come the Kingdom of our God which is explained by the next Words The Power of his Christ his effectual Reigning whereby he shews his Power in the Church more than ever We have not yet seen the Consequences of the Seventh Angel's Sounding when it was proclaim'd with a loud Voice from Heaven The Kingdoms of this World are become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall Reign for ever and ever Rev. 11. 15. which in v. 17. is call'd his taking to him his great Power and his Reigning Which gives us to understand that he doth not at first exert his great Power in the Evangelical Dispensation he doth not fully Reign but that he will afterwards and upon Earth This is taking to him his c. There is one Text more which I will add and I request the Reader to consider of it He i. e. Christ must Reign till he hath put all Enemies under his Feet 1 Cor. 15. 25. The Apostle had mention'd the Resurrection of the Saints at Christ's last coming v. 23. and thereupon adds in the next Verse then cometh or then is the end viz. of this World and Present State of things when he that is Christ shall have deliver'd up the Kingdom the Saints who are the chiefest part of his Kingdom to God even the Father when i. e. after he shall have put down all Rule and all Authority and Power which oppose him and his Kingdom For he must Reign i. e. in his Church till he hath put all Enemies under his Feet Now it is plain and undeniable that this time is not yet come therefore it shall be hereafter There must be a time here on Earth when Christ shall have put all his Enemies under his Feet when he shall Reign without opposition And this is the time I am speaking of viz. the Third Exertment of the Evangelical Dispensation But the most Signal Eminent and Renowned Place on which may be Founded and Built the Future Glorious State of the Christian Church on Earth is the 20th Chapter of the Revelation where is expresly foretold the Binding of Satan a Thousand Years and the Saints Living and Reigning with Christ a Thousand Years I know full well this Chapter hath been miserably perverted not only of late but at the first setting out of Christianity Some from this place asserted a Terrene Millennary Kingdom of Christ consisting chiefly in Corporal Pleasures and Carnal Delights as if they design'd to revive the Epicurean Happiness or to antedate the Mahometan Heaven Cerinthus is said to be the Author of this Opinion for being a Man addicted to Sensuality and Pleasure he founded an Happiness here on Earth of such a Nature viz. abounding with all Delights relating to Meats and Drinks Concupiscence and Effeminacy So saith an Antient Ecclesiastical Writer Dionysius of Alexandria 1. 2. de Promis And Eusebius saith the same Eccl. Hist. 1. 7. c. 19. But this savours too much of the Flesh besides that it contradicts our Saviour who said His Kingdom was not of this World John 18. 36. and consequently the Reigning of the Saints is not Worldly and Sensual but Spiritual and Heavenly And besides these Men held that this Reign of Christ here on Earth was to be after the Resurrection yea and after the last Iudgment which renders this Opinion yet more Improbable if not Absurd as if the Saints who had enjoy'd the Pleasures of Heaven would count it a Happiness to be entertain'd with those that are Sensual and Carnal There were Others of Old who had a more Tolerable Notion of the Millennary Reign for they placed it not in Sensual and Earthly Pleasures and mere outward Peace and Prosperity though they held it was not without these There Opinion in short was this that after Six Thousand Years in this World were compleated the Saints should all rise their Bodies should ascend out of their Graves or where ever else they were and their Souls should come down from Heaven and Christ also should descend from thence and keep a Jubile with them and Reign with great joy a Thousand Years here upon Earth and that all Kingdoms should be made subject to him and that the Righteous should be Bless'd with an abundance of the Good Things of this World but without any Intemperance Excess or Immoderation whatsoever This they call'd the First Resurrection from which all the Ungodly are excluded After this Seventh Millennary of Years is compleated all Men shall rise from the Dead which is the Second Resurrection This was the Sentiment of most of the Ancient Fathers yea of all Christians who were accounted Orthodox as Iustin Martyr acquaints us He and Irenaeus and Ierom and others tell us that this Doctrine came first from Papias Bishop of Hierapolis who pretended he had it from St. Iohn whose Scholar he was and from the Disciples of the Apostles with whom he was acquainted So that the Pedegree of the Millennary Opinion is this It was first broach'd by Cerinthus then reâ—ined by Papias and others and afterwards transmitted to the Latin and Greek Fathers Or if we will be more exact in the Lineage and Descent of it we must begin it higher and say that the Apostles set it on foot first for they dreamt of an Earthly Kingdom of Christ in this World as I have shewed before Or rather we may trace it up to the Iews before Christ the Millennium was borrowed from an Antient Tradition and Perswasion among that People that the Messias should Reign a Thousand Years on Earth in all Pomp and Grandure The Babylon Talmud in Sanhedrim in the Chapter Helek doth shew this to be the Opinion of the Hebrew Doctors about the Days of the Messias And Aruch mentions it as a thing of undeniable certainty and so speaks R. Eliâ—zer in Midrash Tillim The Days of the Messias are a Thousand Years So our Learned Lightfoot The Opinion of his Personal Reign in the affluence of all Sensual and Worldly Delights was an old Iewish Error saith St. Ierom once and again And several other Writers testifie that it was a received Notion among them That the Messias after Six Thousand Years of the World were expired should Reign in Person all the time of the next Millennary with his Elect on Earth in perfect Peace and Prosperity and hence the Christians converted from Iudaism borrow'd and retain'd this Notion And truly it was kept up a long time in the Church it was almost universally believ'd no less than the first Three Hundred Years after the Apostles At last the credit of Papias who was thought to be the first Broacher of this Doctrine was call'd in question Though he was a Man oâ— great Simplicity Honesty and Integrity yet he was one of small Judgment and mean Learning saith Eusebius And he adds in another place that this Papias spoke Strange and Fabulous things and did not understand the Apostles Arguings St. Ierom and St. Augustin
were the first Fathers that writ against this Millennary Reign and soon after this it was generally Condemn'd by the Fathers of the Roman and Greek Church and hath ever since been look'd upon as an Heterodox Opinion excepting that some Anabaptists have made bold to revive it If we consider things aright we shall see sufficient reason to condemn and explode this Doctrine for there are these two gross Errors in it 1. That Christ shall Personally Reign upon Earth 2. That the Saints shall come from Heaven and Reign with him First The Chiliasts are palpably mistaken in this that Christ shall come from Heaven and Personally Reign here and that before the General Resurrection and Day of Judgment as they also hold This is contrary to express Words of Scripture which saith concerning our Saviour That the Heaven must receive him until the times of the restitution of all things i. e. as I conceive till the finishing of those times of the restitution of all things which will be a little before the Day of Judgment We are assured that Christ from his Ascension to that time remains in Heaven From thence he shall come to Iudge the Quick and the Dead therefore he shall not come down on Earth before that time and consequently he will not Reign here in Person as those Milleâ—naries imagine It is incongruous and against reason that he should be said to come to Iudge the Men upon Earth and yet at the same time be on the Earth Nor is there any thing in this 20th Chapter of the Revelation which favours this Fancy of theirs Had a Personal Reign been intended here it would have been said that Christ shall Reign with the Saints a Thousand Years which Words might fairly intimate that Christ would descend from Heaven and come among them and Reign in the midst of them so long a time but instead of this it is only said that they shall Reign with him a Thousand Years Or suppose it were expresly said Christ shall Reign yet this doth not prove that he shall Reign in Person How often doth the coming of the Lord in Luke 12. and in other Places signifie Christ's Coming in way of Judgment and Vengeance not his Personal Coming Why then may not Christs Reigning be meant not of a Personal Reigning but of his Reigning in the Hearts and Lives of the Faithful He is with them Spiritually and they Reign with him after the same manner and no other Therefore the Inquisitive Mr. Mede who founds the Future Reign of Christ upon Earth on his Chapter in the Revelations saw no Ground here for his Visible and Corporal Reigning Whence he hath left us these Words The presence of Christ in his Kingdom shall no doubt be Glorious and Evident yet I dare not so much as imagine that it shall be a Visible Converse on Earth for the Kingdom of Christ ever hath been and shall be a Kingdom whose Throne and Kingly Residence is in Heaven I quote this Passage the rather because some have entertain'd another Opinion of this Learned Author Besides in this Chapter v. 8 12. we read that Gog and Magog intervene between the Thousand Years and the Day of Judgment Therefore the Personal Reign of Christ is not before that Day for the Heavens retain him till then Nor is it after that Day for Gog and Magog who come after the Millennium go before the Day of Judgment I conceive this is an Unanswerable Proof And as for the several Quotations of Scripture which they bring to assert the Personal Reign the Answer in brief is this that theywrest those Places which speak of Christ's First Coming and others which speak of his Last Coming to Iudgment and apply them to a Second Personal Coming of Christ before the General Resurrection and Day of Judgment From this perverting of those Texts they set up the Corporal Reign of our Saviour which they so much talk of Secondly That is another unpardonable Error that the Bodies of the deceased Saints shall be raised from below and their Souls be dismissed from above and that both shall be united here that they may Reign with Christ on Earth First this is against the constant Discovery which is made to us in Scripture that Heaven and signally the Highest Heavens are the Place of Glory and the Seat of Blessedness prepared for the departed Souls of the Faithful Those Regions above not this Earth below are the Receptacle of Glorified Spirits Yet these Men are pleased to alter the Constitution and Appointment of the All-wise God and to make the Earth the Habitation of Blessed Spirits and the Seat of Happiness This is to abrogate the Laws of God's Kingdom this is to anticipate the State of Glory this is to confound Heaven and Earth Again How absurd and ridiculous is it to assert that the departed Saints shall come to be subject after all the Joys and Ravishments of another World to Calamities and bodily Evils For Gog and Magog shall besiege them as they must needs grant from v. 9. of this Chapter Shall the Saints not only quit their heavenly Mansions and come down here on Earth but also turn Soldiers and put themselves into a Military Posture For you read there of the Camp of the Saints Shall immortal Saints fight after they have been in Heaven Yet the Chiliasts must hold this because they assert that the Reigning of the Saints a Thousand Years is meant here of their leaving of Heaven and coming down to Reign on Earth They pretend to prove this from several Passages in this Chapter as where it speaks of the Souls of them that were Beheaded and of their Living and Reigning and of the first and second Resurrection which argues say they that this Reigning is to be understood of the Saints that were before in Heaven and that there is one Resurrection a Thousand Years before the Last Judgment and another when that comes In the former the Saints rise to Reign and in the latter all other Men shall be raised But St. Iohn's Words in this Chapter signify nothing of this Nature as will appear from setting before the Reader the entire Text with a brief Comment upon it I saw the Souls of them that were Beheaded for the Witness of Iesus and for the Word of God and which had not worshipped the Beast nor his Image nor had received his Mark upon their Foreheads or in their Hands and they lived and Reigned with Christ a Thousand Years But the rest of the Dead lived not again until the Thousand Years were finished This is the first Resurrection Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first Resurrection on such the second Death hath no Power ver 4 5 6. It is generally agree'd that by the Souls of them that were Beheaded are meant the Persons that were Beheaded for that is the known way of speaking among the Hebrews whom St. Iohn who was one himself here imitates And by them
then annexes his Expectations of a new and better state of Things But it doth not follow thence that this shall be after that For the plain Mind of the Apostle seems to me to be this Notwithstanding that dreadful Dissolution of all Things which I have been speaking of you and I and all good Christians must comfort and chear our selves with that Expectance and Belief of another State of Things which shall certainly intervene between this and that We look for happy Days before that Time comes These shall present us as 't were with a New-made World these shall be New Heavens and New Earth to us and therefore let us not be discouraged and disheartened with the Thoughts of that Terrible Conflagration of the material Earth and Heavens We according to God's Promise recorded in the Prophetick Writings Isa. 65. 17. 66. 22. Hag. 2. 6. look for this new Scene of Affairs in the World viz. a Glorious Church on Earth And though things look otherwise at present though there is no Appearance of any such State now nevertheless I tell you there shall be before the Day of Judgment a Time when this shall be fulfilled And though we of this Age shall not survive to see this blessed Time yet we rejoice in the firm and certain Belief of it and we exhort all holy Men in succeeding Ages to expect and long for this Day The Sum of these Words then is this Although this World shall be dissolved by Flames yet before this amazing Change happens we are to look for New Heavens and a New Earth i. e. such a State wherein universal Holiness shall be Lasting and Permanent which is one of the Qualifications as you have heard of this happy State I have been treating of for that is the meaning of those Words wherein dwelleth Righteousness This I conceive is the Sense of this Text of St. Peter which is vouched by the Analogy of it with other Texts and the natural and facile Scope of the Words and the Criticism of the Adverb â— which in many other Places of the New Testament is Synonymous with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sed attamen quinetiam This I say I take to be the genuine Sense of this Place and accordingly the forementioned Objection vanishes Or if you interpret it as some Learned Expositors do of the Eternal Glory and Happiness of blessed Souls above which all holy Men look for the Objection hath no force Further it is intimated in this very Chapter that the universal Combustion of the World shall be after the Millennium and after the Iudgment whereas this Author places it before them both for the setting of the Heavens and the Earth on Fire is said to be in order to the Perdition of ungodly Men ver 7. for presently after the Last Judgment is dispatched and the Righteous are translated into the Regions of eternal Happiness in the Heaven of Heavens presently after this I say the Earth and the Elemental Heavens shall be fired and those vile Criminals who were adjudged to everlasting Torments shall be plagued and cruciated in these Flames This at least is their INCHOATIVE PERDITION I conceive To shut up all and make a Final Period and now it is high Time to do it when the World it self doth so As the Earth of old was overwhelm'd with Water so now it feels an Inundation if I may so say of Fire a Burning Deluge an Universal Flood and Torrent of Devouring Flames Now Nature itself expires and is laid asleep in her own Vrn and Bed of Ashes And as this General Bonfire is as it were to Light the Saints to Heaven so the loud Blazes of it its crackling Flames its horrid Flashes and Eruptions are to give the Wicked some Foretasts of the contrary State and Place For they shall pass but from one Fire to another even to those EVERLASTING BVRNINGS which were prepared of old for them This Earth which before was their only Heaven shall now justly become their Hell and all the infernal Vaults which were the former Receptacles of Evil Spirits shall be set wide open and make one large and capacious Prison and Place of Execution for these Condemned and Tormented Wretches Therefore this Conflagration must be after the Final Sentence is passed upon them and not before it If the World were all on Fire before the Iudgment as some assert it would be a Hinderance to the Trial and good Men as well as bad would feel the Effects of it Therefore when the Doom is over and the former are taken up to Heaven and safely lodged there the dreadful Fire-works shall play upon the latter and the whole World at last shall become one Funeral Pile Now Hell is enlarged and the Devils and other damned Creatures change their subterraneous Vaults of Fire for a more capacious Furnace of Flame and Smoke the whole lower World being converted into one Eternal Hell This is the Last Catastrophe the Final Close of the Incorrigible World the Everlasting Period of all the Churches Enemies of all her Calamities of what Nature soever This is the true Order as I conceive of the Transactions of this concluding Scene of the World Thus I have finished my Task I have set before you and explain'd the various Administrations Discoveries and Manifestations of the Divine Majesty and his Will to Mankind in the World with the true Series and Order of Times belonging to them with their several Dates Ages and Periods I have presented you with a Scheme of the whole Progress of Religion since the beginning of the World Yea I have made bold to enquire into the Future State of it and of the Church of Christ In which and in all that went before I have endeavoured to unfold and discover the Manifold Wisdom of God as the Apostle rightly styles it the Curious and Admirable Variety which is to be discerned in the Divine Providence the Consideration of which induced me to prefix that Title to this Treatise FINIS * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈…〉 * Mr. Blunt Oracles of Reason p. 218. †Is. Voss. de aetat mund cap. 12. 1 Whiston 's New Theory p. 20 21 24. 2 De Opiâ—icio Mundi 3 Plato in Timaeo 1 Scias non esse hominem tumultuarium incogitatum opus â—e Beneâ—ic l. 6. 1 Inter maxima rerum suarum Natura nihil habet quâ— magis glorietur Sen. de Benef. 2 Magnum Miraculum est homo animal adorandum atque honorandum Apuleius 3 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Chrysost. Hom. 2. Tom. 5. 4 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 De mundi opificio de vitâ— Mosis 2 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 De special leg 3 Contra gentes l. 1. 4 Strom. l. 6. 1 Maledictus qui Deitatem ad hominis lineamenta refert Augustin in Genes 1 Tertul. de resurrect carnis c. 6. 1 Lib. de statu primi hominis 2 Lib. de ver Deit fil c. 7.
