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 Division 
 
 Section 
 
 No 
 
 1; 
 
 
LITTLE BOOK OPEN: 
 
 CONTAINING THE 
 
 CRY OF A LOUD VOICE AS WHEN A LION ROARETH; 
 
 LAYING OPEN 
 
 THE REVELATIONS, 
 
 AND ALSO THE FAITH ONCE DELIVERED TO THE SAINTS. 
 
 FROM THE HAND OF JOHN WHITEHEAD. 
 
 " Like as the lion, and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a MULTITUDE OF 
 SHEPHERDS is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase 
 himself for the noise of them, so shall the LORD OF HOSTS come down to fight for 
 Mount Zion, and for the hill thereof" Is. xxxi. 4. 
 
 " Take it, and eat it up ; and it shall make thy liclly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth 
 sweet as honey." Rev. x. 9. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 PRINTED FOR JOHN WHITEHEAD, HAMPTON, Va. 
 
 1836. 
 
Entered, according to the act of congress, in the year 1836, by John 
 Whitehead, in the clerk's office of the district court for the eastern 
 district of Pennsylvania. « 
 
 A. WALDIE, PR. 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 29, for " and he their God," read a.7\d be their God. 
 
 Page 31, for " Rev. 2," read Rev. xi. 
 
 Page 47, line 3, for "we, having nothing to do, do not do it, and are sinners," 
 read — we, having something to do, do not do it, and are sinners. 
 
 Page 52, last line, for " the word of God w;is written," read has written. 
 
 Page 6], line 18, for "he thirstcth," read thirsted. 
 
 Page 63, line 28, alter "to have something to" insert do. 
 
 Page 69, line 16, for " tiiat there was no power," read that there is no power. 
 
 Page 71, line 33, for " If he be utterly vain," read If it be utterly vain. 
 
 Page 72, line 4, for " Judah (and the Protestant churches,)" read Jadah (i. e. the 
 Protestant churches). 
 
 Page 78, line 7, for " teachers of his lies," read teachers of lies. 
 
 Page 90, line 9, for "his own religious work," read his own righteous work. 
 
 Page 92, line 6, for " bondman," read bondwoman, and correct the same in other 
 places. 
 
 Page 119, line 2, for " to make this beast more," read to make this beast move. 
 " " line 7, for " is very wicked," read is very wickedness. 
 
 Page 126, 12lh line from the bottom, for " is now cast out," read is not now 
 cast out. 
 
 Page 131, for " (Matth. 2. 4,)" read {Matth. 24. 22.) 
 
 Page 139, Ch. 14th, omit the letter "V" before the numerical summary of 
 events which are afterwards revealed. 
 
 Page 140, omit the heading "Ch. XV.," for the 14th chapter now only begins 
 after the preceding remarks and summary. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The contents of this book are indeed extraordinary, and the 
 doctrine it unfolds wonderful. " To the word and to the testi- 
 mony^^ let every man go and search, and he will see that he who 
 will believe the plain and simple word and testimony of God 
 cannot be deceived, and cannot be mistaken. It was no doubt 
 necessary that such a book as this should be confirmed in an 
 extraordinary manner — that the evident and manifest authority 
 of God should be given to his own truth and doctrine, at a time 
 and in a day when that truth is lost and unknown in the con- 
 fusion of religious sects, and in the unintelligible confusion of 
 religious books and doctrines : and accordingly it is so. 
 
 Many things will concur to deceive men, and lead them away 
 from giving any heed to the contents of this book. If there 
 were no deceivers, no deceptions, no deceitful lusts, enticing 
 and blinding men, none would be deceived and none would 
 perish — for all would believe ; but God hath in his wisdom 
 suffered the devil to have great power, and suffered his delu- 
 sions to be strong, that they whom it is not the good pleasure 
 of his will to save, may not be saved against their will. There- 
 fore the truth of God has always appeared an absurdity to the 
 men of this world, and especially to the wise and prudent 
 among them, but who are not wise enough to receive the truth. 
 
 God will deliver those on whom he will have mercy, (to whom 
 he will give repentance and make willing, and draw unto him- 
 self,) from " all the pozver of the enemy." But Satan has got 
 ready beforehand delusions expressly prepared by him against 
 this Little Book, that the manifest truth of its contents may be 
 suspected, and that it may be classed with, and, if possible, be 
 buried in and swept away by the flood of falsehood which he 
 has poured out against the truth — the covenant of God's ever- 
 lasting love — which covenant is called a woman. Those, there- 
 fore, who hate the truth in their hearts, (though "with their 
 mouths they show much love^") will not be in want of abundant 
 
VI prp:pace. 
 
 strong reasons, and satisfactory proofs to their minds, to reject 
 the counsel of God. When they saw that the truth would cut 
 down all the pride, and all the covetous projects, and all the 
 hopes and delights (or lusts) of the earthly man, they would be 
 very sorry indeed if this truth was so plain that they could not 
 possibly deny it, but must submit to it, finding no hole to creep 
 out of; therefore they have the secret wish of their hearts fully 
 gratified ; Satan provides abundant delusions for them, so 
 numerous and strong that {for a short time) they will not 
 merely escape the truth, but triumph over it altogether, and be 
 positively and fully convinced tliat they are right and the truth 
 of God is wrong. 
 
 Before Christ came, Satan, who knew he was shortly to 
 appear, raised up just before the time many false christs ; so 
 that when the true Messiah came — when God was manifested 
 in the flesh and named Jesus — those who wished not to receive 
 him, and to be saved from their sins, were able to say, " This is 
 merely another false christ ; he will turn out like all the others ; 
 it will all end in smoke. ''^ 
 
 Before this little book has appeared, one man has already 
 come, preaching that — all the religious sects and denominations 
 are wrong ; and that, since the days of the apostles, the apos- 
 tolic form has not been followed — (as if the truth of God con- 
 sisted in a form.) And thus, by exposing the glaring errors of 
 the religious world, Satan has attempted to bring in " damnable 
 heresies and doctrines of devils,^' and to gain to his old lies the 
 name of the ^^ Reformation f^ so that he may get men still to 
 remain worshippers of the beast— still to have confidence in 
 man, and his piety, and his doings — and for a Reformation, to 
 adopt a form and decry some palpable errors ! 
 
 Another delusion, which Satan has prepared beforehand 
 against the true doctrine of Christ contained in this little book, 
 has been a sect called Mornionites, who have put forth a book 
 which they say they found ready written, and to which they 
 attribute divine authority; thus many will be able to satisfy 
 themselves that they need pay no attention whatever to this 
 little book, by saying that it is merely another delusion of the 
 same description. 
 
 But (and let it be pondered well) this book does not pretend 
 to inspiration more than the books, and sermons, and preachers, 
 of all the religious sects : they all say they speak by the spirit 
 
PREFACE. Vll 
 
 of God — and that is to be inspired. Now, if they speak the 
 truth, then they do speak by the spirit of God — then they are 
 inspired. They are obliged to say they speak by the spirit of 
 God, (else they must acknowledge they are liars,) and yet they 
 will make a great outcry against one's saying the same thing. 
 To the Word and to the testimony^ and no mistake can be made 
 who speaks by the spirit of God and who does not. But that 
 no one may be frightened by the cry which will doubtless be 
 made against "inspiration," as if it necessarily and inevitably 
 involved arrogance and presumption, let every man know that, 
 if he is a child of God and believes, he must bear this charge 
 and accusation upon himself also ; for the Holy Ghost has 
 written, that if a man is not inspired he is none of Christ's — 
 he does not belong to him (Romans, viii. 9). It is also written, 
 that a man cannot even say that Jesus is the Lord, unless he is 
 inspired. (1 Cor. xii. 3.) 
 
 If men were conscious that they spoke the truth, and nothing 
 but the truth, then they would not be afraid to acknowledge 
 that it was God's truth, and not their own ; but when they are 
 convicted by their own conscience of picking up what they 
 profess to know from books, and men's wisdom and teaching, 
 they wish that others should do the same, and make a great 
 outcry against being taught of God, and speaking by the spirit 
 of God ; for, conscious that they themselves are not taught by 
 God, they must persuade themselves and others that no one 
 else is : hence arise charges and accusations of " arrogance," 
 " presumption," " inspiration," (fcc. It is indeed arrogance and 
 presumption when man claims any thing to himself, or as of 
 himself: the glory which God puts upon all his saints is not 
 personal, nor is it bodily ; it is Christ's, not theirs ; it is in 
 Christ, not in them ; " they are complete in HimJ' 
 
 Also, this book contains nothing new, but, on the contrary, 
 that which is old and ancient, the faith of our fathers — of Abra- 
 ham, Isaac, and Jacob — the faith of God's people in all ages. 
 The doctrines of this Time are new, the doctrines of strange 
 children, who " are come into thine inheritance, thy holy temple 
 have they defied." It contains nothing but that great truth 
 which is revealed and testified throughout the Scriptures, open- 
 ing, explaining, inculcating, and reiterating the same over and 
 over again in various ways. 
 
 All the efforts of the enemy will not succeed with those 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 who " seek after wisdom as for hidden treasure,^^ to whom God 
 hath given the mind and the wish to know the truth : they 
 who would not diligently seek and enquire, who would not go 
 every length and make every sacrifice to obtain truth, will 
 surely not find it, but will give heed to the first lie which turns 
 away from it, (because, in truth, at the bottom of their hearts 
 they do not care a straw about it,) whereas they would go thou- 
 sands of miles and not be turned away by any persuasion from 
 the pursuit of a sum of money. 
 
 It is against God's elect that Satan raises up all these delu- 
 sions and false lights, that he may lead them astray, but he 
 cannot succeed with them ; God will fight for his Church, for 
 Mount Zion, and " iio weapon that is formed against thee shall 
 prosper^ 
 
 " Behold, I come quickly ; blessed is he that keepeth the sayings 
 of the prophecy of this Book.'''' " He which testificth these things 
 saith, Surely I come quickly : Amen. Even so, come^ Lord Jesus." 
 
 Philadelphia, September 1, 1836. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The law of God must be fulfilled, it cannot be broken ; it is the 
 very principle of right and wrong, and it is utterly impossible that it 
 can be broken in one jot or tittle. No wrong of any kind can be 
 done and go unpunished, else it were no law at all, and evil were no 
 evil at all. 
 
 The law of God is written in the hearts of all men, by which they 
 all know that evil is evil, and good is good. But as men pervert 
 this law and put it from them, and persuade themselves that evil is 
 not evil, God gave this law in writing to a chosen people, by Moses 
 and by the prophets, that truth might be known on the earth for the 
 sakes of all those whom he will teach knowledge. 
 
 This law of God is the very substance of right and wrong ; but for 
 it being written in their hearts, men would never have had any idea 
 or any perception whatever of right or wrong. This law, that good 
 must be done, and evil must not be done, God has established for 
 ever, and it cannot be broken. Evil is therefore sure to follow evil, 
 and the judgment of the world for wickedness is sure and inevitable. 
 
 This law is perfect, and therefore admits of no evil or wrong what- 
 ever, nothing short of perfect good is an obedience to this law ; if 
 it admitted less than perfect good it would be both a vain and an 
 unrighteous law, for the least evil being permitted, it would sanction 
 all evil. An imperfect obedience is a violation of it ; herein is the 
 condemnation of men. that they do not perfectly obey the law of 
 God. 
 
 All men will be judged according to this law, whether they have 
 obeyed it, or whether they have not, whether they have done good 
 or evil ; they all know and confess its truth and justice, for by it 
 they accuse and condemn one another, and take vengeance one upon 
 the other, for it is written in their hearts, they know it naturally. 
 When they say " if a man is virtuous he will he happy, if he is honest 
 he will prosper, vice will bring misery, ^^ and the like, they utter their 
 knowledge of the law of God, which they have by nature. When 
 they say " if you do good, you will go to heaven; if not you will go 
 to hell," they express their knowledge of the law of God which they 
 have naturally ; for this is the law, that good will be rewarded and 
 evil also will be justly rewarded. Now if the good be amplified by 
 being called piety, religion, faith, &c., and if the reward be amplified 
 by being called heaven, yet it is still only the law of God ; and if the 
 evil be expressed by the name of irreligion, impiety, unbelief, &c., and 
 the punishment more forcibly represented by the words hell and de- 
 struction, &c., yet it is nothing but the law of God which men know 
 naturally. And also if the good be inculcated and recommended by 
 1 
 
2 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 speaking of Christ and love and the goodness of God, and if the evil 
 be exhibited as the suffering of everlasting punishment, yet none of 
 these additions or appendages change the fact ; it is still the law of 
 God which men know by nature, which law is true, and makes 
 known the fact, that good is surely followed by good as its reward, 
 and evil is inevitably allied with evil as its own punishment. All 
 these truths, however variously expressed, and though mixed up with 
 whatever other sentiments, or united with the most pathetic descrip- 
 tions of the death of Christ, and eulogies of the goodness of God ; — 
 though enforced by the most terrific descriptions of punishment to 
 come, are nothing but the law of God which all men know by 
 nature. 
 
 Those who profess to serve God and obey the Gospel, call this 
 natural knowledge of the law of God by the names of divinity, gospel, 
 piety, or religion : they are spoken of by the Spirit of God as the 
 Earth. Those who wickedly reject the authority of God, and revile 
 his word, call their '"^tural knowledge of the law of God by the 
 names of virtue, morality, honour, &c. ; these are described by the 
 Spirit as the Sea, which signifies the world in general, as the Earth 
 standing out of the waters signifies the body of religious professors. 
 But at this time the Sea and the Earth are confounded together, 
 there is no difference in their doctrine, it is what they know natu- 
 rally of the law of God. They both know the law and fulfil it not ; 
 they both preach that they ought to do good and practise virtue, and 
 they do evil. To testify against one is to testify against them both, 
 and to declare God's truth is to set the feet upon (that is, to testify 
 against) the sea and the earth, for they are now confounded together. 
 Wherefore the Apostle speaking before of this day, has called the 
 men of the Earth, not only wandering stars, having wandered far 
 from the truth of the kingdom of heaven, but also " raging waves of 
 the Sea,'''' for they are also men of the world, natural men, (calling 
 their natural knowledge and fleshly wisdom the Gospel of God) 
 '■\foaming out their oion shame ;" this they do when they talk loudly 
 of their convictions for sin and what hell-deserving sinners they are ; 
 which, true as it is, is a shame and disgrace to every man. 
 
 God has expressly declared in the psalms that " no man doeth 
 good, no, not one.^' All men know that they ought to do good, and 
 not to do evil, this is the law of God written in their hearts ; but 
 Righteousness, that is, doing good, does not come by knowing this ; 
 Righteousness does not come by the law. So certain this is, that 
 the Apostle declares that if having the law, knowing that we ought 
 to do good and not to do evil, would lead men to do good, then the 
 death of Christ would be unnecessary ; saying to the Galatians " if 
 righteousness come by the laxo, then Christ is dead in vain." Not- 
 withstanding the express word of God to the contrary, the Earth, 
 that is, the professors of religion, who profess to know and to be obe- 
 dient to the word of God, imagine that they do good, and call upon 
 men to do good, and highly esteem what they call piety, and pious 
 actions and feelings which they imagine to be good. They tliink 
 that they do good, that they obey God's law, (for there is no other 
 good and no other Righteousness than a perfect and continual obe- 
 
IIVTEODUCTION. 3 
 
 dience to the law of God :) thus making God a liar, for God declares 
 that no man doeth good ! They cover this wickedness by deceit, 
 pretending to ascribe the good which they believe they do, to God, 
 saying they do good by the Grace of God assisting them ! God 
 doth not assist evil man who doeth not good, to do good : the sons 
 of Adam do no good, neither with nor without assistance, they do no 
 good at all ! God hath said this ! Christ Jesus, a new man the Son 
 of God, alone doeth good (therefore he is called the Holy One) : he 
 doeth good, that is perfect Righteousness for them that receive him, 
 and the evil man hath no share nor part in doing the good, the 
 righteousness, which he alone doeth ; this his own doing, his own 
 Righteousness, he gives to and puts upon them that believe, and by 
 this only they are righteous, and perfect fulfillers of the law, even 
 by his doing, and his only. Therefore, no Righteousness comes by 
 the law, and all Righteousness comes by Christ, and by him only, 
 who is the righteous One, who is the Righteousness of God. 
 
 If God had never spoken and declared that no man doeth good, 
 men bear witness of themselves and declare of themselves that they 
 do not do good, that though they know the law, and talk of virtue 
 and piety, yet they do not do good : their own records of themselves, 
 their histories for nearly 6000 years are records of crimes, and tes- 
 timonies of disorder, confusion and evil. Vain is all confidence in 
 the flesh, vain is the expectation that evil man will be good ; vain is 
 it to cry " do good''' " do good''' to this sinful and malicious beast, 
 who hath eyes but he seeth not, and ears but he heareth not. 
 
 The law of God requires men to do good continually, and to do no 
 evil or wrong whatever, and its curse is upon all those who do 
 wrong, who do not continually do good. This curse of the law is 
 certain and inevitable ; if it could be escaped, the law would be no 
 law at all, it would be a lie, and there would be no such thing as 
 right and wrong. Since no man doeth good, no man ca,n be saved 
 under this law, for it condemns all who are under it ; being under 
 this law a man is a transgressor and wicked ; this it is which renders 
 him wicked, viz. being a transgressor of this law, and not obeying it 
 in all things and continually. Since therefore there is no Righte- 
 ousness by the law, by knowing it and following it and by trying to 
 obey it, for let him do what he will, no man doeth good, therefore 
 there is no Salvation by the law, for there camiot be Salvation with- 
 out Righteousness. 
 
 If the Gospel of God was sent to command men to do good, there 
 could be no Righteousness, and consequently no salvation by the 
 Gospel any more than by the law ; for since God declares that no 
 man doeth good, no man would obey the Gospel any more than the 
 law, and no one could be saved by such a gospel. If the Gospel 
 were a new means of doing good, with stronger inducements and 
 better promises than the law, whereby to induce, and assist, and 
 help men to do good by the grace of God, then the Gospel would be 
 altogether vain and useless, for God expressly declares that no man 
 doeth good at all, and therefore it is manifest that no man doeth 
 good by any inducement or assistance, or grace, or help, or entice- 
 ment ; and thei-efore if this were the Gospel, no man would be saved 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 under it. Besides, if such were the case, if the Gospel were a pro- 
 mulgation of good and excellent precepts to men, to guide and teach 
 them to do good, if it were an inducement and persuasive to them to 
 do good, such a Gospel would be most vain and unnecessary, for the 
 Law of God is all this ! The law is a perfect and comprehensive 
 code of all that is good and true; it is perfect, and wants no addition 
 or help ; it ofiers every possible inducement and promise and stimu- 
 lus to men to do good, and not to do evil ; and if the Gospel was 
 such as this, commanding or persuading men to do good, it would be 
 nothing but the law itself; for the law of God commands and per- 
 suades men to do good '; it is perfect, and omits nothing : there is no 
 good that ought to be done, there is nothing wise and excellent that 
 men ought to pursue, but the Law of God contains and commands it 
 all. Whatever precepts or commands to do good can be given, they 
 are already contained in the Law of God. All persuasions to do good, 
 by whatever name they may be called, whether called virtue, or 
 morality, or religion, or gospel, or philosophy, or piety, are the law 
 of God ; whatsoever says to men " do good''' is the law and truth of 
 God, though it may be covered and disguised with many mixtures 
 and vain additions. 
 
 Therefore the Gospel of God is not the law of God ; the law of 
 God commands to do good, tlie Gospel brings no such command, it 
 is not wanted, for the law commands all good perfectly and abun- 
 dantly, and requires no assistance or addition, for it is perfection 
 itself; if the Gospel were a law commanding to do good, it would be 
 vain and unnecessary, since there is a law doing all this, and doing it 
 perfectly. 
 
 Neither does the Gospel, or the Grace of God, give any help or 
 assistance to men to obey the law, that is, to do good. All who are 
 under the law, are transgressors and wicked ; they have got to do 
 good, and they do not do it, and therefore they are under condemna- 
 tion, and are wicked. And God gives no grace to the wicked, he is 
 angry with them every day, as the prophet David declares. Also 
 Isaiah says, speaking the words of God, that it would be of no use 
 whatever to show them grace, that is favour ; saying, " let favour he 
 showed to the tvicked, yet will he not learn righteousness, in the land 
 of uprightness jvill he deal unjustly, and will not behold the Majesty 
 of the Lord.^^ God cannot show favour to those who do not per- 
 fectly obey the holy law, it would bo to violate his own law, which 
 cannot be violated ; they are under a curse, and cannot also at the 
 same time be under a blessing. Christ is of no effect to them who 
 are under the law, says the Apostle. 
 
 Besides, if Christ assisted men by his Grace to do good, then they 
 would do good, and God would be made a liar, for God declares they 
 do not do good. 
 
 If God assisted men by his Grace through Jesus Christ to do 
 good, they would be perfect, and never do evil, for to do good is per- 
 fectly to obey the law, else a man is a transgressor whatever he may 
 seem to do. 
 
 If men did good, being assisted or induced by the Grace and 
 mediation of Christ, they might boast before God : the glory woidd 
 
INTRODUCTION. t> 
 
 be due to them, (for they would fulfil the law, else it is no good at 
 all,) and some thanks only would be due to God for helping them. 
 Man would be above God ; man would be the doer, and God a help ; 
 man would be the principal, and God an instrument and servant to 
 him. The wicked teachers of this abomination profess that it is so, 
 when they allege, with feigned condescension and humility, that all 
 the good they do is only by the instrumentality of God, making Him 
 an instrument to them ! This method of salvation, which proceeds 
 from the father of lies and is a lie, which is the false and lying Gos- 
 pel of this evil time, by which man is exalted above God, he, that 
 wicked one, doing all, by the Grace of God, is most highly pleasing 
 to man, but is an abomination before God. 
 
 To preach to man, the sinful man, (that is, the man of sin,) saying 
 to him " do good,^^ is to set at nought the Lord Christ, and to make 
 his death a vanity; it is to put him out of the way, which is to cru- 
 citV him afresh ; for the Holy Ghost has expressly declared that if 
 good, that is Righteousness, come by the law of doing good, by our 
 following it, or our exertions to obey it, then Christ is dead in vain. 
 
 To preach to man to do good, all good, the good which God's 
 righteous law requires, and nothing more nor less than it, real good- 
 doing to one another, and to all men in all things and continually, 
 and no wrong, no evil whatever, — to do this in deed and in truth, is 
 to preach God's holy, moral, just, and perfect law. But even this is 
 not to preach Christ or his gospel, there is no good news in this, 
 here are no glad tidings, for inasmuch as men do not obey this holy 
 law, they are condemned by it, and cannot hope for salvation under 
 it. But to preach to men a partial and not a perfect fulfilling of 
 God's law, to preach substitutes of religious invention (ideas, doc- 
 trines, feelings, convictions, joining societies, and churches, &;c. &c.,) 
 instead of the real and perfect good-doing, the righteousness of God's 
 eternal law of right and wrong, — to call these things good, to dare 
 to say that the Grace of God helps men in this wickedness, to dare 
 to say that having good to do, a man can be saved if he does short 
 of real good, and complete and continual obedience, — this is not only 
 not to preach Christ or his Gospel, but it is not even to preach the 
 law ! If even in preaching God's true and perfect law, there is no 
 gospel and no salvation, what salvation is there in the preaching of 
 the law mutilated, set aside, and overthrown ; in preaching vain 
 things which are not the perfect law of God 1 By the law of God, 
 the inviolable and perfect law of right and good, real good, that is. 
 Righteousness, must be done, and no wrong no evil whatever must 
 be done ; but to preach to men that, if they do something or any 
 thing whatever less than perfect obedience in all things and con- 
 tinually, that then they will be saved by the Grace of God, through 
 the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, — this is turning the Grace 
 of God into lasciviousness ; it is making the law a lie, since it need 
 not be perfectly and wholly obeyed ; it is permitting imperfect obe- 
 dience, which is transgression ; and it is making Christ and his 
 grace the minister of this sin, the means and plea for admitting evil 
 and overthrowing the law ! 
 
 This is overthrowing, destroying, or killing God's law, taking 
 
6 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 away all its force, and life, and power, saying it does not require 
 complete obedience ; and also it is destroying and killing the Gospel, 
 for there can be no salvation ; it cannot save, if it leaves man under 
 the law, bound to fulril it, and cursed and condemned as transgressors 
 of it. This is now done in this day, by the Earth, those who profess 
 to have the knowledge of God, and to be servants and children of the 
 most high God, the professors of religion, whp trample under foot 
 the Son of God, and set him at nought, looking to do good, that is 
 looking for Righteousness, to their own efforts and obedience of the 
 law, thus crucifying and despising the Son of God, the only Righteous 
 One ; and also while they look for life from the law of doing good, 
 yet at the same time trampling under foot that very law, and setting 
 up imaginary good of their own invention instead of it ! Thus the 
 two witnesses of God, the law by which God testifies to man of 
 righteousness and judgment to come, and the Gospel by which God 
 witnesses to men of Grace and of the Righteousness of God, both 
 these two witnesses which have long prophesied in sackcloth, in 
 weakness and obscurity (viz. for 42 months, i. e. 1260 years) are 
 now at length killed : the bodies of these witnesses are the books 
 which contain the testimony of the law and of the Gospel, called the 
 Bible; these are now dead, a dead letter, but (which would be far 
 better) they are not buried, the law and the Gospel are slain, but 
 their bodies, their mere carcasses, the bible, is set up almost as a 
 god, and is sent about and seen of all the sects, and names, and par- 
 ties (kindreds and tongues and nations) of the earth (apostate cor- 
 rupt Christendom). 
 
 The earthly men, professors of human piety and human Righteous- 
 ness, were always tormented when the truth of the law and of the 
 Gospel was preached, even though in sackcloth ; but now they arc 
 merry and triumphant, and send about the presents of their tracts and 
 '■'■good books;" now they are no longer tormented with hearing the 
 voice of truth, and in their triumph they proudly talk of bringing 
 about the Millennium with a little more exertion of human power and 
 righteousness! But their time is at hand, and they dream not of it. 
 They are a city, spoken of by the Spirit of God, by the name of 
 Sodom and Egypt and Babylon, and this city and its proud battle- 
 ments must be destroyed, for it is a city of falsehood and violence, 
 and hatred and strife, and confusion and hypocrisy. 
 
 Wickedness to such an extent, and triumphing with so much con- 
 fidence under the deceitful appearance of wonderful holiness and 
 piety and humility, has never before been witnessed in the world 
 since its foundation ; in no other time the law of God, that just and 
 true and holy law of doing right and not doing wrong, has been so 
 completely slain and thrust aside, and such vain and idle substitutes 
 set up in the place of it : and in no other time since Christ appeared, 
 has his holy name and doctrine been so despised and trampled under 
 foot. And this is now done, not by enemies, with shame and fear ; 
 not by the declared ungodly, but the law is thrown down and Christ 
 is crucified afresh and put to shame, triumphantly, boastingly, and 
 confidently, by those who call themselves servants and children of 
 God ! and they commit this wickedness under the very name and 
 
INTRODUCTION. . 7 
 
 pretence and with the profession of serving God faithfully and zeal- 
 ously, and doing wonderful things for him ! Accordingly even 
 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of this religious genera- 
 tion. This generation which crucifies afresh the Lord of Glory, 
 setting him at nought, holding him up to scorn and derision, as per- 
 forming a useless work and dying in vain, setting up above him the 
 righteousness and piety of filthy and wicked man, this is the same 
 with that generation which also crucified him before, preferring their 
 own Righteousness before the Righteousness of God. But when 
 they crucified him they did not practise deceit, they did not kiss him 
 and pretend to obey him, nor call him " the dear Redeemer," while 
 they set him at nought ; they did not talk in feigned raptures of his 
 grace and power when they, as these do, openly exhibited him slain 
 by them. They also set aside the law of God by their traditions, 
 but they did not altogether kill it by nothing but vain substitutions 
 of their own piety in its place ; for they were strict and devout 
 according to the law, and some of them as to the righteousness of 
 the law were blameless. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The doctrine is most true, that all who do good shall be saved ; all 
 without exception, without any favour, or election : this is true, for 
 it is the law of God ; whosoever he be who doeth good and who 
 doeth no evil, he shall save his soul alive ; this is the law of God, 
 and it is true ; here is no favour, here is no election ; such a person 
 must be saved, it is due to him, it is a debt. If God left all men 
 under this law, viz. that if they did good they should live, it would 
 be right and good ; and no man then would be saved (for no man 
 doeth good) and this also would be right and good. 
 
 Since this law cannot be broken, no man who is under it can be 
 saved unless he perfectly fulfils it in all things and at all times : and 
 since no man does this, no man can be saved who is under this law. 
 If a man is under this law, it requires of him all good and no evil ; 
 nothing short of perfect obedience will be admitted by it, for it is 
 against all evil ; and also it is inexorable, it cannot forego its de- 
 mands or admit of the least violation of its commands, else it were 
 no law at all ; and therefore no man can be saved who is under it, 
 for no man obeys it. 
 
 It is a monstrous deception of Satan, by which a man imagines 
 that God will sufter the law to be violated by taking a part obe- 
 dience instead of a perfect obedience, or by relaxing in its demands : 
 this is impossible ; God does not set up a law and then cast it down ; 
 all who are under this law must perfectly obey it, or they are lost. 
 All men are born under this law, and under it they must remain 
 unless God removes them from under it, for they cannot set it aside 
 nor escape from it. All men cannot be taken from under it, all can- 
 not be saved, for if so, there would be no law, that is, no right and 
 wrong, and the Law having been given declaring the wrath of God 
 against all wrong-doing, would be a lie, and there would be no wrath 
 
a . IXTRODUCTION. 
 
 against unrighteousness and ungodliness, if all who have done un- 
 righteousness escajjed from the penalty of the law. God will save 
 some, because he will have mercy, he will save them only and en- 
 tirely for his own name's sake ; therefore before the world began, 
 long before man was made. He, seeing and knowing every one of the 
 human race, chose a portion out of the whole lump, each one of 
 whom he knew and saw, whom for his own name's sake he appointed 
 unto everlasting life ; whom he gave to Christ ; whom he loved in 
 Christ ; giving favour and grace to them in him, as members of 
 Christ, not as children of Adam, not as members of that corrupt 
 tree. In the fullness of time Christ came to redeem these from 
 under the law, that they might receive the adoption of sons, and 
 become sons of God through faith in his name, and be no longer 
 children of bondage. It is the will of God to punish the ungodly, 
 for their ungodliness and for their wicked works, and only for them 
 and in proportion to them, this is the law of God : and also it is the 
 will of God to save the ungodly for his own glory, for his own holy 
 name's sake, and only because he will have mercy. This is the 
 Grace of God. This which is his will now, was his will ever- 
 lastingly. 
 
 All the sins of men are done voluntarily, wilfully, maliciously, and 
 spontaneously ; God has not appointed them to sin, nor predestinated 
 them to sin, God forbid : there is no necessity over them obliging 
 them to sin, they sin premeditatedly, deliberately and voluntarily, 
 God has let them alone to do as they will for a season, but he knows 
 their thoughts afar off, and all that they will do in the time in which 
 he has given power to wickedness to do its will. He has foretold 
 and written down ages before they are done the very deeds that they 
 will wickedly do. But notwithstanding, they cannot do all they 
 would ; far from it ! they cann6t move the little finger till God lets 
 them loose ; they cannot bring all their wicked devices to pass ; God 
 has appointed and determined before, and knows well what he will 
 let them do, and what they will do ; and what he will prevent them 
 from doing ; and also he has appointed, that, whatever their malice 
 and wickedness shall do, shall tend to accomplish his will and plea- 
 sure : and thus, as the Psalmist says, the wicked are the hand of 
 God. God might have prevented all this wickedness from existing, 
 by not suffering the wicked to exist ; but it has been his will to per- 
 mit for a short time the exhibition on this earth of what a frightful 
 thing power is apart from (xod, and what a wretched and wicked 
 creature a creature is out of God. And yet all the events of this 
 wicked world will work in the end a glorious purpose, and God will 
 be justly glorified in all things. 
 
 The law of (4od makes known that evil is exceedingly evil, and 
 that only what is good must be done ; if a man does any evil what- 
 ever he is a transgressor of the law, and is condemned ; as long as 
 he is alive under this law which commands to do good and no evil, 
 he is in condemnation if he ever does any evil whatever. Therefore 
 there cannot be any salvation to them who are under the law, for it 
 says " do good ;'''' they do not do good, {no miin doeth good, no not one) 
 and therefore this law condemns them. This is all the damnation that 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 there is or will be, viz. the condemnation of the law ; and it is most 
 awful condemnation, because to do evil is most awful. A person who 
 is under the law which infallibly condemns all who are under it, if he 
 talks of Grace, and redemption, and Christ, talks in vain, for the 
 law cannot be broken, Christ will not take away one jot or tittle of it. 
 He establishes it, he does not destroy it ; wherever it is, it is impos- 
 sible it can fail ; whoever is under it, is under a curse ; it is invio- 
 lable, it cannot be set aside. Christ saves his people, not by saving 
 them while they remain under this law, for while a man is under it 
 he cannot be free from condemnation ; but by redeeming them from 
 under it, taking it away from over them, he delivers them from con- 
 demnation : and this he does, not by violating the law, for that can 
 never be, but by putting himself under it instead of them, taking it 
 oft' them upon himself, and perfectly fulfilling it for them and in their 
 places. He fulfilling it all for them, they have not got it to fulfil ; 
 thus they are not under it, it is fulfilled ; it has no demand upon 
 them, for whatever demand it has (and that demand is perfect 
 Righteousness) he satisfies it for them, and they are not under the 
 law, they do not live under it, they " are dead to the law by the body 
 of Christ.^' If he left them under the law, and having to do good, 
 he would not then save them, for they would not do good, and they 
 must be cursed for not doing it ; they must, for the law cannot be 
 broken ; it is impossible for a man to be saved who is under the law, 
 for he has got to do good, and he does not do it. Therefore Christ 
 came to redeem his people from under the law, to do all it requires 
 in their stead, even all good, that is perfect Righteousness, for this is 
 all that the law requires, and he has done all this for them, and thus 
 they have not got it to do, they have not got Righteousness to do, 
 they are not under the law, he does it all for us, because we cannot 
 do any thing of it at all ; he takes it all upon himself, and thus he is 
 as the Prophet Jeremiah spoke, " The Lord our Righteousness." 
 Blessed are they who receive him, who thirst after this Righteous- 
 ness which is God's Righteousness, and not man's, for man has none ; 
 this is to believe in his name, to receive Him for Righteousness, and 
 to have no hope in any other works or righteousness except his only. 
 Herein is his Salvation, viz. a perfect fulfilling of the law, for there 
 can be no Salvation without perfectly fulfilling it : He does this, and 
 the law, which cannot be broken, is not broken. 
 
 God has chosen his people, to redeem them from under the law, 
 that they might be saved in Christ, and be in him, and become dead 
 to the law by him, and alive to God in him; having on his Righteous- 
 ness, and fulfilling the law in him, that is, being perfectly righteous 
 in him. All are by nature under the law, children of wrath, and 
 none can remove themselves from under this righteous obligation to 
 do good and to do no evil. But God removes whom he will from 
 under this obligation or law, by giving them to Christ who takes it 
 from off" them by completely fulfilling it for them, undertaking the 
 whole for them, and for ever doing all it requires for them, so that 
 they are no longer under it. God takes whom he will from under 
 this law, and giving ihem to Christ, saves them, and he foreknew 
 2 
 
10 INTKODUCTIOIV. 
 
 them all, and foreknowing them, he predestinated them to be con- 
 formed to the image of his Son. This is God's election of Grace, 
 having mercy on whom he will, and choosing them before, from 
 everlasting. 
 
 That God is righteous in leaving some under the law, to be saved 
 if they will do good, they themselves bear witness who wickedly 
 revile the Ever-living God because of this truth of his mercy and 
 grace. They do not wish to be redeemed from under the law, for 
 they wish only to be saved under the condition of the law, viz. if they 
 do good ; how then will they presume to revile the Majesty of God 
 because he leaves them under the condition which they love, viz. 
 that, if they do good, that is fulfil the law, they shall save their 
 souls alive l God is pleased to leave them under this righteous law 
 and just condition, and they will be judged by it, and if they have 
 done good, they cannot lose the reward, and if they have done evil 
 they cannot escape the condemnation for the evil they have done. 
 They love death, even the condemnation of the law, and are deter- 
 mined not to be saved except by doing some good ; they vainly 
 imagine that some good will do, instead of perfectly fulfilling the 
 whole law. They vainly imagine the Grace of God will help them 
 to do some good, and that thus they will be saved. The rejection of 
 Christ and the enmity against God and his Righteousness, consists in 
 not being willing nor desirous to be taken from under this law, and 
 to have perfect Righteousness by Jesus Christ without it ; and how 
 then can such persons find fault with God for his election of Grace, 
 which is the taking some, yea many, more in number than the stars 
 of heaven, from under this law 1 None are left under this condemn- 
 ing law, except those who do not wish or who would not wish to be 
 redeemed from under it, they are left under the law, under the con- 
 dition which they love, viz. that if they do good they shall live ; this 
 is certain condemnation, and the condemnation of the law has been 
 ordained from everlasting for all who do evil, and all evil doers are 
 appointed from everlasting to this condemnation, which is for what 
 they have done or shall do, and only according to what they do. To 
 be made willing to be redeemed from under this law, and to put on 
 the righteousness of God, even perfect Righteousness (which is what 
 the law requires) is to believe in Christ who is the Righteousness of 
 God, it is to be elect of God and redeemed from under the law. 
 When any one believes in the name of the Son of God, then he has 
 the Righteousness of God, Jesus Christ is in him, and all the power 
 and beauty and glory and righteousness of God is upon him, and if it 
 be not so, he is a reprobate (2 Corinths. Ch. xiii. v. 5,) that is, he 
 does not please God, he is not approved of God. This is Reproba- 
 tion and there is no other kind of reprobation, and consequently many 
 of God's elect, on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will 
 make willing and obedient, are reprobates, and will be reprobates 
 and enemies to God till it shall please him to call them by his Grace 
 and give them repentance unto life. 
 
THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Faith once delivered to the Saints. 
 
 The Law says " Do, and thou, (thou thyself) shalt save thy soul 
 alive." God, in the glad tidings of the Gospel, says, " Believe and 
 thou shalt be saved.'''' These words contain in sum and substance all 
 the Gospel of God. Believe in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and thou shalt not save thyself, but thou shalt be saved. Now his 
 name is " The Lord our Righteousness," and to believe in his Name, 
 is to look to him for Righteousness, and only to him ; it is to receive 
 him as our Righteousness, to do nothing, but only believe in him. 
 Therefore, for a sinner to be saved, to live and to have Righteous- 
 ness, he has nothing whatever to do, but only to believe, and God 
 will do all for him, God will be his Righteousness, God will save 
 him ! 
 
 Righteousness is doing good ; there is no other Righteousness : 
 he who tries to do good tries to obtain Righteousness by the works 
 of the Law ; but he who does nothing, but believes in Jesus Christ, 
 he receives in Him the gift of Righteousness without his doing any 
 thing at all ; he is made perfectly righteous, for the Righteousness 
 of God in Jesus Christ is unto him and upon him, and he is made 
 perfectly righteous without doing any thing. He who tries to do 
 good, that is to obey the law, he does not do good nor obey the law; 
 he a sinner cannot, it is impossible to a sinner : if he could do good 
 he is no sinner, and if he could get Righteousness by trying to do 
 good Christ is dead in vain. (Gal. ii. v. 21). Therefore he who tries 
 and works hard to get Righteousness cannot get it, but he who does 
 not try nor work at all, but only believes in the name of the Son of 
 God, he obtains the perfect Righteousness of God, which is (in favour 
 and mercy alone) given and imputed unto him. Therefore he who 
 believeth in Christ, who receives him for his Righteousness, has 
 nothing whatever to do, all is done for him, and all Righteousness is 
 given to him in Christ. 
 
 Jesus Christ is the only man who doeth good, and he is not a man 
 after the flesh, he is not a son of Adam, he is the Son of God ; he is 
 the only individual who doeth good, and therefore he is called the 
 Holy One, the Just One, the Righteous Man, or the Man of Righte- 
 ousness. And man who only doeth evil, is called the wicked one, 
 the man of sin, or sinful man, the beast, the flesh. 
 
12 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 
 
 There is and can be no Righteousness but in Christ., and they who 
 gladly receive him, who look to him and trust to his Righteousness, 
 (that is, who believe in his name) they receive his Righteousness and 
 want none other at all, they are perfect in him, and abiding in him, 
 (that is, continuing to believe and only to look to him) they have no 
 good to do, no Righteousness to do, they have nothing whatever to 
 do, they are saved everlastingly and for ever without doing any thing. 
 They are saved ; it is the work of God ; they do not save them- 
 selves ; they have nothing to do. 
 
 There is no blessing and no peace but in Righteousness, in doing 
 good, and only doing good; and all Righteousness is comprehended 
 in fulfilling perfectly all the law of God ; so that unless a man does 
 really fulfil this righteous law, he is inevitably cursed and wretched. 
 Now herein is the Grace and Salvation of God, here are glad tidings, 
 viz. that Jesus Christ has entirely taken away from them that be- 
 lieve, or look to him, and throw themselves upon him for Righteous- 
 ness, all the obligation and necessity of obtaining blessing and hap- 
 piness and peace by doing good (a thing they will not and cannot do) 
 and he gives them all Righteousness and fulfils all the Righteous- 
 ness of the law instead of them, so that they have nothing to do, no, 
 nothing whatever : he requires nothing of them, he is their perfect 
 Saviour, and leaves nothing of this salvation in their hands, that is to 
 say. He is the Christ in very deed and truth ; for this is what the 
 Christ means, viz. the King, the Deliverer, the Saviour, the Strength, 
 the Righteousness of his people ! All their part in this Salvation is, 
 not to do any thing but to believe ; simply to take it ! (Rev. xxii. 17) 
 only to receive it ! and have it ! to stand still, to do nothing, to be- 
 hold the Salvation of God, how he, He himself will save them ; and 
 this is believing. All good (that is Righteousness) that was to be 
 done, that is to be done, and that ought for the future to be done, 
 they have not got to do it who only believe ; Christ Jesus hath done 
 it, and does it, and will do it, for them who receive him to do it, that 
 is to be their Righteousness ! who only believe, and cease from all 
 their own works, doing nothing : for he does all for them, he works 
 all good and Righteousness for them, they have nothing whatever to 
 do ! This is good news for the poor and needy, who are heavy 
 laden with their own iniquities, and thirst after the true Righteous- 
 ness ; these are glad tidings indeed for the poor and for the ungodly, 
 and thus the Gospel truly deserves its name '■'■good news ;''^ and so 
 most certainly and assuredly every word of God shall be found to be 
 not in vain, but to mean really what it says, and even to surpass and 
 be over and above the good which it says. 
 
 This is the faith once delivered to the saints, viz. " Believe," not 
 " do," leave that to Christ, he came on purpose to "<^o." " Lo ! I 
 come, to do thy will, O God /" and to do all for them that trust to 
 him. Yea verily this is the truth of the living God. And surely as 
 the Lord (Jod liveth who made heaven and all that therein is, and 
 the Earth and all that is therein, and the Sea and all that is therein, 
 so surely will (iod speedily put an end to the wicked religion of this 
 wicked generation, to the abomination of lies and human works 
 
THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 13 
 
 which ungodly men preach and dare to affirm that such Ues are the 
 Gospel of God. This Time of falsehood and abomination which has 
 its fixed and limited period shall very soon be no longer, but (and it 
 is now close at hand) when the voice of the seventh angel shall 
 begin to sound, the mystery of God will be finished, as God hath 
 plainly revealed and declared to his servants the prophets. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 There never has been any other Faith, than this Faith once delivered 
 to the Saints, arid it has been the same in all ages. 
 
 He who desires to be saved from unrighteousness and death, has 
 not to do, but only to believe ; he himself has nothing to do, he must 
 do nothing; his strength is to sit still (Is. ch. xxx. v. 7); he must 
 believe only ; he must stand still and wait upon God, and look not to 
 himself or his own exertions to do good, but to Christ only for his 
 Righteousness only, and to him only as the only doer of Good : for if 
 he himself could do good, Christ is dead in vain. This is the faith 
 once delivered to the saints, and there never has been any other kind 
 of faith, and never will be ; this was the faith of the saints of old. 
 
 When Pharaoh and his host pursued Israel to the Red Sea, how 
 did the people escape from and vanquish this powerful and formidable 
 host 1 Not by doing something, but by doing nothing, and trusting 
 in God to deliver, and leaving it to God to do all this work and sal- 
 vation for them. Therefore Moses preached unto them to believe, 
 only to believe, and not to work, but to trust to God for that ; saying 
 unto them " stand still, and behold the salvation of God.^'' 
 
 The faith of God's elect is also shown for our instruction in the 
 example of Daniel, when he was cast in the den of lions ; he did 
 nothing ; he sat still and trusted in God, and God himself shut the 
 mouths of the lions ; but if he had begun to do, if he had tried to 
 hold their mouths and stop them, it would have been evident that he 
 did not entirely trust in God, (that is, believe,) and then certainly he 
 would have experienced no salvation, God would have left him to his 
 own power, and left them to devour him. So he who believeth in 
 God must sit still and do nothing, but let God be his Saviour, and 
 trust to him to deliver, and then verily he will deliver ! But if he 
 himself works and thinks that he can do good, and conquer Satan and 
 his lusts, and tries to do so, he does not believe in God, he trusts to 
 an arm of flesh ; he takes upon himself the very work of Christ for 
 which he was expressly manifested (1 John, ch. iii. v. S) and in 
 so doing he does not believe in Christ, nor look to him alone for 
 Righteousness and good-doing ; he does not put confidence in God, 
 but likens himself to God and trusts in himself, and God will leave 
 him to himself to save himself and to perish in his own destruc- 
 tions. 
 
 To do nothing, but to believe in the Name of the Son of God, to 
 trust solely to him to do all good and all Righteousness for us, this 
 only is honouring God, this only is worshipping God ! looking and 
 
14 THE GOSPEL OP fiOI). 
 
 trusting to him only as our Righteousness, is an acknowledgment 
 that God he is God, and a confession in very deed that we are 
 nothing: it is believing that he is indeed the Christ, the Saviour, 
 that he can do all, having all power, and that he will do all for us, 
 being good and gracious ; otherwise wo neither believe that he has 
 Power, nor that he is good. The sacrifice of the wicked, says Solo- 
 mon, is an abomination to God, and they are wicked who look to 
 themselves to do good. Our working, our doing, our piety (what- 
 ever we may think of it) is a great abomination to God, for we are 
 very evil. To offer up to God the sacrifice, that is the doing and 
 performances of sinful man who is wicked flesh, an evil body, is an 
 abomination; it is THE ABOMINATION. This abomination of 
 human righteousness and the deeds of the human beast, whose sins are 
 as scarlet, has been offered up during 1260 years of the Abomination 
 which has made desolate ; during all which Time the daily Sacrifice 
 has been taken away. The sacrifice of Christ (this is the daily 
 sacrifice by faith) is that of a lamb without spot or blemish ; in him 
 and only in him God is well pleased : to believe in him is to offer up 
 spiritual sacrifices holy and acceptable to God ; but, to look to man 
 for any good, to think to please God by our deeds and piety and 
 obedience, is to offer up the abomination ; it is the sacrifice of swine's 
 flesh as the prophet Isaiah shows, and not of the Lamb. And such is 
 all the religion and piety, such is all the Christianity of this day; it 
 is all a wicked a beastly abomination which God abhors ; a sacrifice 
 of swine's flesh, the worship of a beast, and not of God ; it is faith 
 and confidence and trust in the power and virtue of a beast, not faith 
 in God! 
 
 This faith in man, this looking to man to do good, never was and 
 never will be the faith of God's people : they did nothing, they stood 
 still and trusted to God. This was the faith of our fathers, even of 
 Abraham, Isaac and Jacob : so David testifies, " Oi/r Fathers trusted 
 in Thee r What did they do? They trusted, only trusted, they 
 stood still and believed ; " and Thou didst deUrer them,'''' that is what 
 God did, that was his work. They did nothing, but they looked to 
 God, and God did every thing for them, he it was who delivered 
 them ! 
 
 Let no one dare to pervert God's word : they did not partly trust 
 and partly work, and God do the remaining part of the work : they 
 trusted, they only trusted, they altogether trusted to God (this is 
 faith) and God did deliver, wholly and altogether, by himself and 
 unassisted (and this is salvation !) Thus only God is believed and 
 honoured : when we believe that he indeed is quite able, and wants 
 no help from man, then only we believe he is the Mighty (iod and 
 has all power ; and when we believe that he is really and of a truth 
 willing to undertake so much (groat and wonderful as it is, but not 
 too wonderful for him) then and tiion only we believe that what he 
 says is true, that he is good indeed ! that he loves us! and that it is 
 indeed a reality, that he is not only God, and almighty, but our God, 
 and merciful, and gracious. 
 
 This was the faith of King Jehoshaphat, and the prophets of (iod 
 
THK GOSPEL OF GOD. 15 
 
 who thus declared it : " Tims saith the Lord unto you. Be not afraid 
 nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude ; for the battle is not 
 yours, but God's /" " Ye shall not need to fight in this battle : set 
 yourselves; stand ye still; and see the Salvation of the Lord with 
 you. O Judah and Jerusalem.'''' (2 Chr. xx. v. 15, 17). 
 
 This was the faith of Joshua and the people with him : they did 
 not batter against the walls of Jericho : they did not touch them ; 
 they left the work to God, and God made them to fall down when 
 nobody touched them ; God did the work for them, they did nothing 
 of it, they only trusted to God. 
 
 God shows unto us by these things, that when his people believe 
 in him, he worketh all for them, even in small things, such as bat- 
 tles ; much more in greater and more difficult things, such as the 
 salvation of the soul ; they have nothing to do, the battle is not 
 theirs but God's. 
 
 The Jews of old (that is the real Jews, for they were not all Jews 
 who were so outwardly) were not guilty of the great abomination of 
 drawing nigh to God in Righteousness of their own doing, until that 
 wicked and self-righteous generation arose, which now is, and is not 
 yet passed away. (Matt. 24, ult.) The Jews looked to the blood of 
 the sin offering for sanctification, and not to their own righteous or 
 good doings. They entered into the sanctuary with sacrifice, and 
 received the blessing from the High Priest (the Anointed One) after 
 the sacrifice ; they were sanctified by the spi'inkling of the blood, 
 and by laying their hands upon, that is by laying hold of the sacri- 
 fice, thus receiving Christ ; and so they were sanctified by doing 
 nothing but receiving the sprinkling of the blood. They never drew 
 nigh unto God or entered his temple but with sin offerings ; they 
 had not an idea of acceptance with him but by blood ; until that evil 
 generation arose which taught that God could be approached with 
 the works of man ; that if a mnn did good, that is, in reality, if he 
 made himself righteous, by deeds and observances of the law, then 
 he was accepted of God, then they pleased God ! This they thought 
 to be a great and commendable zeal for the law of God and highly 
 pleasing to him; they knew not that it was abomination to God. 
 (Luke xvi. v. 15). Thus they set aside the work and oflbring and 
 bloodshedding of the High Priest, (that is the Christ,) and exalted and 
 set up the righteousness, the duties, the observances, the services, 
 the prayers of evil and wicked man, as an offering to God, in place 
 of the Righteousness and oflering of the lamb, the Christ : they 
 offered their own fleshly works, that is swine's flesh, instead of the 
 work of Christ, that is the Lamb ; they would do something, and 
 would not be righteous only and completely in the blood and 
 Righteousness of the Lamb of God. Before this generation arose, 
 the hope of Israel was in the Messiah, the Strength and Rock of 
 Israel, the Righteousness of God, who was to come ; who did come ; 
 and who will shortly again come in power and great glory ! 
 
 Thus in former days, the saints of God did not obtain Righteous- 
 ness, that is did not do good by doing, but by believing, and that is 
 doing nothing : there was no Righteousness to man, and no accept- 
 
16 THE GOSPEL OF OOD. 
 
 ance with God, and no sanctification by doing any thing, but by be- 
 lieving only, by only receiving Christ the Righteousness of God, 
 who was hoped in ; who was waited for ; who was longed for ; who 
 was seen afar oft"; and who was set before them by the continual 
 and daily sacrifice and shedding of blood. They all of them had not 
 one jot or tittle of Righteousness before God, except the Rigiiteous- 
 ness of God, which is Christ, the Just One, who alone doeth the will 
 of God. David says " / will make mention of thy Righteousness, 
 even of thine only!'''' and he says that he would go in no strength but 
 in that of the Lord God. 
 
 And all the good which the saints of old ever did, it was not they 
 who did it; they did nothing but only believed in God, and then 
 (they only believing) it was the Spirit of Christ which was in them, 
 which did the works; they believed, and God himself '■'•did all 
 things for them,^'' (Psalms ;) they had nothing to do. This is the faith 
 of God's elect, the faith once delivered to the Saints. For 4U months, 
 that is 1260 years, false and harlot churches have prevailed, and this 
 faith has not been known among them, they have sacrificed the abo- 
 mination, the offering of the works and piety of the fledh ; but in all 
 this period, God's people though they have all been overcome by 
 the beast and joined with these false churches, have only been saved 
 by this faith, only by Christ and his works and his deeds, for all 
 other deeds but his, be they ever so highly esteemed among men, 
 are ABOMINATION before God. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Christianity of this day is no more Christianity than the worship 
 of Juggernaut. 
 
