When G.o.d came from Egypt with his people, to set up his kingdom in Canaan, he cast out the heathen before them in order thereunto; "Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it" (Psa 80:8). Wherefore, Antichrist must be removed and destroyed for this: For Antichrist is in flat opposition to Christ, as Tibni was to Omri (1 Kings 16:21,22): Wherefore Antichrist must die. The reason is, because Christ"s kingdom shall be peaceable, without molestation; and glorious, without the fumes and fogs of antichristian darkness: Because also, as the world hath seen the manner of the reign of Antichrist, and how tyrannical and outrageous a kingdom his is: so they shall see the reign of Christ, by his word and spirit in his people, how peaceable, how fruitful in blessedness and prosperity his kingdom is. And hence it is that G.o.d purposeth to bury Antichrist, before he sets "glory in the land of the living" (Eze 26:20,21). As also you read in the book of Revelations; for there you find the kingdom of Antichrist was destroyed before the new Jerusalem was set up. When men intend to build a new house, if in the place where the old one stood, they first pull down the old one, raze the foundation, and then they begin their new. Now G.o.d, as I said, will have his primitive church-state set up in this world, (even where Antichrist has set up his;) wherefore, in order to this, Antichrist must be pulled down, down stick and stone; and then they that live to see it, will behold the new Jerusalem come down from heaven, as a bride adorned for her husband.
New wine is not put into old bottles, nor a new piece into an old garment; nor shall any of the old anti-scriptural ordinances, ceremonies, rites, or vessels of the man of sin, be made use of, or accounted anything worth, in this day of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. And thus I have shewed you something of Antichrist, of his ruin, and of the manner and signs of the approach thereof; together with the means and causes of his ruin. All which I leave to the judgment of the G.o.dly, and beg their instruction where they see me to be out; and shall conclude, after a short word of application.
First, Must Antichrist be destroyed? Then this informs us, that a time is coming wherein there shall be no Antichrist to afflict G.o.d"s church any more. "Tis Antichrist, antichristians, and antichristianism, that is the cause of the troubles of Christians, for being Christians. And therefore "tis from the consideration of this that it is said, men "shall beat their swords into plough-shares, and their spears into pruning-hooks," and that they "shall learn war no more" (Isa 2:4): Yea it is from the consideration of this, that it is said the child shall play with venomous and destroying beasts, and that a little child shall lead the wolf, the leopard, and the young lion, and that the weaned child shall put his hand into the c.o.c.katrice"s den, and catch no hurt thereby (Isa 11:6-9).
For as was said before, "tis through the instigation of this spirit of error, that the governors of the world have heretofore done hurt to Zion, and I say now again, all things shall turn to their right course, and occupy their places, as do the bodies in the higher orbs.
Secondly, Is Antichrist to be destroyed, and must she have an end? Then this gives us to understand, that a day is coming when Antichrist shall be unknown, not seen, nor felt by the church of G.o.d. There are men to be born who shall not know Antichrist, but as they read in the word that such a thing has been. These shall talk of her, as Israel"s childrens" children were to talk of Pharaoh, of his cruelty; of his tasks, of his pride, of the Red Sea, and how he was drowned there: They shall talk of them, as of those that have been long dead; as of those who for their horrible wickedness, are laid in the pit"s mouth. This will be some of that sweet chat that the saints shall, at their spare hours, have in time to come. When G.o.d has pulled this dragon out of the sea, this leviathan out of his river, and cast his dead carcase upon the open field, then shall those whose ancestors have been put into terrors by him, come flocking to see the monster; and shall rejoice for all the mercy. In that day, the church of G.o.d shall say, "O Lord I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortest me.--In that day shall ye say, Praise the Lord, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people," &c. (Isa 12:1,4). O how sweetly did David, and the church in his day, sing of the ruins of the Egyptians, and the deliverances of their fathers, which had been in times of old! (Psa 68). to wit, what G.o.d did in Egypt, what he did at the Red Sea; what he did to Sihon, to Og, and to the remnant of the giants: How he divided the waters of Jordan, and gave the land of Canaan in its fruitfulness among his people (Psa 105): How that though Pharaoh and his hors.e.m.e.n and chariots were terrible then, yet now there is nothing left but their souls, their feet, and the palms of their hands; nothing but that which can do no hurt; nothing but what may minister an occasion of joyful remembrance of them (Psa 106; 132).
