Mark always of these things spoken, there are three consolations to the Church of God; howsoever it be that she be in tribulation, or poverty, and affliction; and albeit it come to pass, that the devil cast some of them in prison, that they may be tried, and some have tribulation ten days, which is but a short time; and howsoever it be that our adversary goes about continually like “a roaring lion, seeking whom to devour;” but yet, “he that rides on the white horse,” with the badge at his belt, and the arrows at his side, he shall get the victory at the end of the world; and to them that are faithful to the death, he shall give them a crown of life. Mark _next_, suppose the sword, the famine, the pestilence, these temporal judgments, be common to the godly as well as to the wicked, yet there is consolation to the “souls of them that are slain for the testimony of Jesus, they are lying under the altar, and they cry with a loud voice, Lord, how long, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood upon them that dwell on the earth?” Then it was said unto them, “that they should rest for a little season, until their fellow-servants and brethren, that should be killed, as they were, should be fulfilled.” Mark, _thirdly_, the sixth seal is opened, “and there was a great earthquake, and the sun was as black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon was like blood, and the stars of heaven fell to the earth, and heaven departed away as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places; and then the kings of the earth, and the great men, and rich men, and the captains, and the mighty men, and every bond man, and every free man, hid themselves in dens and rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the presence of him that sits on the throne, and from the face of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?” Then shall the Church of God be avenged on her enemies; then she shall have power over the nations, and shall rule them with a rod of iron, and as the vessels of a potter they shall be broken; then shall the saints of God be brought out of great tribulation, and have their long robes washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb; they shall be in the presence of the throne of God, and serve him both day and night in his temple; and he that sits on the throne shall live among them, and he that is in the midst of the throne shall govern them, and shall lead them to the lively fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. Now, I go forward. After this, he tells him, before this day the Gospel shall be wonderfully restrained; “And the bottomless pit shall be opened, and the smoke of that pit shall arise as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air shall be made dark with that smoke: and out of that smoke shall come locusts upon the earth, and they shall have