Man He hath larger Capacities than other Creatures and moveth in a wider Circumference he holdeth converse with both Worlds This and That to come Thus Man is crowned with Glory and Honour he is the most remarkable Workmanship of God Among the greatest things which Nature boasteth of she hath nothing that she can glory in more than in Man Man is a great Miracle a Creature worthy of thâ— highest respect and honour He is that great and admirable Animal which is more precious to God than all other created Beings whatsoever and for which the Heaven the Earth and the Sea and the rest of the World was made Accordingly he was in a more signal eminent manner framed by God and fâ—rmed by the Advice of the Sacred Trinity yea which is yet more wonderful according to the similitude and resemblance of it â—or so we read in Gen. 1. 26. Let us make Man in our Image after our Likeness Some quaintly distinguish between Image and Likeness following herein St. Augustin in his Retractations and after him Peter Lombard and other Schoolmen But waving those Subtilties I will endeavour to shew you wherein the Image or Similitude for I take them to be both one of God in Man consisteth Negatively 1. Origen's Opinion concerning this Image is not to be imbraced for he saith here is meant the Image and Likeness of the Son of God who is the express Image of the Person of the Father Heb. 1. 3. But besides that the words in the Hebrew and this for it is but one in the Greek do not exactly answer it is to be observed first that it is said in the Plural Let us make Man after our Image and consequently it is not restrained to the Image of the Second Person of the Trinity only therefore there is no reason that we should restrain it Again when afterwards 't is spoken in the Singular yet 't is spoken generally of the Godhead as in the Verse following God created Man in his own Image in the Image of God created he him Still here is no restriction and therefore we cannot say it is to be understood only of the Image of the Second Person in the glorious Trinity 2. Philo the Iew and some of the Fathers that were Plaâ—onically dispos'd understood this Image of the Idea according to which God made all things and particularly Man For there were say they Eternal Images and Exemplars of things in God's mind there were Universal Natures of all things certain Archetypes and Patterns by looking on which God framed all things as an Artificer being to build a House first delineateth in his own mind the whole Frame and Scheme of the future Building and by this he afterwards proceeds in erecting the Fabrick God's Idea saith Philo is the Image by which Adam was made and so Man was the fairest Pourtraiture of the fairest Image a Copy of the Divine Original And Iustin the Martyr who had been educated in the Platonick Philosophy followeth this Notion asserting that the Image of God according to which Adam was made was the Exemplar of Man in the mind of God And Clemens Alexandrinus is of the same judgment and interprets the Text in the same manner Now in answer to this I will only say that the Notion of Ideas as it is generally meant by the Platonists is fond and precarious and some of their own Tribe have no great kindness for it But if the Notion of the Divine Idea be soberly understood viz. that from Eternity there were in the Mind of God Images of all things which were afterward to be made and particularly of Man I see nothing amiss in this Assertion yea 〈◊〉 take it to be a very sound and orthodox Notion and such as is of great use in Divinity it being the Foundation of all Truth as I shall shew in another place and it being the Basis on which the Doctrin of the Divine Decrees is establish'd But this then is nothing to our preâ—ent purpose for God's making of Man after his Image is meant in the forecited place of some singular and peculiar thing Neither Beasts nor Fishes nor Birds nor Plants nor any visible Being in the whole Creation mention'd in that Chapter are said to be made after God's Image or Likeness We read that Man alone was created in the Divine Image as much as to say no other Creature whatsoever on Earth resembleth God but Man Therefore it is evident that these words cannot be understood of the Idea according to which God made all things for according to that he made Beasts as well as Men and then we might have expected to read in Genesis not only Let us make Man but let us make Beasts and all other Creatures in our Image after our Likeness 3. The Anthropomorphites held this Image was in the Body of Man because they conceived that God had a Body and so they dreamt that the Shape and Figure of human Bodies answer to the same Lineaments and Proportions in God But I need not stand to conâ—ute so blasphemous and cursed an Opinion I know some would mitigate it by saying that man was made after the Image of Christ who was to come in the Flesh and was to have bodily Parts But this hath no relation to the Anthropomorphites Doctrin and consequently can be no mitigation of it Besides it is contrary to the words themselves which speak not of the Image of Christ either as God or Man but of the Godhead in general Positively then the Image of God wherein Man was created was something in his Soul chiefly something in his outward Man and it also consisted in his Dâ—minion over the Creatures 1. In the Soul of Man is God's Image or Likeness placed For this part of us is of an immaterial and spiritual Nature and such is God he is a Spirit John 4. 24. Again the Soul of Man is immortal and therein is God's Image and Representation This indeed follows upon the former Quality it being immaterial and incorporeal it must needs be in its own Nature incorruptible Herein we signally resemble the Deity and therefore it is rightly asserted by St. Augustin that because of the immortality of the Soul tho not only for that Man is said to be made according to God's Image Moreover the Soul of Man is of a rational and intelligent Nature and therein also is like unto God There was no visible or sublunary Creature before Adam that was of this kind therefore saith God Let us make Man after our Image let us frame a terrestrial Creature with a reasonable Soul with an immortal and immaterial Nature which are Resemblances of the Divinity it self Let us make him capable of conceiving things aright of arguing and discoursing and of making inferences and deductions from things which no Brutes are able to do Let us furnish him with all Divine Knowledg that he may be able to apprehend the things of
Garden and a fruitful Orchard washed with convenient Rivers as you shall hear afterwards but a spacious Park or Forest where all the Beasts met together as you have heard already Concerning this place there have been different Opinions yet it hath been questioned whether it was a Place or no and when it had its beginning Paradise was made before the Heavens and the Earth say some of the Iewish Doctors And St. Ierom who was a great admirer of Theodotion and Symmachus Heretical Iews and averse to the Translation of the Septuagint follows them in that Opinion Some held that Paradise was not Local but that it was a State rather than a Place and that this State was not on Earth This was the high-flown Notion of Philo and Origen of Basil Ambrose and Damascen and sometimes of Ierom who understood Paradise in a spiritual and mystical Sense and conceived it to be meant only of some blessed and happy Condition Some of them seem to refer it to Heaven others to the Virtues of the Soul or the Soul 's chief and principal Faculties Tho St. Ierom on Daniel laughs at those who think Rivers and Trees and Paradise it self to be Allegories which is a sign he chang'd his Opinion And this is not to be marvelled at for he is not wont to approve of that mystical Strain and to allegorize after that high rate which is the way to make void all Scripture-History and by that to null the whole Bible Therefore we find that the Manichees were condemned of old for allegorizing of Paradise And we read that it was part of the Hâ—resy of the Seleuciani and Hermiani that they denied a visible Paradise This Opinion hath been revived by some Moderns and very lately by one who makes the History of Moses concerning the Terrestrial Paradise as well as he doth other parts of it a mere Fable at least a Parable That is the result of his disquisition about it St. Augustin goes in a middle way and holds Paradise to be partly Local and Corporeal and partly Spiritual Ephraim Syrus grants Paradise to be Local but placeth it an other World beyond this It is a place above the whole Creation saith an Other It is seated in the Third Heaven by St. Ambrose Some make it to be the Coelum Empyreum Others say the Moon was the Paradise wherin our first Parents were created and from whence they were thrust down to this Earth Bede and Rabanus Maurus will have it be near the Orb of the Moon One of the â—ewish Doctors comes pretty near this and tells us that Paradise is about the second Region of the Air and hangs between Heaven and Earth It was the wholâ— Earth say Becaâ—us and Noviamagus Some of old held that it was the whole World as relates And Luther of late held the same asserting that the whole World was call'd Paradise because it was at first so delightful and pleasant Others and with good reason assert it to be a parâ— only of this lower World or the Earth but they agree not about the particular Place For some tell us it is seated in an unknown Country remote from the company of the Wicked where Enâ—ch and Elias inhabit So Bellarmine thinks Dâ— Grat. primi hominis cap. 14. And some of that Church follow him and they derive it from some of the Antients who had it from Papias Others assign a known part of the Earth but among these there is also a difference some groundlesly placing it in Africa and in the warmest part there Thus Maimonides Aben Ezra and other Iewish Doctors hold it was seated under the Equinoctial And Durandus and Bonaventure among the Schoolmen are of that Judgment Others fancy it to be in America and in the warmest Country there for these Men think the Torrid Zone to be the most comfortable part of the World But those most certainly are in the right who place it in Asia There is one Man who is singular in imagining Paradise to have been in that part of Asia which is called Palestine near Iordan in the Land of Sodom which he gathers from Gen. 13. 10. But any one may see that no such thing can be inferr'd from those words which only intimate that the Plain of Iordan where Sodom stood was a very pleasant and delightful place and might in some respect be compared with Paradise But after all the rambling Conjectures and wild Fancies concerning Paradise and the particular place where it was this is to be imbraced as the most probable and accountable Truth that it was situated on those most pleasant and fruitful Fields of Asia which of old were called Babylon and afterwards Mesopotamia In the lower part of this Mesopotamia taking in also a part of Shinar and Armenia was this Garden of Eden planted as a learned Knight hath excellently shew'd In the Map you may observe it stands 35 degrees from the Equinoctial and 55 from the Northern Pole Because Paradise being of a very great extent reach'd towards Armenia Galtruchius placeth it in the Mountains of Armenia the Greater especially the Mountain Paiarde saith he was Paradise But herein this learned Man was mistaken for it is evident that Paradise was in Babylon because Eden was there as that worthy Knight hath proved from If a. 37. 12. and Ezek. 27. 23. by shewing where those other Countries are found which are joined with Eden By many Arguments he makes it clear that Eden was part of Babylonia and Babylonia a part of Mesopotamia Or rather I am inclined to determin thus which doth not alter the main thing but only gives you a more distinct account of it Eden and Babylon and Mesopotamia were three Names of the same Country Eden was the first and antientest Babylon was the Name it was call'd by afterwards and Mesopotamia is a Greek Name given to it and signifieth that it stood in the midst of Rivers especially it referreth to its being situated between those two Rivers Tigris and Euphrates tho I know there is a stricter acceptation and that not uncommon of Mesopotamia And so you find this place described in Genesis as famous for its Rivers Gen. 2. 10. A River went out of Eden to water the Garden and from thence it was parted and became into four heads i. e. the principal River of Paradise had four great Channels The name of the first is Pison that is it which compasseth the whole Land of Havilah vers 11. This Pison is call'd by some Phasis or Phasitigris it runs they say by that Havilah whither the Amalekites fled 1 Sam. 15. 7. and divides it from the Country of Susiana and at last falls into the Persian Gulf. So Galtruchius is positive that Armenia the Greater and the Coutries thereabout are meant by Havilah and that the River Phasis in that Armenia is the same with Moses ' s Pison Strâ—bo places Havilah in the Borders of Arabia and
