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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 CAUSES OF THE RUIN OF ANTICHRIST.
lthough the causes of the ruin of Antichrist be to some conspicuous
enough, yet to some they may be otherwise; yea, and will to all kings and people
whose eyes shall be held, that they may not see the judgment, in the reasonableness
and equitableness thereof; and these shall wail when they see 'the smoke of hertorment';
and these shall cry, Alas! Alas! (Rev 18:10). Wherefore, for further edification,
as I have treated of the man of sin already; so will I now, of the causes of his
downfall. And,
FIRST CAUSE.
First, He must down, for that he hath usurped, and taken the name and attributes
of God upon himself : He hath said, 'I am God': He hath set in the temple of God,
'shewing himself that he is God'; yea, and that in contempt and scorn of any other,
'exalting himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped' (2 Thess 2);
yea, hath cried down all gods but himself. Wherefore it must needs be, that he be
brought to judgment, that the truth of his saying may be proved. And for this cause
he is threatened, under the name of the prince of Tyrus: 'Because thine heart is
lifted up (saith the Lord) and thou hast said, I am a god,therefore I will bring
strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords
against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness. They shall
bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain
in the midst of the seas. Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am god?
but thou shalt be a man, and no god, in the hand of him that slayeth thee' (Eze 28:2,7-9).
If God will not give his name or glory to another, be sure he will not be under another;
but this to have, and thus to do, Antichrist has attempted. But how? In that he has
been so bold as to prescribe and impose a worship besides, and without reverence
of that which God has prescribed and imposed: For to do this, is, to make one's self
a God. 'Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or the likeness of any thing
that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water
under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them': For he
that thus doth, is an idolater; and he that these things doth impose, is one that
shews himself a God. But this doth Antichrist do: And 'tis worth the noting, That
God forbids not only images, but the likeness of any thing ; books, altars, fancies,
imaginations, or any thing in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, to bow down
to, or to make them a means to worship or come to God by, if he has not commanded
nor tolerated them in his holy word.
Thus saith the Lord : And, I am the Lord , is the stamp , the seal , and sign of
all true rules of worship; and therefore it is so often repeated both in Moses, and
in the prophets, where God commandeth worship to be performed, and imposeth the means
and methods of it. Now this, Thus saith the Lord , Antichrist has rejected; and I
am the Lord , he hath assumed to himself: and therefore without the law, the word
and commandment, hath framed and imposed a worship, exalting himself in the temple
of God, although he is but the man of sin, above all that is called God, or that
is worshiped.
Nor is he in this his so foul a fact, without them that adore, worship his image,
and wonder after him; yea, he hath got by this means almost the whole world to himself,
who say, 'Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?' (Rev 13:4).
And that they might shew their resolvedness to stand by him, they receive his mark
in their forehead, or in their hand; His mark ; that is, they either openly or seriously
become his disciples, and worship him according to the rules, methods, and ways that
he hath prescribed. Wherefore, these with him, are also to drink of the fierceness
of the wrath of Almighty God: 'If any man worship the beast and his 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 the presence of the holy angels,
and in the presence of the Lamb' (Rev 14:9,10).
But, I say, for that Antichrist hath thus taken the place of God , prescribed and
imposed a worship as a God , got the world to worship and wonder after him as after
a God . Therefore shall he die the death of the uncircumcised, both in the soul,
spirit, body, or flesh of Antichrist; therefore will God enlighten, and gather, and
set the kings and nations against him, that both he and his may be buried, and have
their dolesome withdrawing-rooms from the world in the sides of the pit's mouth.
SECOND CAUSE.
Secondly , Antichrist must be destroyed, because he hath set himself against the
Son of God; against the Father, and against the Son. He had a spite against the Son
betimes, even then when he came forth but in little bits , when he attempted to deny
that he was come in the flesh (1 John 4:1-4). But seeing he could make no earnings
of that, he hath changed his methods, and seeks to run him out and down by other
means and ways: because therefore he hath set himself against the Son of God, the
king, therefore he must die. That he hath set himself against the Son of God, is
also evident; for he hath his name from thence: He is therefore called Antichrist.
