansed confess God's Work that has Cleansed him he being Cleansed by him freely Must he therefore be cryed out of for a Deceiver and Heretick Who is so blind that cannot see that it is as serviceable as needfull and as lawfull for a man that has known the Power of God to clense him to confess that and to bear a testimony to that work as it is needfull and lawfull when the Devil's work is manifested in him to confess that and to bear a Testimony against that Yet saith John to those that were thus washed If we say that we have not sinned we make God a Lyar It is as much as if he would say That even those that are saved must confess to the Power of God by which they have been judged for sin and not to exalt themselves above it as if they had never sinned seeing that the Witness of God testifieth in all that they have sinned and come short of the Glory of God So that now the understanding Reader may see that John hath not written here of an impossibility of being Delivered from Sin but absolutely the contrary Namely that those that cannot say that they are without sin may come by confessing their sins to be Cleansed and made free from it yea from all that which is Unrighteous Yet some will say that the Apostle in that place useth the word We as if he included himself as if he would say at that time if I should say that I had no sin c. Answ This is no proof at all because the contrary is prov'd before to wit that he had Fellowship with God and Christ which no Man could have that walked not in the Light as he is in the Light and such may as well by the same manner of speaking prove James to be a Curser whereas he said with the Tongue we Bless God and with it we Curse Men that are made after the Image of God and many more such Instances might be brought forth of the Lamentations and Complaints of the Prophets concerning the House of Israel which is Translated so in that manner of speaking which does not prove at all that the Prophets were Guilty of such Sin and Rebellion of which they complained Neh. 9.37 c. But how zealous are these Pleaders for sin to find out words which they think do serve for the upholding of the Kingdom of their Master when there is not one word that properly belongs or was written to their purpose except that Part of it which the Devil and his Servants their Predecessors has Spoken or Written and that indeed may serve them as I once heard a Priest that was exhorting of the People to imploy their Time and Ability to gather knowledge confirming his Exhortation with the Scripture viz. Gen. 5. You shall be as Gods knowing Good and Evil. And an other a Mennist Preacher in North-Holland whilst he was warning the People to take heed of being Deceived he exhorteth them to Immitate the deaf Adders Psal 58.4 And so to stop their Bars against the voice of the Charmers that charm never so wisely So the one hath his Proof from the Adders and the other from the Devil Such Scripture Places as these I do confess that these Pleaders for Sin may find to strengthen their Arguments but that which was written by the Motion of the Holy Spirit of God is a perfect Testimony against them all against their Work and against their Prince So having answer'd their chiefest Objections which they draw out of the Scripture by which they endeavour to prove That none can be free from sin in this life contrary to Rom. 6.22 I make haste to the third great Argument of these Captives which they lay down against their own Freedom Thirdly That is That it is the Will of God to let some Sins remain in the Best of his People to keep them Humble thereby Answ If it be the Will of God that his best Servants should sin then his Will is done when they sin And what reason have any men to be humbled and cast-down because they have done the Will of God but rather to rejoyce and be glad that the Will of God is done and that their Will is conformable to the Will of God that the Will of both can be done together This is a very easie way to the Joy of the Lord if this brings to tha● sentence Well done Good and Faithful Servant c. But Wo unto those that are given up to believe this Lye Again Let the understanding Reader I mean those that are weary with their sins and are willing to be freed consider for as concerning the other they are my Opposers How can God properly be call'd Almighty and how can the Work of the Conversion of Souls properly be call'd His if he is necessitated to borrow something from the Devil to keep his Children Humble withal Certainly we must conclude That if God had a better way to do it that he would do it in the best and not
flyeth away and the perfect Love of God casts out fear and there is Death no more but that which is overcome by Immortality Blessed and Happy are all they that come to know that state and Blessed are they that Believe and waits to enjoy it and Blessed is that Hope which leads thereunto Now as concerning the chiefest matter of this Treatise to wit Concerning the Reign of the Devil among Men there is yet one thing worthy to be considered of which there is made mention in the Scriptures of Truth in which it appears that in the beginning and setting up of the Reign of Christ and that the Everlasting Gospel was Preached and that many Thousands had Believed and Obeyed it so that they came to be Witnesses of the Kingdom of Christ and that the Devil was cast out Dis-throned and put under their Feet and some were made Priests and Kings to God I say after all these things aforesaid there came an Apostacy from the Faith by which all these things afore mentioned were brought forth and of that Apostacy Paul Prophesied to the Thessalonians and John by the Spirit saw how that the Devil should get a great Dominion over Men by many changable Means and Wayes executing his Power as a Dragon then as a strange Beast with seven Heads and ten Horns