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best observances; neither is it possible that I should fail and miscarry of my greatness, or be in any danger of distress.

XVIII. 9 And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, &c.

And those kings and princes of the earth, which have been drawn into the partnership of her idolatries, shall bewail her, &c, XVIII. 11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for &c.

And those spiritual and temporal merchants, which were wont to enrich themselves with the costly wares, appertaining to her glorious superstitions, shall weep and mourn; for &c. So verses 12 and 13 &c.

XVIII. 21 And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more

at all.

And a mighty angel, to represent unto me the irrecoverableness of this Mystical Babylon, took up a great stone, like a millstone, and cast it into the sea; saying, Look how impossible it is, that this weighty stone thus violently cast into the sea should rise up from the bottom thereof again; so impossible is it, that this Babylon, thus dejected by the just hand of God, should ever recover itself from this final confusion.

XVIII. 23 For thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.

Those, that traded in thy spiritual merchandises, were great and mighty men, and heaped up very great treasures by that traffic of theirs; for, by the enchantments of thy false doctrines and idolatries were all nations deceived.

XVIII. 24 And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.

For she is found full of blood and cruelty; as being guilty of the effusion of the blood of God's faithful Prophets and Apostles, and of all his Saints and holy Martyrs upon earth.

XIX. 1 And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God.

And, after these things, I heard a very great applause in heaven, given by all the Saints and Angels; and a joyful acclamation of all the hosts thereof, praising God for the just destruction of this Mystical Babylon.

XIX. 3 And her smoke rose up for ever and ever.

And the smoke, which ariseth up from the fire of her destruction, shall ever ascend; and remain, as an assured witness of that her burning and utter consumption.

XIX. 7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.

Let us rejoice and be glad, and give glory to God: for, whereas Christ Jesus of old betrothed himself to the Spouse his Church,

now the marriage shall be fully solemnized and consummated; and the Bride, his Church, hath decked and trimmed herself, with those spiritual ornaments, that are fit for the Spouse of so glorious a Husband.'

XIX. 8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And this her Heavenly Bridegroom hath granted to her, for that purpose, the shining and precious raiments of purity and integrity; which is the dress, that he hath prepared for the souls of his Saints.

XIX. 9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

And the angel said unto me, Write thou, and make an everlast, ing record of this, which I shall now say unto thee; Blessed are they, which are effectually called by God, to be partakers of the marriage supper of Christ their Saviour, and are therein united unto him. And he said unto me, These things, which I have spoken unto thee, are the undoubted truths of God himself, and shall most certainly be fulfilled.

XIX. 10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

And I, seeing the glory of that angel and hearing him to mention the name of God, fell down to worship him, But he forbad this my adoration; and checked me for it, saying, Beware of offering any such kind of reverence to me: I am thy fellowcreature and thy fellowservant, and one of thy brethren in office; bearing, as thou dost, the testimony of Christ our Lord: worship thou God only; as for me, I am one of those ministering spirits, whom God doth use in the revealing of his mysteries to his prophets, that they may testify and declare them to men: and the office, of tes tifying Jesus to men is of the same rank with that, of revealing him by way of prophecy unto the teachers.

XIX. 11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

And now, after these representations of the bloody oppositions which should be made to his Church, and the discomfiture of his proud enemies, I saw heaven opened: and there was shewed me a representation, both of the happy triumph of Christ Jesus and his blessed Gospel, and of a preparation for a further victory: and, behold, there was shewed to me a white horse; and a glorious rider sat upon him, whose Name was The Faithful and True God, who doth judge justly, and revengeth righteously:

XIX. 12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.

Whose eyes are as sharp and as searching as fire, making passage into the very innermost and deepest secrets of the heart; aud

REVELATION.

upon whose head were many crowns, to signify his sovereign command over all the kingdoms of the earth: both He and his Name are infinite and incomprehensible, neither is any finite creature capable of the perfect knowledge thereof.

XIX. 13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.

And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood; to shew, that he had already victoriously steeped his garments in the blood of his enemies, and triumphed in their confusion, and so should do again and his Name is called, The Eternal and Incarnate Word of his Father.

XIX. 14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

And the armies of the Saints in heaven followed him, in a triumphant and warlike manner, upon white horses; clothed in perfection of purity and righteousness.

