The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John. This, which followeth, is the Revelation, which Jesus Christ, the Son of God, made unto John; which Revelation God the Father gave to his Son Jesus, as the Mediator of his Church, that he might, according to that holy office of his, shew unto his servants those things which must, in the ensuing times, come to pass: and the same Jesus sent his angels, and, by their ministry, signified these future things to his servant John. For the time is at hand. For the time is near at hand, wherein divers of these following predictions shall be accomplished: and wherein an entrance shall be made to those, which shall afterwards succeed. John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; John, to those Seven famous Churches, which are in the Lesser Asia; and, under their name, to all other over the whole world: Grace be unto you, and peace from that Almighty and Glorious God, who only hath an absolute and infinite being in and of himself; who was from all eternity, and shall VOL. IV. N H be the same without all change everlastingly; who is the author of all blessings to his Church: and from those seven principal ministering spirits, which stand ready before his throne, to receive his commands for the behoof of his Church, and to convey his blessings unto it; according to the number of those chief and eminent Churches, whereto I write: And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And, as from these merely-spiritual natures, so also from Him that is God and Man, Jesus Christ the Righteous; who is the only faithful and true witness, that hath declared the will of his Father to his Church; who both raised himself from the dead, and diffuseth the power and virtue of his resurrection to all his; by whom all kings reign, as having received all power and dominion from God his Father over all the world: Unto that blessed and gracious Saviour of ours, that hath loved us from all eternity, and hath cleansed and purged us from the guilt of our sins, by his own most precious blood; And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory &c. And hath made us, who were before the sons of wrath and his enemies, to become Kings and Priests unto God even the Father; Kings, in ruling over ourselves, and subduing of our corruptions; and Priests, in offering up our bodies and souls unto him, together with the sacrifices of our praises and thanksgiving: to him be glory &c. Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. Behold, he shall come to judgment with glory and majesty, in the clouds of heaven: and all men shall be witnesses of that divine state and magnificence of his; even those his enemies, which used him contemptuously upon earth, and pierced his hands, and feet, and side, in an insolent cruelty: and all the wicked throughout the world shall tremble and be confounded with fear and anguish, because of his coming to take full vengeance of them: even so, Amen. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. I am the only True and Eternal God, who so was before all things, as that I gave being unto all things; and, whatsoever should become of all things which have their being from me, am everlasting; and have my being of myself, infinite and independent; and therefore am he, from whom all things receive their beginning, and in whom they end; saith the Lord, which I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day. I was, by the correption of the Spirit, in a holy ecstasy, on the first day of the week; which, upon the occasion of Christ's Resurrection, was called the Lord's Day. And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; And I turned to see him, whose voice spake unto me; and, having turned, I saw Seven golden Candlesticks, representing those Seven famous Churches, where to I was commanded to write; as those, wherein were placed those seven worthy and renowned Pastors, which gave light to their several Churches; And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. And, in the midst of those representations of the Seven Churches, I saw Christ, the Son of God, in the resemblance of a man; clothed, as for the gravity and state of a King or Priest, in a garment down to the foot; and, in signification of his ready addressedness to the gracious works of his Mediatorship, girt with a golden girdle about the middle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow: and his eyes were as a flame of fire: To imply the eternity of him, who is the true Ancient of Days, his head and his hair were white, as the purest snow-like wool; and, to signify his searching knowledge, and piercing insight into all things, his eyes were as a flame of fire. And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. To import the purity of his proceedings, and the solidness and invincibleness of that power of his whereby he treads down all his spiritual enemies, his feet were like unto the purest and finest brass; and, in signification of the loud diffusion and great power of his word, his voice was as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And he had in his right hand seven stars; in resemblance of that sure protection that he takes, and that wise and just and beneficial disposition which he makes, of his faithful ministers in his Church: and out of his mouth proceeded the sharp two-edged sword of his powerful doctrine; and his countenance was majestical and glorious, as the sun shining in his full strength. And have the keys of hell and of death. I have the absolute power over hell and death; so as I can either command them for the just torment and punishment of N n 2 wicked men, or discharge the penitent from the fear and danger of them.