out, for her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities: now must not she have her reward double? so though she sat as a queen, and said in her heart she should see no sorrow, nor mourning, therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, sorrow, and famine, and she shall be burnt with fire, for strong is the Lord God, that condemneth her, and all shall bewail her that she hath reigned over. 'Oh! heavens, rejoice over her, and ye holy apostles and prophets, for God hath given judgment on her, for she shall be cast down, and found no more, for in her was found the blood of the prophets and of the saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth, in this whorish power and spiritual Babylon, confusion, the beast and dragon, whom God hath judged. 'And after these things I heard a voice of a great multitude in heaven, (mark, in heaven,) saying, hallelujah, salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, be unto the Lord our God, for true and righteous are his judgments, he hath condemned the great whore, who did corrupt the earth with her fornications, and hath avenged the blood of his servants shed by her hand.' And again they said, hallelujah, and the smoke rose up for evermore, and a voice came out of the throne, saying, praise our God all ye his servants, and all ye that fear him, both small and great.' 'And I heard like the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of strong thunderings, saying, hallelujah, for the Lord God Almighty hath reigned; let us be glad and rejoice, and give glory unto him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready and to her was granted that she should be arrayed in pure white linen and shining, for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.' And so, when Babylon was fallen, the marriage of the Lamb came, (the true church which Christ is the head of,) as the false woman, the false church fell, and blessed are they who are called unto the Lamb's supper, and he said unto me these words of God are true,' and we know it to be true, who are come to the supper and to the marriage of the Lamb. And John fell down to worship him that showed him these things, but said he, 'see thou do it not, for I am thy fellow-servant and of thy brethren, who have the testimony of Jesus, worship God.' For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy,' and this we bear witness to. And all ye letter-professors that deny prophecy, and say it is ceased, ye have not the testimony of Jesus, for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. And John saw the heavens opened, and beheld a white horse, and he that sat on him was called 'faithful and true,' and he judgeth and maketh war in righteousness, and his eyes are as a flame of fire, and on his head many crowns, and a name written, that no man knew but himself, he was clothed in a garment dipped in blood, whose name is called the word of God.' This is Christ who is seen in heaven on the white horse, and the warriors which were in heaven fol lowed him upon white horses, clothed in white linen, white and pure.' 'And out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, that with it/he should smite the heathen, for he shall rule them with a rod of iron; and he it is that treadeth the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God, and he hath upon his garment and upon his thigh a name written, the King of kings, and Lord of lords, and this is Christ, blessed be the Lord forever.' were cast 'And the beast and the mighty men of the earth made war with him and his followers, but the beast was taken, and the false prophet that wrought miracles, whereby he deceived them that received e beast's mark, and them that worshipped his image: and these bo alive into the lake of fire that burneth with brimstone. nd there is the end of the beast and false prophet, that has been worshipped, and has deceived the world, that hath made war against Christ that is on the white horse and his followers, who hath the victory. And the remnant of them that worshipped the beast, were slain with the word that went out of his mouth, as may be seen.' Rev. xix. And here is the faith and patience of the saints. He that killeth with the sword, shall be slain with the sword, as Rev. xiii. 10. and he that leadeth into captivity, must go into captivity himself. And so after the beast is in the lake of fire, and the false prophet, 'I saw Satan bound, and cast into the bottomless pit, and shut up and bound for a thousand years. And I saw seats, and they that sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them. And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, which did not worship the beast nor his image, neither had taken his mark upon their forehead, nor in their hands; and they shall reign with Christ a thousand years and blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; for on such the second death shall have no power, and they shall reign with Christ a thousand years.' He doth not say, Christ shall come in person and reign with them, but they shall reign with Christ a thousand years; and when the thousand years are finished, Satan shall be loosed out of prison for a little season, and he shall go and deceive the people which are in the four quarters of the earth, even Gog and Magog, to gather them to battle: and they went up into the plain of the earth, which compassed the saints about, and the beloved city; but fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them; so there is an end of them also: and the devil that deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beasts and false prophets were cast before, VOL. V.-18. and shall be tormented even day and night for evermore.' And so here is the end of the devil also. And then John, saw also the dead both small and great stand before God, and the books were opened, and another book which is the book of life; and the dead were judged of those things which were written in the books, (mark, in those books, where all men's words and actions are written, according to their works,) and all gave up their dead, and every man was judged according to his works, and death and hell delivered up their dead, and death and hell was cast into the lake of fire: and this is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life, was cast into the lake of fire.' And this we know to be true, and believe, Rev. xx. that God will fulfil and perform by Christ Jesus. And then John 'saw a new heaven and a new earth, when the dragon, beast, whore, and false prophets, and devil were cast into the lake of fire and Babylon was fallen, &c. And the first earth passed away, and was no more seen. And he saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem come down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride trimmed for her husband, and I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be their God with them. And this we witness, blessed be the Lord God forever, who dwelleth with his people. 