|
|
|
O F By J O H N.B U N Y A N. 1692. First published four years after John Bunyan's death. |
OF THE RUIN OF ANTICHRIST.
ntichrist, as was said, had a time to come into the world, and
so must have a time to go out again: For although he saith that he is a God, yet
must he be subject to the will of God, and must go as well as come according to that
will. Nor can all the fallen angels, with all the members and limbs of Antichrist,
cause that this their brat should abide so much as one day longer than our God's
prefixed time. And this the head of Antichrist understandeth very well: Wherefore
the Holy Ghost saith, '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 hath
but a short time' (Rev 12:12).
Besides, the text says plainly, The Lord shall destroy him (2 Thess 2:8), and that
he goeth into perdition (Rev 17:11; 19:26). Also the church of God believes it, and
the limbs of Antichrist fear it.
Now when, or as his time shall come to be destroyed, so he shall be made a hand of;
and that with such instruments and weapons of God's indignation, as best shall be
suited to his several parts.
Such weapons as are best for the destroying of his soul , shall be used for the destroying
of it; and such weapons as are best for the destroying of his body, shall be made
use of for the destroying of it.
THE SOUL OF IT DESTROYED, AND HOW.
And therefore, as to his soul , or that spirit of error that governs him in all his
works of mischief; this must be consumed by the spirit of Christ's mouth, and be
destroyed by the brightness of his coming.
This we have in the words of Paul: 'For [saith he] the mystery of iniquity [the spirit
of Antichrist] doth already work: only he who now letteth, will let , until he be
taken out of the way. And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall
consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his
coming' (2 Thess 2:7,8). The Apostle here treateth of Antichrist, with reference
to his more subtil and spiritual part, since that indeed is the chiefest of Antichrist:
Wherefore he calls it that wicked; not, that wicked one, as referring to the whole;
but that wicked , as referring to the mystery or spirit of iniquity , the heart and
soul of Antichrist; and tells us, that the Lord shall 'consume him with the spirit
of his mouth, and shall destroy him with the brightness of his coming.'
Now, by the spirit of his mouth , I understand his holy word , which is called 'The
word and breath of his lips' (Isa 11:4). And also, 'The sword of his mouth' (Rev
2:16). By 'the brightness of his coming,' I also understand, not only his presence,
but an increase of light by his presence; not only to help Christians to begin to
bear witness against some parts and pieces of the errors of Antichrist, but until
the whole is rooted out of the world. By this, I say, must the soul, spirit, or life
of Antichrist be taken away. But how shall Christ by this rod, sword, or spirit of
his mouth, consume this wicked, this mystery of iniquity? Not by himself immediately,
but by his spirit and word in his church; the which he will use, and so manage in
this work, that they shall not rest till he by them has brought this beast to his
grave. This beast is compared to the wild boar, and the beast that comes out of the
wood to devour the church of God, (as we read in the book of Psalms: 80:13) But Christ,
with the dogs that eat the crumbs of his table, will so hunt and scour him about,
that albeit he may let out some of their bowels with the tushes of his chaps, yet
they will not let him alone till they have his life: For the church shall single
him out from all beasts, and so follow him with cries, and pinch him with their voices,
that he alone shall perish by their means.[4] Thus shall Christ consume and wear him out
by the spirit of his mouth, and destroy him with the brightness of his coming
Hence you find again, That this wicked , is to melt and consume away as grease: For
the Lord Jesus shall consume him, and cause him to melt away; not all at once, but
now this part, and then that; now his soul, and after that his body , even until
soul and body are both destroyed.
