no other receptacle of the dead besides these twain save only the Grave Thus we finde that Job doth by death understand the Grave Chap. 27.15 When he saith of the wicked man that those that remain of him shall be buried in death and his widows shall not weep Finally Hell not Hell-fire giveth up the souls both of them that were drowned in the Sea under which name all waters are comprehended and also of them that were buried in the earth For that Hell is designed to be the mansion of separated Souls appeareth from the words of Peter Acts 2.31 Who speaking out of the Psalms concerning the resurrection of Christ saith that his soul was not left in hell neither did his flesh see corruption And also from that passage of David Psalm 30.3 O Lord thou hast brought up my soul from Hell thou hast kept me alive that I should not go down into the pit For that I have rightly rendred the words in saying from hell and not from the Grave is manifest both from the Greek version which here hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and also from the Hebrew original not using the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is proper to denote a Grave or Sepulchre See Gen. 23.6 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereby Hell is wont to be expressed and which lieth in the lower parts of the earth See the Hebrew context of Numb 16.30.33 Besides it is apparent to common sense that not the souls but only the bodies of men are laid in the grave Vers 14. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire This is the second death Vers 15. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire What the second death is and consequently those words mean which we read in the second clause of the sixth verse foregoing as also those Chap. 2.11 where it is said He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death is here by John explained for he expresly telleth us that the lake of fire and brimstone is the second death So that to be cast into that lake and to be under the power of the second death or hurt of it are expressions of the same import Thus had we the testimony of Jesus expounded to us in the nineteenth Chapter Nevertheless how Death and Hell being both of them places and receptacles of the dead should be cast into the said lake is hard to comprehend Yea were it not for a certain passage in the sixth Chapter of this prophecy I should be inclineable to think that this was a mystery which God would not have us pry into as we have above shewn that sundry such mysteries are to be met withal in the Book of the Revelation But forasmuch as in the Chapter aforesaid verse 8. Death is brought in riding upon a pale horse and Hell following him and consequently both of them are represented in the similitude of persons we may from thence rationally collect that in the passage here under debate the Holy Ghost intending to intimate that after the universal Judgement there shall be neither burial nor separation of the soul from the body doth exhibit two persons representing Death and Hell which are thrown into the lake of fire as resigning up their Office to it and being swallowed up therein according to that of the Prophet Hosea Chap. 15.14 O death I will be thy plague O Hell so it is in the Hebrew and not Grave I will be thy destruction Besides the books of the Old and New Testament which are the rule by which the actions of men that have had some form of Religion delivered by God shall at length be examined there is yet another Book opened in the day of judgement to wit the Book of life wherein whosoever have not their names written are said to be cast into the Lake of fire From whence it may be rightly concluded that as the want of being enrolled in that Book was above in the thirteenth and also in the seventeenth Chapters alleged as the Cause why so many erred most grosly in admiring and worshipping the Beast so is it here why so many are thrown into the Lake of Fire in that it is altogether impossible for such persons to attain that piety to which the Promise of eternal Life is annexed As for the place of the Lake of Fire that is here so much spoken of were it part of the World it would of necessity perish with the World which as we have before evinced is to be abolished Wherefore seeing it abideth for ever we ought in reason to conceive that it is without the compass of the World in the Description of which the Scripture doth perpetually omit it And hence it seemeth to be called by Christ the outer Darkness Matth. 22.13 as being without the Verge of Heaven and Earth Chap. 21. Vers 1. And I saw a new Heaven and a new Earth for the first Heaven and the first Earth were passed away and there was no more Sea The Exposition WHat I before said touching the orderly course held by John in setting down his Prophecies is here worthy again to be observed For having in the precedent Chapter described the abolition of Heaven and Earth he now mentioneth the new Heaven and the new Earth that are to succeed in their place And he therefore affirmeth that he had seen this new Heaven and this new Earth though to this very day the old ones still continue because they were represented to him in a Vision Thus Christ saith to his Disciples Matth. 16.28 There be some of them that are standing here who shall not taste of Death till they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom Not that any of them were to remain alive to the end of the World for both the Scripture and the Ecclesiastical History testifie the contrary but because about eight days after he vouchsafed to three of them a sight of that glory wherein he shall come as King to judge the World Luke 9.27 28 29 30. But for as much as many endeavour to obscure this passage of the Revelation with their forced Allegories let us confirm the plain and literal meaning thereof by what the Scripture elsewhere speaketh concerning this matter The Apostle Peter describing the Day of Judgement and the alteration that shall happen to the World thereby telleth the pious Jews to whom he directeth his Letters that the Day of the Lord will come as a Thief in the Night in the which the Heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat the Earth also and the Works therein shall be burnt up Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness looking for and hasting unto the coming of the Day of God wherein the Heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the Elements shall melt with fervent
