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
they repented not to give him glory The sin of them that worship the Beast and receive his Mark as it is greater than that of evil Men in former times so is it also of a new kince and unheard of in the World before And therefore God provideth here for it a new Plague the like whereof is not to be found in all the Scripture For the fourth Vial being poured out upon the Sun causeth it to scorch Men with fire and that in a very grievous manner But it any one here object that should the Sun the common Luminary of the World but destitute of life and understanding have such a Power given to it the Saints also would not be untouched I answer that the words of the Text imply the contrary saying that such as were scorched by the Sun blasphemed the Name of God and repented not to give him glory whereby it appeareth that none but impenitent sinners do feel this Plague the Sun by the marvellous direction of God sending down fire upon them but casting out a chearing light upon the righteous Thus we read Exod. 14.20 that the cloudy Pillar did at the same time cause darkness to the Egyptians and light to the Israelites We read also Dan. 3.22 27. that the fiery Furnace which killed the Caldeans that did but approach thereunto did not so much as singe an Hair of the three pious Jews that were thrown into the midst thereof And let this consideration be taken along with us in reading the story of all these Plagues that they are so ordered as that no hurt redoundeth to the righteous from them God making a way for their escape As we see it did happen to the Israelites who though dwelling in Egypt were yet untouched with any of the ten Plagues thereof For albeit their immunity be not mentioned till the fourth Plague which was that of Flyes concerning which God saith I will sever in that day the Land of Goshen in which my People dwell that no Swarms of Flies shall be there to the end thou maist know that I am the Lord in the midst of the Earth Exod. 8.22 yet reason sheweth that the same is to be understood in all the foregoing Plagues for as much as they were sent of purpose to punish the Egyptians for their cruelty towards Gods people In like manner though it be not here expresly said that the Sun did not scorch the Saints but onely the wicked yet must it in reason be supposed to have so fallen out and the aforesaid intimation out of the Text sheweth as much Vers 10. And the fifth Angel poured out his Vial upon the Seat of the Beast and his kingdom was full of darkness and they gnawed their Tongues for pain 11. And blasphemed the God of Heaven because of their pains and their sores and repented not of their deeds As some other of the Plagues that God inflicted upon the Beast and his Worshippers are the same with those that he formerly inflicted upon Pharaoh and his People so also is this For the fifth Angel pouring out his Vial upon the Throne of the Beast which is without question as suitable a means to procure darkness as the stretching out of Moses hand towards Heaven his Kingdom that extendeth it self over the face of the whole Earth is thereupon darkned The extremity of which Plague is such that it causeth Men to gnaw their Tongues for pain For consider how grievous a thing it is to be bound for several days together in chains of thick and palpable darkness for it would be unreasonable to think that this darkness of the Beasts Kingdom should be inferiour either in duration or grosness to that of Egypt so as neither to see one another nor to arise out of their places Howbeit we are not to imagine that the Saints of this time as well as the Israelites heretofore during this dismal Fog that bespreads the face of all the Earth have not light in their dwellings seeing this Plague together with the rest is ordained of God for the punishment of their Adversaries and so ought not to involve both alike And this is sufficiently hinted according to the observation on the pouring out of the fourth Vial by the blasphemies that these Prisoners of darkness are said to vent against God the Authour of this and the other Plagues whereas to blaspheme God is so enormous a crime that it is impossible it should be incident to the Saints Wherefore I may truly bespeak the People of God that shall be in the Reign of the Beast with the words of Isaiah Chap. 60.2 of his Prophecy Behold the Darkness shall cover the Earth and gross Darkness the People but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee Vers 12. And the sixth Angel poured out his Vial upon the great River Euphrates and the Water thereof was dried up that the way of the Kings of the East might be prepared Vers 13. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet Vers 14. For they are the spirits of devils working miracles which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world to gather them to the battel of that great day of God Almighty Vers 15. Behold I come as a thief Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments lest he walk naked and they see his shame Vers 16. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Ar-mageddon By Euphrates must needs here be meant that River which runneth by Babylon properly so called and emptieth it self into the Persian Gulph For this River rising in Armenia and traversing all Mesopotamia and Caldea lyeth as a bar in their way that come out of the eastern Countreyes of Persia Tartaria India and China towards the land of Israel whither the kings here spoken of are to march with their Armies Neither is it a new thing that a river should be dryed up to give way to Princes and their hosts For we read in the scripture that Jordane was turned back to the end Joshua and the Israelites might in a terrible manner go over without interruption into the land aforesaid Jos 3.17 But as the River Euphrates is miraculously dryed up by the Angel for the speedier passage of the eastern Kings so cometh not it to pass without a miracle that they are drawn to undertake so desperate a design as to fight against Christ and his Saints for three unclean spirits do by working miracles incite not onely the foresaid Eastern Kings but also all the Kings of the world to the performance of this exploit And for as much as these are seen to proceed out of the mouth of the Dragon and of the Beast and of the false prophet this argueth that not onely the Dragon but also the Beast to whom the Dragon is said