at another time as a little Beast with two Horns then with an Image and then with a Whore c. And that the Almighty God has set and appointed a Time a certain Time to this Dreadfull Dark changable Government And has given John to know that it should last and continue but One Thousand Two Hundred and Threescore Days or Years And this is a set Time and hath its beginning and its ending but the Kingdom of Christ and also his Priest-hood are both after the power of an endless Life Now seeing that this last Power which the Devil has gotten is but to continue his appointed time Why should any be his Friend so far as to say that it must continue always and that it must never come to an end and that People no ways can get freedom from under his Tyrannical Power Certainly these Men that plead so strongly for his continual Reign and Power have more Reason and Understanding then they use As for instance suppose that one had hired a House or Farm of another for several Years and the Years being come to an end that Man to whom that House or farm belongeth has a desire to live in it himself And the In-dweller not being willing and they both should come to one of these Sin-pleaders to hear his judgment and determination I believe they would soon say to the In-dweller thou must depart the other is the Land-lord and thou hast had thy full Time and he now desiring to have his House he must have it and especially if the In-dweller was come into the House as a Thief in a dark Night and had kept it by Violence and had brought no profit to the Land-lord at all And this is properly the Cause between God and this Prince of Darkness for he has posessed the Inheritance of God and Ruled over it not to the advantage of the Lord But to his disadvantage and dishonour And yet these Men will not do so much right to God as they will do to their Neigbour But on the contrary they say that this Usurper or Thief that has stolen away the Hearts of Men from their Creator must sit there as long as there is a Man upon the Earth and not any Man Redeemed Oh! Blush for shame ye Hypocrites can you make a difference between Good and Evil among Men and will you not judge for God Come take your Books into your Hands and read the number of the Years it is called 1260. Days reckon after the reckoning of the Ancients 30. days to a Moneth and see whether that does not make out 42. Moneths and see whether 42. Moneths does not make a Time Times and half a Time and see what things are ordered to be in those different Times and see whether you can find out the beginning of those Times that so you may find the end of them for all those that had their confidence in the Number of the Year 1666. are now Confounded Ashamed and their Hope is frustrated And now it is high time to wait upon the Lord to get an Understanding and Knowledge which makes not ashamed Now the first thing to be considered to the opening of this thing is That the first appearance of this Man Child that was Born in Heaven by a Woman that was cloathed with the Son and had her Feet upon the Moon and was Crowned with the Stars The first I say that appeared against this Child was a great red Dragon Mark this was no Substitute under the Devil but was the Devil himself though he appeared in Heaven as you may see Revel 12.13 and he it is that has given Power to all those that have Persecuted this Woman or her Seed but as long as he was in Heaven he was no perfect Persecutor there he had no Power but only to be an Accuser of the Brethren and therein he busied himself Night and Day But by this it is evident that there was a Power over him to which he accused them and so long they could not sing but when he was cast out with his Angels then they sung Now is Salvation come and Power and the Kingdom of our God and the Power of his Christ for the Accuser of our Brethren that accused them Day and Night before our God is cast down c. But then wo unto them that dwell on Earth where the Devil got his Power that is in the Earthly Ground there he Rules with great Wrath Anger and Fury and Indignation Persecuting the Woman and the least appearance of her Seed and because he cannot do harm enough of himself he goes and makes him a Substitute to wit a Beast with Seven Heads and Ten Horns Mark just the Number of his own Heads and Horns only he came out of the Pit and this out of the Sea or Waters of which Waters you may read in Revel 15.17 That they are Peoples Tongues Languages and Nations and out of them came this strange Beast which the Devil counted worthy to have his perfect Power because he knew that he would do his Work for him to purpose and he received his Power for the space of 42. Moneths And his first Work was to Persecute the Saints Secondly to set up the Worship of the Devil Thirdly to bring the dread of this seven Headed Beast over the whole Earth Fourthly To blaspheme the Name of God and his Tabernacle and them that dwell therein And fifthly to make People believe that there is no overcoming of his Power And these Works are spread and carried on by three unclean Spirits which came forth out of the mouth of the Dragon Beast and False Prophet over all Kindreds