and let us serve them Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that Prophet or that dreamer of dreams for the Lord your God proveth you to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul Neither can any one justly say that the Wonders to be performed by the false Prophet are onely seeming Miracles and not real ones For besides that neither the Scripture nor the common use of speaking doth by great Wonders understand meer Illusions and Deceptions of the sight the particular Wonder that John allegeth for an instance putteth the matter out of all question for he saith that the false Prophet causeth fire to come down from Heaven before men But if fire coming down from Heaven be not a true Miracle I would fain learn what is Vers 15. And he had power to give life unto the Image of the Beast that the Image of the Beast should both speak and cause that as many as would not worship the Image of the Beast should be killed The false Prophet who had done sundry Miracles to make Men erect an Image to the Beast doth at length cause the Image it self to speak with words tending to this purpose that whosoever refuseth to worship the Image of the Beast shall be put to death Of such a Miracle as this we sometimes read in the Scripture as namely Zech. 10.2 The Idols or Images for so the Hebrew word Teraphim is rendred 1 Sam. 19.13 have spoken vanity Wherefore there is the less reason why any man should in the explication of this place betake himself to a figurative sense and so impose upon the words an uncouth and uncertain Interpretation as men love to do when they comment upon this Book of the Revelation Vers 16. And he causeth all both small and great rich and poor free and bond to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads Vers 17. And that no man might buy or sell save he that had the Mark or the Name of the Beast or the Number of his Name The false Prophet thinketh he can never sufficiently engage Men to the impious Worship of the Beast and his Image which he hath undertaken to settle to which end he addeth another device causing them of what rank or quality soever they be to receive a Mark upon their right hand or their forehead and permitting none to buy or sell that hath it not Now what this Mark is were it not here set down would easily appear to us by comparing two other passages of this Book the one Chap. 14.11 Whosoever receiveth the Mark of his Name The other Chap. 15.2 over his Mark over the word and set in the English before this second over is not in the Greek the number of his Name Whence it is manifest that by the Mark of the Beast is meant either his Name or the Number of his Name and accordingly those words Chap. 13.17 are to be rendred thus Save he that hath the Mark either not or the Name of the Beast or the Number of his Name Neither is it a new thing in the Scripture that a Mark should be set on the Bodies of Men for Protection Thus God is said to have set a Mark on Cain lest any one finding him should kill him Gen. 4.15 He also caused a Mark to be set on the foreheads of them that sighed and cryed for all the Abominations that were done in Jerusalem that the Destroyers might not come near them when they in the Vision slew all the rest of the Inhabitants of that City Ezek. 9.4 6. Finally we read in this very Book of the Revelation Chap. 7.3 that the Servants of God are by an Angel sealed or marked on the forehead to secure them from the Plague of the Locusts Chap. 9.4 and this Mark is the Name of the Lambs Father Chap. 14 1. We see then by these Allegations out of the Scripture that there is no need to fly to a mystical Interpretation in explaining the Mark of the Beast set upon Men that they may be thereby licensed to buy and sell without molestation especially because this Mark is said to be imprinted upon certain parts of their Body and that as the Devil is wont to be God's Ape in imitation of the Name of God set upon the foreheads of his servants for their security Of which thing no man shall ever be able to render a good account if he once depart from the Letter of the Text. Vers 18. Here is Wisdom Let him that hath understanding count the Number of the Beast for it is the Number of a Man and his Number is is six hundred threescore and six As touching the Number of the Beast that is of the first Beast as this Expression doth in the Revelation perpetually signifie or of his Name to such as are not acquainted with the Greek Tongue wherein the Revelation was written this seemeth very difficult but to those who know that the Greeks in Numbring make not use of Figures but reckon by the Letters of the Alphabet putting the first Letter for one the second for two c. the thing is obvious and easie For when it is said that the Number of the Beast by whom as John himself expounded it a Man is understood is six hundred sixty six it is all one as if it were said Write the Name of this Man in Greek the Language of this Book and then calculate the Letters thereof according to the custome of the Greeks and it will amount to the Number of Six hundred sixty six And this very thing is hinted by expressing the Number of six hundred sixty six in Greek not by words but letters Thus much then God is pleased to make known to us but what the Name it self is he hath concealed reserving the knowledge thereof for them that shall live in the time of the Beast So that besides Irreverence towards God it is also lost labour for us in these times to spend our conjectures upon it Chap. 14 Vers 1. And I looked and so a Lamb slood on the Mount Sion and with him an hundred forty and four thousand having his Fathers Name written in their foreheads The Exposition BY the Lamb here standing on Mount Sion is meant Christ Jesus the Son of God both because the Name of his Father is writ upon the foreheads of the Saints here mentioned and because he is brought in as their Leader and finally because no other person besides him is wont to be designed by the Name of a Lamb. By Mount Sion it self is under slood Jerusalem For though Mount Sion if you speak strictly and properly was but a Castle in Jerusalem taken by David in the beginning of his Reign over all Israel 1 Chron. 11.4,5 yet is it as being the chiefest part of that City frequently in Scripture put for Jerusalem it self as Isai 33.29 Look on Sion the City of our solemnities thine eys shall see Jerusalem a quiet