would gather that he lived not in the time of any of the Holy Patriarchs or of Moses for then it could not be said that he had not his fellow in the earth But this Inference is of no weight because it is most probable that this is spoken of that particular Countrey wherein Iob lived as the Earth is sometimes taken in that restrained sense in Scripture So that the meaning is there was no man like him in the Land of Uz for the Hebrew word Eretz is the same in both places He was the most eminent Saint in that Region of the World That which we observe at present is that he was so tho he was no Israelite tho he was not of the Holy Seed Notwithstanding this he was a Worshipper of the True God and a Righteous Person In Chap. 31. you may hear him making a solemn Protestation of his Integrity as to many grand things of Religion and particularly his abhorrence of Idolatry ver 26. Indeed the greatest part of the Book is a Testimony of his singular Faith Patience and Piety Whereupon St. Augustine saith thus of him I doubt not but it was particularly order'd by Divine Providence that we should learn from this one Person that even amongst other Nations there might be those who lived according to God and pleased him and belonged to the Spiritual Ierusalem Iob's Friends likewise may be reckoned among the Gentiles for Eliphaz the Temanite was of Esau's lineage Gen. 36. 11. and Bildad the Shuite was of the posterity of Shuah the Son of Abraham by Keturah Gen. 25. 2. and Elihu the Buzite was of Buz the Son of Nahor Gen. 22. 21. As Iob sacrificed for his Sons Chap. 1. ver 5. so Eliphaz did for himself and his two friends Iob 42. 8 to appease God's Wrath and all of them shew'd themselves Religious and Pious persons For tho they were faulty as to their misrepresentation of Iob sometimes yet they were in their designs upright and intended only to justifie God and to assert his Providence and to check Sin and Wickedness where they thought they espi'd them And it is not unreasonable to think that Iob and his Companions who were Persons of such eminent Goodness and moreover were Rich and Wealthy Men and of great Authority in the Land of Vz for as Iob himself was a Great Man a kind of King in that Countrey so his three friends were Men of Power and Eminency and are call'd Kings by the Author of the Book of Tobit used their Wealth and Authority for the promoting of Religion among the Inhabitants of that place and so it is probable that there were several that feared God there and consequently that the Church was not confined to one Nation but that God revealed himself in a saving manner to other Countreys Of this we have further proof for as there were these Religious People in Canaan and Arabia or Idumea so in other places some of those that were Vncircumcised were acquainted with the True Religion Abraham's Brother Nahor and his Family tho they dwelt in Mesâ—potamia an Heathenish Countrey and which Abraham left for that reason were not strangers to the True God and his Worship tho they mix'd it with some Superstition thus in Gen. 24. 31 50. the Language of Labaâ— and Bethuel shews that they had a good Sense of Religion and knew and worship'd Iehâ—vah If we pass to Egypt we shall find there that the Midwives that were Natives of that Countrey for such they are deservedly thought to be by the Learned Iewish Historian and Antiquary and tho they are call'd Hebrew Midwives ver 15. yet the Reason of that Denomination was because as it is explain'd in the next verse they did the Office of Midwives to the Hebrew Women and from several circumstances in that part of the Sacred History we may gather that they were of the Egyptian Nation and not Hebrews feared God Exod. 1. 17. and gave a remarkable Testimony of it and accordingly were rewarded by God for it ver 21. Hagar who was originally an Egyptian was honoured with Divine Apparitions and favoured by God in a particular manner Gen. 16. 10 11 13. And afterwards when the Iewish Nation and Church were set up by God other persons and people were not excluded from his Grace and Favour Ruth was a Moâ—bite of the Race of the Daughters of Lot but was converted to the Belief of the True God and her Virtue and Piety were so signal that the Holy Spirit hath recorded them in an intire Book Our Saviour takes notice that the Prophet Elias was sent to the Widow of Sarepâ—a who was a Gentile a Sidonian Luke 4. 26 but shew'd her self a very Good Religious Woman and believed in the God of the Patriarchs Naaman the Syrian was a Proselyte he sacrificed to the God of Israel alone and carried Earth with him out of Iudea to build an Altar a Kings 5. 15 17. and without doubt he propagated the true Religion and Knowledg of God in his own Countrey Ebedmelech an Ethiopian Chamberlain or some such like Great Officer to King Zedekiah was a Patron of the Prophet Ieremiah and a Man of singular Zeal and Piety and was therefore eminently favour'd of God Ier. 38. 7. 39. 16. It is not improbable that Hiram King of Tyre was a Prosolyte 1 Kings 5. 7. And such we have reason to think the Queen of Sheba was 1 Kings 10. 9. Nebuchadnezzar was of this sort and became a Convert as may be partly collected from Dan. 3. 28 29. Dan. 4. 34 c. And it may be Cyrus who is stiled by God his Anointed Isai. 45. 1. may be reckon'd in this number But tho there may be some doubt as to these latter yet it is certain that the rest and several others that might be named in Gentile Countreys were Proselytes to the true Faith In prosecution of which Subject it may be further observ'd that God sent Hebrew Prophets to the People of other Nations Isaiah Ieremiah and Ezekiest prophesied almost to all Nations Obadiah to the Idumeans and Ionas was dispatch'd to the people of Ninive the Metropolis of Assyria who believ'd and repented at Ionas's Preaching This shews that God was kind to Them as well as to the Iews and that they had the True God and his Will in some measure discover'd to them before otherwise they would not have been so capable of understanding the Divine Message when it came to them and of behaving themselves sutably to it For it is not to be question'd that the Ninivites Repentance was true it proceeding as some of the Antients of the Christian Church have observ'd from a true Faith Ion. 2. 5. Mat. 12. 41. Their Fasting and Humiliation were so eminent that the Abyssine Church keeps yearly a Fast of threeday in remembrance of it And I find it is the Comfortable Note of Rabbi Kimchi questioning why the Book of Ionas was rank'd among the Holy Scriptures it making no mention
that they fancy a Supersedeas given to a strict and severe life by the merciful Appearing of the Messias they make bold to turn the Grace of God into wantonness and abound in all manner of Vice because the Divine Goodness and Favour have abounded towards Mankind It pleases them hugely that they are enfranchis'd from the Rigour and Severity of the Legal Dispensation and that now under the Gospel a Court of Chancery is erected and nothing but Equity and Mercy Clemency and Indulgence take place The bare Name of Christians is they think a sufficient Amulet against the Vengeance of Heaven and the Cross of Christ is a powerful Charm against Hell and the Devil O when shall these vile mistakes these wilful mis-interpretations of the Design of Christ's Coming and Appearing in the World be rooted out of Mens minds When will they understand themselves aright and be convinced of the heinousness of sinning against the Gospelâ— Dispensation Why do they not ponder those words of the Apostle which I before mention'd If every Transgression and Disobedience under the Law receiv'd a just recompence of Reward how shall we under the Gospel escape if we neglect so great salvation Heb. 2. 2 3. If God did so severely animadvert on those that disregarded the Mosaical Injunctions what severity will he shew towards them that live in the constant violation of the Evangelical Law They must needs be inexcusable that wilfully offend against this because it is a more excellent Institution than the other because by this we have a greater knowledg of God's Will and consequently greater Conviction of Sin because we have greater evidence of God's willingness to forgive our Transgressions through the Merits of the Messias upon our hearty Repentance because the equity and reasonableness of Evangelical Faith and Obedience are greater than those of any Duties under the Law Upon these and several other accounts the neglecting this so great Salvation is the greatest Sin except the unpardonable one that can be committed against God and consequently the heaviest Penalty attends it Heretofore it was said Tribulation and Anguish upon every Soul of Man that doth Evil of the Iew first Rom. 2. 9. but we may now say of the Christian first for he of all Persons under Heaven is the most grievous Criminal because there is this high Aggravation of his Guilt that he sins against the Evangelical Laws I wish the Christian World would attend to this and understand their true interest i. e. to be very exact and circumspect in their Lives for God expects we should live according to the Dispensation we are under according to the proportion of that Grace which is bestowed upon us We must remember that Christianity engages us not only to root out all false Notions but to banish all vicious and ungodly Practices and to live according to the admirable Rules of the Gospel Our Knowledg and Judgments should influence upon our Conversations and our Manners ought to be proportionable to our Light Otherwise it is certain our Knowledg will increase our Guilt and our abundant Light will thrust us into utter darkness 5. Be ascertain'd that this is Last Dispensation and expect no other God spake at divers times and in sundry manners he reveal'd himself by degrees and successively whereas now he hath discover'd to us all at once that is all that is substantial all that is essential to that Religion which he requires of us for otherwise as you shall hear afterwards this Oeconomy admits of considerable Digrees Since God hath spoken his Will by his Son since the Gospel is left on Record we must not look for any other Discovery of Divine Truth No more is to be revealed to the end of the World I mean as to any New Doctrine concerning the way of Salvation tho Revelations concerning some things which may be for the safety and welfare of the Church or of some choice Persons in it may perhaps be communicated by God on great occasions Besides I deny not that clearer Discoveries may be made of some Points afterwards the same Truths which we now have may be more illustrated but no New Doctrines no New Precepts are to be thought of We have so much of saving Truth discover'd as was intended should be sufficient for us till the Consummation of all things Now our Religion is fixed the Faith hath been once deliver'd to the Saints and it shall never be deliver'd again with Additions or Alterations God added to the Discoveries which he made to Adam and to Noah to the Patriarchs and to the Iews but now he hath done adding All our Duty is taught us All things that are to be believed or to be done by us are revealed by Christ and his Apostles You hear him thus declaring to his Disciples All things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you John 15. 15. The Apostle St. Peter peremptorily determines that there is not Salvation in any other for there is no other Name under Heaven given among Men whereby we must be saved Acts 4. 12. And the other great Apostle is as definitive when he thus pronounceth Tho an Angel from Heaven if you can suppose such a thing preach any other Gospel unto you than that we have preach'd unto you let him be accursed Gal. 1. 8. The same Apostle tells us that the Church is built upon the Foundation of the Apostles and Prophets Eph. 2. 20. and the Foundation of a Building is not a thing to be removed Therefore he calls the Gospel the ministration which remaineth or endureth 2 Cor. 3. 11. This is the Everlasting Gospel Rev. 14. 6. because it is never to be alter'd never to be amended by a more complete Body of Laws So that the Everlasting Gospel answers to Everlasting Righteousness or the Righteousness of Ages Dan. 9. 24. which shall admit of no Change Religion was perfected and consummated by Christ he hath in the Gospel given us all that he ever intended to give This is the perfectest Rule this is the last System of Religion To this purpose the Apostle's words are remarkable in Eph. 1. 10. That in the Dispensâ—tâ—oâ— of the fulness of time i. e. in the Evangâ—lical 〈◊〉 he might gather together in one all things in Christ both which are in Heaven and on Earth even in him The Greek word which is here rendred to gather together in one is used sometimes in a militâ—ry Sense and signifies to gather dispersed Souldiers together into one Troop or Company This Sense of the word saith Grotius sutes best with this place He who is the Lord of Hosts rallied all dispersed Creatures in Heaven and Earth Angels and Men Jewâ— and Gentiles Bond and Free and united them in one even under Christ their Captain The whole Family in Heaven and Earth as the Apostle expreâ—â—eth it now meets together The whole World which is after the Hebrew manner expressed hâ—re by Heaven and Earth becomes one
Family or Houshold as it were all the Inhabitants of the World who were scatter'd and divided before are now brought under one Head and Governour one Supreme Catholick Ruler as St. Chrysostom expounds the place All Nations divided before by false ways are now united in Christ the Way and the Truth He brings all the Severals into One and makes up a full Church Militant and Triumphant whereas before there was a dispersion Thus Heaven and Earth are happily joined Again the Greek word sometimes signifies to restore or repair and accordingly is rendred by the Vulgar Latin and then the meaning of the Apostle is that all things in Heaven and Earth are restored and renewed by Christ and his Coming There is a happy Restauration of Man's Nature by the Incarnation of the Blessed Iesus the former State of Integrity is now renewed and Man is in a far better Condition than he was at first And as for Angels their State also is much amended they are now confirmed in their Integrity and Happiness Thus according to Theodoret's Interpretation of the place the things in Heaven and on Earth are Restored Renewed Reformed by the Evangelical Dispensation But there is a third and that the most probable Interpretation of the words which is this and the Margin in our English Translation takes notice of it that in the Dispensation of the fulness of Time or the Dispensation of the Gospel God was pleased to sum up all things in Christ. Which may refer to Arithmetical Computation or bringing all Numbers into One and so here is signified that all the former Dispensations being cast up and briefly collected are reduced to this of the Gospel This is the Sum total Christ is all and in all Col. 3. 11. Or it may refer as St. Ierom on the place thinks to the way of Orators and Pleaders who in the close of their Speeches and Declamations briefly repeat and recapitulate all the foregoing particulars and represent the whole Cause in short In like manner what had been spun out and prolonged in divers foregoing Dispensations is now under the Gospel briefly gather'd and summ'd up in Christ Jesus This is the time wherein God hath made an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he hath drawn into one all that went before He hath finished the account for so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may be rendred or the Work and cut it short in Righteousness bâ—cause a short Account or Work will the Lord make upon the Earth Rom. 9. 28. which as you will â—ee by consulting the Context and the place in Isaiah from whence it is taken is meant of the Gospel This is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that abbreviated word or short Account or because a word and a thing or work are frequently convertible among the Hebrews whence this is borrow'd short work which God hath made upon the Earth The Law was tedious with its multiplicity of Observances but Christ comes in a compendious way and requires none of those long Undertakings which Moses exacted This saith one of the Fathers is the short word that is here meant the brief words of Faith Believe in the Lord Iesus Christ and thou shalt be saved is the concise way of the Gospel This comprises the greatest things in short Christ the Incarnate Son of God is the Sum and Substance of all the Old Testament and of all the different Oeconomies from the beginning of the World The Evangelical Dispensation is the Recapitulation of all the preceding ones All is to be shut up with this nothing more is to be expected this being the Upshot and Conclusion of all the Administrations that are upon Earth I might argue likewise from the Gospel's being call'd the New Testament for the Greek Word signifies both a Covenant and a Testament Sometimes even when it is rendred a Covenant in the Margin it is translated a Testament But by the very import and scope of the Text we are forc'd to render it a Testament in some places as in Heb. 9. 