the dead triumph in the Kingdom of heaven is evident from the description there given of them For it is said that they were come out of the great tribulation so it is emphatically expressed in the Greek and therefore intimateth that they weee set free from death the chiefest of all tribulations and also were clothed in white Robes and stood before the throne of God being put into such a condition that they should no more hunger nor thirst because the Lamb should feed them and lead them unto living fountains of water No one of which things agreeth either to men here living on the earth or to the souls of such as are departed this life Now the reason that inciteth these Saints in heaven with loud and redoubled voices to cry Allelujah that is Praise the Lord for so this word originally Hebrew doth signifie see Psal 146.1 is the justice of God who as it is here said had both judged that great Harlot which with the lewdness of her whoredome corrupted the earth whereof we have before spoken in our exposition on the seventeenth Chapter and also had avenged the blood of his servants at her hand and this vengeance is taken in so strange a maner that it is not to be parrallelled in all the holy scripture save in the prediction concerning the judgement of God against Bozrah and the land of Idumea whereof we read Isa 34.6 7 8 9 10. and which is not yet come to pass for though many Cities have been burned with the fire of men yea Sodom and Gomorrah with the fire of God from heaven yet hath it not been known that any City after it was once fired did send up the smoak of her burning for ever and ever as it is here affirmed of Rome Which circumstance alone doth sufficiently prove that the prophecy held forth in this book concerning the destruction of Rome is not yet fulfilled forasmuch as she notwithstanding all the sackings and firings that have since hapned to her is yet standing and that in great state and splendor so far is she from being made a desolation and perpetual burnings Vers 4. And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne saying Amen Alleluja The action of the Saints in heaven who give honour and glory to God for executing judgement upon Rome is seconded by the Saints on earth who prostrating themselves before God declare their approbation of what the others had done by saying Amen Alleluja For though the Saints here spoken of are in the vision introduced as being in heaven yet this hinders not but that the true place of their abode is the earth no more then the ascent of John into heaven in a vision and his viewing the things therein contained Chap. 4.1.2 make him in the mean time cease from being a true and real inhabitant of the Isle Patmos for these four and twenty Elders together with the four living creatures I have already proved in mine exposition of the fifteenth Chapter to be the Disciples of Christ in the four quarters of the world Howbeit the four and twenty are both here and else where in the Revelation distinguished from the rest because as the very name of Elders given to them doth import the Pastours of the Church are by them signified And this number of the Elders seemeth to be modelled from the four and twenty Orders of the Priests under the Law 1 Chron. 24.7 8. into whose room the Ministers of the Gospel are come that the people of God might never want some to watch over them in relation to the good of their souls Vers 5. And a voice came out of the throne saying Praise our God all ye his servants and ye that fear him both small and great The praising of God is a thing so comely in the Saints that they are here though upon a new accompt as will appear from that which followeth incited by a voice from the throne to do it again which voice is not to be ascribed to God himself although it proceedeth from his throne but to some other person that is under or about the same and hath him that sitteth on the throne for his God as the voice it self doth intimate when it saith Praise our God all ye his servants If it be further demanded what maner of person the author of the voice should be whether a glorified Saint or an Angel I answer that it rather seemeth to be an Angel because we finde the like exhortation used by an Angel Chap. 14.6 7. As for the Servants of God whom the voice speaketh unto seeing they are distinguished from those that fear God this sufficiently hinteth that they are not meerly pious men but such as besides their piety are imployed by God in the work of the Ministery and in particular bear the office of prophets in the Church for so the servants of God when differenced from them that fear God are elsewhere understood in this book of the Revelation see Chap. 11.18 where it is said That thou shouldest give the reward unto thy servants the Prophets and to the Saints and them that fear thy name small and great Now that many Prophets will then exist when these things are to be accomplished I have before shewed in the exposition of the fourteenth Chapter Vers 6. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude and as the voice of many waters and as the voice of mighty thundrings saying Alleluja for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth Vers 7. Let us be glad and rejoyce and give honour to him for the marriage of the Lamb is come and his wife hath made her self ready Vers 8. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen clean and white for the fine linen is the righteousness of Saints Though the destruction of the wicked be an inducement to praise the name of God and to rejoyce yet is the salvation of the righteous as being in it self a work more excellent and glorious of far greater efficacy to stir up the Saints to the performance of these two things Hence it is that the acclamation here made is more loud and solemn then the others that went before For John saith That he heard as it were the voice of a great multitude and as the voice of many waters and as the voice of mighty thundrings saying Alleluja The reason of which unusual Exultation that I may confirm what I even now asserted is in the first place said to be the Reign of God namely upon the Delivery of the Kingdom into the Hands of the Saints For though God was long before said in the Scripture to be the King of all the Earth Psal 47.7 yet in as much as to reign if you speak properly is to rule and govern by Laws the Reign of God over all the World may in this sense be rightly said to commence with the Kingdom of the Saints And that