 It appears shocking to wicked flesh, to earthy men, the men of 
 the Earth, to preach Christ, that is, to preach the ))ower of God 
 only, and not of evil man ; to preach " believe,^'' that is, do nothing. 
 It is an offence and a stumbling block. For fleshly man vainly and 
 wickedly imagines that if God is to do all, and man nothing, then 
 assuredly nothing will be done ! and they preach so, and tliink it 
 great piety ! Such a good opinion evil men have of themselves, and 
 such a bad opinion of God ! They think it strange that it should be 
 absolutely necessary for sinful man to cease from all his doings, 
 and they dream that man will really do some good himself, and 
 that God will not do any without him! nay that it cannot be done 
 without him ! thus they believe that God is not God unless man 
 exerts himself a little ! that God has neither goodness nor Grace 
 nor Power unless man first exerts himself a little ! Yea ! only a 
 little ! grant but a little ! let him have only a little to do, that God 
 may not be God ! This is precisely what Satan wishes, that he 
 may drag men in to partake of his own condemnation ; and to this 
 point he has now at last brought the " Earth" and taught them to 
 call it " Piety /" Thus they believe that no good can be done with- 
 out the power of man : they will not believe in God, they will not 
 
THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 17 
 
 believe in the Power of God, that is in Christ. They believe in the 
 power of man ; this is their God, this wicked one, man of sin, Ini- 
 quity, a beast, whose sins are as scarlet, twice dyed. They do not 
 believe in Christ, that all power in heaven and in earth is given to 
 him ; that he has only to speak the word, and Satan sin and death 
 and every enemy vanish ! that he, as man, hath gotten the victory 
 by himself alone and no one with him, for us men, even all of us who 
 rejoice to receive his work, and has already overcome all, and gives 
 his victory to his people who believe in his name : they will not 
 believe in him, but they believe that the filthy sinner himself can 
 conquer ; they urge him to try, to labour, to exert himself, to con- 
 quer, to subdue, to be Christ and God ! They will not believe that 
 the Son of God, with his own right hand and his holy arm hath got- 
 ten himself (yea, he himself and he alone) the victory ! In a word, 
 they do not believe in God ; to them, God is not God ! 
 
 They preach that man even sinful man is enabled to do good " hy 
 the Grace of God through Jesus Christ.'''' This their doctrine is a 
 lie, and cometh from the father of lies ; it is one of the strong delu- 
 sions (2 Thess. chap. ii. v. 11). Man will not do good with any 
 help or grace whatever ; even the grace of God that is, his favour 
 will never lead him to do good. " Let favour (that is Grace) be 
 showed to the wicked yet will he not learn righteousness ; in the land 
 of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty 
 of the Lord'''' (Is. xxvi. v. 10). To say that evil man does good with 
 help or grace is to make God a liar ; for if it be so, the Scripture is 
 not true, which positively says a corrupt tree cannot bring forth any 
 good fruit at all, and which also declares that man does not do any 
 good at all (Psalms). God does not help Wickedness to do good : 
 man that is born of Adam who is also called the flesh, is Iniquity, 
 and Christ hath no part or lot with this old man, he hath put this 
 beast to death in his own body on the tree, and they who believe are 
 put to death with him. 
 
 They who teach this doctrine of the devil, make Christ the minis- 
 ter, that is the servant of sin, even of sinful man. They make him 
 a servant and satellite to move and drag along this man of sin, to 
 help him to stir himself and do good, and when they imagine they 
 succeed in making the beast move, then the servant, the minister, 
 the cord of vanity, is forgotten in the shouts of triumph they raise 
 when they see their God move ! If Righteousness come by the 
 law, Christ is dead in vain (Galatians) ; his death, his work is a 
 vanity ; and they make Christ a vanity, a helping instrument or 
 cord, a mere cart rope, to drag along the cart of Iniquity, to make 
 this filthy and obscene beast to move or " do good !" When they 
 make him move and publish triumphantly in their records of piety 
 the little histories of his pious movements, of his benevolent enter- 
 prises, of his solemn seriousness, and pious feelings, they even forget 
 to mention the despised rope with which they think they move him ; 
 and yet they dare to talk of the Grace of God ! ! They profess to 
 believe that the beast only moves, that is only does good, by the 
 Grace of God ; they are so very orthodox they would not ha,ve it 
 3 
 
18 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 
 
 thought that they believed he moved vv'ithout the rope, and thus they 
 imagine that no one can say that they do not trust entirely, oh yes, 
 entirely, in the Grace of God, and hope to be saved " through Jesvs 
 Christ, our Lord,'''' nay, they are sometimes earnest in declaring that 
 they are so evil, they can do nothing without the grace of God ; 
 meaning however, that though the beast cannot move at all without 
 the rope, yet it moves extremely well with such a rope, with such a 
 minister and satellite to drag it ! and thus they save their own good 
 opinion, and count themselves believers, holding fast to lies and yet 
 anxious to be thought valiant for the truth ! Ages ago God pointed 
 out their wickedness and hypocrisy, saying, " Woe unto them that 
 draw Iniquity, that is sinful man, w'lth cords of vanity, and sin as it 
 were with a cart-rope.'''' (Isaiah, ch. v. IB). 
 
 This vile and filthy beast, this wicked one, is the God which the 
 Earth (the religious world) now worships, and has in this day exalted 
 above Him whom yet they deceitfully call God ! (2 Thess. ch. ii.) 
 This beast they set up in the chariot of their pride, and exert them- 
 selves to the utmost to make him move. This Beast is sinful man, 
 or the man of sin, the wicked one ; he is now revealed, triumphing 
 for a season, and he hath overcome and slain the two witnesses of 
 God, by which God testified to the world of Righteousness and 
 Judgment, (viz. the Law and the Gospel) (Rev. xi.) both these wit- 
 nesses are now slain by the beast, the exalted beast, and their dead 
 bodies (the dead letter of them, that is, the Bible) are paraded about 
 not buried (which were far better), but made use of for a brag and 
 a vain glory. The exaltation of the beast and the dragging him 
 along " by the Grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord," as 
 they blasphemously say, is spiritual Wickedness; it is the same 
 scene of wickedness acted spiritually and deceitfully, which is acted 
 corporeally and openly among other deluded victims of Satan, 
 proving the unity of Satan's kingdom in spite of the divisions and 
 disputes among his servants ! showing that the world is only one 
 same scene of the same wickedness in different shapes and disguises. 
 The Christianity of this last day is the vilest kind of Idolatry. To 
 be an idolater, is to put trust not in God, but in that which is no 
 God and cannot save. They put trust in their feelings, in their 
 prayings, in belonging to a confederacy, and they are idolaters, for 
 there is no trust in God in all this ; this is not God ! They do evil, 
 their thoughts are unclean, and polluted, their imaginations are vile 
 and earthly, and yet they think that this beast, which they know is 
 so vile and serves such vile purposes, will yet do good and save ! for 
 to do good is real salvation. They themselves do that which is 
 wicked in thoughts and deeds, and the residue of themselves they 
 make a God and cry out to it " do good," that is save us ! be pious, 
 be righteous, save us! But it is a God which cannot save! This 
 idolatry is far worse than the idolatry of graven images ; for though 
 the wood of a graven image may have been used for roasting roast, 
 and kindling a fire (Isaiah) yet it hath not committed sin, fiUhy sin! 
 But their God is a beast, and doetli all manner of evil ! And this is 
 the worship of this day, " they ivorsh'ip devils and not God ;" it is 
 
THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 19 
 
 idolatry, it is calling upon the man of sin to " do good" and save 
 himself. Therefore if the worship of Juggernaut is bad, this wor- 
 ship is worse ; and so it is that the Christianity of this last day is no 
 more Christianity than the worship of Juggernaut. Such is the 
 worship of all names and sects without any exception whatsoever; 
 for though they have questions among themselves about doctrines, 
 and quarrel and devour one another, they all agree in this one thing, 
 viz. denying Christ, saying to filthy man " do good" " be pious," 
 " be religious" " be godly," that is, setting up the man of sin as a 
 God able to do good, and a Saviour able to save. They all agree in 
 performing the part of Judas the son of perdition, for they sell 
 Christ to the wicked, saying, " if you do a little good, if you pray, if 
 you only pay the money of your piety and prayers, then you shall 
 be saved, that is you shall have Christ !" Thus the man of sin (sinful 
 man) the son of perdition, is revealed (selling Christ and salvation 
 for paltry considerations :) who saith that he is God, and exalts him- 
 self above all that is called God, for notwithstanding such wicked- 
 ness they yet call the Lord, God ! The Spirit spoke expressly that 
 thus it would be in the last days (2 Thess. ch. ii.) But now the time 
 is come when this time of the beast shall be no longer, and as the 
 Lord liveth who made heaven and all that is therein (yea the angels 
 of heaven are only what they are by his choice and pleasure) and the 
 earth and all that is therein (yea, it is a lie that proud and wicked 
 man can make himself a child of God and be saved if he pleases) 
 and the sea and all that therein is (yea, they are all the work of 
 God only : none are Creators but He) this TIME shall be no longer, 
 but when the seventh angel sounds, the Mystery of God will be 
 finished, the power of the wicked shall be ended, and God will take 
 to himself his great power ! 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Justification by faith ; that is, being made righteous by believing 
 
 only. 
 
 The Scripture says, " a man is justified by faith, without the deeds 
 of the law,^'' (Rms. iii. v. 28.) That is, he obtains Righteousness, 
 he is made perfectly righteous, by believing only, without doing any 
 good whatever, without doing any thing at all. The same is said in 
 the words " being justified freely, that is gratuitously, by his Grace.''"' 
 Now to be justified freely, gratuitously, or for nothing, is to be jus- 
 tified without doing any thing and without having any thing to do, or 
 else it is not gratuitous. A man cannot be righteous or justified by 
 any thing he does ; let him appear to do all good he is not righteous 
 before God ; the law requires him to do all good actions, he must do 
 them, it is a debt due to the law ; but, even if he does them all, the 
 Scripture declares " By the deeds of the law shall nofiesh be justified 
 i?i his sight.'''' Therefore if a man fulfilled all the law perfectly, and 
 did all good and no evil, yet he would not be righteous before God, 
 he would not be justified in the sight of God, whatever he might be 
 
20 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 
 
 in the sight of men. The Word of God, which declares that a man 
 cannot be justified, that is obtain Righteousness and be righteous, if 
 he does ever so much, also declares that a man is justified, that is, 
 obtains Righteousness and is righteous, if he does nothing at all ; and 
 only believes in Jesus Christ ; saying, " a man is jvstijied by faith 
 without the deeds of the law," and also saying " by the deeds of the 
 law shall nofesh be justified.'''' 
 
 To believe in the Lord Jesus Christ is to look to him as The 
 Christ, that is as the anointed High Priest, to stand in our stead 
 before God and to perform all things for us. To receive him to do 
 all for us, and to offer up spiritual sacrifices for us, to submit to him 
 to do all this, and not presumptuously to attempt to do it ourselves, 
 this only is to believe in him. Christ is the Righteousness of all 
 them that believe in him, they want no other Righteousness, the 
 Righteousness of God is imputed to them, is put upon them, and they 
 are perfectly righteous by this imputation of God's Righteousness, 
 without their doing any thing whatever. This is being justified by 
 faith ; it is receiving Righteousness as a gift by the great favour and 
 kindness of God, and not getting it by doing any thing ourselves. 
 Righteousness is doing good ; he who looks to Christ to be his 
 Righteousness, looks to him to do good for him ; this is what Christ 
 does, this is what he came to do, viz. " to do the will of God," and 
 accordino^ly they who believe and receive him, have nothing to do, 
 but to stand still, and he comes to them and is in them, and he does 
 all Righteousness for them. He alone does it, they do it not ; and 
 what he does he imputes to them. Thus then, they who believe in 
 Christ have nothing to do, God is in them doing all things for 
 them, and giving and imputing to them all his own Righteousness, 
 which it is God alone who doeth. They continuing to believe, God 
 continues to do all things for them, and continually imputes his own 
 works to them. As they trust to him and look to him, so in propor- 
 tion he does the more for them. Thus God is in his people, and the 
 whole body or collection of them that believe is therefore called a 
 city, where God is, as the prophet Ezekiel says, " the name of the 
 city shall be, The Lord is there." Hence it is manifest that he 
 who believeth in Christ has nothing to do, for when God does all 
 things for him, there is nothing left for him to do. 
 
 They who believe are made righteous (that is, are justified) by 
 Grace, for it is extraordinary favour and wonderful grace indeed that 
 God should condescend to dwell with man and do such great things 
 for him. It is by the Promise of God, (which promise he made to 
 Abraham and confirmed it by an oath) ; it is by his mere mercy, his 
 everlasting mercy ; by his mere gift, his unspeakable gift, that it is 
 so ! In his rich grace and wonderful love to us, he becomes OUR 
 RIGHTEOUSNESS, he puts all his own Righteousness upon us, he 
 imputes it unto and upon us, he clothes us and covers us completely 
 in the robe of Righteousness ! No being or creature could be more 
 righteous, more perfect, more holy, more pure, and more complete 
 than he is, be he the filthiest wretch who craAvls upon this earth, 
 ^vho does nothing, but only believes in the name of Jesus of Naza- 
 
THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 21 
 
 reth, the Holy One of God ; who only receives him as his Anointed 
 or High Priest, who looks to him, and trusts wholly to him. He is 
 God manifest in the flesh, his name is Wonderful, and he is wonder- 
 ful, his power is wonderful, his grace is wonderful, and his gift and 
 work is wonderful to them that believe, and they, standing still and 
 beholding the glory of God, and his Salvation, and his work, will 
 exclaim with wonder joy and astonishment " What hath God 
 wrought /" 
 
 Thus then, to be justified by faith, is to be made righteous; and 
 we are made righteous by the imputation of Christ, the Righteous- 
 ness of God, without doing, but only believing. It is not merely 
 being made righteous by one single imputation of God's Righteous- 
 ness, made once for all, and then after that being left to do good, 
 which would be being left to be justified or get righteousness by the 
 law, far from it. God hath said " He that is justified by the law^'' 
 (that is, who tries to do good, or to get Righteousness by his own 
 exertions) " is fallen from Grace.'''' Righteousness is doing good, or 
 else it is no Righteousness at all, and God's Righteousness is God's 
 doing good. Therefore when this Righteousness is unto him that 
 believes, then he has God to do good for him ; this is to have God's 
 Righteousness. This effectual Righteousness in Jesus Christ is unto 
 them that believe ; Righteousness is done for them by Christ him- 
 self, and it is imputed to them as if it was their doing, though it is 
 done by him only. It is done for them when they believe ; and, as 
 they continue in believing, it is continually done for them ; and, as it 
 is continually done for them, so it is continually imputed to them and 
 put upon them. God's Righteousness, which is his doing good, is an 
 everlasting Righteousness ; he continually performeth all for them 
 that look to him, and his gift and grace and goodness is not moment- 
 ary nor for once only, but everlasting, and therefore, as he constantly 
 and unceasingly works Righteousness for his people, so he never 
 ceases giving it to them and imputing it to them ! They believe and 
 look to him, and he worketh Righteousness for them, and imputes it 
 to them ; they continue to believe, abiding in faith, standing still and 
 looking and trusting only to him, and he continues to work for them, 
 and, as is written in the Psalms, to " do all things for them,'''' and 
 graciously to impute his own glorious work of Righteousness to 
 them. Thus they have nothing to do, he doeth all for them. This, 
 and nothing less than this, is to be justified by faith ! it is not to 
 have one Righteousness imputed to us for once, but continual 
 Righteousness, the continual good-doing of God himself, continually 
 imputed to us, daily, hourly, unceasingly and for ever! 
 
 Christ has not only once done all for us, but he ever liveth, and 
 does all, and will do all and every thing for us, when we wish, when 
 we desire, when we want it, that is, when we believe ! By the infi- 
 nite, the rich and stupendous grace of God, Righteousness is given 
 unto us, and is upon us, when we believe, and it is in proportion as 
 we desire it and hunger after it, " according to thy faith be it unto 
 thee,'''' that is, he who throws himself most entirely upon God, and 
 trusts most to him, and longeth most after his true Righteousness 
 
22 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 
 
 (which alone is real Righteousness) will know the most of his good- 
 ness and power ; but he who tries be it ever so little at his own 
 power, can know nothing whatever of God. 
 
 When we believe this, namely this doctrine, which is the doctrine 
 of God, then only we believe the faithful and sure word, " Thy 
 Righteousness is an everlasting Righteousness.'''' Yea verily it is not 
 a momentary Righteousness, it is not for once, and there an end of 
 it, but it is for once, and it is continual, and it is for ever ! It is only 
 through faith we receive this Promised gift, and not by doing any 
 thing, far from it, but standing entirely still, trusting entirely to God, 
 and beholding that God is God indeed, for the Scripture says, " Be 
 still, and know that I am God!''^ When we cease to believe or halt 
 in believing then we cease to acknowledge God, and we cease to 
 behold the power which we do not acknowledge. Believing is not 
 for once nor for a moment, it is enduring to the end, and the Righte- 
 ousness of God, that is God's actual doing and performing Righteous- 
 ness, is enduring, lasting, and continually and at every moment unto 
 and upon them that continue in the faith. God even Jesus Christ 
 continually doeth Righteousness for them ; he does it, it is his work ; 
 he imputes it to them, and they are righteous. This is to be justi- 
 fied by faith ! to have God at all times to do all for us, and to have 
 nothing to do ourselves ! we only trusting to him, that is only 
 believing ! 
 
 Thus, the Righteousness of God is God's working, God's doing 
 good : it is Christ himself, who is the Power of God, the manifested 
 Righteousness of God, and who alone doeth good ! So that this 
 Righteousness is an active, living, never-ending, everlasting Righte- 
 ousness ! David says " Lo! he that keepcth Israel, doth neither slum- 
 ber nor sleep." It is God himself in Christ who keepeth Israel in 
 righteousness and true holiness; he is Righteousness, he only doeth 
 Righteousness, he only is holy, he is the Holy One ! 
 
 How, during the 42 months in which the Enemy has trodden 
 down the sanctuary, in which the saints of God have been overcome 
 by the beast, and have been joined to one or other of the nations and 
 kindreds of the earth (the sects of the religious professors) so as not 
 to be known as a separate people, as the holy nation, — yea, God's 
 Israel after the spirit, has been scattered over all the face of the 
 earth (i. e. among all the sects and churches of earthly sensual pro- 
 fessors) they have fallen by the edge of the sword (that is the law) 
 they have been led away captive into all nations (i. e. sects of the 
 earth) and Jerusalem, the holy city or body of God's elect, has been 
 trodden down of the Gentiles, (and was so to be for 1260 years (Rev. 
 xi.) : not earthly bodily Jerusalem ; but the holy spiritual city, the 
 collection of God's people : (for if earthly Jerusalem which is merely 
 bricks and stones, had been signified, then the time would have 
 expired near about the year 1260, because earthly Jerusalem began 
 to be subjected to the gentiles when the Christian era began, and 
 therefore 1260 years of that era would have fulfilled the time,) yea 
 the saints of God the holy city, haye been overcome by the beast all 
 this Time of Abomination, in which Zion has been desolate and a 
 
THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 23 
 
 widow, but the Time is now nearly fulfilled, for when the seventh 
 
 angel sounds, it shall be no longer, how during all this 
 
 Time in which the abomination of human righteousness, the swine- 
 flesh offering has been set up, the Gospel of the living God has been 
 prophesying in sackcloth (Rev. xi. v. 3.) " Lo ! He that keepeth 
 Israel slumbereth not /" and yet in this TIME they who have even 
 mightily preached the truth and the Righteousness of Christ, have 
 preached that the Lord Our Righteousness was a slumbering and 
 sleeping Righteousness ! that it was merely his obedience which he 
 once gave to the law in the days of his deep humiliation, which obe- 
 dience being then ended, was once for all imputed, at one putting on, 
 to them who believed, and after that they had to do good as well as 
 they could b)^ the grace of God ! and so there was an end of God's 
 Righteousness which is an Everlasting Righteousness ! without end, 
 eternal and for ever ! This has been indeed a covering of sackcloth 
 and ashes to the gold of Zion ! Blessed be God, we have not got to 
 do good at all, no, not by the grace of God ! and blessed be our God, 
 that by his Grace, his unspeakable grace and gift, all is done for us, 
 by Christ Jesus our Lord, the Messiah of God, and we have nothing 
 whatever to do ! 
 
 The saints of God have been overcome by the beast, during all 
 the Time of the Abomination, (which Time began in the midst of 
 the first seven hundred years or week of centuries) for power has 
 been given to the Beast over them. The Time of the Abomination 
 began in the midst of the first seven hundi'ed years after the death 
 of Christ ; it began with the Romish Church, and has continued till 
 now. The first seven hundred years is called in Daniel a week, for 
 it is a week of centuries : during this week God confirmed his Cove- 
 nant in Christ with many, even thousands and thousands of his 
 beloved people, but in the midst of this week the abomination of % 
 human works and piety was set up, and the pure oblation and sacri- 
 fice which Christ alone offers up to God was" made to cease, and that 
 desolation (which now has come to its full) then began. " And he 
 shall confirm the covenant with many for one week : and in the midst 
 of the iDeek he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and 
 for the overspreading of abominations, he shall make it desolate, even 
 until the consummation, and that determined shall he. poured upon the 
 desolate.''^ (Daniel, ch. ix. v. 27.) During all this Time, God's elect, 
 the holy city, has been trodden under foot, the people of God have 
 been overcome by the Beast, which has reigned and ruled all this 
 Time. Being thus overcome they have not seen Christ to be actu- 
 ally and truly the whole and sole doer of Righteousness for them 
 that receive him ; our whole and sole Righteousness, both active and 
 passive, and of all kinds ; yea, if there be ten million different kinds 
 of Righteousness, then he is all of them to us, for he is " Our Righte- 
 ousness'''' which includes of all kinds ! Not knowing this, not know- 
 ing the power of God, (though exceedingly elated and swelled up 
 with what we did know,) especially we, the last of them (Laodicea) 
 who have said we knew all, and were rich and increased in goods 
 and had need of nothing, and knew not our real situation (Rev. iii. 17), 
 
24 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 
 
 we have greatly erred, and have been overcome by the beast, as 
 it is written, " and it was given unto him to make tear with the saints 
 and to overcome them : and power was given him over all kindreds 
 and tongnes and nations,^' (Rev. xiii. v. 7.) He who will believe 
 God's word, and not be disobedient, must submit and confess that all 
 without any exception have been overcome. 
 
 Thus then the imputation of the Righteousness of Christ is not 
 merely one imputation, but it is a perpetual and unceasing imputa- 
 tion : his work of Righteousness is not one work, done and ended 
 when he was on the earth, but he is " with us always even to the end 
 of the world,'''' and all his beauty, his glory, his perfection, his grace, 
 his work, his power, is with us too, that is when we believe, and then 
 according to our faith. This is a perfect, a continued and unceasing 
 work, he does all for the believer and he imputes all that he does, 
 and that is all Righteousness, to the believer. This and only this is 
 justification by faith, being made righteous by Christ without our 
 doing any thing : doing all and perfect Righteousness, yea walking 
 and living in Righteousness with God, without doing any thing, and 
 without any the least thing whatever to do! having Rest, having 
 nothing to do ! believing in God only to do all, trusting the work 
 entirely to Christ the Power of God, The Anointed High Priest : 
 yea, not fearing to cast all the burden and all the care upon him ! 
 This is justification by faith, and short of this, or part of this, is not 
 justification by faith ! 
 
 All that is here said is fully comprehended in the words " Christ 
 is our life^'' there is no life except in Righteousness, that is doing 
 good, and Christ, a new man, is the only man who doeth Righteous- 
 ness; he is Righteousness, even the Righteousness of God! To do 
 evil or wrong is unrighteousness, that is death and a curse. From 
 this death in trespasses and sins God maketh his people alive, or, as 
 it is written, he quickeneth them : it is a great grace and favour for 
 him to do so : and he doeth this by the word, giving unto them to 
 hear his word by his holy Spirit, which is understanding : and then, 
 understanding the word, they hear and believe. This is to receive 
 life, this is to be raised from the dead, this is to enter into the king- 
 dom of heaven, this is to be born of the word (which is called water) 
 and of the Spirit (that is understanding). It is simply to believe. 
 They who have understanding (which is the Spirit of God) they hear 
 and believe : without this understanding, " man is like the beasts that 
 perish.'''' 
 
 Yes I to be justified by faith is to receive Righteousness or life, 
 only and simply in looking to God, and trusting to him in Jesus 
 Christ. This all will do who are wise and understand trusting him 
 the Christ, without working or doing at all, leaving that entirely to 
 Him ! This is to believe, and he who believes is justified by faith, 
 that is, he receives Christ to do Righteousness for him, and to make 
 him a doer of Righteousness, not for once only, but daily, hourly, 
 continually, yea every moment of our existence I By his death he 
 took away all our sins in his own body on the tree ; he suflered for 
 our transgressions, and thus God doth not impute sin unto us ; all 
 
THE GOSPEL OF GOU. 
 
 25 
 
 our sins are hereby removed trom us as far as the East is from the 
 West, and we are made righteous or justified by his death : thus all 
 Israel was justified when they laid their hands on the sacrifice which 
 was slain. He shed his blood for us, and cleansed us from all sin, so 
 that we are made righteous, or, justified by his blood ; and thus all 
 the saints of old were justified being sprinkled by the blood, and thus 
 the saints of God in the Time of this abomination have been justi- 
 fied, who have had no hope in their doing good, but only in his 
 blood ! But this is not all, though this is all that David and the 
 prophets knew, and this is all that the elect of God have known dur- 
 ing the Time of abomination, since the first week of seven hundred 
 years. We are also justified by his life, " he rose again for our jus- 
 tification.'''' That is, he not only suffered death to destroy the body 
 of sin and death, and so he justified us ; he not only shed his blood 
 and sprinkled us therewith and made us clean from all our sins, and 
 so he justified us ; but what is more glorious still is the glory which 
 was to follow his sufiering and bloodshedding. (1 Peter, ch. i. 11, 
 12). He rose again to live in his people, to bless them with the 
 power and presence of his Righteousness, to be their life, to do all 
 things for them, to work all their works in them, that they might 
 live and have life more abundantly. Thus we are justified, made 
 righteous, made (by imputation) doers of Righteousness, by his life, 
 by his living in us, and being in us, and dwelling in us, " performing 
 all things for us /" This is what the Holy Ghost signifies when it 
 is said, " he rose again for our justification.'''' So that he not only 
 justifies his saints by his death and by his blood, by suffering for and 
 taking away all our sins, but by his life also, by living in them, and 
 He himself working all Righteousness for them ! This is " the 
 power of his resurrection" the glory which should follow his death 
 and sufferings. This is a great glory, as far above the being only 
 cleansed from all sin, as to do Righteousness is far above being 
 merely not unrighteous. As to have no sin imputed to us is blessed 
 indeed, and this was the case with David, so to have no sin imputed 
 to us, and also moreover to have actual Righteousness imputed to us 
 and so to be doers of Righteousness, is far more glorious and blessed ! 
 and this was what David and the prophets searched to know (1 
 Peter, i. 10.) God is glorified hereby, for indeed it is not a glory to 
 us, but to God ! " Herein is my Father glorified that ye bring forth 
 much fruit /" If we did the works it would be a glory to us, but 
 Christ alone doeth them and God is glorified by Christ. The saints 
 of old searched to know of this (Peter). After the resurrection of 
 Jesus Christ, his people enjoyed this life and glory for one week of 
 seven hundred years, and in the midst of this week the abomination 
 of the piety of a beast, a counterfeit Christianity began, which was 
 to last for 42 months, that is 1260 years, and which has since made 
 altogether desolate. (Dan. ix. 27.) For 700 years, or a week, the 
 Everlasting Covenant of the Promise in Christ Jesus the seed of 
 Abraham was confirmed with many, yea with multitudes, of God's 
 beloved who believed in his Name. Since then until now, (when the 
 Times of the Gentiles are fulfilled) the glory of the Gospel has been 
 4 
 
26 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 
 
 hidden, and this witness of God's Righteousness has testified in 
 sackcloth, (Rev. xi. 3). The word of God is express which de- 
 clared beforehand that it should be for 1260 years. (Dan. viii. 14 ; 
 Dan. xii. 7 ; Rev. xi. 2 ; Rev. xi. 3; Rev. xii. 6, 14). 
 
 During all the Time in which the riches of the glory of this Mys- 
 tery have been hidden from a proud and wicked and learned Earth 
 (for God would not cast his pearls before those who would trample 
 them under their feet, not one of the chosen seed has been lost, 
 though the glory has been dimmed. God has nourished his Church 
 though it was in the wilderness (Rev. xii. 6) and foolish faithless and 
 provoking as those who were 40 years in the wilderness (1 Cor. x. 
 11) nor, in all this Time would one, no not a single one of the wicked 
 and self-sanctifiers have believed in Christ alone for Righteousness, 
 no, not even if nothing had been hid, if their eyes had not been 
 blinded, and Christ had told them all! "if I tell you., ye will not 
 helieve^ The enemies of God under the guise of zealous believers, 
 denying his words, setting up their own doctrines and yet pretending 
 to be his servants, were to be, and to have power for a Time to show 
 themselves, to be let alone to do their will and build their buildings 
 (though even this only just so far as God had willed) and while this 
 has been, Christ has been waiting till the Time should be no more, 
 till his enemies should be made his footstool : the heavens have re- 
 ceived him till this Time is accomplished (Acts, iii. 21), and now, 
 the Time shall be no longer, and he will shortly appear, in the 
 clouds of heaven with power and great glory, and all his holy angels 
 with him! (Acts, i. 11) and the Mystery of God will be finished. 
 
 This great and glorious Truth and Mystery of godliness, even of 
 Jesus Christ coming in the flesh, and doing all for his people., work- 
 ing all his works in them, they having nothing to do, they only be- 
 lieving, no one in heaven or in earth could ever find out ! There 
 have been during the 42 months wise and learned men, yea, there 
 have been saints and prophets of God who have truly testified of 
 Christ, (though in sackcloth,) and yet, what God hath not been 
 pleased to make known, no man hath known. The very length of 
 time it has been hid, is as if it were to humble the pride of all men, 
 and to let them know that the things of God knoweth no man ! 
 (1 Cor. ii. 11) no ! no man ! but only the Spirit of God ! Boasting is 
 altogether excluded from the reach of filthy flesh, that is from us the 
 children of Adam. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 What Antichrist is, and that he now reigns in the Earth {the religious 
 
 world). 
 
 It has been seen that the Righteousness of God (and that, not a 
 momentary, but a perpetual ; not a passive but an active Righteous- 
 ness) is unto all and upon all them that believe ; that Christ Jesus 
 himself does all for them, and they have nothing to do. It is so ! 
 
 It may be said, if this be the case, then Jesus Christ is again on 
 
THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 
 
 27 
 
 the earth, and is not only come once in the flesh in his own body, 
 but is come again in the flesh in them that believe. Since He who 
 was manifested at the appointed time, being born of the virgin Mary, 
 comes and dwells in them that believe, and is in them, then Jesus 
 Christ is come in the flesh. It is so : this is the doctrine of God 
 laid open in this little book, namely, that he who believeth only in 
 Him hath nothing to do, for Jesus Christ cometh and dwelleth in 
 him, in the flesh, and doeth all and every thing for him, even all the 
 will of God, which as it is written in the Psalms he came on purpose 
 to do. He comes in the flesh to him who believes, having cleansed 
 him and washed him and made him a holy vessel of God ! 
 
 Whosoever he be who does not confess this truth, he is Antichrist ; 
 whosoever he be who saith that the sinner has got any thing to do, 
 and does not openly declare and confess that it is Jesus Christ who 
 doeth all Righteousness or good, who alone doeth it, and is it, he, 
 even he is Antichrist ! No one can now any longer be deceived, 
 unless he is determined to be deceived and to perish ! for this doc- 
 trine is given of God as a sure and positive test to try whether 
 preachers or prophets are deceivers and false prophets, speaking lies 
 in hypocrisy, speaking by the Spirit of falsehood, or whether they 
 are of God. God hath had great mercy upon us in this latter day 
 by giving us this sure test, that we may not be deceived by the son 
 of perdition, even Antichrist and the beast, though he be transformed 
 into an angel of light and speak like a lamb, prating about the " dear 
 Redeemer" in all hypocrisy and all deceivableness of unrighteous- 
 ness. Whosoever does not teach that Christ doeth all and the 
 sinner hath nothing to do ; that is, that Jesus Christ is come in the 
 flesh and is the only worker of Righteousness ; who preaches " do 
 good,^^ saying that the sinner who believes has got to do good, — he 
 is not of God, he is a false prophet ! he is a worshipper of the beast 
 or of the image of the beast, (that is either of himself or what he 
 calls his regenerated self, a mere fiction, an image of himself.) 
 
 " Hereby know ye the Spirit of God : every spirit that confesseth 
 that Jesus Christ is come in thefiesh is of God ; and 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 ye have heard that it 
 should come ; and even now already is it in the worlds 1 John, iv. 
 2, 3. 
 
 Yea, they who believe have nothing to do, Christ doeth all, him- 
 self, for them, he is in them, he is come in the flesh ! It is only 
 thus that Jesus Christ can come in the flesh, even coming and being 
 in them that believe and receive him ! for, when he came into the 
 world in the due time, it was not Jesus Christ who then came in the 
 flesh, but God who came and was manifest in the flesh, and the 
 Word being made flesh, was then first called Jesus ; this is the 
 Christ! This is that Jesus Christ who to them that believe in his 
 Name, comes in the flesh, and all his Work and Beauty and Righte- 
 ousness comes with him! Not to receive and confess this holy truth 
 is to deny and refuse Jesus Christ ! And to teach any other doc- 
 trine, saying to evil man " do good''' is not to confess it, is Anti- 
 
28 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 
 
 christ, yea, this is Antichrist which should come, and which should 
 reign and overcome for 42 months, that is 1260 years. All the 
 religious doctrine of this present day is Antichrist, the whole reli- 
 gion of this present Time is Antichrist. Not only they do not con- 
 fess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, to him that believes, and 
 that He alone bringeth forth in him Righteousness and all its fruits 
 (Phil. i. 11), but they know nothing whatever about it in their sen- 
 sual doctrine, and therefore cannot confess it ; the whole doctrine of 
 God is a strange thing to their natural understandings ; the very 
 first rudiments of the doctrine of Christ are strange and unknown to 
 them : they are in confusion, and stare one at another, and grope in 
 the dark ; their faces are as flames : while they wonder how it is 
 that with all their fleshly labours and pious pride they do not make a 
 better show in the flesh (seeing but not opening their eyes to the 
 vanity of their doings), and in their confusion they vainly call upon 
 God and his holy Spirit to join with them in " doing good" and to 
 help them ! to become a servant and a helpmate to them and the 
 satellite of their religious lusts, to di-ag along with them the chariot 
 of the beast, the filthy sinful and lascivious beast, which they toil 
 and labour to move and drag along. But it does not move, and the 
 city of confusion laments and cries aloud and urges on the beast in 
 vain ! 
 
 Christ was before all worlds; the Lamb of God, slain before the 
 foundation of the world, in whom alone, since the world began, all 
 who have been saved, have been saved. When in the fulness of time 
 he came into the world, and was born of a woman, he was then first, 
 having become man, named Jesus: and was then first the man Christ 
 Jesus. This man in whom God is manifested, even this Jesus Christ 
 the Lord of Glory, is come in the flesh, to dwell in the body of all 
 those who believe in him : (2 Cor. vi. 16. Coloss. i. 27. Rs. viii. 
 10. 1 John, iv. 4. Isaiah, xii. 6 ; xxvi. 12. Ezkl. xlviiii. 35) : he 
 comes in them to do all righteousness for them and instead of them, 
 and they have nothing to do, and must do nothing, but stand still. 
 He that knoweth not this knoweth not the truth to this day, and he 
 that will not receive and confess this is Antichrist. Hereby we know 
 that this is the last Time, (the Time which shall be no longer,) be- 
 cause this truth is bitterly opposed, and the lie that man doeth good 
 (not Christ only) is the doctrine taught and which reigns in the 
 earth (that is the religious world) in this day. 
 
 This is the truth declared by John, the last disciple, and for our 
 sakes, that we might be certain and know assuredly, with full assur- 
 ance of understanding, the only true doctrine of Christ, and who and 
 whit Antichrist is, who opposcth Christ and cxalteth himself above 
 Christ and God, whom yet they call God ! It is the religion and 
 profession of this last day, viz. professing that man doeth good, and 
 not confessing that only Jesus Christ doeth good, being come in the 
 flesh to them that believe, doing it fi)r them. 
 
 This is the Mystery of Godliness and it is a very great mystery 
 indeed, which Antichrist with all his piety and hopeful seriousness 
 does not know nor confess. The godliness or piety which Antichrist 
 
THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 29 
 
 preaches (which is not godliness, but is an abomination) is no mys- 
 tery, it is a work which any fleshly man can perform and assume, 
 whereas, to them who only believe, God himself is the worker : He, 
 the Almighty God, performeth all for them, and this is a great Mys- 
 tery ! It is one of the wonders of the wonderful God ! (Isaiah.) It 
 is truly wonderful, it is stupendous, it is beyond understanding, that 
 God himself, the Mighty God, even the glorified Jesus Christ, should 
 stoop so low, and come in the flesh, yea " even to the rebellions also" 
 and the ungodly, and dwell in his people who receive him, and he in 
 them and walk in them, and he their God ! 
 
 And doth Jesus Christ come in the flesh and do nothing ? or only 
 do part good ? part Righteousness ? does he leave the needy helpless 
 sinner who receives him to do good ? to do any thing at all 1 Nay 
 verily ! when he comes. Life and Power and Righteousness and Holi- 
 ness, all the work and all the fiuits of Righteousness come with him 
 and are by him, and remain, even more than would suffice to purify 
 and sanctify millions of worlds ! What then has he who believes to 
 do? He has to do nothing; he must stand still, believe, trust to, 
 receive and acknowledge God ! in a word, he has only to submit to 
 God ! He who does not confess this Truth, he is a deceiver and an 
 Antichrist. 
 
 What astonishing mercy and goodness, what exceeding great love ! 
 that God himself should provide Righteousness for and give it freely, 
 to the ungodly, to a sinful and rebellious people ! a people lost in 
 sins, devoted to unrighteousness, and obstinately, perversely, invin- 
 cibly, and irreclaimably corrupted, and addicted to deceitful lusts ! 
 And to provide Righteousness for them by means of one of them, 
 which would have been impossible but that he provided a new man 
 like unto them in every thing except in sin, a righteous man, a Holy 
 One ! And what not to be uttered Love, to provide this Holy One, 
 this man the conqueror of sin and doer of Righteousness, by his own 
 self entering into a body of man, and becoming man ! And the 
 Mighty God, the Everlasting Father having stooped down to dwell 
 in a fleshly temple, then to suffer patiently all degradation and 
 misery and contumely and insult, from his own creatures ! to be an 
 afflicted man, a cursed man, cursed for the sake of others, and to 
 suffer death as a man, and to take on himself the curse and condem- 
 nation of the law, and all this for the sake of those who were sinful, 
 and guilty, yea those who reviled and pierced him ! But, O mons- 
 trous iniquity ! after God has done all this, and provided Righteous- 
 ness for the sinful — that men loudly professing heartily and zealously 
 to believe what he has done, should rise up, saying, that what he had 
 done was good for nothing ! saying that they, evil beings, must per- 
 form that which is far from them, viz. Righteousness ! Thus saying 
 to God who has done so much, that he need not have taken so much 
 pains to provide Righteousness, but (since it must be provided) they 
 will provide it themselves ! This is trampling under foot, utterly 
 insulting the Son of God and crucifying him afresh ! Because verily, 
 as the Lord God liveth, if there could exist any such thing as Righte- 
 ousness from evil men and women who onlv do evil and that con- 
 
30 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 
 
 tinually, then Christ need not have suffered at all, then all that he 
 suffered was vain and useless ! Therefore highly excellent as human 
 piety and Righteousness appears to us blind and wicked flesh, to 
 preach to sinful man " do good" " be pious" " be godly," or do any 
 thing at all of this work which is God's gracious work, which ex- 
 pressly belongs to Him, is to trample under foot the Son of God and 
 to do despite to the Spirit of Grace. 
 
 Shocking spectacle ! to see a number of poor sinful worms clothed 
 for a short moment in a little respectability and honour, fat with 
 pride and filthy with sins, — to see them strutting about and putting 
 on pious looks, calling themselves reverend men and yet calling 
 themselves hell-deserving sinners, and dreaming how nice and pretty 
 they are before God, because of their nice feelings and pious little 
 doings and attractions ! And all the while that they are so busy and 
 making such haste to do their wicked good, the Son of God has 
 stooped to suffer, (and they pretend to know it and teach it) to do 
 real good and all good, and to provide all Righteousness, even the 
 Righteousness of God for and instead of the ungodly ! 
 
 If there could be such a creature as a good man, a doer of good 
 among the children of Adam, then the express word of God, even 
 the law of God would be a lie, which declares " there is none that 
 doeth good, no not one.'''' He therefore who believeth not in Christ 
 the Righteousness of God, but worketh for himself to do righteous- 
 ness, he maketh God a liar. (1 John, v. 10). 
 
 But since we men are too deplorably and maliciously wicked ever 
 to be good or to do Righteousness, blessed for ever blessed be our 
 God, for the good news, for the glad tidings, — we have not got any to 
 do ! And blessed be God for his unspeakable gift, we are not desti- 
 tute of Righteousness, (if we were we should perish) but the Lord is 
 Our Righteousness, even the Lord who gave himself for us, and we 
 are perfectly righteous in "OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS." 
 
 Herein is blessedness, here is liberality and grace, here is the un- 
 speakable gift, here is good news, here is the talent of pure gold 
 (which the churlish usurer who preaches " pay something,'''' " fay 
 something,^'' hides and buries and wraps up in the filthy napkin of 
 human Righteousness, and being an austere man says that he knows 
 God is snch an one as himself and wants pay, and he is afraid of the 
 exceeding rich liberality, and hides the truth and preaches usury, 
 Luke, xix. 20, 21) yes! herein is blessedness and bounty, and rich 
 grace and glory and salvation, namely, that the needy wretched sin- 
 ner has nothing to do, that is, nothing to give, nothing to pay, no. 
 Nothing, Nothing ! Blessed be God ! 
 
 God the Saviour, the Redeemer, the Righteous One, the Holy One 
 of Israel, doeth Righteousness and is Righteousness for him ! he is 
 redeemed from under the heavy obligation of " do good" and from 
 the horrible curse, which inevitably rests upon and adheres to every 
 creature which doeth evil. The curse is removed with the obliga- 
 tion which produced it. He is redeemed from under it ! He has no 
 longer got one jot or tittle of it to do, it is all done for him ! There 
 is no longer any wall of partition between him and his God ; there is 
 
THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 31 
 
 no longer any veil between, it is rent in twain, it is taken out of the 
 way : now he has peace with God, now, only believing, he has access 
 to God ; there is no sin upon him, " God beholdeth no iniquity in 
 Jacob,'''' he is cleansed from all sin by the blood of Jesus Christ the 
 Lamb of God, he is cleansed by the word (the water of life) even 
 Christ, by which Word the living water, he is begotten again born 
 into a new life (this is to be born of water) God is with him and 
 dwelleth in him, he shall never perish, God is faithful ! This is the 
 faith of God's elect, this is the faith of Christ, the faith once 
 delivered to the saints: that Christ only doeth good, he undertakes 
 to do it all and does it all for his people who receive him, who are 
 all without exception who will, that is, who wish and desire to take 
 of the water of life freely, that is, gratuitously, not giving any thing, 
 doing nothing! (Rev. xxii. 17.) He comes to all such who only be- 
 lieve, and he is with them, and he is in them, and he, and he alone 
 and no one with him doeth good, that is all Righteousness for them 
 and instead of them ! This is the doctrine of God ! not to confess 
 this, not to preach this, to teach any other doctrine than this, to say 
 to men " do good" is Antichrist ! and a deceiver ! (2 John, i. 7). 
 " Many deceivers are entered into the icorld who confess not that 
 Jesus Christ is come in the fesh ; this is a deceiver and an Anti- 
 christ.^^ 
 
 And now Antichrist who was to come in the last days, is revealed 
 in all his power and glory : This Time is the time in which the beast, 
 the man of sin, the wicked one, is exalted above all that is called 
 God (2 Thess. ii. 3, 4) ; the harlot seated and built upon the founda- 
 tion of this beast (not built upon Christ the only foundation) has 
 overspread the earth (the religious world) with the abomination of 
 her fornications and self-decorations of her own piety, and now this 
 beast has slain the two witnesses, the law and the gospel, utterly 
 despising them both, and yet has not buried them, but hawks about 
 and parades up and down their dead bodies, (viz. the dead and de- 
 spised letter, the bible,) and sends them about with their books and 
 tracts by ship loads and cart loads as presents to one another and as 
 marks of the triumph of the piety and goodness of impious and 
 wicked man ! (Rev. xi. 10). In all the Time of 1260 years, the glory 
 of Zion has been dimmed, and the beast has prevailed and prospered, 
 but, the complete extinction of all truth, the complete triumph of the 
 beast and its fleshly piety, the gross darkness covering the earth (the 
 professors of earthly religion), was reserved for this very day ! (Rev. 
 ii. 7.) But, as the Lord liveth, the time shall be no longer ! 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 
 Why has the sinner and the ungodly who believe nothing to do ? Is 
 it because nothing need be done ? 
 
 They who believe in Christ as their Righteousness have God in 
 them to do all things for them ; the Spirit of God dwelleth in them, 
 the Spirit of Christ is in them, Christ is in them (Rom. viii. 9, 10), 
 
32 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 
 
 and having Him to do all things for them, they have nothing to do, 
 or in other words, they are not under the law. 
 
 But if a man does not by faith receive Jesus Christ as the fulfiller 
 of the whole law for him, as his Righteousness, (and that, not a pas- 
 sive inert Righteousness, not a dream or imagination, but an active 
 powerful Righteousness who worketh mightily,) then he is under the 
 law for he does not believe, and then he has every thing to do, and 
 he cannot possibly escape from it, he must fulfil it in every jot and 
 tittle, or he is cursed : for the law is in full force, the Gospel does 
 not set it aside, God forbid ! the Gospel confirms it. 
 
 It is only he who believeth in Christ Jesus to do all Righteousness 
 for him, who really desires and looks to him to do it, — it is only 
 such a one who is delivered from the law and from the curse, and 
 has nothing whatever to do, because it is all done for him ; he re- 
 ceives the Holy One to do all for him and bless him. If this is not 
 the case with a man, if he does not receive this Holy One of God, 
 the whole burden and obligation of the law is upon him, he is bound 
 to the law, he is married to it, and woe unto him if he putteth away 
 his wife, that is, if he cast off the law of God and think that he dare 
 treat its solemn demands in all thino^s with lightness. God is not 
 mocked, the law is true and cannot be evaded nor partially obeyed, 
 nor violated in the least degree, by any one, whosoever he be. 
 
 It is most certain and true that he who believes is not under the 
 law which commands to do good ; it is most certain and true that he 
 has not got to do good, he has not got any thing to do ! No ! blessed 
 be our God, he has not got any thing to do, he is free ! Christ has 
 made him free ! " He is dead to the laio by the body of Christ ; he ia 
 married to another, even to Him xoho is risen from the dead." 
 
 But what is the reason why he has nothing to do ? Is it because 
 nothino; needs to be done ? Is it because no Risrhteousness is to be 
 done ? God forbid. So far from there being no Righteousness to 
 be done, Christ came for the very purpose that he might do it, that 
 so he might save us who would not do it. " Lo ! I come to do thy 
 will, O God." 
 
 This was why he became man, that man might fulfil the law, and 
 so man might be saved. For no one can possibly be saved if the 
 whole Righteousness of the law is not fulfilled, either really by him, 
 or imputedly by him, that is by Christ, for him. Not part by him 
 and part by Christ ; if he fulfils only part, the whole is broken 
 (James, ii. 10), and if Christ fulfils only part, then also all is not ful- 
 filled and the whole is broken: therefore this wicked doctrine of 
 believing and having something to do at the same time, is a double 
 transgression of the law, and is an utter abomination ; it is adultery, 
 a being joined to two, viz. the Law and Christ, and being false to 
 both : and this religious generation (the earth) is an adulterous 
 generation ! If a man does not entirely receive Christ to do all for 
 him, and he himself to do nothing, the whole law is not fulfilled, and 
 he cannot be saved : he totally rejects and denies Christ by only 
 partially receiving him, and is an infidel : he totally violates the law 
 by only partially obeying it, and is a transgressor and is cursed ! 
 
THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 
 
 33 
 
 (such is the earth,) and it brings forth thorns and is nigh unto burn- 
 ing, for these are they who sin wilfully (Hebrews, x. 26, 27.) 
 Wherefore, and be it again and again repeated, a man cannot be 
 saved, except the law is perfectly and completely fultilled : sin and 
 malice are no jest, and the law which taketh just and sure vengeance, 
 is no jest neither ! Woe to them who trifle with these ! 
 
 Jesus Christ the Son of God came for the express purpose, and 
 was delivered unto death that he, even he (not we) might destroy the 
 works of the devil ! (1 John, iii. 8.) But if nothing need be done, 
 then Christ need not have died ; and if we could do what yet must 
 be done, then he need not have died : but he died that He might fulfil 
 all Righteousness, even the whole law for the ungodly, because it 
 was impossible for them through their wickedness and weakness to 
 do it ; and yet if it was not done, it was impossible for them to be 
 saved : for it is utterly impossible for any one to be saved, if all the 
 law is not fulfilled perfectly. 
 
 Therefore Righteousness is to be done, it must be done, there is 
 no peace or salvation without it : he that doeth unrighteousness is of 
 the devil, he is not of God ; and he that does not hunger and thirst 
 after Righteousness, even real Righteousness in deed, not in word, 
 does not desire to be delivered from the works of the devil, he does 
 not want or care for Christ. So then he who does not truly desire 
 to be delivered from all his own evil ways in every respect and in all 
 things, he does not wish to be saved, he does not look to be saved, 
 that is, he does not believe, and he cannot possibly be saved ! God 
 himself could not save him, for he changes not, and he could not 
 break the law! if he would, that cup should have passed from Christ! 
 and therefore if a man does not wish and desire to have Christ alone, 
 really to fulfil all the law for him and save him completely and in 
 very deed from all and every one of his sins, God himself cannot 
 save that man ! he does not believe, that is, he does not wish to be 
 saved ! He who has any one sin however small in his own eyes, 
 which he does not long to be delivered from, which he does not wish 
 to forsake, he loveth unrighteousness and not Righteousness, he does 
 not desire Christ, that is true Righteousness, he does not wish to be 
 saved, he does not want deliverance, he loveth wickedness, he does 
 not look to Christ to deliver him : in a word, he does not believe, 
 and he cannot possibly be saved ! But " if any man will do," (that 
 is, wishes to do) the will of God, (that is, Righteousness) and not to 
 do the will of the flesh "Ae shall knoio the doctrine of God,'''' (John, 
 vii. 17) he shall know the Salvation of God, that Christ Jesus 
 saveth his people that look to him, doing all things for them, even 
 all the will of God, delivering them from sin, and they have nothing 
 of this his work to do ! For this, even this, is the glorious proclama- 
 tion of the Gospel of the living God, namely, whosoever really 
 wishes to be saved, he shall infallibly be saved ! If a man wishes to 
 take the waters of life, freely (that is, gratuitously) let him take ! 
 and he shall be saved. 
 
 Let no one therefore blindly imagine that Christ and the works of 
 darkness, or any work of darkness, can possibly have any union 
 5 
 
34 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 
 
 together. The pooi* and needy sinner will not so deceive himself. 
 Vile and unconquerable as are his lusts, overwhelming as his sins 
 are, over and over again that he has fallen under them, and then still 
 more over and over again that he has fallen under them, and so 
 always be has gone on, continually falling under them, yet he longs 
 to be delivered from them : though he is not worthy of the least of 
 all God's mercies (Gen. xxxii. 10), though his sins are '■^ more in 
 number than the hairs of his head,'''' though they are as scarlet, and 
 he " is a beast before God,^'' yet he desires to be delivered from 
 them, he abhors himself. His misery and despair, his shame and 
 infamy is, that it is utterly impossible for him to overcome them and 
 to do good, that he is in prison and cannot escape ; he knows this to 
 be the case, to his shame and sorrow, he knows that he has no 
 Righteousness, none at all ! Such an one is poor, truly poor, and if 
 he knows it, God says the Psalmist has taught him this out of his 
 law, and he is blessed ! also he is needy, because he is in need, he 
 would fain have Righteousness, he wants it, he longeth for it, this 
 wisdom also cometh from God ! it is not to be found in the proud 
 heart of man. 
 
