The coming of Christ dispersed the shadows of the ceremonial law; these vanished and disappeared when Chrift was come, and suffered in the flesh, who was the body and fubftance of them; and the morning of the Gofpel-dispensation dawned; and as it dispelled the darkness of the law, it introduced light. John, the forerunner of Chrift, was not the light itself, but he came to bear witnefs of the light; which is Chrift, the light of the world; who brought light into it; and is that great light which fhined on men fitting in darkness, and in the shadow of death. The gospel which came by him, and he gave his apostles to preach, is a glorious light; and this fhone out and appeared to all men, Jews and Gentiles. This, like the morning-light, spread itself all over the world; the apostles had a commiffion to go into all the world, and preach it to every creature; and the found of it by them did go into all the earth, and their words or doctrines unto the end of the world: before the deftruction of Jerusalem, the Gospel was preached unto all nations; one of the apostles, the apostle Paul, preached it fully from Jerufalem, round about unto Illyricum : And this, like the light of the morning, moved on irresistibly; nothing could ftop it, as nothing can the morning-light; it had a free course, and ran, and was glorified; notwithstanding the rage and fury of perfecutors, the word of the Lord grew and multiplied; though the whole world was against it, Jews and Gentiles, the most powerful, wife and learned, it made its way, and bore down all oppofition to it; the minifters of it triumphed in Chrift, and diffused the favour of his knowledge, and the light of his word, in every place.

But then as fure as this morning came, fo fure a night followed, and that very quickly, to the Jews; the light of the Gofpel was in a little time taken from them, they defpifing, contradicting, and blafpheming it; even whilst Christ the light was with them, they rejected him; they loved and chofe darkness rather than the light; there were only a few, a remnant according to the election of grace, that received him, the reft were blinded; and the blindness which happened to them continues unto this day, and will continue till the fulness of the Gentiles is brought in. It has been a long night with them, and when it will be otherwise, cannot be precisely faid; the veil of darkness and ignorance in reading Mofes and the prophets, and especially in those things which respect the Meffiah, remains untaken away; but will be done away in Chrift, and be removed when they shall be converted, and turn to the Lord. And though the light of the Gospel continued longer in the Gentile world, and may be thought to have been in its meridian in the times of Conftantine, yet thenceforward it visibly declined; an evening came on, a night of darkness prevailed; which was brought on in the eastern part of the world, by the arifing of the falfe prophet Mahomet ; who having the key of the bottomlefs pit, opened it, and let out the fmoke of his

falfe

falfe doctrine, contained in his Alkoran, by which the fun and the air were darkened; and alfo his locufts the Saracens, which ran over the East, and spread his doctrine and worship every where: about the fame time, the man of fin, the Romish antichrift, was revealed, being come to his maturity and ripeness; and that which lett or hindered his appearance, the Roman emperor, being taken out of the way; whose coming was after the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteoufnefs'; and spread darknefs all over the western part of the world; and then those times came on, the Spirit expressly speaks of, that many should depart from the faith; give heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils; fpeak lies in hypocrify; forbid to marry; and command to abstain from meats God has created to be received with thanksgiving; which are manifeftly popish tenets. This dark state of things is represented by the Thyatirian church-state; in which were the depths of Satan, and the blackness of popifh darkness; when the woman Jezebel taught and feduced the fervants of the Lord to commit fornication, and to eat things facrificed to idols"; and a long difinal dark night it was, which lafted till the Reformation.