Judgements causeth fear so doth the righteousness of them induce Men to glorifie and praise his Name An instance whereof we have Revel 19.1 2. where it is said Glory and honour be to our God because his Judgements are true and just The second part of this Message which is therefore termed everlasting because it relateth to such Duties as are not peculiar to any certain time but to be performed for ever is to exhort Men to the Worship of God the Creatour of Heaven and Earth And this Exhortation is the more seasonable because of the general Apostacy of the Times here spoken of wherein partly by the force and partly by the fraud of the false Prophet it is grown a common practice to worship the Beast to the greatest dishonour of God that can be imagined Vers 8. And there followed another Angel saying Babylon is fallen is fallen that great city because she made all Nations drink of the Wine of the Wrath of her Fornication Babylon by which Rome is meant as will appear by the exposition of the 17. Chap. shall length be utterly destroyed namely by the ten Kings that are confederate with the Beast to shew the certainty of which mine the Angel speaketh of it as already past redoubling the Expression and Saying Babylon is fallen is fallen Now the reason why he speaketh of Rome under a borrowed name is partly that he might not bring danger upon John by causing him to describe in plain terms the Destruction of that City under the Dominion whereof he lived for Jeremy in that he openly foretold the ruine of Jerusalem was very likely to have been put to death Chap. 26.11 and partly that none but the wise might attain to the knowledge of so excellent a Prophecy as is sufficiently hinted by those words of the Angel Chap. 17.9 where he saith Here is the minde that hath wisdom The seven Heads are the seven Mountains on which the Woman sitteth c. And this mystical name of Babylon is very aptly and elegantly given to Rome because of the great congruity that was between those two Cities For first Babylon was an exceeding large City and therefore called great Babylon Dan. 4.30 So also was Rome which is therefore hyperbolically said by the Poet Lucan lib. 1. ver 511. to have been a sufficient Receptacle for all Mankinde but by more sober Writers that have inquired into the greatness thereof to have been fifty Miles within the Walls Secondly Babylon was the Seat of the first universal Kingdom and Rome of the fourth Thirdly Babylon was exceedingly addicted to Sorceries and Inchantments Isai 47.9 12. So also was Rome for though Laws were made at Rome against Astrologers and Sorcerers yet were they under hand still cherished there which gave Tacitus an occasion to say of them Hist lib. 1. cap. 7. that they were Genus hominum quod in civitate nostra vetabitur semper retinebitur That is A kinde of men that in our state will be always both forbidden and retained Fourthly Babylon exercised great rage and cruelty upon the People of God Isai 47.6 So also did Rome of which it is said Chap. 18.24 of this Prophecy that in her was found the Blood of Prophets and Saints and of all that were slain in the Earth And this last Branch of the Comparison bringeth us to the cause of Rome's Destruction assigned in this place by the Angel when he saith that all Nations had drunk the Wine of the Wrath of her Fornication For to drink the Wine of her Wrath according to the Language of the Scripture taken from the custome of administring bitter Potions whereby Men become disturbed and ill at ease is to feel her Anger and so to be vanquished by her with the Sword See Jer. 25.15 16. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel unto me Take the Wine-cup of this fury at my hand and cause all the Nations to whom I send thee to drink it And they shall drink and be moved and be mad because of the Sword that I will send among them And Chap. 51.7 Babylon hath been a golden Cup in the Lords hand that made all the Earth drunken The Nations have drunken of her Wine therefore the Nations are mad Neither ought the Fornication or Whoredom of Rome here annexed to turn us aside from this Interpretation seeing the subtil Devices that great Cities have used to ruine other States are in the Scripture called Whoredoms Thus the Prophet Nahum saith of Nineveh Chap. 2.3 4. There is a multitude of slain and a great number of carcases they stumble upon their corpses because of the multitude of the Whoredoms of the well-favoured Harlot the Mistress of Witchcrafts that selleth Nations through her Whoredoms and Families through her Witchcrafts You see by this passage that Nineveh was to be ruined for her whorlsh slights whereby she drew in other Nations and made a Prey of them as Harlots are wont to do with their Lovers But never was there any City that did so over-reach and prey upon other Nations as Rome did what by making them Confederates but upon unequal terms what by shewing a marvellous readiness in protecting their Confederates thereby to have a fair pretext to make an Invasion upon others what by pretending out of meer gallantry to deliver Free States from the Oppressors of their Liberty but under-hand reserving to themselves the sovereign Command over those States after they had subdued their Enemies All which and sundry other whorish tricks of Rome far exceeding in queintness those of any other City we read of may be seen at large in the History of Livy and the notable Discourses of Machiavel thereupon Vers 9. And the third angel followed them saying with a loud voice If any man worship the beast and his image and receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand Vers 10. The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. Vers 11. And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever and they have no rest day nor night who worship the beast and his image and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name This third Angel seemeth to make application of what the first Angel said For if men ought to worship God as that Angel in his everlasting message did declare certainly it is very great impiety to worship the Beast who is the professed enemy of God openly blaspheming his Name And lest any one should imagine it to be a small sin to worship the Beast and his Image or to receive his mark he denounceth with a loud voice That whosoever doth so shall drink of the wine of Gods wrath that is poured without mixture and so not allayed with any thing to abate the force thereof into the cup of his anger and