That he hath set himself against him, is yet further evident; for that he hath endeavoured
to take from him his headship over , and his offices for and in the church, which
is his body. He hath plainly endeavoured to be head, for that he hath striven to
take his wife from him, and to cause that she should be called HIS: Yea, he hath
endeavoured by all inventions to prostrate her to his lusts, to deflower her, and
to maker her an adulteress. He has been worse than Pharaoh, who took Abraham's wife
(Gen 12); and worse than Abimelech, who lusted after Isaac's (Gen 26): Yea, worse
than Phalti, who run away with David's (1 Sam 25:44); forasmuch as she is higher,
beloved better, and cost more than did any of these. Would it not be counted an high
affront, for a base inferior fellow, to call himself the head of the queen? Yet thus
has Antichrist done, and worse; he has called himself the head of the universal church
of God.
And as he has attempted to be head in his stead, so to be king, priest, and prophet.
[1.] He has attempted to wrest his sceptre and kingdom from him, in that he hath
endeavoured to thrust himself into his throne, which is the heart and conscience
of his people. The heart and conscience is that which Christ claimeth for his own
proper and peculiar seat: 'My son, give me thy heart.' 'That Christ may dwell in
your hearts by faith' (Eph 3:17). In this therefore the church is not to be for another
man, so will he be for her; but this throne Antichrist has lusted for, attempted
to take, and made war with Christ and his church, because they would not yield up
to him this glorious throne of his, and therefore he must die.
[2.] He hath intruded upon the priestly office of Christ, hath called himself high-priest
; though the Lord hath said, 'Because thou has rejected knowledge, I will also reject
thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy
God, I will also forget thy children' (Hosea 4:6). But he will make himself a priest;
he hath invented sacrifices for the quick and the dead : he hath put, as he presumes,
merit and worth into these sacrifices; he hath commanded that those that worship,
should have faith in, and expect benefit by these sacrifices, although he offereth
to his God nought else but the flesh of the hog , and of the mouse , with the broth
of his abominable things (Isa 66:17). Many and sundry ways he hath set himself up
to be high-priest, though God knows no high-priest but one, though the church ought
to know no high-priest but one; yea, though no high-priest but one can approach God's
mercy-seat, to do for us the necessary and desired work.
[3.] He hath intruded upon the prophetical office of Jesus Christ. What else means
his pretences to infallibility?[16] And that too when he imposes unwritten verities,
abominable traditions, blasphemous rites and ceremonies; and forbids or dispenseth
with the holy commands of God: Yea, when he enforceth these his Omrian statutes,
and doth impose the works of the house of Ahab (Micah 6:16), he doth all in the name
of the Lord Christ, when himself hath set himself in his place, and in his room.
This is mystery Babylon, the mystery of iniquity : This is Antichrist's soul and
body, and as such, must be destroyed. But,
THIRD CAUSE.
Thirdly , Antichrist must be destroyed, because he hath blasphemed against the Holy
Ghost , and so set himself above the Father, the Son, the Spirit; against ALL that
is called God. The Holy Ghost is that Spirit of truth that Christ has promised to
give unto his church, to help her in the understanding of his holy word, and to enable
her to believe, and walk humbly and holily before God and man. The spirit of Antichrist
is that spirit of error that hath puffed up the false church into a conceit of herself,
and unscriptural worship; and that hath made this false church, which is his body,
to ascribe all the horrible things and acts thereof, to the wisdom, guidance, directions
or operations of the Holy Ghost: As,
1. In all her unscriptural councils, assemblies and convocations, they blasphemously
father what they do upon the Holy Ghost, and make him the inventor and approver thereof.