16 17. The Chriâ—tian Institution and the New Covenant of Grace therein contained are the Will and â—estament of our Saviour wherein he hath set down what he would have done after his death â—or that is the true notion of a Testament Christ the Testator died and bequeathed us the Gospel this his Last Will must stand and that only therefore no other is to be looked for Moreover I might argue from this that the time of the Gospel is call'd the last Time I grant that sometimes the last Day and last Times and the end of the World are understood of the Day of Judgment and particularly the last Day is applied no less than four times in the 6 th Chapter of St. Iohn to the time of the last Resurrection or the Day of Judgment Some modern Writers understand the last Times and the end of the World of Christ's coming to destroy Ierusalem and it is certain they may in some places be understood so But for the most part they are taken otherwise and those Learned Mâ—n who defend the contrary shew too plainly their Prejudice and Partiality in asserting a Notion which they have once taken up But nothing is more evident than this that the last Times and the last Days which latter is different from the last Day in the singular Number are generally meant of the Gospel Dispâ—â—sation which is last of all This I prove from such places as these both in the Old and New Testament Isai. 2. 2. It shall come to pass in the last days that the Mount of the Lord's House shall be establiâ—â—ed on the top of the Mountains and so in Mic. 4. 1. where by the Consent of all Interpreters the last Days signiâ—ie the time of Christ's Coming the Appeaâ—ing of Christianity in the World and in other Prophets this is express'd after the same manner The Apostles use the same way of speaking and all the time from Christ's Coming to the Day of Judgment is call'd by them the last Time and the last Days as in 2. Tim. 3. 1. Heb. 1. 2. 1 Pet. 1. 5 20. 1. Pet. 3. 3. 1 Iohn 2. 18. and in other places the Time of the exhibitâ—ng of Chriâ—â— in the flesh or of the Reign of the Messias iâ— thus express'd It is also call'd the end of the World by the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews who saith Christ appear'd in the end of the World to put away sin Heb. 9. 26. This Consummation of Ages as according to the Greek it may be most fitly rendred this Close or Shutting up of the former Dispensations especially of the Iewish one is call'd by the same Holy Writer the World to come Heb. 2. 5. And the very Iewish Writers fre-frequently give this Denomination to the time of the Messias This according to Daniel is the time of sealing up the Vision and Propâ—ecy Dan. 9. 24. i. e. of ratifying and verifying all the Visions and Prophecies
comprised in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Time of Reformation mentioned by the same Apostle Heb. 9. 10. for he uses this Expression with reference not only to the Mosaick Law which was to be corrected and retrenched but in regard of the Gospel itself which was designed to amend and reform the World and to set it right Now this was not to be a Mock-Reformation but it was to be to Purpose and throughly to be carried on which I call the Heighth and Perfection of the Evangelical Dispensation This may have been signified when St. Paul would have the Corinthians and with them all Christians in future Ages wait for the Revelation of our Lord Iesus Christ 1 Cor. 17. And when St. Peter exhorted the Converted Iews whom he wrote to and with them all holy Men in succeeding Times to hope for the Grace that is to be brought unto them at the Revelation of Iesus Christ 1 Pet. 1. 13. He had been speaking in the foregoing Verses of the former Dispensations in the Church of God together with the Evangelical one which was then present and now he acquaints them that there is to be a higher Degree of this last Dispensation The Time shall come when the Effects and Fruits of the Gospel shall be more Conspicuous and Eminent when the Grace of God which bringeth Salvation shall produce greater Things in the World to the Astonishment of all the Enemies of the Church and to the Amazement even of Holy Christians themselves This is the Revelation of Iesus Christ. This last Condition of the Church is also expressed by New Heavens and a New Earth 2 Pet. 3. 13. For this is the Style of the Evangelical Prophet Isa. 65. 17. 66. 22. where by New Heavens and a New Earth he sets forth the State of the Gospel and therefore the Heighth of it deserves these Titles much more Whence it is probable that this is the New Heaven and the New Earth which St. Iohn saw Rev. 21. 1. For it is observable that he frequently makes use of the same Expressions and Phrases which are found in the Prophetical Writers And though it is true some Learned Expositors understand this New Heaven and New Earth in the Revelation of St. Iohn concerning the Church Triumphant the State of the Blessed in Heaven yet if any â—an narrowly scans this Chapter he will not be backward to acknowlâ—dge that this can't be the Meaning of it For the New Heaven and the Nâ—w Earth are the same with the Holy City the New Ierusalem in the same Chapter into which the Kings of the Earth bring their Glory and Hâ—nour ver 24. they come with all their Honourable Retinue to submit to the Scepter of Iesus to own themselves his Converts and they are ambitious to be Members of this Glorious Church upon Earth Next I will produce those Plaâ—es of Scripture where this Full and Final Settlement of the â—hristian Church in the last Times of the Gospel is call'd a Kingdom and set forth by Reigning It is not to be question'd that David's Temporal Kingdom was a Type and Earnest of this And those sure Mercies of David Isa. 55. 3. are the Faithful Promises made by God to David concerning the Messias and his Kingdom which are not yet fully accomplished and therefore are to be in this Reigâ— of Christ which I am speaking of Of this we often read in the Prophet Daniel as in Chap. 2. ver 44. In the Days of those Kings viz. the Monarchs mentioned in the Verses before among whom 〈◊〉 was one under whom Christ was born shall the God of Heaven set up a Kingdom which shall never be destroyed That is Christ's Kingdom then began to be erected which afterwards shall more eminently deserve that Name viz. when it shall arrive to its Perfection It is said here expresly that it shall break in pieces all these Kingdoms that is the Four Monarchies Of which we are further ascertain'd in the next Verse for Christ 〈◊〉 is that Stone which was cut out of the Mountains without Hands and was to break in pieces the Iron the Brass the Clay the Silver and the Gold This Famous Stone was to beat down all the Four Metals Christ was to destroy the Four Monarchies that is when these cease Christ's Kingdom immediately succeeds It is true it did succeed in part when the Pagan Roman Empire expired and so in some measure this Prophecy was fulfilled but there shall be a more illustrious and eminent Succession than this upon the compleat expiring of the Fourth General Monarchy Wherefore when we see this quite at an end we may conclude that Christ's Reign approacheth i. e. that the happy Condition of the Christian Church in this World draws near This Fourth Monarchy the Roman is now wearing off being translated to the Germans it is but a meer Name and Title The Wings of this Imperial Eagle have been plucked its Plumes are fallen its Feathers are gone its whole Body almost consumed Rome itself and Italy are not so much as the poor Remains at this Day of the Roman Empire This Image is now on its last Legs and those are infirm for the Holy Spirit tells us that the Feet are of Clay and Iron which Two Materials will not well cement and hold together long Therefore another State of Things is approaching viz. the Fifth Monarchy or Empire here prophesied of the Reign of Christ Jesus here on Earth or which is the same a more illustrious Manifestation of Christianity a more Visible and Glorious Displaying of its Vertue and Power than ever yet was in the World Of this Kingdom of the Son of Man you have another express Prediction in Dan. 7. 14. There was given him Dominion and Glory and a Kingdom that all People Nations and Languages should serve him His Dominion is an everlasting Dominion which shall not pass away and his Kingdom that which shall not be destroy'd Again ver 22. The Time came that the Saints possessed the Kingdom Agreeably to what was said ver 18. The Saints of the most High shall take the Kingdom and possess the Kingdom for ever This Kingdom is again delineated ver 27. There is a great Number of Texts in Isaiah Ieremiaâ— Ezekiel and the Lesser Prophets which speak of this Kingdom of the Messias but they are it is true generally interpreted by Expositors of Christ's Coming in the Flesh and the prevailing of the Gospel afterwards and even to this very Day but they are not thought by them to reach any further This I conceive is a Mistake from the narrow Thoughts which Men are apt to have of those great Things spoken of by the Prophets which we shall find upon diligent comparing of Things to have a very large and comprehensive Meaning Most of the Prophetick Expressions of this Nature have reference not only to the first Times of the Gospel and these at present but to those that are to come Ultimately and completely and in their highest
Signification they cannot but be interpreted of these last For if those Prophetick Passages before-mentioned and several others in the Writings of the Prophets be expounded only of the past or present Times of the Gospel it is certain that the Interpretation will not answer the Greatness and Heighth of the Words much less the Weight and Dignity of the matter spoken of If we attend to this we shall discern the full Design and Meaning of those notable Prophecies of the Old Testament we shall apprehend those many Glorious Things both with relation to Spiritual and Temporal Blessings which they foretel shall be in those last Days But I shall have occasion to alledge and particularly to consider those Prophetical Passages when I come to shew distinctly wherein this Dispensation consists and how it differs from all others The Places in the New Testament where this Kingdom of Christ is spoken of are not a Few But that we may not mistake it will be requisite to observe the different Significations of the Word Kingdom as it refers to the Times of the Gospel for we consider not the Word now as it is applied to the future State of Glory in the highest Heavens First By it is sometimes meant the Gospel-Dispensation in general the whole Time of Christ's Administration in his Church from first to last Thus the Angel's Words to the Virgin Mary are to be understood Luke 1. 33. He shall Reign over the House of Iacob i. e. his Church the true Israel of God for ever and of his Kingdom there shall be no end Christianity shall more or less flourish till the World hath its final Period and Consummation In this large and general Sense those Places are to be taken Mat. 4 2â— the Gospel of the Kingdom Luke 8. 1. the Glad-tidings of the Kingdom of God and many others especially the Parables where the Kingdom of Heaven is likened to several Things Secondly We are to understand by it that particular time of the Gospel-Dispensation which immediately succeeded our Saviours Resurrection as is evident from St. Iohn Baptist's Words The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand Mat. 3. 2. and from the same Words used by our Saviour himself Mat. 4. 17. and afterwards by his Apostles Mat. 10. 7. For none of these Texts could be meant of the time of the Gospel when Christ was on Earth or before his Passion but of some other succeeding time otherwise it could not be said the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand but rather the Kingdom of Heaven is present or is already come Whence I infer that Christ may be said not to be in his Kingdom as it respects the Gospel he may be said not to Reign all the time betwixt his Nativity and his Resurrection that being the time of his Humiliation But as soon as he rose from the Dead having conquer'd Death and Satan then he set up his Spiritual Kingdom This is clear from Psal. 132. 11. compared with Acts 2. 30. Then he sat upon his Throne as the Apostle here applies it Wherefore he said to his Apostles when he was risen All Power us given unto me in Heaven and in Earth Mat. 28. 18. And those Words concerning Christ Sit thou on my Right-â—and till I make thy Enemies thy Footstool Psal. 101. 1. which are mention'd four or five times in the New Testament are spoken of his Resurrection and Ascension whereby he declared himself to be Head and Lord of his Church Some thus interpret what he saith in Luke 7. 28. He that is least in the Kingdom of God is greater than he i. e. after I am Risen and Ascended the least Apostle or Preacher of the Gospel shall excell Iohn the Baptist for then a clearer Light will shine the Spirit will lead into all Truth Thus we may understand our Saviour when he saith I will not drink henceforth of the Fruit of this Vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Fathers Kingdom 〈…〉 which cannot be meant of the 〈◊〉 〈…〉 in Heaven because Christ will not 〈◊〉 drink Wine with them or at least in a proper 〈◊〉 it is not true But it seems more reasonable to take the Words as spoken concerning the time after Christ's Resurrection when he did Eat and Drink with his Disciples as is expresly Recorded This time is Signally and Eminently called the Kingdom of God or Christ because this Commenced immediately after he rose from the Dead and it is stiled the Kingdom of his Father because soon after his Resurrection follow'd his Ascension and Sitting at the Right-hand of the Father which were his solemn Inauguration and Enstallment This was the first Year of his Reign now he enter'd upon his Royal Offâ—ce having sent his Holy Spirit to rule in an extraordinary manner in the Church which he had not done before Thus you see the Date of Christ's Kingdom as it is more specially and particularly understood And moreover from all that hath been said under this Head the truth of what I before asserted is made apparent viz. That there are certain Steps and Degrees in the Evangelical Dispensation Thirdly The Vengeance of Heaven on the Iewish Nation in the Destruction and Devastation of their City is call'd Christ's Kingdom Mat. 16. 28. His Triumphing over those obstinate People whose Forefathers had been his Murderers was a considerable Instance of his Glorious Reign Thence it is that his destroying those his implacable Enemies is said to be his Coming in his Kingdom and it is call'd the Kingdom of God coming with Power Mark 9. 1. Fourthly Christ's Second Coming viz. at the Day of Judgment when he shall visibly and manifestly in the Face of all the World exercise his Regal Power is call'd his Kingdom thus it is said Christ shall Iudge the Quick and the Dead at his appearing and his Kingdom 2 Tim. 4. 1. Lastly By Christ's Kingdom is meant that peculiar and special time of his Reigning which is the present Subject of our Discourse when Christianity shall arrive at its height when the Church shall be in its Meridian That Petition in the Lord's Prayer Thy Kingdom come seems to be meant of this though not solely of it Then the Grace of God in the Gospel will shine forth in its greatest splendor and God's will shall be done then on Earth as it is in Heaven which may perhaps be one reason why these Petitions are joyn'd together It may be this is that Kingdom of God of which and the things appertaining to it our Saviour Discours'd to his Apostles before he left the World Acts 1. 3. But in the Book of the Revelation of St. Iohn there are many clear Passages which relate to this Perfect State of the Christian Church hereafter and 't is express'd by a Kingdom and by Christ's Reigning on the Earth This New Scene is mention'd after this manner in Rev. 5. 10. and again chap. 7. v. 15. and 17. and more plainly in chap. 12. v. 10. Now is