Nations Tongues and People and there was none able to resist them except those whose Names were written in the Book of the Life of the Lamb. And as concerning them because they would not receive the Mark of the Beast in their Fore-head or Right-hand They must be Banished and must not have Liberty to Buy or Sell and those that would Worship nothing but a Living Substance and not an Image though it was alive those must be killed and when that Sort was all Killed and Banished and the whole World being brought sometimes to Worship the Dragon sometimes to Worship the Beast that had so many Heads and Horns as the Dragon himself and then to Worship a little Beast with two Horns that came out of the Earth and then to Worship the Image of the old seven Headed Beast When I say that all things upon the whole Earth were thus disposed then was it as the Devil would have it for now had every one subjected himself unto his Power and received that Name or Mark or the Number of the Substitute and admired his great Power and set him up as the chiefest among Men whom none could overcome except some few that had the Word of God it self for the other had the Scripture and durst seal their Testimony against the Dragon and False-Prophet with their Blood and because these were but a few and were soon killed they being dead there was a Joyfull and Merry World the Devil was well-pleased and they did send their Gifts to one another abundantly and those that had been most busie and serviceable to kill the Witnesses that dared to speak of another Kingdom or Dominion besides that of the Dragon and Beast they had the greatest Gifts And in those days there was no Prophesying but in Sack-cloath and that did not continue long neither but the Prophets were killed and being Dead their Dead Bodies were kept above the Earth and were more esteemed of then their living Testimony was for that plagued all the Worshippers of the Beast So in such a time have the Nations been so long that they are so us'd to the Power and Raign of the Devil that they plead for it as if he had an undoubted Right thereunto And if the Devil might speak himself he would not desire of the World to rule any longer then the World alloweth him and they have forgot that it is but to continue Forty two Moneths whil'st the Man-Child was caught up unto God and whil'st his Mother was in the Wilderness and also that it was to be expected that both should appear again in their appointed time But whil'st it was thus with the World viz. That the true Church was not to be found upon Earth but was fled away as upon Eagle's Wings and that he that ought to rule over all was caught up into Heaven and that the Devil was in his place the old Serpent ruling and giving his power to whom he pleased to a Great Beast or Little Beast or to a Whore or to any thing like him And whil'st Great and Small High and Low Bond and Free did wonder at his power and were ready to worship any one that had his power let those whose Eyes are open but consider in what a Lamentable State the miserable World then was and whether that Abomination that made the World desolate of God and all good Order was not then set up in the Holy Place where it ought not And was the World without a Religion or without a Profession of God and Christ in those dayes No they bore a Profession of Christ that is Unchangeable in all their Changeable wayes and this was a time of Gladness to many and they had many sorts of Religions and when they came to be weary with one the Devil furnished them with another And when they had been exercised a long time in the aforesaid Worships of the Dragon the Seven-headed Beast the Little Beast and of the Living Image then there came forth yet a deeper Mystery of Iniquity then before the Mother of all these Abomination she shew'd her self not as a despis'd Whore but as a Queen decked with Scarlet Purple and Precious-Stones and that very Beast which none could over-come but the whole World had wondred after it he himself must be under her command and must carry her up and down upon the Waters which are Peoples Lands Tongues and Languages And this Whore hath another Design upon the poor blind World Mark She comes with a preparation to make all drunk that they might not make use of their Sences to bethink themselves where they were and that they might not have any suspition against any thing the furnishes her self with a Golden Cup which there was none that had any thing against it but every one could well receive it and this was but to deceive them for any Potsherd of the Dunghil had been good enough yea a Hog's Trough had been too good to drink that out of which she had to give them But she must give her drink to Kings and Princes and Nobles and Captains and Merchants and to all sorts of men so she proffer'd them her Cup and they have all drunk But what have they drunk Her Whoredoms Fornications and all Abominations of the Earth How much Till they were drunk What did they then They committed Fornication with her they were drunk of Abominations and the Whore was drunk of the Blood of the Saints and Witnesses of Jesus and yet the Name of Jesus was still professed upon Earth that was not persecuted but those were persecuted that witnessed Jesus himself that takes away sin such were persecuted For she being the Mother of Whores and having nothing to proffer to her Customers but Abominations she could not endure to hear That Sin which is an Abomination to the Lord should be taken away and that men should live without sin and be perfect For if so then she must be Childless and as a Widdow and must lose her High-place on the top of the Beast and then they would not be so drunk of her Cup and that would not tend to her Advantage therefore if any came to be Witnesses of Jesus himself she drunk the Blood of such but if they would be content to drink her Cup and so would please themselves with good and precious words and in the mean time drink in her Abominations then they might live and flourish as long as she flourished But Alas What do you think that read with Understanding was the state of the World in those dayes Was it not high time that Plagues Indignation and Vengeance should be pour'd out upon this Bloody Whore and upon the Seat of the Beast upon which she did ride and upon the whole Earth which had committed Fornication with her Is it not high time that the Carpenters should come Zach. 1.20 to cut off these Horns For at that time the power of Darkness was spread over all and the will of the Devil