2. She also blasphemeth the Holy Ghost, in accusing and condemning the holy scriptures
of insufficiency, for that she saith, though it is a rule, yet but an imperfect one;
one deficient, one that is not able to make the man of God perfect in all things,
without the traditions, inventions, and blasphemous helps of antichristian wisdom.
3. She hath also blasphemed the Holy Ghost, in that she hath set up her own church-government,
offices, officers and discipline: None of all which is the church of Christ directed
to by the wisdom of the Spirit of God in his testament.
4. She hath also sinned against the Holy Ghost, in that she hath, as it were, turned
the Holy Ghost out of doors, in concluding that he, without the works of the flesh,
is not sufficient to govern the hearts of worshippers, in the service and worship
of God.
5. She hath also thus sinned, in that she hath wrought many lying miracles in the
face of the world, and imposed them upon her disciples for the confirming of her
errors and blasphemous opinions, to the confronting of the true miracles wrought
by the Holy Ghost; and also to the concluding, that there was an insufficiency in
those that were true, to confirm the truth, without the addition of hers; which she
has wrought by the power of Satan, and the spirit of delusion, only to confirm her
lies.
6. She hath sinned against the Holy Ghost, in that she hath, with Jeroboam the son
of Nebat, striven against the judgments wherewith God hath punished her; to call
her back from her wicked way; and persisted therein, to the effectual proving of
herself to be the lewd woman (2 Kings 13:4-7,23,24).
7. She hath sinned, by labouring to hide all her wickedness, by lies, dissimulations,
and filthy equivocations of her priests, friars, Jesuits, &c. I say, her labouring
to hide the wickedness that she hath committed against kings, countries, nations,
kingdoms and people. She hath hid these things by the means or persons made mention
of before; as by the tail; for they indeed are the tail of the beast, that cover
his most filthy parts: The prophet that speaketh lies, he is the tail (Isa 9:15).
But,
FOURTH CAUSE.
Fourthly , Antichrist must be destroyed, for the horrid outrage, and villainous murders
that she hath committed upon the bodies of the saints. For there is none, as to these
things, for cruelty, to be compared with the church of Antichrist, and her followers:
For upon whom hath not her cruelty been shewed; have they never so little stood in
her way, though never so innocently and honestly by so doing, stood to the truth
and verity of God? Yea, the promoting of her own superstition, idolatry, and blasphemous
rites and ceremonies, have been so pursued by her, that she has waded through a sea
of innocent blood for the accomplishment thereof.
The poor church of God is a sensible bleeding witness of this, and so has been for
hundreds of years together; witness the chronicles of all nations where she hath
had to do; yea, and the sackcloth and ashes, and tears, and widows, and fatherless
children, and their cries, of all which the holy word of God is a sufficient confirmation;
'And in her,' when God shall come to make inquisition for blood, 'will be found the
blood of prophets and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth' (Rev
18:24). And yet has she such a whore's forehead, such a blindness in her judgment,
and such an hard and obdurate heart, that it is not possible she should ever repent.
Murders have been so natural to her, and in them her hand has been so exercised,
that it is now become a custom, a trade, a pastime to her, to be either in the act,
or laying some foundation for murders: Witness those plots, designs conspiracies,
and frequent attempts that are, one or other of them, continually on foot in the
world for the commission of murders.
Nay, the text last mentioned seems to import, that blood is so natural to her, that
she sticketh not at any condition, sex, age, or degree, so she may imbrue her hands
in blood. In her was found the blood of saints and prophets, and of all other carnal,
natural, ignorant, graceless men that have been slain upon the earth. It is she that
sets kings and kingdoms at variance: It is she that sets parents and children at
variance, by her abuse of the word of our Lord and Christ. And besides, is it not
easy, if we do but consider those bloody massacres that have been committed by her
hand, both in France, Ireland, Piedmont, and in several places besides, without wronging
of her, to conclude, that the blood of thousands, that have not known their right
hand from their left in religion, hath been shed, to quench, if it might have been,
her insatiate thirst after blood. Therefore, for these things shall she be judged,
as women that shed blood are judged; because she is an adulteress, and blood is in
her hands (Eze 23:45). She hath been as a beast of prey: Nay, worse; for they do
but kill and tear for the hunger of themselves, and of their whelps: but she, to
satisfy her wanton and beastly lusts. 'They have cast lots for my people; [saith
God] and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might
drink' (Joel 3:3): and therefore must Antichrist be destroyed. Forbearance is no
payment, God's patience is not a sign that he forgetteth to take vengeance; but rather,
that he waiteth till his own are come out of her, and until her iniquity is filled
up: For then he will execute the judgment written, and will remember, as has been
said, the Babylonians, and all their ways. [17]
FIFTH CAUSE.
