Part 159 HOLINESS, the Only Way to Happiness
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Part 160 HOLINESS, the Only Way to Happiness
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[6.] When God eminently appears in the execution of his JUDGMENTS upon wicked and ungodly men—oh, that is a time that God calls aloud for holiness. When he is a-raining hell out of heaven upon unholy people, God now looks that his people should be holy, yes, eminently holy. Just so, in that Exod. 19:4, 5, "You have seen what I did unto the Egyptians," you have been eyewitnesses of my dealings with them in Egypt, you have seen how I have followed them with plague upon plague, because they did so sorely oppress you, and would not let you go to worship me and serve me according to my own prescriptions, Exod. 24. And when they were judgment-proof, you saw me drown them in the Red Sea before your eyes; and upon this very ground he urges them to obey his voice, and to keep his covenant, verse 5.
And just so in Rev. 15:1-4, "I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues--last, because with them God's wrath is completed. And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and over the number of his name.
They held harps given them by God and sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb: "Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the ages. Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy.
All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed." In this and the following chapters the utter overthrow of Antichrist is described. In this chapter you have a new vision of the gospel's restoring, and of Antichrist's ruin. By the sea of glass mingled with fire, we are to understand the fiery trials, and dreadful persecutions by fire and faggot, which Antichrist will inflict upon sincere and faithful Christians.
The allusion is to the Red Sea, and Pharaoh's persecuting of Israel; but the addition of fire is plainly to distinguish the Pope's persecution from Pharaoh's; for though Pharaoh did sorely oppress the people of God both in their liberties and consciences, and though he had plotted and contrived a way to destroy their male children—yet he was never so cruel, he was never so bloody, as to burn the people of God with fire and faggot, as Antichrist has done in all ages.
But now mark, when the vials of the wrath of God come to be poured out upon Antichrist, yes, upon whatever smells of Antichrist, or looks like Antichrist—why then, the people of God will in a very eminent way lift up God as the great object of their fear, and then the generality of the nations shall be so deeply affected with the dreadful, amazing, and astonishing judgments of God upon Antichrist, that they shall repent, worship him, and give glory to him! O sirs! when God strikes slaves—the sons should tremble. Great judgments upon sinners speaks out a great deal of the justice and holiness of God; and the more the justice and holiness of God appears, the more holy his people should grow. Ah, Christians! had you grown more holy by those severe judgments of God that has been inflicted upon others before your eyes, you had not been under those smart rebukes of God that now you are under this day! But,
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Part 160 HOLINESS, the Only Way to Happiness
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