(7) How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. (8) Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
I beg the Reader to attend to what is here said, for, in my view, it throws a great light upon the events going on in the present day. Let the Reader recollect, or look back to the observations made in Revelation 17:13, after verse the 13th, and connect what is here said with those remarks. And in addition I would desire to say, that when it be considered, the late ascendency the Pontiff hath gained in those dominions, he had for a while, seemingly lost, and the strides which are still making by him and his agents, to get back to his interest certain powers, which once protested against him, and I think he will be somewhat inclined to think with me, if he be not altogether of my opinion, that Popery, before the total overthrow of it, will be more elevated than ever.
Let the Reader consider, and reconsider those two verses. She is said to be living deliciously, and to say in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow, when, in the moment, her plagues shall come upon her in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; yea, she shall be utterly burned with fire. If language conveys anything, here is great prosperity succeeded by great woe. And, what shall prevent the power of the Pope from being greater than it ever hath been. What shall come between the present indifferency in some, and the cordial affection of others, to a more extensive toleration, and by a transition then hardly perceivable, exalting the whore of Rome to her former splendor, yea, greater splendor than ever; when the loose doctrines, and looser conduct of the great mass of men, are already so ripe for it.
It is the mercy of the Lord's people, that by his grace, they are kept from all danger. And it is no less their mercy, to have come out from among her. But this scripture explained by present events, leaves in my view no question, but that this Anti-Christian heresy will have a lifting up, just before her final overthrow, in possessing again some of her long-lost territories, and be the queen, as she herself saith of them and all her dependencies in the very hour, the Lord pours out her plagues in one day, and death, everlasting mourning, famine, and fire will be her portion.