Holiness, which becomes the house of God for ever, will now adorn every member in it; nor will there be such immorality in the world as at this present time: holiness will be as common as profaneness is now; in that day there shall be upon the bells of the horses holiness to the Lord—yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah, shall be holiness unto the Lord of hosts: Christ therefore takes his titles in writing to the church at Philadelphia, the emblem of the spiritual reign, suitable to its state; as truth and holiness shall then prevail, he addresses it thus, these things saith he that is holy, he that is true; truth and holiness go together; truth influences the heart, and that the life and conversation.
There will be great peace and prosperity of all kinds, inward and outward, spiritual and temporal; in these days of the Messiah’s spiritual reign, shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth: as the saints will enjoy great peace of conscience and tranquillity of mind so they will have nothing to disturb them without; there will be no more persecution; there will be none to hurt or destroy in all the Lord’s holy mountain, as there will be no discord among themselves, so no distress from any enemies, violence shall no more be heard in their land, nor wasting and destruction within their border. O happy, halcyon days! I go on to observe,
There will be a personal appearance of the Son of God, and a glorious one it will be: he will personally appear; the Lord himself shall descend, not by his spirit, or by the communication of his grace, or by his gracious presence, as before; but in person he will descend from the third heaven, where he is, in our nature, into the air, where he will be visible; every eye shall see him, when he cometh with clouds, or in the clouds of heaven, which will be his chariot; he will descend on earth et the proper time; and his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives; on that spot of ground from whence he ascended to heaven. Job seems to have this descent of his in view when he says, he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth; which seems to respect not so much his first coming as his second; since it is connected with the resurrection of the dead.
This appearance of Christ will be a very glorious one: it is called the glorious appearing of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Happy are those that belong to this city, who are fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; whose citizenship is in heaven, and they have a right to enter in through the gates into the holy city, the new Jerusalem; but miserable will these be that will be without, for without are dogs: and then he that is unjust, will be unjust still; and he that is filthy, will be filthy still; and he that is righteous, will be righteous still; and he that is holy, will be holy still.
Sermon from Psalm lxxxvii. 3, preached Dec. 27, 1752.
An Extraordinary Prediction relating to the Downfall of the House of Bourbon and the House of Austria.
RELATED BY MR. JOHN WESLEY.
A little before the conclusion of the late war in Flanders, one who came from thence gave us a very strange relation; I knew not what judgment to form of this, but waited till John Haim should come over, of whose veracity I could no more doubt than of his understanding. The account he gave was this; Jonathan Pyrah was a member of our society in Flanders, I knew him some years, and knew him to be a man of an unblameable character. One day he was summoned to appear before the Board of General Officers; one of them said, What is this we hear of you? we hear you have turned Prophet, and that you foretell the downfall of the bloody house of Bourbon, and the haughty house of Austria; we should be glad if you were a real Prophet, and if your prophecies came true; but what sign do you give to convince us you are so, and that your predictions will come to pass? He readily answered, Gentlemen, I give you a sign: to-morrow, at twelve o’clock, you shall have such a storm of thunder and lightning as you never had before since you came into Flanders. I give you a second sign: as little as any of you except any such thing, as little appearance of it as there is now, you shall have a general engagement with the French within three days. I give you a third sign: I shall be ordered to advance in the first line; if I am a false Prophet I shall be shot dead at the first discharge, but if I am a true Prophet I shall only receive a musket-ball in the calf of my left leg. At twelve the next day there was such thunder and lightning as they never had in Flanders; on the third day, contrary to all expectation, was the general battle of Fontenoy; he was ordered to advance in the first line, and at the very first discharge he did receive a musket-ball in the calf of his left leg.
When the war was over he returned to England, but the story was got here before him, in consequence of which he was sent for by the countess of Stair, and several other persons of quality, who were desirous of hearing so surprising an account from his own mouth. He could not bear so much honour; it quite turned his brain. In a little time he went stark mad, and so he continues to this day, living still, as I apprehend, on Wibsey Moor Side, within a few miles of Bradford.