be tormented with fire and brimstone before the holy Angels and before the Lamb and that to all eternity for if the smoke of their torment shall ascend for ever and ever as the Angel plainly affirmeth it is necessary that the torment it self from whence the smoke ariseth should also continue as long and if the torment then also the tormented So that it ought at no hand to be denyed that the worshippers of the Beast shall live for ever in the torments of hell fire Neither is it to be feared least any one should thence argue that by this account they may be truly said to have Eternal life For Eternal life according to the true and usual notion of the Scripture doth not signifie a bare living for ever but a living for ever in joy and in the favour of God And therefore Eternal life Matth. 25.46 is opposed to Eternal punishment when it is said These shall go away into everlasting punishment which implyeth that they remain alive for ever otherwise how are they capable of being punished for ever all punishment supposing the existence of the subject that is punished But the righteous into life eternal And to the abiding of Gods wrath upon men John 3.36 When it is said He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him and to damnation John 5.29 when it is said They that have done good shall come forth to the resurrection of life but they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation These things being so such interpreters are not to be heard as go about to impose a figurative sense upon what is here in the Revelation clearly spoken concerning the everlasting torment prepared for the worshippers of the Beast for they not onely weaken the force of the Angels commination which all must needs confess to be far more efficacious to deterr men from committing so great wickedness if the words be plainly and properly taken but also open a way to evacuate all other passages of the Scripture where mention is made of the everlasting torment of Hell fire But perhaps some one will object that these tormented ones are said to have no rest day and night and consequently their torment is to be restrained to such a duration where there is a vicissitude of day and night which ceaseth together with the world and so is not properly and truly everlasting To which I answer that this expression of having no rest day and night inasmuch as it followeth those words wherein it is said that the smoak of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever is used to shew that they shall at no time have any respiration from their torment and not that there shall be an end thereof namely when day and night shall cease For seeing all the time of men in this world is part either of the day or of the night that which cometh not to pass in either of them is not at all hence it is that the Angel intending to shew that the worshippers of the Beast shall be tormented without intermission saith that they have no rest day and night Thus is it said of the four living creatures in Heaven with six wings apeice Chap. 4.8 That they have no rest day and night saying Holy holy holy Lord God Almighty though there be no vicissitude of day and night in Heaven namely to signifie that they never cease at any time whatsoever to praise God in that maner To conclude therefore As those words He shall be tormented for ever and ever import that there shall be no end of their torment so these They have no rest day and night imply that there shall be no intermission of them Vers 12. Here is the patience of the saints here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus This acclamation of the Angel doth intimate that during the tyranny of the Beast the patience of the Saints will have a most ample occasion to shew it self there having never been before so furious a monster that did so openly set his mouth against the Heavens and bend all his forces to extirpate the Religion of Christ So that then it will appear more then in any former age how admirable the constancy of the Saints is who notwithstanding all the Machinations whether of force or fraud that Satan and his instruments can contrive to wrest the crown of piety out of their hands do in the midst of a general Apostacy still adhere to the Commandments of God and firmly believe in Jesus Christ Vers 13. And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me Write Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth Yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours and their works do follow them Here John relates a certain voice which he heard out of Heaven pronouncing them happy in particular that should from thenceforth die namely under the tyranny of the Beast which particular happiness of them as we are taught Chap. 20.4 consists herein that they shall be partakers of the first Resurrection For that resurrection is there appropriated to them that suffer death for the testimony of Christ and for the word of God in the time of the Beast And the more to incourage the Saints to die for the truth of Christ in those perillous times the holy spirit doth second that voice from Heaven and render the reason thereof namely because they rest from their labors and their works follow them and therefore since their works have been more eminent then those of former times no marvel if their reward be so also Vers 14. And I looked and behold a white cloud and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man having on his head a golden crown and in his hand a sharp sickle This vision together with that other in the 17 18. verses do like the two dreams of Pharaoh Gen. 41.25 26. tend to the same effect and so are indeed but one intimating that the time was now at hand when Christ should execute judgement on the inhabitants of the earth because their sins denoted by the ripe fruits of the earth were come to maturity And that this interpretation is true and certain appeareth from that passage Joel 3.12 13. from whence these two visions of John seem to be modelled where it is said Let the Heathen be wakened and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat For there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about put ye in the sickle for the harvest is ripe come get you down for the press is full the fats overflow for their wickedness is great Now forasmuch as Christ is to be a principal agent in the execution of this judgement he is therefore brought in sitting upon a cloud as God in like cases was wont to be in the Old Testament See Isay 19.1 Behold the Lord