what will become of the emphasis that lieth in the word these it being impossible that any speech proceeding from God should be false but rather to intimate that there was nothing in them obscure and uncertain as it fareth with sundry other sayings of God which are very doubtful and hard to be understood Thus when Daniel had declared to Nebuchadnezzar very plainly both his dream and the interpretation thereof he saith in the close of his speech as the Greek version not varying from the Original Syriack hath it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is The dream is true and the interpretation thereof faithful or sure Chap. 2.45 It is also said Chap. 8.26 after that the visions hapning to Daniel at evening on his bed and in the morning when he was risen up from thence had been fully explained the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true Finally when Daniel Chap. 7. had seen certain visions and was at first troubled about the sence of them but afterwards understood it he writeth thus verse 16.17 18 19. I came neer unto one of them that stood by and asked him the truth of all this so he told me and made me how the interpretation of the things These great Beasts which are four are four Kings which shall arise out of the earth But the Saints of the most high shall take the Kingdom and possess the kingdom for ever even for ever and ever Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast which was diverse from all the others From whence it is evident that to know the truth of visions is to understand the interpretation and meaning of them Wherefore to return to the foresaid passage of the Revelation when it is said These words are true and faithful it is all one as if it had been said These words are plain and certain and to be taken as they sound and consequently such as go about to turn the prophecy touching the New heaven and the New earth and the descent of the New Jerusalem and the making of all things new into an allegory do exceedingly erre from the true and genuine meaning thereof But God hath not yet ceased to inculcate the making of all things new because of the infinite consequence thereof Wherefore to shew how certain the same is he speaketh of it though to come as if it were already past saying it is done he also backeth it with a strong reason the better to imprint the belief thereof in the minds of men whilest he saith that he is Alpha and Omega the beginning and the end The connexion of which reason with the thing to be proved thereby is this that seeing God is not wont like frail and fickle man to do his work by halfes but throughly to effect them it cannot be but that having once begun the salvation of the Saints he should at length accomplish the same and in order thereunto make all things new God having thus fully declared his purpose to make all things new doth afterwards invite men to come and partake of the water of life freely without money and without price The fountain where this water springeth is in the beginning of the following Chapter said to be the throne of God and the Lamb and therefore we are not to understand any water figuratively so taken but such as being received into the body causeth eternal Life in those that drink it But the Invitation to drink of this Water is made to none by God save such as thirst after it and so have an ardent desire to enjoy the benefit of the same What shall we then say to those who are so far from longing to drink of this Water that they believe there is no such thing turning all that is said thereof into an Allegory In the next place God promiseth to them that overcome that they shall inherit all things namely both the Heaven and the Earth that now are and also those that are to come For they as I have before shewn being such as lay down their Lives for the Gospel have a Privilege above others that dy in the Lord in that they are admitted to reign with Christ in Heaven long before the general Resurrection and so like him are the Heirs of all things and Sons of God in a more perfect manner than the rest of the Faithfull who though they enjoy eternal Life with Christ yet are not vouchsafed the Honour to sit with him in his Throne See Chap. 3.21 But as God is the God or soveraign Benefactour of those that suffer Death for the Confirmation of the Truth so on the contrary such as dare not out of cowardice to partake in the afflictions of the Gospel or refuse to believe therein or are filthy in their conversation or unjustly deprive others of their Life or defile themselves with Women or use the confederacy of evil spirits to produce marvellous effects or worship either false Gods or the true God in a false manner by Images which they make to themselves or have guile in their mouth not speaking as they mean have their portion assigned of God unto them in the Lake of Fire which is here again said to be the second Death and that suitably enough For if the place wherein the Saints enjoy everlasting pleasure is in the Scripture called by the name of Life as appeareth by the Collation of Mark 9.47 with Math. 18.9 In the former of which it is said It is better having but one Eye to enter into the Kingdom of God In the latter It is better having but one Eye to enter into Life In like manner may Hell-fire wherein the wicked feel everlasting pain be styled by the name of Death Vers 9. And there came unto me one of the seven Angels which had the seven Vials full of the seven last Plagues and talked with me saying Come hither I will shew thee the Bride the Lambs Wife 10. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high Mountain and shewed me that great City the holy Jerusalem descending out of Heaven from God John had above said that he had seen the new Jerusalem but neither told us how he came to have a sight thereof nor gave us a particular Description of that goodly Fabrick both which he doth now perform For as to the first he saith that one of the seven Angels that had the seven Vials full of the seven last Plagues and therefore in all likelihood the same that had formerly shewn him the Judgement of the great Whore Chap. 17.1 came and spake with him offering to shew him the Bride the Lambs Wife But here they that do by a mystical Interpretation turn the new Jerusalem into the Church think they have gotten an impregnable place wherein to secure themselves especially seeing the Revelation doth elsewhere confessdly style the Church by the name of the Lambs Wife Chap. 19.7 But they that argue thus do not in the mean time perceive
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