And that you may be convinced of the truth of this thing, do but look back and compare
Antichrist four or five hundred years ago, with Antichrist as he is now, and you
shall see what work the Lord Jesus has begun to make with him, even with the spirit
and soul, and life of Antichrist; both in confounding and blasting of it by this
spirit of his mouth, as also by forcing of it to dishonourable retreats, and by making
of it give up to him, as the conqueror, not only some of his superstitious and diabolical
rites and ceremonies, to be destroyed, but many a goodly truth, which this vile one
had taken from his church, to be renewed to them: Nay, further, he hath also already
began to take from him both kingdoms and countries, though as to some not so absolutely
as he shall do by and by. And in the meantime, this is the plague wherewith the Lord
shall plague or smite the people that have fought against Jerusalem: 'Their flesh
shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume
away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth' (Zech 14:12).
And how has this long ago been fulfilled here in England! as also in Scotland, Holland,
Germany, France, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, and other places! (Isa 17:4-6). Nor hath
this spirit of Antichrist, with all his art and artificers, been able to reduce to
Antichrist again, those people, nations, or parts of nations, that by the spirit
of Christ's mouth, and 'the brightness of his coming,' have been made to forsake
him, and to turn from him to Christ: The reason is, for that the Lord has not retreated,
but is still going on in the spirit of his mouth, and his brightness, to make that
conquest over him that is determined, in the way that is determined: Of which more
shall be spoken afterward; for the path-way that he goeth, is as the shining light,
which shines more and more unto noon. True, the fogs of Antichrist, and the smoke
that came with him out of the bottomless- pit, has darkened and eclipsed the glorious
light of the gospel: But you know, in eclipses, when they are on the recovering hand,
all the creatures upon the face of the earth cannot put a stop to that course, until
the sun or the moon have recovered their glory. And thus it shall be now, the Lord
is returned to visit the earth, and his people with his primitive lustre; he will
not go back, nor slack his hand, until he has recovered what Antichrist has darkened
of his. 'The anger of the Lord shall not return, until he have executed, and till
he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider
it perfectly' (Jer 23:20). Therefore he saith again, 'The light of the moon shall
be as the light of the sun [was in her eclipse;] and the light of the sun shall be
sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach
of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound,' &c. as the verse before
has it: 'In the day when the towers fall.' For (as was said before) as to the recovery
of the light of the gospel from under antichristian mists, and fogs of darkness;
Christ will do that, not by might nor power, but by the spirit of his mouth, and
the brightness of his coming: Wherefore the soul of Antichrist, or that spirit of
wickedness by which this gospel-light hath been diminished, must be consumed and
destroyed by that spirit also. Nor can any other way of conquest over that be thorough,
and lasting; because that spirit can by no other means be slain. The body of Antichrist
may be destroyed by other instruments, but spirits cannot be killed but by spirits.
The temporal sword then may kill the body, but after that it hath no more that it
can do, wherefore, the other must be dealt with by another kind of weapon: And here
is one sufficient, the spirit against the spirit; the spirit and face of Christ,
against the spirit, that wicked, of Antichrist. And by this spirit of Christ's mouth,
all the spirit that is in all the trinkets and wash of Antichrist shall also be destroyed;
so that those trinkets, those rites, ceremonies, and ordinances of this man of sin,
shall be left as carrion upon the face of the earth, and shall stink in the noses
of men, as doth the corrupted blood of a dead man.
THE ORDINANCES OF ANTICHRIST.
Now therefore will the beauty of Antichrist fade like a flower, and fall as doth
a leaf when the sap of the tree has left it; or as the beauty departeth from the
body, when the soul, or life, or spirit is gone forth. And as the body cannot be
but unpleasant and unsavoury when under such a state; so the body of Antichrist will
be to beholders, when the Lord has slain the spirit thereof. It is the spirit of
Antichrist that puts life into the body; and that puts lustre into the ordinances
of Antichrist, as the light of the sun, and of the moon, and of the stars, do put
lustre upon the things of this visible world: Wherefore, when this spirit, and soul,
and life of Antichrist is slain, then it will be with him as 'twould be with the
world , had it no light of the sun, of the moon, or of the stars.