the Dead is evident in that the very chief of them came not to pass in the time of his former life as will appear to any one that peruseth what hath been written of him by ancient Authours For where is it said of him in story that he received a deadly Wound and recovered Yea we finde on the contrary that when he had been wounded by one Stephanus he was so far from being cured thereof that he was by others coming in presently after killed outright See Suetonius in the History of Domitian cap. 17. Where that his Image was erected and made to speak that they might be put to death that refused to worship it Where that he did set a Mark upon either the fore-head or the right hand of Men without which none might buy or sell These and sundry other remarkable things recorded of the Beast in the Book of the Revelation were never yet acted by him nor indeed by any other person whatsoever that we read of since this Prophecy was written wherefore if the Beast that was long since slain must do them as this Prophecy plainly testifieth it will unavoidably follow that he must be raised from the Dead to that purpose But though the Inhabitants of the Earth in general shall admire the Beast yet some will refuse to do so namely They whose names were written in the book of life from the foundation of the world By which passage it is clear that there is a certain number of men ordained by name to eternal life from the foundation of the world And this Ordination is alledged by the Angel as the true cause why they above others consent not to the epidemical impiety that is committed in admiring the Beast Neither did I ever meet with any man who denying such a particular and peremtory Ordination could give a clear and satisfactory answer to this passage which in my judgement now that I have made a more diligent search thereinto seemeth sufficient to decide the so much agitated controversie about Predestination especially if you add that other invincible argument taken from the Ordination of Christ himself For if Christ were unchangeably Ordained to glory not only from but also before the foundation of the world as the Scripture attesteth and all Christians grant why should not we by like reason affirm the same of his people it being altogether absurd to imagine that the head should be designed and not also the body pertaining thereunto inasmuch as they have a mutual relation the one to the other For whereas some indeavour to decline the dint of the foresaid passage in the Revelation by referring those words from the foundation of the world to the book it self and not to the writing of the names therein this can by no means consist for then to exclude all ambiguity an Article would have been prefixed to them in the Greek and accordingly the words have run thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Again I would demand of any man well skilled in that language how the Angel could speak otherwise then he doth were it his intention as I affirm to shew that certain mens names were from the foundation of the world written in the book of life But if he meant to signifie that the Book onely was from the Foundation of the World that as I before shewed might easily have been done by setting an Article agreeing in Greek with the word Book before these words From the Foundation of the World Vers 9. And here is the minde which hath wisdom The seven Heads are seven Mountains on which the Woman sitteth 10. And they are seven Kings five are fallen and one is and the other is not vet come and when he cometh he must continue a short space 11. And the Beast that was and is not even he is the eighth and is of the seven and goeth into perdition Here the Angel cometh directly to the matter making way to the discovery that he had promised to John with a so emn Preface whereby he intimateth that the Interpretation which he was about to deliver was so ordered that none but a wise and intelligent man could apprehend it Then beginning to declare the Mystery of the Beast with seven Heads and ten Horns whereon the Woman sitteth he saith that the seven Heads are both seven Mountains whereon the Woman sitteth which Description the wise and learned know denoteth Rome that was built upon seven Mountains and also seven Kings so the Roman Emperours are elsewhere styled in the Scripture for the Jews John 19.15 say We have no King but Caesar And that he here meaneth Roman Kings or Emperours is evident in that they are coupled with the seven Mountains of Rome and represented as they before had been by the seven Heads of the Beast of which Kings five namely Claudius Nero Galba Otho Vitellius are fallen that is are taken away by a violent death Thus David 2 Sam. 4 38. saith to the Israelites concerning Abner whom Joab had slain Know you not that there is a Prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel And God saith to the murmuring Israelites against whom his hand was lifted up to destroy them from among the Host until they were consumed As for you your carcases shall fall in this wilderness Numbers 14.32 but one is namely Vespasian the other is not yet come and when he cometh he must continue but a little while That is Titus the elder son of Vespasian who Reigning after his Father continued but two years two moneths and twenty days as Suetonius in his life witnesseth And the Beast that was and is not even he is the eighth and is of the seven and goeth into perdition This is meant of Domitian the younger son of Vespasian who was the eighth King or Emperour from Claudius if you consider him as reigning after the death of his Father and his elder brother But if you look upon him as Reigning in the absence of his Father who was not yet come out of the eastern parts unto Rome to manage the Empire he was one of the seven Kings from Claudius namely the sixth For that Domitian after the death of Vitellius the Emperour did in the absence of his Father Reign at Rome as Emperour is manifest from the words of Tacitus Hist lib. 3. Cap. ult Domitianum postquam nihil hostile metuebatur ad duces partium progressum Caesarem consalutatum miles frequens utque erat in armis in paternos penates deduxit that is Domitian when no further hostility was feared presented himself to the Captains of the party and being saluted Cesar that is Emperour for this was the Title of all the Roman Emperours after Julius Cesar was brought by the Souldiery in their arms to his Fathers house And lib. 4. cap. 1. Nomen sedemque Caesaris Domitianus acceperat that is Domitian had assumed to himself both the Title and the seat of Cesar ib. cap. 4. Ipsi consulatus cum Tito filio proetura