3. 1. to explain this Place in the Revelation for as Christ is said to be crucified among the Galatians i. e. they had been so clearly and fully taught and instructed in the Nature of Christ's Sufferings as if Christ himself had been crucified in their Sight So in a resembling sort the SAINTS are said to live again i. e. their holy Lives and Actions whence they are denominated Saints are as evidently and completely copied out in the Persons then upon a kind of a Resurrection On such the second Death bath no Power i. e. those who have the Honour to be reserved to that excellent State of the Church which is called Reigning with Christ being Holy and Righteous Persons they shall be rescued from the second Death which is no other than Everlasting Destruction For as there is a Twofold Resurrection as hath been said so in the same way of Allusion there is a Twofold Death a Death of Temporal and a Death of Eternal Destruction This latter is called the second Death because it comes after the other and is a great deal more terrible than it Therefore to be free'd from this is the greatest Mercy imaginable And this is that which all those who live under the Heighth of the Evangelical Dispensation shall be rescued from At the end of those Thousand Years when the Books shall be opened and the Dead shall be judged out of them they shall escape everlasting Death and Damnation and they shall pass from Earth to Heaven from the happy State of the Church here to endless Blessedness in the Mansions above The short then of all is this That the Living and Reigning of the Saints with Christ which is foretold in this Chapter is to be understood of the most Prosperous and Flourishing State of the Church of Christ here on Earth which is the Thing that I have undertaken to prove and illustrate Indeed it is not expresly said that this Reign shall be on Earth but we may most rationally infer as much from this Chapter The Angel who was to bind Satan came down from Heaven ver 1. therefore the Scene of these Things spoken of in this Chapter was to be here below Afterwards ver 3. it is said that Satan was shut up that he might deceive the Nations no more Now none can deny but that these Nations were on Earth And in ver 9. it is said of Gog and Magog That they went up on the Breadth of the Earth and compassed the Camp of the Saints about The Saints then are upon the Earth as well as Gog and Magog And this appears yet further from what follows in the same Verse Fire came down from God out of Heaven and devoured them Therefore neither they nor the Saints were then in Heaven but on Earth else the Fire could not be said to come down from Heaven upon the latter It is out of question then that this Reigning of the Saints with Christ is meant of that happy Administration of the Church here on Earth Though the common Doctrine of the Millennaries viz. of the Saints and Martyrs leaving Heaven and coming down to Reign on Earth and so likewise of the Personal Reign of Christ with them be a groundless Fancy and built neither on Reason nor Scripture yet I have in some good measure shew'd that Tâ—is which I am now speaking of is founded on Both. The former dictates to us that there shall be a more perfect State of Christianity than ever yet hath been and the latter in several Places speaks of this higher Degree of Christianity Though Christ will not come in Person yet he will come in the Spirit to renew his Church and to exalt it to a greater Measure of Holiness and Purity And there shall then be such a joyful blessed Season as never was before and never will be again upon Earth It remains now that I speak particularly and distinctly of the Duration of this Spiritual Reign It shall last a Thousand Years which some have thought is to be understood iâ—definitely As in Iob 9. 3. 33. 23. One of a Thousand is One of a great Many And in Psal. 50. 10. A Thousand Hills and Psal. 105. 8. A Thousand Generations is as much as very Many Hills and Generations so they think here a Finite Number is put for an Indefinite and accordingly the Reigning of the Saints a Thousand Years signifies no more than the long Time of the Churches Prosperity St. Augustin who takes the Thousand Years in this Indefinite manner holds that they began either at Christ's Birth or his Passion and last to the Worlds end or till a little before it when Antichrist is to come and appear in the World Others say they commence at Christ's Death and that as the Saints are said to Reign so the Devil is bound a Thousand Years i. e. all the Time from Christ's Passion to the Consummation of all Things excepting only that little Time when he is Loosed But these are very extravagant Assertions and no considerate Men have undertaken to make them good Why therefore should I undertake to confute them I will only say this to baffle their Notion who take these Thousand Years Indefinitely that first it is expresâ—y asserted in this Chapter that the Godly shall Reign a Thousand Years and that Satan shall be bound just so many Years which indeed are but the same Time Again The Thousand Years are repeated no less than Six-times by St. Iohn here which clearly makes against and Indefinite and Uncertain Number Unless a Certain Determinate Portion of Years were here meant this Definite and Precise Number would not have been reiterated so often For this reason both the Ancient and Modern Expositors of this Chapter universally agree that the Thousand Years here are to be taken in the most obvious and Proper Sence viz. for that Particular Determinate Number But then there is a great Disagreement about the Beginning and Ending of these Thousand Years thus precisely taken Some say they began at Christ's Nativity and lasted till Pope Silvester the Second which was about a Thousand Years after for Idolatry and all Superstitious Rights in the Church broke out and manifestly appeared under him first of all So our Wickliff and Bilney and Aretius a Foreigner thought But others as Bede Primasius Pererius fix the Date at Christ's Passion Others hold the Thousand Years began at the Preaching of the Gospel or about the Destruction of Ierusalem and ended when Popery first began Eminently to prevail which was they say about the Year of Christ 1073. when Hildebrand i. e. Gregory the Seventh invaded the Chair then Satan also was loosed This is Dr. Lightfoot's Opinion as it was also of our Broughton and Vsher and of Pareus and Iunius abroad But surely it is harsh to say that the Devil was bound all the time of the Ten Persecutions when he had Power given him to stir up those Bloody Emperours and Tyrants to commit such Outrages against the
by what proper Methods and Arts we can Let us lay the Axe to that Root of Bitterness which hath spread it self among us and taken such hold of some Men's Earthly Natures Let us compose our selves into a quiet posture and effectually promote Peace and Good Will in the World Let us bring out and make use of our Juleps to check that fierce that Feverish Distemper which reigns among too many Let us endeavour by mild and cooling Applications to accommodate Differences to reconcile disagreeing Parties especially in Matters referring to Religion but so as not to betrary the Truth to allay all passionate Heats and to discountenance all wilful Authors of Division And as the Word Peace in Scripture signifies according to the Usage of the Hebrews all manner of Outward Blessings so here in the present Case it is to be taken in that comprehensive way In that Kingdom of Christ on Earth there shall no kind of Earthly Conveniences and Advantages be wanting which shall be useful to the great Ends and Purposes of that Blessed State But as for any other viz. such as are serviceable to Undue Pleasures to Lust and Wantonness to Vanity and Pride to Effeminacy and Luxury no Man of sober Thoughts can reckon them in the number of those Worldly good Things which the Pious shall hereafter enjoy And therefore we must condemn that Narrative which some have given of the Millennium as too sensual and fulsome But we may with Truth and Soberness assert this That there shall be a concurrence of all those things which render Men's Lives truly pleasant comfortable and joyful It is part of the Description of that Millennary Jubilee that they shall come to Sion with Songs and everlasting joy upon their heads They shall obtain joy and gladness and sorrow and sighing shall flee away Isai. 35. 10. And again Ch. 65. v. 17. Behold I create new Heavens and a new Earth which questionless is meant of this Glorious Renovation and might have been alledged among the other Texts as a Proof of it and then it follows I create Ierusalem a rejoicing and her People a ioy The voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her nor the voice of crying v. 18 19. And if we go back to Ch. 9. v. 3. we shall find that this rejoicing and this joy shall be entire Thou hast multiplied the Nation and not increased the ioy i. e. heretofore Joy and Sorrow were mingled sometimes that Nation of the Jews was visited in Mercy at other times it tasted of God's Judgments They ioy before thee according to the ioy in Harvest and as Men rejoice when they divide the Spoil i. e. there was in the times past a Medley of Joy and Trouble of Gladness and Fear as in the Services of War and Harvest but when a Child shall be born to us when a Son shall be given and the Government shall be upon his Shoulders v. 6. then there shall be Joy without any allay then there shall be such a perfect State that nothing shall be able to impair it I know most Interpreters expound the Place otherwise and make the Ioy in Harvest to be exceeding Great Joy surpassing all other But I crave leave to dissent from the common Exposition and to understand this Passage after the manner before-mentioned viz. that whereas heretofore they joy'd according to the Ioy of Harvest i. e. their Joys were mix'd with Hardships they were accompanied with Sweat and Toil And besides the Joy of Harvest doth not last long for the Husbandman as blith and cheary as he isâ— must soon return to his wonted Circle of Pains and Labour Whereas under the preceding Dispensations there was no Entire and Undisturbed Joy now it shall be otherwise there shall be a Continued and Uninterrupted Serenity without any dashes of a contrary Nature for as Christ's Government increases v. 7. so as it follows there the Peace i. e. the Success and Prosperity of it shall increase and have no end This is the Happiness of the Subjects of that Blessed Kingdom who are under the Sceptre of the Prince of Peace as he is stiled v. 6. This in general but more particularly the Safety and Security of their Habitations their Success in all their Labours and their lasting Fruition of them are mentioned as the Attendants of this Happy Time v. 21 22 23. They shall build Houses and inhabit them And they shall plant Vineyards and eat the Fruit of them Mine Elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands They shall not labour in vain c. These are the Blessings of that Adult State of the Church Farther there will be greater Strength and Soundness of Body than ordinarily I will not be positive that as in the first Ages of the World so now there will be some of a Gigantick Stature but this is not to be doubted of that there shall be bodily Strength and Vigour in an unusual degree It is one of the Privileges of the New Ierusalem for in the large and extensive sense it is spoken of that Place and State that the Inhabitants shall not say I am sick Isai. 33. 24. Many Exorbitancies before were frequently the Cause of Corporal Weakness and divers sorts of Maladies and Diseases But now those shall generally be removed and a sound and hale Temper shall be given them for their Bodies shall answer to their Souls The whole Tour of the Blood shall be laudably performed There shall be a due and regular Exercise of the natural vital and animal Functions And all Persons shall be healthful and vivacious brisk and sprightly This will be the more credible if we consider that the Curse brought upon the Earth by Adam's Fall and afterwards continued shall be revers'd The Soil every where shall become fertile and give its increase freely and plentifully and all the Fruits and Products of the Earth shall be not only numerous but wholesome God made all the Creatures Good at first as we expresly find in the repeated Approbation of this their Goodness Gen. 1. And they shall be Good at last for the World shall be restored to its Premitive State and the Earth it self shall be renewed And as for those Living Creatures which are Food for Mankind they shall arrive to greater degrees of Perfection than formerly and consequently shall yield more laudable and generous Nourishment than heretofore Besides that the continued Health of those Times will depend much upon the excellent Temper of the Air which shall then be agreeable to humane Bodies and have no ill Ferments from the continual Vicissitudes and Successions of too much Heat or too much Cold. To which may be added that the Heavenly influences as well as the Temper of the Earth shall be meliorated And so even in a literal sence there shall be New Heavens and a New Earth As the consequence of all this the People of those days shall be long-liv'd Which I gather from Isai. 65. 20. There shall be no