And hence, as the loss of our natural life is compared to the loss of these lights
(Eccl 12:2); so the loss of the life, soul and spirit of Antichrist is compared to
these things also. For, the soul of Antichrist is compared to a heaven; and her ordinances
and rites, to the ordinances of heaven: wherefore, when the Lord comes to fight against
her with the spirit of his mouth, he saith, 'The stars of heaven [shall be darkened],
and the constellations thereof shall not give their light' (Isa 13:10); because he
will slay that spirit of Antichrist that is in them (Isa 34; Rev 6:13,14).
Take things therefore more distinctly, thus: The antichristians' spirit, is the heaven
of antichristians; their sun, moon and stars, are their superstitious ordinances;
their earth is the body or flesh of Antichrist, otherwise called the church and synagogue
of Satan. Now as the earth cannot live, and be desirable, without the influences
of the spirit of the heavens; so neither can Antichrist live, when the Lord shall
darken the light of his heaven, and shall slay the spirit thereof. Hence you read,
as I touched before, that when his heaven shall be rolled together as a scroll, 'all
the host thereof,' unto which I compare the ordinances of Antichrist, 'shall fall
down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig-tree'
(Isa 34:4). But how, or why doth the leaf, or the fig fall from the tree? Why, because
the spirit, or sap of the tree, is gone from them.
Therefore, the first and chief proceeding of the Lord with the man of sin, is to
slay his soul , that his body may also be consumed: And when the spirit of Antichrist
shall be made to leave both the body and ordinances of Antichrist, 'twill be easy
to deal both with the one and the other. And first, for the ordinances of Antichrist;
because the spirit of error is in them, as well as in the body itself. When that
spirit, as I said, has left them, they will of themselves even moulder away, and
not be: As we have seen by experience here in England, as others also have seen in
other countries. For as concerning his masses, prayers for the dead, images, pilgrimages,
monkish vows, sinful fasts, and the beastly single life of their priests, though
when the spirit of Antichrist was in them, they did bear some sway in the world;
yet now, of what esteem are they? or who has reverence for them? They are now blown
together under hedges, as the dry leaves, for the mice and frogs to harbour in: yea,
the locusts too, camp in the hedges among the dry leaves, in the cold day, and 'when
the sun ariseth they flee away' (Nahum 3:15-17). When 'tis a cold day for them in
a nation, then they lurk in the hedges, though their ordinances lie there, as leaves
that are dry, and fallen down from the tree; but when the sun ariseth, and waxeth
warm, they abide not, but betake them to their wings, and fly away. But one would
think that fallen leaves should have no great nourishment in them: True, if you have
respect to men, but with vermin any thing will do: We speak then of them with reference
to men , not with respect to the very members of Antichrist: And I say, as to them
, when the spirit of Antichrist is gone out of these ordinances, they will be with
them as dry leaves that no body seeketh after. The ordinances therefore of Antichrist
are not able to bear up themselves in the world, as the ordinances of the Lord Jesus
are, for even the ordinances of Christ, where the spirit of Christ is not, are yet
in some esteem with men: But THESE, when the spirit of delusion has left them, are
abhorred, both skin and bones: For in themselves they are without any sense, or rationality
(Eze 20:25,26); yea, they look as parts of things which are used to conjure up devils
with: These were prefigured by the ordinances that were NOT good, and by the judgments
whereby one should not live . For what is there, or can there be of the least dram
of truth or profit in the things that are without the word, that being the only stamp
by which one is distinguished from the other? I say, What is there in any of them,
to the man whose eyes are open, but delusion and deceit! Wherefore, as has been expressed
already, when the Lord Christ, by the spirit of his mouth, &c. shall drive this
mystery of iniquity from them, and strip them of that spirit of delusion that now
by its craft puts bewitching excellency upon them, they will of themselves become
such stinking rivers, ponds and pools, that flesh and blood will loathe to drink
of them; yea, as it was with the ponds and pools of Egypt, they will be fit for nought
but to breed and hatch up frogs in.
Wherefore these ordinances shall be rejected, not one of them shall find favour with
men on earth; when the Lord, 'by the spirit of his mouth, and the brightness of his
coming,' shall have separated their spirit from them.
