fouls of men fhe made merchandife to a great extent, in the large fums of money which fhe received for delivering them out of purgatory. All thofe perfons, in short, who are her tools of any kind, and who made profit in her service, fhall lament her deftruction, from a principle of selfishness, because their lucrative trade muft fall with her.

Verfe 20th. Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apoftles and prophets, for God hath avenged you on her.

t

SCB

Three diftin&t bodies of men are called upon to rejoice over fallen Rome. ft, The heaven, that is, the true church of Chrift. 2d, The holy apoftles, the twelve apoftles of Chrift. And 3d, The boly prophets, that is, the prophets of both the Old and New Teftament, particularly Ezekiel, Ifaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Peter, Paul, and John; who have all prophefied of the latter days.,

The cause affigned for their rejoicing is, that God hath avenged them on her. Chriftians, fo far from avenging themselves, pity and pray for their very perfecutors. But, the injuries which are done them escape not vengeance from him who perfectly knows them all, and who with equal ease can punish the strongest and weakest of their enemies. (Rom. xii. 19.) "Dearly beloved, avenge

"not yourselves, but rather give place unto "wrath for it is written, vengeance is mine, I "will repay, faith the Lord." By the final overthrow of Papal Rome, God fhall, in the courfe of his providence, fully avenge all these on her.

She represented and perfecuted the Chriftian church as heretical; but that church fhall then be fully avenged on her, when the fhall be deftroyed by the Turks, and by feveral of those kingdoms in Europe who formerly worshipped her, while the whole courfe of divine providence fhall clearly declare, and almost the whole world shall openly acknowledge that church which the denominated heretical, to be the church of Christ.

Chrift commanded his apoftles and ministers to admit members into his church, by baptizing them, and teaching them to observe all things whatsoever he had commanded them. But the church of Rome omitted many things which Chrift commanded his apoftles to teach, and enjoined upon her votaries many articles of faith, and rules of worship and of conduct, which Chrift never commanded, and which his apoftles never taught. The Christian church is built upon the foundation of the prophets and apostles, Jefus Chrift himself being the chief corner ftone. But, the church of Rome is built upon her traditions and councils, the Pope himself being the chief corner ftone. When, therefore, the church and city of Rome shall be overthrown,

overthrown, and that church which is built upon the foundation of the prophets and apoftles, fhall appear in a triumphant ftate, then the holy apostles shall be avenged on Papal Rome.

The prophets of the Old and New Teftaments, particularly Daniel, Paul, and John, predicted the rife, the height, and the downfal of Papal Rome. Rome, like even too many who call themselves Proteftants, hath treated the prophecies with contempt or neglect, as unintelligible and useless, and hath applied them to others and not to herself. But, as the events themselves will not misinterpret the prophecies nor represent them as useless, when not only all the intermediate events, but also the final catastrophe of Rome shall exactly correspond to the predictions of these prophets; then, in the courfe of divine providence, they fhall be fully avenged on Rome, and on all others who had treated their prophecies with contempt or neglect.

Verfes 21ft, 24th.—And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great milftone, and caft it into the fea, faying, Thus with violence fhall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. And the voice of harpers and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters fhall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of what

foever

foever craft he be, fhall be found any more in thee and the found of a milftone fhall be heard no more at all in thee; and the light of a candle fhall fhine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom, and of the bride fhall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy forceries were all nations deceived: and in her was found the blood of prophets, and of faints, and of all that were flain upon the earth.

The total and final overthrow of Papal Rome is here predicted by the fymbol of throwing a great milftone into the fea, as a visible reprefentation that Rome fhould be overthrown in a moft violent manner, never to rife again. Such vifible representations being a part of the idiom of the fymbolical language, are very common in prophetic writings. That this overthrow fhall be final, is farther predicted by a most minute and particu lar declaration, that all the neceffary, the useful, the ornamental, and the amusing arts fhould totally disappear; and that there fhould be no rifing generation in Rome to fill up the vacant places of those persons who had perished.

In

In the last claufe of the 23d verse, and in the whole of the 24th, three reafons are affigned for this fatal overthrow.

ift, "For her merchants were the great men of "the earth." The office-bearers in the church of Rome affumed a rank in the ftate, and an influence in the administration of civil government, unfuitable to the character of minifters in Chrift's church.

2d, "By her forceries all nations were deceiv"ed." By her fuperftitions, idolatries, and artful impoftures and tricks, all nations were led into dangerous errors in matters of religion.

And 3d, Because "in her was found the blood "of prophets, and of saints, even of all that were flain upon the earth." In her unjuft and cruel perfecutions, the blood of the ministers and of the hearers of the gospel was fhed in the greatest profufion, even the blood of all those persons who for their adherence to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jefus were flain in every part of the Roman empire. The number of these is past counting, and the fhocking cruelties committed in the manner of their deaths were fuch, as for the fake of human nature ought never to be named. That Rome for a long time hath been deep ftained with these three atrocious crimes, none can doubt, who are not either grofsly ignorant or prejudiced. That these three crimes, when they

rife