a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven 4 thunders uttered their voices. And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.

SECTION II.

The Last Grand Scattering of the Power of the Holy People at the Battle of Armageddon, and Repentance of the rest of the Men.

For

Now that our blessed Lord had stood up for his people by the Reformation of Luther, there would be no longer any delay in bringing to an end the scattering of the power of the holy people, when the whole number of the fellowservants of those, who had been already slain under the Pagan establishment, should be slain as they were. when the last stage of the public proclamation of the gospel should be about to begin, then the mystery spoken of in the Book of Prophets, viz. in Daniel, i.e. the scattering above mentioned, should be accomplished; but between this and then that inestimable little treasure of the gospel must be preached over again to the world, which would be sweet indeed in precept, but bitter in the attempt to promulgate it. For, since the last survey of the church made by our Lord, it had undergone considerable alterations: instead of being divided into small churches independent of the state and of each other, as once existed in the Lydian Asia, it had been, and would continue for 1260 years, divided into the Eastern and Western churches, or, after the Turks gained possession of Illyricum, into the church in the Præfecture of the Gauls, containing France, Spain, and Britain, and into the church in the Præfecture of Italy, containing Italy and part of Austria, in which the Cæsar of the Romans

and his Decemvirate would be the god, so that the true witnesses in those divisions would preach in sackcloth, and, through the paucity of these, nothing but nominal Christians would occupy the rest of our holy city. The witnesses of the truth therefore, after the Reformation, had to preach the gospel over again; and when, after the expiration of the 1260 years, ending 1813, they should gain a legal establishment in the Empire by the grand charter of Louis XVIII. 1814, in France, and by other tolerating acts and edicts in the rest of the Empire, they would be suppressed for reasons, which it is not difficult to guess at, by the regal Decemvirate of the Cæsars again. But at the expiration of three years and a half, they would again obtain a legal footing to the consternation of their enemies, when a tenth part of the Empire would fall from the ecclesiastical dominion of the beast by a bloody revolution. The witnesses are come to send fire on the earth by the force of truth alone, for they are unassisted by the civil power, and by that weapon alone they must vanquish their enemies; but they have a baptism to be baptised with, and how are they straitened till it be accomplished! Till then, divine blessings drop not as the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath. The very fate of Christianity hangs on the battle of Armageddon, and then It Is Done. With the passing away of that, the Empire of the Turks passes away also.

5 And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth, lifted up his hand to heaven, 6 and sware by him that liveth for ever and ever,

who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea and the things which are therein, 7 that there should be delay no longer but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants 8 the prophets. And the voice which I heard from

heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and 9 upon the earth. And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be 10 in thy mouth sweet as honey. And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey and as 11 soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings. XI. 1. And there was given me a reed like unto a rod, saying, Rise and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. 2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles and the holy city shall they tread forty 3 and two months. And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, 4 clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive

trees, and the two candlesticks standing before 5 the God of the earth. And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies and if any man will hurt them, he must, in this manner be killed. 6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not

in the days of their prophecy and have power

over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will. 7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless

pit, shall make war against them, and shall over8 come them, and kill them. And their dead bodies

shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also 9 our Lord was crucified. And they of the people, and kindreds, and tongues, and nations, shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in. 10 graves. And they that dwell upon the earth

shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the 11 earth. And after three days and an half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell 12 upon them which saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in 13 a cloud; and their enemies beheld them. And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.

14

The second woe is past, and behold, the third ... woe cometh quickly.

CONTINUATION OF PART III.

SECTION X.

Seventh Stage of the Public Sounding of the Mystery.

The scattering of the power of the holy people being accomplished at the battle of Armageddon, the kingdoms of this world become our Lord's and his Christ's. The time is come for the judgment, and for the saints to be rewarded. All civil and religious despotism is abolished; the Roman Empire is possibly parcelled out into small independent societies, unable by their diminutiveness to oppress each other, and able on the same account of regulating their own political economy without corruption, or tyranny: every thing that partakes of the character of the beast, as extent of dominion, being exploded as presumptuous, and hostile to civil and religious liberty. In these states there may be no distinct order of men set apart for the performance of religious duties, each man being his own priest. But the Northern power makes his descent upon the church of Christ brought back from the sword of Antichrist; and our blessed Lord, the true ark of our rest, appears.

15 And the seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices in heaven, saying, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever 16 and ever. And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their 17 faces, and worshipped God, saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken 18 to thee thy great power and hast reigned. And