 Why then has such a sinner, if he believes, nothing to do 1 Why 
 is he saved, doing nothing, but only looking to Christ? Not because 
 he may continue in sin, that is, not be saved at all, (for sin is death 
 and a curse) no, God forbid ! but, he has nothing to do, and must do 
 nothing, because Christ himself has undertaken to do all, and will do 
 all for him ! It is the Promise, the Covenant of God ! He will do 
 it himself, personally and alone and unassisted, this is his Covenant ! 
 He will take off all the task and toil from the captive sinner, he will 
 set him free and ease him of all his hard work, he, the Christ, will 
 give him rest, this is his salvation ! This is why the sinner has 
 nothing to do, even because there is nothing to be done by him, 
 when Christ does all ! Yea, he himself will do all and every thing, 
 he alone, and unassisted, the sinner doing nothing at all, only desiring 
 him to do it, only trusting to him ; " the battle is not yours but 
 God's /" O ! the unspeakable riches of Christ I 
 
 Christ will do all this because of his Promise, confirmed by an 
 oath, and because of his rich grace and unspeakable mercy. It is 
 the mere mercy of God — it is out of his mere mercy that he hath 
 promised, and that he doeth all for us. He will do it, (he is faithful 
 and hath spoken) for every poor captive laden with the utmost load 
 of iniquity and uncleanness, who only looks to him to do it, who truly 
 desires him to do it, that is, who believes. " Come unto me, he says, 
 and I will give you Rest /" and he says, " Whosoever cometh unto 
 me, I will in no wise cast out.''"' 
 
 So that the sinner has nothing to do, because it is unnecessary and 
 superfluous that he should do any thing whatever, since all is done 
 for him, since such a " Mighty God and WonderfuV is with him, 
 graciously condescending to do for him all that should bo done, even 
 all the perfect Righteousness which the law declares. If the wicked 
 sinner was good and not bad, and then could do good, there would be 
 nothing whatever for him to do when a better than he did all and 
 
THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 35 
 
 every thing, lacking nothing : how much less therefore is there any 
 thing to do when he is bad, and being so bad, can and does only 
 bring forth that which is exceedingly bad 1 
 
 Therefore, " Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shall BE 
 SAVED," thou shalt not have any thing to do, that is to save thy- 
 self. And thou shalt be saved in very deed, sin shall not have 
 dominion over you : you shall be saved from your sins by the grace 
 of Christ ; it is a favour and mercy when a man is delivered from 
 the power of sin; a favour from God towards him, not, as the earth 
 (the religious professors) wickedly imagine a favour from him 
 towards God : God forbid ! It does no good to God, it is no benefit 
 to him when we do not commit sin, but to us it is a great benefit, a 
 very great favour from God, it is life and peace, and this Grace is 
 what God gives to them that believe. He gives it to all of them, 
 more or less as it pleaseth him, for he giveth to every one of us who 
 believe severally as he will. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The Son of Perdition, and his doctrine ; a cry against the Earth. 
 
 By his death and sufferings Christ has purchased eternal life for 
 all them who (being ordained to eternal life,) shall believe in his 
 name. This is not an imperfect nor a doubtful purchase ; he not 
 only paid enough, he ^^ paid double for all our sins;^'' and, also he 
 knew those whom he purchased : " / knoto them.'''' The purchase is 
 complete, and nothing is lacking, nothing is to be done by him who 
 believes to further the finished work of Christ. But they who labour, 
 who do something for the purchase of life, when Christ himself has 
 finished the work, are either totally ignorant of the existence of 
 such a Saviour as this, or if they have heard of him, they totally 
 deny his power to save : for it is impossible to believe that he is The 
 Christ and Saviour, if a man says there is something still that ought 
 to be done for this salvation. Christ having taken all that the sinner 
 ought to do, upon himself, and since the law cannot be broken, he 
 himself having fulfilled it for them, and since Righteousness must 
 positively be done, he himself having done it, and ever doing it for 
 them who receive him, then after all this, to say that any Righte- 
 ousness whatever remains to be done, and to be done by the sinner, 
 is effectually to say that Jesus Christ is no Saviour at all, and that 
 the sinner must save himself. This is a much more complete and 
 outrageous denial and rejection of Christ the Lord of glory, than 
 they were guilty of who spat in his face and nailed him to the Cross. 
 
 If Christ had yet left any thing to be done by" the sinner that be- 
 lieves, there could be no salvation ; for if it were ever so small a 
 thing, there could not be salvation if it were not done ; and it is cer- 
 tain the sinner would never do it, (for the law of God declares that 
 there is none that doeth good, no, not one,) and therefore it is certain 
 that if he had any good to do, he would never do it, (for to do good 
 is ijot in a sinner,) and so there would be no Salvation. But if the 
 
36 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 
 
 law of God were false, and if it were true that the sinner really did 
 good, even a little good, then it would not be Christ's salvation, it 
 would be the sinner's own, and the glory of it would be his. But 
 again, if the sinner did good, how would he be a sinner? It is an 
 absurd contradiction ; the Scripture makes no mention of good sin- 
 ners, that is, of good bad men ; man is not half good and half a 
 sinner; he is a sinner ! 
 
 Therefore, and for ever blessed and praised be our God, for the 
 good news, the rich grace ; — therefore the unhappy sinner that 
 thirsteth after Righteousness, has not got to do any good whatever ! 
 no, not the least jot or tittle. " OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS is per- 
 fect ; Jesus is the Christ, that is, the perfect Saviour ; he has done 
 all, he doeth all, and he leaves nothing to be done by man, wicked 
 man, to assist or promote, or finish his perfect salvation. 
 
 The wicked being full of deceit and deception, pretend to say that 
 they do believe that Christ has done all and that his salvation is a 
 finished and perfect salvation ! Oh yes ! they fully believe and preach 
 all this! but, they say, the sinner must do something in order to 
 obtain it ; he must pray, read his Bible, search the Scriptures, ask, 
 seek, knock, use means, &c., and then the sinner will get it ! This 
 is their main doctrine, this is their strong tower ! God foreknew 
 them ! God foresaw their wicked shifts and evasions to overthrow 
 his Grace, and cast Christ down from his excellency ; by which they 
 would pretend to believe, while they crucified afresh the Lord of 
 Glory. He foreknew it all, that they would sell Christ for the vile 
 money, the base consideration of the abomination of human prayers, 
 and duties, and something to be done by the beast ! knowing them of 
 old, he called them and their whole doctrine collectively, ages before 
 they were born, " the Son (f Perdition /" (2 Thess. ii. 3) because like 
 Judas the Son of perdition, pretending greatly to love the Saviour, to 
 believe in him and to follow him, yet, while they kiss him, they sell 
 him ! 
 
 They willingly are ignorant, that though he who thirsts after 
 Righteousness, asks, and begs, and knocks, yet it is God who freely, 
 i. e. gratuitously gives him eternal life, and not for praying for it, 
 no; but for nothing I freely! Who gives it him only because it is 
 his good will and pleasure ; even because he is very very gracious 
 and merciful; who gives it him because he has always and before 
 the world began, intended and proposed to give it him ! because he 
 has chosen him to give it him ! because he has loved him with an 
 everlastitng love ! and this elect soul prays, because it is the Spirit 
 of God which makes intercession for him with groaning that cannot 
 be uttered ; it is not he a beast that prays, but the holy Spirit of 
 God which is given to him and is in him ! 
 
 Wicked man is so fond of his own ways, and thinks his own works 
 of so much value, that they are shocked indeed when these works 
 Site pronounced to be altogether vile and worthless : yet they do not 
 ficruple to believe that Christ's work and Righteousness is incom- 
 plete and insuflicient, requiring man's help, and of no avail, unless 
 jnan lends a hand and does something also. This is to think highly 
 
THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 37 
 
 of man, and lightly of God ! this is to exalt the man of sin above the 
 Lord God Almighty. " Wliatr'' say they, " «re we to sit still and 
 do nothing 1 are we not to do good 1 are we not to pray ? Does not 
 God say, seek and ye shall Jind ? knock, pray, and that he will be en- 
 quired after ? This (say they) shows that we have something to do, 
 nothing can he plainer I Thcnfore we must use means, it is our duty, 
 it is the command of God, and therefore, after all, we have something 
 
 to do r 
 
 Thus our vile and proud hearts would fain turn the complete gra- 
 tuitousness, the rich grace and glorious freeness of Christ's salvation, 
 into terms and conditions; "_yoM must hunger, you must seek, it is your 
 duty, that is the condition, that is the money to he paid : you must ask 
 and pray, and then, if you do this, if you do this (see, you must do 
 something) then, you shall be saved ! This is the doctrine of the Son 
 of Perdition ! satisfied with their fleshly reasoning, they sit down 
 pleased with the necessary conclusion, that after all, salvation does 
 depend, in spite of every thing to the contrary, upon our doing some- 
 thing ! What is the meaning of all this 1 why, nothing more than that 
 we are too wicked, too proud and scornful, to receive Christ ! no ! 
 we will not receive him freely ! we will buy him, we will pay some- 
 thing, at all events, for his salvation ! something however paltry we 
 will give, that it may not be entirely his salvation ; the very act of 
 begging, the very acknowledgment that we want this salvation, shall 
 be turned into a consideration, a money, for which, when we give it, 
 we are to receive this Salvation ! And since God says that it shall 
 be wanted by those who receive it, therefore we will make our very 
 want and need of it, a condition, a cause, a money which produces 
 it, so that it shall not be God's gratuitous gift ! This, all this, is 
 what the heart says and feels, though the lips may not utter it, but 
 may talk deceitfully of Free Grace and humility ! This is the doc- 
 trine of the Son of Perdition who sells Christ for something, be it 
 ever so little ; thus the Son of Perdition preaches and calls upon the 
 proud and sensual, the haters of God and enemies of Christ, to pay 
 down this their vile money ! " Their right hand is full of bribes,'''' 
 they go to God with a bribe in their hand. 
 
 This idea of doing something, only a little, yet however a some- 
 thing ; and something for God, something for bis Grace, something 
 for his mercy, only proceeds from the most desperate and diabolical 
 wickedness, from the most brutish ignorance, veiled under the appear- 
 ance of the most virtuous intention. 
 
 God, who hath made known his will, the law of all right to man, 
 and hath shown that they should love one another, and give and lend 
 to all who ask, without even expecting, much more without taking 
 any thing in return — God ! who in his righteous law strictly forbids 
 usury, the taking any thing in return, — does He expect, or will he 
 take any return for the Grace of the Gospel ! ! Will He take re- 
 ward 1 Will He be recompensed ? Does he require man to do any 
 thing, any the least thing, any thing whatsoever for his Grace and 
 goodness? No indeed! Nothing! Nothing! nothing whatever ! God 
 will take no recompense ! (Joel, iii. 4). Woe unto them that recom- 
 
38 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 
 
 pense God ! God will not receive any prayers in the shape of bribe 
 or payment or purchase, for his rich Grace and boundless, boundless 
 mercy ! He gives ! he gives liberally and upbraideth not ! He gives 
 not like man ! he gives freely, gratuitously, for nothing ! ! merely of 
 his own will and pleasure ,• only because he is good and gracious, 
 only because He will ; and when he will ; and where he will ; and to 
 whom he will ; and as he will ! He is God over all. They to whom 
 he will give, shall want, shall hunger, shall long after, and greatly 
 desire and greatly value and beg for the Unspeakable Gift, which he 
 has promised without exception to all the poor and needy, the hungry 
 and the thirsty. But it is by the Holy Ghost which God gives, that 
 they shall want and pray. 
 
 It is great wisdom, it is having understanding to desire and cry 
 out for this blessed salvation, and this very wisdom comes only from 
 him, and is his gift, the prayer of the needy is the work of the Holy 
 Spirit of God, which is good understanding and is in all them that 
 really pray, whether they know it or not. 
 
 No indeed ! God will not be recompensed ! he will give ; and he 
 can receive nothing from man. The austere usurers of this day, 
 who know not God, how good he is, how good and liberal beyond 
 what even they who are round his throne can think or imagine, — 
 they, wicked men, say they know he is just like themselves, an aus- 
 tere man; yea! like them, reaping where he has not sown, and 
 gathering where he has not strewed ; that is, expecting an evil help- 
 less lost sinner to do some good : yea, like them, not giving but sell- 
 ing ; like them, taking payment, and pretending that what they are 
 paid for is a mighty liberality : like them ! Churls, harsh, unforgiv- 
 ing, unkind, bigoted, selfish, greedy, covetous, haughty, proud, " tliou 
 thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself" and they 
 preach that God is a usurer like themselves! and therefore they are 
 afiaid of the rich free liberal grace and bountifulness of the Gospel 
 to sinners : they are afraid, they think there will be danger to 
 " Piety" if God's Righteousness is known; they are afraid, and they 
 wrap up the talent of the Gospel, the one talent, even the little they 
 know of it, they are afraid of it, and hide it, and gain no cities ; not 
 a single city of God, no tabernacle which he inhabits is among 
 them; and while they preach usury they do not pay it; but they ought 
 surely themselves to pay God a little usury when they preach so 
 much to their miserable hearers ! God in this parable (Matt. xxv. 
 24 to 27) prophesied of and described the teachers and preachers of 
 every age of the Christian era, and in the last of them he has de- 
 scribed the doctrine of this last and wicked day ; and all, before ever 
 there was yet a single man called a Christian on the earth ; before 
 ever the Christian era had begun ! How they have blasphemed God, 
 and how his Name is blasphemed among men through them, as it is 
 written. No blasphemy could be so bad as that of representing God 
 to be like unto corruptible man, usurious ! a violater of his own holy 
 law ; exacting, wanting pay, harsh, unkind ! Yea, in all their furious 
 exhortations to " do good" they blaspheme God ! They are an adul- 
 terous generation (being married and bound to the law, and death 
 
THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 3^ 
 
 and conviction for sin, and pretending to be married to Christ, while 
 the first husband is yet ahvc, to whom also they deal falsely) they 
 are a generation of vipers, abominable, fearful; afraid of God's truth 
 and goodness ! they are called dogs, (Philipps. iii. 2) for they neither 
 eat themselves, nor will they suffer others to eat of the rich banquet 
 of the Gospel : they snarl over the gift and will suffer none to ap- 
 proach it ; they fawn and flatter and look kind and endearing in 
 order to get, but they will not give : they bite and devour and fight 
 with one another, and horrible madness is in their bite when they 
 have arrived as they now have to the pitch of their delusions, going 
 day and night busy and bustling and ; " doing good" about the streets 
 of the city, that great city, the city of confusion, perplexity and 
 darkness, and contradiction and controversies, Babylon ; which is 
 spiritually called Sodom and Egypt ; Sodom, because of its gross and 
 abominable perversion of the plain truth ; Egypt, because of its glory 
 and wealth, and refinement and learning, and darkness and Beast 
 worship : a city in which our Lord has been crucified afresh, and put 
 to an open shame ! (Rev. xi.) God knew them, the Son of Perdition, 
 the bargainers and sellers and condition-makers, even them and all 
 their thoughts before the foundation of the world : and he ordained 
 them to the just condemnation of their deeds which he has let them 
 alone to do, and given them power to do, for a Time ; but this Time 
 of the Beast, the reign of man and his doctrine, the man of sin, is 
 about to end, it shall be no longer, saith the Lord, who liveth for 
 ever and ever !* 
 
 * The whole Time of the Abomination, or the Falling^ away (2 Thess. ii. 3) or 
 Antichrist (1 John) or of the perilous times (Tim.) is 1260 years: as is expressly 
 declared over and over again in the Scriptures, (Dan. viii. 14 ; Dan. xii. 11 ; Rev. xi. 
 2,3; Rev. xii. 6,14.) 
 
 It began in the midst of the first 700 years afler the Roman Prince destroyed 
 the city and the Sanctuary : this 700 years is called a week, during which week 
 the Covenant of the Promise even the Gospel of God was confirmed of God with 
 many, even with multitudes of Saints. (Dan. ix. 27.) In the midst of this week, 
 the Abomination of the swine flesh oflTering of the sacrifice of human Righteous- 
 ness, (which is not Righteousness) instead of the pure and spotless offering of the 
 Lamb of God, was set up, and the latter, (the only true oblation strongly figured 
 forth in the oblation under the first dispensation) was taken away; God himself 
 took it away from the Earth, because they trampled the pearl under foot, (Malt, 
 vii. 6.) 
 
 Daring all this Time of Abomination, the glory of the Gospel has been dimmed, 
 (the Sun has been darkened) but yet it has shone at some periods with some degree 
 of light until this day, when the two witnesses are slain, having finished their tes- 
 timony : (Rev. xi. 7.) Now the Beast, the man of Sin, the Son of Perdition has 
 triumphed, and neither the Gospel nor the Law of God are preached, but lies and 
 human works, and the Doctrine of the Son of Perdition instead of the Gospel, and 
 foolish deeds of silly screaming piety and trifling observances and abstinences, in- 
 stead of the law ; all is darkness, gross darkness over the Earth, (that is, the reli- 
 gious world) and the Sea and the waves roar (that is, the irreligious world and its 
 chiefs are insolent and audacious in their blasphemy): gross darkness covereth the 
 people, and in the spiritual land of Egypt there is a darkness which can be felt. 
 And now God in Christ will appear, and the Time shall be no longer. 
 
40 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 To believe only in Jesus Christ, and then afterwards to worlr, is fall- 
 ing- from Grace ; it is after being washed to return to icallowing 
 in the mire. 
 
 It is only when a sinner believes, from and after he believes, that 
 Christ doeth all for him, and he hath nothing to do : before he believes 
 he has every thing to do, all Righteousness to do, and is cursed if he 
 does not do it. 
 
 God hath turned the earth (the religious world) upside down: it 
 reels to and fro like a drunkard ; for they preach the very reverse 
 (the upside down) of God's truth, saying that after a man believes 
 then he has something to do ! then he has got to do good ! this is to 
 frustrate the Grace of God : this is saying that before any one be- 
 lieves there is Grace, (when there is not ; there is nothing but con- 
 demnation to them that do not yet believe) but that when he believes 
 then there is no grace, then he has got to do good, that is, to work 
 Righteousness ! whereas then only there is Grace, then only there is 
 no condemnation, because then only he has nothing whatever to do, 
 and cannot have condemnation having nothing to be condemned for, 
 then he is under Grace, and God will do all Righteousness in him 
 and for him. 
 
 The sinner believing, hath nothing now to do ; but he who does 
 not yet believe has every thing to do ; and woe unto them who de- 
 spise God's law, who do not obey it, who diminish aught from it, or 
 add any thing to it, or put one jot or tittle of any thing instead 
 of it ! 
 
 If, when a man has received the word, it may be with joy ; if he 
 begins " to do," if he turn back to the law, and tries to do good, that 
 is to obtain Righteousness ; then he has fallen from Grace, Christ 
 will profit him nothing, he is under sin! This is the falling away 
 which has taken place ; they have fallen from Grace ; and for now 
 nearly 1260 years have been seeking to " do good" that is to get 
 Righteousness by following the law which is seeking Righteousness, 
 and that is seeking to be justified by the law. (Gal. v. 4.) This is 
 not the faith of God's elect, of those who endure to the end, this is 
 the sinning wilfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth and 
 despising Christ, even turning back from him to the law, and not 
 deeming Christ able alone to save. " If any man turn back saith the 
 Lord, my sovl shall have no pleasure in him." Having believed, the 
 sinner is still to believe, and not go back to the mud and mire of his 
 working and doing; after he believes, he must believe (1 John, v. 13) 
 yea, and stand fast in the faith, that is in believing and doing no- 
 thing, only trusting to Christ, and continue in doing nothing only 
 believing. Having ceased from all his works and doing nothing, but 
 looking only to God to do all for him, he is to continue to ceose from 
 all his works, yea, to stand fast and be strong in doing nolhing and 
 not to fall away. This only is walking after the Spirit: to have some- 
 thing to do is being after the flesh, and is death : to have God to do 
 
THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 41 
 
 all for us is life and peace, because He alone truly does ; they that 
 are after the flesh say and do not. 
 
 Therefore before a man believes, he has all the law to fulfil, all 
 good to do ; but after he believes in the name of the Son of God, con- 
 tinuing only to believe, he has no good to do ! Blessed for ever 
 blessed be God for his unspeakable gift of Righteousness by Jesus 
 Christ! Believe, and let Christ be all your Righteousness, and still 
 believe, and let him only be your Righteousness, and then still only 
 believe, and let God alone work Righteousness for you. And what 
 then? Why then, go on to cease doing and working, to be altogether 
 purged from all your works, and to rest, (not turning back again to 
 the mire and mud of human righteousness,) and only believe. (1 John, 
 V. 13.) That is, in other words, receive his vast blessing and good- 
 ness, and then still receive; and what then? why then go on still to 
 receive, thanking him and praising Him for such unutterable good- 
 ness ! There is always more to receive than we can have any idea 
 of, the love, the Grace of Christ passeth knowledge, and the more a 
 man ceaseth from himself and trusteth to Christ, the more still he 
 will continue to know of the grace and power and righteousness of 
 God, and of that peace which passeth all understanding. This is to 
 grow in Grace, and to become stronger and stronger in " tlie Grace 
 that is in Christ Jcsiis,^^ it is becoming weaker and weaker in our- 
 selves ! for, says the Apostle to this effect, when we are most weak 
 then we are most strong ! " Let the weak say I am strong,'" saith the 
 Prophet. 
 
 The sinner who believes and casts all upon Christ, has nothing to 
 fear : he need not be anxious, he need not use any effort or exertion, 
 he must cease from all this, and forsake all hope in it, let him only 
 turn his eyes to Christ, and the serpent's bite shall be cured, and the 
 serpent shall bite him no more. He has found his enemies too 
 strong for him while he tried to overcome them, but when he tries 
 no longer and casts the burden entirely upon Christ, then (but never 
 till then) he will find that Christ is the Power of God, and greater is 
 Jesus Christ who is in him (1 John, 44) than he who is in the 
 world. He will find that Christ is the Power of the Mighty God, 
 who created heaven and earth and the sea and all that in them is. 
 He who beUeves, will, standing still, beliold this salvation from sin 
 and the devil ; a little, if he has a little faith, and much if he has 
 greater faith. But he who works and tries to do good, following the 
 law as the rule of life (and indeed it is a rule of life, and woe to those 
 who being bound by this holy rule, do not fidly obey it in all things !) 
 — he is under the law and under condemnation and under guilty-con- 
 viction for sin ; he has no faith at all, no not the least, he knows (till 
 now) nothing of it, all his talk and feelings and ecstacies of love and 
 joy and glory, are fleshly puffings up and swellings of Satan, like 
 the swelling produced by the bite of a serpent ; they are dreams 
 filthy dreams, he is in bondage and death. And also, he who con- 
 tinues the servant of unrighteousness, and is not translated from the 
 power of Satan to the Kingdom of God, but loveth the world and the 
 things that are in it, serving divers lusts, and wishing after houses or 
 6 
 
42 THE GOSPKL OF GOl). 
 
 money, or honour and respectability, he has not heheved, for he is 
 not saved, and it is impossible to look to Christ and not to be savod. 
 Christ came on purpose to save his people from — their sins, which 
 are death and curse and present torment and everlasting destruction. 
 He who does not wish to be saved from every sin, does not believe, 
 for to believe in Christ is to wish to be saved from sin and to be filled 
 with Righteousness, and to trust to him alone for all this. 
 
 As in the wilderness those among the dying people who did not 
 recover and live were only those who would not turn their eyes upon 
 the brazen serpent which Moses lifted up, so they who look not to 
 him who has taken upon himself the form of sinful man, they are not 
 saved. But as then, whosoever merely looked at it, were healed, 
 without their stirring a step, or so much as moving the little finger, 
 so now, whosoever lying in the death of sin, only looks to him, he is 
 and shall ever be completely saved from that horrible death. There- 
 fore, if a man says he believes in Christ, and continues to serve 
 divers lusts, or any one lust, he is a liar ; he hath not looked to 
 Him, nor believed in him. A servant of sin is under the law, though 
 he may profess to be free from it ; its curse and condemnation is 
 upon him. When we are led by the Spirit (that is, submit to God 
 and have Him to work and do all for us) then only we are not under 
 the law; not when we say we are not under it. (Gal. v. IH.) The 
 Gospel of Christ is not in word, but in power : not in saying, but in 
 doing : not in what man says, but in what God does. None who are 
 in Christ are in the kingdom of Satan, they are under grace, in the 
 kingdom of heaven, from whence Christ has cast out Satan. There- 
 fore, let every one that nameth the name of Christ, depart from all 
 iniquity. Now, he who believes, will do this, not by doing any thing 
 whatever himself, God forbid ! but by standing still, believing and 
 trusting in Christ ; He is faithful, and such an one, whatever he be, 
 shall behold the salvation of God ! 
 
 When it is said that the Lord Jesus Christ takes all the doing 
 upon himself, and the sinner hath to stand still believing only ; it is 
 true ; for he verily is Tlie Christ ; he is the King of Israel, and 
 fights all their battles for his people, and goeth in and out before 
 them and leadeth them : he came for this very purpose, — to save ! 
 entirely, completely and perfectly, himself, to save us ! and if he 
 who believes in this glorious King and Saviour has still got this 
 work or any of this work to do, then it is evident he hath come in 
 vain, for that part which the sinner had to do, if he had any thing to 
 do, would never be done ! But let it not be supposed that He is like 
 unto fleshly man and has any difficulty or hard work to perform : far 
 from it! He is Righteousness himself, all is done in him! That 
 which we have found painful, difficult, irksome and impossible, is not 
 a difficulty to Him. He is Lord over all ! all obey him ; he is the 
 Power of God, and that is Almighty : not a word, not a thought, not 
 a man nor a devil can stir or move or exist, but at his pleasure ! He 
 seeth, thousands of years before men are born, the thoughts they 
 will think, those which, out of thcur much evil, he will give them 
 liberty to think and imagine : he hath revealed the very thoughts of 
 
THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 43 
 
 this evil generation ages before. He is the Mighty God, by him all 
 things subsist, by him all things were made which are made ! Ail 
 that is required therefore to have and to know this glorious salvation, 
 is faith only to believe, that is, only to want it and take it ! " Who- 
 soever wishes (or will) let him take of the ivaters of life freely /" 
 " Let him that is athirst come." 
 
 How different is this Gospel of God from that false gospel which 
 the serpent preaches, viz. " if YOU do this thing, and if YOU do 
 that thing, you will go to heaven ; or rather you may possibly go 
 there, you may even " trust" that you will get there ! and after all, it 
 is very doubtful, unless you (tvho are evil) fail not to do a great deal 
 of goody Woe unto them ! Woe ! Woe unto them ! for whereas 
 they will not enter into the kingdom of heaven themselves, neither 
 will they suffer those that are entering in to go there ! And yet, 
 preaching such abomination as this they dare to talk of " free Grace" 
 and the " dear Redeemer !" Well hath God called them the Son of 
 Perdition ! 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Christ is the Sabbath. 
 
 Christ is spoken of in the Scriptures as the day, the day of the 
 Lord ; because he is the Light, out of him all is night and darkness. 
 He is the Day of Rest, the Sabbath of God, because he is the Rest. 
 
 The law testifies of him and preaches what this book contains, viz. 
 only believe, rest and do nothing, saying " Remember that thou keep 
 holy the Sabbath day," that is, profane it not by doing any of thy 
 works. " The seventh day is the Sabbath, (the Rest) of the Lord 
 thy God, in it thou shalt do no manner of work." Because this day, 
 a figure and shadow of Christ, was God's rest, in this day was his 
 joy and he hallowed it, and would not have it to be profaned by any 
 manner of work of evil man. That is, in Christ is his delight, in 
 him he is well pleased, in Him they who believe do rest from all 
 their works, and are blessed ; they are blessed in him the seed of 
 Abraham. David speaking by the Spirit of Christ, says " This is the 
 Day which the Lord hath made, we will be glad and rejoice in it." 
 The Prophet Isaiah speaking of the Sabbath expressly shows that it 
 is not a day of the week, but it is Him, viz. Christ, of whom the 
 Sabbath is a shadow, a pattern given to Moses of things then in 
 heaven. (Is. Iviii. 13.) Believing in Christ the day of Rest, we enter 
 into rest, and have no works to do, we only keep the Sabbath, we 
 only believe in Christ by doing nothing. Nothing can be plainer 
 than this Truth, we who believe have Rest, we have nothing to do, 
 and must do nothing ! 
 
 Christ himself says of himself, " Come unto me all ye that are 
 weary and heavy laden, and" — not I will tell you to do something, 
 
 but " / will give you Rest," that is, I will do all things for you, 
 
 3'ou shall have nothing to do. Since man is only evil, and that con- 
 tinually, what a blessed and glorious and gracious gospel this is for 
 
44 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 
 
 such a miserable creature, viz. that he has not got any good to do ! 
 His sin and his curse is, that he does not do good, the good news is, 
 that he has not got it to do, Jesus Christ does it all for liim. By the 
 law a man has to do good, and he who does good, that is Righteous- 
 ness, really, truly, and at all times, he shall save his soul alive, he 
 himself is a Saviour : but, by the Gospel of Grace, he who receives 
 this Gospel has nothing to do, for Christ in his love and pity does 
 all, he saves, and he is the Saviour. The law tells what good is, and 
 what must be done, but that is all, it leaves you to do it, and you 
 must do it or suffer all its penalty, else it is no law at all, it is a lie. 
 But Christ himself does all the work for them that believe, he leaves 
 them nothing to do, he does it, or else it would be no Grace at all, it 
 would be a law, if there was any work at all to do. (Rs. xi. 6.) Thus 
 all that the law says the Gospel does, and thus (iod honours and 
 establishes the law by Jesus Christ. They who follow the law, say 
 and do not ; they who believe only and do nothhig they do every 
 thing and fulfil the law, that is by Christ, who does all for them, and 
 imputes it all to them. Since under the law it is man who has to 
 do, and he does not do it, it is called the weakness of man ; but since 
 under Grace, it is God who does all, the Gospel is called what it 
 truly is, " the Power of God.'''' 
 
 Not only he who believes has nothing to do, but he must do no- 
 thing. It is not left to the sinner, that if he chooses he has got 
 nothing to do, it is imperative, it is the fixed declaration of God, they 
 who will do their own works, who pollute his holy Sabbath, who de- 
 spise his Christ by mixing up their works with his works, their filthy 
 Righteousness with his glorious Righteousness, they cannot be saved. 
 Here is faith, not doing any thing, not seeking to do the least thing 
 whatsoever, but forsaking it all and trusting entirely to God : then, 
 that God does all for us, leaving us nothing to do, this is His Grace 
 and love ! The Sabbath is a shadow of Christ, and God would not 
 have the shadow despised, how much less therefore will he sutler the 
 very substance to be despised ? It is to despise Christ and his 
 Grace not to cease entirely from our work ; to look to him for 
 Righteousness, while wc are trying to do Righteousness ourselves, is 
 to declare by facts that we do not hope in his Righteousness alone, 
 nor think it quite sufficient. Therefore he who says " do good" and 
 professes to follow Christ at the same time is an infidel, a despiser of 
 Christ in whom he does not believe, and a despiser of the law which 
 he does not obey fully. If therefore a man preach all the doctrines 
 of the Gospel and afterwards add " noio you must do good,'''' he 
 preaches not Christ, he preaches not the Gospel, he despises, mocks 
 and dishonours Christ and God, he is an infidel and not a believer. 
 A little leaven leavoneth the whole lump, and it is better for those 
 who know nothing of the truth, and never heard of Christ, than for 
 those who have heard and known and been washed, and then despised 
 him, and returned to wallow in the mire and filth of their own righte- 
 ousness, which is not righteousness, but is an abomination. He that 
 despised Moses' law perished without mercy ; much less is there 
 mercy for those who despise Christ and honour their own Righteous- 
 
THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 45 
 
 ness or pietv. If a man but picked up a few sticks on the Sabbath, 
 he was to be stoned, for he profaned and polluted and despised the 
 Sabbath, the shadow of Clnist, the Rest of God. So also, if a man 
 do but add one jot or tittle of his work to Christ's work, he despises, 
 he dishonours Christ, and therefore " of how much sorer punishment 
 shall he be thought worthj/ /"' Nay let his works appear to man to 
 be most excellent and pure and pious, they are an abomination, an 
 utter abomination before God, they are an offering of swine's flesh, 
 and he, though ever so much like a lamb, is an enemy, a despiser of 
 Christ, though as the Son of Perdition also did, he may pretend to 
 love him, and kiss him ! God is not mocked ! " Behold, ye despisersy 
 and wonder and perish ; I brintr neur ]\b/ Righteous ness /" It will 
 not do to give some honour to Christ : partly to trust, partly to be- 
 lieve, is not to trust nor believe at all : partly to keep the Sabbath, 
 and partly to be busy at work, is not to honour this glorious Rest of 
 God ! A little leaven, be it ever so little, leaveneth the whole 
 lump ! 
 
 What shall we say then of those religious despisers of Christ and 
 admirers of the piety of man, sinful man, who preach a little grace 
 and a great deal of doing ; who tell the sinner that he must try and 
 use means and do some of their little pious actions, and then, yes 
 then, if they do it with great humility and devotedness, then God 
 will assist them with his Grace ! then, on paying very carefully this 
 vile money, they will have the assistance of the Holy Ghost ! " Thy 
 money perish with thee, xcho has' thought that the gift of God could 
 he piirchased /" Thus they blasphemously teach that God is not 
 good except dependently, that is, only if man first shows himself 
 good ! but if this beast does not first put forth his goodness, then 
 God is not good, then there is no grace ! So that God's goodness 
 and Power and Grace and Salvation depend entirely upon vile and 
 filthy and impotent man ! Yea ! it is a bargain and sale ; they go 
 forth on the black horse of fleshly pride and strength, with the pair 
 of balances in their hands, and preach if man will give something 
 then God will give something ! and they pretend to hide their wick- 
 edness and to appear to honour God by saying what a great deal he 
 will give, and how good it is of him to sell so much for so little ! 
 They (the generation of the religious of this day) are called the Son 
 of Perdition ! (2 Thess. ii. 3.) And how justly and appropriately ! this 
 one name is itself a full and complete description! they bargain for 
 and sell Christ ! they follow him and pretend to love him ! they call 
 him the Dear Redeemer and kiss him ! while they sell him ! they 
 are also like him a covetous generation and greedy money-gatherers ! 
 Do they imagine that God is like unto them 1 that he knoweth not, 
 and regardeth not? Yea! He knew them and their thoughts long 
 before, and has by his holy apostles and prophets declared and writ- 
 ten down all their works and their triumph, and their glory which 
 they should exhibit in these last days ! 
 
46 THE GOSPEL OP GOD. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The Everlasting Covenant, and The Blessing, in the seed of Abraham. 
 
 God made an everlasting covenant with Abraham, and established 
 it for ever by an oath. In this covenant he promised that in the 
 seed of Abraham, in One who should spring from his loins, nations 
 and people of all the earth should be blessed. Therefore he called 
 Abraham a father of many nations, even of all that should be blessed 
 in Christ the seed of Abraham. 
 
 Here was a covenant in which God undertook to do himself every 
 thing that was in the covenant, and that was, to bless ! It was a 
 Promise which God made, that he would bless Abraham and many 
 others, and he confirmed it by an oath for an everlasting covenant 
 which should never be broken. After this everlasting covenant, 
 another was made at Horeb, when Moses gave the fiery law, and in 
 this second covenant, which was neither confirmed by oath, nor called 
 Everlasting, it was man who had to perform every thing. God's 
 covenant was a Promise, " I will be your God, I will bless you." 
 The covenant which Moses made with the people was, " We will 
 obey and be thy people." This covenant was broken the moment it 
 was made, and a broken covenant is not an everlasting covenant. 
 
 God's covenant cannot be broken, because in it, God alone and by 
 himself has undertaken to perform, and has promised that he will. 
 No blessing has ever been found from the covenant of Mount Sinai, 
 for all have violated that law and broken that covenant. God would 
 show by this, that having violated the covenant in which we are per- 
 formers, we must look for a Blessing only from the covenant in 
 which he alone is the performer : we must expect every thing from 
 Him, and nothing from ourselves ; we must hope all from his Ever- 
 lasting covenant and Promise, and hope nothing in our broken cove- 
 nant and in our doings and duties. 
 
 It was fit that God having undertaken and promised to bless all the 
 children of Abraham (and they arc of all people and nations, for he 
 was named the father of many nations) and having promised to bless 
 all these children of faithful Abraham not in the law, nor on account 
 of any thing they should do, (for in this His covenant there is 
 nothing which they have to do) but in Christ who should be of the 
 
 seed of Abraham, it was fit that God having alone undertaken to 
 
 do all that was to be done in this Everlasting covenant, should teach 
 us by another covenant that there is no hope at all but in his per- 
 formance, that so our hope and trust might he in God altogether and 
 not in man ! It was fit that, in order to know God's Power and love 
 we should learn and know our own impotency and our exceeding sin- 
 fulness : and this we could only learn and know by facts ! by being 
 tried under the covenant of the law. Therefore God gave the law, 
 not to supersede or set aside the Everlasting covenant, but to confirm 
 and establish it, and to lead us to it, and bring us into it, by showing 
 our need of it, and that we are lost, without it, by making us to 
 know that the covenant in which man has got something to do, 
 
THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 47 
 
 brings a curse, and it is only the Everlasting covenant in which God 
 himself performs all things for us, which brings a blessing ! to show 
 that we having nothing to perform, do not do it, and are sinners ; 
 and to show that God alone is good, God alone performs, God alone 
 blesses, and we must look to him for every thing and turn away 
 from our own works which bring death and a curse ! 
 
 Such knowledge and understanding God teaches his people out of 
 his law, and then when they have understanding, they will believe in 
 God. This is not man's gross and proud understanding, it is the 
 very Spirit of God himself; " the Lord gweth roisdom, ovt of his 
 mouth Cometh knowledge and understanding.^^ 
 
 Therefore the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the lamb slain before the 
 foundation of the world, that in Him alone we have Righteousness 
 and strength, in Him we live to God and walk with God and are 
 filled with blessing, and rest in Him, and have no works to do, but 
 he, Jesus Christ, fills us and clothes us with Righteousness, this Gos- 
 pel of the Grace of God, that he who only trusteth to God, doing 
 nothing whatsoever, shall be saved, — this Gospel which this little 
 Book opens, and preaches, this, yea This, is the Everlasting covenant 
 itself which God made with Abraham. 
 
 The Blessing which God promised to Abraham, and to many 
 nations and people of whom he is called the father, was a Blessing 
 only to be had in the seed of Abraham, that is, in Jesus Christ, who 
 was born of the stock of Abraham, of the tribe of Judah. And it is 
 in Christ, in Him the Holy One of God, and only in him, that we 
 are blessed. And what is this Blessing which God promised to 
 Abraham and his spiritual children, in Him Jesus Christ, the seed of 
 Abraham 1 It is Righteousness, and that includes every blessing. 
 It is perfect Righteousness, even the Righteousness of God, which 
 we are made to be, in Him. Perfect Righteousness is given to us 
 in him, by the infinite grace and mercy of God towards us ; given to 
 us freely, according to the multitude of his tender mercies towai'ds 
 us, for he knew us and loved us who believe and all who shall be- 
 lieve, before the world began. It is Righteousness so perfect and 
 complete that nothing can be added to it, and it is the utmost wick- 
 edness to think to add to or to help, or to increase the Righteousness 
 of God ! There is no want of any other Righteousness, there is 
 nothing whatever for us to do, to add to this Righteousness, we are 
 delivered from every necessity of this kind, we have nothing to do, 
 who believe, we are filled with Righteousness who hunger after it. 
 Nor is it a momentary Righteousness imputed once only, it is an 
 Everlasting Righteousness which shall not be abolished (Is. li. 5), 
 imputed unto us who believe, continually, unceasingly, and for ever : 
 it is an acting Righteousness, it is the life and Power of God, it is 
 Christ the Righteousness of God, in whom we are and he in us, by 
 whom we are redeemed from under the law, and have nothing to do I 
 No blessing so great could ever have been imagined by man, as 
 this, which they who believe, do have and possess in Jesus Christ 
 the seed of Abraham, the Son of David. It is of all Blessings that 
 can possibly be conceived of, the only one which really and truly is 
 
48 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 
 
 a blessing. For, let one be ever so blessed, yea, let him be in heaven 
 itself as the angels were who fell, or let him be in Paradise, as Adam 
 was who fell, let him have all and every other possible blessing, yet, 
 if he is under the law and has got any thing to do, he will fall also, 
 he will certainly come under a curse by not doing what he lias got to 
 do, if he has any thing whatever to do ; because certainly he will not 
 and cannot do it, for there is no good, no Righteousness, no Holi- 
 ness, no Power, no Wisdom, in Heaven nor in Earth, nor in the 
 , Heaven of Heavens, except in and from God only ! 
 
 What a vast and large Blessing then is this which we have in 
 Jesus the Christ, this gift of Righteousness in him ! What a Bless- 
 ing to have Him for '' OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS," him to do all, 
 we to have nothing to do ! and to know that because He lives we 
 live, and shall never perish ! Such a Blessing given freely that is 
 gratuitously to us in Christ Jesus by the Everlasting Mercy and 
 Love of the living God, by his great grace and good will and good 
 pleasure, is so large, so great, so rich, so vast, so extensive, so mag- 
 nificent and liberal that none but God only, kind and good beyond 
 understanding, none but Love immense and immeasurable could de- 
 vise and accomplish it ! It is precisely that Blessing which only 
 really is a blessing, nothing short of this would be an equal blessing 
 to the sinner. It is perfect deliverance, perfect salvation, perfect 
 security, perfect pardon, perfect Righteousness, everlasting Rest, — 
 and all in Christ ! all done by him ! all received in him the seed of 
 Abraham! How true and how faithful God's Word is proved to be ! 
 When he made promise to Abraham that in One of his seed those 
 who believe should be blessed, no one could have conceived or 
 imagined how completely and most abundantly he would perform the 
 Word which he had spoken ! 
 
 There are none but the very poor and needy who will hunger after 
 and gladly receive, who will take this Blessing this Water of life 
 freely : God has foreknown them, and loved them, and chosen them, 
 and ordained them to eternal life : they, whoever they are, have 
 been taught by the Spirit of (lod out of the law, how very vain, yea 
 how beastly all their best looking and most pious works are, and that 
 there is no hope but in God alone, to whom only we must look for 
 Rightcsousness and the works of Righteousness which cannot be by 
 us, hut are only by Christ Jesus ! 
 
 Such is the Everlasting covenant, and such is the Blessing of 
 whicii it is a sure Promise ! This covenant God made with Abra- 
 ham ; he remembers it at all times for us and therefore we are not 
 consumed. In remembrance of this covenant he blessed his people 
 Israel at all times, because he beheld them in Christ, and " was well 
 ■pleased for his rli^hteousness^ sitkc^' 
 
 As the law which was given by Moses did not set aside this 
 coviuiant, but by its dreadful teaching went to establish and confirm 
 it, and as there is no blessing, but a curse in the violated covenant 
 of Sinai, tlierefore when God delivered the law to Moses, he did not 
 leave his people under the law to have hope in their own obedience 
 and Righteousness, for then none of the saints of old could possibly 
 
THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 49 
 
 have been saved ; because the curse of the law is upon all who do 
 not perfectly fulfil it, else it would be no law at all, if any who had it 
 to obey could escape the punishment of disobedience. While they 
 had the law to make known the perfection of Righteousness and the 
 exceeding sinfulness of sin, God showed them plainly that Righte- 
 ousness was not obtained by man's doing, but by faith only, and was 
 not performed by any man, but only by the Spirit of God. They 
 never sought to be accepted for obeying the law and doing good, and 
 therefore they never appeared before God in the Righteousness of 
 the law, but only in the blood of the sacrifice ; they came unto God 
 by the High Priest, the anointed, that is, the Christ, and not by the 
 law ; they offered unto God sacrifices which he had prepared for 
 them, and not good deeds or Righteousness which they had done. 
 When they touched the sin offering they were sanctified, not when 
 they tried to obey the law, or to do good : when they were sprinkled 
 with blood they were clean, not when they were sirict observers of 
 the law. God showed plainly by all this, that it is only in the sacri- 
 fice of the anointed, that is of Jesus Christ, that he accepts any 
 man. He showed that in him alone he is well pleased, that by him 
 alone the law is fulfilled (for how could God be pleased except the 
 law was fulfilled) and not by the obedience of man. Therefore, 
 while they had the Law by which is the knowledge of sin, it was 
 plainly shown by the sin offerings and shedding of blood, that salva- 
 tion from sin and acceptance with God is only in Christ : thus they 
 were not saved by doing any good at all, but only by Grace. If they 
 could have done good and work Righteousness and please God by 
 trying to obey the law, then all the shedding of blood, the sacrifices, 
 and the office of the High Priest were vain and useless ; so also if 
 Righteousness (that is, doing good, and by consequence, pleasing 
 God) can come by the Law, then Christ's death is vain and useless. 
 Gal. ii. 21.) The sacrifice of the sin offering showed the sacrifice of 
 Christ, which he should offer in the appointed time ; their sins being 
 laid upon it, showed that it is Christ who taketh away our sins ; its 
 death showed the death of Christ, and its destruction and burning 
 showed the entire destruction of the body of sin and death, which 
 should be triumphantly accomplished by the Holy One. Therefore 
 Christ must needs suffer, to take away the sins of his people : and 
 he must needs be man, that he might suffer for man and as man, and 
 that the law might be obeyed by man. He must needs come in 
 obscurity and humiliation', for how could ho have suffered death, if 
 he had come in the splendour and brightness of his glory and power ? 
 or how then would the wicked have had free course and unrestrained 
 opportunity and liberty to reject and despise him, if they would ; or 
 to receive and acknowledge him, if they would ? He must needs be 
 put to death by wicked men, for what good men would hurt or put 
 any man to death ? Therefore he came on the earth, a man, and 
 placed himself in the situation of the lowliest and humblest of that 
 lost and wretched race ! and he came at a time when there had arisen 
 a generation exceedingly wicked, proud and self-conceited : who 
 thought themselves exceedingly holy ; men who regarded not the sin 
 7 
 
50 THE GOSl'EL OF GOD. 
 
 offering and its signification, but who were satisfied that they were 
 righteous in their austere and pious observance of" the law ; men who 
 thought that they did good ; even the same generation which is now 
 on the earth and is not yet passed away. (Mat. 24, ult.) 
 
 To this generation God delivered up his beloved his only begotten 
 son, that they might do unto him as they listed, and as he had fore- 
 determined to leave them alone to do. And this righteous, holy and 
 spotless One, submitted himself to their bloody hands and offered 
 himself up as a sacrifice, the lamb of God, for a people, an ungodly 
 and wicked people, whom God in his great mercy had chosen and 
 before ordained to bless in him, out of every kindred and nation and 
 people. Their transgressions he bore, knowing and seeing every 
 one of them ; and he suffered all the curse and death and agony of 
 the terrible law which by right belonged to this people ; " he died for 
 the ungodly,'''' he was cursed instead of them, and the law was proved 
 (when even such a Holy One could not escape) to be no lie, but a 
 truth, as assuredly it must and will be fully proved to be to all that 
 do wrong, and do not turn with repentance and enti'eaties to Him 
 who freely forgiveth. Thus God (letting them alone to do as they 
 pleased, and as he knew before the foundation of the world they 
 would do when he should let them alone) made use of Satan and his 
 children to accomplish, by their very wickedness, the destruction of 
 wickedness, and the entire removal of sin from them whom he has 
 chosen to be tabernacles in whom he will dwell ; and so He will be 
 glorified by the very existence of evil creatures, yea, and by their 
 vilest deeds. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Be ye steadfast, immoveable, in believing and doing nothing : always 
 abounding in the work of God, always ceasing from your oicn work. 
 
 The whole Gospel of God is plainly, emphatically and unequivo- 
 cally revealed in these words, " Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and thou shalt be saved^ It says nothing about doing, and instead 
 of implying it, it altogether excludes it, it is a true word, a faithful 
 saying. 
 
 The Scripture could not be [jlaincr, when in answer to the ques- 
 tion " what shall I do ?" it says " Believe,^'' and it is plain that to 
 believe is not to do. If there were the least atom to be done by the 
 sinner, he could not possibly be saved, for it never would be done. 
 All that is written herein, is not because the word of God is at all 
 doubtful, or not plain enough, or wanted proof, it wants no such thing : 
 this is written for the elect's sake, that they may be saved. 
 
 Jesus Christ does all for them that believe only, ho does all Right- 
 eousness for and instead of them, so that they cannot possibly have 
 the least thing to do ; and this, which is his Righteousness and his 
 doing entirely, he iminites graciously unto them. It is indeed won- 
 derful that God should do so much, and leave us nothing whatever to 
 
THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 51 
 
 do, thus saving us ! But it is not so great nor so wonderful by far, 
 as that God should deliver up his own righteous and sinless son and 
 not spare him, for our sakes, for the ungodly ! He who did this 
 great thing, how much more shall he not do a less thing, that is, 
 " icith him, also freely give us all things V And yet they who scoft* 
 (Peter) and will not believe the lesser grace, pretend to believe and 
 teach the greater ! ! God so loved the world, the elect world (not 
 that of which he says " / 'pray not for,"" and which he says cannot 
 receive the spirit) ; God so loved the world, that he gave his only 
 begotten Son ! This, this is the great thing which God has done for 
 his Israel, which surpasses every thing, which is greater than all, 
 and which includes and brings with it every thing. He gave his re- 
 deemed people to Christ, before the world began, and he gave Christ 
 to his people ; they are one. The Father loveth you (saith Christ) 
 as he loveth me, and he loved me before the foundation of the 
 world. 
 
 This is why any one is saved, even because, and only because the 
 Lord God will save him ! It is only the Will and good pleasure of God 
 (Eph.), for there does not exist in any human being one snigle reason 
 why God should have mercy upon him ! whereas there exist in all, 
 thousands of crying reasons why they should perish and be consumed. 
 But he will certainly save his people whom he hath chosen, even all 
 those, whoever they be, who seek him, who hope in his mercy : he 
 hath sworn and will not repent, therefore all the poor and needy, 
 however sinful and miserable, may be fully assured, and have strong 
 consolation, even all may, who flee for refuge to Jesus Christ, (Heb.) 
 God hath foreknown all such, they are elect of God, He hath given 
 them to Christ, He will save them by his Gospel, giving to them to 
 hear and believe, and then they that are dead shall live ! This is 
 salvation, to hear and believe the Gospel. He that doth not believe 
 in Jesus Christ cannot possibly be saved; there is no Righteousness, 
 no life without him, and without him no man can have peace with 
 God. " All that the Father hath given unto me, shall come unto 
 me," and the Lord adds, " whosoever cometh unto me," — yea, who- 
 soever he be, he need not stop to enquire if he is elect or not, he 
 cannot but know if he indeed hungers after the Righteousness of God 
 and that alone and none other — " whosoever cometh unto me," let 
 him be ever so ungodly, ever so unlikely — " I will in no wise (IN 
 NO WISE) cast out." Here is consolation for the poor and ungodly, 
 (but none for the rich, the righteous and the pious, unless they for- 
 sake their righteousness and piety and hope only in God !) Herein is 
 mercy ! it is in mere mercy and favour and loving kindness, not now 
 only, but from everlasting, that he receives and saves us, and not for 
 our being pious and religious ! far from it. 
 
 This is the mercy of God in Christ, this is all the hope of him 
 who writes this ; and this was all the hope of David and the prophets, 
 they never dreamed of being saved by religion or piety ; thus David 
 says, ^^ I will hope in the mercy of God for ever and ever." And 
 this hope in the great goodness and grace and mercy of God in 
 Christ Jesus, (without any hope or trust whatever in the beast, the 
 
52 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 
 
 flesh), this hope, though heaven and earth pass away, shall never be 
 disappointed, and shall never pass away! 
 
 Herein is the salvation of God, viz. that he will have mercy ! He 
 is ever merciful and gracious, and none that hope in his mercy shall 
 perish ; he delighteth in them that hope in his mercy ; and all on 
 whom he has mercy now, he had mercy on them yesterday, and has 
 for ever, he hath not changed ; and when they look to him and hope 
 in his mercy, then they shall know that his goodness to them now is 
 his everlasting goodness, and that in his everlasting mercy he hath 
 given them understanding and led them to hope in Him ! No one 
 who is disobedient to his law and word, who loveth unrighteousness 
 and doth not look to Christ for Righteousness and deliverance from 
 death and sin can know this, for the wicked (that is, they who do 
 something and look not to Christ to do all for them) have no peace 
 with God. (Ish.) They cannot know God, nor his mercy, nor his 
 love, nor have access to him ; only the cleansed, the justified, the 
 righteous, they who, believing, are in Christ, can know God and 
 approach unto him ; the condemned (all who are under the law and 
 don't fulfil all its Righteousness) cannot know God ! but they who 
 believe will know him, because to them there is no condemnation, they 
 are righteous, perfectly righteous in Christ, being made righteous by 
 the mercy of God through faith. 
 