'And he that sat upon the throne said, behold I make all things new, and he said unto me, write, for these words are faithful and true, and he said unto me, it is done, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end. (to wit, Christ.) I will give unto him that is a-thirst of the well of the water of life freely.' And this we witness, and need not go to buy of the sellers who have it not; and he that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the unbelieving, fearful and abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. But will not the sorcerers, whoremongers, idolaters, liars and murderers say, that they are all believers in Christ? the devils believe, and tremble.' But ye do not believe in the light, as Christ commands, which should lead you from the second death; but ye hate the light, because your deeds are evil; and will not come to it, because it will reprove you. And so this is the condemnation that light is come into the world; but men love darkness rather than light: which light ye should believe in, and so become children of light, as Christ has commanded. So every true believer believeth as Christ has commanded; and in so doing, they obey his command. And John said, John xxi. 'One of the seven angels talked with him, saying, come, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife; and he shewed me the great city, holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.' And he that shewed it John, carried him away in the spirit to a great high mountain, &c. And so ye cannot see this holy city, new Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God, except ye be in the spirit that John was in, but this spirit ye deny. And so as the false city Babylon which was thrown down, seen by John then, and seen by the same spirit now, the great city, holy Jerusalem, that descends out from God, is set up, having the glory of God, and her shining was like unto a stone most precious. 'And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the Lamb and of the twelve apostles, and it had twelve gates, and at the gates, twelve angels, and the names written, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel, and he that talked with me, had a golden reed to measure the wall and the gates of the city and the city lay four-square, and the length is as large as the breadth of it: and he measured the city with the reed twelve thousand furlongs.' The Greek copy with Arias Montanus' interlineary translation hath it, Revelations, xxi. 16. sudios dádexa xixiádar dadexa that is, furlongs, twelve times twelve thousand, that is, one hundred forty-four thousand, that is the length and breadth, and the height being equal, is twelve thousand, being in all, one million seven hundred twenty-eight thousand furlongs, that is, two hundred sixteen thousand miles, that is ten times the compass of the earth, as it is commonly accounted, or thereabouts. [Twelve,] in the prophetical manner of speech, is a full number, as twelve tribes: and the height, length and breadth being all twelve, is the completeness: and the wall twelve times twelve, the completeness of a wall in cubits, that is one hundred forty-four cubits, the wall bearing proportion to the city, as cubits to furlongs, as the enclosing to the enclosed. The length, and the breadth, and the height were equal, and he measured the wall thereof, one hundred forty-four cubits, by the measure of a man, that is of the angel: and the twelve gates were twelve pearls, and every gate is of one pearl; and the streets of the city are of pure gold, as shining glass. And I saw no temple therein, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it; and the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it, for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light of it, and the people that are saved shall walk in the light of it, (mark, walk, not only talk,) and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honour unto it, and the gates of it shall not be shut by day, for there shall be no night there: and the glory and honour of the Gentiles shall be brought unto it, and there shall enter into it no unclean thing; neither whosoever worketh abomination or maketh lies. But they which are written in the Lamb's book of life. [Mark, in the Lamb's book of life.] Though the gates stand open, and are not shut, none can enter in, no unclean one, nor any liar. The angels that stand at the gates, and which are ministering spirits in flames of fire, will keep such out. Rev. xxi. And all ye letter-professors that plead for imperfection, and your body of sin and death to the grave, which are the devil's dregs, these gates are guarded against you with that great luggage on your backs to enter in at. And Rev. xxii. John saw a 'pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.' Happy are they that drink of this river. And in the midst of the street of it, and on each side the river was the tree of life, which bears twelve manner of fruits, and giveth fruits every month.' This is a fruitful tree that beareth every month, and is not this Christ? this is beyond all the trees in the earth. And the leaves of this tree served to heal the nation with, and there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him; and they shall see his face, (to wit, the Lamb's,) and his name shall be in their foreheads, and there shall be no night there, and they need no candle, nor light of the sun, for the Lord God giveth them light, and they shall reign for evermore.' These words are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants, the things which must shortly be fulfilled. Seal not up the words of this book, for the time is at hand. He that is unjust and filthy, let him be unjust and filthy still.' So he will plead for his filthiness as long as he liveth. 'He that is just and righteous, let him be just and righteous still.' And he will plead for his righteousness, which he hath from Christ, as long as he liveth. 'Behold, I come shortly, and my reward is with me, to give unto every man according as his works shall be; I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and ending, the first and last,' saith Christ: blessed are they that do his commandments, [mark, do not only talk,] that their right hand may be in the tree of life, and may enter in through the gate into the city for without are dogs, biters, worriers and enchanters, whoremongers, murderers, idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh lies. Here it is clear, all such are without the gates of this city, new Jerusalem, though they may talk of it, and give their meanings to it. And I, Jesus, have sent my angels to testify these things in the churches.' And the true churches are to give regard and belief unto his words, though the false churches do not. And this Jesus sent from heaven after he was risen: and this I tell you professors that say there was no hearing of his voice from heaven after he was risen. 'I am |