A09443:1002
A godly and learned exposition or commentary upon the three first chapters of the…A godly and learned exposition or commentarie vpon the three first chapters of the…
A godly and learned exposition or commentary upon the three first chapters of the Revelation. Preached in Cambridge by that reverend and judicious divine, master William Perkins, Ann. Dom. 1595. First published for the benefit of Gods Church, by Robert Hill, Bachelor of DivinityA godly and learned exposition or commentarie vpon the three first chapters of the Reuelation. Preached in Cambridge by that reuerend and judicious diuine, maister William Perkins, Ann. Dom. 1595. First published for the benefit of Gods Church, by Robert Hill, Bachelor of Diuinitie
London: printed by Adam Islip for Cuthbert Burbie, 1606
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
Vers. 12. Him that overcometh, will I make a pillar in the Temple of my God; & he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the Name of my God, and the Name of the City of my God, which is the new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God, and I will write upon him my new Name. Vers. 13. Let him that hath an ear, hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches.
Vers. 12. Him that ouercommeth, will I make a pillar in the Temple of my God; & he shall goe no more out: and I will write vpon him the Name of my God, and the Name of the Citie of my God, which is the new Ierusalem, which commeth downe out of heauen from my God, and I will write vpon him my new Name. Vers. 13. Let him that hath an eare, heare what the Spirit saith vnto the Churches.
These words are the conclusion of this Epistle, which containeth two parts. First, a promise, in the twelfth vers. Secondly, a commandment in the 13. for the promise: In it we are to observe two points; The party to whom it is made; and the thing promised. The party is, he that overcometh, of whom we have spoken before: for this promise hath been propounded six times, for substance the same, though in other terms. Yet here the very word Overcometh doth give us to understand, that he that would have his service pleasing to God, must dispose himself to a battle or combat, (for overcoming presupposeth a fight.) The enemies which he is to fight against are spiritual: to wit, his own corrupt nature, the wicked world, and the devil: and in this spiritual combat a man must be a good soldier, before he can be a good Christian: for all these enemies will seek to draw him back and hinder him, so soon as he shall any way endeavour to please God. Indeed, God could have freed his servants from all temptations, but he will not; it is Gods pleasure by temptations to have his servants tried. Whereby it is manifest that they are deceived, that imagine the state of a Christian to be a freedom from all miseries and ⟨p. 194⟩temptations, or a state of ease wherein is no strife or trouble to disquiet the mind; nay, it is a soldiers condition in which he that would overcome, must wage a-perpetual battle against all his enemies; both within him and without him, and that unto death.