 God has mercy ! this is the origin and beginning, and he hath 
 chosen them on whom he will have mercy, and loved them from ever- 
 lasting : and Christ is the way, he is the means, and the only way, 
 and the only possible means by which the great work and purpose of 
 present and everlasting mercy is made effectual and is accomplished ! 
 He himself it is who accomplishes in all things, from first to last, this 
 purpose of love and mercy and pity, bringing salvation, having done 
 and doing all things for us, plucking his people out of the very fire, 
 and making them righteous, and after all this, constantly keeping 
 them by his power ! (Peter.) Even after they are made righteous, 
 that is, after they believe and are justified, they arc scarcely saved ! 
 that is, they are saved with great pains and ditficulty ; the presence 
 and power and might of God alone, can alone keep and secure them! 
 Such is the rage and such the tremendous power of Satan, which he 
 has got for a season, a short season (Rev. 12), and such also is the 
 deceitfulness of sin, such is the power of this world, such is the weak- 
 ness of the flesh, such the corruption of the body of sin and death, 
 that they, the redeemed, the justified, the righteous, the holy nation, 
 the chosen generation, are indeed scarcely saved ! But for ever 
 blessed be God, he hath undertaken and he hath promised, and con- 
 firmed his Promise by an oath, that none shall be able to pluck them 
 out of his hand, though they go through much tribulation, and are 
 chastened sore (for it needs be so) as the children of God ! They 
 are only safe when they believe and do nothing, trusting only to God : 
 their strength is to sit still, " this is the victory which overcometh 
 the world, even our faith," even leaving all the work to the Lord 
 Christ and of course then doing nothing ourselves. 
 
 The word of God was written for our instruction, a notable figure 
 
THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 53 
 
 of a child of God, living by faith, doing nothing. It is Daniel in the 
 den of lions. The lions are figures of this present evil world, and of 
 the raging and powerful lusts of the flesh, and threatening trials and 
 temptations of all kinds. We can no more overcome these, than 
 Daniel could master the lions. The power and glory and mercy of 
 God in overcoming them all, for them that trust in him, and only be- 
 lieve (for only believing, doing nothing, that alone is really believing) 
 the power and glory of God is manifest in Daniel, and he who be- 
 lieves is, like Daniel, preserved by the power and favour of God, from 
 all their rage and destructions ! It is not Daniel who has silenced 
 the lions ; no, it is God ! It is not Daniel who has shut their mouths 
 — it is God ! and they are lions still, though they are quiet, they are 
 not converted into lambs, nor regenerated, nor progressing towards 
 personal holiness and sanctification : they are ravenous and dangerous 
 beasts, and continue so. Again, Daniel does nothing to them, they 
 are stronger than him, (Ps.) he has not conquered them, he has not 
 subdued them, he has been sitting still and has not tried to subdue 
 them ! Why then are they not tearing him to pieces ? why do they 
 not devour him ? How is he so safe 1 — It is because Daniel sits still 
 and trusts to God ; to him he looks, to his power and grace ! he 
 believes in Him, and God, even God himself and alone has overcome 
 them ! he believes, he only believes, and God performs all the work 
 for Daniel ! Mark then, sinner, elect, saved soul, it is God who per- 
 forms all things for Daniel, and for you also, if you believe in him 
 whom God hath raised from the dead even in Jesus Christ ! that is, 
 if you only trust to him, sitting still like Daniel and doing nothing ! 
 
 The Holy Ghost here shows forth the glory of that salvation which 
 is in Christ Jesus, how it is He who saves his people from their sins, 
 and that the child of God has not got any thing to do, Christ does 
 all for him. Like Daniel he cannot overcome the raging lions which 
 his soul is among, he cannot overcome one single lust, nor subdue a 
 single iniquity : how can Iniquity overcome iniquity 1 if he sets to 
 work and tries to do the work of Christ, even to do something, it is 
 plain he does not look to Christ to be saved, he does not believe. 
 But when he believes and ceases from his own works, his proud and 
 wicked works, when he does nothing and trusts entirely to Jesus 
 Christ, then Christ stops the mouths of the lions, and then he per- 
 forms all things for him f Here is the power of Christ, here is his 
 Grace, here is the glory of the Gospel, the Power of God ! if it were 
 otherwise the Gospel would not be the power of God ! Here it is seen 
 how God alone is glorified, for God alone performs the whole work, 
 the sinner absolutely does nothing ! he has absolutely nothing to do, 
 he only believes and trusts entirely to God, giving him credit both 
 for power and grace, thereby confessing that he is God indeed ! If 
 there is any thing shocking to man, revolting, hateful and detestable 
 to him, it is this holy, eternal and sure Word of Truth, namely, that 
 God he is God alone ! He, manifest in Christ Jesus, truly and verily 
 is the only Saviour, the Christ ! He saves, and he only, and the 
 believer has nothing, nothing, nothing whatever to do ! let him only 
 irust to God ! Therefore sweet as this little book will be to them 
 
54 THE GOSPEL OP GOD. 
 
 who receive it and eat it up, they will find it bitter indeed, yea, very 
 bitter to the flesh, the belly ; for the world will not endure the Truth, 
 nor them who believe the Truth ! 
 
 Let him who believeth in Jesus, the Author and Finisher of faith, 
 remember that he lives only by faith, looking only unto Jesus, and 
 if he looks away, if he looks elsewhere, if he begin to imagine that 
 his wonderful deliverance is partly because he himself does some- 
 thing, or thinks or feels something, if he forget whose mercy it is 
 that delivers him and overcomes the lions, that it is merely in his 
 Grace and love that he does so great a favour for him, then he will 
 quickly find out, and it is time he should, that the lions are there, 
 and are violent and raging and ungovernable and unaltered, and that 
 destruction and misery reign when they prevail ! Therefore let him 
 take heed, let him beware ! All the cautions and instructions and 
 reproofs and counsels of the Scripture are necessary for him, and are 
 given for this very purpose, that the man of God (that is, he who is 
 in Christ,) may be wise unto salvation ; lest he should be wise in his 
 own conceit and lay aside his confidence in the Lord, and begin to 
 take confidence in the flesh ; lest he should forget the dangers and 
 snares which surround him, and that Satan goeth about like a roar- 
 ing lion, lest he should fall from the steadfastness of the faith, from 
 the simplicity that is in Christ, and instead of sitting still and doing 
 nothing, and only looking to Christ, he should be seduced to trust in 
 his own strength, and begin to dream of other righteousness and 
 other power and other work than that of Christ ! lest he should dis- 
 honour God by not believing, and honour himself by his imaginary 
 working : therefore, be ye steadfast and immoveable in believing, in 
 only believing ; in doing nothing, but in trusting entirely to God, in 
 standing still to behold the salvation of God, and then, yea, then you 
 shall always abound in the work of God, for he will work abundantly 
 for you, performing all things for you ! 
 
 CHAPTER XIL 
 
 Little Children, fee from Idolatrr/. 1 John. 
 
 God, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were 
 dead in trespasses and sins, doth make us alive, giving to us to be- 
 lieve in his Name ; for that is to be quickened and to live, even to 
 believe ; that is being born of God, the being made to hear and be- 
 lieve by the Mighty Voice or Word of God. " Faith comcth by 
 hearing, and hearing hy the Word of God,''' even by that same 
 Word by which all things were made that are made ! he that only 
 and simply believes, is born ; and he is born of the Word. " Who- 
 soever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God." (1 John v. i.) 
 " Being born again by the Word of God (not by a dead letter) irhich 
 liveth and ahideth for ever." (1 Peter i. 23.) Thus because to believe 
 is to enter into life, even into Christ, it is most fitly signified in the 
 Scriptures by the expression " being born." God calls us by his 
 
THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 55 
 
 Mighty Voice, and the dead hear and live ! It is only his Power, it is only 
 his work, " the voice of the Lord is mighty.'''' As by his word he cre- 
 ated all things, and it was his doing and not any doing in the things 
 which were created when he spake to them, so also by his word he 
 raises the dead, and they hear and believe ; this also is alone his 
 doing and not any doing in them, even in us who by his word do hear 
 and believe. To believe, which is to live, is the Gift of God. He 
 only is the Creator, (Rev. x. 6,) and every thing which accompanies 
 this eternal life is his gift : he gives us repentance ; he gives us to 
 wish, that is to will to take the water of life ; he gives us to desire, 
 to long after, to hunger and thirst after that true Righteousness with 
 which we shall be filled, and to forsake and abhor that counterfeit 
 Righteousness or Piety which is deceitfulness and very wickedness. 
 
 But let not Satan deceive the new-born child of God : there is no 
 Righteousness in believing, in repenting, in seeking God, in praising 
 and thanking him, in praying, in hungering or thirsting, or longing 
 after and desiring God ! These things accompany life, but they are 
 not our good nor our Righteousness : like the gold, they are in the 
 temple of God, but they are in themselves nothing, though the earthy 
 worshippers (the Earth) despise Him who sanctifieth the Temple, 
 while they worship the gold which is in the Temple. (Matt, xxiii. 
 16, 17.) God does not save us because of these things, God forbid ! 
 they do not help to save us at all, nor in the least degree whatever \ 
 Therefore that preaching is a lie which says " if you do all these 
 things, if you pray, repent, go to church, (Sj'c. (Sfc. you loill he saved." 
 He saves us because he loves us everlastingly, because he will, yea. 
 He will have mercy upon us ! because it is " his good pleasure to 
 give us the kingdom .'" It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that 
 runneth, (God forbid,) but of God that showeth mercy ! He who 
 dares to deny this, denies the Word, even Christ ! " See (says the 
 Apostle) that ye despise not him that speaketh.''^ It is one of the 
 most extraordinary and strong delusions of the religious and pious 
 generation of this day, earthly men (the Earth) that though they 
 boldly deny and evade the word of the living God, even Christ, they 
 confidently profess and absolutely do really imagine that they are 
 followers of Christ. 
 
 God gives us all these things which accompany salvation that He 
 may save us, that we may come, and enter into Righteousness and 
 be blessed, and have rest unto our souls. We are not righteous and 
 we are not saved because we believe, because we come to Christ, or 
 wish to come, nor because we hunger and thirst at'ter Him who is 
 Righteousness, nor because we repent and abhor ourselves ; all this 
 only shows how very good and gracious God is unto us, in thus lead- 
 ing us himself to his truth, and not how good we are ! We have no 
 Righteousness, and we do none, and we will not do any, and there is 
 none can be had and none can be done but by Christ. If it were not 
 so, these things which God giveth to us would be our righteousness, 
 and it would not be true that He is THE LORD OUR RIGHTE- 
 OUSNESS. Therefore, not to believe only, to have any trust in 
 these and such like thines is to make God a liar. 
 
56 THE GOSPEL OF OOD. 
 
 As the trumpets which were sounded seven days before the walls 
 of Jericho, were not the causes why the walls fell down, so our re- 
 penting and praying is not the reason why God is gracious to us. 
 The people of Israel did not put their trust in those trumpets nor 
 worship them, and they who believe will have no confidence in, nor 
 derive joy from these things. If they had attributed any efficacy 
 or power whatsoever to the blowing of the trumpets, that would have 
 been to bow down to them and worship them. And so it is now, in 
 this time, men that are of the earth, earthy, sensual men, having not 
 the spirit, attribute, power and efficacy to their praying and crying 
 and seeking, and all the other deeds of their own, which they call 
 the means of grace and ordinances ; and they think that on account 
 of these their tleshly acts, God will hear and deliver them ; they jus- 
 tify their confidence in these their works, because they see in the 
 letter of the word that the redeemed of the Lord do pray and seek 
 after God, therefore they worship these things which God creates in 
 the hearts of his people, and in them they place confidence : these 
 are their Gods, the gold and silver and brass and wood and stone of 
 the temple ! which have no power, which neither can see nor hear 
 nor walk : these things, with their feelings and sensations, they call 
 experience, and to them they look for comfort, and from them they 
 derive their joy and their confidence : it is a refuge of lies. But let 
 him who believing is born of God and is a child of God, let him know 
 that as neither his seeking nor desiring this eternal life is the reason 
 why he obtains it, but only the evei'lasting love and good will of God, 
 so also the enjoyment and earnest of it is not a credit to him, but is 
 only a proof of God's love, and a reason why we should be more 
 abased, and thank and exalt him only. To enjoy all his blessing, to 
 be filled with all his fulness, to have this joy inexpressible and full 
 of glory, does not make him who believes better than others, nor 
 better than he was before ; he is not better before God on this ac- 
 count than the damned in hell : he is only good before God in the 
 person of Jesus Christ, God respectetli tlie person of no other man than 
 the man Christ Jesus, in whom alone he is well pleased : he is only 
 righteous in the personal, individual goodness of Christ the Holy 
 One, the new and righteous man, the Adam of a new world, the Son 
 of God ! Let no one therefore glory or rejoice in anv thing what- 
 soever, nor in any person, whosoever he be, but only in tiie Lord. 
 
 Our want and destitution, our complete unrighteousness, the know- 
 ledge of which will make us cry out in earnest unto God, is no merit, 
 is no recommendation, it is not any righteousness, it is not com- 
 mendable to feel it, all would feel it if they were not dead hardened 
 and blinded; the feeling and knowledge of it is very death.' This, 
 our total destitution of all righteousness, this deplorable fact, that we 
 are sinners, is a great disgrace and shame to us, it is a reason, and 
 an ample reason, why we should be damned, instead of being a reason 
 why we should be saved. It is only and solely because of this that 
 the wicked will perish everlastingly ; when Christ shall appear they 
 will perish and be destroyed from his presence, for this very rea- 
 son, because they are evil and are found naked, that is destitute of 
 
THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 
 
 57 
 
 Righteousness. The experience and knowledge of our shame (which 
 the earth calls getting religion) is death, and even this death, though 
 they labour hard to feel it, they cannot find, they know nothing of it. 
 " They seek death, (it is a glory and a merit to them to feel what 
 hell-deserving sinners they are,) they seek death, but (saith the Lord) 
 they shall not find it ; they desire to die, and death is far from themy 
 No ! they who rejoice in calling themselves sinners, they do not 
 know what they talk so much about, they do not know that they are 
 sinners. 
 
 Therefore let the needy sinner not glory in his shame ; let him 
 know that his guilt and iniquity, his nakedness, his want and neces- 
 sity, and his cry for mercy, and his prayer for deliverance, is no 
 recommendation whatever. God indeed will surely hear the cry of 
 the really needy, not because there is good in the cry, (for there is 
 none,) but because He is good ! because he is very gracieus and he 
 delighteth in mercy, and because he has given a promise that he 
 will hear, and has pronounced a blessing upon the miserable, guilty 
 and sinful wi'etch that wanting, really seeks Him ! who is truly 
 ashamed of, and glories not in his shame and infamy. He will gra- 
 ciously and freely give the gift of Righteousness by Jesus Christ to 
 the ungodly, when in their need they cry, but it is only because he 
 will have mercy, because he is gracious and merciful, long suffering 
 and plenteous in goodness and truth and will abundantly pardon ! 
 This is why God hears and saves ! 
 
 If seeking and praying and asking and knocking, and reading 
 "good books" and keeping Sunday, and all the other false gods and 
 saviours, the helps and means, and conditions and causes which the 
 Son of Perdition hath set up, on the performance of which they 
 place their hopes, which they take as certain proofs that they are in 
 the right way, their zeal for worshipping which they audaciously 
 imagine pleases God ; if the most earnest and sincere and loudest 
 cries and knocks and entreaties could possibly save, or help to save, 
 they would save in that great and terrible day of the Lord, when 
 they who now trust in them will cry very loud, and knock and pray 
 very earnestly, and God will not hear them ! (Prov. i- ult.) If they 
 can help to save now, they will certainly help to save then ; if they 
 are good now, they will be good then, for whatever is really good is 
 eternally good. 
 
 Let the sinner know that God hath saved him before he knew his 
 need of salvation, he hath heard him before he cried, God hath com- 
 passion upon him before he had any idea of his own ruin and misery, 
 and because he hath loved him he hath drawn him with his love and 
 given him the Spirit and a good understanding to hear his voice 
 and to seek his Righteousness. They who now confide in these their 
 doings, which they call means of Grace, will discover, in that day, 
 that having rejected Christ there remaineth no more sacrifice for 
 sin : then let the gods, the means and the helps in which they have 
 trusted, save them if they are able. They say they do not reject 
 him, they only join these helps with him. But God will not be thus 
 dishonoured nor be helped ! He will not have any other help or god 
 8 
 
58 THE GOSPEL OF OOD. 
 
 with him ! he will not falsely share the glory of that work which he 
 hath truly alone performed and no one with him, with things or 
 works or imaginations which have no part and right in the doing and 
 glory of it ! 
 
 Here are many words to show what God in his Word has fully 
 shown in two or three words, saying " / am thy salvation,^'' that is, 
 I am ! I alone : and none of thy Righteousness, none of thy doings, 
 none of thy feelings, none of thy prayings, none of thy ecstacies, but 
 " / alone am thy salvation.'''' " I am God, and besides me there is 
 no Saviour." But this is the very thing which man will not acknow- 
 ledge, namely, that God is God alone ! they will readily pretend to 
 acknowledge him if they can join other gods with him according to 
 their own way and wisdom ; like Tiberius who was willing to enrol 
 Christ among the gods of Rome. But, that God is God alone, ap- 
 pears to the wisdom of man monstrous, absurd and wicked ! What ? 
 say they, God alone saves ! and nothing to help and assist him ! 
 What ? no other God ! and all our " means of Grace," our nice feel- 
 ings, our sweet seasons, our prayers, our pious enterprises, our 
 Sabbath keeping, our dipping into water, our going to church, our 
 reading and singing, our abstinence from balls and theatres, our 
 Sunday Schools, our Missionary and Bible and Temperance Confed- 
 eracies, our pious and benevolent exertions, our crying and asking, 
 our groanings, our experiences, and all our many helps or gods — 
 will not they assist 1 will not they save 1 Is God indeed God alone ? 
 will not these things help, even at all? are they no saviours? are 
 these good things bad and abominable ? has not God commanded us 
 to pray ? does not therefore our praying help to save ? is it not there- 
 fore a God and a saviour along with God ? Thus Christ is to them a 
 stumbling block and a rock of offence. 
 
 God is a jealous God, and righteously and graciously so for the 
 sake of his people, for certainly and most truly there is no help what- 
 ever but in Him only, and no Righteousness but in Him, and since 
 all our help and all our Righteousness will come only from him, all 
 our trust must be in Him only and in his Righteousness, jiis Christ 
 only, and if it is not we are without God and without hope ! It is 
 therefore a blessed thing to know that the Lord He is God alone, 
 besides him and with him there is no Saviour. He was in Christ 
 reconciling the world unto himself, and whosoever addeth and joins 
 his own or any helps to Christ and his work, is an idolater, and an 
 unbeliever. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 He that wishes to he saved, shall he saved ; he that does not wish to 
 he saved shall he condemned, that is., damned. 
 
 How Satan has deceived and blinded men, and led them to look 
 for happiness in destruction and to regard good as evil. To worship 
 God ! what can sound more painful to the gross, fleshly understand- 
 
THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 59 
 
 ings of men, calling up to their imaginations the ideas of constraint 
 and penance and mortifications and misery ! And what is this, to 
 worship God ? 
 
 To worship God is to be willing to receive from him blessings and 
 joy and peace and life and eternal happiness : for it is to believe in 
 him ; and to believe in him and to receive at the same time the gift 
 of eternal life, is one and the same, for they are inseparable. 
 
 To believe in God (which is to receive life and peace, and to be 
 made a son or daughter of the Lord Almighty) is an acknowledgment 
 that God, he is God ; this is honouring him, this is in a word the true 
 worship and the only true worship of God : for to look elsewhere, to 
 trust for or expect good from any where else, is to know and to worship 
 other Gods. He that looketh to himself a sintul man to do good, he 
 worships man, that is, a beast; he that looks for good to his regenerated 
 self, (which is a mere fancy, fiction, a talking image of the self-same 
 beast,) worships the image of the beast. In a word, he who looketh for 
 good, for any good, to any thing or any creature, trusts in and wor- 
 ships that creature and not God ! his trust is there and not in God : 
 if he says he only expects it to do him a little good, to be of a little 
 service or help he is a liar, his trust is there and not with God. God 
 is a jealous God and there is no one with him to partake the least 
 atom in his work. Therefore it is evident that the Religion of this 
 time is idolatry and a worship of strange Gods, for they look for 
 good almost any where and in any thing except in God only ! if 
 they really worshipped God they would know and teach the doctrine 
 of this little book, and nothing else, for the whole doctrine is, " Look 
 only to God, trust only to God ; for good, for Righteousness, for good 
 works, for every thing ; trust no cohere else in the least degree what- 
 ever, cease from your own toorks, look only, to God only" This is 
 the sum total, the sum and substance of this little Book, all it says 
 is, " Him only shalt thou serve.'''' It is merely the first command- 
 ment which the wisdom and piety of the earth has set altogether 
 aside, viz. it is this, " I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt have none 
 other Gods before me." (Ex. xx. 1.) And it is manifestly evident 
 that the law of God, the true worship of God, and of God only, and 
 of no other God, is only established through faith, that is, by the 
 Gospel. God forbid that we should make void the law through faith, 
 yea we establish the law. (Rs. iii. 31.) 
 
 Therefore to believe, to trust only to God, to look only to him for 
 Righteousness and for every thing, this only is really to worship and 
 serve God ! And as to believe and to be blessed are inseparable, to 
 worship God is to receive blessing immeasurable, and inconceivable 
 and everlasting ! It is therefore entirely to our benefit and advantage, 
 and no good or advantage to God whatever ! for He is only a giver 
 in this case, and we are only receivers. 
 
 Therefore, so far from the worship of God being desirable to 
 escape from and get rid of, it is that of all things which is most de- 
 sirable ; and which so far from being any good in us or any merit or 
 recommendation, or even at all commendable, when we do worship 
 him, is a great favour indeed, yea, the highest, the utmost of favours 
 
60 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 
 
 to be permitted to worship him ! God does not want us to worship 
 him, God forbid ! but it is we who are in the utmost need and neces- 
 sity of worshipping him, because it alone is the only good thing for 
 us, and if we do not worship him we are in horrible misery. There- 
 fore it is our great benefit to worship him, and when the Scripture 
 says " Woi'ship God,''' it only says to man, be blessed, be saved, be 
 happy, do yourselves good, not God ! 
 
 And since to be willing to receive the Righteousness of God, to 
 look to God only for it, to thirst for it, in a word, to wish to have it, 
 to desire it, is to believe, therefore when the Scripture says " he that 
 believeth shall be saved,"" it only says, he that wishes to be saved 
 shall be saved ! This indeed and in truth is the great and godlike 
 proclamation of the Gospel ! Such bountifulness, such graciousness, 
 such liberality, how churlish men have perverted this and have been 
 called liberal ! (Is. xxxii. 5.) 
 
 And again, when the Scripture says " he that beUeveth not shall be 
 damned,'^ it only says " he that wishes to be damned, he does not 
 desire life, he shall be damned, he shall not have life ; he shall have 
 his own will and wish !" Much therefore as the men of the sea, rag- 
 ing and proud waves, have reviled the Scriptures, and spoken hard 
 speeches against God, they will hereafter only have to curse them- 
 selves, for they will not be damned without having chosen and pre- 
 ferred it ! 
 
 To hunger and thirst after Righteousness is really and earnestly 
 to wish for it, and this is believing and receiving it, for the willing- 
 ness to receive and the receiving are inseparable, and this Christ 
 says " Whosoever will, that is, whosoever inshes,let him fake freely, ^^ 
 that is, for nothing! doing nothing for it, either before, or after, or 
 ever ! Such is the unspeakable Gift ! such is the great Good News ! 
 and it is really and truly a Gift ! He who sayeth otherwise, and 
 who will do something, and not take it freely, he maketh God a liar ! 
 Woe to the " abominable and fearful /" (Rev. xxi. 8.) the abomina- 
 ble, who love unrighteousness and their own ways and righteousness : 
 the fearful, who are afaidof the truth and hide it in earthy doctrines, 
 and think it dangerous to believe that God is true ! (Matt. xxv. 25.) 
 
 Let it be well observed this is not an idle, assumed wish, it pro- 
 ceeds from a good a right understanding, which is the Spirit of God, 
 and is given by God, whoever he may be that has got it, as the 
 breath in our nostrils is given, whoever has got it. No one can 
 possibly wish or hunger for the Righteousness of God, who does not 
 truly want it ; and he does not want it or stand in need of it, or wish 
 for it, who thinks he can do good, that is, can get Righteousness by 
 his doing any thing, by his following or attempted following of the 
 rule of Righteousness which is the law ; who thinks he can get 
 Righteousness by any other way than by Christ ; who looks for good 
 (that is, Righteousness) from any other quarter. Therefore, they 
 who arc trying to be good and pious, and thus to establish another 
 Righteousness (which is a deception, a show, a counterfeit and not a 
 real Righteousness) they are liars and deceive their own selves, if 
 they say or think that they look to Christ or wish to be saved or 
 
THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 61 
 
 thirst after Righteousness ! And also those who love iniquity and 
 do evil, the inhabitants of the sea, who desire no Righteousness at 
 all, but follow their own ways and are satisfied with the ships of their 
 own building, these do not desire to enter into Christ the ark of God, 
 they think to be safe in their own vessels when the deluge comes ; ' 
 they do not wish for Righteousness, that is, true Righteousness, they 
 do not want and do not wish to be saved. 
 
 David truly hungered and thirsted after Righteousness, when he 
 said " Teach vie to do thy tdll, O God,'" that is, save me from my 
 own wicked will, from fulfilling the desires of my flesh and of my 
 mind, (Eph. ii. 3.); save me from my vain saying and teach me 
 Christ who is thy Righteousness, thy " doing." He did not ask to 
 know his will, but to do it ; he knew it already, for he had the form 
 of all truth and knowledge in the law, but he found that was not 
 suflicient, he, a sinful man, had not the Power to do the good he knew; 
 but he wanted, he wished for, he thirsted after Righteousness, and 
 he cried out after it, after " doing," not saying or knowing, but 
 doing, in spirit and in truth, that is, in reality. Thus he thirsteth 
 after Christ, after Him who came to do in very deed and reality 
 what Moses made known: for by Moses we know all the will and 
 Righteousness of God, but by Christ we do his will and fulfil all 
 Righteousness ! that is, it is Christ himself who does the will of God, 
 " Lo ! I come to DO thj u'ill, O God /" and then imputes it to us, 
 even to all of us, who by him do believe ! 
 
 Thus it is, (and this is what man and his fleshly wisdom cannot 
 understand,) we do the will of God by doing nothing, only believing, 
 looking to Christ, who ^'' perforins all things for us!'''' we standing 
 still, and beholding the salvation of God ! sitting still (this is our 
 strength) and doing nothing. (Ish. xxx. 7.) Herein is seen how true 
 it is that God's thoughts are not our thoughts, nor his ways our 
 ways ! for this is exactly the opposite of, and directly contrary to 
 the thoughts and religion of earthly men, the religion of this last day ; 
 while also the religion of this day is directly the opposite of, and 
 contrary and opposed to the Truth of God ! Astonishing strength of 
 the delusions of Satan, astonishing all-deceivableness of unrighteous- 
 ness ! to make the utmost wickedness and atheism and rebellion 
 appear to men as if it was the highest pitch of faithfulness and obe- 
 dience to God ! to make bondage appear liberty, churlishness appear 
 bountifulness, darkness to appear light, bitter to appear sweet, and 
 the very reign of the devil and the beast, in all their wickedness and 
 malice and beastliness to appear as if it was the Millennium begun on 
 the earth ! for so the false and deceitful prophets have actually re- 
 presented it ! 
 
 Wherefore, to wish for, to hunger after Righteousness, and to look 
 to and hope in God only for it, that is to believe : and to believe, 
 (only to trust in God,) that, even that, is to worship God. And so it 
 is, that to worship God thus truly, and to receive him gladly to do 
 all for us, is the summit of blessedness for man. What indeed can 
 be a greater blessing than to receive and have Almighty Power to be 
 on our side, to crown us with glory and honour, to clothe us with 
 
()2 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 
 
 perfect Righteousness, to do us all good, and to do all good for us ? 
 Nothing can equal this except it be the knowledge of Him who is 
 thus good and gracious. Therefore the enquiry of a man should be, 
 — not, shall I worship God, or shall I not ? — but, as all the worship 
 is merely for my own supreme joy and blessedness, and all the good 
 
 the benefit and the advantage, is entirely on my side, will God 
 
 let me worship him ? that is the main point ! Will he condescend 
 to permit, to suffer me to draw nigh and approach unto him, and 
 receive from him that which eye hath not seen nor ear heard, nor 
 hath entered into the heart of man to conceive ! Will he take me, 
 and choose me, and permit me to worship him 1 
 
 Oh ! the unspeakable pride ! the insolence ! the audacity of human 
 man ! to imagine, to dream, that God wants him to worship Him ! 
 and O unspeakable blindness not to see nor understand that it is we 
 who want, we who are in need, it is our blessing, it is life to us, it is 
 great salvation to us, to worship Him ! for it is only to receive all 
 good and every imaginable good from Him ! What frightful, yea, hor- 
 rible and most abominable insolence of our vain and evil hearts, when 
 we imagine that in muttering prayers, or reading the bible, or sing- 
 ing psalms, or keeping one day above another, or not dancing, or 
 not drinking, or not going to a theatre, that we are doing good ! 
 serving God ! yea, doing him a favour and performing a service to 
 Him ! The Earth is turned upside down, (Is. xxiv.) for the truth of 
 God is, that God does a favour to man, and God does a service for 
 man ; and they turn things upside down and preach that man does a 
 favour to God, man does a service to (iod ! O abominable abomina- 
 tion ? O wickedness not to be conceived ! The Gospel is the news 
 of the Grace, that is, the favour of God to man, and the Religion of 
 this Time is just the reverse, viz. a profession of the grace, that is, 
 the favour of man to God ! 
 
 Instead of our worship being any service or favour to God, it is a 
 most wonderful and astonishing condescension and humiliation on 
 God's part to let us worship him ! To permit us to worship him, to 
 give, to grant to us to believe in him, this is to make us, — us wretches, 
 — equal to the angels of heaven : it is to fill us with all good. Well 
 therefore is it said that this faith whereby we approach unto God, is 
 the gift and calling of God ! It cannot be otherwise, and all those 
 who believe, who wish for the Righteousness of God, are chosen of 
 God : if they hunger after Righteousness, then and not unless, it is 
 certain they are blessed and chosen of God ! God hath loved them 
 and chosen them, to cause them to approach unto Him ! Thus the 
 Prophet says, " Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, O Lord, and 
 causest to approach unto Thee /" and therefore because he hath 
 before chosen them and always intended to save them, they, by his 
 Word and his Spirit, hear and understand his Truth, and believe, and 
 thus approach unto Him ! 
 
 It is therefore a blessed thing, if any one hungers and thirsts after 
 Righteousness ; for whoever he be that does, he owes that blessed- 
 ness entirely to God ! God hath loved him with an everlasting love, 
 and chosen him, and ordained him to eternal life; lie who now gives 
 
THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 63 
 
 him grace and favour in Christ, gave him Grace in Christ before the 
 foundation of the world! (2 Tim. i. 9.) " / have loved thee with an 
 everlasting love, therefore ivith loving kindness have I drawn thee'''' 
 saith God by the Prophet Jeremiah. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 The inviolability of the law of God. 
 
 It is an abominable thing to teach that Christ does only a part and 
 not all ; and that he who believes has something to do, that Christ 
 does not do all for him. If Christ does any thing at all, he does all 
 wholly and entirely : if the sinner has any thing at all to do, then he 
 has all and every thing to do, and then there is no salvation. 
 
 The law which says " do" means really and truly, do all and 
 every thing, not in part, but wholly and perfectly ; and the Gospel 
 which says " believe,"" means really and truly what it says, do no- 
 thing at all, but leave it all to Christ, trusting in him. He who has 
 something to do, has all to do, for he is under the law, and the law 
 admits not of part being done and part being undone ; it admits no 
 imperfect obedience. Tliey who are under it, who are not dead to 
 it by the body of Christ, they must fulfil it entirely, or suffer all its 
 penalty : and they who believe in Him, do fulfil it entirely (by Him) ; 
 thus in any case by Jew or by Gentile, by Heathen or Christian, by 
 believer or infidel, it must be fulfilled, it cannot be broken, it is surer 
 than heaven and earth. Christ fulfils it for them that receive him, 
 without their moving the little finger of the arm of man ; but they 
 who will not receive him for all Righteousness, but will have some- 
 thing to do, they are not by their own pride removed from under its 
 obligation, they have got it all to fulfil and they may move heaven 
 and earth, they cannot fulfil it, they are too far gone in wickedness, 
 as all men are, for that. 
 
 They who say, or think that to believe is yet to have something to 
 are blind and wicked, and do not believe God's word of the gospel, 
 " Believe and thou shalt be saved." They very sincerely believe, 
 (sincerely, because we are sincerely and earnestly wicked,) that 
 what they do, or think they ought to do, is very good, and com- 
 manded of God, and will please God. Yes, so it is commanded of 
 him, if it be all good, for his law commands all good : and so it will 
 please him if they do really all good, for he is good and loveth good. 
 But they vainly think that their praying and going to their Church, 
 and keeping their Sabbath, is very gool, and the sinner who takes 
 to these things will please God, and they add, through Jesus Christ. 
 They mean to say that Christ will make all these things coming 
 from sinful man who does not do real good, that is all the law of good, 
 acceptable and pleasing to God ! So that when a man is a law 
 breaker, yet God will accept him through Jesus Christ : and this 
 violation of the law by God, or tliis his supposed admission of its 
 violation, they call Grace ! Abominable wickedness of Satan's de- 
 
64 TIIK (JOSPEL OF G01>. 
 
 lusions ! Nothing but the perfect fulfilling of the law, — and this is 
 only by Christ, and is his work — can be pleasing to God. Christ did 
 not come, far, far from it, to make our filthy works good, to help to 
 glorify us and puff" us up with admiration of ourselves, but utterly to 
 destroy them altogether, and he himself to work the work of God 
 for us, fulfilling the whole law perfectly for the ungodly who receive 
 him to do it ; perfectly, not imperfectly, else it were no salvation. 
 
 If when a man has done wrong, that is, in other words, is a sinner, 
 then if going to Church, and praying, or keeping one day in seven, 
 or doing or not doing any thing whatsoever, if such things will make 
 it all right again, and dispose God to forgive him, then to do wrong 
 is a very trifling thing indeed, yea, the law of God is a jest, if thus 
 it can be done away by such trifling things ! But " God is not 
 mocked /" They preach that these things are made acceptable and 
 etfectual only by the Grace of God ! through Jesus Christ our Lord ! 
 If the Grace of God did assist to give effect to such half-obediences 
 of the law, to such defective and sinful doings, then would Christ be 
 made to assist the condemned and the transgressors in violating and 
 despising the law of God ; for he who does not fully obey this law of 
 good in all things, is a transgressor and condemned. But God's holy 
 and righteous law, his moral, yea, and far more than moral law, 
 cannot possibly be broken, and most assuredly Christ does never 
 assist to break it ; nor does the Grace of God consist in helping him 
 who breaks it to patch it up again and obey it a little, that is, to do 
 a little good, nor any at all. No wrong of any kind can be done 
 with impunity by Heathen or Christian or any one whosoever he be. 
 No assistance, no Grace will be given to the wrong-doer to palliate 
 the imperfection of his obedience : imperfect obedience is no obe- 
 dience at all, it is total disobedience, it is crime, (James) ; herein is 
 the sin the crime of mankind that they do not perfectly do what is 
 right, they are the offerers of an imperfect obedience. If the law 
 that wrong must not be done, and which pronounces a curse upon all 
 wrong doing (that is, sin) — if this law could have been broken, then 
 God could have broken it, and Christ might have saved his people 
 without any suffering. But it was not possible that that cup should 
 pass from him, if we were to be saved : no, it was not possible ; the 
 law could not be broken ; and he drank it up to the dregs instead of 
 us, even the full cup of the wrath of God revealed by the law against all 
 unrighteousness, that is, against all wrong-doing. Therefore no wrong 
 whatsoever, not the least wrongcan possibly be done and go unpunished. 
 The death of Christ is a terrible guarantee of the inviolability of the 
 law. How then shall sinful man, full of all secret evil, drenched in 
 floods of hidden filthiness, dare to imagine and absolutely even to 
 preach, that a little muttering of his prayers, a little paltry piety and 
 devotion, a going to church, and keeping Sunday, the not drinking 
 spirits and not going to balls, in one word, a doing something, shall 
 help him to escape ? and that he will escape by the Grace of God, 
 through Jesus Christ ! Astonishing wickedness and delusion to dare 
 to think and to preach that the Grace of God is intended to give 
 impunity to wickedness and safety to crime ! This is the turning the 
 
THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 65 
 
 Grace of our God into lasciviousness, which is now done as it was 
 foretold it would be ! (Peter.) 
 
 The only reason why men dare thus to contemn God, is because 
 they do not really believe that God will punish, (Ps. x.) they do not 
 believe the law, they think their offences are light and venial, that it 
 is a trifling thing to do wrong ; that the law is a jest, a mere nothing, 
 that therefore the Grace of God rnay be depended upon to render 
 the enactments of the law of no effect, to weaken, to violate, to set 
 aside the law ! 
 
 Monstrous as this perversion of the Grace of God is, great as is 
 the enormity of this crime, yet how all-deceivable such unrighteous- 
 ness and wickedness is, (2 Thess.) is proved by the fact, the aston- 
 ishing fact, that this very wickedness and guilt, passes both with 
 those who are guilty of it, and before the eyes of all others also, 
 under the character and appearance of uncommon sanctity and piety, 
 and reverence for God, and zeal for the law ! 
 
 No indeed, it is a terrible thing to do wrong : it is not a trifling 
 thing ! No part of God's law being obeyed, though they may say 
 by the Grace of God, can make up for what is not obeyed. So 
 terrible is the law of the Almighty God, to those who do not fully 
 and perfectly obey it, that if any man believes the truth of the law, 
 he certainly will believe the Gospel, and gladly receive Jesus Christ 
 for all his Righteousness. But they who despise the law of God and 
 tremble not at it, they will despise the Gospel, they cannot believe. 
 (Luke xvi. 31.) 
 
 Whether we are under the law or whether we are under the Gos- 
 pel, the Law cannot and will not be broken. It is fully and perfectly 
 obeyed, and fulfilled by Christ for them that believe, and thus it is 
 not broken : and its curse will be fulfilled and established to all trans- 
 gressors in the day when God will judge the world, and thus it will 
 not be broken. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 To he under the law and at the same time to believe is impossible. A 
 cry against the Earth. 
 
 They who cleave to the law, seeking to do good, (for to try to do 
 good is to try to fulfil the law and to cleave to it,) they dishonour 
 thereby that very law of good-doing which they vainly imagine they 
 love so much ! They dishonour it, for they violate it, they break it, 
 they do not fulfil it. If they think they keep it, or that they do 
 good, then they do not even believe that it is true, for it itself posi- 
 tively declares to them that they do not keep it at all ! (Rs. iii. 19.) 
 The law declares this. 
 
 He who cleaveth to the law, who has got to do good, or some- 
 thing to do, can have no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of 
 God ! it is utterly impossible, for he is a ti-ansgressor, he is con- 
 demned, he abideth in coiidenmation and death. He is a transgressor, 
 for he has got to do good, he has got a law to fulfil, and as God is 
 9 
 
66 TEIE GOSPEL OF GOD. 
 
 true, he does not do it : he is therefore in condemnation, and that is 
 death itself. Since he does not do all that which he is bound to do, 
 he is unrighteous and condemned, and most certain it is, no unright- 
 eous man, no condemned man has or can have any access to God, 
 nor know him, nor love him, nor have peace with him. Such a man, 
 whatever he may say, however he may labour to deceive himself 
 with vain words, and talk of Grace and peace and love, does not be- 
 lieve in Christ at all nor in the least degree whatever, for no one 
 can be condemned by the law and free from condemnation in Christ 
 at one and the same time ! There is no condemnation to them that 
 believe, they are no longer transgressors, they are justified, that is, 
 made righteous, and are without spot, and have peace with God. (Rs. 
 V. 1.) And no one can be justified and be righteous, and be con- 
 demned and cursed at one and the same time ! But he who follows 
 the law is a transgressor, and is unrighteous and condemned and 
 cursed, for he has got to do good and he does not do it. So that it 
 is utterly impossible to follow Christ and believe in him, if a man is 
 under the law, and follows it, and is labouring to do good, as the 
 Earth (the religious professors) now are doing : they do not believe, 
 and it is impossible for them to be saved, if they continue in unbelief, 
 having something to do, and not having God to do all for them, ac- 
 cording to his Everlasting Covenant. 
 
 The Everlasting Covenant which God made with Abraham, since 
 by it it only the law of God is honoured and perfectly obeyed, since 
 by it he that believes is blessed, wonderfully blessed in Jesus Christ, 
 blessed with perfect Righteousness and perfect peace, and is by and 
 in him a fulfiller of the whole law. This, this only is the Covenant 
 which God regards, which he keeps and remembers for ever, which 
 can never be broken, for man hath no hand in it, and which he hath 
 confirmed by an oath ! In this covenant only, and in none other than 
 this, in all times and in all ages, has any one ever been blessed who 
 is blessed ! All God's favours and mercies shown to his people 
 Israel, at all times from the foundation of the world, were shown to 
 them not because of the covenant of the law, nor for any of their 
 observance of its excellent ordinances, however strict and exact, but 
 whoelly, solely, and entirely in Christ Jesus who was to come, yea, 
 solely on account of the Righteousness of Christ by faith. It was, 
 (as is said in the book of Psalms, after a long enumeration of all his 
 mercies and goodness to the house of Israel,) it was all done and 
 only done " because he remembered his Holy Promise and Abraham 
 his servant.'''' (Ps. cv. 42.) It was not because they did any good, or 
 tried to do any, or because they obeyed him, or because they were 
 pious or religious or devout, or kept a day of the week, — far, far 
 from it ! it was not because of any conditions they had fulfilled or 
 were willing to fulfil, but only and merely because of Christ Jesus 
 the Righteousness of God, the end and fulfiller of the law, whom they 
 saw afar off" in the daily blood-shedding, and waited for him, and 
 hoped in him, and walked in his strength, (Ps.) and in whom God 
 beheld them and loved them ! For ever blessed be God for his 
 Everlasting Covenant, his Mercy, his Work, his Promise ! 
 
THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 67 
 
 Since such was the case with Israel, what are the vain confidences 
 worth of those who preach a mutilated, dishonoured and partial law, 
 nay, a new invented law of their own which is no law ; who say " do 
 good" (and that even not real good) to the wicked one, the man of 
 sin ? What is their proud confidence worth, that they serve God 
 and please him, when even Israel, which followed after the holy law, 
 and tried to do good, by strictly following it, and did not invent 
 instead of it, a false law, a false standard of good, and vain substitutes 
 instead of the law, when they, yea, even they could not please him, 
 and did not please him, but were utterly, utterly cast off and abhorred, 
 as it is to this day, because they would not receive the only Righte- 
 ousness of God, even the Lord Jesus Christ ? Wicked as they were 
 who rejected Christ, though yet they did not entirely set aside the 
 law, how much more wicked are those who both reject Christ, and 
 also at the same time totally set aside the law ? And yet more ! 
 how much more abominable and guilty they are who, while they 
 totally reject the Righteousness of God, yet pretend, with all deceiv- 
 able appearances of sanctity and piety, to love him and assist him 
 and kiss him, talking of the " dear Redeemer, Free Grace," &c. &c. 
 And also, while they tolally set aside the law both in theory and 
 practice, (setting up confederacies and substitutes for its real good- 
 doing, and being devoted to covetous and wicked practices of hatred 
 and malice,) — yet all the while wickedly pretend to obey the holy 
 law of God, and to follow this law which they have slain, as their 
 rule and guide ? 
 
 Never was there a generation on the earth so wicked and impious, 
 so blasphemous and proud, so confident, insolent and bold, so appa- 
 rently iamb-like and saintly, so truly deceitful and abominable ! They 
 do not hesitate, they are not afraid, to deny point blank and most 
 audaciously, the plain and positive word of God, being confident that 
 their own ways are perfectly right, and Satan persuading them that 
 what God says means nothing or very little, and that they will 
 easily find some other text or passage to overthrow or pervert or 
 blunt whatever appears to be against them ! Let them know how- 
 ever, and they shall know shortly, for the time is at hand, that the 
 whole word of God is against them, against their practices, and 
 against their doctrines ! The Scripture is full of prophecies^ against 
 them ; Anti-Christ is there as plainly made known as Christ, that 
 we, seeing what is not the doctrine of Christ, may be assured and 
 certain what is. All the prophecies are concentrated upon this 
 generation. They scoif (Peter), they think lightly of God, they 
 think lightly of their delusions and follies, they think their zeal, their 
 fleshly zeal, which indeed is great for their own glory, will atone for 
 their being wrong in some things, for they sometimes confess they 
 may be wrong in some things. Proud and deluded men, not to under- 
 stand that the Holy Spirit of God is wrong in nothing ; that he who 
 has drank of this spirit is taught aright of God and cannot be wrong. 
 (John.) They think lightly of their own delusions, of their perver- 
 sions of the Grace of God ! Every thing is light with them, pro- 
 vided they have a hot and fleshly zeal to do good ! Evil men ! to 
 
68 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 
 
 dream of good from such filthy and abominable fountains ! But let 
 them know, and they shall know, that great and glorious and vast 
 and stupendous as is the Truth, the Eternal Truth of the living God, 
 wonderful as is his exceeding rich Grace, unutterably large and libe- 
 ral and god-like as is his unspeakable Gift and Truth cf his Grace, 
 in just such proportion are their lies and false doctrines abominable. 
 In such proportion as his wonderful Gospel is all that is lovely 
 and good, just so is even the very least perversion of it all that is 
 hateful and wicked ! wicked beyond conception, when wicked men 
 assuming the authority and very words of God for this vile purpose, 
 dare to counterfeit and pervert his Gospel by their own wisdom, and 
 teach their own theories and imaginations in place of, and casting on 
 one side, the Eternal Word of Truth ! This generation is called, 
 collectively, the Son of Perdition. (2 Thess.) Judas is a figure and 
 representative of them, as John also is a representative of the last 
 disciples, who shall eat up, yea, devour this little book, who are 
 to be the last and to tarry till he come : for now first the words 
 of Christ are understood which he said of John, that he should 
 tarry till he came, for he spake of us, knowing us and seeing us, 
 even of us who shall believe by Him, and remain on the earth till 
 his glorious coming ! Like Judas they appear to follow him ; like 
 Judas they make a bargain and sale of him, (for according as they 
 preach any body may have him for a little money, of piety and per- 
 formances,) like Judas also they kiss him while they betray and sell 
 him, calling him " dear Jesus," " the dear Redeemer," like Judas 
 they sit at table with him, and like him their consciences are so 
 seared and their hearts so hardened, that not suspecting their own 
 wickedness, they say with astonishment " Lord is it I ?" like Judas 
 they are transformed into Apostles, like him they cast out devils, 
 and do many wonderful works ; like him they are not found out till 
 the very last, and it is to John, the last, the beloved disciple, as he 
 leans on Jesus' bosom and trusts to him that Christ reveals them as 
 he now does openly in this little book, to them, even his beloved, 
 that shall believe in his Name ! 
 
 CHAPTER XVL 
 
 Why the Law was given. 
 
 Man is evil and doeth evil, and for this wicked one, this scarlet 
 beast, being so altogether evil, to pretend that he does good, to as- 
 sume airs of counterfeit holiness, and put on filthy robes of human 
 righteousness, thinking them a fine clothing, is the very summit of 
 self-deception, of pride, of denial of God's truth, and of rebellion 
 against God and his word. It is the pride and rebellion of Satan ! 
 
 When God gave his righteous law to sinful flesh, it was not in 
 order to set up this filthy and malignant worm as having the power 
 and arm of God, and able to do what God alone does in the very 
 angels who are around his throne ! No ! it was for the very con- 
 
THE GOSPEL OF OOD. 69 
 
 trary purpose, to put him down, and show him by woful experience, 
 his utter brutishness without God. (Ps.) None is good save one, that 
 is God : and they who acknowledge and love him, because of his 
 first love to them which they believe, who trust to him, they receive 
 goodness from him as a gift and a Grace ; they receive his own 
 goodness ; and this is the only way that any one is good in heaven 
 or earth ! " Thou only art holy, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God.'''' 
 (Rev.) So that it is all by faith, receiving, not working, all by the 
 work of God and his Grace, yea, even in the very angels. 
 
 God gave his holy law, because of transgression, (Rs.) to make 
 known to sinners the evil of their evil ; to make known the certainty 
 of the punishment of all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men : he 
 gave it for the wicked who do evil, and love evil, and for his people 
 also as long as being in unbelief they do evil, that they might know 
 the misery of their owza destructions ; that they might learn and 
 know by it their own errors and impotency, and know that there was 
 no power nor Righteousness but of God ; by it is known the exceed- 
 ing sinfulness of sin, of which otherwise we should never have anv 
 knowledge, no, nor even suspicion. Blessed are they who hear and 
 are taught by this law. 
 
 If the people whom God will save had no knowledge of the fact 
 of their own sinfulness, how could they look to God for Righteous- 
 ness ? how could they believe 1 No one looketh for that which he 
 does not know that he wants. And they could not know that thei-e 
 was any Righteousness at all, if they had not known that their own 
 works were evil, and all their Righteousness as filthy rags. If they 
 had remained in ignorance of their utter sinfulness, and never dis- 
 covered that not to be in God is to be evil, that to be trying to do 
 good by our own power, and not to have the Spirit of God in us to 
 do it for us, is to be like the beasts ; if they had not known this, then 
 they would have remained like the beasts that perish, and never have 
 known God, and have been always dreaming of righteousness from 
 themselves and imagining their evil to be good : they would never 
 have known Him, that he only is God, he only is good, he is Right- 
 eousness itself, and all that are good are only so by being filled with 
 him ! 
 
 How, without this teaching, could they look to God only for 
 Righteousness ? Therefore the law is as it were a school-master, 
 pointing to Christ the Righteousness of God. Therefore David says, 
 " Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, O Lord, and teachest him 
 out of thy Law." And again he says why he is blessed, and why 
 God teaches him by his law, that it is noi; to set him to work, to do 
 something, no, far from it, but to give him Rest, even perfect rest 
 from all his own works and vain doings ! and this Rest, this Sabbath 
 from his own doings, this is Christ ! Yes, it is to give him Rest, 
 and not to make him, Iniquity, good, that is God ! Christ has de- 
 stroyed in his own body on the tree the beast, the flesh, the old man 
 of sin, born of Adam, even Iniquity, which never can be good, (John 
 iii. 6,) which is not subject to God's law, and cannot be, (Rs.) and 
 all they who believe are dead with him, that this man of sin may be 
 
70 THE GOSPEL OF OOD. 
 
 destroyed, (not ameliorated nor made good,) that henceforth they 
 should not serve this body, nor do its works, but live in Jesus Christ, 
 clothed in the Righteousness of God ! 
 
 They therefore know nothing of God, they do not believe in God, 
 who dream, and they are called filthy dreamers, (Jude) — who dream 
 that they, filthy men and women, can follow this holy law, this 
 perfect rule of perfect righteousness ! who dream that they, being 
 evil, can work the Righteousness of God ! for the Righteousness of 
 the law, all true Righteousness is the Righteousness of God ! 
 
 He who imagines that good can come from his utmost efforts to 
 follow this law of good, does not believe that God alone is only good, 
 the only fountain and source of good, and the only doer of good : he 
 believes in himself and not in God ; he sets up himself for God and 
 Saviour ; himself a man of sin, a beast before God, or his regener- 
 ated self, a fiction, an imagination, an image of himself, a speaking 
 image of the beast. (Revs, xiii.) But if he says in the all-deceiva- 
 bleness of unrighteousness, that he believes in God and only partly 
 seeks to do good by following partly the law as a rule of life, that is, 
 as a guide for him to do good, then he expects good from himself, 
 and not from God only ! But God cannot be believed in partly, nor 
 by halves ; he saves wholly and altogether by himself, there is no 
 God with him, no Saviour besides him, no arm to help him ; He is 
 God alone, and his glory he will not give unto another. He who 
 thinks therefore that any, the least good or Righteousness can come 
 by his trying to do good, he entirely rejects the good, the Righteous- 
 ness of God, for he does not want it, it is not quite good enough for 
 him, he must put some of his own filthiness to it ! 
 
 It will be more tolerable in the day of judgment for those wicked 
 persons, the inhabitants of the Sea, who have openly and altogether 
 denied Christ, than for those deceitful, double-minded men who have 
 pretended to believe in him and honour him, while they followed 
 after their own righteousness and believed in themselves : who had 
 rather he should make their wickedness good and acceptable, (which 
 is impossible,) than receive him at once to be all their Righteous- 
 ness and do all good for them, (which is easy to him and is his very 
 work and Grace) : who have said in their hearts we will join Christ 
 with Belial, we will do good and he shall make even that to be good, 
 and make up all deficiencies besides ! thus we will save ourselves, 
 and to show our humility we will say we are great sinners and call 
 him the Saviour ! 
 