Fifthly , Antichrist must be destroyed, because she hath put out of order, and confounded
the rule and government that God has set up in the world. I say, she has put it out
of order, and confounded it in all places where she rules; so that it cannot accomplish
the design of him that ordained it, To wit, To be a terror to evil works, and a praise
to them that do well. Wherefore we read, That those horns or kings where Mystery
Babylon sitteth, are upon the heads of that beast that carrieth her, which beast
is her protector. Magistracy is God's ordinance, appointed for the good of society,
and for the peace and safety of those that are good. But this Antichrist has, where
she rules, put all out of order; and no wonder, for she has bepuddled the word of
God; no wonder, then, I say, if the foundations of the world be out of course. 'Tis
she that hath turned the sword of the magistrate against those that keep God's law:
'Tis she that has made it the ruin of the good and virtuous, and a protection to
the vile and base. Wherefore, when the Holy Ghost tells us, that the time is coming
in which God will count with the bloody-minded, for the murders that they have committed;
he in a manner doth quite excuse the magistrate, saying, 'Woe to the bloody city!
it is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not: The noise of a whip,
and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the prancing horses, and of the
jumping chariots. The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword, and the glittering
spear: and there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcases; and there
is no end of their corpses; they stumble upon their corpses' (Nahum 3:1-3). But what
is the cause of all this slaying, and the reason of this abundance of corpses? Why,
it is because of the unsatiable thirst of the bloody city after blood: and, 'Because
of the multitude of the whoredoms of the well-favoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts,
that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts'
(verse 4). But doth this bloody city spill this blood by herself simply, as she is
the adulterated whore? No, this church has found out a trick; that is to say, to
quarrel with Christ in his members; and to persuade the powers where she rules to
set ensnaring laws to catch them, and to execute the same upon them.
Thus when the synagogue of Satan, of old, had taken Christ, and accused him, they
made Pontius Pilate to condemn and hang him. But God has begun to shew to some of
the kings this wickedness, and has prevailed with them to PROTEST against her. And
in the mean time, for those that are yet in the bed of love with her, the Holy Ghost
doth, in the text last mentioned, and in Revelation 18:24 much excuse them for the
blood that they have shed, and for the injuries that they have done to his people;
because they have not done it of their mere inclinations, nor in the prosecution
of their office, but through the whoredoms and witchcrafts of this well-favoured
harlot, who hath with false doctrines, false promises, and causeless curses, prevailed
on them to do it. And they have done it, rather of fear than favour . Some indeed
have more doted upon her beauty, and have more thoroughly been devoted to her service:
But they also had not that aptness to do so of themselves, but have been forced to
it by the power of her enchantments: Therefore, I say, the main guilt shall be laid
at her door, for that she in chief has deserved it. 'Son of man [says God] take up
a lamentation for the princes of Israel.' Why? Because their mother, the church,
was at that time adulterated, and become a lioness, had lain down with the heathen,
and so brought forth young lions, that is, rulers: 'And she brought up one of her
whelps: it became a young lion, and it learned to catch the prey; it devoured men'
(Eze 19:1-3). It learnt , It learnt : But of who but of its dam , or of the lioness
to whom she had put it to learn to do such things? Therefore they are to be lamented
and pitied, rather than condemned, and their mother made to bear the blame. Wherefore
it follows, 'She was plucked up in fury, she was cast down to the ground, and the
east wind dried up her fruit: her strong rods were broken and withered; the fire
consumed them. And now she is planted in the wilderness, (in the provinces of Babylon,)
in a dry and thirsty ground. And fire is gone out of a rod of her branches, which
hath devoured her fruit, so that he hath no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule. This
is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation' (Eze 19:12-14).
