Father fhall give her a timely call from thence: And I heard another voice from heaven, faying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her fins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. Rev. xviii. 4.

But the hypocrites in our Zion fhall be the greatest promoters of this laft calamity. Thefe, being proud and haughty, and wife in their own conceit, fhall feduce the above fimple ones, and influence them with a spirit of rebellion and difaffection, and plunder them of their tenderness and reverence of Chrift and his word: Alfo the robbers of thy people fhall exalt themselves to establish the vision, but they shall fall. Dan. xi. 14. The New Teftament defcribes these robbers thus: For the time will come when they will not endure found doctrine; but after their own lufts fball they beap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and fhall be turned unto fables. 2 Tim. iv. 4. This time is come, and all these things have taken place: Nevertheless, the people that do know their God fhall be strong, and de exploits. Dan. xi. 32.

In this approaching time of unparalleled trouble fhall Michael, the great prince, stand up, which stands for his people. Dan. xii. 4. He fhall rife from his throne, and stand up, as he did at the time of Stephen's trial, and the heavens fhall open, as they did then, and the skies fhall begin to pour down righteousness. Ifa. xlv. 8. He fhall ftand up, during the time of this next conflict, and exert himself in behalf of his faints: as foon as the power of his people is all gone,

and they are worn out, overcome, and prevailed againft; then fhall Chrift ftand up, and execute judgment on the murderers of his people, and vindicate and juftify the righteous; and fhall deftroy all his enemies, and establish the kingdoms of this world in the hands of his faints; and fo it is written, I beheld, and the fame horn made war with the faints, and prevailed against them, until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given to the faints of the Mift High; and the time came that the faints possessed the kingdom. Dan. vii. 21, 22.

This prevailing against the faints is not to be understood of their being fubjected to popery, but of their being deprived of all civil power, and of their being flain or filenced, and fo deprived of all public worship, which will continue three years and an half. They fhall lie flain as many days as popery hath reigned years. But from the damnable deception of popery, and from the damnation that it expofes finners to, and out of this last perilous time of trouble, shall all the elect of God be most surely delivered: fo it follows, And there fhall be a time of trouble, fuch as never was; and at that time (take notice of that) thy people fhall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. Dan. xii. 1. In allufion to this, Chrift promifes, in his epiftle written to us, first, that he will keep us in the hour of temptation; and, fecondly, that he will not blot our names out of the book of life; but, in spite of the univerfal corruption of thoufands, fome fhall walk with him in

We

We must now go to the New Teftament to fee when Daniel's time, times, and a half, in which this horn is to reign, began. Paul gives us two outward figns of it: first, a general apoftafy; and, fecondly, an open exhibition of the man of fin, infomuch, that the children of light might fee him, and apply the portrait drawn of him in the fcriptures to him: That day fhall not come except there come a falling away firft, and that man of fin be revealed, the fon of perdition. 2 Theff. ii. 3. Apoftafy from the truth in the Roman empire paved the way, and then this fon of perdition appeared, with the evident tokens of perdition upon him; and then that day came in which Daniel's time, times, and a half, began. For the triple crown, and the word mystery at the front of it, and the title of univerfal bishop added to thefe, made him manifeft; fo that he was then clearly revealed and made known. to the fpoufe of Chrift; and she discovered him, exclaimed against him, and fled from him, as from the face of the old ferpent which deceived Eve; and fo it follows, And there appeared another wonder in heaven, and behold a great red dragon, baving feven heads and ten korns; and his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did caft them to the earth; and the woman fled into the wilderness, where fhe bath a place prepared of God, that they should feed ber there a thousand two hundred and threefcore days. Rev. xii. 3, 4, 6. Hence it appears that a general falling away from Chrift in the Roman empire paved the way for this fon of perdition; and upon that he appeared,

E

appeared, and the doctrines of devils foon broke loofe from him, with which he drew the third part of the Stars of heaven, and ceft them to the earth. These stars were minifters, who had fome light in the head, but no love to Chrift in the heart. The devil drew thefe from their standing by his own tail: the ancient and honourable he is the head, and the prophet that teacheth lies he is the tail. Ifa. ix. 15. And now the whole world wondered after the beast. The whole Roman empire became now, in the general, apoftates from Chrift; the ftars fell from their orbits, and united to this univerfal bishop; and those that wondered after him foliowed him; and this mystical body of apoftates, that joined themselves to this new head of the church, the pope, make up the myftical body of the beaft, which is to continue for a time, times, and a half; throughout which period Daniel's eye purfued him, till he faw the end of him: I beheld then, because of the voice of the great words which the bern pake: I beheld till the beast was flain, and kis body deftroyed, and given to the burning flame.

Dan. vii. 1 1.

Hence it appears that, when the title of universal bishop took place, then the man of fin was revealed; which was, as most agree, in the year 606 : then Daniel's time, times, and a half, began. Then the woihan faw him, bore her teftimony against him, and fled from him; for it was the world that wondered after the beast, not the church, for she is not of this world, even as Chrift is not of this world.

Now let us fee what becomes of her and where the

goes.

goes. She fled into the wilderness, just as the If raelites did from the face of Pharaoh (called a river dragon, Ezek. xxxix. 3) into obfcurity. The church existed for a while in private families, and after that in different corners of the earth: and this place was prepared of God to hide her in; and fince that time God hath prepared more public places for her, and hath raised up fome earthly princes to be of her, and to protect her, that her minifters might feed her there

thousand two hundred and threefcore days; that is, a thousand two hundred and threefcore years-which number of years appears to be exactly the fame as Daniel's time, times, and a half. So that the woman fhall live in the wilderness as long as Antichrift lives on the throne; yea, fhe fhall outlive him, and rife to reign upon his ruin.

During the above time Zion is to be fed; for fo it is written And I will give power unto my two witneffes, and they fhall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threefcore days clothed in fackcloth. Rev.xi.3. But, towards the conclufion of this 1260 years, Daniel's time of trouble is to come on; and fo it follows: And, when they fhall have finished their testimony, the beast that afcendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them and kill them. And their dead bodies fhall lie in the street of the great city, which Spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where alfo our Lord was crucified. And they of the people, and kindreds, and tongues, and nations, fall fee their dead bodies three days and a half, and fhall not