Now, by ordinances of Antichrist, I do not intend things that only respect matters
of worship in Antichrist's kingdom, but those civil laws that impose and enforce
them also; yea, that enforce THAT worship with pains and penalties, as in the Spanish
inquisition: For these must, as the other, be overthrown by Christ, by the spirit
of his mouth, and the brightness of his coming: For these laws, as the other, took
their being, and have their soul and life by the spirit of Antichrist; yea, as long
as there is life in them, 'tis because the spirit of that man of sin yet remaineth
in them. Wherefore, these are also great ordinances, though of another nature than
those mentioned before: Great, I say, are they; forasmuch as neither the church of
Antichrist, nor his instruments of worship, can either live or stand without them.
Wherefore, it was admitted to the image of the beast, not only to speak , but to
cause . To speak out his laws of worship, 'and cause that as many as would not worship
the image of the beast, should be killed' (Rev 13:15). And mark, This is because
that the life that was communicated to the image of the beast, was by him also communicated
to his word and authority. Wherefore, these laws must not be separated from those
in which the spirit of Antichrist is; yea, they are the very pillars and sinews by
which antichristianism remains: And were these dis-spirited, the whole building would
quickly become a ruinous heap.
What could the king of Babylon's golden image have done, had it not been for the
burning fiery furnace that stood within view of the worshippers? (Dan 3). Yea, what
could that horrible command, to pray, for thirty days, to neither God nor man, but
to the king, have done, had it not been for the dark den, and the roaring lions there
in readiness to devour those that disobeyed it? (Dan 6). As therefore the burning
fiery furnace, and the den of lions, were the support of the horrible religion of
the Babylonians of old; so popish edicts are the support of the religion of Antichrist
now; and as long as there is spirit, that is, authority , in them, they are like
to those now mentioned; the spirit of such laws is that that makes them dreadful:
For as the furnace would have been next to nothing, if void of fire; and the den
as little frightful, if destitute of lions; so these laws will be as insignificant,
when Christ has slain that spirit that is in them; that spirit that causes that as
many as will not worship the image of the beast, should be killed.
Nor can any sword reach that life of Antichrist that is in these, but the sword of
Christ's mouth: Therefore, as all the religious rites and ceremonies of Antichrist
are overthrown by his spirit working in his , as Christians; so those antichristian
laws will have their soul and their life taken from them also by this spirit of his
mouth working in some of his, as magistrates, and no otherwise; for before kings
and princes, &c. come to be enlightened about the evils that are in such edicts,
by the spirit of the living God, they will let this image of the beast both speak
and cause , &c. But when they shall see, they will say, let it be decreed that
this prop of Antichrist be taken down. It was decreed by Darius, that they that prayed,
for thirty days, to any God but him, should be cast into the den of lions (Dan 6:9);
but this was before he saw ; but when he came to see, then he decreed again; a decree
that quite took away the power of that which he had decreed before (Dan 6:26).
Nor are we without instances of this kind nearer home: who is now afraid of the act
for burning of those that papists call heretics, since by the king and parliament,
as by the finger of God, the life and soul is taken out of it. I bring this to shew
you, that as there is life in wicked antichristian penal laws, as well as in those
that are superstitiously religious; so the life of these, of all these, must be destroyed
by the same spirit working in those that are Christ's, though in a diverse way.
Nor will the life of these sinews, as I have called them, be taken away; but as God
shall enlighten men to see the abominable filthiness of that which is antichristian
worship: as would easily be made appear, if some that dwell in those countries where
the beast and his image have been worshiped, would but take the pains to inquire
into antiquity about it. As the noble king, king Henry VIII did cast down the antichristian
worship; so he cast down the laws that held it up: so also did the good king Edward
his son. The brave queen, queen Elizabeth also, the sister to king Edward, hath left
of things of this nature, to her lasting fame behind her. And if one such law of
Antichrist hath escaped the hand of one, another hath taken it, and done that execution
on it that their zeal and piety prompted them to.
