the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from beaven we heard, when we were with bim in the holy mount. His appearing once in power and great glory is a good argument, that he may appear again in like manner: and that he not only may, but will, we have the farther affurance of prophecy. (ver. 19.) We have also a more fure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-ftar arife in your hearts. St. Peter might mean the prophecies in general which treat of the second coming of Chrift, but it appears that the Re velation was principally in his thoughts and intentions. Chrift's fecond coming in power and glory is one principal topic of the Revelation. With this it begins, (I. 7.) Behold, he cometh with clouds: and every eye shall see him. With this it also concludes, (XXII. 20.) He who teftifieth these things, faith, Surely I come quickly. Nothing can better answer the character of the Revelation, especially in St. Peter's time when as yet fcarce any part of it was fulfilled, than a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-ftar arife in your hearts. It openeth more and more like the.dawning of the day; and the more it is fulfilled, the better it is understood. Afterwards St. Peter proceeds, in the fecond chapter, to describe, out of this fure word of prophecy, the false prophets and false teachers, who fhould infeft the church; and in the third chapter, the certainty of Chrift's coming to judgment, the conflagration of the prefent heavens and earth, and the ftructure of the new heavens and earth; and all agreeably to the Revelation. Attention therefore to this book is recommended to us, upon the authority of St. Peter as well as of the writer St. John and a double bleffing, as we have seen in the book itself, is pronounced upon those who shall study and observe it; firft in the beginning, (I. 3.) Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things, which are written therein; and here again in the end, (XXII. 7.) Bleed is he that keepeth the fayings of the prophecy of this book. Emboldened by which bleffings I would humbly pray with Nehemiah, (Nehem. XIII. 22.) Remember me, O my God, concerning this alfo, and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy. VOL. III. B b XXVI. XXVI. Recapitulation of the Prophecies ON the whole it appears UPON that the pro phecies relating to Popery are the greatest, the most effential, and the most striking part of the Revelation. Whatever difficulty and perplexity there inay be in other paffages, yet here the application is obvious and eafy. Popery being the great corruption of Christianity, there are indeed more prophecies relating to that than to almoft any other diftant event. It is a great object of Daniel's, and the principal object of St. Paul's, as well as of St. John's prophecies.; and thefe, confidered and compared together, will mutually receive and reflect light from and upon each other. It will appear to be clearly foretold, that such a power as that of the pope fhould be exercised in the Chriftian church, and should authorize and establish fuch doctrins and practices, as are publicly taught and approved in the church of Rome. It is not only 4 fore foretold that fuch a power should be exercised, but the place and the perfons likewise are pointed out, where and by whom it should be exercised. Befides the place and the perfons, the time also is fignified when it should prevail, and how long it should prevail; and at last upon the expiration of this term it fhall be destroyed for evermore. It is thought proper to reprefent the prophecies relating to popery in one view, that like the rays of the fun collected in a glass, they may appear with the greater luftre, and have the stronger effect. I. I fay, the Spirit of prophecy hath fignified beforehand, that there fhould be fuch a power as that of the pope and church of Rome ufurped in the Chriftian world: and these predictions are fo plain and exprefs, that, was not the contrary evident and undeniable, they might feem to be penned after the event, and to defcribe things paft rather than to foretel things to come. For inftance. Hath there now for many ages fubfifted, and doth there ftill fubfift a tyrannical, and idolatrous, and blafphemous power, in pretence Chriftian, but in reality Antichriftian? It is the very fame power that is portrayed in the little horn and the blafphemous king by Daniel, in the man of fin the son of perdition by St. Paul, and in the ten-horned beaft Bb 2 and and the two-horned beast or the false prophet by St. John.-Hath the church apoftatized or departed greatly from the purity of Chriftian faith and worship? It is the very fame thing that St. Paul hath foretold, (2 Thef. II. 3.) The day of the Lord fhall not come, except there come a falling away or the apostasy first: and he faith moreover in another place, (1 Tim. IV. 1.) that the Spirit of prophecy (meaning in Daniel) had in exprefs words teftified the fame thing before, Now the Spirit Speaketh exprefly, that in the latter times fome fhall depart from the faith, or rather apoftatize from the faith: and St. John forefaw the church fo far degenerated as to become (Rev. XVII. 5.) the mother of harlots, or whoredoms, and abominations of the earth.-Doth this apostasy consist chiefly in the worshipping of demons, angels and departed faints, and in honoring them with costly fhrines and rich offerings, inftead of the worship of the one true God thro' the one true mediator between God and men, the man Chrift fefus? Nothing can better agree with the prophecy of St. Paul, (1 Tim. IV. 1.) Some shall apoftatize from the faith, giving heed to feducing Spirits and doctrins concerning demons; and with the prophecy of Daniel, that the blafphemous king (XI. 38.) in his eftate fall honor Mabuzzim, Gods protectors or faints pro |