 To preach " do good," (if it be indeed and really good,) is to 
 preach the law of God, and with it the curse and death, because the 
 very law which commands to do good, at the same time declares, 
 " there is none that, doeth good, no, not OHe." Therefore, there is no 
 gospel whatever, no good news, no |>eace, nothing but the tidings of 
 destruction and death in such preaching ; it signifies not whatever 
 deceitful appearances of gospel may be mixed with it ; if the law is 
 there, the inevitable curse is there too, and no blessing can be min- 
 gled and joined with cursing. To preach therefore to men to do 
 good is utterly vain ; it is practicidly to tell men there is no Christ, 
 
THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 71 
 
 no Messiah, no Righteousness of God, and no salvation. It is 
 utterly vain, even if it be done with all faithfulness and truth, if even 
 the whole law of God be ri'ally taught, and all its goodness and 
 excellence, and all its virtue and good actions be inculcated in all 
 fulness and truth : it is altogether vain as concerns salvation ; it is 
 good only for condemnation, for a bridle and whip for the fools' back, 
 for a terror to wicked transgressors. 
 
 But the deceitful Anti-Christ, this religious generation, the Earth, 
 the earthly men, they do not preach the Law of God at all, nor its 
 real and perfect commands, in all their vain preaching and teaching. 
 The " do good" which they preach, is a false law of their own 
 invention, it is not the perfect, righteous, holy, moral and excellent 
 law of God, which commands men to do all good to one another, not 
 to covet houses, money and lands., nor lend out their money upon 
 usury, nor to take a pledge from the needy ; the " do gooiV which 
 they preach is all to be fulfilled by subscribing to their confederacies, 
 attending their meetings, assuming their looks, adopting their lan- 
 guage, making an outside show, pretending to be a sinner, and to 
 have felt convictions, subscribing money for the " cause," becoming 
 one of them, being puffed up with vain conceit, trusting they will go to 
 heaven, and swelling with fleshly dreams and good feelings, and talking 
 idly and audaciously of Grace and love and glory, and their inward 
 experiences ! " speaking great swelling words of vanity, not knowing 
 tvhat they say, nor lohereof they a^rm f" Herein is their salvation ; 
 and to those who join them, they confidently proclaim peace, when 
 there is no peace : so anxious is each whorish church to get and 
 increase the number of her lovers, (Ezk.) that " they alhire through 
 much wantonness of the fesh,''^ and use all sorts of attractions, hold- 
 ing out the lure of fleshly advantage, of worldly benefit, profit and 
 gain, to attract lovers, saying that men will save money by leaving 
 the tippling house and joining them, and that they will be more re- 
 spectable and get on better in the world ! 
 
 If he be utterly vain as it is, even to preach perfect and real 
 good-doing, and all the truth and righteousness of God's law, — if 
 even all this, without even the least drawback, is vain and unprofita- 
 ble through the weakness of the flesh, and only kills instead of 
 giving life, (Rs. vii.) then how vain, how monstrous, how wicked, 
 how horribly abominable, is all this their preaching of all this their 
 good, which is not good ! which is abomination ! How utterly vain 
 is their austere inculcation of their pious practices, their fleshly Sab- 
 bath keeping, their society-joining, their church-joining, their tract 
 distributing, their abstinence from drinks and balls and theatres and 
 ribbons, their mournful looks, their howling and groaning, their 
 money gatherings, their missionary and benevolent exertions ! 
 
 If the preaching of God's holy and good law, in fulness and with- 
 out diminution or drawback, be a vanity, and be the preaching neither 
 of Gospel nor of blessing, what a vanity, what more than vanity are 
 all these inventions, these idle, foolish and wicked substitutes, these 
 proud-swelling and earthly ostentations ! Never, no never, in any 
 age of the world, or by any people, was iniquity so completely 
 
72 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 
 
 masked and disguised and carried to such an exalted, such a tremen- 
 dous pitch ! Samaria's open idolatry (the Greek and Roman Catholic 
 Churches) is abominable, but it is gross : but the deceitful hypocrisy 
 of Judah (and the Protestant Churches) is most abominable, it is a 
 refinement of deception and wickedness, a counterfeit, to deceive, 
 if it were possible, the very elect ! The wisdom and knowledge of 
 earthly man hath brought to pass these perversions, (Is.) because the 
 wisdom of God, " Believe," and nothing more, was too foolish for 
 them ! They laugh and scoff (Peter) at the very idea of sitting still, 
 of standing still, doing nothing, and having the strength of the Al- 
 mighty God ! (Is.) They have chosen their own way, and despised 
 God's way, and he hath loft them to their own delusions. This is 
 the strange, the wonderful work which God hath done. (Is.) God 
 who searcheth the hearts and trieth the reins, hath tried them, it 
 has been " the hovi' of temptation to try them that dwell on the earth,'''' 
 (that is, the earthy men, the professors of religion and piety ; the 
 self-creators, the wise men, the self-electors !) They professed to 
 be wise, to be able to know God as they pleased, and to be ready 
 and obedient to obey his word, and God has tried them if they 
 would do so, and they have denied that God is God, that power is 
 only his, that he only has understanding and giveth understanding, 
 and doeth whatsoever he will and saveth whom he will. And deny- 
 ing God and his Might, they have received Satan and all his delu- 
 sions, they have greedily swallowed up the flood of lies and follies 
 and blasphemies and abominations, which he has cast out of his 
 mouth : (Rev. xii.) for there is no folly and wickedness of false 
 doctrine which in these last days the inhabiters of the earth have not 
 greedily swallowed. 
 
 Never will the truth of God " pride goeth before a fall," which 
 has already been proved true, be so fully proved as when their day 
 Cometh, when all their works and confidences, and troops and con- 
 federacies will melt away in an instant, like wax before the presence 
 of the Lord, and they will have nothing to lay hold of, nothing to 
 hope in, and no where to look, when all their proud buildings which 
 now appear to them so solid and excellent, will fall with a great fall, 
 and the sandiness of the foundation be plainly revealed. They are 
 those who say, and with all their saying they do not ; they worship 
 a speaking image, they are great speakers, but they are not doers of 
 the word : nor can they be, not having Christ, nor desiring him to 
 do all for them ! at being thus real doers they scoff, saying " what ? 
 are we to sit still and do nothing?" that is to say, " what ? are we 
 to believe V This great wisdom of God is foolishness to them. (1 
 Cor.) 
 
 But if any one should say, how can a man be guilty if he is not 
 elect? What? because there are holy, elect angels in heaven, is 
 therefore the wickedness which is done on the eai'th no wickedness 
 at all ? Is there therefore no law and no justice against deliberate, 
 malicious and desperate wickedness? God forbid! And because 
 God is willing to show mercy, and from everlasting was so deter- 
 mined, and therefore has an elect people, a remnant who will lx;lieve 
 
THE UOSl'EL OK GOO. 73 
 
 and whom he will save, does that make wickedness to be no wicked- 
 ness ? Does God's mercy on whom he will have mercy clear the 
 guilty ? (Exodus.) Whether there were elect angels or not, whether 
 there were elect vessels or not, wickedness is wickedness, and those 
 who hate God, who hate his Righteousness, and wantonly and ma- 
 liciously despise his word, and do unrighteousness, are wicked, 
 maliciously and willingly wicked, and God will show his power by 
 them, and he hardens their hearts because of their pride and wisdom, 
 and they cannot escape the justice of the law by which every one 
 will be judged according to the deeds which he has done ! What 
 has the existence of a righteous generation (made righteous by great 
 grace and mercy) to do with the guilt of the wicked ? It interferes 
 with their criminality no more than the existence of a race of fishes 
 in the sea, or of birds in the air ! They say and know they ought 
 to do good, they say they can, and yet they do that which is evil, 
 and they fight against and wrest deceitfully God's words, and despise 
 and set at naught his Mercy and his Christ. Let them really do 
 good and they have nothing, no nothing whatever to fear, they, even 
 they themselves shall save their souls alive. 
 
 God's Grace in Christ Jesus to them that believe in his Name, 
 « THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS," does not set aside the 
 law, the very principle of right and wrong : they who do wrong 
 shall suflfer for the wrong they do, and he will save those who lay 
 hold of Jesus Christ, who shall be found sprinkled with his blood and 
 cleansed from all their wrong. But the existence of a saved and 
 redeemed people, will not overthrow God's law, nor bestow impunity 
 to wickedness. 
 
 Therefore let a man beware how he dream of rioting in evil with 
 impunity, pretending that because God will have mercy on whom he 
 will have mercy, he need not therefore care what he does ! God is 
 righteous and will judge the world in equity : every one will receive 
 according to his deeds, and will only be condemned for the wrong 
 which he has done ; whether there be a Gospel or not, that does not 
 alter the case. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the 
 living God. The law of God says to all flesh, " beware lest ye 
 perish," and they will not hear. But the love of God says to his 
 people (and it is the Word the power of God) " Come unto me," 
 and they hear the voice of this love by the Word of God and they 
 come, and they shall come, and shall never perish. " My sheep hear 
 my voice" — " he that is of God heareth God's words" but sinful 
 flesh heareth them not, and will never hear, but will do wickedly 
 and will not understand, (Daniel xii. 10,) and shall be judged and 
 perish as if there never had been any Gospel given, as also they 
 must, for their wickedness, if there never had been any. 
 
 10 
 
74 THE GOSPEL OF G01>. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Of the Sea and the Earth ; that they both agree in the same wicked 
 
 doctrine. 
 
 The Sea, in the prophetic language of the Scripture, describes the 
 world in general ; the Earth, standing out of the Sea, describes the 
 religious or professing world, who are apparently separated and 
 come out from the world. The Sea describes man as he really is. 
 As the Sea is sometimes calm and smooth as glass, so man appears 
 innocent and harmless ; but the calm is deceitful, they are only 
 waiting to do evil. As the sea, when the four winds blow upon it, 
 rages dreadfully and is ungovernable, so are men, when they are 
 moved by the winds of those lusts which proceed out of their hearts, 
 or when Satan enters into them and foments the evil ; when roused 
 by the love of gain, or the fear of loss, then they are like the raging 
 sea, unutterably and diabolically violent and wicked. Thus the Sea, 
 with fidelity of description, describes, by one word, the world at 
 large and those of it whom the men of earthly religion call infidels. 
 As the Sea is far more extensive than the Earth, and spreads over a 
 much larger surface, so are those far the most numerous who do not 
 believe what is called Christianity. The infidels of the world, like 
 the waves of the Sea, are violently opposed to the religious world, 
 the earth ; they foam and dash against it, like waves of the Sea, and 
 make in some parts great inroads upon it : they are also high and 
 lifted up, and proud, boisterous and blasphemous : like raging waves 
 of the Sea, they defy all restraint and acknowledge no master ; they 
 say, '■'■our tongues are our own, roho is lord over us?" Wherefore 
 the " Sea" is employed to signify the infidel world. 
 
 The Earth describes the religious world, which is comparatively 
 a small portion of professors standing out of the Sea. No word like 
 this could so aptly describe the religious professors. They are men 
 of the earth, earthy and sensual : all their doctrines are of the earth, 
 their wisdom is earthly, (James iii. 14, 15,) their knowledge and un- 
 derstanding is earthly, natural, and taught of men ; their practices 
 are earthly ; their hopes, views and ambitions are earthly ; they 
 mind earthly things ; their foundation is built upon the earth ; their 
 fruits are of the earth ; their conversation is upon the earth, (not in 
 heaven ;) their thoughts are upon the earth, and they bring forth 
 briars and thorns, (having fallen away from the truth of which they 
 have had, and profess still to have the light and the knowledge,) and 
 are nigh unto cursing, whose end is to be burned. (Heb. vi. 8.) 
 Thus no word could possibly have been selected so true and exact to 
 describe them. 
 
 These two, the sea and the earth, (that is, both infidels and the 
 professors of religion and piety,) do now agree in doctrine, and in 
 believing the same lie, and in denying the same Truth ; the Sea is 
 bold and undisguised, the Earth indirect and disguised in its error 
 and wickedness. 
 
 The lie they believe is one, and it includes all lies, namely, that 
 
THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 75 
 
 God is NOT the Creator, that is, He is not God ! And the truth 
 which they agree in denying, and which they will not receive and 
 acknowledge, is one, and it includes*all truth, namely, that God is 
 God alone. The philosophical and wise infidels, raging waves of the 
 Sea, say that the worlds are self-existent, self-created, that God did 
 not create them, they were not created at all, or they created them- 
 selves. The Earthly professors also, in their wisdom and knowledge 
 say the same, of the new and far more glorious, creation of God ; 
 namely, that it is self-existent and self-created, that God does not 
 himself alone, by his power alone, create his own redeemed people, 
 they create themselves if they please. This is to deny God, it is to 
 say there is no God, and all the train of confusion and lies follows 
 with this ; and yet the depths of Satan are such, that with this lie as 
 their fundamental doctrine, they make themselves appear to be, and 
 persuade themselves that they are the servants of God, even of him 
 whose word and doctrine they hate and deny. 
 
 The leading, the essential doctrine of the Earth is, that to believe 
 (which is to be created and made alive from the dead) is the work 
 of man ; that it is in the power of man, even of man, if he pleases ! 
 This is a total denial of God the Creator, and it is idolatry, for it is 
 making corruptible man, even the man of sin, the wicked one, a 
 Creator and a god, exalting him above Him whom they yet pretend 
 to call God, as it is foretold should be in the last day before the 
 coming of Christ. (2 Thess. ii. 3.) 
 
 This lie, which to them is a pious, a benevolent and rational doc- 
 trine, namely, that a man may and can believe if he pleases, or that 
 it is in the power of man to believe, they insist upon and preach as 
 the means of inducing wicked men to turn to God ! without it they 
 have no hope whatever that a man can be saved ! Thus they have 
 no hope whatever, but in the Power of Man ! all their Gospel is the 
 Power of Man ! and after such a compliment paid to human supre- 
 macy and power, they trust the wicked beast can hardly refuse, yea, 
 he may perchance be persuaded and induced, even by the grace of 
 God, (which they make an auxiliary to their own omnipotence,) to 
 put forth his Power and ascend into heaven ! and then, having thus 
 exalted himself, and sitting in the temple of God, this Wicked One 
 lyingly pretends to ascribe all the glory to the grace of God, by 
 which hypocrisy they also proclaim their doctrine and faith to be 
 nothing but a lie, and thus they are involved in lies and confusion, 
 and are truly a City of Confusion, that is, Babylon ! 
 
 This their doctrine is entirely their own invention, and is the fruit 
 of their own wisdom and knowledge, for there is not one word nor 
 syllable nor letter in the whole Scripture of God, from beginning to 
 end, containing such an abominable doctrine and wicked lie ! How 
 then do they persuade themselves that they find this their doctrine 
 in the Scriptures? They obtain it by inference, by their own gross 
 and earthly argumentation and reasoning, by forming their own 
 fleshly deductions and inferences from the spiritual Word of life ! 
 They argue and infer that because the Word says " Believe" — 
 
76 THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 
 
 " Repent and believe the Gospel,^'' that therefore it is as a matter of 
 course in the power of man to repent and believe the Gospel ! And 
 so their whole faith and religion and all their hopes and vain confi- 
 dences are built and founded upon a vain and fleshly inference of the 
 human understanding, and thus are they built upon the foundation of 
 man, a scarlet beast ! on this are they seated, as well as their Mother, 
 the Mother of harlots, (Rev. xvii. 3,) upon whose more gross corpo- 
 real idolatry and harlotry they have more spiritually and hypocriti- 
 cally refined. 
 
 " By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the 
 host of them by the breath of his mouth !" " He spake, and it teas 
 done .'" By the same Word of the Lord, which is Christ, and by 
 the same breath of his mouth, which is the Spirit of God, we are 
 begotten again to a lively hope ; that is, by the same Word and 
 Mighty Power of God our Creator, we believe ! and live ! We are 
 his workmanship, and He is our Creator ! (Eph. ii. 10.) As a man 
 cannot even enter into this earthly life, in which as soon as we be 
 born we go astray, speaking lies, so much more a man cannot 
 believe, that is, enter or be born into that eternal life in which we 
 live in Christ the Righteousness of God ! Of both lives God is the 
 Creator; yea, the Lord, He is God, and besides him there is no other 
 God, and especially the wicked one is not as God, able to create 
 himself! 
 
 As it is wicked and rebellious (Is.) to complain that this earthly 
 life is the gift and creation of God, so it is much more wicked to 
 rebel against the fact that faith, the entering into heavenly life, is 
 His gift, and that they to whom it is given are his creation ! Where- 
 fore it is not in the power of man to believe, as it is not in his power 
 to create : he is not God ! 
 
 What use? what good then is it, (says the proud and ignorant mind 
 of fleshly man,) to preach the Gospel .' if it is not at all in the power 
 of man to believe ? and if faith is (as it surely is) altogether and only 
 the work, word and power of God ? Thou fool ! (Psalm.) What 
 use 1 what good then was it that God should speak the word and 
 call the worlds into existence, if it was not at all in the power of the 
 worlds to exist themselves 1 But if God had not spoken the word 
 they would never have been created ; and so also if Christ did not 
 make the word of his gospel, namely, " Believe," to be heard, no 
 one would or could be saved! Therefore the preaching of the Gospel 
 is to them that are saved, the Power of God, but to them that perish, 
 abiding in unrighteousness) it is foolishness. When the dead, (and 
 to do unrighteousness is to be dead,) when the dead hear the voice 
 of Christ, they live: therefore it is that the Gospel is preached, (for 
 it is the voice of Christ,) that they who are dead and whom he 
 pleases to make alive, yea, only whom he pleases, may hear and 
 live ! " The Son quickeneth whom he will .'" Therefore the Gospel 
 of God is the word of God, it is the very Voice and Power of God ! 
 by which the worlds were made, by which the dead are made alive, 
 that is, believe ; and it is " according to the good pleasure of his 
 
THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 77 
 
 will." It is the same word and Power of God by which all things 
 were made, without any power to make themselves ; when he merely 
 " spake, it was done ! he commanded and they stood fast !" 
 
 It is therefore the most abominable and most audacious Atheism, 
 to say that it is man, that wicked one, who if he only pleases, has 
 power to believe ! that is, has power though he is dead and exists 
 not spiritually, to create himself and enter into life, if he pleases ! 
 This is that exaltation of sinful man (or the man of sin) above all 
 that is called God, (merely called by courtesy, God,) which is spoken 
 of by the Apostle ! (2 Thess. ii. 4.) This is his Time, in which he 
 is now fully revealed ! But as the Lord God liveth, who verily is 
 the Creator, the Time shall be no longer ! 
 
 The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that 
 hear shall live ! Therefore blessed be God, yea, for ever blessed be 
 our God, for preaching his Gospel, for it is the voice of the Son of 
 God, which raiseth the dead and maketh them alive ; which word, if 
 it were not spoken and they did not hear, they never would live, 
 there would be no salvation ! He speaks the word, and they hear, 
 and believe, and live ! But why do not all hear ? because they 
 are wickedly and maliciously rebellious, haters of God, and disobe- 
 dient, that is, dead. And why do some of the rebellious and disobe- 
 dient hear? because God will have mercy and give them ears to 
 hear ; it is everlasting mercy ! " yea, upon the rebellious also, that 
 the Lord God may dwell amon^, that is, in them /" When they 
 believe, they enter into life ; they are born, and verily they are born 
 " not of the will of the jlesh, nor of the will of man, hut of God," 
 for it is only God who is merciful, who hath good will towards man 
 and will save many ! So he who believes is born of God and is a 
 child of God, and he can joyfully praise God and give glory to him, 
 saying, Blessed art thou O God, my God, for to Thee I owe my 
 existence in Christ, thou hast created me and not I myself, thanks, 
 thanks be to Thee, O my Father and my Creator, Glory be only to 
 Thee, O My God, by thy great favour I am what I am ! 
 
 Yea, let God's children who believe in his name, his Power, his 
 Grace, his Righteousness, even in Him, for all this is Him, let 
 them know and love the Truth, (and God will give them understand- 
 ing and the Spirit of a sound mind,) lest they be wise in their own 
 conceits, lest they fall into the error of the wicked, and not acknow- 
 ledge God to be the Creator of all things in heaven and in earth. 
 For the time now is when men will not endure sound doctrine, 
 (2 Tim. iv. 3,) but it is the foundation and comer-stone of their 
 religion to deny that God is the Creator, that He is God alone ! 
 Man of sin says that he is as God, that he is creator, and creates 
 himself into the kingdom of heaven (that is, he believes and can 
 believe) if he only pleases, according to the pleasure of his will ! 
 Such are the strong delusions which God in his just indignation has 
 sent upon the earth, (even upon the religious world, because they 
 received not the truth in the love of it,) that Satan has both seduced 
 men to overthrow God's holy law of right and wrong, and set up in 
 its stead all sorts of vain and foolish laws, and fanciful criterions of 
 
78 THE GOSPEL OP GOD. 
 
 good which they have invented, and has also led them utterly and 
 altogether, and withal boldly daringly and confidently to deny God the 
 Creator, and set up sinful man as God ! and all this is done under the 
 very name and pretence of being very zealous for God and serving 
 him ! This time has been foretold, its limits are marked out, and 
 the day is close at hand that it shall be no longer : yea, let not the 
 man of sin, let not the false prophets and teachers of his lies think 
 to go on much longer, for God hath confirmed by an oath the cer- 
 tainty of the approaching end of all these abominations. He causeth 
 his servant to swear that as the Lord liveth this Time shall be no 
 longer ! 
 
 Let the elect and beloved child of God, to whom it is given to 
 believe in his Name, know that God is the Creator, that he has a 
 family in heaven, and will add to them from out of the earth, (Jude, 
 v. 22,) and also from out of the sea, out of which, as the Prophet 
 Isaiah has said, he will save a multitude ; and they are all elect : 
 they are his workmanship, it is according to the good pleasure 
 of his will, according to his Grace, and his everlasting purpose 
 of love ! Thus it is, He who made heaven and all that is therein, 
 and the Earth and all that is therein, and the Sea and all that 
 therein is ! The only reason why Michael is his archangel, is 
 because God has made him such ; the only reason why his holy 
 angels are holy and in heaven, is because God has made them 
 such and placed them there ; and let him know also, that the only 
 reason why a sinner is or will be saved out of the Earth, and out of 
 the Sea, why he will hear and believe, is only because it is the gra- 
 cious will and pleasure of God the Creator to have everlasting mercy 
 upon him ! because He giveth him life, giving him to believe, having 
 chosen him before the foundation of the world, to dwell in him ! All 
 is merely according to his pleasure ! '■'■for thy pleasure they are and 
 were created /" (Rev. iv. 11.) God is God alone ! 
 
 This first and most glorious Name of God in Christ, cannot be 
 given to another, nor be arrogated by creatures of any kind, much 
 less by exceedingly sinful creatures ! it is this, "God who created !" 
 But they who daringly affirm and imagine that man of sin can give 
 himself life if he pleases, can raise himself from the dead, can create 
 himself into life, can hear and believe, if he an evil and disobedient 
 creature pleases, they affirm and imagine that he being exceedingly 
 evil is as God ! And thus the doctrine of the Sea and of the Earth, 
 (of the philosophical world and of the religious world,) astonishing as 
 it is, is truly one and the same ; showing that without knowing it, 
 (for they are blind,) they belong to and serve one same master, 
 Satan. To such an end his own wisdom and knowledge has led the 
 earthly wise man. (Is. xlvii. 10.) The Sea believes that the worlds 
 created themselves and are self-existent, and the Eartii (the religious 
 professors) believe the same of a creation far more exceedingly 
 glorious and eternal ! Against the wicked doctrine of both (which 
 is the doctrine of devils) God testifies : the doctrine of both, is one 
 and the same, altiiough they so bitterly hate each other, and fight 
 and are divided, yet Satan's kingdom is not divided, it is one ; his 
 
THE GOSPEL OF GOD. 79 
 
 divinity and morality is one, the doctrines of the Sea and the Earth 
 are one, and the whole of it is, the exalting of the power and wisdom 
 and goodness and virtue of a wicked and malicious beast, and denying 
 and rejecting the Power and Goodness and Mercy and Salvation of 
 God ! Therefore, in preaching and testifying against them both, he 
 who writes these words preaches and testifies, that is, sets his feet 
 upon both of them, placing one foot upon the sea and the other upon 
 the earth, and cries against them with a loud voice, and thus the 
 Scriptures are fulfilled, which cannot be broken ! 
 
 Their doctrine is one, and the source is one, it is the pride and 
 rebellion of Satan ! To deny God's election of Grace, to dare to 
 deny his sole Power and Will in creating by the voice of his word 
 the living and believing man, is Atheism. The Sea denies that he is 
 the Creator of the worlds, that is its Atheism ; the Earth denies that 
 he is the Creator of heaven, and that is its Atheism ! And this 
 denial of the Power of God they call religion and piety ! Most 
 astonishing depths of Satan ! wonderful all-deceivableness of un- 
 righteousness ! that Atheism and Idolatry of the worst and foulest 
 description should pass off" before men for truth and faith and love 
 and zeal and obedience to God ! It is the highest possible pitch to 
 which wickedness could attain, and the highest possible pitch of 
 deceit and pride and hypocrisy ! 
 
 END OF PART I. 
 
A LITTLE BOOK OPEN. 
 
 PART THE SECOND. 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST 
 
 TO HIS SERVANTS. 
 
 " Blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and 
 keep those things which are written therein ; for the time is at hand." 
 
 FROM THE HAND OF JOHN WHITEHEAD. 
 
 11 
 
A LITTLE BOOK OPEN. 
 
 PART THE SECOND. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The revelation of Jesus Christ does not refer to the events of this 
 world, nor to the revolutions and convulsions of men ; these things 
 which are of great dignity in the eyes of men, are of no more real 
 importance than the fightings of dogs over a bone. They relate only 
 to the humble events which concern the truth and doctrine of Christ, 
 and his elect, a people unknown to the world : these are things 
 which, though little in the eyes of men, God careth for. 
 
 If this book of revelation had contained a prophecy of human events, 
 then it would have required a study of human history to understand 
 it, all which history is written by the spirit of falsehood and vain 
 glory. God does not send his people to such falsehood, in order that 
 they may understand his truth. 
 
 When Christ Jesus was in humiliation on the earth, greatly suf- 
 fering in the body which had been prepared for him, for the ungodly, 
 though he was and is the Power of God, and upheld all things ; 
 though it was he who had given Augustus his empire, and gave him 
 whatever wisdom he had to rule, yet he took no part in, and be- 
 stowed no notice whatever upon the things of the world. So also 
 the Scriptures of the new testament which are the word of his mouth, 
 bestow no notice whatever upon the events of the world. So also 
 
84 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 this book of revelation and prophecy bestows not the least notice 
 upon the things and glories of this world, nor stops to record the 
 roaring and fluctuations of the sea, that is, the world. It is of very 
 little importance to those who look not at the things which are seen, 
 but at the things which are not seen, to know who were the great 
 men, and what were the great events of that which perisheth for 
 ever. Of these things the people of God, (not many of whom are 
 wise men after the flesh,) generally know very little ; but with what 
 relates to the preaching of the Gospel, with the many pretences to 
 the truth of God in which they are sought to be ensnared, with those 
 who give themselves out to be possessors of the truth, these poor 
 people are often better acquainted than the wise and learned of this 
 world. These are things which come home to the humble and igno- 
 rant after this world : these are things God's people know well ; 
 these are things which make them stagger and be at their wits' end ; 
 these are things in which they want light and instruction ; and these 
 are the very things in which God in his mercy and compassion to- 
 wards them, has graciously given them light and instruction, even by 
 this sure word of prophecy. Herein the wisdom and goodness of 
 God is to be seen. Here is wisdom. 
 
 If any should enquire why the greater part of Christendom is 
 passed over with but slight notice, and that the professors in England 
 and America have more notice bestowed upon them, let him reflect, 
 that when the account of the falling away and the first beast is given, 
 then all the religious history of all the people settled down under the 
 gross and external abominations of the beast, is given once for all, 
 even if their time was to be prolonged for ages and ages. The 
 worship of the first beast is open, external, and not to be mistaken ; 
 no child of God could be deceived by it, or for a moment suppose 
 such Christians to be servants of the most high God. But in Pro- 
 testant countries the abomination of the beast is veiled and covered 
 under deeper disguise and more spiritual refinements : in England 
 and America, the worship of the beast and its image is spiritual 
 wickedness, so deceitful and so all deceivablc, that if it were possible 
 they would deceive the very elect. All their false doctrine is wrapped 
 up in Scripture language, and pretended to be derived with great 
 reverence from the word of God : in these countries Satan is trans- 
 formed into an angel of light, and they pretend to hate and abjure 
 the beast, while all their churches are harlots, painted up in their 
 own works and admiring their own garments, and all seated upon 
 the same foundation, viz. man and his piety and his good-doing. 
 They answer to Judah ; while the more gross idolaters of the Roman 
 and Greek churches answer to Israel or Samaria. Now, though 
 Judah had a great zeal against external idolatry, while Israel openly 
 set up a false worship, yet it was by Judah, with all its apparent 
 purity, that our Lord was crucified. 
 
 Therefore God, the only wise God has given, once for all, the 
 history of the more gross and not to be mistaken abominations, 
 
INTRODUCTION. 85 
 
 under the revelation of the first beast, which arose first an undis- 
 guised beast ; and he has more fully opened and exposed the deeper, 
 darker, more spiritual and more deceivable refinements of that beast 
 which kept rising after the first, in a new form, disguised and looking 
 " like a lambJ''' This is the beast which ascendeth out of the bot- 
 tomless pit of the earth, out of the depths of the profound whoredoms 
 of earthly religious men ; this is the beast which is exalted as the 
 doer of good, in the place of the Holy One ; this is the son of 
 perdition ; the whole body and collection of whose worshippers is 
 called spiritually a city, even Sodom and Egypt, and this beast is 
 the Protestant earth and body of earthly worshippers, who call them- 
 selves the pious the godly and the evangelical. 
 
 Here are two nations of the world, the Catholics and the Protest- 
 ants, whom God has taken and chosen out of all the people of the 
 world, to whom alone of all the nations he has given his word of 
 truth, and both of them have utterly perverted, despised, set at 
 naught and trampled upon his truth ! The first and by far the largest 
 number have done this at an early period, openly and boldly ; but 
 the last, the Protestant professors, have done the same gradually, 
 deceitfully, and with hypocritical falsehood, pretending to love Him 
 and to be obedient to all his word ! Both of them have surpassed all 
 other nations in evil doing, in hatred and covetousness, so that the 
 name in which they glory, viz. Christian, has come to signify a de- 
 ceiver and a wicked man among the other nations. The first and 
 largest of these two great divisions answers to Israel or Samaria, 
 the smallest who have had the temple of God, even his elect among 
 them, answers to Judah and Benjamin. The same course which 
 those vineyards of God in former times pursued, has been acted over 
 again in these last times, by those to whom alone above all other 
 nations God hath given the knowledge of his truth ; showing plainly, 
 even by facts, that the wickedness of man is the same in all ages ; 
 that there is no hope at all in man, — no, not even when he is greatly 
 blessed above all other men, not even when he has all truth and 
 knowledge delivered to him ; showing plainly, that with every 
 promise and inducement and teaching, men will not depart from evil 
 and learn to do good ; showing that if the world went on for endless 
 ages yet it would only be the same scene of villany and hypocrisy, 
 acted over and over again : also showing by woful and long expe- 
 rience, that since there is no hope in man, if God himself had not, 
 of his own mercy and pleasure, reserved a remnant, no flesh should 
 be saved ! 
 
 Let not these two nations of men expect to escape because God 
 has suffered their wickedness so long ; for they see before their eyes 
 at this very day, a former people who also like them possessed the 
 knowledge of his truth and yet loved unrighteousness, who, like them, 
 neither did righteousness themselves, and would not receive the 
 righteousness of God, — they see them now, monuments of his right- 
 eous vengennce, scattered over the face of the earth and proclaiming 
 
eo INTRODUCTION. 
 
 to all men, that they who, being taught of God, do refuse instruction 
 and turn not to Him, but do unrighteousness, they shall not by any 
 means go unpunished. He who has scattered Israel will gather 
 them again, for they will repent and turn to God, God will turn 
 them and give them repentance ; and the Gentiles, who have done 
 worse than Israel, will be cast off and punished more terribly than 
 they have been. 
 
THE 
 
 REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 The Book of the Revelations contains a clear history of the false- 
 hood and abomination which should prevail in the Christian world, 
 and which should pass under the name of the " Christian Religion," 
 while it was all the time opposed to the truth of Christ and to his 
 doctrine. The history of the Church of Christ is revealed, from the 
 day of Pentecost down to the end of all things ; and it is revealed 
 how, after the first 700 years of the Christian era, falsehood and 
 abomination should prevail over the truth, and the church of Christ, 
 the elect of God, should be trampled under foot, and not be recognised 
 nor known in the world, until the time allotted for the prevalence of 
 false churches (which time is 1260 years) should be no more. In 
 all this time the history of God's church is distinctly given and pre- 
 served, in the midst of the falsehood and abomination by which the 
 truth should be overcome and trampled to the ground : and that 
 falsehood and abomination is most clearly revealed, and also the 
 various names and shapes it should assume. 
 
 The kingdom of Christ is not of this world, and the history of 
 God's church and people is not to be found or traced in any ecclesi- 
 astical history, or records of the various sects. No church or sect 
 or religious corporation that has ever existed in all this time, has 
 been a church of God ; his people have been scattered among all the 
 tribes and kindreds of the earth, that is, among all the sects of the 
 religious world. Thus the heavenly Jerusalem, the holy city of 
 God's elect, has been trodden under foot by the Gentiles, and the 
 truth of God, when preached, has only been preached as it were in 
 sackcloth, during all this time of 1260 years. 
 
 Mournful and desolate as the condition of Zion has been all this 
 time, (for the abomination of false doctrine and human righteousness, 
 that swine's flesh offering, has made altogether desolate,) yet God, 
 the only wise God has, by this very means, (by this long remaining 
 of the heavenly Jerusalem in the wilderness, that is, in desolation,) 
 preserved the world from being destroyed, and at the same time has 
 preserved his truth in the world, by which many (a multitude that 
 no man can number) have been saved. For, so soon as the elect of 
 God shall be manifest in the world, and the power and glory and 
 beauty of Christ shall be manifest in them, they will be hated by all 
 men ; brother and sister and children and parents will rise up against 
 
88 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 them and deliver some of them to death ; there will be a general 
 confederacy and alliance against them, in order utterly to destroy 
 them from the face of the earth ; and then will Christ appear in the 
 clouds of heaven, to deliver them and destroy his enemies. This 
 malicious warfare and this great destruction and terrible vengeance, 
 would have taken place before the appointed time, and before all 
 God's people had been gathered in, if God had not hidden his truth 
 in the wilderness, and if the church of Christ had been manifest 
 before the time which was appointed to be fulfilled. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 V. 4. " John to the seven churches which are in Asia^ Asia 
 Minor signifies the whole Christian earth, or Christendom ; the elect 
 of God have been cities in the midst of this earth ; the rivers of 
 Asia Minor signify Christian nations. Asia here spoken of, is a very 
 small part of the whole globe, and so also Christendom, or the 
 Christian part of the earth, has been and is but a very small portion 
 of the whole population of the world. This chapter is introductory 
 to a general history or view of the elect people of God which is 
 revealed in the two following chapters. The seven churches in Asia, 
 are the elect people of God in the midst of the Christian or profess- 
 ing world, (called Asia, or the earth,) from the first preaching of the 
 Gospel down to the present day.* 
 
 THE GENERAL HISTORY. CHAPTERS H. HI. 
 
 The second and third chapters contain a brief summary of the 
 general history of God's people, at seven different periods at which 
 they lived. This general summary is first given, previous to a more 
 full and more particular revelation of events happening to each, which 
 are afterwards revealed in succeeding chapters. 
 
 V. 1st to 7th. The first believers are called the Church at Ephe- 
 sus; even at this early period the church of God had enemies and 
 false adherents in and around them, so that the tares choked the 
 wheat. John lived in this church when he wrote this Revelation. 
 
 V. 8th. The second church is Smyrna : at this period of the 
 Christian era, the ten distinct persecutions, events well known, took 
 place : they are here called " tribulation, ten days ;" but in the midst 
 of poverty and persecution, God's people were faithful unto death. 
 
 V. 12th. The third church is Pergamos : this being a city more 
 in the heart of Asia than either Ephesus or Smyrna, (which are 
 only on the edge,) shows that the profession of Christianity had 
 advanced more in the world and spread to a greater extent ; the two 
 first churches having been only on the outskirts, as it were, of the 
 population of the world ; (for these two cities are on the seaboard, 
 
 * That enrlhly men, earthly minded professors of earthly relig-ion arc called 
 the " Earth," need surprise no one ; for even men themselves call those who are 
 worldly and worldly minded the " World." 
 
THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 89 
 
 or margin of Asia, that is, Christendom.) An increased corruption 
 is shown to have arisen around the church of God : now at this 
 period there are preachers who make a living and get money by 
 preaching, and who preach for hire and honour ; this is the doctrine 
 of Balaam. 
 
 V. 18. The fourth Church is Thyatyra : in this age the esta- 
 blishment of an earthly hierarchy begins, and that whoredom begins 
 which consists in thinking to please God by human deeds, by doing 
 something : this is that Religion which is called the Harlot or the 
 Whore. But it is begun gradually and seducingly, Jezebel the 
 whore of Rome now first shows herself, seducing to commit forni- 
 cation ; that is, to think to obtain a union with Christ by giving 
 something : this is fornication ; and to think to entice or attract 
 God's favour by the robe of human works is whoredom.* This 
 way of Jezebel had been prepared by the false preachers of the 
 church preceding, who had begun to teach fornication, that is, to 
 teach that a union with Christ was to be obtained by purchase, by 
 the money of praying, &;c. 
 
 The Falling away now takes place : (that is, falling from Grace, 
 which is heaven, all the people of God became earthly, they fell 
 from heaven : which falling away consists in being justified by the 
 law, getting righteousness by our doing good. Gal. v. 4.) The 
 church of the Beast rises up in this age, which rise of the Beast is 
 afterwards particularly described in a separate chapter. Thyatyra, 
 lying almost in the centre of Asia Minor, shows that Christianity 
 
 * When men preach, saying', that if you do something, if you pray, read the 
 Bible, go to Church, &c. &c. then you shall be saved, you will be a Christian and 
 have the salvation of Christ, they are fornicators; these conditions are a money 
 which men think to pay to be united with Christ, for that union is our salvation J 
 for this is fornication and it is most abominable. Christ takes his people, whom 
 he will, into union with himself " without money and without price," for nothing. 
 The purchase is on his side ; he has purchased them for himself, as his bride. 
 
 When men preach that if you are very pious and religious, if you do many good 
 works, if you labour to be righteous and not commit sin, then you will please God, 
 then he will love you, they are whoremongers, this is whoreixim : for it is imagin- 
 ing to obtain God's love and favour by putting on decorations and garments by 
 which to please him. God is only pleased in Christ Jesus, the Lamb of God ; his 
 offering, his work, his daily sacrifice is alone acceptable and well pleasing to God, 
 All other works and Righteousness but his, are abomination and abominable. 
 
 When men preach that you are under the law, and united with Christ at the 
 same time, bound to do good by the law, and yet being perfectly good and right- 
 eous in Christ, this is Adultery : for it is being married to Christ while the first 
 husband is yet living, in full authority over you. It is abominable adultery to think 
 of bringing forth fruit to God by the law, and of bringing forth fruit by Jesus 
 Christ at the same time 1 This is Adultery. 
 
 In the early ages of Christianity Satan did not think of seducing men out of the 
 right way by adultery, because the truth was too well established that Christ alone 
 was the Saviour, and that the Law was not a helpmate in this salvation : accord- 
 ingly he began his seductions by teaching fornication, pretending tliat God was so 
 very good and gracious tiiat men had only to offer him a little bribe, and then if 
 they would only give even but a little trifle, they would be saved by Jesus Christ. 
 The guilt and abomination of Adultery was reserved for this last and adulterous 
 generation. And inasmuch as an adulteress is worse than a harlot, so the protest- 
 ant churches are worse than the harlot of Rome. 
 12 
 
90 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 had spread into the midst of the earth which it should occupy : and 
 it being a city famous for the manufacture of purple dye, it is with 
 the more force and justice applied to represent the age when the 
 purple diadem of Rome was first set up. This period brings us 
 down to the first seven hundred years of the Christian era, to the 
 week of centuries spoken of by Daniel the Prophet, in the midst of 
 which week the abomination of false doctrine was set up, and the 
 daily, constant work and sacrifice of Christ, his pure and unceasing 
 offering and oblation of his own religious work, ceased to be offered, 
 and instead thereof the sacrifice of the Mass, the offering of human 
 deeds and human righteousness, was set up. This falling from Grace, 
 which is a falling from heaven, which now began, has continued in 
 Christendom, or the earth, ever since, for it should continue 1260 
 years, as was revealed by the Lord Jesus Christ and his prophets 
 and Apostles before ever it began. During this whole week God 
 confirmed his Everlasting Covenant of the Gospel with many, even 
 with multitudes who were his people, his hidden ones ; and therefore, 
 notwithstanding the gradually rising and constantly increasing power 
 and glory of the false church around them, yet the people of God 
 enjoyed, for 700 years, the full light and glory of the Gospel Cove- 
 nant, and were full of might by the Power of the Holy Ghost, though 
 not recognised in the world, nor to be heard of in the religious 
 annals and ecclesiastical chronicles of those or any days. Such a 
 glory and power and blessing and full assurance of understanding, 
 and out-pouring of God's spirit, never, since this 700 years, till now, 
 have the elect of God enjoyed, or even suspected it was to be en- 
 joyed.* 
 
 Chap. 3, V. 1. The next age of Christianity described by the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, is the Church of Sardis. This consists of God's 
 elect people scattered up and down in the Church of Rome, and 
 overcome by the Beast ; it carries us as far as the period of what is 
 called the Reformation, when they " had a name that they lived,'^ 
 which name and renown they have to this day. 
 
 V. 7. The next period is the Church in Philadelphia : this com- 
 prehends that time which succeeded some time after the schism or 
 separation from the Church of Rome, when the truth of God was 
 
 * The Prophet Daniel has brought down liis prophecy, from his own day exactly 
 to this very period, in the four last verses of iiis ninth chapter. 
 
 In the 25lh verse tlie Prophet foretells the time which would elapse from the 
 second buildingf of the Temple to the coming of Christ, viz. 483 years, or 6!) weeks, 
 a day designating a year. 
 
 In the 26th verse, he foretells the death and suffering of Christ for his people, and 
 the destruction of the Temple and the ruin of the Jewish nation by the Roman- 
 Prince Titus, which followed shortly after the death of Christ, when there was in- 
 deed a flood of horror and desolation to the end of the war. 
 
 In the 27th verse he foretells the events of the first 700 years (or week of centu- 
 ries) of the Ciiristian era ; viz. that God would confirm his covenant in Christ for 
 this period, but that in the midst of this 700 years the Abomination and corruption 
 of falsehood should be set up, and that this would make desolate (as it has done) : 
 but a consummation, an end of this long time of desolation is determined, which 
 now is nigh at hand. Thus Daniel in these verses brings down the prophecy to 
 the church of Thyatyra, when the Abomination was set up. 
 
THE REVELAflON OF JESUS CHRIST. 91 
 
 known and possessed by God's people, especially in England, to an 
 extent which the first reformers had not known. But greatly as 
 the people of God at this period were blessed, yet even they also 
 were overcome by the Beast, lor his time was not yet ended : 
 though they were out of the Church of Rome, yet another Beast, 
 different from the Romish Church, and more like a lamb than it, 
 with a very numerous name, had now begun to arise out of the Earth, 
 as is particularly described in a subsequent chapter. The people of 
 God were overcome and mixed up with the Beast which arose out 
 of the Earth, or persecuted and slain when they attempted to escape 
 from its bonds ; for " it. exercised all the power of the first beast.'''' 
 In the reign of Queen Elizabeth it was given to the harlot, or church 
 of England, to overcome the saints of God, so that many were sin- 
 cerely joined to it, and many were slain or imprisoned who attempted 
 to escape from it. 
 
 But at this period, notwithstanding the power of the Beast, God's 
 two witnesses, the Law and the Gospel, had not finished their testi- 
 mony, they still prophesied, though in sackcloth ; the Beast which 
 now was rising had not yet overcome and slain them as it should do, 
 and has now done in this day ; the elect of God, this Church at 
 Philadelphia, held fast to the truth, they had " a little strength,''^ 
 (v. 8.) This is the brightest period that occurs since the falling 
 away in the week of seven hundred years. The people of God did 
 not deny the name of Christ, " The Lord our Righteousness," 
 for that is his name ! They held fast to this glorious name and kept 
 his word. Therefore it is promised to this Church (v. 10) that they 
 should be kept from the hour of temptation which is about to come 
 upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the Earth ; thus 
 showing that a time of trial or temptation was coming upon the 
 Earth (that is, the professors of religion) to try them. Which 
 accordingly did come after this period, as is fully and particularly 
 related in succeeding chapters of this wonderful Revelation. To this 
 church Christ first says, what he said to none of the former churches, 
 " Behold I come quickly,'''' showing that the next and last period is 
 close to the time of his glorious coming. 
 
 V. 14. This next and last period in the histor}'^ of the churches, 
 is the Church in Laodicea : It consists of all the elect of God in this 
 day, and since the hour of temptation which has tried the Earth. 
 Notwithstanding the abominable heresies and falsehoods which have 
 overspread the Earth, (the religious wor'd and all the various sects,) 
 notwithstanding the gross delusions and lies which the Earth has 
 swallowed up greedily, and which Satan has poured out of his mouth 
 like a flood, they have not swallowed them, nor have they belonged 
 to the Confederacies and good-doing Societies of the Earth ; they 
 have believed in the name of the Son of God, " The Lord oitr 
 Righteousness," and in his Righteousness and his only ; they have 
 trusted in God's Everlasting Love, and joyed solely in his Election 
 of Grace ; this has been their constant theme and constant joy, and 
 the Earth has been tormented with their doctrine, despising them 
 and callinor iheni Antinomians and licentious in their doctrine. 
 
92 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CURIST. 
 
 Though there have been wicked men who have taken up these doc- 
 trines, and the covetous and idolaters have been joined with them, 
 yet among them have been the Elect of God ; these outcast people 
 are the Church of Laodicea. Their doctrine has been an utter 
 horror and abomination to the religious world, the children of the 
 bondman.* But though despised and reviled by the Earth, and 
 abhorred by the pious and evangelical adulterers, that is, who being 
 married to the Law, pretended to be united to Christ, yet they have 
 not despised nor thought lightly of themselves. Seeing more clearly 
 the truth of their own doctrine, from the manifest falsehood and 
 fleshliness of the Religion of the earthly men, they have been puffed 
 up and have triumphed vaingloriousl5^ To perceive and to cry out 
 against falsehood and lying doctrines, has been to them instead of all 
 truth ; they have been puffed up with knowledge, and said they were 
 rich and increased in goods, (v. 17.) Boasting and vain glory has 
 been their characteristic, joined also with such a life as has made 
 the enemy triumph. They have had no strength, but been overcome 
 by the devil, and been given over to do unrighteousness ; thus have 
 they been spued out of his mouth by the Lord whom they have so 
 greatly dishonoured by their pride and self-conceit and folly. 
 
 Laodicea is the most remote and most inland city of the seven 
 cities of Asia, showing that this city of the living God (for verily 
 they only have been the people of God in these last days) is the last 
 and most remote of the seven churches or cities of God's elect people, 
 which have been successively in the midst of the earth of professors, 
 in the different ages of the Christian era. None of these seven 
 cities or churches of God's people have been visible and separate, 
 and been cities set upon a hill, glorifying God and unmixed with 
 human religion, except the three first, Ephesus, Smyrna and Perga- 
 mos. To the churches which come after these three, " what they 
 have," or, " the things which remain,'''' are spoken of; showing that 
 what now they possessed and knew, was only as it were a remnant 
 or a part : " things which remain," are not spoken of to the three 
 first churches, for they had an unction from the Holy One, and knew 
 all things. False and harlot churches have, since the first three, 
 passed among men for Christian churches, and falsehood and lies for 
 the " Christian Religion," and heathen, wicked people have passed 
 for Christians before the world, while the elect of God, the city of 
 God, his Jerusalem, has been trodden under foot, and been cast out 
 and hated and persecuted in the sight of the harlot churches of the 
 Earth ,- for a fixed time, (namely, 1260 years,) power has been given 
 to the Beast, and this imposition of the devil, of his servants for 
 servants of God, of his doctrines for doctrines of God, and of his 
 churches for churches of God, has been suffered and permitted, and 
 power has been given to them to overcome the saints. But this 
 time shall now be no longer, saith the Lord who liveth for ever ! 
 
 * All the other churches are spoken of as a city, but this as a people, " the La- 
 odiceans," showing their miserable situation, like a city or collection of people 
 without walls; it is a vineyard, the wails or hedges of which are broken down and 
 burnt up. 
 
THE KEVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 93 
 
 CHAPTERS IV., V. 
 
 Aftei- this general summary of the churches and their condition, 
 John has a view of heaven opened, and the book of the revelation ot 
 events which should come to pass in the world can only be opened 
 by Christ Jesus the Lamb of God ; none other is able to make this 
 wonderful Revelation, but God in Christ, and none can open it but 
 him : therefore this book is called the Revelation of Jesus Christ. 
 It differs in an extraordinary manner from all former prophesy, be- 
 cause (as will be seen by all those to whom God shall give under- 
 standing) it contains a continued, uninterrupted and connected history 
 of all the great and principal events which relate to God's people, 
 from the very first preaching of the Gospel, on the day of Pentecost, 
 to the end of all things. It is not a prophesy of one event only, but 
 it is a complete Book of Revelation, a relation of future events given 
 ages before the time, and relating them in the very order in which 
 they came to pass. 
 
 When the Lamb took the book, the whole company in heaven fell 
 down and worshipped him, ascribing to Him glory and honour and 
 power, (ch. v. 8.) That which excited admiration in heaven itself, 
 is well worthy our praise and admiration and worship, here on earth. 
 Let us therefore ascribe all glory to Jesus the Christ, the Lamb ot 
 God, as we read and understand. A peculiar blessing is pronounced 
 upon those who hear and keep the words of this prophecy ; for many 
 will not hear, but will reject them to their own everlasting confu- 
 sion. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 V. 1, 2. And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard, as it 
 were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying. Come and see. And I 
 saw, and behold a white horse; and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown 
 was given unto Iiim : and he went forth conquering and to conquer. 
 
 Here is shown the first beginning of the Gospel, which began to 
 be published on the day of Pentecost. As warriors went to battle 
 on horses, so also a horse is used in Scripture to signify the energy 
 and going forth of the spiritual soldier. Here it is a white horse, 
 signifying it was the pure unsullied Gospel which now was sent forth ; 
 it was to conquer, as also it did. The first age of Christianity is 
 here described, and the progress and success of the simple Gospel, 
 in the time of the Church in Ephesus. 
 
 V. 3, 4. And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, 
 Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red ; and power was 
 given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should 
 kill one another : and there was given unto him a great sword. 
 
 This is the second age of the Christian era, corresponding with 
 the Church of Smyrna. Under the figure of a red horse is repre- 
 sented the bloody persecutions which the followers of the Gospel 
 now suffered at various times and from different princes ; they are 
 called the ten persecutions ; it is the tribulation of ten days, revealed 
 to the Church of Smyrna in the second chapter. 
 
94 THE REVELATION OP JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 V. 5, 6. And when he had opened the third seal, I Iieard the third beast say, 
 Come and see. And I beheld, and lo, a black horse ; and he that sat on him had a 
 pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, 
 A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny ; and 
 see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. 
 
 This is the third period, corresponding with the Church in Perga- 
 mos. Here is represented under the figure of a black horse, the first 
 successful beginning of the preaching of darkness and false doctrine. 
 The pair of balances, show what that false doctrine consisted in, viz. 
 selling, weighing out as it were by scales in the balance the Gift of 
 God, which gift is eternal life in Jesus Christ. Now first began to 
 prevail that false, lying and abominable preaching which says, (though 
 with much plausible disguise and stoutly denying that it means what 
 it says,) " you must first do this or that, (pray, seek, read the Bible, 
 go to church, &;c.) and then, if you do this you shall be saved !" 
 Thus saying, if a man gives something then God will give something : 
 this is selling and buying. Thus they make the blessed Gospel of 
 God a matter of bargain and purchase. These are " the balances of 
 deceit,'"' spoken of in other places of the Scripture. This is the 
 doctrine of Balaam, which in the former chapter the Church of 
 Pergamos was said to be infected with. Such preachers put this 
 stumbling block of fornication before the children of God as Balaam 
 did to the people when they were just on the threshold of the pro- 
 mised country, and thereby destroy they many souls who are seduced 
 and destroyed and never enter in. It is appropriately called fornication, 
 for fornication is obtaining that by money and purchase which ought 
 only to be got by lawful marriage ; this is fornication ; union by 
 purchase and giving gifts, and not by marriage. So they teach that 
 we must first give something (however little it be) in order to enter 
 into union with Christ ! 
 