There is yet another thing that the spirit of Antichrist is immediately concerned
in; and that is, the antichristian names of the men that worship the beast: the names,
I mean, that the Antichrist hath baptized them into: for those names are breathed
upon them by the very spirit of Antichrist; and are such as are absolutely names
of blasphemy, or such as do closely border thereupon; some such as Elihu durst not
for his life give unto men, only he calls them 'flattering titles' (Job 32:21,22).
Now therefore, of the danger (though not of the names themselves) you read sufficiently
in the scripture; and perhaps the Holy Ghost has contented himself with giving of
items that are general, that men might, as to them, be the more cautious of what
names they give one to another (Rev 17:5); but this is clear, they are worn by men
of spiritual employ: but since they are but mentioned, and are not distinctly nominated,
how should we know which are they, and which not? Verily, by searching the word of
God, and by seeing by that what names we are allowed to give unto men, with reference
to their offices, dignities, and places: for God has a quarrel with the names , as
well as with the persons that wear them; and when his Son shall down with Antichrist,
he will slay seven thousand names of men, as well as the persons of the worshippers
of the beast (Rev 11:13).
But there are things, as well as men (Job 22:28); and these also have been baptized
into those names by the very spirit of Antichrist, and must be destroyed by Christ,
the spirit of his mouth, and the brightness of his coming: 'The idols he shall utterly
abolish' (Isa 2:18); and there are men that are idols as well as things (Zech 11:17):
wherefore, let men have a care, as to shun the worship of idols, so that they bare
not the name, or stand in the place of one: and the reason of this caution is, because
name and thing are both abominable unto God.
To give you the number of these names that the spirit of Antichrist has baptized
men into, (besides the things that do also wear such blasphemies upon them,) would
be a task too great for me, and too wearisome for you. It shall satisfy then, that
I give you notice that there are such things and men and names ; and that I put you
upon search to find out what they be. But whatsoever of the spirit, or soul, or life
of Antichrist is in these names, men, or things, must be consumed by Christ, by the
spirit of his mouth, and the brightness of his coming.[5]
Another thing that I would touch upon is this; to wit, The lying legends, and false
miracles that Antichrist cries up: These , by the means of which such as dwell upon
the earth are deceived, and made to adore and worship the beast: these have their
life and soul (as had those mentioned before) from the spirit of wickedness; and
must be destroyed as they, namely, by Christ, the spirit of his mouth, and the brightness
of his coming: for these are not of the body of Antichrist, but rather such implements,
or whatever you will call them, by which the spirit and soul of Antichrist is conveyed
into, and kept also alive in the body of Antichrist, which is the church and synagogue
of Satan; you may call them organs and means by which that wicked worketh in the
mysteries of iniquity, for the begetting of, and maintaining a lying and false belief
of the religion of the beast: nor can it be thought, but that, as the antichristian
statists[6] of Antichrist, mentioned before, do put a dread and fear upon men that
are worshippers of the beast, and his image, to the holding of them still to his
service; so these legends and miracles do, on the other hand, abridge and bind their
consciences to that worship; but all because of that spirit of Antichrist that is
in them.[7]
So then, here is the spirit of Antichrist diffusing itself into all the things pertaining
to the kingdom of the beast; for it dwells in the body of Antichrist; it dwells in
the matters and things of worship of Antichrist; it dwells in the titles and names
that are antichristian; and it dwells in the laws, legends and miracles of Antichrist.
And as it is the spirit of Antichrist, so it must be destroyed; not by sword, nor
by bow, but by Christ, as fighting against it with the spirit of his mouth, and as
conquering of it by the brightness of his coming.
THE BODY OF ANTICHRIST DESTROYED, AND HOW.
We come now to discourse of the body or flesh of Antichrist, and of the destruction
of that; for that must be destroyed also. Now the body of Antichrist, is that church
or synagogue in which the spirit of Antichrist dwells, or unto which the spirit of
Antichrist is become a soul and life.