Thirdly, Is Antichrist to be destroyed? Then this calls aloud to G.o.d"s people to make haste to come out of her. "Ho, ho," says the prophet: He cries out as if the people were asleep: "Come forth, and flee from the land of the north" (Zech 2:6). The people of G.o.d in the latter days will want a heart to come out of her, with that fear of her plagues as they should: Wherefore another says, "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her plagues" (Rev 18:4). When Israel was carried into Babylon, "twas not that they should dwell there for ever: Though they were bid to build them houses, and beget them children there. But when they had built, planted vineyards, and got wives and children there, "twas hard getting them from thence again: For now they were as it were naturalized to the country, and to the manners of it (Jer 29:4-7). But G.o.d will have them out, (but they must not think to carry thence their houses and vineyards on their backs,) or he will destroy them with those destructions wherewith he hath threatened to destroy Babylon itself. Flesh will hang behind, because it favoureth the things of the flesh, plenty of which there is in that country: But they that will live after the flesh must die. "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate,--and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty" (2 Cor 6:17,18). But why (some may say) must we come out? I answer, because G.o.d has temple-work to do, temple-worship to do, temple-sacrifices to offer, and none of these things can by any means be done, but at Jerusalem. But if you still object and say, "The Lord has raised us up prophets in Babylon," and we will not come out; you must not murmur if you feel what is to follow. And that such may know upon what bottom they stand, let them read the 29th chapter of Jeremiah 15-19.
Fourthly, Must Antichrist be destroyed? Then what mean they, who were to appearance once come out, but now are going thither again?
If it cost Lot"s wife dear for but looking back, shall not it cost them much dearer, that are going back, that are gone back again?
and that, AFTER the angel had fled through the midst of heaven, preaching the gospel to those that dwell on the earth? (Rev 14:6-10).
They that received the mark of the beast at first, before this angel came forth, are when compared with these, excusable (Rev 13:16,17): Wherefore, they are not threatened with that smoking wrath, as are these which are here under consideration.
You dread, that which is like to become of them that will be so mad to run into an house, when fire is putting to the gunpowder barrel, in order to its blowing up: Why thus do they, let their pretended cause be what it will, that are returning again to Babel.
Are her plagues pleasant or easy to be borne? Or dost thou think that G.o.d is at play with thee, and that he threateneth but in jest?
Her plagues are death, and mourning, and famine, and fire (Rev 18:8); are these things to be overlooked? And they that, as before is hinted, shall receive the mark of the beast in their forehead, or in their hand, and shall worship him, they, "the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of G.o.d" (Rev 14:10): And will this be a delightsome draught? Remember how ill G.o.d took it, that his people of old, in their hearts, though but in their hearts, went back again into Egypt. You may say, but I have friends, relations, and concerns in Babylon. And, I answer, so had Lot in Sodom (Gen 19:14-16); but for all that, he must either quickly come out, or run the hazard of being burned there with them. But methinks, a people that belong to G.o.d, should be willing to leave all to follow him: Besides, his presence is promised at Jerusalem, there also will he accept thy offerings.
Fifthly, Is Antichrist to be destroyed? Then let them that love G.o.d, his Son, and his Zion, cry to G.o.d, that it may be hastened in its time. One of the songs of Zion is, that Babylon shall be destroyed. The cries of the souls of them that were slain for the witness of Jesus is, that Babylon may be counted with, and that their blood may be revenged upon her. The promise is, that Babylon shall be destroyed: And do we hold our tongues? The church of G.o.d will not flourish as it should, until Babylon is destroyed: The world will never be in its right wits, until Babylon is destroyed: The kingdom of Christ will never be set up, in and by his church, as it ought, and shall, until Antichrist is destroyed: There will never be peace upon earth till Antichrist is destroyed: And G.o.d has promised that there shall be peace and truth, and glory, when Babylon is destroyed: And do we hold our peace? Besides, your innocency in suffering; your honesty towards G.o.d, in your testimony for his truth; the substantial ground which you have for the bottom of your faith, as to things controverted betwixt Antichrist and you, will never be manifested as it will then; and so consequently, you never so brought out to the light, and your enemies never so put to shame as then. "Then shame shall cover her that said unto thee, Where is the Lord thy G.o.d?" Wherefore, as I said, cry unto the Lord, keep not silence, give him no rest, let him not alone, until he has delivered his miserable people out of the mouth of this lion, and from the paw of this bear.