will afford us very evident Instances thereof By the cunning of which two prevailing Factions the Light of the Gospel was for many Ages together since the Reign of Constantine almost extinguished but that now in latter times God taking pity on the miserable condition of his Church hath raised up sundry Reformers who have detected many of those Errours wherewith the Truth had before been obscured and so given a good Essay to the restoring of our holy Faith to its primitive lustre The reason why Satan is cast by the Angel into the bottomless Pit rather than into another place is because many of the evil Spirits have ever since their Fall lain there bound in Chains of Darkness as both the words of Peter Epist 2. Chap. 2.4 where it is said God spared not the Angels that sinned but cast them down to Hell and delivered them into Chains of Darkness to be reserved unto Judgement And also of Jude Verse 6. where it is said The Angels which kept not their first Estate but left their own Habitation he hath reserved in everlasting Chains under Darkness unto the Judgement of the great Day do perspicuously intimate And therefore certain of them who were permitted to range up and down the Earth for the executing of Gods Judgements having entred into a Man of Gadara and being commanded by Christ to come out of him besought Christ that he would not send him into the bottomless Pit for so the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 used by Luke in the Relation of this Story and which is translated in English the Deep ought to be rendred as it is in this 20. Chapter of the Revelation Vers 4. And I saw Thrones and they sat upon them and Judgement was given unto them and I saw the Souls of them that were beheaded for the Witness of Jesus and for the Word of God and which had not worshipped the Beast neither his Image neither had received his Mark upon their Foreheads or in their Hands and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand Years 5. But the rest of the Dead lived not again until the thousand Years were finished This is the first Resurrection 6. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first Resurrection on such the second Death hath no power but they shall be Priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand Years That Thrones are the Seats of Kings is evident enough but who they are that shall sit upon the Thrones here mentioned and have Judgement given into their hands is neither of it self evident nor here expressed so that we should be at a great loss to finde it out were it not that Daniel speaking of this matter as I have before in the Exposition of the 17. Chapter of this Prophecy evinced saith that Judgement was given to the Saints of the most High Chap. 7.22 It is the Saints therefore that are invested with the Right of Judicature and placed on the Thrones after the Defeat of the Beast and the Binding of Satan Neither ought this Kingdom to be expected till these two miraculous Events have made way for it Wherefore as they are exceedingly mistaken and fear not to gainsay the plain Words of the Scripture who hold that there shall be no fifth Kingdom or Kingdom of the Saints here on Earth when in the mean time an Angel expresly telleth Daniel Chap. 7.27 that the Kingdom and Dominion and the greatness of the Kingdom under the whole Heaven shall be given to the People of the Saints of the most High So are they no less out of the way who dream of any humane Force to be used in the Erection of this Kingdom For this would be to transform the People of the Saints into a Company of Thieves and Robbers But as the rise and fall of the Beast the binding of Satan and setting up of the Kingdom of the Saints here on Earth are great and marvellous Works falling out in the Age here spoken of so also is the first Resurrection whereof all they shall be Partakers and so reign with Christ in heaven who being either Prophets for none but such have the Testimony of Jesus or meer Saints do suffer Death for refusing to worship the Beast For John plainly testifieth that onely such are raised up from the Dead to reign with Christ the thousand Years as were for their Piety in the Reign of the Beast beheaded or smitten with the Ax as the Greek word signifieth Which Expression doth either intimate that the Beast shall both in Judicature as the Romans his Ancestors were wont to do also in War make use of such a Weapon as an Ax to kill the Saints as we find in the Scripture that Nebuchadnezzar did to slay the Egyptians Jer. 40.22 where it is said The voice thereof that is of Egypt shall go like a Serpent for they shall march with an Army and come against her with Axes as Hewers of Wood or else under the most frequent and noted kinde of slaughter that shall be in use at that time all other ways of inflicting Death upon the Saints are comprehended For what reason can be imagined why those Saints that are put to Death with the Ax should share in the first Resurrection rather than such as are dispatched with some other Instrument of cruelty But lest any one should think this Doctrine of the first Resurrection taken according to the Letter of the holy Text to be strange though to me it seemeth more strange that Christians should scruple at a thing so plainly and punctually set down in the Scripture for they may as well call into question whatsoever is here spoken concerning the Resurrection that is to be afterwards at the last Day and to which this Resurrection is opposed go to let us confirm this precious Truth so much encouraging Christians to lay down their Lives for the Gospel by other passages taken out of this Book of the Revelation where such an anticipated Resurrection is held forth as belonging both to those Saints that suffer Death under the Reign of the Beast and also to those that dy for Christ and the Gospel at any time whatsoever First therefore it is in the 11. Chapter said of the two Witnesses who are expresly there called Prophets and so must needs be two Men since none but Men are in the Scripture termed Prophets that after they had been slain by the Beast and their dead Bodyes lyen unburied three Days and an half in the Streets of Jerusalem for not Rome but Jerusalem is the great City where Christ was slain The Spirit of Life from God entred into them and they stood upon their feet From which words it is undeniably manifest that the two Witnesses are raised from the Dead whilest the Beast reigneth What hinders then but that the other Prophets and Saints put to Death by him may likewise be restored to Life presently after his Defeat as this 20. Chapter doth in