habitation And Chap. 37.32 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant and they that escape out of Mount Sion And Chap. 52.1 Awake awake put on thy strength O Sion put on thy beautiful garments O Jerusalem Howbeit this standing of Christ upon Mount Sion with so great a company attending him doth not argue that he shall ever reign there by his personal presence no more than his standing by Paul in Jerusalem Acts 23.11 doth evince that he did then reign there after such a manner but onely intimate that those Saints shall perfectly follow the direction of Christ no otherwise than if he were personally present with them in Jerusalem as the fourth Verse of this Chapter explaineth it saying These are they that follow the Lamb whither soever he goeth Finally by the hundred forty four thousand upon whose forehead the name of the Lambs Father was imprinted are meant those Servants of God that were sealed out of all the Tribes of Israel Chap. 7.4 For both their number and their abode and the place of their body wherein they are sealed or marked exactly agree Whence by the way it appeareth that the Sealing mentioned in the said seventh Chapter shall happen in the Age wherein the Beast shall arise and consequently the general conversion of the Jews shall precede his coming otherwise those sealed ones would not thus be inserted into the History of the Beast Vers 2. And I heard a voice from Heaven as the voice of many Waters and as the voice of a great thunder and I heard the voice of Harpers harping with their Harps Vers 3. And they sung as it were a new Song before the Throne and before the four Beasts and the Elders and no Man could learn that Song but the hundred and forty and four thousand which were redeemed from the Earth Vers 4. These are they which were not defiled with Women for they are Virgins these are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth these were redeemed from among Men being the first-fruits unto God and to the Lamb. Vers 5. And in their Mouth was found no Guile for they are without Fault before the Throne of God Whether the voice out of Heaven resembling the noise of many Waters and the noise of great Thunder did utter any words and what those words are is not expressed or hinted so that we must of necessity remain ignorant thereof neither is it said who those Harpers are onely it is likely they are the Saints in Heaven who are thus brought in speaking aloud from thence Chap. 12.10 As little is it told us what the new Song is which they play upon their Harps yea we are on the contrary assured that none but those hundred forty four thousand can learn it and therefore the knowledge thereof belongeth not to us or any others but is reserved for them onely which argueth that there is something extraordinary in those godly persons of the Jewish Nation above those of any other Nation whatsoever For though it be common to them with other Saints to be redeemed or rather bought as the Greek word signifieth See Chap. 5.8 9. from among men namely with the Blood of the Lamb and so to be a first-fruits unto God and the Lamb as being theirs in a special manner no otherwise than the first-fruits were the Lord 's under the Law See Num. 18.12 13. yet is it peculiar to them above the multitude of Believers in any other Nation First to be the Servants of God that is Prophets for so this Appellation is expounded Chap. 11.18 And to give a Reward to thy Servants the Prophets And therefore no marvel if these persons being endued with the Spirit of Prophecy know the new Song that is sung in Heaven whilest other godly persons in the mean time are ignorant of the same Secondly to be Virgins and therefore such as have not been defiled with Women For it evidently follows that if they be Virgins and so never had to do with Women they could not possibly be defiled with them Thirdly to follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth which implyeth that they strayed not from the way wherein Christ Jesus did lead them but yielded up themselves to his guidance in all things Fourthly to have no Guile in their Mouth and therefore to be without Fault before the Throne of God which last words before the Throne of God are emphatical for it is all one as if it had been said before the Judgement-Seat of God because as David testifieth Psalm 9.7 the Lord hath prepared his Throne for Judgement Behold then the Dignity of the Jerwish Nation to which the Lord will advance them in the time of the Beast above any other Nation under the whole Heaven namely that there shall be of the People of the Jews at the same time an hundred forty four thousand Prophets all of them Virgins perfectly following the guidance of Christ and having no guile or blame before God Wherefore I may truly say with Moses when he reflected on the peculiar favour that God had vouchsafed to Israel in another kinde Ask now of the days that are past which were before thee since the day that God created Man upon the Earth and ask from one side of the Heaven to the other whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is or hath been heard like it Deut. 4.32 Vers 6. And I saw another Angel fly in the midst of Heaven having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the Earth and to every Nation and Kindred and Tongue and People Vers 7. Saying with a loud voice Fear God and give glory to him for the hour of his judgement is come and worship him that made Heaven and Earth and the Sea and the Fountains of Waters The first part of the Angels Message for so the Greek word ought no be rendred See 2 Sam. 18.20 in Greek neither is the Article prefixt as it is wont to be when the Gospel is meant is to excite men to fear God and give glory to his Name because the time of his Judgement is come namely when he will judge both the Beast and his Worshippers partly by the Vials of Gods wrath to be poured out upon them whereof see Chap. 16. partly by the utter Defeat of them at the great Battel of Armageddon Chap. 19. For indeed the Judgements of God are so terrible that even the Prophets when they only denounced them were wont to be seized with a great horrour Thus Esay after a grievous Vision had been declared to him Chap. 21.2 presently cryeth out in the following Verse Therefore are my loins filled with pain pangs have taken hold upon me as the pangs of a woman that travaileth I was bowed down at the hearing of it I was dismayed at the hearing of it How much more then ought they to breed a fear of God in the hearts of such as see them put in execution But as the terrour of Gods