are to understand the Words in a Literal meaning may be further proved and confirm'd from the brief Repetition of this Prophecy in chap. 65. v. 25. The Wolf and the Lamb shall feed together and the Lion shall eat Straw like the Bullock and dust shall be the Serpents Meat they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my Holy Mountain It is not probable that the Prophet would have repeated this Prediction and urged it in the same manner and on the same occasion viz. when he was foretelling the Happy Reign of the Messias in the laft Days for he brings it in under the time of the New Heavens and the New Earth v. 17. and it is the close of the Description of the State of the New Ierusalem in this Chapter most part of which I had occasion to mention before it is not probable I say that the Prophet would have reiterated this Prediction in the very same way and circumstances that he mentioned it before if the Words were a meer Metaphor or Allegory and not to be understood in a downright Literal Sense he would have varied the way of expressing and have let us know that a Spiritual meaning is to be understood But indeed the very Natural Tenour and Import of the Words themselves acquaint us that they are not Allegorical but are to be taken according to the obvious signification of the Terms viz. That in those Happy Times the very Brutes the most Furious and Implacable of them shall be reconciled to Man and likewise to themselves mutually in order to which they shall have a new way of sustaining themselves the Wolf and the Lamb shall have the same Food that 's the meaning of Feeding together such as the Earth affords the Lion shall have the same Provender with the Bullock and the Serpent which used to hurt other Beasts as well as Men shall be content with the Food which was at first appointed him Gen. 3. 14. In short the Irrational Creatures shall neither devour Men nor one another as was usual before but they shall become Serviceble and Obedient to Man and shall be at Peace among themselves This may be censur'd perhaps as a new Interpretation of this Prophecy but I believe no Wife and Intelligent Man will condemn it for its Novelty but rather imbrace it because it is so plain easie and intelligible in it self because it agrees so exactly with the Context and because it is so suitable yea so absolutely requisite to that State which I have Discours'd of wherein every thing shall be in a better condition that it was and accordingly the very Nature of the Beasts shall be chang'd that they may be what they were at first that is not Harmful or Terrible as appears from Eve's Conversing with the Serpent and in a Word there shall be such a Catholick change as shall bring with it an accumulation of all Temporal Felicities But this must be said that I may not be mistaken by some Persons that though these Earthly and Corporeal Coveniencies shall be in the Millennary Reign yet they are the least part of it nay they may be said to be the Attendants rather than Parts of it for it is the Confluence of Spiritual and Divine Blessings that gives Denomination to this Happy Oeconomy it is this that makes it chiefly to be Admired and Esteem'd And those other things which I have mention'd which relate to the Body and which are but Appendages of this State are wholly in order to the Better Enjoyments and are no farther to be regarded than as they are some ways subservient to these This I insert that we may not deceive our selves about the Notion of this Happy State which I am speaking of that we may not fancy it to be merely an Earthly Paradise that we may not think Christ's Kingdom to be of this World But notwithstanding this it is a certain Truth that all manner of Good Things inhanse the Comsort and Pleasure of that Blessed Kingdom In fine that which gives the Value to all things relating to the New Ierusalem is that the Glory of God Enlightens it and the Lamh is the Light thereof Rev. 21. 23. That is it is the Eternal Father and Son not excluding the Holy Ghost and not any Created Being or Enjoyment though never so exquisite that can constitute the Blessedness of this State In which respect it is said The City hath no need of the Sun neither of the Moon to shine in it that is all Temporal and Mundane Felicities be they never so bright are useless and insignificant in comparison of the fruition of GOD himself I take this to be the meaning of St. Iohn's Words and not what is suggested by the late Thâ—orist viz. That the Inhabitants of the New Ierusalem on Earth shall be wholly destitute of those great Luminaries of Heaven there will be no use of the Light of the Sun and Moon but they shall be supplied by a Supernatural Bodily Light Which mistaken Interpretation was caused by not attending to the place in the Prophet Isaiah whence this without doubt was borrowed Isai. 60. 19. The Sun shall be no more thy Light by Day neither for Brightness shall be Moon give Light unto thee And yet in the next Verse it is said Thy Sun shall no more go down neither shall thy Moon withdraw it self Which evidently shews that the former Words are not to be understood Literally that is concerning those Celestial Bodies otherwise there is a plain Contradiction in those Texts The true intent then of the foresaid Words is no other than this that the Sun and Moon and all the other Temporal Blessings of the Millennary Revolution are Mean and Inconsiderable in respect of the Transcendent Glory Splendor and Influence of the Divine Majesty who alone is able to render that State Happy When that desired Day comes the full Vertue of Shiloh's Name shall shine forth which denotes not only Salvation which that Time shall prepare Men for above any other but Peace or Tranquility both inward and outward and which is much more extensive Prosperity or Happiness which comprehends in it all things that are rationally Desireable in the Life of Man upon Earth as well as in the Mansions above Thus I have briefly represented to you those things which may reasonably be suppos'd to be the inseparable Attendants of the Happy Reign of Christ on Earth which is the highest Exaltation of the Christian Oeconomy It hath been with some doubting and struggling that I have said so much for Holy Writ seems some times to say that the Condition of the Church is such that it shall not be wholly free from Trouble and Calamity but that it shall always or for the most part suffer from the Wicked When I perused those several Predictions concerning the Sufferings and Persecutions of the Church I stagger'd as to my belief of this Future Quiet State on Earth I was apt to think that the World is
the Sea insomuch that they shall cover all the Earth as it were for that is meant by their going up on the breadth of the Earth And they shall lay close Siege to the Beloved City that Place whither the Saints the Beloved of God shall fly for Refuge Or the whole Church of Christ the Visible Body and Society of the Faithful which shall be left at that time may be understood by the Beloved City In a very lamentable and wretched Condition they shall be you may imagine all the time of this Gogick and Magogick War and the Siege which accompanieth it It cannot be expressed what Streights the Saints are reduced to what Calamities they undergo what Miseries they indure And This is but agreeable to what our Blessed Lord foretold of the Times immediately preceding the Day of Judgment He hath assured us that those Days shall be very remarkable both in respect of Sin and Suffering As to the former when he compares them to the Days of Noah in which the Old World gave themselves up wholly to their Pleasures and forgat God and defied his Providence he sheweth how Corrupt and Wicked the Last Times shall be So that Interrogatory of our Saviour Luk. 18. 8. When the Son of Man cometh shall be find Faith on the Earth is a downright Negative and signifies that he shall not find Faith upon Earth That is not only as some interpret it the Faith even of God's Servants shall be very Weak and Little before the Last Coming of Christ the Saints themselves having been persecuted and harassed by the Wicked shall faint and flag They shall scarcely believe the Promise of his Coming they shall almost despond that Christ will help and deliver them But the meaning rather seems to be This that Faithfulness here called Faith shall be very rare upon Earth Sincertiy and Truth shall be baniâ—h'd and Lying Perfidiousness Dissembling and which is the Consequent of those inward Hatred and Malice and all outward Injustice Violence and Oppression shall come in their place And so in another place Christ foretells that not long before the Day of Judgment Iniquity shall abound and the Love of many shall wax cold For this is to be remarked that the Signs foregoing the Destruction of Ierusalem and of the Coming of Christ are intermixed in that Four and twentieth Chapter of St. Matthew Or we may say the former Signs were to be repeated and more fully display'd in the Latter Event Our Saviour likewise fets forth the State of the Last Days before the End of the World not only as extremely Sinful abounding with great Wickedness and universal Corruption of Life but as most Afflictive and Dangerous most Distressed and Calamitous There shall be saith he distress of Nations with perplexity the Sea and the Waves roaring Mens hearts failing them for fear Luk. 21. 25 26. Yea Those Words of Christ in Mat. 24. 21. are applicable here for the reason beforementioned Then shall be great Tribulation such as was not since the beginning of the World to this time no nor ever shall be And now the Fore-runners of that Great and Notable Day of the Lord mentioned by our Saviour in this Chapter shall appear viz. Wars and great Commotions in Kingdoms and Nations Signs in the Heavens and in the Earth Earthquakes Pestilence and Famine with other unusual and extraordinary Occurrences and tremendous Accidents which shall give notice of the approaching Judgment Thus our Saviour not only confirms the Truth of what we read in the Revelation but he further explains and sets it forth He plainly suggests unto us what an evil posture the World will be in before he comes to Judgment He lets us know that the Tribulation as well as the Wickedness of those Days which approach the End of the World shall be more grievous than any that ever were before At that time the Sins of the Churches Enemies and the Sufferings of the Godly shall be at the Vertical Point as high as they can go Briefly It will be found true that the World shall be most Wicked and most Perilous at last The worst State of it will be towards its End For the Devil will be very wrathful and outrageous because he knoweth that he hath but a short time as it is said of him in Rev. 12. 12. And at that time it may more truly be said of him than ever for the 1000 years being ended he is loosed but for a little season Rev. 20. 3. He must soon go off the Stage and that makes him act his part with so much vigour and fierceness The Iudgment shall come presently after the 1000 years There shall be a very considerable time between the Mellennium and Dooms-day but it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a small time in comparison of the thousand years And therefore on this account that malicious Spirit shall bestir himself with a mighty Concernedness The Tenth and Last Persecution which he raised in the Primitive Times was the Bloodiest So now he rageth most when he is to take his farewel of this Earthly Stage And now behold the Tragical Close of all Fire came down from God out of Heaven and devoured these Armies of Gog and Magog and the Devil that deceived them was cast into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone Rev. 20. 9 10. For now after all CHRIST appears from Heaven and comes to be Avenged of his Enemies and to Judge the whole World as you read expresly in ver 11 12 of this Chapter Before his first Coming Satan reigned a long time as God of this World he had a kind of an unlimited Rule and Sway But our Saviour by his Coming restrain'd his Power and Lordship and afterwards in the Millennary Reign gives a greater check to them But at his Last Coming he shall wholly deprive him of his Rule and Dominion Accordingly he comes at that Day to drive Satan down into his own Place and there to leave him to be tormented for ever and ever He comes to take Vengeance on Sinners and to punish them with the utmost Severity He comes to rescue the Righteous from the Fury both of Satan and wicked Men. This is the Work of the Last Day There is nothing more to be added unless it be the Conflagration of the World For this I take to be an evident Truth that the Firing of the whole Frame of Heaven and Earth is a Consequent of the Final Iudgment which is after the Millennium For to what purpose should this material System be consumed or rather indeed how can it till the present Scene of Action in this World be at an end which will not be till after the Thousand Years are past I deny not but there may be some Beginnings of it before which perhaps is meant in that forenamed Place Rev. 20. 9. Fire came down from God out of Heaven and devoured c. Here is an Essay of the Last Firing of the World which is prophesied of
by St. Peter and others and it appears from this Chapter that it was after the Devil was loosed after the Thousand Years Reign of Christ here on Earth yea towards the Consummation of all Things This is the true Time of its happening and therefore we are not to credit the fanciful Conceit of the Highâ—flown Spagyrick Tribe who talk of the Calcining of the Earth by that Fire and preparing it in a Chymical Way for the reception of its new Inhabitants after the Resurrection of the Saints Of Kin to this is what the Author of the New Theory of the Earth asserts That the last Conflagration is to alter and dispose the Earth for a New State to receive the Saints and Martyrs for its Inhabitants who are at the first Resurrection to enter and to live and reign a Thousand Years upon it Before this we were told by another Writer that the Millennium shall begin after the beginning of the Conflagration But another Learned Gentleman is positive That the Millennium shall be after the Conflagration is quite past Any Man may see that this latter Author misplaceth the World's Conflagration only to make way for his Paradisiacal Earth of which he expects a New Edition for he fancies that this shall arise Phoenix-like out of the Ashes of that other For this Reason it was necessary to hold that the blessed Reign of the Thousand Years shall begin after the Conflagration is over viz. between this and the last Judgment But so far as I am able to judge most of the Places he quotes are rather against him than for him if they be well scann'd As to what he lays so great Stress upon that the Iudgment and the Reigning of Christ and joined together in the Apocalypse Chap. 11. 20. he should consider that the Iudgment is oftentimes introduced in this Book not as if it were then to happen when it is mentioned but to strike Terrour into the Minds of the wicked Persecutors of the Church and to represent to them the Certainty of their future Punishment viz. when that Day comes Besides that it were easy to prove that not only in this Book but in other Writings of the Prophets every great and Notable Revolution is compared to God's judging the World and is set forth by the Holy Ghost after that manner Again this Learned Writer frequently misinterprets the Places which speak of Christ's Coming as that in 2 Thes. 2. 8. which is not meant of his Last Coming to Iudgment but of that which I have been largely treating of viz. the happy Reign of the Godly when Antichrist shall be destroy'd which commenceth long before the Final Coming of our Saviour And therefore when he saith the Millennium cannot be till Christ's Coming he deceives himself and his Readers by not attending to the true Meaning of Christ's Coming in those Texts which he refers to Indeed most of his Mistakes proceed from this That whereas the Scripture often mentions the Coming of our Lord to set up a Glorious Church on Earth before the end of the World which likewise he himself acknowledges he interprets it of another Coming i. e. he imagines it to be understood of the Last Appearance of our Saviour Another great Occasion of his Misapprehensions in the present Point is this That where-ever almost he finds in the Old or New Testament any Passages concerning Fire and Burning he applies them as the Reader may observe through his whole Treatise to the Last Combustion of the World which hath unfortunately betray'd him to many Errors Likewise wheresoever New Heavens and a New Earth are made mention of in the Bible he understands them of a New Material World whenas there was no such Thing intended for these Terms denote only a new State and Face of Things viz. that blessed Millennium before treated of Then there shall be such a great and notable Change that there shall seem to be a New World The Inhabitants of this Place shall be so strangely alter'd that there shall be as it were an Appearance of a New Creation In this Sense the Apostle uses the Expression 2 Cor. 5. 