Sixthly, Is Antichrist to be destroyed? Then let us live in the expectation of it; and let this be one of our songs in the house of our pilgrimage. G.o.d bids his people, while in Babylon, to let Jerusalem come into their mind (Jer 51:50), and writes to them that then were in her, to acquaint them that he remembered them still, and would a.s.suredly deliver them from that place and state. And wherefore doth he thus, but to beget an expectation in them of their salvation and deliverance? (Jer 29:13,14). The Lord is so pleased with the faith and expectation of his people, as to this, that they seldom are herein concerned as they should, but he steps in with them, and warms their hearts. The reason is, because the faith of G.o.d"s people, as to the downfall of Babylon, stands upon as sure a foundation as doth the salvation of their souls; and that next to that, G.o.d is as much delighted in what he has purposed to do against Babylon, as in anything else in the earth: And therefore, if you consider it well, the great and glorious promises that are to be fulfilled on earth, are to be fulfilled when Antichrist is dead and buried: These bits are too good even for his children to have, so long as this dog is by, lest he should s.n.a.t.c.h at the crumbs thereof; wherefore they are reserved until he is gone: For thus saith the Lord, "That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon, I will visit you, and perform my good word towards you, in causing you to return to this place: For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord; thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." This is in Jeremiah the 29th chapter, verses 10, 11 and in the 31st chapter he adds, "Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and of the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all. Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow. And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the Lord" (verse 12-14). Again, in the 32nd chapter, still speaking of the same thing, he saith, "Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land a.s.suredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul" (verse 41).
I conclude this with that which I find in the 33rd chapter: "And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me.
And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise, and an honour before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them: and they shall fear and tremble, for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it" (verse 8,9).
Seventhly, Must Antichrist be destroyed? Then this should make us glad, when we see the signs of his fall presenting themselves to our view. Indeed, the signs of his fall, or those that forerun it, are terrible, and amazing to behold. But what of that, since the wrinkles that are in their faces threaten not us but them?
A man is angry, and will punish; yea, and whets his sword, makes his rod, and he speaks not a word, but blood, blood, is in it.
Indeed, this should make them that are concerned in this anger, be afraid; (but the judgment is, they are fast asleep,) but what is in all this of terror to them, for the pleading whose cause he is so angry with the other? Nothing whereat the innocent should be afraid. Cold blasts in November are not received with that gentleness as are colder in March and April; for that these last cold ones are but the farewell notes of a piercing winter; they also bring with them the signs and tokens of a comfortable summer. Why, the church is now at the rising of the year; let then the blasts at present, or to come, be what they will, Antichrist is a.s.suredly drawing towards his downfall: And though the devil, knowing what is to be done to him, and to his kingdom, shall so blind his disciples, and fright the G.o.dly, do something like it upon the church of Christ; yet we should look through these paper-winkers,22 and espy in all this, that fear, yea, certain terrible judgments are following of him at the heels, by which not only the soul, spirit, and life of Antichrist, but the body thereof; yea, body, and soul, and head, are quickly to go down thither; from whence they, as such, shall not arise again. Amen.
FOOTNOTES:
1 "Paper-winkers," in every edition, except the first, which was from the author"s ma.n.u.script, has been altered to "paper-windows."
Bunyan"s allusion is to the winkers, called by many "blinkers,"
put by the side of a horse"s eyes, to keep him under the complete control of his driver--and by "paper-winkers" the flimsy attempt of Antichrist to hoodwink mankind by printed legends, miracles, and absurd a.s.sumptions--it is one of the almost innumerable sparks of wit, which render all the writings of Bunyan so entertaining and strikingly instructive.--Ed.
