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one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

And when he had taken that roll or book, wherein those counsels were set down and sealed up, the holy Angels and Saints, which were before the throne, fell down before the Son of God, in way of adoration of him; having every one of them melodious instruments for the celebration of the praise, and golden vials full of sweet incense; representing, both their acceptable thanksgivings, and their general apprecations of peace and welfare to the Church of God upon the earth.

V. 10. And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

See 1 Peter ii. 9. And we shall reign and triumph over our enemies, which are on the earth.

V. 11. And the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.

And there was an innumerable number of Angels and Saints, which joined together, in magnifying the praise of Christ their Saviour.

VI. 1. And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.

And I saw when Christ, the Son of God, opened the First of those seven Seals; and I heard a mighty voice, as if it had been of thunder, from one of those four glorious Angels, which were next to the throne, saying, Come and see.

VI. 2. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

And I saw, and, behold, a notable representation of the happy success and victory of the Gospel; set forth by the appearance of a white horse, whose rider had a bow in his hand, to signify the wound that he had given to his enemies: and a crown was given to him, in sign of triumph and honour; and he went forth to all the ends of the earth, conquering and bringing in subjection, every power that exalted itself against him.

VI. 4. And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

And, upon the opening of the Second Seal, I saw a representation of that bloody tyranny and persecution, which should follow upon the preaching of the Gospel, set forth by the appearance of a red horse: and power was given to Satan, which was the mover and stirrer up of these cruel persecutors, the Tyrants of Rome, to take peace from the earth, and to

incite them to a mutual slaughter of each other; and, for that purpose, there was a great sword, by the just permission of God, given into his hand.

VI. 5. And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.

And when he had opened the Third Seal, I heard the third Angel, say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo, there was made to me a representation of an extreme dearth and famine, which should follow upon the earth, by the appearance of a black horse, whose rider had a pair of scales in his hand; to signify, that they shall be forced to measure out, by drams and ounces, that corn, which they shall be allowed to eat.

VI. 6. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the wine and the oil.

And I heard a voice from among the four Angels, saying, All grain, which is for the food of man, shall be at a high rate; and, as for wine and oil, which are for his pleasure, let spare be made of them for they shall be rare, and hard to come by.

VI. 8. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, &c.

And, upon the opening of that Fourth Seal, I looked, and, behold, a representation was made of a great and general mortality, which should be all the world over; set forth by the appearance of a pale horse, the name of whose rider was Death: and the grave, or state of corruption, followed after him; and power was given him, to sweep away the fourth part of the inhabitants of the earth, by the sword, and by famine, and sickness, and wild beasts, and all other ordinary ways of de

struction.

VI. 9. And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, &c.

And when he had opened the Fifth Seal, I saw the souls of all those faithful martyrs, whose lives had been sacrificed for the profession of the truth of God, and for the testimony, which they gave thereunto, even from the first martyr Abel to this present day :

VI. 10. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

And they cried with a loud voice, out of a holy desire of the vindication of God's honour, and redress of the proud and lawless impiety of men on earth, How long, O Lord God, who

art most holy in all thy ways and just and true in all thy performances, will it be, ere thou take just vengeance on thy bloody and insolent enemies upon earth; who, for thy sake, have spilt our blood, and exercised all manner of cruelty upon thy Saints? VI. 11. And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

And there was given unto every one of them a great measure of celestial glory; and it was said unto them, that, for the full consummation of that blessedness of theirs, they should comfortably wait yet a while longer, until the number of the rest of their holy brethren, the Martyrs of Christ which should be killed for his sake, were fully accomplished.

VI. 12. And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;

And I beheld when he had opened the Sixth Seal, and I saw a representation of wonderful great and terrible alterations, which should be in the world; both in the Temporal and Spiritual state so as the powers thereof were shaken; and, those, that were wont to be the commanders and lights of the world, were utterly obscured, and deprived of their wonted glory; VI. 13. And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a figtree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.