And this is to be destroyed, either as it is a body mystical, or under the more gross
consideration.
First , As it is a body mystical, and so it is to be destroyed absolutely.
Secondly , As it is to be considered more grossly, and so it is to be destroyed conditionally.
That is, if repentance doth not save the men that have gone to the making up of this
body, and to the rejoicing in it.
As she is a body mystical, so she is to be destroyed the same way that the things
of Antichrist, of which we discoursed before, were to be destroyed; to wit, by Christ,
the spirit of his mouth, and the brightness of his coming.
This then is the sum, as to this: That the church of Antichrist, as a church, shall
be destroyed by the word and spirit of Christ . Nor can anything in heaven prevent
it, because the strong God has decreed it: 'and a mighty angel took up a stone, like
a great mill-stone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that
great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all' (Rev 18:21).
This city, Babylon, is here sometimes considered in the whole , and sometimes as
to the parts of it; but always, whether in whole, or in part, as some , or else as
the whole of the antichristian church; and as such, it must not be destroyed, but
by the means aforesaid. By which means her witchcrafts, spiritual whoredoms, spiritual
murders, thefts, and blasphemies, shall be so detected and made manifest, so laid
open, and so discovered, that the nations shall abhor her, flee from her, and buy
her merchandise no more (Rev 18:11). Hence her tempting things rot, and moulder away;
for these will not keep, they are things not lasting, but that perish in the using:
what then will they do when they are laid by? Therefore it follows, 'All things which
were [thy] dainty and goodly [ones] are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them
no more at all' (Rev 18:14). Now, if when she had things to trade with, her dealers
left her; how shall she think of a trade, when she has nothing to traffic with? Her
things are slain, and stink already, by the weapons that are made mention of before;
what then will her carcase do? It follows then, that as to her church- state, she
must of necessity tumble: wherefore, from Revelation 18:22 to 24, you have the manner
of her total ruin as a church, and something of the cause thereof.
But as she must, with reference to her body, be considered mystically as a church;
so also she must be considered as a body of men, (this is that which I called more
grossly ,) and as such, against whom the wrath of God will burn, and against whom,
if repentance prevent not, he will have indignation for ever. These, I saw are them;
to wit, as they are the body of the people, that have been seduced by this spirit
of Antichrist, that have been made use of to do all the mischiefs that have been
done both to true religion, and to the professors of it, for this many hundred years,
wherefore these must not escape. Wherefore you find, that after Antichrist, as to
the spirit and mystery of Antichrist, is slain, that the body of Antichrist, or the
heap of people that became her vassals, come next to be dealt withal.
Therefore, the angel that standeth in the sun, makes a proclamation to all the fowls
that fly in the midst of heaven, to gather themselves, and to come unto the supper
of the great God; that they may eat the flesh of the several sorts of the men that
have been the lovers, the countenancers, the upholders and defenders of her antichristian
state, worship, and falsehoods (Rev 19:17,18): for abundance of their hearts shall
be hardened, and made yet more obdurate, that they may be destroyed for the wickedness
that they have done.
Wherefore, you find (as did the enemies of the church of old,) that they might revenge
themselves for the loss of their idol, or antichristian state, begin a new war with
the king, whose name is the Lord of hosts: 'And I saw the beast, and the kings of
the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on
the horse, and against his army' (Rev 19:19).
Their implacable malice remained when their church-state was gone; wherefore they
will now at last make another attempt upon the men that had been the instruments
in Christ's hand to torment them that dwelt on the earth; of which more hereafter.
Now therefore is the last stroke of the batter,[8] with reference to the
destroying of the body of Antichrist; only the head of this monster remains, and
that is SATAN himself: wherefore, the next news that we hear, is, that he is taken
also: 'And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless
pit and a great chain in his hand. and he laid hold on the Dragon, that old serpent,
which is the devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into
the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive
the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled,' &c. (Rev 20:1-3).
BRAVE DAYS WHEN ANTICHRIST IS DEAD.