2 The absurd act to compel uniformity in modes of worship, (14) Charles II, had then recently pa.s.sed; and when this treatise was written, it desolated the country. This paved the way for the glorious Revolution. The wicked fell into the pit which they had dug for the righteous; the hopes of the Papists were crushed; toleration to worship G.o.d was established. Let us follow Bunyan"s example, and attribute these mercies to a gracious G.o.d.--Ed.
3 When seven members of the first protesting church in London were burned, a proclamation was made that no one should pray for them, speak to them, nor once say, "G.o.d help them." But the church pressed through the officers,--embraced and prayed for and with the martyrs; and all the people with one consent said, Amen; to the astonishment of the officers. And so these G.o.dly martyrs, praying and praising G.o.d, sweetly ended their lives in the flames at Smithfield.--Clarke"s Martyrology, p. 500 and 516.--Ed.
4 Christian, read in these words your duty. Bunyan felt the tusks of the wild boar, even to the peril of his life. He bore with resignation all his sufferings, and was blest. Pity those whose souls are under the yoke. Antichrist, if cruel to the body, is more dangerous to the souls of men. Your prayers and exertions should be redoubled until it is delivered up to the just judgment of the Almighty. Come out, O Christian, and be separate from every system which is stained with the blood and defiled with the soul-harrowing groans of the saints of G.o.d.--Ed.
5 No man of the most refined education could have manifested greater delicacy than Bunyan has in treating this subject, leaving his reader to imagine whether the high-sounding t.i.tles, such as "His Holiness," "G.o.d"s Vicegerent upon earth," which are given to men, are consistent with the simplicity of the gospel or not. If they are not, they belong to Antichrist, and will be consumed with the stubble at the brightness of Christ"s coming, when he shall judge the earth.--Ed.
6 Antichristian statists of Antichrist. Those who weigh things to place them in their relative order in the kingdom of Antichrist, as the decree followed by the lions" den, &c.
7 The homilies read in the Church of England prior to the Reformation, called "The Festival," contains the pith of these lying legends and pretended miracles. Omitting the obscene parts, it ought to be republished, to exhibit the absurdities of popery as it was then seen in England.--Ed.
8 "The last stroke of the batter," probably alludes to an engine of war used by the ancients, called a battering-ram.--Ed.
9 Upon the Sunday sports being authorized, and pious ministers persecuted for refusing to wear popish vestments in the reign of James I, that G.o.dly Puritan, Mr. Carter, exclaimed, "I have had a longing desire to see or hear of the fall of Antichrist: but I check myself. I shall go to heaven, and there news will come, thick, thick, thick."--Life by his Son, p. 13.
10 How remarkably has this come to pa.s.s since Bunyan"s time; a slow but sure progression. That darling ugly daughter, Intolerance, was executed by the Act of Toleration. The impious Test by the repeal of the Sacramental Test Act, &c., &c.--Ed.
11 There is great difficulty in estimating the weight of a talent.
Dr. Gill considers it about sixty pounds; this was the lesser Roman talent. Michaelis estimates the Jewish talent at thirty-two pounds and a half. The attic talent of gold used in Greece in the time of Homer is estimated at less than an ounce. The safest conclusion as to the weight of the hail-stones is, that they were enormous, and fell with a velocity to crush all animals to instant death.--Ed.
12 The reader must not misunderstand the words, "The king kills her body." Bunyan does not in the slightest degree concede to kings or nations a right to interfere with "the soul" or religious principles or practices--these are to be slain, if false, by persecution of the preacher. Kings and nations will restore to the people the immense property and revenue of which they have been plundered, under the hollow knavish pretence of curing souls and forgiving sins. THUS will human laws kill the body of Antichrist. Every motive for professing to believe absurdities and contradictions will be at an end, when neither rule nor honour, nor pelf is to be gained by hypocrisy.--Ed.