on the right hand of the Majesty in the Heavens A minister of the Sanctuary and of the true Tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man And Chap. 9.11.12 but Christ being come an High Priest of future good things by a greater and more perfect Tabernacle not made with hands that is to say not of this building Neither by the blood of goats and Calves but by his own blood he entred in for once so it is in the Greek into the holy place or Sanctuary having obtained everlasting redemption And verse 24. Christ is not entred into the holy places or Sanctuary made with hands which are the figures of the true but into Heaven it self now to appear in the presence of God for us Which passages if we take in the plain and literal sense of them as the circumstances if well weighed will inforce us to do then shall we easily perceive how aptly the same Divine Author Chap. 8.5 speaking of the Levitical Priests that ministred in the Tabernacle saith Who serve unto the example and shadow of Heavenly things Whereas if we turn aside to figurative interpretations neither will that nor sundry other places of the Divine Author aforesaid be ever rightly understood nor shall we be able to render a sufficient reason why we may not at the same rate allegorize upon whatsoever is delivered in the Scripture whereby it will at length come to pass that we shall be certain of nothing that is contained therein being lyable to be carried about with every fansie that curious wits can invent and impose upon the letter of the Holy text Having thus asserted the truth and reality of an Heavenly Tabernacle and Temple the consequence of which Doctrine will further appear when we come to the 21. 22. Chap we ought to pass the same sentence upon the Testimony that is said to be therein For if the tabernacle that Moses made was a type of a greater and more perfect one in Heaven may not the tables of the Testimony also which were contained therein especially seeing that John himself saith in another place of this Prophecie that the temple of God was opened in heaven and there was seen in his temple the ark of his Testament or covenant Chap. 11.19 Vers 6. And the seven angels came out of the temple having the seven plagues clothed in pure and white linen and having their breasts girded with golden girdles The temple being opened for the seven Angels that had the seven plagues they accordingly issue out accoutred like Priests in white linen and golden girdles Thus we find that the Priests under the Law were wont to wear fine linen Exod. 28.39 Thou shalt imbroider the coat of fine linen and thou shalt make the mitre of fine linen and thou shalt make the girdle of needle-work And Levit. 16.11 He shall put on the holy linen coat and he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh and shall be girded with the linen girdle and with the linen mitre shall he be attired And the curious girdle of the Ephod belonging to the High Priest was made as of other things so also of gold Exod. 28.8 The curious girdle of the Ephod which is upon it shall be of the same according to the work thereof even of gold of blew and of purple and scarlet and fine twined linen Now that this habit of the Levitical Priests was also a type of heavenly things is evident from the description of the Angel an inhabitant of Heaven that appeared to Daniel Chap. 10.5 of his Prophecy For there Daniel saith I lifted up mine eyes and looked and behold a certain man clothed in linen whose loyns were girded with fine gold of Uphaz In like maner are the seven Angels attired that here appear to John But why labor I to prove the Angels to be priests from their Attire when to omit what I observed in the Chapter immediately foregoing namely that one of the Angels is said to have power over the fire of the Altar in Heaven there needs no other Argument to evince this than that which I hinted at the first rise of mine Exposition upon this sixth Verse namely that they are conversant in the Temple of Heaven for it belongeth unto none but Priests to converse in Temples See 2 Chron. 26.11 17 18. Vers 7. And one of the four Beasts gave unto the seven Angels seven golden Vials full of the wrath of God who liveth for ever and ever It is not without a Mystery that one of the four living Creatures giveth to the seven Angels seven Vials full of the Wrath of God For those four living Creatures being indeed the multitude of Believers in the four Quarters of the World as appeareth by their own words Chaps 5.9 where in their new Song to the Lamb they say Thou hast redeemed us by thy Blood to God out of every Kindred and Tongue and People and Nation and hast made us unto our God Kings and Priests and we shall reign on the Earth and it being altogether impossible for them reigning upon the Earth if you speak properly to reach out Vials to the Angels in Heaven when one of them is said to give the Vials to the Angels it onely implyeth that by their procurement whilest they cry day and night unto God it came to pass that these Angels had the Vials of Gods wrath put into their hands to the end they might pour them out upon the Inhabitants of the Earth But here again we meet with another proof of the Angels being Priests in that they are said to have golden Vials given to them whereas a Vial is not an ordinary Bowl but onely such an one as is used in consecrated Places Thus when it is said 2 Chron. 4.8 that Solomon made for the ten Tables of the Temple an hundred Basons or Bowls of Gold the Greek Interpreters render it Vials Neither is it to be omitted that when the seven Vials are said to be fuâ—l of the Wrath of God that liveth for ever and ever this Description of God is very emphatical intimating that God for as much as he liveth for ever and ever can certainly accomplish his Wrath so that his Enemies cannot possibly escape whereas Men having their Breath in their Nostrils and being â—iable to Death every moment they may indeed make great Threats but perhaps will not survive to perform what they have threatned Vers 8. And the Temple was filled with Smoke from the glory of God and from his power and no man was able to enter into the Temple till the seven Plagues of the seven Angels were fulfilled The filling of the heavenly Temple with Smoke so that none was able to enter thereinto for a time doth not intimate any abstruse and mysterious business but onely set off the awfull Majesty of God as will appear by the collation of other like passages of the Scripture For thus Moses Exod. 40.35 is said To be unable to enter into the Tent of