Now therefore there will be nothing of Antichrist to be seen throughout the nations,
but ruinous heaps, and desolate places. It is said of the army of the man of sin,
when he came into the land of God's people, though it was before him 'as the garden
of Eden,' yet behind him 'twould be as 'a desolate wilderness' (Joel 2:3); such ruins
would he make of the flock of God, and of all their ordinances, and heavenly dainties.
But when the days that I have spoken of, shall come, it will be to him a time of
retaliation: for it shall then be done unto Antichrist, as he hath done to the church
of God: As he hath made women childless, so shall he be made childless; as he has
made Zion sit upon the ground, so now must this wicked one come down and sit in the
dust; yea, as he has made many churches desolations, so now shall he be also made
a desolation. Wherefore, whoso will find his body, they must look for it in the side
of the pit's mouth; and whoso will find his friends and companions, they must look
for them there likewise. 'They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with
all her multitude: her graves are round about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain
by the sword: though their terror was caused in the land of the living, yet have
they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit, he is put in the midst
of them that be slain. There is Meshech, Tubal, and all her multitude:There is Edom,
her kind, and all her princes, &c.There be the princes of the north, all of them,whichwith
theirmight' are laid with them that are 'slain by the sword, and bare their shame
with them that go down to the pit' (Eze 32:25-30). For 'as Babylon hath caused the
slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth' (Jer
51:49). The margin reads it thus: Both Babylon is to fall, O ye slain of Israel!
And with Babylon the slain of all the earth. Now then she is gone down, when all
these things shall be fulfilled; and what remains now, but to talk of her, as folk
used to do of them that are dead: for the day will come that the church of God shall
have no more of Antichrist, Babylon, or the mother of harlots, than only the remembrance
of her; to wit, that there was such an enemy of God in the world; that there was
such a superstitious, idolatrous, bloody people in the world. Wherefore the people
that shall be born, that shall live to serve God in these happy days, they shall
see Antichrist only in its ruins; they shall, like the sparrows, the little robins,
and the wren, sit and sing, and chirrup one to another, while their eyes behold this
dead hawk.
'Here [shall they say] did once the lion dwell; and there was once a dragon inhabited:
here did they live that were the murderers of the saints; and there another, that
did used to set his throat against the heavens; but now in the places where these
ravenous creatures lay, grows grass, with reeds and rushes (Isa 35:7), [or else,
now their habitation is cursed, nettles grow, and so do thorns and brambles, where
their palaces were wont to be]. And as no good was with them while they lived, so
their name stinketh now they are dead: yea, as they wrought mischiefs, and lived
like the wild beasts when they enjoyed their abundance; so now the wild beasts of
the desert, yea, they of the desert, shall meet with the wild beasts of the island:
and the satyr shall cry to his fellows. Their houses shall be full of doleful creatures,
even as devils and wicked spirits do haunt the desolate houses of the wicked, when
they are dead' (Isa 34). 'And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees
excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be
inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall
the Arabian pitch tent there: neither shall the shepherds make their folds there'
(Isa 13:19,20). A while after this, as was hinted before, the Christians will begin
with detestation to ask what Antichrist was? Where Antichrist dwelt? Who were his
members? And, What he did in the world? and it shall be answered by them that shall
have skill to consider his features by the word, by way of taunt and scorn, 'Is this
the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; that made the world
as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his
prisoners? All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one
in his own house. But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch; and
as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down
to the stones of the pit, as a carcase trodden under feet' (Isa 14:16-19).
There will be a strange alteration when Antichrist is dead, and that both in the
church, and in the world. The church and the members of it then, shall wear the name
of their God in their foreheads; that is, they shall be bold in the profession of
their king, and their God; yea, it shall be their glory to be godly; and carnal men
shall praise them for it: the praise of the whole earth shall the church of God be
in those days.
Then there shall no more be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord: no lion shall be
there; the unclean shall no more tread in the paths of God's people, but the ransomed
of the Lord shall walk there.