SIXTH CAUSE.
Sixthly , Antichrist must be destroyed, because of her exceeding covetousness . Religion,
such as it is, is the thing pretended to: But the great things of this world, are
the things really intended by her in all her seeming self-denials and devotions.
And for this covetousness also it is that this destruction is to fall upon her: 'Woe
to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, (to his church) that he may
set his nest on high' (Hab 2:9); (for he could not do the one, before he had obtained
the other:) for then indeed they began to be high, when they had so inveigled Constantine,
that he bestowed upon them much riches and honour; and then it was cried by an angel,
and the cry was heard in the city, Constantinople! 'Woe! woe! woe! this day is venom
poured into the church of God!' (as both my Lord Cobham and Mr. Fox witness in the
book of Acts and Monuments).[18]
Nor has any generation since the world began, been so insatiably greedy of gain,
as these poor people have been: They have got kingdoms, they have got crowns, they
have got,What have they not got? They have got everything but grace and pardon. Did
I say before, that religion is their pretence? Doth not the whole course of their
way declare it to their face? Every one of them, from the least even to the greatest,
is given to covetousness, from the prophet even to the priest, every one dealeth
falsely (Jer 6:13, 8:10): Money, money , as the peddlar cries,[19] broken or whole, is
the sinews of their religion: And it is for that they set kingdoms, crowns, principalities,
places, preferments, sacraments, pardons, prayers, indulgences, liberty; yea, and
souls and bodies of men, women and children, to sale. Yea, it is for this that they
have invented so many places, offices, names, titles, orders, vows, &c. It is
to get money, to rob countries, that they may make their nests on high. And indeed
they have done it, to the amazement of all the world. They are clambered up above
kings and princes , and emperors :[20] They wear the triple-crown : They have made
kings bow at their feet , and emperors , stand barefoot at their gates : They have
kicked the crowns of princes from their heads, and set them on again with their toes
.[21] Thus their covetousness has set them high, even above the suns, moons and
stars of this world: but to what end? That they may be cast down to hell.
SEVENTH CAUSE.
Seventhly , Antichrist must be destroyed, because he standeth in the way of the setting
up of the kingdom of Christ in the world . Many princes were in Edom before there
was a king in Israel; and Christ has suffered Antichrist to set up before him. And
he standeth in his way, and has so overspread the world in all places, with that
which is directly contrary to him, that he cannot set up his kingdom, until that
which is Antichrist's is tumbled down to the ground; even as a man whose ground is
full of thorns, and briars, and weeds, cannot sow in expectation of a crop, until
he hath removed them. And these seeds has Antichrist sown where the kingdom of Christ
should stand: 'Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briars; yea, upon
all the houses of joy in the joyous city: Because the palaces shall be forsaken;
the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for
ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks, [this is to happen to the church
of God,] Until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a
fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest' (Isa 32:13-15). And
the antichristian synagogue be turned into a wilderness.