But when the Reformation came on, another morning appeared; and which is expreffed by the morning star', promised to the overcomers of the errors and superstitions of the Thyatirian ftate; and which the Sardian church-state brought in then the Gospel broke out in a moft glorious manner, and fpread itself like the morning-light, fwiftly and irrefiftibly, over these western parts, Germany, Poland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Holland, and these ifles of Great Britain and Ireland, and other places; and brought with it great joy and gladness every where; and things went on in a very comfortable and promifing manner; and it looked as if the old apoftolical times were coming over again; and indeed the firft Reformers propofed to go upon the plan of the apostles' doctrine and practice: hence part of the fame character is taken by the writer to this church of Sardis, as to the church at Ephefus, which reprefented the truly apoftolic church; these things, faith he that hath the feven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; for great gifts were now beftowed on men, and who shone as ftars in Chrift's right hand; but then it is not added, who walks in the midft of the feven golden candlesticks; for though the firft Reformers went a great way in restoring true doctrine, they yet fell fhort in reforming the discipline of the churches, and therefore their works were not found perfect before God: there were many bright Gospel-minifters, but few, if any churches formed according to the primitive model; and in process of time, there was an entire ftand put to the Reformation itself, and things went backwards instead of forwards; and of late years, there has been a very visible decline; and a night is coming on, which

we are entered into; the fhadows of the evening are ftretching out apace upon us, and the signs of the even-tide are very manifeft, and which will shortly appear yet more and more. A fleepy frame of spirit has feized us; both minifters and churches are asleep; and being fo, the enemy is bufy in fowing the tares of errors and herefies, and which will grow up and spread yet more and more. Coldness and indifference in spiritual things, a want of affection to God, Christ, his people, truths and ordinances, may easily be observed: the first love is left; iniquity abounds, and the love of many waxes cold, and it will wax yet colder and colder; and will iffue in a general forfaking of affembling together, and in an entire neglect of the minifters of the Gofpel; when fuch who have been profeffors themselves will be fhy of them, and carefully fhun them; will not care to own them or speak to them, and much less receive them into their houses; and still lefs hear them; which, I think, is meant by, or at leaft is one part of the meaning of the dead bodies of the witneffes not being fuffered to be put into graves: the fun of the Gospel will be fet, and its light for a while wholly withdrawn; the witneffes will be flain, their dead bodies lie unburied, and fo cease prophefying, their teftimony being finished; this will be a difmal dark night indeed; only it will be a fhort one.

If it fhould be afked, what time it is with us now? whereabout we are? and what is yet to come of this night? As a faithful watchman, I will give you the best account I can: I take it, we are in the Sardian church-ftate, in the latter part of it, which, as before observed, brought on the Reformation, and reprefents that; we are in the decline of that ftate: and there are many things faid of that church which agree with us; as that we have a name; that we live and are dead; the name of the reformed churches, but without the life and power of true religion; and that there are a few, and but a few names among us, even in our Sardis, which have not defiled their garments" with falfe doctrine or fuperftitious worship. The times we live in are just such as are described in Zech. xiv. 6, 7. that the light fhall not be clear nor dark, but it shall be one day, which fhall be known to the Lord, not day nor night: not clear, not full day, as at noon, as it was in the times of Chrift and his apoftles; when the Sun of righteousness was risen, and the fhadows of Jewish and Gentile darkness vanifhed, and the Gospel fhone out in the miniftry of the apoftles; when the church had on her head a crown of twelve ftars, was clothed with the fun, and had the moon under her feet: nor is it fo clear day with us as even at the reformation; for though there may be some minifters and churches which may have more clear, distinct, and evangelic light than there was at that time; yet take the Protestant churches in the bulk, and there is not fo much light now as then: nor is it fuch clear day as it will be in the fpiritual reign of Chrift, when will be the brightness of Zion's rifing

rifing; not to take notice of the kingdom-ftate during the thousand years, which will be all day and no night; nor of the ultimate glory, the inheritance of the faints in light and yet it is not totally dark, or quite night; not fo dark as it was with the Jews under the former difpenfation, who could not fee to the end of that which was to be abolished; much lefs as it was with the Gentiles before the coming of Chrift; or as in the dark times of popery; nor as it will be at the even-tide of the prefent dispensation we are under, before described; it is a fort of a twilight with us, between clear and dark, between day and night. As to what of the night is yet to come, or what will befal the churches, and will bring on the difmal night before us; they are, the flaying of the witnesses, and the universal spread of popery all over Christendom; and the latter is the unavoidable confequence of the former.