And those, that were wont to give subordinate light, both in their great authority and doctrine, to the world, were now cast down; and, by the force of persecution, fell away from the Church, as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken by a mighty wind. So also verse 14.

VI. 14. And the heaven departed as a scrowl when it is rolled together; and every mountain and land were moved out of their places.

And no man shall be exempted from the fearful revenges of God; which shall be so intolerable, as that all estates and degrees, even the great Potentates of the earth, &c. shall wish they could be buried quick under the mountains, to avoid the dreadfulness of God's judgments, which shall seize upon them. VI. 16. And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.

Neither shall those several plagues and vengeances be more terrible unto them, than the very presence of that awful God, who sitteth upon the throne; and the wrath of that Lamb of God, who, being of himself meek, patient, gracious, is now so irritated by their sins, that his very countenance is worse than death to all his guilty enemies.

VII. 1. And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.

Now, lest I should doubt what, in the midst and issue of these persecutions, might become of God's Church. I saw the powerful executioners of God's wrath, standing on the four coasts of the earth; even those mighty spirits, which, by the appointment of God, have power over the four winds that blow upon the earth, to raise or restrain them: I saw them, by the command of the Almighty, staying and withholding those stormy blasts from blustering upon the earth, or upon the sea, or upon the trees which lie most open to their violence; in short, I saw God's merciful restraint, for the time, of any damage that might come to his Church.

VII. 2, 3. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

And I saw another Angel, even the great Angel of the Covenant, Christ Jesus, ascending up from the eastern coast, where Jerusalem stood; who, by virtue of his Mediatorship, had in his hand that seal or mark of the Living God, which, in his eternal decree, is set upon all his elect, whereby they are sealed up both to salvation in the end and to a gracious protection till then: who did, by the mighty voice of his word, command those four Angels to whom power was given to hurt the earth, Saying, Hold your hands from doing any hurt to the earth or sea, to the trees that grow upon the earth or to the people that live upon it, until we have set the seal of God's merciful protection upon all those faithful servants of our God, whom he hath decreed to preserve.

VII. 4. And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

And I heard the number of those, whom, out of all the tribes of Israel professing his name, Christ had marked out for his gracious protection, to be a hundred forty-four thousand, that is, for each of the twelve tribes, twelve thousand.

VII. 5. Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand, &c. The specialties whereof follow in their order; of the tribe of Juda were marked out twelve thousand converts, or believing Christians, &c.

VII. 9. After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, &c.

And, beside these converted Jews, I beheld an innumerable number of Christians, chosen out of all nations, kindreds, people, and tongues, which stood before the throne of God, and before that immaculate Lamb Christ Jesus, clothed with glorious and resplendent robes, and having palms of victory in their hands:

VII. 10. And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

Who did all, with one voice, cry out aloud to the praise of God; and profess, that salvation and all the glory thereof belongs unto that Almighty God that sitteth upon the throne, and to his Son Jesus, that Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world.

VII. 13. And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?

And one of those glorious Saints, which stood before the throne, as willing to give me occasion to enquire further into the quality, and condition of those innumerable company of triumphant persons, who were clad in long white robes and carried palms in their hands, asked me who those were, that were thus arrayed, and whence they came.

VII. 14. And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

And I, as willing to be informed by him, said, Lord, it is enough for thee to know that: I desire to learn of thee, who they are. And he said, These are Christians, converted from Paganism to the Gospel of Christ, which have suffered great persecution for his Name's sake; and who are clearly acquitted and purged from all their sins, by the blood of Christ.

VII. 15. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in the temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.

Therefore are they now in this glorious condition, before the throne of God; and sing praises to him in his heavenly habitation continually and the Almighty Lord God, who sitteth on the throne, shall make them blessed with the fruition of his presence for evermore.

VII. 16. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.

They are now past all the danger of those extremities of hunger, and thirst, and all other bodily complaints, whereto they were subject upon earth; neither shall the sun scorch them any more, nor any heat or cold annoy them.

VII. 17. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains

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