When God came from Egypt with his people, to set up his kingdom in Canaan, he cast
out the heathen before them in order thereunto; 'Thou hast brought a vine out of
Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it' (Psa 80:8). Wherefore, Antichrist
must be removed and destroyed for this: For Antichrist is in flat opposition to Christ,
as Tibni was to Omri (1 Kings 16:21,22): Wherefore Antichrist must die. The reason
is, because Christ's kingdom shall be peaceable, without molestation; and glorious,
without the fumes and fogs of antichristian darkness: Because also, as the world
hath seen the manner of the reign of Antichrist, and how tyrannical and outrageous
a kingdom his is: so they shall see the reign of Christ, by his word and spirit in
his people, how peaceable, how fruitful in blessedness and prosperity his kingdom
is. And hence it is that God purposeth to bury Antichrist, before he sets 'glory
in the land of the living' (Eze 26:20,21). As also you read in the book of Revelations;
for there you find the kingdom of Antichrist was destroyed before the new Jerusalem
was set up. When men intend to build a new house, if in the place where the old one
stood, they first pull down the old one, raze the foundation, and then they begin
their new. Now God, as I said, will have his primitive church-state set up in this
world, (even where Antichrist has set up his;) wherefore, in order to this, Antichrist
must be pulled down, down stick and stone; and then they that live to see it, will
behold the new Jerusalem come down from heaven, as a bride adorned for her husband.
New wine is not put into old bottles, nor a new piece into an old garment; nor shall
any of the old anti-scriptural ordinances, ceremonies, rites, or vessels of the man
of sin, be made use of, or accounted anything worth, in this day of the kingdom of
Jesus Christ. And thus I have shewed you something of Antichrist, of his ruin, and
of the manner and signs of the approach thereof; together with the means and causes
of his ruin. All which I leave to the judgment of the godly, and beg their instruction
where they see me to be out; and shall conclude, after a short word of application.
First, Must Antichrist be destroyed? Then this informs us, that a time is coming
wherein there shall be no Antichrist to afflict God's church any more. 'Tis Antichrist,
antichristians, and antichristianism, that is the cause of the troubles of Christians,
for being Christians . And therefore 'tis from the consideration of this that it
is said, men 'shall beat their swords into plough-shares, and their spears into pruning-hooks,'
and that they 'shall learn war no more' (Isa 2:4): Yea it is from the consideration
of this, that it is said the child shall play with venomous and destroying beasts,
and that a little child shall lead the wolf , the leopard , and the young lion ,
and that the weaned child shall put his hand into the cockatrice's den, and catch
no hurt thereby (Isa 11:6-9). For as was said before, 'tis through the instigation
of this spirit of error, that the governors of the world have heretofore done hurt
to Zion, and I say now again, all things shall turn to their right course, and occupy
their places, as do the bodies in the higher orbs.
Secondly, Is Antichrist to be destroyed, and must she have an end? Then this gives
us to understand, that a day is coming when Antichrist shall be unknown, not seen,
nor felt by the church of God. There are men to be born who shall not know Antichrist,
but as they read in the word that such a thing has been. These shall talk of her,
as Israel's childrens' children were to talk of Pharaoh, of his cruelty; of his tasks,
of his pride, of the Red Sea, and how he was drowned there: They shall talk of them,
as of those that have been long dead; as of those who for their horrible wickedness,
are laid in the pit's mouth. This will be some of that sweet chat that the saints
shall, at their spare hours, have in time to come. When God has pulled this dragon
out of the sea, this leviathan out of his river, and cast his dead carcase upon the
open field, then shall those whose ancestors have been put into terrors by him, come
flocking to see the monster; and shall rejoice for all the mercy. In that day, the
church of God shall say, 'O Lord I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with
me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortest me.In that day shall ye say,
Praise the Lord, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people,' &c.
(Isa 12:1,4). O how sweetly did David, and the church in his day, sing of the ruins
of the Egyptians, and the deliverances of their fathers, which had been in times
of old! (Psa 68). to wit, what God did in Egypt, what he did at the Red Sea; what
he did to Sihon, to Og, and to the remnant of the giants: How he divided the waters
of Jordan, and gave the land of Canaan in its fruitfulness among his people (Psa
105): How that though Pharaoh and his horsemen and chariots were terrible then ,
yet now there is nothing left but their souls, their feet, and the palms of their
hands; nothing but that which can do no hurt; nothing but what may minister an occasion
of joyful remembrance of them (Psa 106; 132).