 " A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures cf barley 
 for a pe7iny." By wheat and barley are signified the blessings of 
 the Gospel, both great and small, which constitute that blessed spi- 
 ritual bread which feeds the hungry. By a penny is signified the 
 paltry little doings of man, which it was preached must be paid or 
 done in order to get (that is, to buy) the bread and life of the Gospel. 
 It was now, in this age, that gospel life was preached as being 
 conditional, though to disguise the atrocious wickedness of such a 
 fornicating bargain, the condition, the purchase, was made very little 
 and trifling, viz. only a penny / As if God, who would not sell his 
 exceeding rich Grace and goodness for a great deal, — as if he would 
 sell it for a very little ! 
 
 But, though the mystery of iniquity was already working, God 
 hindered (or let) and the truth of Christ was yet manifest in the world, 
 there was yet oil and wine, that is, the elect of God still possessed 
 the full atjointing of the Spirit of God, and the pure wine of the 
 Gospel unmixed with water ; these were not to be hurt by the false 
 teachers of earthly doctrines, for lie, even Christ, hindered, until 
 power was given to the Beast, and he that is Christ was taken out 
 of the way to wait at God's right hand until the time should come 
 
THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 95 
 
 when he would again take to himself his great power. (2 Thess. 
 ii. 7.) 
 
 V. 7, 8. And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth 
 beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse; and his name 
 that sat on him was Death, and hell followed with him : and power was given unto 
 them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and 
 with death, and with the beasts of the earth. 
 
 Here now arrive in this next period, (which corresponds with the 
 Church in Thyatira,) the fatal and dreadful effects of the falsehood 
 begun to be preached in the preceding period. Now instead of the 
 Gospel, which is life, there is Death. Instead of the preaching of 
 the complete remission of sins, and deliverance from the law and 
 from condemnation, there is the preaching of death. Hell, that is, 
 condemnation and torment and suffering and fear, follows this preach- 
 ing. The preaching of death is the preaching of the Law, for the 
 Law slays us and we die. (Rs. vii. 9.) The horse is said to be 
 pale from the paleness of countenance and woe and misery of those 
 who are sincerely labouring under the law. The horse signifies the 
 preaching which now went forth ; and him that it carries signifies 
 what was preached, and his name was Death ; that is, it was no 
 longer the name of the Son of God, (The Lord our Righteousness,) 
 which was preached, but it was Death ; man's righteousness, man's 
 obedience to the Law. Hell followed with ; that is, condemnation 
 and darkness and torment and sin accompany such a ministration, 
 which is also called by the Apostle the " ministration of deaths It 
 was now that the Beast arose from the sea, (as is related afterwards 
 in a separate chapter.) Now the hierarchy of earthly religion began, 
 and the harlot church, Jezebel, spread forth her seductions: justly 
 and appropriately called a harlot, which every church and every 
 preaching or religion is where the Righteousness of God alone is 
 not alone taught and set forth. Because to imagine to please God 
 by any other Righteousness than that alone of Jesus Christ, and to 
 put on other robes than those of his righteousness, is to do as a 
 harlot does, viz. to paint the face and put on ornaments and dress 
 whereby to please and excite attention and give satisfaction. This, 
 viz. the dressing of human righteousness, is the Abomination, which 
 though highly pleasing to man is pronounced to be Abomination to 
 God. (Luke xvi. 15.) 
 
 But He in whom alone God is well pleased was not yet taken out 
 of the way, (2 Thesp. ii. 7,) he was still on the earth, in the flesh, 
 to them that received him, he, and he alone working righteousness ; 
 God hath not yet caused this sacrifice and oblation to cease. (Dan. 
 ix. 27.) The Beast, viz. the Church of Rome, had not yet acquired 
 complete dominion : the power it was afterwards to have was not yet 
 fully given it : power was now only given it over the fourth part of the 
 Earth, (that is, over a great proportion of the professing community, 
 but not over the saints of God,) to kill those earthly professors vith 
 sword (that is, the dreadful terror of the law) and itith hunger (that 
 is, a famine of the bread of life, the word of God) and with death 
 (that is, the despair and agony of the consciousness of guilt and con- 
 
96 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 viction for sin) mid with the beasts of the earth, (that is, with false 
 and earthly doctrines of men by which souls are destroyed.) God's 
 holy city of Thyatyra, that is, his chosen people in whom he dwelt, 
 who had not the doctrine of Jezebel and had not known the depths of 
 Satan, still enjoyed the full blessings of heaven, even the Grace of 
 God, and were not yet fallen to earthly doctrines, were not yet over- 
 come by the beast. 
 
 V. 9, 10, 11. And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the 
 souls of them that were slaui for the word of God, and for the testimony which 
 they held : And they cried with a loud voice, saying. How long, O Lord, holy 
 and true, doSt thou not judge and avenge our blood on Iheni that dwell on the 
 earth ? 
 
 The prophetic history of this period is still continued : the saints 
 of God have been persecuted and slain by the Beast ; here are the 
 prayers of God's elect, " they cried loith a loud voice." And shall 
 not God avenge his own elect which cry day and night unto Him 1 
 He will avenge them speedily, as now will shortly be seen ! In verse 
 11, it is shown that as there have been bloody persecutions, there 
 are to be others yet. They were to rest for a season or Time, 
 (which Time is now nearly fulfilled, and shall be no longer.) 
 
 In the next verse we shall see the astonishing effects of the prayers 
 of God's elect. As Elijah prayed there should not be rain on the 
 earth, and it rained not for three years and a half, so now we shall 
 see the next terrible event which happens, is also in like manner in 
 reply to the prayers of the saints, whom God will avenge. Now it 
 will be seen that because of the wickedness of men in putting to 
 cruel deaths the saints of God, and because of their despising and 
 rejecting the free, unconditional Gospel of the rich Gift of God, now 
 God will reward them according to their works, and as they would 
 not have life, he will give them up to death, to total spiritual death : 
 and as they have despised and perverted the Gospel, they shall not 
 have it any longer to despise, but it shall be taken away from the 
 earth, and they shall have their own earthly doctrines and delusions 
 instead. The same terrible judgment and awful sentence will now 
 be inflicted and pronounced upon the Gentiles for their despising 
 Christ, which for the very same wickedness was inflicted upon the 
 Jews, viz. "Lei them not come into Thy Righteousness/" They 
 have loved their own righteousness and rejected the Righteousness 
 of God, which is by the faith of Christ, and they shall have their 
 own righteousness, and the Gospel of God shall be taken from them I 
 
 V. 12. And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a 
 great earthquake ; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the rnoon 
 became as blood. 
 
 Now this terrible judgment is accomplished. Here is the event of 
 that falling away foretold by the prophets of old, and by the Apostles 
 of Jesus Christ. 
 
 It takes place as foretold by Daniel, in the midst of the first cen- 
 tennial week after the Messiah was cut oft' for the sins of his people. 
 It is total : and it will also be seen that there never has been a com- 
 plete restoration of the Gospel since this falling away down to the 
 
THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST- 97 
 
 present day. God's elect, in the very best church since that of Thya- 
 tyra, (viz. the Church in Philadelphia,) are declared to have had only 
 " a little strength,^'' (ch. iii. 8.) And it must be so ; much as the pride 
 of those who think they know every thing will rebel against it, for 
 the sure word of prophecy has declared that this falling away and 
 the power of false churches, should continue during the space of 
 1260 years. 
 
 The precise time when it began is not known, though it was in 
 the midst of the first 700 years ; and God has wisely ordered this, 
 by which the precise day and hour when it will be no longer cannot 
 be known, for this, says the Lord Christ, " knoweth no mariy hut only 
 my Father which is in heaven.''^ 
 
 As God has shown that to enter into his Righteousness, yea, into 
 etern9,l life, is by His Grace, by his free gift, by his especial favour, 
 according to the good pleasure of his will, and not of him that will- 
 eth ; and as God has made known that this immense Gift is given 
 to whom he pleases only, and them he has chosen in Christ before 
 the foundation of the world, — as He has shown that it is entirely his 
 Gift by giving it, so now he will also show that it is entirely his Gift 
 and just as He pleases, by not giving it ! (Wo to those wicked 
 priests of Baal, who deceitfully say, " yes, it is his Gift,'^ and say, 
 afterwards, that something must be paid for it !) 
 
 " Lo ! there was a great earthquake ;" that is, a great shaking or 
 change and revolution took place in the religious world, which is 
 called the Earth. 
 
 " The Sun became black as sackcloth of hair ;" that is, the Gospel 
 of light and joy (which is compared to the Sun and is called the Sun 
 of Righteousness) was now darkened, and made a source of mourn- 
 ing and wo : Christians were now to be known by sackcloth and 
 ashes, and not by the oil of gladness and everlasting joys upon their 
 head. The genius of the religion of this period is fully described by 
 the word sackcloth, which became the covering of all who aimed at 
 eminent sanctity of the flesh. 
 
 " The Moon became as blood." As the Sun which rules by day 
 signifies the bright, glorious and gladsome Gospel, so the Moon 
 (which rules by night) signifies the holy Law of God which is given 
 for transgressors and the ungodly, to rule over darkness, to punish 
 disobedience, and avenge all unrighteousness and ungodliness. (1 Tim. 
 i. 9.) Blood signifies life, (as is said in Deuteronomy): and now it 
 was, that religious people (the Earth) sought life from the Law of 
 God, and not by Jesus Christ, and thus the Moon (the Law) was 
 turned into blood, that is, was represented as if it was the Gospel, as 
 if it gave life, it was now preached as the source of life and salva- 
 tion. The works and deeds and piety of men, their obediences to 
 the Law, were now preached as if they were life and atonement, 
 (that is, as blood) : Thus while the Gospel (the Sun) was darkened, 
 hidden and totally obscured by the sackcloth covering of austere 
 works of human righteousness, at the same time also the Law (the 
 Moon) became " as blood," as if it were the means of life and of 
 atonement. 
 13 
 
98 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 V. 13. And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig-tree casteth her 
 untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. 
 
 " The stars of heaven fell vnto the earth, <!^'c." That is, the chil- 
 dren of God, those who had till now possessed the truth and followed 
 sound doctrine, in the midst of error and falsehood surrounding them, 
 now fell from heaven, that is, from the kingdom of Grace. They 
 fell " to the earth,^^ that is, they became earthly, and followers of 
 earthly, sensual, formal religion ; they became worshippers in the 
 outer tabernacle of the Law, not entering into the holiest of all, into 
 the presence of God, where he who believes has access by Jesus 
 Christ, and is carried there by Him our Great anointed High Priest. 
 This is to be in heaven, to be brought out of the earthly tabernacle 
 into the holiest of all : to have peace with God and fellowship with 
 him by Jesus Christ. They fell completely, like untimely figs shaken 
 off by a mighty wind ; that is, they were overcome and shaken by 
 the wind of earthly doctrine, and holding but slightly to the truth, 
 like untimely figs to the fig tree, they did not hold fast their profes- 
 sion of the truth of heaven, but fell from the doctrine of God to the 
 earth, to false doctrine and to earthly human religion ; having begun, 
 they did not endure to the end, nor stand fast in the faith, in having 
 Christ to do all for them, they ceasing from all their works, doing 
 nothing. This is so contrary to man, it is so unearthly a doctrine, 
 that from the time any one receives the truth he will be strongly 
 tempted to deny it and to fall from heaven to the earth ; all will be 
 tried, and it will be seen who are like untimely figs and have no root 
 and only endure for a while ; or, who endure to the end, being rooted 
 and grounded in Love. 
 
 v. 14. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together ; and every 
 mount and island were moved out of their places. 
 
 " The heaven departed:''^ that is, the doctrine of God's Grace was 
 no longer taught or known on the earth, " as a scroll,''^ the word of 
 God became shut up to the understandings of men, like a scroll rolled 
 together ; the word of God was now a sealed book, a scroll rolled 
 up, (Is. xiii. 9, 10 : xx.xiv. 4,) which was no longer open and under- 
 stood, as it had been. 
 
 " Every mount, <SfC.'^ These are the different churches or assem- 
 blages of God's people which had existed hitherto ; they were called 
 mounts, as elevated above the earth, which true disciples are ; and 
 islands, because they are spots and resting places in the midst of the 
 wide sea, (that is, the world.) But now all these churches of the 
 faithful hitherto, were to be discovered no more, they had fled away ; 
 the harlot Church now reigned alone, and all these little assemblages 
 of believers disappeared, one great mountain alone predominated, 
 (viz. the Church of Rome.) 
 
 V. 15, 16, 17. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, 
 and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free- 
 man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains : And said to 
 the mountains and roeks, Fall on us, and hide us fiom the face of him that silteth on 
 the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the groat day of his wrath is 
 come ; and who shall be able to stand ? 
 
THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 99 
 
 Now all, without exception, kings (that is, preachers and minis- 
 ters who lorded over their flocks) and all, of whatsoever condition or 
 eminence in the churches, both high and low, hid themselves: that 
 is, instead of the joy and gladness of the Gospel, one universal prin- 
 ciple of religious awe and terror prevailed over men's minds : they 
 were in the condition of Adam who, when he fell, hid himself. They 
 were now fallen from Grace ; fear not love now prevailed, and smit- 
 ten by the law, and only knowing consciousness of guilt, they sought 
 how they could escape from wrath : they hid themselves in dens, <SfC. : 
 that is, they sought to cover their nakedness of true Righteousness, 
 with righteousness of their own working : they retired to dens and 
 caves and monasteries and nunneries, and solitary retirements, as 
 was literally the case, in order, as they said, to work out their salva- 
 tion and escape from wrath. To such things they now looked for 
 deliverance, they vainly called upon expedients such as these to hide 
 them from the wrath of God. They thought they would be securely 
 covered and protected by these their own doings and penances and se- 
 vere observances ; a universal religious panic pervaded all Christendom, 
 and men vied with each other in exhibiting their austere penances, 
 and in proving the sincerity of their fear. The law of God is like a 
 mountain weighing down a man and pressing upon him ; it is too 
 heavy to bea^. By faith this mountain is cast into the sea where it 
 properly belongs ; now, men did not desire to be delivered from this 
 mountain, but on the contrary were desirous that it should fall upon 
 them, they thought it would cover them from wrath, they thought 
 that by being under the law and taking the whole load of it upon 
 themselves, they would be saved. Thus they fell from Grace like 
 figs from the fig tree, " as many of you as are justified by the law, 
 ye are fallen from Grace, Christ is become of no effect to you," says 
 the Apostle. But they were diflferent from the present generation, 
 in that they called upon the whole mountain to cover them, whereas 
 they of this last day propose for themselves much easier terms, they 
 think to be hid from wrath by only a few grains of this enormous 
 and heavy mountain ; they are arrived to such a pitch of insolent 
 pride that they are determined they will enter into heaven on their 
 own terms, in spite of God, by merely joining a temperance society, 
 or distributing tracts, or teaching a Sunday School. 
 
 The Lamb of God was now an object of terror instead of love, his 
 wrath was feared, and he was hated; for all they that love death 
 hate and fear him. (Prov. viii. 36.) Death is condemnation and 
 conviction of sin, which is upon all those who love their own works, 
 cleaving to the Law which ministers death. 
 
 " For the creat day" — That the last day was immediately at hand, 
 was a universal and prevalent idea, stimulating men to great self- 
 mortifications and severe penances and self-denials. This idea pre- 
 vailed at the early commencement of the Romish power, and continued 
 unimpaired for a long time afterwards. Who shall be able to stand 
 was the general cry, and to attain this ability was the general effort. 
 
100 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 A short interruption in the course of this revealed history is now 
 made, showing the numbers that will be saved in all this time of 
 falling away and power of darkness, in which the Truth is trampled 
 under foot and the beast prospers. 
 
 V. 1, The servants of God are sealed ; all those who shall be 
 saved in the time of 1260 years, are foreknown and sealed. These 
 are those who shall be afterwards born in and after this Time of 42 
 months, during which the Truth is driven into the wilderness, and 
 the saints of God, the holy and spiritual Jerusalem, will be trodden 
 under foot by the Gentiles. They are elect of God, chosen and 
 called and faithful ; they will believe, and they will be faithful ; they 
 shall never perish, for they are created by the ever living God for 
 his glory ; they have no hand in creating themselves ; they are kept 
 by his power unto salvation ; they have no hand in keeping them- 
 selves, they do not help in the least towards it, they only look to 
 God, and he alone saves them. 
 
 Great numbers of the tribes of Israel are sealed, who will be called 
 of God, and who will believe by the word of God ; the number of 
 them is expressed by thousands ; God knoweth the number. They 
 are mentioned first before the Gentiles, for Judah is the olive tree, 
 and the Gentiles who believe are grafted into that tree. For God 
 hath only one people, and they are all the children of Abraham by 
 faith in Christ Jesus ; they are all Jews, not outwardly, but inwardly ; 
 circumcised not in the flesh, but in the spirit. (Rs. ii. 29.) 
 
 V. 1.5. They are all before the throne of God ; whether living on 
 the earth during the time of Zion's affliction, or afterwards, when 
 the mountain of the Lord shall be exalted above the mountains, it 
 makes no diiference, they are all in robes made equally white by the 
 blood of the Lamb ; whether they knew all the goodness of God 
 when they lived in the body, or whether they knew not all and 
 rested not from their labours, it makes no difference now ; now when 
 they are seen by the foreknowledge of God before his throne ; for 
 now, being redeemed from the body they know his love which passeth 
 knowledge ; now are they filled with all the fullness of God, though 
 many of them when in the body had not faith enough to receive and 
 enjoy the full extent of the riches of his grace and goodness. 
 
 After this, the revealed history is resumed in the next chapter. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 V. 1 to 5. And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in 
 heaven about the space of half an hour. And I saw the seven angels which stood 
 before God ; and to them were given seven trumpets. And another angel came 
 and stood at the altar, having a golden censer ; and there was given unto him much 
 incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar 
 which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the 
 prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand. And the 
 ano-el took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth : 
 and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake. 
 
THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 101 
 
 It is here revealed that for a certain period of time there would be 
 silence in heaven ; that is, a silence of the word of Grace : for a 
 certain duration of the Roman hierarchy no sound was heard of 
 the word of the kingdom of heaven. But after this period this 
 silence was broken in upon, and the fire from God's altar burned in 
 the hearts of several who were his chosen people, and they spake 
 the truth as far as it was given them to know, and there were voices, 
 and thunderings, and an earthquake, that is, a shaking or commotion 
 and disturbance in the religious world, which is the earth. The 
 prayers of the saints now ascended up to God, though they were 
 mixed with smoke from the altar, that is, were offered up in legal 
 darkness and obscurity. These prayers however availed, and the 
 voices and earthquake were in consequence of them. These voices 
 and earthquake and thunderings and lightnings include all the reli- 
 gious commotions, and every voice of truth which was heard in the 
 Romish church previous to what is called the Reformation, when the 
 voices and thunderings of Wickliffe, Huss and others were heard, and 
 produced for the time an earthquake, or disturbance, alarm and 
 trembling in the earth, the religious community. 
 
 V. 6. And the seven angels, which had the seven trumpets, prepared themselves 
 to sound. 
 
 Seven angels now prepared to sound: by these the Lord Jesus Christ 
 reveals to his people the events which will come to pass on the earth 
 and which intimately concern his church and people, from the period 
 of the Church of Rome, at which we are here arrived, down to his 
 glorious appearance ; for when the seventh of these angels shall 
 begin to sound, the Time of the dominion and power of the Beast 
 will be no longer, and the mystery of God will be finished ; then 
 Christ will reign, and falsehood, deception and wickedness, under the 
 name of " The Christian Religion," will reign no longer. 
 
 V. 7. The first angel sounded, and tliere followed hail and fire mingled with 
 blood, and they were cast upon the earth : and the third part of trees was burnt 
 up, and all green grass was burnt up. 
 
 This is that event which is called the Reformation of Luther and 
 Calvin. The Gospel they preached (which was not the Gospel) is 
 described as " hail and fire, mingled, with blood ;" by hail and fire 
 is signified the terrible law of God, both which came down from 
 Mount Sinai when the law was given, and are those fearful terrors 
 which accompany the Law. The hail and fire was " mingled with 
 blood,'''' that is, the reformers taught also the atonement of Christ 
 and salvation by his death ; this is the " blood'''' which Avas mingled 
 with the hail and fire. The Romish church taught neither the Law 
 nor the Gospel. While it was undisturbed by voices, there was 
 silence in heaven. But now, the law, (" hail andfirCj'') was mingled 
 with gospel, (blood.) The effects of this Reformation are described : 
 viz. " the third part of the trees of the Earth, and all green grass 
 was burnt up." The trees of the earth are men of the earth ; a great 
 proportion of religious persons " was burnt up," that is, were brought 
 under the consuming power of God's fiery law, under conviction for 
 
102 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 sin by the law. " All green grass toas burnt ?//>," these are the 
 elect of God: the prophet says, " all flesh is grass ;^^ "green" sig- 
 nifies those that had life, meaning God's people, who were now burnt 
 up by the law, that is, brought under its consuming influence and 
 suffered the distress and fear and destruction of their hopes which 
 the law produces ; they were burnt up as well as earthly professors 
 also, who were convicted in their own consciences as transgressors. 
 
 This ministration of hail and fire mingled with blood, or of the 
 law of God mingled up with a view of Christ and his atonement, 
 burnt up God's people, they were without strength, " Christ profited 
 them nothing,^'' they were not delivered from the dominion and torment 
 of sin, for they were under the law which is " the strength of sin," 
 and they suffered by the law distress and misery and constant con- 
 viction of their guiltiness, which is being burnt up ; this slate of 
 distress and burning up, which is death, has ever since passed with 
 the earth for an eminent condition of Gospel life : this is what they 
 have called " experience." The church of Christ at this period is 
 called the church in Sardis, they thought this burning up was life, 
 but it was death ; to them Christ says, " thou hast a name that thou 
 livest, and art dead," the name and renown of this church continues 
 to this day, and men speak of this period as the " great and glorious 
 Reformation." 
 
 It was now that the protestant Beast arose out of the earth, out of 
 the pit of the earth, out of the wisdom and knowledge of earthly 
 men, as is related at full in a subsequent chapter ; this Beast signifies 
 the earthly doctrines and harlot churches of the Protestant name, 
 which churches now arose from religious people (the earth), not as 
 the first Beast, the Church of Rome, which sprung forth from secular 
 power and worldly men, (that is, the sea.) 
 
 V. 8, 9. And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burn- 
 ing with fire was cast into the sea, and the third part of the sea became blood. And 
 the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died ; and the 
 third part of the ships were destroyed. 
 
 Here is described an improved era in the Church of Christ, some 
 time after that Reformation which has been described in the former 
 verses. God had bestowed more faith and more of the knowledge of 
 himself upon his people ; they now saw plainer than had been seen 
 at first by those who had a greater name and renown. They now 
 had " a little strength^ This is the period of the Church in Phila- 
 delphia, (ch. iii. 8.) They had a little strength, that is, faith ; they 
 had faith " as a grain of mustard seed" and therefore a great 
 mountain was cast by them into the sea ; that is, they were delivered 
 from the law, it was cast into the world, they were filled with the 
 Spirit of the Lord, and the world was struck and smitten by the 
 Law. The mouths of the wicked and ungodly were stopped, they 
 beheld their good works and were afraid and glorified God, and be- 
 came blood, that is, now even the sea, the men of the world were 
 constrained to become Christians in profession. Infidelity (as the 
 proud raging of the Sea is called) dare not open its mouth when the 
 people of God walk as becomes children of God : the reality of 
 
THE REVELATION OP JESUS CHRIST. 103 
 
 God's truth is then before their eyes, and they fear the law of God ; 
 this law, which is " as it were a mountain burning with fire" (like 
 to mount Sinai which burned with fire,) is cast upon them, (into the 
 sea); and in their fear they become professors of religion. This 
 effect was by no means produced upon all, but upon a third part of 
 the sea, a great number ; a third part of those that had life died, 
 they were convinced of the law as transgressors, having been before, 
 alive without the law, not fearing nor believing that sin was evil, and 
 that there was a sure reward for evil doers ; their ships were de- 
 stroyed, their confidence and hope in their virtue, honour and 
 morality, (which are the ships of the sea,) now died away ; the men 
 of the world trust in these their ships and think they are safe, though 
 a little wind of temptation blows them to pieces. But now a third 
 part of these false confidences were destroyed, for the manifestation 
 of the power of God in his people will put to silence the boasting of 
 foolish men about their virtue and philosophy, and such like ships of 
 human building. 
 
 This period is the brightest time of God's elect during all the time 
 of the falling away ; now the Sun shone the brightest and was less 
 darkened than at any other period of the 42 months. Sound doctrine 
 prevailed ,• that eternal truth, that God is God, that is to say, he hath 
 mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth, 
 (which now it shocks this adulterous generation even to hear of, and 
 which in their wisdom and knowledge they have exploded as an ab- 
 surdity,) it would then have shocked the most earthly professors to 
 have heard called in question. 
 
 God's people of this period are called the Church in Philadelphia. 
 God will make the enemies of his truth to know that he loved them, 
 as also all his people with an everlasting love. Though a church of 
 Christ, yet the Truth was in the wilderness ; there was a mixed mul- 
 titude with them : they were in the midst of a generation which 
 received not the truth in the love of it, though they all appeared to 
 do so and were professors. But the " hour of temptation" is approach- 
 ing to try the earth, the earthly professors, or " them that dwell upon 
 the earth," whose conversation was not in heaven, who pretended to 
 be servants of God, and yet in their hearts stuck to the earth and 
 minded earthly things ; God will try them. God however restrained 
 it yet for a while, in the time of this church, as he had promised 
 that he would keep them from that dreadful hour which was coming, 
 (ch. iii. 10.) 
 
 V. 10. And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, 
 burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon 
 the fountains of waters. 
 
 When the third angel sounded, that hour of temptation was opened. 
 A great star falling from heaven, signifies a professor of eminence 
 and renown who fell from heaven ; that is, who fell from the profes- 
 sion and acknowledgment of the truth of the kingdom of heaven : as 
 in the former chapter, they who received the heavenly truth, when 
 they fell from it were spoken of as stars falling from heaven. This 
 
104 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 man therefore is one who falls from the true doctrine of heaven 
 which now prevailed among the Protestants. 
 
 " Burning as it were a lamp ;" that is, appearing to the world a» 
 if he were really a burning and a shining light ; giving a great light 
 '■^ as it were''' (but not really) "a lamp." The word of God is a 
 lamp, and the burning of this famous man, seems to be, it is as it 
 were the word of God, that is, a lamp. This star, this great profes- 
 sor who departed from the true doctrine of God, and so fell from 
 heaven, is the celebrated Arminius whose celebrated work at this 
 period made its appearance and came burning like a lamp upon the 
 Protestant churches. Before the appearance of this man's writings, 
 the doctrine of God's absolute election, which is in other words the 
 doctrine that God is God, had been the universal and unquestioned 
 doctrine of the Protestant earth, and the elect of God who received 
 the truth in the love of it, had been blessed and preserved. But now 
 the doctrine that a corrupt tree can, if it will, bring forth good fruit, 
 and that when it does begin then God will have mercy, but never till 
 then, this wicked doctrine now for the first time was publicly sent 
 forth, or (as The Lord Jesus Christ revealed ages before) it now fell 
 from heaven. The doctrine is called from the name of this great 
 star the " Arminian doctrine" to this day. 
 
 It fell upon " the third part of the rivers ;" that is, this man's 
 doctrine was immediately received by a great portion of the people 
 or nations of the Protestant earth : it fell upon " the fountains of 
 waters." The Bible, the word of God, is the fountain of living waters, 
 and these fountains were now perverted by the " new light" like a 
 lamp ; which fell upon them. 
 
 V. 11. And the name of the star is called Wormwood : and the third part of 
 the waters became wormwood ; and many men died of the waters, because they 
 were made bitter. 
 
 The name of the star is called Wormwood ; and so it is ; the 
 name Arminius, divested of the Latin termination, is made up of the 
 Hebrew root wliich signifies bitterness, that is, Wormwood. And 
 not only his name is literally wormwood, but also his doctrine is lite- 
 rally bitterness or wormwood, it is a " root of bitterness" of which 
 the Apostle Paul gave warning. The honey-comb of truth has been 
 made bitter to many by this deceiving and lying doctrine, and many 
 souls have been destroyed thereby, and many have died from the 
 bitterness of the waters ; the strong drink of the Gospel has been 
 made bitter to them that drink it. (Ish. 24.) The fear that there 
 was really something of this man's bitterness in some parts of the 
 Bible, has filled them with doubt and fear, and made bitter even 
 what they did drink.* 
 
 * The Church of the Laodiceans have imagined they had "need of nothing," 
 they have imagined tiiat from the moment they obtained a knowledge of the Gospel, 
 they had need of nothing more, and that nothing more was to be obtained. They 
 have imagined that they were not to be chastened and reproved, that they had 
 nothing more to learn; of all these things Christ warns and notifies them, (ch. 3.) 
 The word of God, the fountain of living waters, has been made bitter to them, so 
 that they cannot read any of the exhortations of Christ to his saints without bitter- 
 
THE REVKLATION OF JKSUS CHRIST. 105 
 
 V. 12. And the fourth angel sounded, and tlie third part of tlie sun was smitten, 
 and the tiiird part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the tliird part 
 of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a liiird part of it, and the nigiit 
 likewise. 
 
 After the great and famous event revealed in the last verse, which 
 event gradually effected an entire revolution in the earth or Christian 
 world, which turned the earth upside down and made it reel to and 
 fro like a drunkard, (Is. 24) : while this " as it icere a lamp''' was 
 silently and gradually extending its bitter leaven, there came on 
 perceptibly a darkness and obscurity both of the Law and of the 
 Gospel (that is, of the Sun and of the Moon) and of the children of 
 God, (that is, the stars of heaven.) There is no fact better known 
 than this, viz. that what is called a great declension of religion 
 (which is here revealed) followed at the period which succeeded the 
 days of Arminius. The light cf the church which preceded that 
 period, (which is the Church in Philadelphia,) and the subsequent 
 declension and deadness in the churches, is a matter of common noto- 
 riety. That which thus took place was here revealed ages before 
 the time. This darkness with which the day was smitten, (that is, 
 the preaching and effects of the Gospel,) and the night likewise, 
 (that is, the ministration and instruction of God's law,) — this dark- 
 ness with which, not all yet a third part of God's people, and of the 
 ministration of the Gospel and of the Law was smitten, — this dark- 
 ness and torper and apathy of the religious world is now about to be 
 succeeded by what has been imagined by the earthly men to be a 
 wonderful " revival," according to their own expression. 
 
 V. 13. And I beheld, and heard an angel flying tlirough the midst of heaven 
 saying with a loud voice. Woe, woe, woe to the inliabiters of the earth, by reason 
 of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound ! 
 
 The coming events, the great revival succeeding the darkness with 
 which the Gospel and the Law and the followers of the truth were 
 in great part smitten, is of such dreadful and awful importance as to 
 be ushered in by the cry of " Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of 
 the earth." For whereas they have eagerly received falsehood and 
 lies, and hated the truth, God will plague them as he did the people 
 in the wilderness, and will send serpents which will bite them. They 
 
 ness and fainting and being weary in their minds, not knowing that the exhorta- 
 tion speaketh unto them " as unto children" that the Lord their God desires them 
 to know what is His Will, and that they have nothing to do, but Christ will work 
 and fulfil all the good pleasure of his will for them that only believe, who attempt 
 not this work themselves, but, knowing what is his good wil! and that it is only 
 for our own good, do seek to him and desire him to work and perform it. There is 
 not a member of the Church of Laodicea who has not felt how exceedingly bitter 
 the fountains of water liave been made to him, and that vi'henevcr he has met with 
 the exhortations of God, such as " mortify the deeds of the body," " walk not after 
 the flesh," " cease to do evil," &c. his soul has fainted and died within him, as if 
 he had something to do, (not discerning Ciirist,) for he knew too well that if he 
 had any good to do, he must perish. From this bitterness of tlie waters God will 
 now deliver his people, and that which has heretofore smitten them with death, 
 which they have fled from and shunned as being legal and savouring of bondage, 
 (and which is indeed bitter bondage to the children of the bondwoman,) will be 
 their joy and delight. 
 14 
 
106 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 would not receive the Gospel which heals and gives life, but they 
 will receive lies and delusions which fill them with torment and 
 death ; and they will be proud of these delusions and call them a 
 revival of religion. Now the hour of temptation is fully come; now 
 come " serpents and scorpions and all the poiver of the enemy.'''' 
 The solemnity of the announcement shows what a curse, what a 
 dreadful thing falsehood is, especially such falsehood as relates to 
 the truth of God. It is indeed no light thing to depart from the 
 truth of God and follow the doctrines and teaching of men. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 V. 1, 2. And tlic fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto 
 the earth : and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened 
 the bottomless pit: and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great 
 furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. 
 
 " A star falling from heaven" signifies, as before, a man of some 
 eminence forsaking the right way and denying the truth. A deep 
 or bottomless pit is (as Solomon says) a harlot or whore, that is, a 
 false church, springing out of the deep pit of the inventions of the 
 human heart. The harlot Church here spoken of, the deep pit 
 which is now opened (having been quiet and shut up before), is the 
 Church of England ; it is a pit of the earth, that is, of earthly reli- 
 gious men. The smoke which now rose out of the pit, is vain and 
 false doctrine which now emanates from the Church of England. 
 This smoke darkened yet more the Sun and the air, that is, the 
 brightness and life of the glorious Gospel of God, as it yet shone 
 upon the earth. 
 
 V. 3. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth ; and unto them 
 was given power, as the scorpions of the cartii have power. 
 
 These locusts are the swarms of Methodist preachers which the 
 smoke, the vain religious glory and false doctrine which arose from 
 the pit aforementioned, now engendered. They now came upon the 
 earth, that is made their appearance in the religious world ; they are 
 as locusts because of their multitude, and because, spreading over 
 the religious world, like locusts they destroy, as much as was per- 
 mitted them to do, whatever was green and flourishing on it. Power 
 was given unto them, as scorpions : that is, they were permitted to 
 sting men as scorpions sting, first producing pain, writhing and 
 convulsion ; and next a swelling or puffing up. First they sting with 
 the stings of conscience, and then they filled men with vain and ini- 
 ao^inary swellings of peace and glory. 
 
 V. 4. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the 
 earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men wliich have 
 not the seal of God in their foreheads. 
 
 That is, no power was given them over God's elect, to hurt them ; 
 for according to the words of Christ he gives them power " to tread 
 on serpents and scorpions and all the poioer of the enemy, ''^ therefore 
 they could not be hurt by these ; God's elect are the grass of the 
 earth and the green thing and the trees of God's planting ; but they 
 
THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 107 
 
 had power over those who had not the seal of God in their foreheads. 
 Accordingly they made their converts from the sea more than from 
 the earth ; that is, from among people who hitherto made no pro- 
 fession of religion rather than from the religious world, which is 
 the earth : the success of the Methodists this way, sometimes over 
 whole districts of irreligious persons, was very great. 
 
 V. 5. And to them it was given that they should not liill them, but that they 
 should be tormented five months : and their torment was as the torment of a scor- 
 pion, when he slriketh a man. 
 
 They should not kill them, that is, they should not lead any man to 
 a real conviction and suffering for sin, which is the real death the 
 Law of God inflicts upon men whose consciences aie brought under 
 its power : they were to torment them and sting them with terrors 
 and fears and alarms, and this power is to be possessed by them five 
 months, that is, the doctrine and power of the Methodists is to prevail 
 for 150 years from its first rise, and no longer. Their torment was to 
 be like that of a scorpion, that is, to make men writhe and be convulsed 
 with pain and then to be swelled up bodily, that is, in their fleshly 
 minds. Accordingly this sect has always pretended to enjoy more 
 happiness and to feel more lively feelings than others, because while 
 others were slain by the sword of the law, they were not killed by it. 
 Joel also prophesies of them, calling them grasshoppers, and saying 
 they would fall upon the sword (of the law) and it should not kill 
 them. 
 
 V. fi. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall 
 desire to die, and death shall flee fi'om them. 
 
 In those days, men, (and therefore though this thing is peculiar to 
 the Methodist sect, it does not distinguish them alone, it has been a 
 fashion among all the sects,) " men shall seek death ;" that is, they 
 will labour and try, with all their might and main, to get conviction 
 for sin, or religion, or a religious experience, as they call it. They 
 will try to persuade themselves and to feel that they are dead sinners, 
 hell-deserving sinners (death they consider the very essence of vital 
 religion) : they will seek to have experiences ; and try to force them- 
 selves to feel that distress and sorrow for sin which is a truly painful 
 and terrible state of death ; but, they will try in vain, they shall not 
 find it, said the Holy Spirit of Christ by the Apostle John, in the 
 Revelation of Jesus Christ, ages before this thing came to pass. 
 This death, this knowledge of sin which is by the Law, is not a forced 
 work, and at the command of men when they please : it is God only 
 " xoho teacheth man knowledge,^'' who bringeth his people whom he 
 chooses to the gates of death, that he may lift them up again and 
 give them to live for ever. All this forced labour and straining 
 efforts of men to squeeze themselves as it were to feel what sinners 
 they are, this seeking of death, shall be in vain ! they will not know 
 nor find in reality that which they talk and glory so much about ! 
 
 lliey shall desire to die ; they shall wish hard and desire very 
 much indeed and very sincerely to get conviction and an experience. 
 Such is literallv the case with the inhabiters of the earth, and has 
 
108 THE REVELATION" OF JESUS CHUIST. 
 
 been the case with men ever since the days of the Methodists " in 
 those days." It has been a universal rage, a mania, a religious 
 fashion of the first importance and necessity to seek death. 
 
 Herein we may behold the wonderful, the just and righteous retri- 
 bution of God ! for the Methodist doctrine teaches that Life is in a 
 man's own power; God hereby determines that not even Death is in 
 their own power ! " Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit 
 snith the Lord.'''' That which God gives only, and gives freely and 
 for notiiing from us, is not to be gotten by might or efiort ; it is 
 only to be passively received. To think to get it by effort or trying 
 is effectually denying that it is a gift ; and how should God give any 
 good thing to them who deny that He gives ? 
 
 V. 7. And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle : 
 and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the 
 faces of men. 
 
 A horse prepared unto battle, represents a fleshly preacher, going 
 forth with inward confidence in his own strength and prowess, going 
 to do great exploits as he vainly and pompously imagines. A liorse 
 aptly represents animal strength and beauty, it is admirable in its 
 going and is an object of pride and admiration among men ; so also 
 are such preachers spiritually. These locusts are preachers ; they 
 have on their heads " crowns, as it were, like gold." The saints of 
 God have crowns of pure gold on their heads ; but these have imita- 
 tions, counterfeits, they are, as it were, like gold, but not real and 
 genuine gold. The glory of Christ is the crown of glory to the 
 saints of God ; these also appear to have a crown of glory, and often 
 exclaim '■'■glory, glory" but it is only a poor resemblance to the 
 real glory, to the genuine gold, though it is as it were, and, like. 
 By these appearances of glory and holiness they who have not the 
 seal of God in their foreheads are deceived and judging after the 
 outward appearance, think that surely these are the people of God, 
 these are the saints ! 
 
 V. 8. And they liad hair as tlic liair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth 
 of lions. 
 
 This is truly and literally the case : this is the way in which the 
 preachers of the Methodists, and especially when they first appeared, 
 were all of them in the habit of wearing their hair, having it smoothed 
 down and flattened in front, and some even wearing it long behind, 
 exactly like the hair of women, giving to their faces (which were 
 the faces of men) the meek and gentle appearance of women. But 
 with all these gentle and woman-like appearances, they had teeth 
 like lions, they destroyed souls and devoured men. (Joel.) No de- 
 scription could be more exact than this description which the Lord 
 Jesus Christ has made of them many ages before they or their 
 fathers were born. " i/e knowetk our thoughts afar off!'''' 
 
 V. 9. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron ; and the sound 
 of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. 
 
 A breastplate signifies Righteousness ; being as it were of iron, 
 represents with great exactness the nattn-e and description of the 
 
THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 109 
 
 righteousness inculcated and (as a breastplate) buckled on by this 
 religious sect. It is not the Righteousness of Christ, which being 
 imputed they reject and deny (and thereby reject Christ, for Christ 
 himself is the righteousness which is imputed to them that believe): 
 but it is a harsh, a severe, a strict, a cold, austere righteousness ; in 
 a word, it is an iron righteousness which they put on like a breast- 
 plate. 
 
 The sound of their wings: here is represented the noise and bustle 
 they make when they assemble : the confusion, bustling, prancing and 
 shouting with which they go to battle, and gather together at their 
 camp meetings, &;c.: for their noise is verj' great. 
 
 V. 10. And they liad tails like unto scorpions ; and there were stings in their 
 tails: and their power was to hurt men five months. 
 
 They had tails ; " the prophets ichich speak lies they are the 
 tail" saith the prophet Isaiah. They are not described as having 
 heads, " the ancient and honourable they are the head,'''' says the 
 same prophet ; these have not the head, because the Methodists 
 have been from their beginning an ignoble people, not generally 
 composed, like some sects, of the high and honourable classes, but 
 on the contrary of the lower classes. These tails sting and torment 
 like scorpions, and it is here again repeated, their power is limited 
 to five months, that is, 150 years : more than a hundred years of this 
 time is already expired, for they first appeared about the year 1725. 
 
 V. 11, 12. And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless 
 pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath 
 his name Apollyon. One woe is past: and, behold, there come two woes more 
 hereafter. 
 
 This king or prince over them, whom they obeyed implicitly, and 
 whose word they study and follow to this day, is John Wesley ; he 
 was an angel^ that is, a messenger of that deep pit or harlot, the 
 Church of England, having been sent forth from her and commis- 
 sioned or ordained by her, and ever zealously devoted to her, always 
 believing that her harlot trimmings and dresses were more pleasing 
 to God than the forms and trimmings of any other harlot whatever. 
 
 This name which God has given him is Abaddon and Apollyon, 
 which signifies the Destroyer. For he destroyed many, many souls! 
 This name is given to him in Greek and in Hebrew, showing that 
 he was an eminent Greek and Hebrew scholar, and therefore he has 
 a name in both those languages ; also because he was both a Greek 
 and a Hebrew, for he united in himself the two distinct principles of 
 opposition which, in the beginning of the Gospel, were made by the 
 Greeks and by the Hebrews separately. The Greeks sought after 
 wisdom, and thought to know God thereby, (1 Cor. i. 22,) and the 
 Hebrews, being ignorant of God's Righteousness, went about to 
 establish their own righteousness. (Romans x. 3.) John Wesley 
 was both Greek and Hebrew, he sought after wisdom, and he went 
 about to establish his own righteousness. His name is therefore in 
 both these languages, signifying a destroyer. 
 
 But how wonderful, how astonishing are God's ways ! how he 
 renders to every man according to his works ! This destroyer, this 
 
110 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 great king of this great multitude, has in his writings called God, 
 the living God, the merciful God and Saviour, " a Destroyer of 
 men,''' because he is pleased to save ; because of his merciful election 
 of Grace, which is the act of his salvation, and but for which all 
 would meet the merited fate of Sodom and Gomorrah ! (Isah. i. 9.) 
 
 V. 12. One woe is past ; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter. 
 
 The rise and origin of this sect having been described, and the 
 time it should continue made known, there are now two other woes 
 or cries of prophetic warning to be fulfilled, for three were uttered, 
 in the last verse of the chapter preceding. 
 
 V. 13, 14. And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four 
 horns of the golden altar which is before God, saying to the sixlli angel which had 
 the trumpet, loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. 
 
 When the sixth angel sounds, four angels are loosed in the river 
 Euphrates. These angels are also messengers as the angel in the 
 former chapter ; hitherto they have been restrained, but now they 
 are loosed to do their will. 
 
 The great river Euphrates, signifies a people : the river Euphrates 
 is the utmost and western river of Asia Minor, by which all Chris- 
 tendom is signified, and this great river Euphrates signifies the 
 people of North America, they are the great western river, or people 
 of Asia, that is, of the Christian world. The religious activity of 
 Satan could not come on till God let them loose : and this has been 
 later than it began in England. 
 
 V. 15, 16. And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, 
 and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. And the 
 number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand : and I 
 heard tiie number of them. 
 
 The time is fixed and limited which is given to the American 
 messengers to slay men by doctrines and preaching which is of death 
 and not of life. They are also numbered, every one of them is 
 known, and it is a very great number of fleshly preachers, which (as 
 it has been seen before) are signified by the word " horsemen.'''' 
 Whoever they are who go forth to preach damnation instead of salva- 
 tion, and death instead of life, let them learn that they are numbered, 
 " / heard the number of them,''^ they are all numbered, all that have 
 been and that are and that shall be. It is an exceeding great 
 number. America has exceeded England in the number, variety 
 and zeal of fleshly horsemen and angels (that is, messengers) of 
 Satan, preaching death and killing men. 
 
 V. 17. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on tiiem, hav- 
 ing breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone : and the heads of the iiorses 
 were as tiie heads of lions: and out of their mouths issued fire, and smoke, and 
 brimstone. 
 
 The breastplates represent the kind of righteousness which these 
 spiritual horsemen teach and inclucate : " of fire, ^^ that is burning, 
 zealous and fierce : " of brimstone,^' that is, threatening, terrific and 
 fearful, derived from the fear of hell, as that of fire signifies it is 
 derived from fear of the law ; of jacinth, that is, more polished, 
 
THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. Ill 
 
 gentle, and more beautiful in appearance ; but none of them are the 
 breastplates of the Righteousness of God. Now whereas only three 
 kinds of righteousness are described, and yet there are four classes 
 of horsemen, including all the sects and preachers of every descrip- 
 tion, it shows that the Methodist name is one of the four in America 
 as well as in England, the breastplate of whose righteousness has 
 already been described, as being of ii-on. 
 
 Their heads are as the heads of lions, that is, Christ, the Lamb 
 of God is not their head. The fire, smoke and brimstone which 
 issue out of their mouths, describes the nature of their preaching; 
 "^re," that is, they preach the terror and condemnation of the law : 
 " smoke,'''' that is, all sorts of fuming vanity, and false vainglorious 
 doctrine and boasting : " brimstone,^'' that is, threats of hell fire and 
 damnation. 
 
 V. 18. By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the 
 smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. 
 
 By these three the third part of the men of the earth are killed, 
 that is, by the preaching of these spiritual horsemen. Only three 
 are mentioned who kill men, because the locusts described before do 
 not kill men, but on the contrary puff them up with a vain persuasion 
 of life and glory, after having stung them a little at first. The 
 others, however, three out of the four grand divisions, kill men, that 
 is, they inflict upon men's minds that conviction, horror and fear, 
 that inward dread and anguish which belongs to the guilty con- 
 science, and which is death. 
 
 V. 19. For their power is in their mouths, and in their tails: for their tails were 
 like unto serpents, and had heads, and with tliem they do hurt. 
 
 Their tails were like unto serpents ; as God plagues them that 
 hate him, so they who hate his truth and doctrine are plagued with 
 serpents which torment and kill, that is, false prophets who preach 
 death and not life, driving men to desperation, insanity and death, 
 filling them with inward torments and banishing all peace from them, 
 and then calling such torture and misery the Gospel ! The tails are 
 false prophets, teachers of lies, and beads are ancient and honourable 
 persons. (Isaiah.) The Methodists were described as having tails, 
 but no mention was made of heads, because in England they are an 
 ignoble people, composed of the meaner sort. But in America all 
 the various sects have the honourable, wealthy and great in union 
 and connection with them, that is, they have heads. It is well known 
 that this is the case in the United States, where at any great meet- 
 ing whatever, of the great religious confederacies, the ancient and 
 honourable, that is, the head, are to be seen at the right hand of the 
 false prophets, (that is, the tail.) Members of Congress and persons 
 in honour are joined with the false prophets, making speeches and 
 assisting to give credit and eclat to the cause and proceedings of that 
 great city Sodom and Egypt. 
 
 V. 20, 21. And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues, yet 
 repented not of the works of their bands, that they should not worship devils, and 
 idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood : which neither can see, 
 
112 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 nor hear, nor walk : Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, 
 nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. 
 
 The utter impotency and total inefficiency of the mighty efforts and 
 zeal of the religious horsemen is manifest enough. Notwithstanding 
 the plagues with which they kill some men, notwithstanding their 
 preaching of fire and brimstone, they do not lead men to repentance. 
 Some indeed are killed and some are driven to madness by their 
 preaching, but as to all the rest of their numerous followers and 
 congregations, no repentance or shame for doing evil is produced 
 upon them. Men only become more sinful and hardened by such a 
 ministration of death. The effects of such preaching are here de- 
 scribed : " yet they repented not of the loorks of their hands,'''' that 
 they should not worship devils ; for though they appear and profess 
 to sacrifice to God, the Apostle declares '' they sacrifice to devils and 
 not to God.'''' The gold and silver and brass and stone and wood of 
 the temple are their idols, in these they trust, in praying and reading 
 and singing and going to Church, even all the things which are found 
 in the temple of God, but which are not God and cannot save ; in 
 these and all such things and works of their own they have confi- 
 dence and trust, (that is, they worship them,) and dream of going to 
 heaven by their influence, while murder, sorcery, fornication and 
 covetousness is in their hearts, and they repent not of it. Murder, 
 that is, hatred and strife (1 John); sorceries, that is, trusting to the 
 imaginary power and charms of men and things which have no 
 power ; fornication, that is, thinking to be partakers of the grace of 
 Christ by purchase and bribe ; theft, that is, covetousness, greediness 
 after money, cheating, roguery and tricks, all which is become com- 
 mon and almost reputable in the way of business. Of all these 
 things, whether literal or spiritual, men do not now-a-days repent, 
 but excuse them, laugh at them, or glory in them, in spite of the fire 
 and brimstone which they sit under. 
 
 Here the bitter fruits of the wicked religion and doctrines of devils 
 of this last day are summarily and strongly described, and that 
 dreadful state of society, that general demoralization and accumula- 
 tion of crime which falsehood would produce, Eind has produced in 
 this day, is made known by the Revelation of Jesus Christ. He hath 
 told all these things long before they came to pass, that now that 
 they are come to pass ye may believe. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The former chapter brought the revelation down to the present 
 day, describing in the two concluding verses the present desolation, 
 the impenitent, hardened and dreadful condition of the earth, the 
 result of the Abomination which has made desolate. Now is arrived 
 the announcement of the approaching end of the Time of Abomina- 
 tion, which is without doubt revealed with so much minuteness, that 
 they who are ordained unto eternal life, according to the everlasting 
 mercy and pitiful compassions of the Lord Almighty, may believe. 
 
THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. Il3 
 
 V. 1. And I saw another mig^hty angel come down from heaven, clotlied with 
 a cloud ; and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and 
 his feet as pillars of fire. 
 
 An angel is simply a messenger ; this is merely a messenger whom 
 God sends : here again, as before, this messenger is a man. He is 
 called " mighty'''' or strong, because he is weak, according to the 
 words of the prophet, " let, the tceak say I am strong ;" that is, hav- 
 ing a little faith, he is " strong in the Lord and in the power of his 
 might :" it is not his strength, but the strength of Christ. 
 
 " Come doim from heaven,''^ signifies that he is not sent by man, 
 that he comes from no sect or denomination of the earth, (that is, 
 the religious world,) but that he comes declaring the truth of the 
 Gospel of the Grace of God, by the Spirit of God. 
 
 " Clothed with a clottd,^' signifies clothed with the Spirit of God, 
 like a cloud, being full of rain ready to water the earth : it also 
 signifies that he is encompassed with infirmities and involved in ob- 
 scurity and contempt according to this world. 
 
 " A rainbotv upon his head,''^ signifies the covenant of God's 
 mercy, showing that God in the midst of wrath will remember 
 mercy ; that when he shall bring the flood of his indignation and 
 wrath upon the despisers of God, upon them who walk after their 
 own pleasure and lust, that he will not forget his Covenant, but will 
 save all those who hope in his mercy, even a people prepared for 
 his glory. Being on the head of this man, is to show that God's 
 Covenant, mercy and everlasting Love towards his elect, (which the 
 earth, the religious people abhor and revile,) is his crown of glory 
 and rejoicing, that God hath covered him therewith, and in remem- 
 brance of his mercy will certainly overshadow and preserve him in 
 the day of trouble. 
 
 " His face was as it were the sun," signifies that he comes in a 
 greater glory than the glory of the Law, when Moses' face did 
 even shine with that glory : this man's face shines with the bright- 
 ness of the glory of the Sun of Righteousness, it is the glory of 
 Christ and his Righteousness which shines as the sun, and makes 
 the faces of all his chosen and beloved to shine. (2 Cor. iii. 7.) 
 
 ^^ His feet as pillars of fire," signifies the message which he brings, 
 his preaching of the Gospel and the Truth of God : for he brings 
 a message of great glad tidings to God's prisoners and disconsolate 
 people, who are in bondage, and a message of fear and terror to the 
 enemies of God which shall burn them up like fire : they are called 
 feet, for he comes not in chariot or on horses, in the strength and 
 parade of fleshly glory, but as a plain and simple messenger of 
 another, that is, of God, not as a warrior doing great things, but 
 doing nothing, believing and trusting all to God : they are called 
 " pillars" for the message is sure and certain and firm and esta- 
 blished like a pillar : ^^ of fire," for it will burn up the chaflf and 
 stubble of wicked lies and abominations. 
 
 V. 2. And he had in his hand a little book open ; and he set his right foot upon 
 the sea, and his left foot on the earth. 
 