this Notion of Reigning is true and grounded on the Scripture is manifest in that God is then said never to have born rule over the Heathen the Adversaries of his People Isai 63.18 19. which can be no otherwise true than because he had not prescribed them Laws Whereas the Jews on the contrary own God for their King because he had been their Law-giver as may be seen in those Words of the same Prophet Chap. 33.22 The Lord is our Law-giver the Lord is our King he will save us But when upon the Defeat of the Beast who as I have shewed before is the same with the little Horn in the seventh of Daniel The Dominion and the greatness of the Kingdom under the whole Heaven shall be given to the Saints of the most High the World shall be ruled by them according to the Laws of God which he hath given by Christ Jesus and the Laws of all Nations shall for the common good be conformed unto that Standard whereas now they are for the most part subservient to the Lusts and Interests of a certain sort of Men. So that God to whom the Saints are subservient in the Kingdom will then of right be said to reign more perfectly and truly than he had ever done since the World began The second ground here alleged for this Triumphing of the Saints is Because the Marriage of the Lamb was come and his Wife had made her self ready By which Wife of Christ now ready to be married is neither to be understood the Multitude of those Saints that shall be raised in glory at the Judgement of the great Day for that Judgement shaâ—l happen above a thousand Years after this Marriage as appeareth from the following Chapter nor of those Saints that shall be found alive on the Earth when the great things mentioned in this Chapter shall be accomplished for the Saints are not in this World married to Christ but onely espoused as the Words of Paul 2 Cor. 11.2 do intimate who saith of the Corinthian Church I have espoused you to one Husband that I may present you a chaste Virgin unto Christ nor of those Saints that are here brought in shouting rejoycing for they openly distinguish themselves from this Wife of Christ it remaineth therefore that by Her must of necessity be understood those Saints who having suffered Death in the time of the Beast for not worshipping his Image nor receiving his Mark have this Privilege vouchsafed to them above others that being restored to Life they reign with Christ a thousand Years before the rest of the Dead are raised as is expresly declared in the following Chapter And this is sufficiently implyed by the fine Linen wherewith they are arayed for though it be an Emblem of their Righteousness to which they attained in this World as the Words of the Text affirm yet is it indeed the Habit of such as are risen from the Dead and glorified as is evident from Chap. 3.4 where Christ saith to the Angel of the Church in Sardis Thou hast a few Names even in Sardis which have not defiled their Garments and they shall walk with me in white for they are worthy And also from Chap. 7.9 where John saith I beheld and lo a great Multitude which no man could number of all Nations and kindreds and peoples and tongues stood before the Throne and before the Lamb clothed with white Robes and palms in their hands For that these here mentioned are such as had been raised from the dead and glorified I have before proved in the beginning of mine exposition upon this Chapter Vers 9. And he saith unto me Write Blessed are they which are called unto the Marriage-Supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me These are the true Sayings of God Seeing the Angel doth here command John to set down in Writing what he himself was about to deliver this argueth that it was a thing very remarkable and therefore not to be trusted to the memory which is so slippery and fleeting but to remain upon record for ever And this Injunction is like to that of the fourteenth Chap. Verse 13. and conversant about something of the same import For as they are there pronounced happy who should thenceforth die in the Lord namely under the Reign of the Beast and for the confirmation of the Truth as I have in mine Exposition of that place evinced so are such here reckoned to be in the sâ—me blessed condition who have the honour to be invited to the Wedding Supper of the Lamb who is to be inseparably united in the most intimate and sweet familiarity of love to those very persons when raised from the Dead and glorified For as Marriages are wont to be solemnized with a Feast so also is this of the Lamb and therefore mention is made here of a Wedding Supper which Supper if we consider what Christ himself speaketh of eating and drinking at his Table in his Kingdom Luke 22.30 And how in the 22 Chapter of this Prophecy Verse 14. they are by an Angel termed happy who keep the Commandments of Christ that they may have a right to the Tree of Life will be found to have more literal truth in it than is commonly believed especially if you add what the Angel saith to John in the Close of this Verse namely that these are the true Sayings of God For this as I intend more largely to discourse in mine Exposition on Chap. 21.5 is all one as if it had been said These are the plain and perspicuous Sayings of God which are to be understood as the words sound As for the Guests invited to this Wedding Supper of the Lamb for as much as they cannot be either the Angels who being meer Servants are no where in the Scripture admitted to such familiarity with Christ nor the married persons themselves who would absurdly be said to be invited to their own Marriage they must needs be the Saints that are here brought in exceedingly rejoycing at this Marriage and consequently such as had formerly been raised from the Dead and then reigned with Christ in the Kingdom of Heaven and so were capable of having a part in the Delicacies of this Feast Vers 10. And I fell at his Feet to worship him And he said unto me See thou do it not I am thy fellow Servant and of thy Brethren that have the Testimony of Jesus Worship God for the Testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy John is so transported with the favour that the Angel had done him in revealing these sublime Mysteries unto him that he is not able to contain himself but falleth down before his feet and worshippeth him Thus Cornelius being admonished in a Vision to send for Peter who should speak such things unto him whereby both he and his House should be saved is ravisht with the sight of Peter coming to him and adores him Which Instances do teach us thus much that we should hold in high esteem