Thirdly, Is Antichrist to be destroyed? Then this calls aloud to God's people to
make haste to come out of her . 'Ho, ho,' says the prophet: He cries out as if the
people were asleep: 'Come forth , and flee from the land of the north' (Zech 2:6).
The people of God in the latter days will want a heart to come out of her, with that
fear of her plagues as they should: Wherefore another says, 'Come out of her, my
people, that ye be not partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her plagues'
(Rev 18:4). When Israel was carried into Babylon, 'twas not that they should dwell
there for ever: Though they were bid to build them houses, and beget them children
there. But when they had built, planted vineyards, and got wives and children there,
'twas hard getting them from thence again: For now they were as it were naturalized
to the country, and to the manners of it (Jer 29:4-7). But God will have them out,
(but they must not think to carry thence their houses and vineyards on their backs,)
or he will destroy them with those destructions wherewith he hath threatened to destroy
Babylon itself. Flesh will hang behind, because it favoureth the things of the flesh,
plenty of which there is in that country: But they that will live after the flesh
must die. 'Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate,and touch not the
unclean thing ; and I will receive you, and will be a father unto you, and ye shall
be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty' (2 Cor 6:17,18). But why (some
may say) must we come out ? I answer, because God has temple-work to do, temple-worship
to do, temple-sacrifices to offer, and none of these things can by any means be done,
but at Jerusalem. But if you still object and say, 'The Lord has raised us up prophets
in Babylon,' and we will not come out; you must not murmur if you feel what is to
follow. And that such may know upon what bottom they stand, let them read the 29th
chapter of Jeremiah 15-19.
Fourthly, Must Antichrist be destroyed? Then what mean they, who were to appearance
once come out, but now are going thither again ? If it cost Lot's wife dear for but
looking back, shall not it cost them much dearer, that are going back, that are gone
back again? and that, AFTER the angel had fled through the midst of heaven, preaching
the gospel to those that dwell on the earth? (Rev 14:6-10). They that received the
mark of the beast at first, before this angel came forth, are when compared with
these, excusable (Rev 13:16,17): Wherefore, they are not threatened with that smoking
wrath, as are these which are here under consideration.
You dread, that which is like to become of them that will be so mad to run into an
house, when fire is putting to the gunpowder barrel, in order to its blowing up:
Why thus do they, let their pretended cause be what it will, that are returning again
to Babel. Are her plagues pleasant or easy to be borne? Or dost thou think that God
is at play with thee, and that he threateneth but in jest? Her plagues are death
, and mourning , and famine , and fire (Rev 18:8); are these things to be overlooked?
And they that, as before is hinted, shall receive the mark of the beast in their
forehead, or in their hand, and shall worship him, they, 'the same shall drink of
the wine of the wrath of God' (Rev 14:10): And will this be a delightsome draught?
Remember how ill God took it, that his people of old, in their hearts, though but
in their hearts, went back again into Egypt. You may say, but I have friends, relations
, and concerns in Babylon. And, I answer, so had Lot in Sodom (Gen 19:14-16); but
for all that, he must either quickly come out, or run the hazard of being burned
there with them. But methinks, a people that belong to God, should be willing to
leave all to follow him: Besides, his presence is promised at Jerusalem, there also
will he accept thy offerings.
Fifthly, Is Antichrist to be destroyed? Then let them that love God, his Son, and
his Zion, cry to God, that it may be hastened in its time . One of the songs of Zion
is, that Babylon shall be destroyed. The cries of the souls of them that were slain
for the witness of Jesus is, that Babylon may be counted with, and that their blood
may be revenged upon her. The promise is, that Babylon shall be destroyed: And do
we hold our tongues? The church of God will not flourish as it should, until Babylon
is destroyed: The world will never be in its right wits, until Babylon is destroyed:
The kingdom of Christ will never be set up, in and by his church, as it ought, and
shall, until Antichrist is destroyed: There will never be peace upon earth till Antichrist
is destroyed: And God has promised that there shall be peace and truth, and glory,
when Babylon is destroyed: And do we hold our peace? Besides, your innocency in suffering;
your honesty towards God, in your testimony for his truth; the substantial ground
which you have for the bottom of your faith, as to things controverted betwixt Antichrist
and you, will never be manifested as it will then; and so consequently, you never
so brought out to the light, and your enemies never so put to shame as then. 'Then
shame shall cover her that said unto thee, Where is the Lord thy God?' Wherefore,
as I said, cry unto the Lord, keep not silence, give him no rest, let him not alone,
until he has delivered his miserable people out of the mouth of this lion, and from
the paw of this bear.