13 This is a very expressive term, but better understood by Bunyan the brazier than by many of his readers. It is well known to those who live near a coppersmith"s, when three or four athletic men are keeping up, bout and bout, incessant blows upon a rivet, until their object is accomplished.--Ed.
14 Protestant kings.
15 This Christian temper of Bunyan certainly saved him from much suffering while under persecution. It probably saved his invaluable life. But how deeply it increases the guilt of his persecutors, to send such a man to a damp wretched prison, for more than twelve years, because he dared not join in the worship established by law; and after all this, to hear his prayers and good wishes to his persecutors, ought to have cut them to the quick.--Ed.
16 Lord, what is man, to pretend to infallibility! His heart, be he pope or pagan, is "deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." Pope Sixtus V in 1589 issued his infallible Bible; but the edition of Clement VIII, in 1592, differs much from that of 1589. Infallibles ought never to differ with each other; but how often it has happened.--Ed.
17 These b.l.o.o.d.y ma.s.sacres, to which Bunyan here alludes, were attended with atrocities at which nature shudders. In France, under a Bourbon and a Guise, the murder of hundreds of thousands of pious men and women, with helpless infants, threw down every barrier to the spread of infidelity, and a frightful reaction took place at the Revolution. In Ireland, under a Stuart and a Bourbon, still more frightful atrocities were perpetrated, and which were severely punished by Cromwell and his Roundheads. Under a second Stuart, awful wholesale murders were again committed, and punished by William III; and the voice of the blood that was shed by Antichrist, and the voices of people enslaved by prejudice, and vindictive, ferocious enmity--these voices cry for vengeance, and desolate that unhappy country.--Ed.
18 In the first examination of Lord Cobham (Fox, vi p. 732, edit.
1632) the gallant knight was asked by his bitter persecutor, what he meant by "the venom shed over the church"; his reply was, "Your possession and lordships." For then cried an angel in the air--"Wo!
Wo! Wo! this day is venom shed into the church of G.o.d.--Rome is the very nest of Antichrist--prelates, priests and monks are the body; and these pild [bald, but query, pillaging] friars are the tail, which covereth his most filthy part." How peaceful and blessed will be the church when ALL her ministers can glory with Paul, in Acts 20:33,34.--Ed. 19 The princ.i.p.al cry of the traveling peddlars was for broken or light money, to exchange for their wares: now obsolete.--Ed.
20 Such has been the tendency of the antichristian church in all ages; witness the cases of the Emperor Henry IV, Henry II of England, and many others. The spirit and precept of Christianity, on the contrary, is, while fearing G.o.d, to honour the king; and that we be subject to princ.i.p.alities and powers, t.i.tus 3:1; see also Matthew 22:21; Romans 13:1-7.--Ed.
21 See Fox"s Martyr, folio, vol. i., last leaf.--Ed.
22 "Paper-winkers," in every edition, except the first, which was from the author"s ma.n.u.script, has been altered to "paper-windows."
Bunyan"s allusion is to the winkers, called by many "blinkers,"
put by the side of a horse"s eyes, to keep him under the complete control of his driver--and by "paper-winkers" the flimsy attempt of Antichrist to hoodwink mankind by printed legends, miracles, and absurd a.s.sumptions--it is one of the almost innumerable sparks of wit, which render all the writings of Bunyan so entertaining and strikingly instructive.--Ed.
THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD, AND ETERNAL JUDGMENT:
OR, THE TRUTH OF THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODIES, BOTH OF GOOD AND BAD AT THE LAST DAY: a.s.sERTED, AND PROVED BY G.o.d"S WORD.
ALSO, THE MANNER AND ORDER OF THEIR COMING FORTH OF THEIR GRAVES; AS ALSO, WITH WHAT BODIES THEY DO ARISE. TOGETHER, WITH A DISCOURSE OF THE LAST JUDGMENT, AND THE FINAL CONCLUSION OF THE WHOLE WORLD.
BY JOHN BUNYAN, A SERVANT OF THE LORD"S CHRIST.
"Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed"--(1 Cor 15:51,52).
"Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of d.a.m.nation"--(John 5:28,29).