17. He that is in Christ is a New Creature This Author might as well interpret these Words as the New Heavens and New Earth of a New Material Creation and hold that every Man when he is made a true Christian is physically Created again But I observe it is with this Learned Gentleman as it was with Origen of old who was generally faulty in Allegorizing those Places of Scripture which are to be taken Literally and yet was so unhappy as to expound a clause in Matth. 19. 12. in this latter way notwithstanding it is evident that it was spoken in a Mystical one So we find this Writer turning that part of the Bible which speaks of the Creation of the World and of the Fall of Man into Allegory and Metaphor though they are plain Historical and Literal Passages but those Texts of Scripture which mention New Heavens and a New Earth in a Metaphorical way of speaking are taken by him in a Literal and proper Sense The Heavens and the Earth with the whole Six days Works of the Creation in the first Chapter of Genesis are according to him Allegory and Mystery not to say a Fable But the New Heavens and Earth in Isaiah where they are interpreted to his hand of Ierusalem the the Church of God and in other Places are understood by him in a strict and literal Sense of a New Corporeal System of the World This is the Perverseness of humane Wit and it is its own Punishment I heartily wish the Learned Author were sensible of it and then he would see that this Notion of a New Material Earth and a New Set of heavenly Bodies for Men to inhabit in is all Romance and Fiction built only upon some distorted Texts of Scripture upon some mistaken Passages for want of comparing them with others in the Sacred Writ upon some Scraps and Fragments of a few Platonick and Stoick Philosophers upon the Prepossessions of some of the Fathers of the Church who had been Admirers of the Platonists Opinions upon the Rhetorical Flaunts of some others of them upon the high Flights of some fanciful Poets and lastly on the Dreams of some of the Iewish Rabbins These are too small too tender Wires to hang so great a Weight on as those New Heavens and that New Earth which he fansies If it be said that the New Heaven and New Earth are after the Burning of the World because S. Peter immediately after he had mentioned this dreadful Event adds these Words Nevertheless we according to his Promise look for New Heavens and a New Earth wherein dwelleth Righteousness Epist. 2. Chap. 3. ver 13. I answer That this is Inconsequential for we cannot here argue from the Order of the Apostle's Words to the Order of the Things spoken of He relates the Consumption of the World by Fire and
of Earth but this Earth was marvelously refined and purified And this is implied if not express'd in Adam's Name and in the word which is used in the Original for the EARTH out of which he was taken For the import of the Hebrew Verb Adam whence is the Noun Adamah is not only rubuit he was red or ruddy and so Adam is as much as Edom rufus which was Esau's Name because he was ruddy when he was born Gen. 25. 25. but it is of a larger signification and is as much as splenduit That it bears this sense may be gathered from the word Adamdameth Levit. 13. 19. where it must be rendred shining or glistering or else the same thing there spoken of must be very white and very red as Bochart hath noted Hieroz P. 2. l. 5. c. 6. Sometimes Adam is as much as formosus fuit Thus of the temperate and healthful Nazarites it is said Lam. 4. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they were ruddy i. e. they were fair whence Arias Montanus renders it nitidi fuere And so the word Admoni which comes from the Verb Adam is taken in this sense as in 1 Sam. 16. 12. where 't is said of David that he was ruddy i. e. beautiful as is explain'd in the following words Thus Edom of the very same extraction is understood in Cant. 5. 10. where the Spouse saith of her Beloved that he is ruddy i. e. he is comely he is one of a beautiful Aspect And I could here add that the Verb Adam in other Languages bears this meaning thus Bochart acquaints us that in Arabick it is as much as splendere And by Ludolphus we are ascertain'd that in Ethiopick it signifies formosum pulchrum esse In the Latin I could observe something like this for rutilare in its more general signification is splendidum esse So purpureus is the same with splendidus pulcher whence purpureus capillus and purpurei olores I know no Oriental word that comes so near to this as Chur which is both albus fuit and erubuit And the reason I conceive is this both these colours white and red have a great deal of light mixed with them therefore the signification of them is alike and they both of them denote that which is fair and bright And as it is thus with the Hebrew Verb Adam so proportionably the Substantive Adamah doth not only signify red Earth as if it were so called from its red Colour because it is said that that was the native hew of the Earth in the East Country And Iosephus the learned Iew speaking of Adam's Make relates that the natural Mould call'd Virgin-Earth is of a red or yellow Complexion So we have a small County in England that carries Red Earth in its Name because the Soil is generally reddish but the word is of a larger extent and signifies that Earth which is bright and shining and is of the best and purest sort So that when it is said that Adam was form'd out of Adamah there is meant by this word that Earth which was of the purest and finest Composition And to this purpose it may be further observ'd that whereas other Animals are said to be made out of aretz common Earth Gen. 1. 24 25. it is particularly recorded that the first Man was made out of Adamah a peculiar and choice sort of Ground ex meliâ—re luto as the Poet speaking of this very thing fitly expresses it yea out of the dust of this ground Gen. 2. 7. i. e. the finest and most agile part of it All which is an eviction of what I at first asserted concerning the Materials of Adam's Body This was the true Terra Sigillata this was the Earth which God set his Mark and Image on that it might be known whose it was Adam in his Body as well as in his Soul outvied all his Race I attend not to the prodigious Stories which some fanciful Rabbies and Talmudick Doctors tell us of the strange Beauty and Elegancy and of the vast Proportions of Adam's Body Rabbi Solomon Iarchi avers that Adam was so tall that standing on the Earth he could touch the Heavens with his hand And several other such romantick Passages in the Writings of these fond Men I disregard nay those that are sober among themselves give no credit to it but understand it in a mystical manner for some of them tell us that when it is said Adam's Stature reached from one end of the Earth to the other it is to be understood of the Perfection of his Mind that he knew and comprehended the Nature of all things contained in the World but it is certain that as Adam's Soul was made a Transcript of God himself so his Body was framed in a most exquisite manner and the Divine Art and Skill were wonderfully discovered in the shaping of it For as Philo saith We are begot of Men but God himself made Adam The Author being better the Work must be more excellent Yea this must be said that all of us having been in Adam's Loins are part of that excellent Workmanship and have the same Image stamped upon us that Adam had We are all marked and sealed by the Divine Hand his own Impression and Signature are upon us even upon our corporeal part tho 't is true it was much defac'd by the Primitive Aopstacy Secondly The Body of Adam was God's Image as it was made Immortal He was created in full Strength and as a Person of a just Age healthful sound and flourishing For his Body was not like those of Beasts weak and corruptible but was made to be of perpetual Duration obnoxious to no Decays Diseases or Changes If Man had stood entire and kept his Innocence this had been his condition But this Image was restored to him and us who are his Posterity and not only our Souls but Bodies shall everlastingly subsist Thus by their Immortality and eternal Continuance they partake in some measure of the Divine Nature and Likeness Thirdly In the Body of Man as well as in his Soul the Image of God consisteth because the Soul worketh on the Body and by it Hence the Members of the Body are said to be Instruments of Righteousness Rom. 6. 13. As they are instrumental to so excellent a purpose as they are subservient to Grace and Holiness and as the Virtues of the Holy Spirit are exerted by them they are part of the Image of God For it is not to be questioned that the whole Man is God's Image Therefore tho the Divine Likeness doth not equally shine in all Parts yet this corporeal Part of Man in some degree shareth in that Image For which reason the Bodies of good Men are stiled the Temples of the Holy Ghost 1 Cor. 6. 19. Fourthly God's Image is on the Body of Man as it is of that particular erect Figure which no living Creature else partaketh of Aristotle was so much
Mesopâ—tamia And Bochart thinks it is Arabia it self But so far as I can judg there is no reason to recede from the old Opinion of the Christian Writers who hold that Havilah is India and Pison the River Ganges This was first asserted by Iosephus and from him Eusebius Ierom and most of the Fathers receiv'd it And not without good reason for Moses here adds as a Mark to know the place by that there is Gold and the Gold of that Land is good ver 11. Now it is confes'd by all that India is the most noted for Gold and that of the best sort Further it is added as a Note whereby to discover that place that there is Bdellium and the Onyx Stone There is some dispute about the former some hold it to be a Tree or a Resinous Gum but most think it a precious Stone or a Pearl And this is probable it being join'd with the Onyx Stone And India is famous for precious Stones and Pearls The name of the second River is Gihon vers 13. Galtruchius holds that the River Araxes in Armenia the Greater is meant by Gihon this as well as Phasis flowing from the Mountain Payarde there But Moses adding in this Verse that the River Gihon is the same that compasseth the whole Land of Ethiopia or Cush as it is in the Original there is reason to believe that this Gihon is the River Nile as the forenamed Iewish Antiquary and most of the antient Writers of the Church hold Which may be confirmed by what you may take notice of in the forenamed place where the Garden of the Lord and the Land of Egygt are join'd tother intimating that Paradise by the help of the River Nile did as 't were border upon Egypt which is the principal part of the African Ethiopia which it is most probable is meant here The name of the third River is Hiddekel that is it which goeth toward the East of Assyria ver 14. That it was a River belonging to Babylon is clear from Dan. 10. 4. This is generally concluded to be the River Tigris which divides Mesopotamia from Assyria and therefore runs toward the East of it This commonly goeth along with Euphrates and so it doth here for we are told ver 14. that the fourth River which issued out of Paradise was Euphrates The fourth River or the fourth Channel of the great River Euphrates is by way of eminence here called Euphrates this being the great middle Channel that ran thro Eden or Babylon and it may be thought to take its name from its fructifying quality For what some have thought viz. that the word is deriv'd from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lâ—tificare and that in allusion to this it is call'd the River whose Streams make glad the City of God Psal. 46. 4. it hath little foundation seeing there is a great probability that its Original is from the Hebrew Perah which is the world here and in all other places of the Bible for this River and is from parah crescere fructificare because the Country own'd its fertility and fruitfulness of the spreading streams of this River But how is Euphrates deriv'd from Perah It is likely that the Greeks made it out of these two words in this Verse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hu Pâ—rath Perath it self for they read it Vphrath and added a Termination of their own and thence came Euphrates Nor is it an unusual thing with the Grecians to borrow words from the Hebrew I will at present instance only in another word which hath relation to the matter in hand and that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is used by several Gentile Writers for a Garden or Orchard and it is the corruption of the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pardes hortus it is this word transmuted into a Greek form These are the Rivers of Paradise mention'd by Moses of which that Noble Author of the History of the World hath copiously discours'd and those that are curious may find satisfaction to their Scruples about this matter We are to think this and it is a very rational thought that Paradise is now scarce to be found because after so many Changes especially that made by the Deluge which marr'd the Figure of it and wash'd away a great deal of its Beauty it is exceedingly alter'd Wherefore we must not expect to find in Historians and Geographers the same description of Paradise which Moses gives Herodotus and Pliny will tell you that Euphrates hath not the same Channel it had in the Ages of old it hath several times been put out of its way And if in so long a time the course of Rivers be changed the Region may be alter'd as to other things Besides the names of Pison and Gihon two Branches of the River of Paradise are not very well known to us because they are not the Names that they are call'd by in profane Authors for 't is common in Scripture to use the names of Places as well as of Men sometimes which are not used in other Writers Or this may be as truly said that some names of Rivers mention'd by Moses are long since lost and extinct as the antient names of several Countries are which is acknowledg'd by all the Learned After so many Generations and changings of Languages it is no wonder that they are not call'd after the same manner that they once were But we cannot gather thence that they are not in being we cannot say with a late Writer that of the four Antient Rivers of Paradise two remain but the other two do not But this may and ought to be said that the altering of the Primitive Names renders it difficult to assign the more particular place of Paradise and to tell exactly where it was But from the Account given us in Genesis and by comparing all things together there is reason to assert that Paradise was in Babylon that noted part of the World For first Moses acquaints us that God planted a Garden eastward in Eden Gen. 2. 8. Which agrees well with that Region of Assyria which it is certain was situate eastward in Asia besides that it lay eastward from Canaan or the Deserts of the Amorites where Moses wrote Again from what you read of this place call'd Eden in 2 King 19. 12. and Amos 1. 5. besides those other Texts before mention'd which Sir W. Râ—leigh takes notice of and comments upon you may gather that this Country was the place where Paradise was seated Next no part of the whole Earth bids so fair for the Seat of Paradise as that for all the Antient Historians agree in this that that Region was the pleasantest in the whole World and that the Soil of it was prodigiously fertile and almost fruitful to a Miracle Moreover Paradise was a place remarkable for its Rivers and such is that Country represented by all to be and particularly it is famous for the great and noted River Euphrates But if it