Sixthly, Is Antichrist to be destroyed? Then let us live in the expectation of it
; and let this be one of our songs in the house of our pilgrimage. God bids his people,
while in Babylon, to let Jerusalem come into their mind (Jer 51:50), and writes to
them that then were in her, to acquaint them that he remembered them still, and would
assuredly deliver them from that place and state . And wherefore doth he thus, but
to beget an expectation in them of their salvation and deliverance? (Jer 29:13,14).
The Lord is so pleased with the faith and expectation of his people, as to this,
that they seldom are herein concerned as they should, but he steps in with them,
and warms their hearts. The reason is, because the faith of God's people, as to the
downfall of Babylon, stands upon as sure a foundation as doth the salvation of their
souls; and that next to that, God is as much delighted in what he has purposed to
do against Babylon, as in anything else in the earth: And therefore, if you consider
it well, the great and glorious promises that are to be fulfilled on earth, are to
be fulfilled when Antichrist is dead and buried: These bits are too good even for
his children to have, so long as this dog is by, lest he should snatch at the crumbs
thereof; wherefore they are reserved until he is gone: For thus saith the Lord, 'That
after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon, I will visit you, and perform my
good word towards you, in causing you to return to this place: For I know the thoughts
that I think toward you, saith the Lord; thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give
you an expected end.' This is in Jeremiah the 29th chapter, verses 10, 11 and in
the 31st chapter he adds, 'Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion,
and shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord, for wheat, and for wine, and
for oil, and of the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as
a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all. Then shall the virgin
rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning
into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow. And I will
satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with
my goodness, saith the Lord' (verse 12-14). Again, in the 32nd chapter, still speaking
of the same thing, he saith, 'Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and
I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul'
(verse 41).
I conclude this with that which I find in the 33rd chapter: 'And I will cleanse them
from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all
their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against
me. And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise, and an honour before all the nations
of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them: and they shall fear
and tremble, for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto
it' (verse 8,9).
Seventhly, Must Antichrist be destroyed? Then this should make us glad, when we see
the signs of his fall presenting themselves to our view . Indeed, the signs of his
fall, or those that forerun it, are terrible, and amazing to behold. But what of
that, since the wrinkles that are in their faces threaten not us but them? A man
is angry, and will punish; yea, and whets his sword, makes his rod, and he speaks
not a word, but blood, blood , is in it. Indeed, this should make them that are concerned
in this anger, be afraid; (but the judgment is, they are fast asleep,) but what is
in all this of terror to them, for the pleading whose cause he is so angry with the
other? Nothing whereat the innocent should be afraid. Cold blasts in November are
not received with that gentleness as are colder in March and April; for that these
last cold ones are but the farewell notes of a piercing winter; they also bring with
them the signs and tokens of a comfortable summer. Why, the church is now at the
rising of the year; let then the blasts at present, or to come, be what they will,
Antichrist is assuredly drawing towards his downfall: And though the devil, knowing
what is to be done to him, and to his kingdom, shall so blind his disciples, and
fright the godly, do something like it upon the church of Christ; yet we should look
through these paper-winkers ,[22] and espy in all this, that fear, yea, certain
terrible judgments are following of him at the heels, by which not only the soul,
spirit, and life of Antichrist, but the body thereof; yea, body, and soul, and head,
are quickly to go down thither; from whence they, as such, shall not arise again.
Amen.
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