Glory that has not been seen nor heard of by the people that used to walk in sackcloth,
shall now be set in the land of the living. For as it was said of Christ, with reference
to his day; so it shall be said of saints, with reference to this day: many kings
and righteous men have desired to see the things that will be seen then, and shall
not see them: but without all doubt, the men that shall be born at this time, will
consider that these glories, and liberties, and privileges of theirs, cost the people
that walked in the king of Babylon's fiery furnace, or that suffered the trials,
troubles and tyranny of the antichristian generation, more groans and hearty wishes,
than they did them that shall enjoy them. Thus then it will go; the afflicted prayed
for them, and the possessors bless God for the enjoyment of them.
Oh! now shall the church walk in the light of the Lord, and sit every man under his
vine, and under his fig-tree, and none shall make him afraid!
'For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them
in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave
to the house of Jacob. And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place:
and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord for servants and
handmaids: And they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they
shall rule over their oppressors. And it shall come to pass in the day that the Lord
shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage
wherein thou wast made to serve, that thou shalt take up this proverb against the
king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city, (or the
exactress of gold) ceased! The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the
sceptre of the rulers. He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke,
he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth. The whole
earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing. Yea, the fir trees
rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no
seller is come up against us' (Isa 14:1-8).
Also the world will now be (as it were) another thing than it was in the days of
Antichrist: now will kings, and princes, and nobles, and the whole commonality be
rid of that servitude and bondage which in former times (when they used to carry
Bell and the dragon upon their shoulders) they were subjected to. They were then
a burden to them, but now they are at ease. 'Tis with the world, that are the slaves
of Antichrist now, as it is with them that are slaves and captives to a whore: they
must come when she calls, run when she bids, fight with and beat them that she saith
miscall her, and spend what they can get by labour or fraud upon her, or she will
be no more their whore, and they shall be no more her bosom ones. But now! Now it
will be otherwise! Now they will have no whore to please! Now they will have none
to put them upon persecuting of the saints! Now they shall not be made, as before,
guilty of the blood of those against whom this gentleman shall take a pet! Now the
world shall return and discern between the righteous and the wicked; yea, they shall
cleave to, and countenance the people of God, being persuaded, as Laban was of Jacob,
that the Lord will bless them for his people's sakes: for at this day, 'the remnant
of Jacob shall be [among the Gentiles] in the midst of many people, as a dew from
the Lord, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for
the sons of men' (Micah 5:7).
Also in these days men shall come flocking into the house of God, both kings and
princes, and nobles, and the common people, as the doves do to their windows: and
for that cause it is spoken to the church, with reference to the latter days, saying,
'Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations:
spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; for thou shalt break forth
on the right hand, and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and
make the desolate cities to be inhabited' (Isa 54:2,3).
Now will be broken up those prophecies and promises that to this day lie as under
lock and key, and that cannot be opened until they be fulfilled. Now will the Spirit
of God be poured forth abundantly; and our rivers shall be in high places, that is,
shall break forth from the hearts of great ones; yea, then shall our waters be made
deep: 'And I will cause their rivers to run like oil, saith the Lord God' (Eze 32:14).
Then shall the differences, the divisions and debates that are among the godly, cease:
for men 'shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion' (Isa 52:8):
yea, the watchmen of God's people shall do so; for it is for want of light in them
, that the lambs have so butted one another.
Now the church of God shall read with great plainness the depths of providence, and
the turnings and windings of all God's dark and intricate dispensations, through
which she hath waded in the cloudy and dark day: now, I say, they shall see there
was an harmony in them; and that if one of them had been wanting, the work and way
of her deliverance could not have been so full of the wisdom, and justice, and goodness
of God; Wherefore now will that song be sung with clearer notes than ever: 'Great
and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou
king of Saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only
art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are
made manifest' (Rev 15:3,4). And again, 'For true and righteous 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 her hand' (Rev 19:2).
|
 |
|
|