XIX. 15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

And out of his mouth proceedeth that sharp two edged sword of his mighty word, whereby he pierceth and subdueth the hearts of all nations: and, by the powerful scepter of that kingdom of his, he swayeth and governeth them; and he most justly and yet terribly executeth the fierce and final vengeance of God, upon his enemies.

XIX. 16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. And, in the demonstration of his power, he hath given open marks and proofs of his glorious sovereignty over all creatures; so as he is publicly proclaimed and acknowledged, The King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.

XIX. 17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;

And I saw an angel stand in the sun, the most conspicuous place in heaven, to execute the office of the great Herald of God; who, with a loud voice, cried to all the fowls that fly in the air, saying, Behold, there is a wonderful slaughter towards, of all the enemies of Christ: there will be infinite numbers of carcases strewed upon the earth; come, therefore, O all ye fowls of prey, and address yourselves to this great banquet, that the great God hath provided for you;

XIX. 18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, &c.

That ye may feed upon the delicate flesh of kings, and great commanders of the earth, &c.

XIX. 19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him, that sat on the horse, and against his army.

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And I saw the great Roman Monarch and his confederatol princes and their armies gathered together, to make war against Christ and his Gospel, and against the faithful professors thereof.

XIX. 20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false pro phet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

And that same presumptuous monarch was overcome and taken; and, together with him, that False Prophet, the Man of Sin, whe had, by pretence of many miracles, deceived both him and those that professed their homage to his idolatrous government, and ascribed divine worship to his shadow or image, that came in his roon. These both, after their grievous seducements and abomi nations, were cast down into hell.

XIX. 21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

As for the remnant of their followers, which, out of ignorance of simplicity, maintained their errors and tyrannies, they were slain by the powerful command of Christ; and, upon their bodily death, all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

XX. 1, 2, 3 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

And, whereas in my former vision, I had seen the Dragon persecuting the Church under the tyrannical rule of the Heathen Emperors; now I saw an Angel come down from heaven, having power and commission from God, to chain up and imprison the Dragon, that Old Serpent, the Devil; and to restrain his power during the space of a thousand years, after Constantine's restoring of peace to the Church: who did, accordingly, lay hold on him, and shorten and restrain his power and malice, from his wonted violent and subtle machinations against the Church; that he should not, in so prevalent manner, deceive the nations of the earth, until that thousand years were accomplished: and, after that, he must be let loose for some further exercise of God's chil dren, and seducement and destruction of his enemies; but that liberty of his shall be but for a short time.

XX. 4 And I saw thrones, and they 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, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

And now I saw such glory and majesty put upon the faithful ones,

in the time that Satan was shut up, as that they sat upon thrones; and the power of judgment was committed unto them, to manage the affairs of God's Church, and to execute due censures upon the offenders: and I saw those faithful and holy martyrs, which were ready to lay down their lives for the testimony of Jesus Christ and his Gospel; and those, which refrained from and abhorred the idolatry of the times: and they lived and reigned with Christ, in a sanctified and comfortable estate here upon earth; framing themselves to all godly courses, during all this time of the thousand years of Satan's restraint.

XX. 5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. But, for the rest, which lay dead in their sins and impieties, they did not at all recover, at the last, this spiritual happiness and life, and attain to the true knowledge and fruition of God. This, which we now speak of, viz. the abandoning of the corruptions of the times, and attaining to the true knowledge and love of the saving truth of God, and a conscionable obedience to him, is the First Resurrection.

XX. 6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. Blessed and holy is he, that thus hath his part in this First Resurrection for, certainly, on such, the Second Death, which is eternal damnation and separation of the soul from God, neither hath nor can have any power; but they shall be wholly consecrated to the service of God and his Christ; and shall here reign with him, in their several times, all the whole space of the thousand years, wherein Satan is shut up: they shall triumph in God and themselves, while the rest of the world is in vexation and bondage.

XX. 7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison.

And when those thousand years shall be expired, Satan shall, for the time, be let loose, and suffered to raise great tumults and troubles in the world,

XX. 8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: &c.

And shall, upon fair pretences, stir up all the enemies of God's Church, which are in all the regions of the earth, both Scythians, Turks, and mis-believing Christians; and shall gather them together to battle, against the little flock of Christ: &c.

XX. 9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

And they went up into all the coasts of the earth, and by their great number encompassed the small handful of God's Saints round about; and, taking advantage of their paucity, hemmed them in, as enclosing the true believing Church, for the slaughter: but the fire of God's wrath did, as it were, fall from heaven upon

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