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
the plain and obvious sence thereof clearly testifie Again we have in the Exposition of the nineteenth Chapter verse 1. proved that there is a great multitude of Saints even before the destruction of Rome recalled to life and triumphing in the kingdom of heaven Finally it appeareth from that notable passage Chap. 2.26.27 where Christ saith He that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end to him will I give power over the Nations and he shall rule them with a rod of iron as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers even as I have received of my Father that whosoever performeth the duty of a Christian to the end of his life and undergoeth a violent death for the name of Christ for I have elsewhere collected that the notion of overcoming when applied to the Saints in the Revelation doth intimate such a death shall be raised up from the dead before the day of judgement to reign over the Nations For can there any such reign be expected after that judgement is once past or did not Christ to whom these Saints are in this respect to be made conformable so come to reign over the Nations Neither doth that passage of Christ John 6.40 This is the will of him that sent me that every one that seeth the Son and believeth on him should have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day Nor that of Paul 1 Cor. 15.22 As in Adam all die even so in Christ shall all be made alive but every man in his own order Christ the first fruits afterwards they that are Christs at his coming These passages I say do not a whit withstand the doctrine of an anticipated resurrection which we endeavor to evince out of the book of the Revelation For Christ speaketh of men only as believing on him and Paul of them as dying in the faith and not for the same as the forecited places of the Revelation plainly do Moreover that the Lord Christ Jesus doth now in very deed reign in heaven and so hath done ever since he sat down at the right hand of God and consequently the Saints who are partakers of the first resurrection shall there reign with him is evident from that notable passage or Paul Ephes 1.19 20 21 22. According to the working of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in heavenly places far above all principalities and powers and might and dominion and every name that is named not only in this world but also in that which is to come And hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to the Church And from that of Peter 1 Epist 3.21 22. The like figure whereunto even Baptism doth also now save us not the putting away the filth of the flesh but the answer of a good conscience towards God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ who is gon into heaven and is on the right hand of God Angels and Authorities and Powers being made subject unto him And also from those of John Rev. 1.5 and Chap. 17.14 In the former of which he saith and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness the first begotten from the dead and the Prince or Ruler of the Kings of the earth And in the latter These shall make war with the Lamb and the Lamb shall overcome them for he is Lord of Lords and King of Kings he doth not say he shall be King of Kings But what need have I to accumulate texts of Scripture for the proof of this matter when the second and third Chapters of the Revelation are of themselves abundantly sufficient to convince all that are not obstinately bent against the truth that Christ doth now in his own person govern the Church and take care of it for you shall there have clear and undeniable arguments both of the cognisance that he taketh of mens actions and of the protection he affordeth unto such as walk uprightly with him and also of the judgements he executeth on them that either turn aside out of the right way or at least slacken their first love so that I am not a little moved when I perceive many who otherwise seem to own the Gospel so easily giving ear to such a doctrine as asserteth that Christ is not yet in the possession and exercise of his kingdom but shall hereafter reign and that upon the Earth which opinion thwarteth the whole tenor of the New Testament where Christ since his ascension is usually called Lord and annulleth the faith we repose in Christ for to what purpose is it to rely on him for help and assistance if he be not yet in his kingdome and restraineth prayer and worship before him and in a word ushereth in Judaism for there at length this pernicious conceit is wont to center Wherefore seeing I have irrefragably proved that Jesus Christ doth now reign in heaven neither is there so much as one passage in all the Scripture that saith he shall ever reign upon the earth but he himself on the contrary plainly testifieth John 18.36 That his kingdom is not of this world which could not be true were he to reign personally on the earth as worldly Kings are wont to do I conclude that whatsoever Saints are raised up from the dead to reign with Christ during the space of a thousand years before the last judgement must of necessity ascend up into heaven where he is And this is plainly taught us in that forequoted instance of the twowitnesses who being recalled to life go up into heaven in a cloud Chap. 11.12 T is true indeed that the Saints mentioned in the fifth Chapter verse 10. say That they were made Kings and Priests to their God and should reign on the earth But here is no hint of any resurrection and therefore such Saints are to be understood as having not yet been dead did and should reign upon the earth Thus John saith both of himself and the Saints in the seven Churches of Asia Chap. 1. That Christ had made them Kings and Priests to God And consequently it might have been truly affirmed of them that they should reign upon the earth where they were already Kings For whereas it is usually objected that those Saints in the fifth Chapter say of themselves we shall reign upon the earth and therefore did not already reign this is frivolous for inasmuch as they were already Kings as they themselves affirm and some of them sat with their crowns upon their heads it must needs be that they did already reign and so those words we shall reign upon the earth do not intimate the beginning but the continuance of their reign Thus John writeth to certain Christians of his time 1 Epist 5.13 To the end that they should believe on the name of the Son of God which doth not argue that they did not yet believe the contrary