to be there detained for a certain time but into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone to be there tormented for ever and ever From whence it may be gathered 1. That Satan after this time shall not tempt the Sons of Men any more and consequently as we have before discoursed they shall have no other inward sollicitation to sin then what issueth from the natural pravity of their own hearts which is nothing in comparison of that malignity which is infused into them by the artifice of Satan 2. That the reason why the Beast was formerly thrown into Hell-fire and not Satan also that stirred him up is this because God intended to make no further use of the Beast whereas Satan was a thousand Years after to seduce Gog and Magog Which being done and so the wrathfull Ministery of Satan accomplished he likewise is flung into Hell-fire to be there for ever tormented together with the Beast 3. That Hell-fire for that is the same with the Lake of Fire and Brimstone is already in being and not to be created at the Day of Judgement otherwise how should Satan be thrown thereinto before the coming of that Day 4. That Satan though a Spirit yet is not therefore immaterial otherwise how should a true real and material fire as that of the Lake is seeing the smoke of men therein tormented is said to ascend for ever and ever Chap. 14.11 be capable of working on him For he is no less said to be tormented therein than the Beast and the false Prophet who being both Men as I before proved must needs consist of matter as all will grant As for the place where Hell-fire is we shall see concerning that towards the end of this Chapter Vers 11. And I saw a great white Throne and him that sat on it from whose Face the Earth and the Heaven fled away and there was found no Place for them Vers 12. And I saw the Dead small and great stand before God and the Books were opened and another Book was opened which is the Book of Life and the Dead were judged out of those things which were written in the Books according to their Works Vers 13. And the Sea gave up the Dead which were in it and Death and Hell delivered up the Dead which were in them and they were judged every Man according to their Works The Prophecies of the Revelation if we look rightly on them considering them in their own plainness and not as they are disguized and tangled with the far-fetcht Opinions of Men will be found to have been set down in an orderly manner those things being usually delivered first that are first to be accomplished Hence the casting of the Devil into Hell-fire being once dispatcht the universal judgement which was to follow whether in a little or a large distance of time is uncertain cometh here in its own place very fitly to be described God therefore is the supreme Judge is said to sit upon a great white Throne By which words the colour of his Throne which had been hitherto concealed seemeth to be here made known unto us For seeing God as David testifieth hath prepared his Throne in the Heavens for Judgement Psalm 9.7 103.19 and whiteness therein doth for its purity and lustre as well comport with the glory of God if not better than any other colour why should we not believe that the Throne of Judgement whereon God sitteth in the Heavens is as it is here described white But as the glory of God is set out in some measure by the greatness and colour of his Throne so is it infinitely more by the action that is here ascribed to him namely the Annihilation of the heaven and earth For to make them so fly away from before his face as that there is no more place found for them is indeed to reduce them into nothing Otherwise had they any being they would also have a place and be somewhere This reduction of the world into nothing leadeth us to believe the more easily that it was at first created out of nothing For had the matter thereof been from all eternity coexisting with God it would like him be ens necessarium and so likewise of necessity continue for ever with him John having seen the sovereign judge sitting on his throne doth in the next place see them also that stand before him in judgement and they are the dead of all sorts whether they be of high or low degree For that this expression of great and small doth so signifie is evident from Deuteronomy 1.17 Where Moses saith to the Judges of Israel Ye shall not respect persons but ye shall hear the small as well as the great And also from the nineteenth Chapter of this book verse 18. Where an Angel inviteth all the fowls of the heaven to come that they may eat the flesh of all men both free and bond both small and great For the trial of the persons aforesaid are opened certain books containing not their actions for the words import the contrary but the laws by which God proceedeth in judging them and consequently they are the books of the Old and New Testament For Paul plainly telleth us that as many as have sinned in or under the law shall be judged by the law Rom. 2.12 And Christ saith John 12.48 He that rejecteth me and receiveth not my words hath one that judgeth him the word that I have spoken the same shall judge him in the last day These therefore must needs be the books and out of the things written in them the dead shall be judged according to their works For the inspection of these books doth presently discover both of what kind the works themselves are and what reward is appointed to them From whence it may be collected that they to whom God never made known his will nor imparted any of those laws recorded in the Old and New Testament but suffered them to walk in their own waies albeit they shall perish for their wickedness yet shall they not undergo any trial And thus much are we taught by the Apostle Paul who saith 2 Thes 1.7 8. That the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that knew not God And Rom. 2.12 As many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law That is without having any law proposed whereby they should be tried and cast Moreover that we might have a more full knowledge of the foresaid judgement both the resurrection of the dead which is a preparative thereunto and also the several places from whence the dead come forth are here described For the Sea giveth up the bodies of them that were drowned therein and the Grave giveth up the bodies of them that were buried in the earth For that the Grave is here to be understood by death is evident in that it is a place of the dead distinguished both from the Sea and also from Hell But there is