The flaying of the witneffes, which I understand not fo much in a literal sense, or of a corporal death; though there may be many flain in this fenfe when it will be; but in a civil fenfe, with refpect to their miniftry, being filenced by their enemies, and neglected by their friends; this is an affair that is not yet over fome have thought that it is, and that the prophecy of it had its accomplishment in the burning of the protestants in Queen Mary's time, which lafted about three years and a half; or, according to others, in King James the II's reign, which was about such a length of time; but this is not at all likely, fince then the witneffes had liberty granted them to prophesy it is more likely, that it should be fulfilled in the case of the proteftants of the valleys of Piedmont, who were driven out from thence for nonconformity to the Romish religion, by the duke of Savoy; and who recalled and re-established them by an edict just three years and a half after; but thefe inftances, with others which are propofed, were only hints or pledges of what is hereafter to be done these were at most only partial flayings of the witneffes; whereas this will be univerfal; it will not be in one place only, but every where, wherever there are any. Befides, the outward court must be given to the Gentiles, ere the witneffes, which are in the inward court, can be come at and slain, which is not yet done. The Gentiles are the papists; the outward court is the bulk of the Reformed churches, which will fall into the hands of the papists again; fince the Reformation has been at a stand, and things have been upon the decline, the papifts have got ground, and have regained fome part of the outward court, as in Germany, Poland, &c. But they have not as yet got the whole into their hands, as they will, and which they muft, ere they, can make this universal slaughter of the witnesses: an houfe that has an outward court, or a court-yard unto it, the court is a fence to the houfe, and there is no coming at the one without entering the other; and fo all churches established by the laws of the countries where they are, or all thofe civil and

worldly

worldly establishments, are fences and guards about the witneffes; fo long as these are out of the hands of the papifts, they cannot come at the witneffes, they are fafe; but when these are once gained over, then they will be flain, and not till then. Moreover, the witneffes have not yet finished their teftimony they are still prophefying, though in fackcloth, or under fome difcouragements; whereas it will be when they have finished their teftimony, and at the clofe of the 1260 days or years of antichrift's reign, that they will be killed. And had they been flain at any of the times before-mentioned, they would have rifen long before now; for the time between their death and rifing is but three days and a half, that is, three years and a half; they would have afcended up to heaven before now, which denotes a moft glorious ftate of the church; and the ruin of antichrift would have come on long before this time; for that will immediately follow the rifing and afcenfion of thefe witneffes"; for at the fame hour that they fhall afcend, will be a great earthquake, or a revolution in the papal state, and the tenth part of the city, or of the Romish jurifdiction, shall fall; that is, one of its ten horns, kings or kingdoms belonging to it, and perhaps the kingdom of France is meant; and feven thousand men of name will be flain, and the rest be affrighted, and give glory to God; nothing of which has as yet been done: to which may be added, that upon the fulfilment of the above things, the fecond woe will pass away, and the third woe will take place; the fecond woe brought the Saracens and Turks into the empire, and the paffing away of it relates to the deftruction of the Turkish empire, or will iffue in that; for when that is over, the Turkish empire will be at an end; whereas it is still in being, and in great power; and the third woe, or the founding of the feventh, trumpet, will bring on the kingdom of Chrift; but as yet, there is no appearance of the kingdoms of this world becoming the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ. From all which it may be concluded, that the flaying of the witnesses is yet to come, and will make the difmal part of that night we are entering into, and which will be accompanied with an univerfal fpread of popery popery will be once more the reigning, prevailing religion in Chriftendom; and indeed how fhould it otherwise be? For when the witneffes will be flain, there will be none to oppose the power and progrefs of it; there will be an universal triumph among the inhabitants of the earth; the popifh party upon this will rejoice, and fend gifts to one another; the outward court being in their hands, and the witnesses flain : and that myftical Babylon, or the whore of Rome, will be in ftatu quo, and in all her glory and grandeur at the time of her destruction, is evident from her faying, I fit a queen, and am no widow, and fball fee no forrow; every thing now being according to her wifhes; having regained all her former power and glory, and nothing to fear from the witnesses who

See the Expofition as before. • Rev. xi. 13, and Expofition in ibid.

Rev. xi. 10.