heat Nevertheless we according to his Promise look for new Heavens and a new Earth wherein dwelleth Righteousness 2 Epist 3.10 11 12 13. Is it possible that any thing should more plainly and positively be delivered to shew that the Heavens and the Earth which now are shall be dissolved by Fire and abolished and new Heavens together with a new Earth be created of God in their room Yea was not this Doctrine long before taught by two sacred Writers of the Old Testament to the latter of which the words of Peter whilest he speaketh of Gods Promise touching a new Heaven and a new Earth seem to relate For the divine Authour of the 102. Psalm directing his speech to God saith in the 25. and 26. Verses thereof Of old thou hast laid the Foundation of the Earth and the Heavens are the Work of thine Hands They shall perish but thou shalt endure yea all of them shall wax old like a Garment as a Vesture shalt thou change them and they shall be changed Which passage doth not onely tell us in plain words that the Heavens and the Earth shall perish but with all intimate that new Heavens and a new Earth shall be created whilest it saith that God shall change the Heavens and the Earth when grown old as a Vesture For in the change of an old Vesture a new one is taken in its stead Likewise the Prophet Isaiah Chap. 65.17 bringeth in God saying Behold I create new Heavens and a new Earth and the former shall not be remembred nor come into minde and Chap. 66.22 God to comfort the Jews speaketh thus As the new Heavens and the new Earth which I will make shall remain before me so shall your seed and your name remain Are not three such Witnesses as these sufficient to confirm the Exposition that we have given on the foresaid passage of the Revelation yea doth not the very close of the Verse evince it when it is said The Sea is no more For seeing in the World to come there is no place for Commerce and Traffique to what purpose should there be any Sea which serveth for a more easie and compendious passage from one Countrey to another that so Men may be supplyed with such Commodities as they want But if any one here object that he cannot imagine any more need of a new Heaven and a new Earth than of a new Sea I answer that it doth not therefore follow that they are all alike in that it is expresly denyed that there shall be any more Sea but on the contrrary it is plainly affirmed that there shall be a new Heaven and a new Earth Neither hath God left us wholly ignorant concerning the use of the new Earth and consequently of the new Heaven which will in likelihood be subservient thereunto as the old Heaven is to the old Earth as appeareth from the words of the Apostle Paul Rom. 8.19 20 21 22. where he saith The earnest expectation of the Creature waiteth for the Manifestation of the Sons of God For the Creature was made subject to vanity not willingly but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope Because the Creature it self also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the Children of God For we know that the whole Creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now Now seeing the Creatures that here expect so earnestly and groan to be delivered from vanity are twice plainly distinguished from the Saints and Children of God is it not thereby manifest that the other living Creatures which God created shall after the Saints are once clothed with immortality be though not in their former Individuals yet in others of the same kinde made immortal as well as they and consequently live upon the new Earth or can any other sense be put upon the words of Paul without running into Absurdities Vers 2. And I John saw the holy City new Jerusalem coming down from God out of Heaven prepared as a Bride adorned for her Husband In the same manner that John had before seen the new Heaven and the new Earth doth he here see the new Jerusalem onely this Jerusalem is already in being and therefore called New because it is so to the Saints when admitted thereinto in the life to come Thus Paul before Ananias was in very deed come to him had already seen him in a vision entring in and laying his hand upon him that he might receive his sight Acts 9.11 12. But forasmuch as the knowledge or the New Jerusalem is of so great importance without which neither can the happiness of the saints be rightly apprehended nor their faith as wanting a solid foundation be firm and stable we will evince out of the Scripture that by the New Jerusalem is not meant the Church but as it is here expresly termed a City which God hath reserved in heaven for the Saints To omit therefore the observation that may to this effect be rightly deduced from the very name of Jerusalem which being in the Hebrew of the dual number sign fieth that there are two Cities known by that appellation the Testimonies taken out of the divine Author to the Hebrews will abundantly confirm our assertion For he saith Chap. 11.9 10. By faith Abraham sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange countrey dwelling in Tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob heirs with him of the same promise For he looked for a City which hath foundations whose builder and maker is God Certainly a City that is opposed to Tabernacles as having foundations whereof they are destitute and whose builder and maker is God himself is a City truly and properly so called Again in the 13.14 15. and 16. verses of the same Chapter he speaketh thus All these namely Abraham Isaac and Jacob died in faith not having received the promises but having seen them a far of and were perswaded of them and embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a countrey And truly if they had been mindful of that countrey from whence they came out they might have had opportunity to have returned but now they desire abetter countrey that is an heavenly wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God For he hath prepared for them a City You see by this that God hath provided for the Saints a City which is their heavenly Countrey and that the Patriarchs believed and longed for the same although they had received no promises of it but only seen them a far off and that they shewed their faith and longing by confessing themselves to be strangers and pilgrims on the earth How much then doth their practice condem many Christians who having received express promises of such a City and Kingdome are so far from longing after it as that they deny that there is any such place turning it into an allegory