pressed out of the grapes into the cup is the most rich and delicate wine that can be imagined but the tree of life affordeth to the Nations of them that are saved for only such Nations are here understood as appeareth from the four and twentieth verse of the precedent Chapter it doth I say afford not only meat and drink but medicine also For when any distemper beginneth to creep on the Citizens of the New Jerusalem the leaves of this tree being used do discharge the same By which means they remain for ever free from sickness and death Howbeit the manner how these leaves are used whether they be inwardly taken which is the more probable opinion or outwardly applied is uncertain and so ought to be passed over as also the business of evacuation For there is no mention thereof in the Scripture much less of the maner wherein it should be performed So that it becometh not us to make any further inquiry thereinto But if any shall yet reply and say that what hath been spoken of meat and drink and medicine to be in the New Jerusalem doth make the future happiness of the Saints to appear somewhat gross I answer it is not for us to devise what is suitable for the condition of them that shal inherit the Kingdom of heaven but to restin that which God hath prepared for them He could no doubt have given them such an immortality as needed no outward supply but could have sustained it self upon its own inward principles without either meat or drink or medicine but he hath thought it fit to order the matter otherwise as appeareth by the declaration that he himself hath made thereof in the Scripture And shall we presume to be wiser than he and accuse him as not knowing how to make his people happy in the compleatest manner by imagining such a felicity as is not recorded in his word and wresting that which is there described by our exotick interpretations Certainly seeing the Scripture testifieth that the foolishness of God is wiser then men it becometh us to assent to that which he hath revealed though seeming foolish to us rather then affecting to be wise above what is written to follow the groundless imaginations of our own heart Vers 3. And there shall be no more curse but the Throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it and his servants shall serve him How truly I said even now that the leaves of the tree of life shall keep the Nations of them that are saved free from sickness and death for ever appeareth from the beginning of this verse For when it is there said There shall be no more curse it is the same as if it had been said There shall be no more utter destruction for so the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which properly signifieth a curse is wont in the Scripture to be taken See Zech. 14.11 from whence these words in the Revelation seem to be borrowed For whereas it is there read in English There shall be no more utter destruction the Greek hath it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is There shall be no more curse And lest any one should perhaps imagine that there may possibly be a difference in the signification between 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which latter is the word used in the Revelation the collation of Matth. 26.74 with Mark 14.71 in the Greek will soon remove that scruple Though the tree of life be a great benefit to the inhabitants of the New Jerusalem yet is the presence of God a greater as being better then life it self without which indeed life is not lively and therefore it is said that the Throne of God and the Lamb shall be in the New Jerusalem namely that the Saints may enjoy his presence and be thereby inflamed to serve and honour him with the greatest affection But least any one should turn that which is here delivered concerning the Throne of God into an allegory because a Throne is sometimes put for Royal power let us evince both out of the circumstances of the place and also from other passages of the Scripture that God hath in very deed a throne in heaven For first if by the Throne of God should here be only meant Royal power the words would carry no emphasis with them when it is said that the Throne of God shall be in the New Jerusalem seeing the Royal power of God extendeth it self to all places alike 2 The Throne of God is here as properly taken as that of Christ whilest it is said The Throne of God and the Lamb. But Christ being the son of man cannot be denied to sit as a King upon a throne properly so taken Wherefore neither can God likewise Both which are confirmed by that passage of the divine Author to the Hebrews Chap. 12.2 Where it is said That Jesus sat down at the right hand of the Throne of God 3. The throne of God hath been seen and so is properly to be understood as those things that fall under the sence are wont to be This is manifest from the first verse of this Chapter where John saith I saw a River of water of life proceeding out of the Throne of God and the Lamb. And also from the eleventh verse of the twentieth Chapter where the very colour of his Throne is also expressed for so John saith I saw a great white Throne and him that sat on it from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away And finally from that notable vision of Micajah 1 Kings 22.19 who saith to Ahab King of Israel Hear thou the word of the Lord I saw the Lord sitting on his Throne and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left 4. It is said of Christ as we before cited it out of the Epistle of the Hebrews Chap. 12.2 that Christ sat down on the right hand of the Throne of God which could not be true were the Throne of God any other then a seat 5. God is in the Book of the Revelation frequently known by the appellation of him that sitteth upon the throne See Chap. 5.13 and 6.16 and 7.15 But this would be an impertinent description of God were there in very deed no Throne in heaven whereon he sitteth 6. God is said to have prepared his Throne in the heavens Psalm 103.19 which will not admit any other sence but that he hath made there a Royal seat for himself By all these arguments it appeareth that to say God doth not in very deed sit on a Throne in heaven is to contradict both the Scripture and our very senses Vers 4. And they shall see his face and his name shall be in their foreheads That these words They shall see the face of God are to be taken as they sound I have in effect already proved by evincing out of the Scripture that God doth in very deed sit upon a Throne in