 This book is the little book ; it is little, for it comes devoid of 
 15 
 
114 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHKIST. 
 
 earthly honour, applause and recommendation, because it is little and 
 despised in the eyes of men: it is called open, for it is not sealed; it 
 is plain and open, it lays open the faith once delivered to the saints, 
 and it lays open the word and prophecies of God, which have been 
 sealed hitherto. 
 
 The sea is the world, and the earth is the religious world, the 
 professors of religion, who while they pretend to be children of the 
 most High God, to be believers in Christ and consequently in heaven, 
 " sealed together icith him in heavenly places.,^'' (Eph. ii. 6.) yet do 
 mind earthly things and are devoted to the earth; on one side he 
 preaches and testifies against the world, that is, the sea, against its 
 wisdom, its pride, and its blasphemy ; and on the other side, he testi- 
 fies against the religious world, (that is, the earth,) against its lying 
 doctrines, its falsehood and deceitful abominations ; this testimony 
 against them both, is setting his feet upon them. 
 
 V. 3. And cried witli a loud voice, as when a lion roareth : and wlien he had' 
 cried, seven thunders uttered tlieir voices. 
 
 To cry with a loud voice, signifies the testimony he has borne and 
 uttered against the religious wickedness of this Time : it is called 
 loud, because it is not a muttering, doubtful voice, like that of the 
 false prophets, (Is.) but open and loud : as trhen a lion roareth, because 
 it will fill with terror like the terrible roaring of a lion, because it is 
 not he that speaks, but the Spirit of Christ, the lion of the tribe of 
 Judah which speaketh in him, (Mark xiii. 11,) roaring like a lion 
 against the whole multitude of shepherds. (Isaiah.) 
 
 " When he had cried:'''' this first took place after he understood 
 this Revelation at Norris Town, Penn. in the court house of that 
 town, before a large multitude, on the the 9th March, 1834. 
 
 V. 4. And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to 
 write : and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things 
 which the seven thunders uttered, and write lliem not. 
 
 It is a great mercy that these things which are to happen are con- 
 cealed, so that the people of God, who shall believe in his name, are 
 not given to know before the things which will happen to them ; but 
 let them know that they are uttered. 
 
 V. 5, 6, 7. And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth, 
 lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who 
 created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that 
 tlierein are, and the sea, and tlie tilings which are therein, that there should be 
 lime no longer : but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall 
 begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his 
 servants the prophets. 
 
 This took place several times in Philadelphia, when this messenger 
 had not any idea that it was fulfilling the prophecy and word of God. 
 On the Common opposite the Globe Mill he repeatedly declared in 
 these words, " as the Lord God liveth who made heaven and earth, 
 and the sea and all that therein is, so surely will He destroy the 
 wicked religion of this day, shortly." In other and similar words, 
 he repeatedly swore by the living God, to the effect that the Religion 
 of this time would soon be ended or destroyed. Only meaning, as 
 
THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHKIST. 115 
 
 lie imagined at the time, to express iiis certain conviction (of which 
 he had no doubt whatever) that the religious world was gone a 
 whoring from God, and that God would soon prove it, and prove the 
 truth of the doctrines he taught. Little did he imagine, when he 
 thus spoke, that it was not him but the Spirit of God speaking in 
 him ; that " the religion of this day," " the wicked abominations of 
 the religious teachers," terms which he then made use of, signified 
 this Time, and that one of the most wonderful of the prophecies of 
 God was then actually fulfilled. There must be many people in Phila- 
 delphia who heard him thus speak, and that often. 
 
 The religion, the abominations, the lies and blasphemies and false 
 doctrines called by the name of " Piety and Religion," which he 
 sware by the living God should be no longer, these are the " Time," 
 the Abomination, which now draws near to an end. The words, 
 " who created heaven and the earth and. the sea and the things therein,^''^ 
 are not like the words of men, rhetorical flourishes or vain expletives, 
 but, as all the word of God, are full of significancy ; for now, at this 
 time, both the sea and the earth unite in the same spii-it of Atheism, 
 to deny that it is God loho created : teaching that they create them- 
 selves, and calling upon fleshly men to create themselves in Christ 
 Jesus, telling them they can if they please, and upbraiding them for 
 their sluggishness. 
 
 V. 8. And the voice which I heard from Iicaven spake unto me acfain, and said> 
 Go and take the httle book wliich is open in tlie hand of the angel whicii slandeth 
 upon the sea and upon the earth. 
 
 This voice from heaven is the Spirit of God, by which the people 
 of God will be directed and led to take this little book, for no one 
 can take or receive it, unless directed by the Spirit, and no one can 
 receive the truth but the Spirit of God. (1 Cor. ii. 11.) 
 
 " / heard •" it is John, the beloved disciple who speaks, and who 
 is directed by the Spirit to receive this book : the due time is now 
 come when Christ makes it first to be understood why John was 
 called the beloved disciple, " that disciple whom Jesus loved,'''' and 
 what was signified when he said to him '■'■if I will that he tai'ry 
 till I come.'''' Christ was pleased to behold and to represent by John, 
 the beloved of his soul to whom he will give to believe in Him in this 
 last day ; John was a representative of them when he lay in Jesus' 
 bosom ; as their representative he speaks in this verse, he represents 
 them receiving the book, and eating it up, they are those who shall 
 tarry till the glorious appearing of Jesus Christ, " till he come,'''' 
 and they are doubtless the lost sheep of the house of Israel, to whom 
 God will give repentance and an inheritance through the faith of 
 Jesus Christ, among them that are sanctified through faith. They 
 will believe, for the Spirit of God will lead them and guide them, 
 and say " Go and take," and be in them, giving them understand- 
 ing. 
 
 V. 9. And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book' 
 And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up ; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but 
 it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. 
 
11(> THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 To eat up the little book, is to receive with the appetite of want 
 and gladness the truth of God which it contains, the same manner of 
 expression is common among men ; he who delights in what he reads 
 is said to devour it. 
 
 " It shall make thy belly hitter ;" belly signifies the earthly man, 
 the flesh; thus David says, "?/?// belly cleaveth to the dust.'''' They 
 who receive the truth, the doctrine of Christ, will find it bitter indeed 
 to the flesh ; they will sufler hatred and scorn and contempt, they 
 will be hated of all the world : Jesus Christ, in the days of his bitter 
 humiliation, had not where to lay his head, and his people will be 
 partakers of his sufferings ; honour, fortune, fame, respectability, 
 reputation, and the praise of men, are not to be expected or sought 
 after by them. But, bitter as the doctrine of Christ will be to the 
 flesh, great suflering that it will expose them to who believe, it will 
 be sweeter than honey to the mouth, to the spiritual man ; yea, for 
 ever sweet, enduring and increasing for ever, rendering all the suffer- 
 ings of the ffesh as nothing, knowing that we are suffering with 
 Christ, and that the life from which it pains us so much to part is 
 very death, and that our profit and joy is to die daily, waiting for the 
 redemption from this vile body. 
 
 V. 10. And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up : and it 
 was in my mouth sweet as honey ; and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was 
 bitter. 
 
 The beloved disciple, he whom Jesus loved, took the book, and eat 
 it up. It is certain that he whom Jesus loves in these last days, will 
 take and devour with joy and gladness the truth of the Gospel of the 
 Grace of God, made open in this little book. And it is certain that 
 so soon as they shall receive the truth of Christ and submit them- 
 selves to God, altogether, (which is eating up his doctrine,) so soon 
 they will find his doctrine bitter to the belly, to the earthly man. 
 
 V. 11. And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, 
 and nations, and tongues, and kings. 
 
 The saints and people of God must prophecy again. " This Gos- 
 pel must be preached in all the world, then cometh theend.^'' (Mat. 24.) 
 They have long been silenced and silent, or only prophesied in sack- 
 cloth in all the time of the Beast ; but now again (that is, once more, 
 after so long an interval) the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the 
 image of God, will be preached in all the world by the saints and 
 servants of God, upon whom he will pour out abundantly of his holy 
 Spirit, before many people and nations, and tongues and kings. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 A more particular revelation of the state to which the earth (the 
 professing world) would at last come, (which is now its actual condi- 
 tion,) is given in this chapter ; also, how it will end is revealed ; 
 the whole is preceded by a brief recapitulation of the state of things 
 in all the time of the falling away, until the present time. 
 
THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 117 
 
 V. 1, 2. And there was given rae a reed like unto a rod ; and the an^el stood, 
 saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship 
 therein. But the court which is without the temple, leave out, and measure it not; 
 for it is given unto the Gentiles : and the holy city shall they tread under foot 
 forty and two montiis. 
 
 Here it is shown that God has an inner temple of spiritual wor- 
 shippers, and that there is also an outer, an exterior fleshly temple 
 of earthly, sensual and fleshly worshippers; these latter (the earth) 
 are not counted when God counts up his jewels, they are not mea- 
 sured when he takes the account of them that serve him. It is also 
 here shown that for the space of 1260 years the Gentiles have been 
 earthly, outside worshippers, and power has been given them over 
 the holy city, and during all the time of 1260 years they have trod- 
 den it under foot : that is, God's chosen and elect people are collec- 
 tively, in a body, the holy city, or Jerusalem, while also the collected 
 body of false and earthly worshippers is called a city, viz. Babylon, 
 or Sodom and Egypt. The holy city here spoken of, signifies the 
 people of God collectively, and this is manifest, because if the mate- 
 rial city of Jerusalem had been signified, then the 1260 years would 
 have been completed nearly six hundred years ago, for Jerusalem 
 after the flesh, the material city of bricks and stone, began to be 
 subjugated to the Gentiles shortly after the death of Christ. This 
 holy city is therefore the collection of God's spiritual people, and 
 for the space of 1260 years the false worshippers of the beast have 
 overcome and trodden them under foot, and have prospered against 
 them, as Daniel prophesied. 
 
 V. 3 to 6. And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall pro- 
 phesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. These 
 are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the 
 earth. And if any man will hurl them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and 
 devoureth their enemies; and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner 
 be killed. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their 
 prophecy : and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the 
 earth with all plagues, as often as they will. 
 
 In these verses it is shown what has been the spiritual light granted 
 to the people of God in this long time of darkness, previous to the 
 present triumph of the beast. The two witnesses are the Law and the 
 Gospel of God, by the former of which God has testified to men of 
 righteousness and judgment, declaring his wrath against every kind 
 of wickedness and wrong-doing : by the latter mercy and truth and 
 life and salvation are testified of. During the 1260 years these two 
 witnesses of God to man, have prophesied in sackcloth, as it is here 
 again repeated, for 1260 years : that is, neither the Law nor the 
 Gospel have been preached in the fulness of their power and glory 
 in the earth during all this time ; and also when they have been 
 preached, they have been together, the Law has been joined to and 
 mixed up with the Gospel, thus taking away from the excellence 
 and power of both of them ; for no righteousness comes by the law, 
 it is intended for those who are disobedient and rebellious, who do 
 wrong ; to teach, warn and reprove, and to punish, curb and restrain 
 them ; while the Gospel is for them only who believe, who are no 
 
118 THE RFA'ELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 longer disobedient, to edify and strengthen them in Him, in whom 
 
 alone they have life and righteousness without the law. 
 
 Nevertheless, in all this period, no attacks of the sea, no power of 
 wicked men, has been able to hurt them until now ; fire has proceed- 
 ed out of their mouths and destroyed their enemies ; that is, the 
 judgments of God have fallen like fire from heaven upon those who 
 have attacked and denied these witnesses of God. Numerous in- 
 stances of this are upon record, where men who have blasphemously 
 denied and reviled the truth of God, have perished miserably by the 
 manifest judgment of God.* 
 
 Also, during all the time of the falling away heaven has been shut 
 and there has been no rain upon the earth (the religious world) : that 
 is, the Spirit of God (which alone, like rain on the material earth, 
 makes them who believe to be fruitful in good works) has not been 
 poured out upon God's people who were on the earth, as it was 
 before the falling away, during the week of 700 years when God 
 confirmed his Covenant with many : the waters of life have been 
 converted to blood, that is, have only been received and understood 
 in a fleshly way, and men have been plagued and smitten with 
 plagues of serpents and scorpions biting and tormenting them, and 
 this has been by the judgment of God's Law and Gospel, his two 
 holy witnesses which have been united together in one, and brought 
 judgments upon men because of their evil and because of the abomi- 
 nation. 
 
 V. 7. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascend- 
 eth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome 
 them, and kill them. 
 
 This is now in this day fulfilled : they have finished their testi- 
 mony ; the beast that ascendeth out of the deep or bottomless pit, 
 out of the earth, has made war against them, has overcome them 
 and killed them. The beast is the flesh, fleshly man and his doctrine; 
 it is called a scarlet beast, because his sins are as scarlet: he is 
 called sinful man, or the man of sin, the wicked one, the son of 
 perdition ; he is now exalted, " sittin!>- in the temple of God, showing 
 that he is God.'''' (2 Thess. ii. 4.) There he sits, exalted ; he is the 
 abomination, his offering is the swine-flesh oflfering, he is now "stand- 
 ing where it ought not, (^let him that readeth understand.y (Mark 
 xiii. 14.) He is exalted above Him whom nevertheless in all the 
 deceivableness of unrighteousness they call God, though they exalt 
 themselves above Him. This beast is worshipped, for they say he 
 can save, and they call upon him to save, that is, to do good, to work 
 righteousness, which he who doeth is a saviour, for he cannot but 
 save himself if he does it. The religion of this day, this Time, 
 (which shall be no longer,) is the exaltation and worship of sinful 
 man : he is exalted high in the chariot of his pride, in his own fleshly 
 
 * Such a case occurred lately in the city of New York ; one Cohen, on the 
 same day on which he had published a manifesto of Atheism in a publication called 
 the Free Enquirer, was blown to pieces and his body scattered abroad in fragments 
 by a combustible preparation of his own workmanship. This was the fire of God's 
 law falling down from heaven upon him. 
 
THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 119 
 
 excellence and works : all the toil and labour and zeal of the priests 
 of this god, is to make this beast more ; they cry aloud and shout 
 and weary themselves in calling upon him to be up and to be doing, 
 to show his power, his goodness, his piety and his humility, to do 
 good, to be good. This man of sin, this son of perdition, stained 
 and dyed in sins, as scarlet is dyed, is iniquity itself; " his inward 
 part is very wicked,''^ saith the prophet David ; " the invard part,^' 
 for externally he appeareth like a iamb, as an angel of light ; this is 
 the Iniquity which they are engaged this day in " drawing with cords 
 of vanity,^'' with means and helps which are vain. (Isaiah.) They 
 labour to make it move with main force, and when it moves in its 
 wicked self-righteous career, which they deem to be righteousness^ 
 then they raise shouts of triumph and talk of and spread abroad the 
 anecdotes of the pious doings of the idol. 
 
 The beast has killed both the Law and the Gospel of God, (which 
 till this day did prophesy, though in sackcloth,) by setting up its own 
 precepts and ordinances and experiences, and all sorts of religious 
 inventions, instead of the plain and simple Law and Truth of God. 
 Instead of the law of God, to do good, not to God, but to one another 
 and to all men, to show kindness to the stranger, the fatherless and 
 widow, to draw out their bread to the hungry and to do mercy and 
 love justice, not to lend out their money upon usury, nor speak 
 deceitfully, instead of the kindness and good actions ol" man to man 
 which the law of God teaches, they teach to belong to a church and 
 confederacy, to subscribe money to their societies, to have certain 
 abstinences, to keep a particular day in the Aveek ; thus they have 
 set aside the law, and every violation of it is righteous and of no 
 consequence in their eyes, provided their own inventions are zeal- 
 ously attended to. They have killed this witness, they regard it no 
 longer, it is a dead letter to them, they only regard their own flexi- 
 ble and undefined code of piety. They have also overcome and slain 
 the other witness of God, the Gospel, by preaching their own works, 
 (which they call means and grace,) and instead of the Power of God, 
 preaching the power of man, thus exalting him above Christ. In- 
 stead of confessing that God only is the Creator, they preach that 
 man is ; that he, if he only pleases, makes himself to be a child of 
 God. Thus they, that is, collectively, the beast, and it is only the 
 Protestant beast which is here spoken of, have killed the two wit- 
 nesses, the Law and the Gospel, and preach and regard and believe 
 not, neither the one nor the other. All they care for, all they re- 
 gard, is the idol, the beast which they have exalted ; its piety, its 
 goodness, its excellence, is what they wish to see prosper and pre- 
 vail, and they labour hard to this end, and dream that thus they 
 please God ! This man of sin dictates what he pleases, both for law 
 and gospel, selecting what suits him in the Scriptures and adapting 
 it to his own pleasure and doctrines, and rejecting what suits him 
 not.* 
 
 * A late prophet of God, (Dr. Hawker,) whose testimony greatly tormented them 
 that dwelt upon the earth, spake by the Spirit of God when he called this genera- 
 tion " a Christ-despising generation.'" 
 
120 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 What the beast is and whence he has sprung, who has thus killed 
 these two witnesses of God, is particularly revealed. It is not the 
 beast which arose out of the sea, but the beast which was seen 
 rising out of the earth, the beast which has been set up and exalted 
 by religious men, professors, men of earthly religion ; it is the beast 
 whom the churches of earthly men have set up and exalted ; harlot 
 churches (a deep or bottomless pit into which men fall inextricably) ; 
 it is the beast which their wicked doctrines have raised to this wicked 
 exaltation. This beast which has sprung from such a deep pit, the 
 offspring of religious wickedness, is the beast which has triumphed 
 and slain the witnesses. " The beast that ascendcth out of the bot- 
 tomless j)it shall make war against tltem and overcome them.^'' 
 
 There are only two beasts ; the first, which is the Roman Catholic 
 Church, which beast ascendeth out of the sea ; the second, which 
 are the Protestant churches ; which is the beast which ascendeth 
 out of the pit of the earth, out of the religious whoredoms of the 
 earth, that is, men of the earth. It is only the last of these two 
 beasts which makes war against the true doctrines of God, his two 
 witnesses ; resisting, opposing, setting them aside, and making them 
 of no effect, that is, killing them by their own doctrines and tradi- 
 tions ; the first beast does not meddle with the two witnesses, it has 
 buried them both long ago, and will not sutler their bodies to be 
 brought out and to be seen, that is, to be read by the people. 
 
 V. 8. And their dead bodies sliall lie in the street of the great city, which 
 spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also oar Lord was crucified. 
 
 A city is a collection of souls ; as the city of Jerusalem is the 
 whole collection of God's people, so the city called Sodom and Egypt, 
 is collectively the multitude of religious professors among the Pro- 
 testants who assume to be the city of God, whereas they are a city 
 of their own building, built on the foundation of man. The Romish 
 Church is called Babylon, it is one and compact ; these are called 
 Sodom and Egypt. 
 
 Their dead bodies are Bibles : the bible contains the letter of the 
 truth of God, viz. the law and the gospel, which are the only two 
 witnesses by which God has ever testified to mankind. Without the 
 Spirit of God, the Scripture is a dead letter without life ; it is a dead 
 body, a mere body in which there is no spirit of life. Both these 
 witnesses are now killed, because the Earth has made the word of 
 God to be a dead letter ; it has no real authority with them, they 
 wrest and pervert its words. Now, though they have effectually 
 killed the two witnesses, yet they have got their dead bodies in the 
 street of their city ; they lie in the street, they are made a common 
 thing. In all the different ramifications and sects of this great 
 spiritual Sodom, they have the dead bodies, that is, bibles, there 
 they lie. 
 
 This city is the very same in spirit and in deeds and in professions 
 as that city of the wicked, (the Scribes and the Pharisees,) where 
 also, as well as here, our Lord was crucified : for now, in this day 
 and by this generation he is crucified afresh. It is the same genera- 
 
THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 121 
 
 tion, in spirit and conduct, which was not to pass away till all be 
 fulfilled, (Matt. 24, last v.) but now the time is at hand. 
 
 V. 9, 10. And they of the people, and kindreds, and tonjfues, and nations, shall 
 see their dead bodies three days and a half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies 
 to be put in graves. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, 
 and make merry, and shall send g^ifts one to another ; because these two prophets 
 tormented them tliat dwelt on the earth. 
 
 Three days and a half signifies the precise time which shall be 
 permitted to this generation to triumph in their deeds of religious 
 whoredom, while in this time the two witnesses are dead and silent. 
 The former triumph lasted three days ; but then the body of our 
 Lord was put in a grave ; it is not so now, however ; for they do 
 not put the dead bodies of the two witnesses away and out of sight, 
 far from it, they would not sutler this on any account, for they 
 pretend that instead of having killed them, they honour and obey 
 them, therefore they parade the dead bodies (the bible) all about, 
 and make a great show of them. Much better for them would it be 
 if they had not these dead bodies, if they were put in graves, (as the 
 Roman Catholics have done,) buried far out of sight, than that they 
 should add deceit to wickedness and pretend to love the word of God 
 while they kill it and trample it under foot. 
 
 But now they triumph in their deeds, and talk of the Millennium, 
 as if they had already made a beginning of it ! They are not now 
 as formerly tormented in their triumph by even the sound of a 
 whisper of God's truth in the land. Before the two witnesses had 
 finished their conjoined testimony, before truth was perished out of 
 the earth, every now and then there arose some solitary prophet who 
 preached the Righteousness of God, his work and election of Grace, 
 and the utter beastliness and filthiness of the rags of human piety 
 and righteousness ; this vexed and greatly tormented " them that 
 dwelt upon the earth,^"" the earthly followers and professors of earthly 
 wisdom and righteousness : but now they rejoice and make merry 
 and triumph, and send gifts to one another ; they have societies or 
 confederacies organised for the very purpose of sending gifts to one 
 another, gifts of money and tracts and " good books" and dead 
 bodies. 
 
 V. 11. And after three days and a half the Spirit of life from God entered into 
 them, and they stood upon tlieir feet ; and great fear fell upon them which saw 
 them. 
 
 At the expiration of the time appointed to their triumph, the truth 
 of God, in his Law and in his Gospel will be heard, declared in the 
 power of the Holy Spirit. This is what is signified when it is said 
 the two witnesses will stand upon their feet ; that is, the truth of 
 God, witnessed by these two, will be preached : the Spirit of God 
 will raise up whom he pleases to speak the truth of God, this is what 
 is signified by the spirit of life from God entering into them. Great 
 fear will fall upon them who see this ; for whereas, even before, the 
 truth of God tormented them and they never could endure it ; now 
 in the midst of their triumph, when they think such doctrines are 
 crushed for ever, to see them suddenly revive with power, even with 
 16 
 
122 THK KEVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 the power of the Spirit of God, will cause great fear to fall upon 
 them, such a fear as fell upon Belshazzar when the hand writing 
 appeared upon the wall ; for they are the same Belshazzar, they arc 
 making merry and rejoicing in their hearts, and they use the holy 
 things out of God's temple, they make use of the very words of God 
 in their abominations and when they offer swine's flesh upon his altar. 
 Yea, they will fear, for the time is at hand. 
 
 V. 12. And they heard a great voice from heaven, saying unto them, Come up 
 hither. And tliey ascended up to heaven in a cloud ; and their enemies beheld 
 them. 
 
 They heard a great voice from heaven ; they heard, that is, he 
 who preaclied or proclaimed them, heard the voice, for, when it was 
 before said they prophesied in sackcloth for 1260 years, it signified 
 that the truth of the Law and of the Gospel was preached by men ; 
 so here it is revealed that some one of God's children by whom the 
 Gospel shall be preached in the power of the Spirit, shall be trans- 
 lated and taken up to heaven in the sight of the deceitful and false 
 worshippers, as Enoch was, and as Elijah was. The great voice is 
 the voice of Jesus Christ, the son of God, which voice is the Power 
 of God, which created all things when it spoke, and which will raise 
 the dead, for as David testifies, " the voice of the Lord is mighty^ 
 The enemies of God's truth, the opposers of his doctrine will be- 
 hold it.* 
 
 V. 13. And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of 
 the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand : and the 
 remnant were atTrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven. 
 
 * There is a wonderful resemblance between the present day, and the day of 
 that Elijah wh» lived in the days of Ahab. Then all Israel had departed from Ood, 
 and was abandoned to the worship of beasts. So it is now. Then no doubt as 
 now, they were positive that they worshipped God, and pleased him : no doubt 
 they were firmly convinced tliat a noisy, bustling, showy religion, and the per- 
 formance of services and duties of man's invention, would make depraved creatures 
 pleasing to God, and would please him much more than simply obeying and taking 
 heed to his holy law, which sim[)ly teaches men to do good to one another, (not to 
 God,) thereby showing indeed that they loved God. They thought no doubt that 
 evil deeds and covetousness signified very little and would be passed over, provided 
 they were very religions, not knowing tliat tiiere is no other real religion or wor- 
 shipping but the showing kindness and doing mercy to all men. ((ial. v. 14: James 
 i. 27.) Then, as also now, there were many zealous devoted priests, but Elijah was 
 the only one who preached the truth of (iod. Then, it rained not on the earth for 
 the space of three years and six months, and this was because of the prayer of 
 Elijah : and now also, at the prayer of the saints (on the opening of the tifth seal, 
 oh. 6) it has not rained upon the earth for 12G0 years; that is, the Holy Ghost has 
 not been poured out upon believers, they have been scaled. And furthermore, that 
 we may not doubt the truth as to this time, but that we may understand by the 
 instruction of that time, there are exactly 42 months, that is, 12G0 days in the three 
 years and six months, when then it rained not, showing indubitably that those 
 things " happened for our ensample upon whom the ends of the world are come." 
 Also then, as now, God's i)ower and truth was manifested, and the dcceivings of the 
 false prophets utterly exposed, and then, as now it will be, the false teachers were 
 destroyed; then, as now, .lezebel, the painted scducting harlot (a figure of the har- 
 lotry of human righteousness and piety) was predominant : and also then as it w ill 
 again be in this day, the Elijah of that day was taken up into heaven. 
 
THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 123 
 
 Whoever this be, he will know that it is not for his own sake, or 
 for his holiness that God doeth this ; far, far from it, but for the elect's 
 sake, for his people's sake, that they may understand and believe : 
 for, immediately upon the happening of this thing, '■Hn the same hour" 
 there will take place a great shaking, commotion or alteration in the 
 religious world, this is revealed by the words " there ivas a great 
 earthquake,'''' and a great part, a tenth, of the spiritual city of Sodom 
 and Egypt will fall, they will come out from among the earthly 
 worshippers, and hear and believe : others, to the amount of seven 
 thousand, though they will not believe, will be slain, that is, all their 
 former confidence will perish, their consciences will be awaked and 
 smitten, and thus they will be slain ; and the rest will be affrighted 
 and give glory to the God of heaven, though they will neither believe 
 nor be slain. 
 
 V. 14. The second wo is past, and, behold, the third wo cometh quickly. 
 
 The third wo cometh quickly ; there will yet be an interval of 
 some time before the kingdom of Christ will begin upon the earth, 
 before that will take place for which God's people have. been taught 
 to pray, viz. " thy kingdom come.'''' The rule and dominion of the 
 beast, of the doctrine that man can please God and ascend into heaven 
 by his own piety and exertions, will still continue, and men will still 
 be seduced by the all-deceivableness of unrighteousness to trust in 
 the arm of flesh and not to trust in God only. 
 
 V. 15, adfinem. And the seventh angel sounded : and there were great voices 
 in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our 
 Lord, and of his Christ ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. 
 
 The Time of the beast is now finished. Now begins the reign of 
 Righteousness, even of Christ, of truth and blessedness upon the 
 earth. God will now take to himself his great power, now the 
 Temple of God is opened in heaven. 
 
 In these verses the events which will happen when the seventh 
 Angel sounds are summarily revealed ; they do not however come to 
 pass all at once and together ; but here a brief summary of them is 
 given, and afterwards the particulars are revealed more fully and the 
 order in which all these things will be fulfilled. In the meanwhile, 
 a short pause and interruption is made, to reveal yet more fully and 
 in a separate chapter the things relating to the two beasts and their 
 time, and to give again a general summary of the whole, from the 
 period when Christ was glorified to the present day. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The things which will come to pass while the seventh angel sounds, 
 are resumed in the 14th chapter ; in the mean time a most minute 
 revelation is made in the l'3th chapter of the rise, and also of the 
 character of that false and abominable System of Antichrist, of that 
 Christianity or that counterfeit Christianity, which in various guise 
 was to have power to continue for 1260 years, that is, 42 months. 
 These religious earthly systems of earthly men, always bitter 
 
124 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST* 
 
 opposers of the offensive doctrine of the Lord Jesus Christ, are now 
 fully described under the name and figure of a beast. The whole is 
 preceded in this 12th chapter by a summary of what has been before 
 revealed ; and this being given in another form, yet perfectly agrees 
 with and establishes the whole, confirming it by constant repetition. 
 
 V. 1, 2. And there appeared a great wonder in heaven ; a woman clothed with 
 the sun, and the moon under lier feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: 
 And she being with child, cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. 
 
 The two Covenants are spoken of in the Scriptures under the 
 similitude of women, the one, the covenant of Mount Sinai, is called 
 a bondman, the other is called a free woman. The Apostle speaking 
 of the Everlasting Covenant, which was four hundred and thirty 
 years before the Law, says " Jervsalem above vs is free, who is the 
 mother of us ally This is the woman here seen. They who believe 
 are the children of the free woman, or the children of promise, and 
 they are the whole body of Christ ; each individual being only a 
 member of that one body ; this whole body is the n)an-child which 
 will reign on the earth. But they who are under the law are the 
 children of the bond woman. 
 
 Until the suffering of Christ and the glory which followed, the 
 free woman had been barren, but the other had had many children ; 
 but when Christ was glorified, then were fulfilled the words of the 
 prophet, " Rejoice thou barren that bearesf not, break forth and cry 
 thou that travaileth not, for the desolate hath many more children 
 than she which hath a husband.''^ This is the wonder which now 
 appeared ; it appeared immediately after the resurrection of Jesus 
 Christ from the dead, and this wonder was seen for a week of seven 
 hundred years ; for, during that time God confirmed the covenant 
 with many, as the prophet Daniel has written. Then first, after 
 Christ was glorified, the church was beheld in heaven, having access 
 into the presence of God by Him, then were they clothed with the 
 Sun, clothed in the bright and glorious righteousness of the Sun of 
 Righteousness, even Jesus Christ ; then were they delivered from 
 fear and all condemnation, for the Law (that is, the Moon, the light 
 which rules by night) was under their feet. Now were children 
 born to the free woman, " she being icith child cried." 
 
 V. 3,4. And there appeared another wonder in heaven ; and behold, a great red 
 dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And 
 his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth : 
 and the dragon stood before the woman wliich was ready to be delivered, for to de- 
 vour her child as soon as it was born. 
 
 Here again is repeated that which has before been revealed in the 
 preceding chapters ; namely, the rise of the beast " having seven 
 heads and ten horns," for now in the time of the church of Perga- 
 mos, Satan, the dragon, appeared with the abominations of false and 
 lying doctrines, in heaven, that is, in the midst of the church of God, 
 seducing by his preaching, (that is, his tail drew,) them who had 
 the truth of the kingdom of heaven, who are called the stars of 
 heaven. 
 
 " His tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven and did cast 
 
THE REVELATION OF JESITS CHRIST. 125 
 
 thevi to the earth." Here again is repeated the falling away revealed 
 before at the opening of the sixth seal in the 6th chapter ; they fell 
 to the earth like untimely figs from the fig tree, they departed from 
 the truth as it is in Christ ; they became earthly ; seeking right- 
 eousness from the man of the earth, and looking to him for piety 
 and good works, instead of looking to Christ only. Satan stood 
 ready to devour the children of the Covenant, the heirs of promise 
 as soon as they were born ; that is, the moment any one believed in 
 Christ, he was prepared with the abominations of earthly religion to 
 seduce him from the simplicity which is in Christ. 
 
 V. 5. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod 
 of iron : and her child was caug'ht up unto God, and to his throne. 
 
 Believers are the body of Christ : the man child signifies the chil- 
 dren of the covenant, they are " to reign on the earth.'''' Those who 
 now were born to the free woman were caught up unto God and his 
 throne, they disappeared entirely from the earth, none were left who 
 were true children of the Covenant, the falling away was total, the 
 heavens departed as a scroll, the grace of the kingdom was now no 
 longer known or preached, " there icas silence in heaven,'''' 
 
 V. 6. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared 
 of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and ihrcescore 
 days. 
 
 Here again is repeated what was before revealed ; that the dura- 
 tion of this falling away, and the reign of the Abomination would be 
 for the space of 1260 years. During all this time the Covenant of 
 God's Grace, his Everlasting Covenant in Christ has been fled from 
 the earth, has been in the wilderness in desolation, and has not been 
 known among the earthly worshippers, the followers of the Abomi- 
 nation, even the abomination of man's piety and works, that swine 
 flesh offering. 
 
 V. 7, 8. And there was war in heaven : Michael and his angels fought against 
 the dragon ; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not ; neither was 
 their place found any more in heaven. 
 
 It is after the falling away, and after the free woman is fled into the 
 wilderness, that what is now revealed takes place. 
 
 " There was war in heaven." Though at the falling away when 
 the 1260 years began, there were none left Avho kept the truth, all 
 the children of the heavenly Jerusalem being taken from the earth, 
 yet afterwards there were those who were " in heaven," that is who 
 believed, and had access by faith into Grace, which is heaven: these 
 were the Church in Philadelphia, as it has been revealed in the pre- 
 ceding chapters. But this very word, " there was war in heaven" 
 shows what a state of conflict they were in ; nevertheless Satan pre- 
 vailed not, he could not deprive them of their peace and Rest by the 
 accusations of the law, for " Michael and his angels fought ;" as 
 David says, "<Ae angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that 
 fear him, and delivereth them" so it was now, for it is God who 
 fighteth for his people, it is not they who fight and conquer. 
 
126 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 V. 9. And tlie great drag-on was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and 
 Satan, which deceivctli the whole world : lie was cast out into the earth, and his 
 angels were cast out with him. 
 
 From this eftort to disturb the peace of God's elect, who were 
 translated through faith out of the kingdom of Satan into the kingdom 
 of heaven, he was cast out into the earth, and his angels with him, 
 that is, the Church in Philadelphia was kept by the power of God, 
 Satan could not prevail over them as it was promised to them in the 
 10th verse of the 3d chapter. The earth signifies earthly worship- 
 pers, who are in the outer tabernacle and enter not by foith into the 
 holiest of all, but remain outside, oflering gifts and sacrifices that 
 can never make him that does the service perfect as pertaining to 
 the conscience ; these carnal ordinances were given only as patterns 
 of things in heaven, till Christ should come by his own blood and not 
 by any other means to cleanse our consciences from all sin, and open 
 for us the way into heaven ; — now they who still cleave to the earthly 
 patterns and reject the heavenly gift, are called the earth ; into this 
 earth Satan was now cast out ; but those who being already com- 
 pletely in the power of Satan and worshipping idols did not worship 
 in the outer tabernacle any more than Pagans, such are not here 
 signified under the name of the earth, they are the whole world," 
 and therefore the " earth'''' into which Satan was now cast out, signi- 
 fies the earthly worshippers among the Protestants ; and now begins 
 the " hour of teniptation^^ spoken of before, when evil angels appear 
 preaching and seducing the men of the earth, '■'■privily hr'tng'tng 
 in damnable heresies,^' as revealed in the 9th ciiapter. 
 
 " Hs was cast out into the earth ;" this is after the falling away, 
 and after the woman had fled into the wilderness : this casting out of 
 Satan into the earth is not the beginning of the 1260 years, for it is 
 revealed as taking place in the midst of that time. The earth here 
 signifies only the protestant worshippers, earthly men, who say they 
 are Jews, that is, the chosen people of God and servants of God, 
 when they are not, for they do not obey him and submit to his words. 
 Till now, Satan had not been cast into them, but was restrained and 
 hindered for the sake of the saints in Philadelphia : he was not now 
 cast out into the Roman Catholic Church, because he was already 
 there, it was his seat, and he gave that church his power and great 
 authority ; therefore being there already, he is now cast out into 
 them. It is the protestant beast which is here signified ; till now 
 they had kept the. outward form of sound doctrine ; but now, because 
 they were earthly and loved not the truth which they had, God doth 
 send them strong delusions, he sends evil angels among them ; now 
 begins that flood of disorder, confusion, false doctrine, perplexity and 
 error which has ever since prevailed among the protestant sects. 
 
 " His angels with him.'''' He does not come alone, multitudes of 
 devils enter into tiie earth (the earthly professors) with him, trans- 
 formed into angels of hght, preacliing doctrines of devils, and (which 
 is the character and name of Satan) accusing, condemning, threaten- 
 ing and grievously tormenting the dwellers on the cartli, and teaching 
 them to call condemnation and death and guilt on their consciences, 
 
TlIK IJKVELATION OF JESUS CUKIoT. 127 
 
 the experience and possession of the glorious Gospel of God ! how 
 this has been the case was revealed in tlic Oth chapter. 
 
 Christ prophesied of this generation which has exalted the man of 
 sin, and trampled under foot the Man of Righteousness, the only 
 Holy One of Israel, saying that they were not to pass away till all 
 was fiiihlled, and also saying, (and his words are faithful and true,) 
 that after they had had some devil cast out of them and become 
 religious, and been empty, swept and garnished, (tlius for a time 
 escaping the pollutions of the world through their fleshly knowledge 
 of the truth,) then the devil cast out would return and bring other 
 devils more wicked than himself, and the last state should be worse 
 than the first. Even so is it with this generation ; after sanctifying 
 themselves, they are confident that they are Jews, when they are of 
 the synagogue of Satan, and being pufted up with the persuasion of 
 their piety and sanctity, they are filled with more wicked devils than 
 they were servants to before their imaginary conversion, so that their 
 last state is worse than the first. This is the generation which was 
 not to pass away till all things were fulfilled. 
 
 V. 10, 11. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, 
 and strcngtl), and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ : for tiie 
 accuser of our brethren is cast down, whicli accused them before our God day and 
 night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their 
 testimony ; and they loved not their lives unto the death. 
 
 His accusation by the law is his warfare : and but for the blood of 
 Christ, by this warfare and accusation he would succeed in dragging 
 all the saints of God from heaven, that is, in depriving them of peace 
 with God and of a purified conscience ; for the accusation is true, 
 they have grievously sinned, and by the just and righteous law which 
 they have violated he claims to have power over them to torment 
 and punish them. But fbr ever, yea, for ever blessed be God ! by 
 the blood of the Lamb, we are more than conquerors, and answer 
 doubly all his accusations, his blood cleanseth us from all sin ; this 
 blood sprinkling us, purges our consciences, we are freed from guilt 
 and condemnation, and he cannot prevail against us. Even the blood 
 of rams and of goats and the sprinkling of a heiter, inasmuch as it 
 testified of Christ, sanctified in former days ; how much more doth 
 the blood of Jesus Christ, the lamb which God himself provided, 
 purge our consciences from dead works 1 God having provided a 
 sacrifice for us, we have not to provide or furnish any whatever, it 
 is an abomination to offer up any other sacrifice : in Him the Lamb 
 of God, God is well pleased. 
 
 " They overcame him by the wot-d of their testimony. ^^ It was 
 expressly pronfised to the church in Philadelphia, that they should be 
 kept from this dreadful time of Satan when he would be cast unto the 
 earth, because they kept his word. 
 
 " They loved 7wt their lives unto the death.'" When a man loves 
 his life, he will be in death ; when a man hates his life and desires, 
 and is willing to be crucified together with Christ, he will obtain life 
 eternal. " Our bellies cleave to the dust," we cling to the life of 
 this world, and are unwilling to forsake all and follow Christ, it is 
 
128 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 literally parting with our lives ; until God makes us fit for the king- 
 dom of heaven, we keep looking back after we have put our hands 
 to the plough. But he who will live with Christ must die with him, 
 must drink of that cup, forsake his life, and surrender his body to 
 be crucified in its affections and lusts, Christ will do all this for him 
 according to his faith, according to his hungering after the true 
 Righteousness, and he will also give him this faith. The church in 
 Philadelphia " loved not their lives unto the death." It is a painful 
 conflict, it is dying, it is being " put to death together with him ;" 
 yea, with him, for he sutlers when his people, his members sufler. 
 
 V. 12. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the 
 inhabiters of the earth and of the sea ! for the devil is come down unto you, having 
 great wrath, because he knoweth that he hatii but a short time. 
 
 " Woe to the inhabiters of the ea?-th." This same woe was uttered 
 before, previous to the appearance of the many delusions and errors 
 which immediately followed, as revealed in the 9th chapter. Of this 
 time also, and of this Woe, Daniel prophesied, saying, "a/u/ there shall 
 be a time of trouble, such as never icas since there ivas a nation, even 
 to that same time.'' This word " irotible," signifies the tribulation 
 and trouble which now is ; it is confusion, perplexity, disorder, tu- 
 mult ; it is trouble : it is not the day of wrath and vengeance, that 
 is to come, after this day of trouble and disorder. Isaiah has also 
 prophesied of this day of trouble, and reeling to and fro, showing how 
 the star called Wormwood has made the strong drink of the Gospel 
 bitter to them that drink it, how the inhabitants of the earth are 
 burned, (which burning by the law, they call the beauty of the 
 Gospel.) Ch. xxiv; ch. ii, v. 24, 25. 
 
 " Woe to the inhabiters of the sea." Not only has the earth been 
 deceived and followed doctrines of devils, but also as it has been seen 
 in these days, the inhabiters of the sea have not escaped. They who 
 have not been joined to religious societies but have boldly rejected 
 the Scriptures, have also followed devils, and the most absurd, abo- 
 minable and blasphemous theories and madness has been engendered 
 and received among them at the same time with the earth. It has 
 been the age of abominations, of diabolical activity and folly, both in 
 the sea and in the earth, that is, both among infidels and religious 
 sects. It has been a time of trouble and perplexity, such as never 
 has been known since the world began ; the sea and its waves roar- 
 ing with a blasphemous audacity and boldness such as never before 
 at any time was witnessed. It has been the flood and deluge of 
 Satan. The commencement of this time of trouble (when Satan, 
 failing in the war in heaven against them in Philadelphia, was cast 
 out into the earth) has been revealed in the 9th chapter. But it was 
 not only Woe to the inhabiters of the earth, but also Woe to the 
 inhabiters of the sea ; for while Satan was working religiously in 
 England he was also busy in the Sea, especially in France, where 
 infidelity was as active as religious falsehood was in England. The 
 French R(;volution and the blasphemies of the French Philosophers 
 was contemporaneous with the rise of serpents and scorpions in the 
 religious world, that is, both occurred about the same time, fulfilling 
 
THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 129 
 
 the words, " Woe to the inhabiters of the sea." Because iniquity- 
 has so dreadfully abounded in all this time of trouble, both religious 
 and political, the love of many (namely, of Laodicea) has waxed 
 cold ; for which lukewarmness, (waxing cold, though not quite cold,) 
 Laodicea was reproved in the third chaper ; by which also we know 
 that this is that very time of tribulation which Christ foretold should 
 come to pass ; and we know that immediately after this tribulation 
 there will come a darkness over the earth, the sun will be darkened : 
 (but not to the elect of God ; only to the earth : " ye brethren are not 
 in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all 
 the children of the light and the children of the day, we are not of the 
 night nor of darkness,") and in the midst of this darkness, the day 
 of the Lord will come, a day of darkness to them that dwell on the 
 earth ; and then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds 
 of heaven with power and great glory. (Zeph. i. 14 to 17. Amos 
 V. 18, 20. Joel iii. 14, 15, 16. Ezl. xxxii. 7, 8. Ez. xxx. 2, 3. Is. 
 V. 30. Is. viii. 22. Is. xiii. 9, 10.) 
 
 " He hath but a short time.'" Hence it is manifest that the day is 
 close at hand, when he shall be bound for a thousand years, as it is 
 revealed in another chapter : therefore, immediately after these tri- 
 bulations which he bringeth on the earth, the day of the Lord will 
 come, as Christ has also foretold, (Matt. 24,) but first night will 
 come, and gross darkness upon the earth ; " the sun shall be dark- 
 ened and the moon shall not give her light." That day will come 
 " in the night," as a thief. 
 
 V. 13. And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted 
 the woman which brought forth the man child. 
 
 In all the hour of temptation from which the church in Philadel- 
 phia was kept, which began after the Woe pronounced above, the 
 great, constant, and inexhaustible topic of the false prophets and 
 preachers of the earth, has ever been to preach and declaim in all 
 their sermons, and warn men against the free woman, that is, the 
 doctrine of Christ, the doctrine which gives freedom from the law 
 of death and condemnation. To hear of it, tormented them beyond 
 measure, they denounced it as licentious, immoral, antinomian, blas- 
 phemous, (kc. The preachers of this blessed Gospel of ..^o and 
 liberty, of whom there were several in the church of Laodicea, (be- 
 fore the two witnesses had finished their testimony,)* were hated 
 and cast out, and considered as enemies of religion. 
 
 " He persecuted the woman." It was the doctrine they persecuted, 
 the woman, not the followers of the doctrine, the church of the Lao- 
 diceans, because they excited no envy, their walk and conversation 
 being carnal, was a triumph to the earth, but the time is coming 
 when they will persecute them also as well as their doctrine, when 
 they shall behold in them the Power and Might of God. They des- 
 pised and pitied them when they saw them not approved, spued out 
 of his mouth, and almost as hot and burning in lust after money and 
 the things of this life as themselves ; there was nothing to create 
 
 * Such were Mr. Romainc, Dr. Hawker, Win. Huntington, and others. 
 17 
 
130 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 their envy, and they only therefore persecuted the " wonianJ''' La- 
 odicea has trusted in gold that would not stand the fire, in feelings, 
 frames and experiences ; they have been naked and their shame has 
 appeared, and their enemies have triumphed over them j Christ 
 counsels them to buy of him gold tried in the fire, which will with- 
 stand every fiery trial, and white raiment that they may be clothed ; 
 he stands at the door and knocks ; (he that hath ears to hear, let 
 him hear.) Thus Satan has persecuted the woman which brought 
 forth the man child. The persecution has not been against them 
 who believed for the reasons mentioned above, but against the truth 
 and doctrine, the Everlasting Covenant of God's Righteousness and 
 Love in which they trusted, against the woman, viz. " Jerusalem, 
 which is above, who is free, and i.s the mother of zis all.^^ But not- 
 withstanding their hatred, let them know that this woman hath 
 " brought forth a man child ivhich is to rule all nations uith a rod of 
 iron," that is, them who believe, the children of the kingdom, and 
 they all are together the body of Christ, and " they shall reign on 
 the earth. ^^ 
 
 V. 14. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might 
 fly into the wilderness, into her place ; where she is nourislied for a time, and times, 
 and half a time, from the face of the serpent. 
 
 Here again is revealed (as hath so frequently been repeated) the 
 duration of the time in which the Abomination will prevail and the 
 truth be hidden from the world, viz. 1260 years. A time is a Jewish 
 year, times are two of the years, and a half is six months, making 
 in all 42 months and 1260 days, signifying that number of years. 
 " That she micht fij into the wilderness, into her place jvhcre she is 
 nourished,^' shows that the time of 1260 years did not now first 
 begin, but that with respect to the church in Philadelphia, the people 
 of God were in a better condition than any had been in since the 
 falling away, so that the woman had, as it were, left her place in the 
 wilderness ; for then she was, though desolate, yet less desolate than at 
 any other period of the Abomination which has made desolate. " She 
 flew into her place," that is, now when Satan was cast out into the 
 Protestant earth of earthly men, (who till this time had enjoyed 
 quiet for the sake of the church in Philadelphia,) the desolation be- 
 came greater than ever it had been before. The truth of God rapidly 
 disappeared, she fled with wings as of an eagle. And so it has been 
 in this hour of temptation and time of tribulation ; the truth of God, 
 Zion, has been more desolate, has been fled further away, has been 
 more removed from the earth than ever it has been in any former 
 time, till now at last, the truth is utterly cast out and the children of 
 the bondwoman triumph and make merry and send presents one to 
 another, because, they are no longer tormented with hearing the 
 preaching and prophesying of God's eternal truth, and everlasting 
 Gospel. 
 
 V. 15. And the serpent cast out of his month water as a flood, after the woman, 
 that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. 
 
 " Water as a food." The word of God is called water, and so 
 
THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 131 
 
 also the teaching and lies of Satan are called water : the false doc- 
 trines whtch have deluged the religious world, giving rise to innu- 
 merable sects, are here signified. Satan has cast these " out of his 
 mouth, after the woman /"that is, against the Covenant of God's grace 
 and everlasting love to his elect in Christ Jesus, which it has been 
 the object of the dragon to destroy ; and truly in these days, in which 
 we have seen the flood of Satan's doctrines overflowing the earth, it 
 has been seen that they have all been directed against and in oppo- 
 sition to the Everlasting Covenant. It is against this Covenant, 
 against Jerusalem which is above, against " the woman''' that Satan 
 has poured out all his flood of delusions. Against it the false pro- 
 phets have directed all their venom. In this has been fulfilled the 
 prophecy of the Apostle Paul, " God shall send them strong delusions,^'' 
 and he says it will be because they did not receive the truth in the 
 love of it. The object of Satan was that the Truth " might be car- 
 ried away in the food." No engine against the truth could be more 
 powerful than an imitation and counterfeit, getting men to follow this 
 instead of the real ; Satan had already tried this and succeeded for a 
 long time, and yet, notwithstanding the church in Philadelphia, and 
 some even in Sardis, received the truth and rejected the counterfeit 
 and abomination. But now towards the end of the 42 months, 
 knowing that his time is short and being cast out upon the earth 
 from his effort to overthrow the people of God in Philadelphia, who 
 had access by faith into Grace, that is, into heaven, he now makes 
 one great effort, more violent than any before ; he pours out an 
 immense flood of delusions ; not one abomination, not one counterfeit 
 and false system of Christianity, but thousands ; and the object is as 
 is here expressed, " that he might cause her to be carried away of 
 the food" that in the midst of such a vast crowd of falsehoods, 
 deceptions and delusions, the truth may be lost and swept away, that 
 men may be thereby deceived, and being lost and bewildered in the 
 confusion of so much religious madness and folly may be led to 
 suppose that there is no Truth of God at all, and that since there 
 are such floods of delusions all is a delusion, and there is no truth of 
 God. Thus he hoped to sweep away the only truth, by a great flood 
 of counterfeits, that it might be carried away in the flood and so no 
 one might believe, and so no flesh might be saved ! And except the 
 Lord had shortened these days no flesh should be saved ; but for the 
 elect's sake whom he hath chosen he will shorten these days. (Mat. 
 ii. 4.) 
 
 V. 16. And the earth helped tlie woman ; and the eartli opened her mouth, and 
 swallowed ap the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. 
 
 The earth, (the religious professors,) has opened its mouth and 
 swallowed up the flood which the dragon has cast out of his mouth : 
 there is no folly and delusion however monstrous and abominable, 
 which they have not greedily swallowed. It has been indeed " an 
 hour of temptation, to try them that dwell on the earth.''^ They 
 would not receive the truth that God, he alone is God and the 
 Creator, he alone is holy and he alone has power, he alone saves, 
 
132 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 and saves whom he will — they asserted that man has holiness, 
 " personal holmess" and power, and is a self creator, if he chooses ; 
 the truth they would not receive, but every falsehood and all sorts 
 of lies and absurdities they have greedily received and swallowed. 
 In doing so they have " helped the wonmn,^^ for the truth being the 
 only thing they would not receive, all agreeing in a general malig- 
 nity against it, they have set it apart, and separated it from their 
 own doctrines and abominations, and thus set a mark upon it which 
 cannot be mistaken. The covenant of God's Righteousness, even of 
 his Christ, by whom and in whom they that receive him are blessed, 
 by faith and without doing any thing, — this Covenant of Grace and 
 favour and Love, in being thus thrust out from such company, is 
 individualized and separated from out of the flood of religious decep- 
 tions and delusions ; and thus the earth which would not receive the 
 truth, has helped the truth by receiving and swallowing the flood of 
 error. 
 
 V. 17. And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with 
 the remnant of her seed, which keep the commands of God, and have the testimony 
 of Jesus Christ. 
 
 " The remnant of her seed,'''' shows that the child caught up to 
 God and his throne, as mentioned in the fifth verse, signified only 
 a part of her seed ; there is a remnant yet remaining of the man 
 child, the seed of the free woman, the children of light, the chil- 
 dren of the kingdom ; all who believe are collectively the man 
 child, the seed of the free woman, of whom David says, "a seed 
 shall serve him" which seed the Apostle Paul testifies is the 
 whole body of Christ, " and every one of us members in particular." 
 Satan makes war against this seed of the woman, for he is wroth 
 against her, and against the truth of Jesus Christ. He does not go 
 to war with the earth, he bites and torments them ; he has warred 
 against them of Laodicea and overcome them, for they have not been 
 in heaven " seated together with Him in heavenhj places" they have 
 been " carnal, and ivalked as men," therefore because they were 
 neither hot nor cold the Lord has " spued them out of his mouth," 
 that is, they have not been delivered, but have been given over to 
 Satan ^^for the destrvciion of the flesh, that the Spirit may be saved 
 in the day of the Lord Jesiis." To them it is said, " Behold I stand 
 at the door and knock." But the remnant of her seed here spoken 
 of, signifies those who will now believe, the remnant which is yet to 
 be fulfilled of the body of Christ, against whom he is going to make 
 furious war, and against whom he shall not prevail, for their Re- 
 deemer is mighty, the Lord of Hosts is his name. This remnant is 
 yet to be gathered in before the end cometh : the church of Laodi- 
 cea is among them, they will hear the voice of Christ, they will 
 follow him, and not love their lives ; " he that is of God hoareth 
 God's words," and they will hear, after they have been chastened 
 and rebuked. And not they only, but also the multitude of the sea, 
 (as the prophet has foretold,) and also Israel, and also many of the 
 earth, of Sodom and Egypt, and also of Great Babylon. " And 
 there shall be One Lord and his name One." 
 
THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 133 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 A more particular Revelation is now made of the various churches 
 or ecclesiastical establishments which have during the time of 1260 
 years passed under the name of churches of God, when they were 
 inventions of men, and churches of the devil. 
 
 The power, reign and dominion of these establishments is called a 
 " Beast," and by the prophet Daniel a " King" for man exalted 
 and honoured is the whole foundation of their religion, and their 
 reign and dominion is the reign and dominion of man and not of 
 Christ ; David testifies that " man that is in honour and understand- 
 eth not, is like the beasts that perish" and Daniel says, (speaking of 
 four different dominions,) " the four beasts are kings." This Beast 
 is sinful man, exalted and set in honour as a king and a saviour ; he 
 is called by the Apostle Paul the " 7}ian of sin," that is, simply sinful 
 man ; and because his sins are as scarlet, he is also called a " scarlet 
 beast." 
 
 V. 1. And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, 
 having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his 
 heads the name of blasphemy. 
 
 This beast rose up out of the sea, for the Roman and also the 
 Greek Church (which are the same and were one at their origin) 
 was set up and received its power from the sea, from the world, and 
 men of this world, among whom the Emperor Constantino is most 
 distinguished. This beast is the same which in the preceding chapter 
 was revealed as appearing and standing before the woman to devour 
 her seed ; there it was called the dragon, and here it is man, for 
 they are both one, as Christ and his people are both one, but are a 
 lamb not a dragon. 
 
 V. 2. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as 
 the feet of a bear, aud his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him 
 his power, and his seat, and great authority. 
 
 A leopard represents sinful man ; the prophet Jeremiah says, " can 
 the leopard change his sjwts ?" The dragon gave him great au- 
 thority ; the Church of Rome has had great authority indeed, and it 
 has been both the authority of man and the authority of Satan in 
 one. 
 
 V. 3, 4. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death ; and his 
 deadly wound was healed : and all the world wondered after the beast. And they 
 worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast : and they worshipped the 
 beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast ? who is able to make war with him ? 
 
 Christ put to death the body of sin and death ; then was the old 
 Adam, the old man slain, then that beast received his death wound ; 
 but now by the falsehood of Satan he is revived again, as if he had 
 life and could do good, and notwithstanding that deadly wound putting 
 him to death, is taught by this Church as having life and power and 
 being able to do good and serve God and work righteousness. This 
 beast thus revived by false doctrine now excited the wonder of all 
 the world by liis apparent life, and the apparent works of goodness 
 and sanctity which he now began to exhibit. 
 
134 THE REVKLATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 V. 5. And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things, and blas- 
 phemies : and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. 
 
 Here again is revealed (which has so often been repeated) that the 
 power of the Beast should continue lor 1260 years, in which time 
 the saints of God should not have power, but should be overcome, as 
 the following verses show. 
 
 V. 11. And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth ; and he had two 
 horns like a larnb, and he spake as a dragon. 
 
 This second beast comprehends all the number and variety of all 
 other churches or religious bodies which at different times have 
 sprung up, since what is called the reformation. 
 
 " Coming up out of the earth,'''' shows that they did not arise all 
 at once, in unity as the former establishment did, but at different 
 times, as it were continually springing up : " out of the earth,'''' that 
 is, they were not set up by princes or emperors, men of the sea, but 
 arose from the fleshly zeal and piety of religious persons, from the 
 whoredoms of men, from the bottomless pit of the earth. 
 
 " Tioo horns like a lamb ;" these are Luther and Calvin, both 
 acknowledged as the two great authorities or horns of the reforma- 
 tion : " I'lke a lamb,'''' for the doctrine and ministration which now 
 began was very much like the doctrine of Christ the Lamb of God ; 
 it was a counterfeit more subtle and more resembling the truth than 
 the former establishment. 
 
 " He spake as a dragon :" that is, although the beast which is 
 here revealed as now arising, appeared like a lamb, it was not in 
 reality the power and reign of Christ the Lamb which now arose ; 
 for " he spake as a dragon ,•" the dragon is the accuser, the opposer, 
 using the Law to accuse and to oppose the Grace of God ; so also, 
 as the dragon, both Luther and Calvin preached the Law which 
 accuses and condemns, and thus they spake as a dragon. " He (the 
 beast) spake as a dragon ;" this beast in all its many and various 
 shapes and forms has always spoken as a dragon ; like a dragon 
 breathing out fire and smoke and brimstone ; using all the terrors of 
 the law, and fears and threats, as instruments of its religion. 
 
 V. 12. And he exerciseth all the povfer of the first beast before him, and causeth 
 the earth, and them which dwell therein, to worship the first beast, whose deadly 
 wound was healed. 
 
 " All the power of the first beast before him :" that is, the very 
 same kind of power which the Roman Catholic beast exercised, has 
 been since him exercised by the Protestant beast. " And cavseth 
 the earth to worship ;" the Protestant churches have been as intole- 
 rant as the Roman Catholic church, and forced or " caused" men 
 to worship according to their forms, and punished men for non- 
 conformity as well as the beast before, thus caus'mg the earth to wor- 
 ship.* 
 
 * The cruel and bloody persecutions of the Church of England against those 
 who would not conform to her, arc well known. In 170.3, when an act of tole- 
 ration was brought forward in Scotland for the benefit of those who did not conform 
 to the PrcBbyterian church, the General Assembly of the Presbyterians presented 
 
THE REVELATION OF JESUS CnEIST. 135 
 
 " To worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.'''' 
 The Roman Catholic Church worshipped several beasts : it is repre- 
 sented with seven heads ; the head signifies the abomination, the 
 object of trust and confidence, as Christ is the " head of the church:'''' 
 one of the objects of trust and confidence in the Roman Church, as 
 well as their images, saints and mass, &c.,is man, the old man, the 
 body of sin and death, in him they also trust, in his doing good, in 
 his works and piety ; this is one of the heads of that church ; this is 
 sinful man, the beast, the body of sin and death which received a 
 deadly wound, which was put to death in the body of Jesus Christ : 
 this beast which though put to death yet lives, {it is not and yet is,) 
 is that one of the seven heads which the Protestant Beast has caused 
 men to worship ; this is the beast whose deadly wound was healed, 
 and it is the same as the first beast ; and they have caused men to 
 worship it : " it is of the seven," and yet it is " the eighth," and 
 " it ascendeth out of the hottojnless pit,''' that is, religious whoredom 
 is that which has raised and exalted it, and it shall be destroyed, that 
 is, " it goeth into perdition" 
 
 V. 13. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from 
 heaven on the earth in the sight of men. 
 
 " He doeth great u-onders ;" these are the deeds of piety and 
 apparent holiness which this beast has done : the wonderful reforma- 
 tions it has apparently wrought, the devils it has cast out ; for of a 
 truth many evil livers and drunkards and others have had such devils 
 as were in them cast out, and to the wonder of the sea and admira- 
 tion of the earth have joined the church and become pious, being 
 " made perfect in thefesh" This beast has also often preached the 
 terrible law of God, which is a law against all unrighteousness and 
 ungodliness of men, and which is true and certain, though even Satan 
 preached it ; and thus, not knowing what spirit they were of, (Luke 
 ix. 54, 55,) they have made the dreadful judgments of God's law to 
 fall like fire from heaven upon wicked transgressors. The manifest 
 judgments of the law which have often and in the most awful manner 
 fallen upon men, after the threatening and denunciations of this beast, 
 are great wonders which he has done. Even in this day these 
 wonders are often trumpeted forth in the newspapers, and it is re- 
 lated how men have returned money or other things which they had 
 stolen before they became religious ; these things are called the 
 " Power of Religion," &c. and create admiration and wonder in the 
 sight of men when they behold the firo of God's law causing evil 
 man " ^o do many things.'^ 
 
 V. 14. And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those mira- 
 cles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast, saying to them that dwell 
 on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast which had the wound 
 by a sword, and did live. 
 
 a representation against it, which caused it to be laid aside. This "causing men 
 to worship,'" refusing toleration, using constraint and force, is the same power as 
 was exercised by the beast before : as if God would have among his people those 
 who served him unwillingly I 
 
136 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 By means of these wonders or miracles, which are not by the 
 Spirit of Christ, he deceiveth the men of the eartii ; they have taken 
 the dreadful certainty of the law to be a clear proof that they pos- 
 sessed the Gospel, and have been deceived. 
 
 " Saying, they should make an linage to the beast :" here is another 
 deception revealed, the deepest and most wonderful of all. The 
 astonishing and manifest truth of this which is here revealed, shows 
 the wisdom and almighty power and glory of Christ, who revealed 
 this thing so many ages before ; " truly,^^ they will say who do not 
 harden their hearts, truly this is the Christ, the only Saviour, and 
 his 7cord is true. 
 
 The abomination, the beast to which the Protestant harlots or 
 beasts, have said men should make an image, is particularly specified 
 and designated, it is " the beast which had a wound by a sword and 
 did lice,^^ it is man, the flesh, the body of sin and death, it is of the 
 seven abominations of the beast before, and in the Protestant beast it 
 is an eighth, it is the beast that was, and is not, and yet is ; it is the 
 beast which has ascended out of the bottomless pit, which has sprung 
 out of the religious whoredom and wisdom of earthly men ; it is man, 
 sinful man, iniquity, the wicked one, the head of earthly worshippers, 
 as the Holy One is the head of them that worship God in spirit and 
 in truth. This wicked one is now fully revealed and greatly exalted, 
 and now in this day, even all shame is passed away and the power 
 and excellence and goodness and hopefulness of this wicked one, 
 " sifting as God in the temj)le of God,''"' is openly maintained and 
 exalted. Let us now see what is signified by making an image to 
 this beast. 
 
 The beast with two horns, that is, the body of Protestants, has 
 always spoken bitterly against the first beast, viz. the Roman Catho- 
 lics, and against their abomination of confiding in the works of man 
 and exalting that beast which had the deadly wound. But while 
 they have been talking loudly against their elder sister (Ezek. xxiii.), 
 they have set up the same beast and taught religious people, the 
 earth, to look to the beast, that is, to their own doings, the doings of 
 man, to his piety, his labour and efforts for working righteousness, 
 that is, doing good. But, as they have both preached and written and 
 fought against the Roman Catholics, and especially against this one of 
 the seven heads of their abominations, they have therefore pretended 
 to much more purity, and have not openly and directly set up the beast, 
 but instead thereof have said to their followers, {tJicm that dwell on 
 the earth) that they should make an image to this beast ; and behold 
 how they have done it. They have preached and taught, that to be 
 born again is to have a new man created internally, and that it is 
 this new creature, this image of man, an imaginary man, who does 
 good ; thus they have deceived themselves and others, saying " it is 
 not the old man who dors gcod, it is not the beast, but it is the ne\o man, 
 this image of the beast.^'' Thus they escape from Christ, and reject 
 him, tli(!y will not have him to work righteousness for them and so 
 to save them, and yet they dare not set up the old man ; therefore 
 they set up an image of the old man, an imagination, an image of the 
 
THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 137 
 
 beast, and this is their saviour ; this regenerate man, yea, this 
 " reoenerate sinner," as they call the image of the old sinner (for 
 they confess it is a sinner, a beast) does good, that is, works right- 
 eousness and saves them ! 
 
 This substitute for the beast they call " a change cf heart,'''' and 
 they teach that though the old man, the sinful man or the beast, 
 cannot do good, yet they get a new man, they themselves, that is, 
 the filthy beast, becomes a changed man, and it is this changed man, 
 or this regenerate man, who does good ! who, in other words, is their 
 saviour ; for at all events they will not receive Christ to be the Christ 
 and saviour, " 7vorking mightily in them that believe.'''' Thus they 
 substitute an ideal image of the beast for the beast itself. This is the 
 image of the beast which they say that the men of the earth should 
 make ! it is an imaginary creature instead of the old creature, an 
 image of the beast instead of the beast itself; it is an imagination of 
 their own, that is, an image. 
 
 Thus while they pretend to say they cannot do good, and persuade 
 themselves they have no trust in man, (that is, are not worshippers 
 of the beast,) yet as soon as they have taught a man to make this 
 image, then they tell him he has got a change, a new heart, an ima- 
 ginary something in him, and now he can do good ; and they call 
 upon the filthy sinner, " the regenerate sinner,'''' to do good, that is, 
 to work righteousness, letting him know, every now and then, that it 
 is not he who does good, but this new thing, this image of the old 
 man, this image of the beast. Thus by their gross, fleshly and 
 abominable perversion of the words of God, by their sensual and 
 earthly interpretations, they bring forth the old man, the beast, under 
 a new form or image ; inculcating earnestly the necessity of the new 
 birth, by which they signify the necessity of making this Image. 
 
 Constantly talking of Christ, they reject him and will not receive 
 him ; but they will receive this something within them, this ideality, 
 this image, this new self, yea, they will receive any thing to work 
 righteousness and save them, rather than Christ ; they will acknow- 
 ledge any god but the only true God. Idolatry, wickedness and evil 
 deeds are dreadful indeed, even alone and by themselves, but when 
 covetous men and men who do wrong, add furthermore to their evil 
 the pretence of worshipping God, and say they are his servants, and 
 his children, and have his good Spirit, then wickedness can go no 
 farther. This is hypocrisy, when a servant to sin deems himself to 
 be a servant of God. 
 
 V. 15. And he Iiad power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image 
 of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the 
 image of the beast should be killed. 
 
 This image of the beast appears to have life ; they presume to say, 
 that the grace of God is with it, giving it life and enabling it to do 
 good. It has its experiences, its feelings, its holy frames, its pious 
 ecstacies ; it is full of talk, it is a speaking image ; it has made a 
 great show of life, some of its worshippers have exhibited the utmost 
 attainments of fleshly perfection. It causes them that will not wor- 
 ship the image to be killed, that is, it breathes out condemnation and 
 18 
 
138 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHKIST. 
 
 death to those who do not make " a new heart" to themselves ; and 
 men who do not set up the image, feel condemned, that is, are killed 
 for not doing so, for not being pious, as they feel they ought to be. 
 
 Thus, in this wonderful book of Revelation, the Spirit of Christ 
 has accurately revealed, many ages before, what would come to pass; 
 viz. that men of the earth, professing themselves to be children of 
 a heavenly kingdom, would not only look to sinful man to do the 
 work of Christ, and thus exalt him in the place of Christ, that is, 
 God ; but that also, plunging deeper than this into guile and confu- 
 sion and lies, would set up an image, a pretended new form or image 
 of man, another man as they would persuade themselves, a regenerate 
 man, and, to avoid the condemnation of worshipping the first beast, 
 would look to this imaginary man, this image of the beast for right- 
 eousness ; that is, would trust to and worship it, attributing to it 
 wisdom and power and goodness which are only in Christ, that is, in 
 God. 
 
 V. 16. And he caused all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to 
 receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads. 
 
 Every one receives a mark ; it is called the mark of the name, 
 that is, of the denomination ; no one can belong to them without 
 receiving the peculiar mark or characteristic of the sect he belongs 
 to ; this mark or characteristic of each name or denomination con- 
 sists in tenets or doctrines they hold, or in particular practices or 
 habits they adopt ; the principles or tenets form the mark in their 
 foreheads, and the practice they pursue is the mark in the hand. 
 
 V. 17. And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the 
 name of the beast, or the number of his name. 
 
 The power of the Protestant beast which has been elevated out of 
 the profound depths of the wicked heart of earthly men, (that is, out 
 of the pit of the earth,) is diflerent to the power of the first beast, the 
 Roman Catholic Church ; they have no sword in their hand, no 
 secular authority, therefore they resort to a different way of exercis- 
 ing authority and spreading their religious influence. If they can 
 possibly prevent it, no man may buy or sell, no man may trade or 
 carry on business unless he is " decidedly pious.^'' If it is known 
 that a man who carries on any business is opposed to them, or is not 
 a friend to the cause, who does not belong to some religious society, 
 (that is, who has not the name of the beast or the number of his 
 name,) they will not suffer that man to do business if they can help 
 it. Thus " he caiiseth that no man might buy or sell save he that has 
 the mark, or the name of the beast or the number of his name." By 
 this means the community is in fear of them, and they exercise great 
 dominion, and cause men to worship the beast by such a mercenary 
 coercion, which is tacitly understood. Few of those who have ven- 
 tured to war against them, have escaped being what is called ruined 
 in their business and prospects. 
 
 V. 18. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of 
 the beast : for it is the number of a man : and his number is Six hundred three- 
 score and six. 
 
THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 189 
 
 The number of the beast is six hundred and sixty-six : it is the 
 number of a man, for the beast is a man, even sinful man ; the whole 
 number of this beast is six hundred and sixty-six, let him that hath 
 understanding, count the names, or denominations, and the whole 
 number of the name which this beast has or has had, will be found 
 to be exactly the Number here revealed. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Now is resumed the continuation of the Revelation from the last 
 verses of the 11th chapter, after the interruption made in the two 
 preceding chapters, revealing the things relating to the Beast and 
 his time. 
 
 It was revealed at the end of the 11th chapter, that when the 
 seventh Angel sounded the reign of Christ was come, and the time 
 of the dead that they should be judged ; that which was there re- 
 vealed as being the things which will then come to pass, is now 
 revealed in the order and particulars of the events which now are to 
 take place. The following are those events which will come to pass 
 in the time of the sounding of the seventh angel. 
 
 V. 1. The church of God's elect, with the lost sheep of the house 
 of Israel, will be assembled at Mount Zion, and nations will flow 
 unto it. 
 
 V. 2. The everlasting Gospel will be preached in all the world, 
 going forth from Mount Zion. 
 
 V. 3, The blessedness of those who now repent and believe, will 
 henceforth be greater than has been for 1260 years. 
 
 V. 4. The elect of God will be reaped or gathered in from the 
 world, great multitudes will believe, for the harvest will have come ; 
 after which many false professors, the vine of the earth, will be 
 reaped, and the winepress trodden. 
 
 V. 5. Now before the end cometh, seven last plagues will be 
 poured out upon the earth. 
 
 V. 6. A great confederacy and alliance will be entered into by 
 the beast, like a lamb with the kings of the earth against the saints 
 of God. They will have a false prophet among them, working 
 miracles and deceiving them that worship the beast and his image. 
 Their power will appear overwhelming and invincible, and it will 
 appear to them that God has commissioned them ; they will be like 
 Sennacherib and his host in the days of King Hezekiah : which Sen- 
 nacherib is a prophetic type of this great and powerful confederacy. 
 As Hezekiah trembled so the saints of God will be alarmed and 
 tremble, that is, " the powers which are in heaven will be shaken." 
 Many among lliem will prove they were not of them and will fall 
 from the steadfastness they may have hitherto maintained, that is, 
 " the stars will fall from heaven." There will be gross darkness in 
 the earth which however they will mistake for light, " the sun will 
 be darkened and the moon will not give her light," this will be in 
 all the land of Egypt. They will gather together to destroy the 
 saints of God, in a place called in Hebrew Armageddon. 
 
140 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 V. 7. The Roman Catholic Church, which is Babylon, the 
 Mother of Harlots and abominations of the earth, will be utterly 
 destroyed before the coming of Christ, as Jeremiah and the other 
 prophets have foretold, God will send against them a powerful nation 
 from the north ; but the Son of Perdition, the beast like a lamb, the 
 earthly protestants and their doctrine (viz. exalting sinful man, or 
 an imaginary man, as doing good or working righteousness) will 
 remain till the coming of the Lord, " whom the Lord shall consume 
 with the spirit of his mouth and the brightness of his coming." 
 
 V. 8. When the enemies of God's people appear sure of triumph 
 and too powerful to be overcome, being gathered together with great 
 confidence and power as if for inevitable victory and triumph, so that 
 the saints of God are shaken and troubled, then God will hear their 
 cry and behold their distress and the pride of the enemy, and he will 
 come down to deliver them. Then, even then the Lord Jesus Christ 
 will appear, coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great 
 glory and all his holy angels with him, in flaming fire, taking ven- 
 geance of his enemies. The mighty host of his enemies will be 
 destroyed by the word of his mouth and the brightness of his coming, 
 the bodies of this huge carcass will be given to the fowls of heaven, 
 the carcass will be there, and thither will the eagles be gathered 
 together. 
 
 V. 9. The resurrection of them that are Christ's will now take 
 place at this his coming, and some will rise to shame and everlasting 
 contempt. The seventh angel now will have finished sounding, Christ 
 will reign ; God will have taken to himself his great power, and the 
 mystery of God will be finished, as was uttered by the four and 
 twenty elders, when at the beginning of the sounding of the seventh 
 angel they fell upon their faces and worshipped God. This is the 
 first resurrection. 
 
 Thus the world will go on as usual and the idolatrous and unbe- 
 lieving be as confident as ever in the things in which they trust, and 
 will not acknowledge nor trust in God only, till the very moment 
 when Christ shall appear in the clouds of heaven with ten thousand 
 of his saints to exercise judgment upon all, as Enoch prophesied. 
 They will wilfully shut their eyes to the truth, to invincible facts, 
 because they will love darkness rather than light, till the very 
 moment when sudden destruction will come upon them unawares, 
 and they will suddenly be destroyed, and that without mercy. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 V. 1. And I looked, and lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and witli him a 
 hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their fore- 
 heads. 
 
 The church of falsehood and confusion has been signified by a 
 beast ; the Church of Christ is also designated under the figure of a 
 beast ; but the one is a dragon, the other is a Lamb. It is here 
 revealed that the Church of Christ will stand on Mount Zion : hither- 
 to a beast " like a lamW'' has been seen on the earth, deceiving men, 
 
THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 141 
 
 but now the real lamb is seen on Mount Zion, " a city set upon a 
 hill." 
 
 Now will be fulfilled the words spoken before by the prophets 
 Isaiah and Micah, who prophesied of these times. " But in the last 
 days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lordy 
 shall he established in the top of the mountains, and. it shall he exalted 
 above the hills, and people shall foio unto it.'''' (Micah iv. 1.) 
 
 With the Lamb there are a hundred forty and four thousand : 
 these are of the tribes of Israel, they have joined the Lamb, the 
 Church of Christ, they are " with him." 
 
 V. 3. And they snng- as it were a new song before tlie throne, and before the 
 four beasls, and the elders : and no man could learn that song but the hundred and 
 forty and four tiiousand, which were redeemed from the earth. 
 
 No man could learn that song but those of the tribes of Israel. 
 When God shall gather together the lost sheep of the house of Is- 
 rael, as he hath promised that he would do when they should accept 
 their long punishment and banishment, and return to him acknow- 
 ledging their sins, then among all the redeemed of the Lord, these 
 will have a song of praise, which they only can learn who have 
 suffered what they have suffered. It is the song of the house of Is- 
 rael, on the turning again of its captivity. 
 
 V. 4. These are they which were not defiled with women ; for they are virgins. 
 These are they which follow the liamb whithersoever lie goeth. These were re- 
 deemed from among men, being the first-fruits unto God and to the Lamb. 
 
 They are Israelites indeed, in spirit, not in the letter, in whom is 
 no guile : they are " without fault^'' being sprinkled with the blood 
 of Christ, the lamb, the passover which is slain for us ; God beholdeth 
 no iniquity in Jacob, in their great High Priest in whom he vieweth 
 them, who also bears their names on his bosom. They were not 
 defiled with women, with the harlot churches of the earth, as niany 
 have been ; they follow the lamb : " my sheep hear my voice and I 
 know them, and they follow me^ 
 
 V. 6, 7. And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the ever- 
 lasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, 
 and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying v;ith a loud voice, Fear God, and give 
 glory to him ; for the hour of his judgment is come : and worship him that made 
 heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. 
 
 Now will be fulfilled the words of Christ, " and this Gospel of the 
 kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a xcitness unto all na- 
 tions ; and then shall the end corned For now the Gospel goes forth 
 from the hill of Zion, it is preached to the religious world that now 
 is, and also to every nation, " unto them that dwell on the earth, and 
 to every nation:'''' confirming the fact that the '^'^ earth'''' signifies only 
 the professing world, who are the enemies of Christ, who " shall he 
 made his footstool ;" and another Scripture says, " the earth is his 
 footstool." 
 
 V. 8. And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that 
 great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her for. 
 nication. 
 
142 THE REVELATION OP JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 The fall of Babylon, " that great city,'''' the Mother of harlots and 
 abominations of the earth, viz. the Roman Catholic Church, is here 
 announced and its destruction cometh immediately. 
 
 V. 9 to 11. And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any 
 man worship the beast and iiis image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in 
 his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured 
 out without mixture into the cup of his indignation ; and he shall be tormented 
 with fire and brimstone in tiie presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of 
 the Lamb : and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever : and 
 they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and wlioso- 
 ever receiveth the mark of his name. 
 
 After the warning to the Roman Catholic beast, comes a separate 
 warning to the Protestant beast, and those that receive the number 
 of its name. It is a dreadful warning given to those who will still 
 proudly continue to worship the beast, or his image, (that is, to look 
 to sinful man, or to what they call the regenerate, sinful man, to 
 work righteousness, instead of looking to, that is, worshipping Christ.) 
 The warning is given to all who still will adhere to the religious 
 tenets or practices of the beast, " I'lke a lamb ;" that is, who receive 
 the mark of any denomination or name whatever. It is a warning of 
 the most awful judgment that is to be found in all the Scriptures. 
 
 V. 12. Here is the patience of the saints ; here are they that keep the com- 
 mandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. 
 
 The patience and suffering of the saints will be chiefly exercised 
 in resisting the strong delusions of the beast and his image ; of the 
 piety of man a sinner, or of the imaginary regenerate sinner : they 
 who overcome are those who keep the commandments of God and 
 the faith of Jesus. 
 
 V. 13. And I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto mc, Write, Blessed are the 
 dead which die in the Lord from henceforth : Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may 
 rest from their labours ; and their works do follow them. 
 
 Now the time is come when they are blessed who die in the Lord, 
 they rest from their labours and sufferings ; that is, hitherto in the 
 time of the 42 months, or 12G0 years, the people of God who have 
 died in the Lord, who have died to every false hope and been poor 
 and needy and contrite and broken in spirit, from the knowledge of 
 their total destitution of all righteousness, (which knowledge of sin 
 is by the law, and is death,) they have not been blessed and com- 
 pletely delivered from labour and sorrow, and brought forth the fruits 
 of righteousness by Jesus Christ ; but now " henceforth. Blessed are 
 the dead tohich die in the Lord,^' they who now are slain or dead by 
 the knowledge of their unrighteousness and the want of righteousness, 
 who now suffer this repentance and abhorrence of their own works, 
 will immediately enter into Rest, and be delivered from their labours 
 and be filled with Christ and his righteousness ; " their works (which 
 are by Him) do follow them." That " to die in the Lord" signifies 
 what is here stated is manifest, for they who believe " die no more ;" 
 even when they depart out of the world they do not die, they sleep 
 in Jesus. 
 
THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 143 
 
 V. 14 to 16. And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one 
 sat like unto the Son of men, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand 
 a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying witii a loud voice 
 to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap : for the time is come 
 for thee to reap ; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud 
 thrust in his sickle cjn the earth; and the earth was reaped. 
 
 " The earth is reapedy Now, before the tares are destroyed, 
 Christ gathers his wheat into his garner ; he " gathers together his 
 elect from the four corners of the earth.''"' 
 
 V. 18, to the find. And another angel came out from the altar, which had power 
 over fire ; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, 
 Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth ; for her 
 grapes are fully ripe. 
 
 And after the earth has been reaped " the vine of the earth is 
 gathered,'''' the vine of Sodom, which when God looked that it should 
 bring forth grapes, brought forth wild grapes. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 In this chapter it is revealed, that immediately before the pouring 
 out of the last vials of God's wrath upon the earth, the redeemed of 
 the Lord are collected from off the earth and gathered together, and 
 the temple of God is opened in heaven. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 The vials of God's wrath are now poured out. 
 
 V. 10. And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and 
 his kingdom was full of darkness ; and they gnawed their tongues for pain. 
 
 When the fifth is poured out the kingdom of the beast is full of 
 darkness, then is darkness in the land of Egypt ; the sun and the 
 moon are darkened and do not give their light ; now also many who 
 love this present world will fall from their steadfastness, these are 
 called stars falling from heaven. All these things will come to pass 
 in the sounding of the seventh angel, and it is immediately after the 
 trouble and tribulation of this present day, spoken of in chapter 12th, 
 for the sounding of the seventh angel is the time after this previous 
 time of trouble, when Satan has poured out his flood upon the earth. 
 Christ foretold this darkness which will now take place, saying, 
 " immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be 
 darkened and the moon shall not g'lve her light, and the stars shall 
 fall from heaven, and the poivers of the heavens shall be shaken ; and 
 then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and. then shall 
 all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man 
 coming in the clouds of heaven w'lth power and great glory.'''' (Matt. 
 xxiv. 29, 30.) 
 
 V. 14 to 16. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth 
 unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of 
 that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that 
 watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. 
 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Arma- 
 geddon. 
 
144 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 When the sixth is poured out, the confederacy against the holy city 
 begins, and at the same time the glorious coming of Christ is an- 
 nounced : " Behold I come as a t/iicf, Blessed is he that watcheth and 
 keepeth his garments." It is here revealed that the enemies of the 
 Gospel will be gathered together into a place called in the Hebrew 
 tongue Armageddon. 
 
 When the seventh vial is poured out, "It is done" is pronounced 
 out of the temple of heaven from the throne. The time of his coming 
 is now arrived, first there are voices and thunderings and lightnings; 
 Babylon is shaken and divided into three parts ; there is a " great 
 hail." The particulars of the coming of Christ are revealed in a 
 subsequent chapter, and in the meanwhile, in the next. 
 
 In the 17th chapter, a minute description is given of Babylon, the 
 Mother of harlots, previous to her utter destruction ; and in the 18th 
 chapter a separate account of her terrible ruin is given, these two 
 chapters forming an interruption to the revelation, the order of which 
 is again resumed in the 19th chapter. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 V. 1 to 3. True and rig-hteous are his judgments ; for he hath judged the great 
 whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the 
 blood of his servants at lier hand. And again they said. Alleluia. And her smoke 
 rose up for ever and ever. 
 
 The Roman Catholic Church and the Greek, a branch of her, will 
 now have been destroyed ; previous to the coming of Christ : here 
 end the 42 months, for she was to continue that time. The beast 
 like a lamb, the protestant beast still remains, for as the Apostle 
 prophesied to the Thessalonians, this beast was only to be destroyed 
 " vdth the brightness of his coining," whereby it is manifest that the 
 man of sin, the son of perdition who shall be destroyed with the 
 brightness of his coming, is indeed the second beast, which rose out 
 of the earth, out of the deep pit, viz. the Protestant beast like a 
 lamb ; for the first beast is destroyed before his appearing, as it is 
 written, " her smoke rose up for ecer and ever."^ 
 
 V. 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. 
 
 The marriage of the Lamb is now come : now " when he shall 
 appear, we shall be like him ; for we shall see him as he is." (1 
 John iii. 2.) 
 
 V. 11 to 15. And I saw heaven opened, and bcliold, a white horse ; and he that 
 sat upon him was called Faithful and True; and in righteousness he doth judge 
 and make war. And tiie armies which were in heaven followed him upon white 
 horses, clothed in fine linen, while and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp 
 sword, that with it he sliould smite the nations ; and he shall rule them with a rod 
 of iron : and he treadeth the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty 
 God. 
 
 This is the glorious coming of Christ, who comes with destruction 
 to his enemies, for he s!i;ill make war against them and destroy them 
 " by the spirit of his mouth and the brightness of his coming" as 
 
THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. 145 
 
 the Apostle Paul has foretold. " The spirit of his mouth," is here 
 signified by the figure " a sharp sword.'''' 
 
 V. 17 to 19. And I saw an angel standing in the sun ; and he cried with a loud 
 voice, saying- to all the fowls that tly in the midst heaven, Come, and gather your- 
 selves together unto the supper of the great God ; that ye may eat the flesh of 
 kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, 
 and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both 
 small and great. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and tlieir armies, 
 gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his 
 army. 
 
 The body or carcass of his enemies who were gathered together 
 against his people, and the fowls which are assembled, were both 
 foretold by Christ in these words, " Wheresoever the carcass is, thither 
 will the eagles be gathered together." They are now gathered to- 
 gether by command, for the carcass is there, a great supper ready 
 for them. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 The first resurrection now comes to pass ; which Daniel has also 
 foretold, saying, " And many of them that sleep in the dust of the 
 earth shall atcake." When he says " many," he shows that it is 
 not the last and great resurrection, but of many, that is, not of all. 
 Paul also prophesied by the Spirit of Christ of this first resurrection, 
 showing that the end, when the general resurrection will be, cometh 
 after this : saying, " But every man in his own order : Christ the 
 first fruits ; afterward they that are Chrisfs at his coming ; then 
 cometh the end," which end here spoken of, is the Resurrection when 
 the thousand years have expired. He also says in another place : 
 
 Them which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For the Lord himself 
 shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and 
 with the trump of God : and the dead in Christ shall rise first : then we which are 
 alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the 
 Lord in the air : and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 
 
 The judgment of the enemies of Christ will now be, as well as the 
 reward of them that have loved him. " As for those mine enemies 
 that would not I should reign over them, bring them hither and slay 
 them before me." And Daniel prophesies that now there will be a 
 resurrection of " some to shame and everlasting contempt." Now 
 is the kingdom of Christ, and all who have belonged to his kingdom 
 will be judged by the words of his mouth 
 
 These sayings are faithful and true. And the Lord God of the holy prophets 
 sent his angel to show unto his servants the things vi'hich must shortly be done. 
 Behold, I come quickly ; blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of 
 this book. I Jesus have sent my angel to testify unto you these things in the 
 churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning' 
 star. And the Spirit and the bride say. Come. And let him that heareth say, 
 Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the 
 water of life freely. He which testifleth these things saith, Surely I come quickly : 
 Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with 
 you all. Amen. 
 19 
 
THE 
 
 PARABLE OF THE TALENTS. 
 
 Christ himself (not only in the Revelations) but also when on 
 earth even before he suffered, prophesied of this generation and 
 accurately described them. The people thought that the kingdom 
 of God would then appear, upon which he spake this parable unto 
 them, in which he describes the diiferent ages of Christianity in 
 three divisions, and shows to the utmost exactness the character of 
 this the last generation. 
 
 LUKE, CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 V. 12. He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive 
 for himself a kingdom, and to return. 
 
 Christ ascended into heaven the far country, to sit on the throne 
 of his glory, at the right hand of God, till his enemies were made his 
 footstool, and then (that is now quickly) to return. 
 
 V. 13. And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said 
 unto them, Occupy till I come. 
 
 The money or talents represents the treasure of the Gospel which 
 in the several times he hath given, in such proportion as pleased him. 
 
 V. 14. But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We 
 will not have this man to reign over us. 
 
 Here is described the world in general (the sea), those who have 
 altogether rejected his authority. 
 
 V. 15. And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the 
 kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had 
 given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. 
 
 The coming of Christ and the judgment is here described, when 
 Christ shall come and judge his people. 
 
 Vs. 16, 17. Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds. 
 And he said unto him. Well, thou good servant : because thou hast been faithful in 
 a very little, have thou authority over ten cities. 
 
 The first age of Christianity is here described, when the treasure 
 of the Gospel was faithfully dispensed by those who had it in their 
 charge, and brought forth fruit abundantly. 
 
 Vs. 18, 19. And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five 
 pounds. And he said likewise to him. Be thou also over five cities. 
 
 The second period is here represented, when false doctrine had 
 spread, and the fruit of the Gospel was diminished. 
 
 V. 20 to 23. And another came, saying. Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which 
 I have kept laid up in a napkin : For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man : 
 thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and rcapcst that thou didst not sow. And 
 he saith unto him. Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. 
 Thou knewcst that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and 
 
THE PARABLE OP THE TALENTS. 147 
 
 reaping that I did not sow : Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the 
 bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury ? 
 
 The present and last Time is here described in which the Gospel 
 is entirely hid and wrapped up in the filthy napkin of human Righte- 
 ousness. The preachers of this time are accurately described. God 
 saves the poor and the helpless freely and gratis ; only because he 
 will have mercy and is gracious, it is the entire and sole act of his 
 Grace and favour ; and since it is of Grace, the sinner has nothing to 
 pay or to do, otherwise it is no Grace at all. (Romans.) 
 
 This is the glorious and joyful tidings to sinners, that God in the 
 man Christ Jesus has done and doeth and will do all for them ; but 
 they who have got this rich talent of precious gold and pretend to 
 dispense it faithfully, hide it, wrap it up, and falsify it, and preach 
 that the sinner has still got something to do. They don't believe 
 God's simple and plain word, " Believe and thou shalt be saved,'' they 
 are afraid of this glorious Gospel, they cannot give credit to such 
 good news, such complete salvation, so glorious, so entire, so befitting 
 the Mighty God, so completely fitted for the wretched and helpless 
 sinner, such a royal proclamation of such exceeding riches of Grace 
 and Glory. They are afraid of the true Gospel ; they hide, they wrap 
 it up, they guard and surround it with checks and provisos. They 
 think it pious and righteous to preach human works, to deny, to 
 despise, to qualify, to dilute, to hold back the real good news. They 
 are (in their own eyes) wiser than God : they question the safety, 
 the propriety of such exceeding rich and boundless liberality, they 
 think it unsafe dangerous doctrine ; they are afraid, yea they are 
 fearful of God's holy truth and rich Grace, and therefore they wrap 
 it up, or bury it in the earth (in the mass and heap of their own 
 earthly and worldly doctrines) they want to know how the sinner can 
 serve God, if he has nothing to do, if he has all Righteousness in 
 Christ, if he is quite delivered from the bit and bridle; they are at a 
 loss to imagine how Christ Jesus the Mighty God can possibly save 
 them if he is so kind and liberal, and if they have nothing to do. 
 Woe unto them, yea woe unto them ; for whereas Christ came to 
 save, they step in between to hinder, to deny, to contradict, to kill 
 and to destroy ! They falsify and hide and bury the glad tidings ; 
 they give wormwood instead of the honey-comb of the Gospel, they 
 withhold water from the faint and thirsty soul. They are afraid of 
 the truth and hide it ; and they say God is an austere man ; that is, 
 being themselves austere, morose and bigoted taskmasters, they think 
 God is such an one as themselves, and they preach him as such, as 
 laying heavy burdens upon sinners, as reaping where he has not 
 sown, as wanting something from the evil and unrighteous and 
 poor and miserable sinners ! They being austere men themselves 
 represent God as such an one as themselves, and they hide the talent 
 and preach their own wisdom instead thereof, and they gain no cities, 
 they produce no fruit, the Gospel in the little proportion they know 
 it, produces nothing. 
 
 V. 22, 23. And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, 
 thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I 
 
148 THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS. 
 
 laid not down, and reaping^ that I did not sow: Wherefore then gavest not thou 
 my money into the bank, that at my coming' I might have required mine own with 
 usury ? 
 
 They will be judged out of their own mouths, for since they being 
 usurers, and never giving except to get, and demanding a strict return 
 for every penny they disburse, — since they think God like unto them- 
 selves and represent him as an usurer, not giving except he gets 
 something in return, preaching that men must pay God a little piety 
 or something else for his Grace and Goodness, — since they so preach, 
 why do they not also themselves actually pay God ? Why do they 
 not really return him something for the talent of gold ? Nay, they 
 make their living and their fortunes out of it, instead of paying for it 
 themselves, and they tell others to pay while they pay nothing them- 
 selves ! But why do they not really do good and so pay usury, since 
 they say they are bound to do it? by the law of their own mouth 
 they are condemned for not doing it. Why, instead of paying God 
 his own do they so act that the most wicked men take courage and 
 blaspheme God when they see their pride and covetousness, their 
 folly, their inconsistency, their bitter wrathful and wrangling spirit 1 
 Out of their own inouths they are judged ! 
 
 Thus this astonishing parable is a prophecy, and contains a most 
 accurate portraiture of the religious generation of this last day, which 
 is the same generation of serpents that crucified the Lord of Glory, 
 and is not yet passed away. 
 
 This parable was to be hid and could not possibly be understood 
 till this time. It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, and his 
 astonishing wisdom and righteousness, yea, his goodness and mercy 
 in blinding the eyes of the wicked and letting them wander in the 
 complications of their own wisdom will be made manifest to their 
 complete confusion. If this crime of the wicked ( — yea, this heinous 
 crime; for, can there be a greater enormity than to make God a liar? 
 To tell sinners they have got something to do, when God has freely 
 forgiven all and done all ? to tell them who cannot pay, that God is a 
 usurer and expects to be paid ? To tell them that such usuriousness 
 is God's Grace? to tell them that Christ's death is not sufficient? 
 that his Power and his Righteousness is not sufficient ? that he with- 
 out their work cannot save, and that without it he will not save? Is 
 it a light thing to call such lies the truth of God ? to represent God 
 thus evil, austere and usurious, like unto corruptible man? Is this a 
 light thing? and to do all this wickedness with solemn declarations of 
 loving God and obeying him, and with all deceitful appearance of piety 
 and holiness? Is this a light thing?) If this crime of the wisdom and 
 knowledge of man had been foretold plainly and communicated to 
 them before it came to pass it would have been preventing them 
 from pursuing their own way and doing as they listed, they would 
 not have done the deed which was exposed, and so to expose it would 
 have been to prevent them from doing it, and to falsify the prophecy 
 after it was given. They would have invented some other way of 
 perverting and denying the grace and goodness of God, and if that 
 too had been foretold so that they should understand, then they 
 
THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS. 149 
 
 would have evaded that also and run upon some other artful perver- 
 sion. No, when God would let them have their own way and will 
 (which has been given to them for an appointed Time) it would not 
 have been to do so, by premature disclosures. It would have been a 
 total hindrance of their own ways to show exactly what they would 
 wickedly do ; and then what they would do, they would pretend they 
 had done by obligation, or by predestination, or by necessity. They 
 were before of old ordained to this condemnation, that is to the con- 
 demnation for this wickedness which they would wilfully and wickedly 
 do ; and they were let alone to do the things for which their condem- 
 nation was before of old ordained ; therefore if their eyes had not been 
 blinded that they should not see, they would have been hindered in 
 pursuing their own way. But now when it is come to pass, it is laid 
 open that they have done as God revealed they would do, ages before, 
 even before there was yet a single Christian in the world, that ye 
 may believe, and that ye may know verily that God was in Christ 
 Jesus, that he knew all things and knoweth all things, yea the very 
 thoughts and secrets of men long before. 
 
 Some one will say, God could have prevented all this evil. Men 
 hate him, because he does prevent and hinder them from fulfilling all 
 their lusts and bringing all their wicked devices to pass ; and yet 
 they charge him also because he does not prevent them ! He suffers 
 them to show what they really are, he lets them alone to do as they 
 list and fulfil some out of their many wicked thoughts, and then 
 when they have greedily committed evil, they say " He might have 
 hindered it — rchy does he not prevent the evil ;" again, he does not let 
 them fulfill all their wicked lusts, he limits and prevents them, and 
 they say " There is constraint, we have not free will, therefore we are 
 not responsible.^'' 
 
 They professed to know God, to know his will, to follow it, and to 
 be able and willing to work Righteousness, that is, to do good, and 
 being confident in the wisdom of their own hearts and sure that they 
 could find out God, God has tried them, and given them power and 
 space to try what they could do, and they have tried what they could 
 do, and they have laboured to show how they could ascend into 
 heaven. If they had not been tried, they would have charged God fool- 
 ishly : being confident and having a firm conviction that their wisdom 
 and knowledge would lift them up to God, instead of carrying them 
 further and further away from him. And if they had not had their 
 way and their trial, how would God's elect have known assuredly 
 that but for his everlasting Love, and eternal purpose of Grace and 
 mercy towards them, yea, but for his election of Grace, but for his 
 creation of them to be his own peculiar people, they with all their 
 knowledge and understanding, with all their pious and endearing 
 feelings, with all their inward light and fine resolutions, with all their 
 earnest efforts and toils, with all their divinity and morality, with all 
 their intellectual faculties, they never never never would have turned 
 to him and heard his voice and believed ! no ! never ! but if left to 
 try their own selves and their power, and their piety, they would only 
 have sinned the more and more, and departed further and further 
 
150 THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS. 
 
 from God. Therefore as all things are for the elect's sake, the very 
 wickedness which the wicked have been let alone to commit and had 
 free will to exhibit, will tend to their salvation and make them 
 acknowledge his wonderful mercy, his great power, his great good- 
 ness and love to them, that he only is their Creator and he alone 
 their God ; that there was and is no hope in themselves, and they 
 will therefore praise and exalt him and magnify his holy name for 
 ever and ever. 
 
 NOTE TO CHAPTER VIII. V. 10th. 
 
 Since the eager reception given by the Earth to this falsification 
 of the word of God, it is incalculable to what extent the power of 
 Satan has increased and spread among those people whom God had 
 blessed above all other people with the revelation of his holy truth. 
 Before this doctrine appeared, the power of God was manifest in 
 them that believed the Gospel, and the law of God was reverenced 
 and feared by all others. But, since this star fell burning like a 
 lamp, since this root of bitterness sprung up, there has been gradually 
 arising (creeping in, coming on step by step, slowly, without being 
 noticed, unawares, as the Apostle Jude foretold) the most abominable 
 doctrines, and wickedness, and a contempt of God's law, till at length 
 it has now attained to a height unequaled in any former period of 
 the world. No heathen people ever lived in such practical contempt 
 of their false gods, of their maxims of virtue, of all law, as Christian 
 people now do of the true God and of his righteous law. Never was 
 the law of God so totally disregarded, so utterly slain, as it is at this 
 day. Never was truth regarded with such tririing mind, and looked 
 UDon as a secondary thing, subordinate to earthly things, as it now 
 is. Never was atheism, blasphemy and lying so unblushingly as- 
 serted and accredited as it now is. Never was covetousness and 
 unkindness from man to man so recognised and even admitted as a 
 prudential virtue as it now is; (the existence of a hospital and poor 
 house, or an ostentatious subscription, or the payment of a tax, being 
 deemed sufficient excuse for covetousness, hard-heartcdness and in- 
 humanity; being the Corban by paying of which men deem they are 
 quit henceforth of obeying God's law.) Never was money so much 
 worshipped, respected and greedily sought after ; never was the evil 
 eye, the frightful eagerness and making haste to get rich so general 
 and wide spread. And amid all this wickedness and moral deprava- 
 tion, never was there witnessed on the earth before, so much 
 hypocrisy and boasting on such a miserable foundation ; never such 
 great swelling words of vanity, such religious pride, such glorying 
 in the power of man and his vinue, as now is beheld among the 
 earthly professors whose abominations have at length produced such 
 a consummation of desolation so appalling, such a wide-spreading of 
 moral anarchy and crime. 
 
 The reasoning of the men of the Sea is, that since such are the 
 servants of God pretending to know and obey Him, " we will not 
 serve God," and others, " there is no God." Woe unto them ! Yes, 
 
THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS. 151 
 
 since they who pretend they believe in God, and say they have his 
 good spirit, are manifest to the world and confessed by their own 
 mutual recriminations to be abominable and evil, griping, greedy of 
 gain, harsh, bijfoted, backbiters, usurers, contentious, malicious, heady, 
 hio-hminded, unforgiving, unmerciful, — while their virtue and piety is 
 beheld to be an odious severity of outward appearances and petty ab- 
 stinences, and their religion an empty boasting and affectation of 
 sentiment and feelings, — if these sects of wickedness (who believe 
 each other to be Christians and yet mutually profess of one another 
 that they are all departed from the truth) if these are servants of 
 God and led by his good spirit, no marvel the Sea has come openly 
 to the conclusion that there is no God. But " rcrih/ there is a God 
 whojudgelh in the earth'''' and they shall know it to their utter horror 
 and dismay, who, pretending to serve him, yet following their own 
 wisdom and theories and rejecting his word and truth, doing injustice, 
 cause his Holy Name to be so bldsphemed through their wicked pre- 
 tences. And also they shall find it out to their everlasting shame and 
 confusion, who, being themselves evil men, judge Him by wicked men 
 like unto themselves, and dare to blaspheme their all-wise and Al- 
 mighty Creator, whose word alone daily sustains them and whose 
 long suffering permits their wickedness. No man can be excused 
 for following the delusions of the religious world, for no one who 
 believes the word of God can believe that they are disciples of 
 Christ: the Lord hath plainly declared how to know his disciples, 
 saying " By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have 
 love one to another."" They themselves when they have to choose be- 
 tween Christ and the things of this life deny him for the sake of the 
 latter, and declare of themselves that they are not Christians. 
 
 " Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee thou wicked servant," saith the 
 Lord. 
 
 In the spring of the year 1832 he who writes these things left 
 Philadelphia, going without scrip or purse to preach the Gospel of 
 .Tesus Christ. Having preached at several places (no man receiving 
 his testimony) he arrived at Bethlehem a city inhabited by a people 
 called Moravians. When he made known to them that he would 
 preach the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ in the market place, they 
 laughed and told him that they had the gospel ; now it is certain if 
 he had said he came to bring them a bag of gold they would not 
 have refused it and said they had gold. Being first desirous to obtain 
 a place to preach in, he was obliged to call upon their Minister, who 
 received him at his door where they stood and talked together. 
 When he had communicated his request and been refused permission 
 to preach in their preaching house, as evening was now fast drawing 
 on and he knew not where to lay his head he enquired of their 
 preacher whether he knew who in that place was worthy, upon which 
 he was briefly answered " No." Thinking it possible that the person 
 to whom he spoke might not understand his enquiry he said " I 
 mean can you tell me of any one in this place who is a Christian," 
 and he was answered briefly again, " No." Much surprised, he said 
 
152 THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS. 
 
 " Do you really say you know not one Christian in this place ?" and 
 again he said " No." Perceiving that this created some surprise the 
 pastor candidly explained, saying " he did not like to mention any 
 one, as they would blame him for recommending me to them." Thus 
 when it came to the point either to take a stranger in, or to deny 
 that they were Christians, he did not hesitate in the choice, but 
 repeatedly affirmed he did not know a single Christian in the whole 
 town. Afterwards meeting with another person whose mortified and 
 pious countenance engaged his attention, he asked him if he could 
 tell him whether he knew any one who was a Christian in this town: 
 this man immediately replied " No ;" and smiled at the same time at 
 the singular question and answer. Now these people sing and talk a 
 great deal about Christ's love ! They speak much of Jesus, calling 
 him " dear Jesus," " the dear Redeemer," " lovely Jesus," and talk 
 much of his precious love and such like things. God abhors such 
 abominable flatteries and hypocrisy: he will not judge men according 
 to their professions and declarations however fine they may be, but 
 " by thy works thou shalt be judged," by what thou doest and not by 
 what thou sayest. Professions and words and talk are all worth 
 nothing, they are utterly despicable, be they ever so orthodox or 
 ever so ecstatic. God searcheth the hearts and trieth the reins, and 
 if a man says that he loves Him, he shall be tried whether he be of 
 the truth or whether he be a liar, whether he love God or whether 
 he love the world and the things of the world. This matter was of 
 God who would prove them. Now when they unhesitatingly declare 
 that they are not Christians, can they complain if another says the 
 same thing? The same thing happened to him in other places also. 
 God delighteth not in fair speeches and smooth words and flattering 
 lips, but he delighteth in mercy, even in mercy to the ungodly and 
 to the sinner; and also in them who are merciful to the stranger the 
 forlorn and the unworthy, hoping for nothing again: with such sacri- 
 fices God is well pleased. Let no one however imagine he can 
 please God by any thing he can do ; " no man cometh unto the Father 
 hut by me ;" it is only by Jesus Christ that any one can approach 
 unto God and offer sacrifices to him : " whatsoever is not of faith is 
 sin;" all the deeds of men are sin. When the Lord Jesus Christ 
 was on the earth suffering and in humiliation, the just for the unjust, 
 he lived by faith, even He in whom was no sin ! God was in Him, 
 and God did the works which he did, he believed ; thus he said, 
 " The father which dnelleth in me, he doeth the loorks.^'' God was in 
 Christ doing the works : and they who believe in his name, Jesus 
 Christ is in them doing the works which please God : so that it is 
 not they who do, but it is Christ who dwelleth in them: as he says 
 " I in them and Thou in ?/ie," and this is what this is what this little 
 book preaches, " I in them," they only believing, doing nothing, 
 ceasing from all their works, standing still, having rest, hallowing 
 the Sabbath, even Him, and then the Power of God resteth on them! 
 Blessed are all they who put their trust in Him ! 
 
 FINIS. 
 
BS2827 .W59 
 
 A little book open : containing the cry 
 
 Princeton Theological Semmary-Speer Library