shall be objected that it is improbable Paradise was washed with all these four Rivers viz. Euphrates Tigris Ganges and Nile for then it must needs be almost as large as a third part of half the Globe Especially as to Pison and Gihon how can we hold that the former is Ganges and the latter Nile for then we must take in almost all Asia and a great part of Africa into Paradise Therefore this Notion concerning the Rivers of Paradise is very extravagant and consequently must not look for any reception I answer 1. It is not so extravagant to make a quarter of half the Earth Paradisiacal as to hold that it was all of it so at first which yet we find vouched of late But 2. it is a gross mistake in the Objectors to think that what I have said enlarges Paradise to that wideness which they mention for when we speak of the Rivers belonging to this place this must be remembred that the Heads and Springs of them are meant not the whole body and current of them For you read but of a River Gen. 2. 10. i. e. one River but this one River was parted as you read in the same Verse into four Branches or if you will into four Rivers viz. without Paradise not within it The one River was in Paradise and was serviceable to water it whilst these Arms and Branches of it spread themselves to a vast distance even on one hand to some Regions of Africa and further yet on the other hand to some remote parts of India Here is nothing extravagant in this Assertion and consequently Nile and Ganges might and certainly did descend from the capital River of Eden The River Pison is said to compass the whole Land of Havilah and Gihon is said to compass the whole Land of Ethiopia that is the Waters of these Springs or Fountain-heads which had their rise in Paradise flow'd as far as Havilah in India and Ethiopia in Africk and encompass'd these places with their various turnings and windings Moses tells us what Regions of the World these derivative Streams and Branches which in broad Channels made very considerable Rivers reach'd to But we cannot conclude thence that Paradise it self was extended so far This I think is very plain and intelligible and no Man of sense can oppose it and therefore there is no cause for that outcry which is made against Ganges and Nile's being two of the Rivers mention'd in Gen. 2. Notwithstanding what some late Writers have ingeniously offer'd I think the old Opinion is the most probable or at least I take it to have as much probability in it as any of the Modern ones And so any unprejudic'd Person will be inclin'd to think if he considers how likely a thing it is that the Fountains and Springs of Rivers are much alter'd since the Creation of the World and consequently what these learned Men alledg concerning the rise and spring of Euphrates c. which they have met with in some Authors is to little purpose 3. I will add this that Euphrates and Tigris were the only Rivers that were proper to Eden or Paradise but the other two are mention'd because they wash'd those Regions which appertain'd to and border'd upon that blessed Ground called Paradise Paradise strictly taken was not so wide and spacious but all the whole Country lying about that particular Ground is in a large sense termed Paradise We may observe it is said God planted a Garden in Eden Gen. 2. 8. not that the Garden was as large as Eden but rather it is evident from these words that Eden was that Region of the Earth in part of which God planted a Garden which was not and indeed could not be so large as the place he planted it in Yet without doubt it was of a very considerable length and breadth the circumference of it was large and specious and therefore Rivers or Arms of Rivers at a great distance might belong to it In short the Soil thereabouts was in some measure Paradisiacal but this one part of it was more eminently so and in a peculiar sense might be call'd Paradise and the Garden of Eden Thus I hope I have given a full Answer to what was objected and thereby made it very clear and perspicuous that Paradise was planted in that Region which was afterward call'd Eden and that Babylon even that which was cursed Babylon afterwards was the Seat of that blessed Ground And tho what Tertullian and Augustin and several of the Moderns as Aquina◠Gregory de Valentiâ Bellarmine Del Rio and others have held viz. that this happy place is not known to Mortals may be thus far true that we are not acquainted with the individual Spot of Ground where Adam and Eve were placed in their Innocence yet if these Persons aforemention'd meant what they said in a more general sense their Opinion is false and groundless for it is evident from the premises that Paradise was in the eastern part of the Continent of Asia that it was that part of Mesopotamia which was wash'd with Tigris and Euphrates that it was a kind of an Island made so by these and other Rivers that encompass it and particularly that Babylon now a known place in Turky was afterward the name of the Country that pleasant and delightful Country where the Garden of Paradise was situated Here it was that our first Parents were seated by the particular appointment of God In this happy Region of the World in this blessed Island they were to spend their days But what were they to do here What manner of Life were they to lead What Laws were they govern'd by This we are next to consider and it is necessary to do so in order to our being acquainted with the nature of this first Dispensation God who had given Adam the whole Earth and all that was in it to possess and enjoy yet assign'd him this lesser portion of Ground to inhabit in and to cultivate and he would not suffer him to be idle and unimploy'd in that happy state of Innocence but set him to dress and keep that choice piece of Earth Gen. 2. 15. which would want his care because it was so luxuriant Here he was to employ his Mind as well as exercise his Body here he was to enjoy God Himself and the whole World Here he was to contemplate and study God's Works to submit himself wholly to the Divine Conduct to conform◠all his Actions to the Will of his Maker and to live in a constant dependence upon him Here he was to spend his days in the continual exercises of Prayers and Praises and it may be the very natural dictates of Gratitude would prompt him to offer up some of the Fruits of the Ground and some living Creatures in way of Sacrifice unto God There were thousands of Objects to exercise his Wit and Understanding to call forth his Reason and to employ it But the ultimate perfection of his
The rectified Mind said they is the Man but the sensitive Appetite is the Beast This latter they declared to be the Principle which predominateth in all vicious Men and because they wholly â—ollow their Sense and are led merely by a corporeal Appetite they resemble Brutes Accordingly Epimenides calls the Crâ—tians evil Beasts as the Apostle takes notice and for the same reason all Persons that are given to Vice deserve that Denomination For their Portion like Nebuchadnezzar's is with the Beasts You cannot reckon them in the number of Men for tho they retain the human Shape yet they are really degenerated into the nature of Brutes Nay Man is become more irrational by far than the whole Herd of Brutes who by a natural Instinct or by some certain Laws of Motion following the Apprehensions of their Senses discern what is good or hurtful to them and not only so but imbrace the one and avoid the other Man alone once the excellentest Creature in the World but now depraved knows not his Happiness or despises it which in the sacred Stile is expressed after this manner The Ox knows his Owner and the Asâ— his Master's Crib but Israel doth not know my people do not consider Isa. 1. 3. These are the inword and spiritual Evils which are the effects of Adam's Degeneracy and they are usually called by Divines by the name of Spiritual Death for these also were part of that dreadful Threatning In the day thou â—atest thereof thou shalt surely die But there are not only temporal but eternal Evils which are the fruit of Man's Apostatizing Man by his Guilt and Pollution contracted by the Fall and since delighted in is liable to be excluded from Happiness in another Life and is obnoxious to eternal Punishment and Misery in the World to come for Sin of it self can never be expiated and therefore the Guilt of it must necessarily continue without any Period Accordingly we read that the Wages of Sin is Death Rom. 6. 23. i. e. eternal Death for it being oppos'd in that place to eternal Life it cannot signify less It appears then that the Sinner deserves to be â—ormented both in Body and Soul with endless and eternal pains which makes his Condition far worse than that of the Beasts who Perish and so are made uncapable of all future Sufferings This is that worst of Deaths which is another part of that direâ—ul Threatning denounced against Adam and which is the most grievous and terrible effect of his Disobedience and falling from God and from this as from the other Evils procured by Man's Apostacy there is no redemption on 〈◊〉 the merciful and meritorious Undertakings of the blessed Messias who was afterwards promised After all it might be observ'd that not only Adam and Eve were threatned to be punish'd for this Transgression but even the Serpent which the Devil made use of in order to it he was rendred the most cursed of all Creatures and condemn'd to grovel on his Belly and to feed on the Dust of the Earth Gen. 3. 14. Which was design'd to be a lasting as well as a visible Memorial of God's Displeasure against the first Sin in the World So we read afterwards that God spared not the brutâ— Beasts whom the Sinners of the old world had abused but destin'd them no less than the Offenders themselves to Destruction Gen. 6. 7. which gives us some account of the implacable Opposition of the Divine Nature to all Sin and even to all that are but instrumental and serviceable to it He that is of purer eyes than to behold Iniquity will not suffer it to go unpunish'd wherever he observes it And this might be added here that the foresaid Cursâ— on the Serpent hath reference also to the malicious Dâ—mon who actuated that Animal The doom of this impure Spirit is here included his being not able to raise up himself against the Servants of the most High so as to hurt them and his being 〈◊〉 to Hell and his being made for ever a cursâ—d Creature lâ—ath'd and abhor'd of God and Man are comprehended in this Execration Thus I have finish'd the second State of Man This I call a State as it respects Us but I call it a Dispensation as it hath respect unto God because it was his Will and Pleasure to suffer this to be Out of infinite Wisdom he permitted Man's Fall designing to make it subservient at last to the Good of Mankind and to his own Glory by inhansing his Mercy and Goodness in the 〈◊〉 and unexpected rescuing of Mankind from the Miseries which they had incur'd by this general Lapse I say general for as I asserted before concerning the first State that of Innocâ—ncy that it included all Men in it as well as our first Progenitors so I must declare the same concerning this second State and Dispensation It takes in not only Adam and Evâ— who indeed were the most conspâ—cuous Persons but all the succeeding Generations of Men and Women For by reason of our first Parents wilful sinning and transgressing the Divine Law all Persons are under the Displeasure of God the Penalty of his Law and the Power of Satan for they are all conceived in Sin and brought forth in Iniquity they are naturally averse to all Good and prone to all Evil and therefore a Condemnation is justly pass'd on them all Here I might copâ—ously treat of Original Sin and the fatal Influence of it but I intend not at present to enlarge on any main Article or Point of Divinity this Treatise being design'd only as an 〈◊〉 to so great a Performance This only in brief is to be remembred that Adam as a common Person sinn'd for himself and his whole Posterity In him all Mankind were created and in him they all â—ell and were corrupted Adam being the Father and Root of all Successions by his sinning involv'd himself and his Progâ—ny into a State of Guilt and Enmity against God This great Banker broke and with him all his Race were beggar'd and ruin'd His particular Fault became the Catholick Crime of all Persons descended from him even before they knew what was Good and Evil i. e. before they were born They were all accurs'd in him and rendred obnoxious to the Divine Wrath and no Creature was able to deliver them from it But God the merciful Creator and indulgent Father of Mankind was pleased to contrive their Deliverance Accordingly he made an early Discovery of his Grace and Love to our first Parents and to their Posterity which leads me to the next Dispensation CHAP. III. The Nature of the Third General Dispensation The first part of which is the Adamick State The early Promise concerning the Messias Gen. 3. 15. explain'd He was expected betimes The New Testament witnesses that he was to bruise the Serpent's Head Several positive Laws were under this Oeconomy That of Oblations and Sacrifices is especially consider'd Eucharistical Sacrifices were part of the Law of Nature Expiatory
Flood that will certainly demonstrate that the Yâ—ars in those times contain'd many Mâ—nths in them as in Gâ—n 8. 5 13 14. where you read not only of the first and secâ—nd but the tâ—ntâ— mâ—ntâ— of that Yâ—ar in which the Deluge was And that it may appear that the Months were like ours we read not only of the seventeenth day of the second Month Gen. 7. 11. but of the twenty sâ—venth day of the same Month Gâ—n 8. 14. Nay I will prove that the Antediluvians had 30 days in their Months from those words in Gen. 7. 24. Thâ— waters prâ—vail'd on the Earth a hundred and fifty days On the 17 th day of the 2d Month Noah entred into the Ark as we read in Gen. 7. 7 11. then the Flood began and it prevail'd till the 17th day of the 7th Month as we find it in Gâ—n 8. 4. which space of time is exactly fivâ— mâ—nths reckoning 30 days to a Month for five times thirty is a hundred and fifty This proves that both their Years and their Months were such as ours and that they had the same Computation which we have at this day And this Calculation continu'd till St. Iohn's time as we may satisfy our selves from Rev. 11. 2 3. 13. 5. where forty two Months are â— thousand two hundred and threescore days 4. What I assert may be proved from the Absurdity of the contrary Opinion for if the antient Years were no longer than our Months then it would follow that some of the Patriarchs begot Children when they were but six or seven Years of Age which appears undeniably from the History of Moses for Mahalaleel begat Iared and Enoch begat Methuselah at the Age of sixty five Years now if these Years were no other than Months these Persons were but five years of Age and a little more when they begot Children which is a thing that no Man of sober thoughts will entertain 5. According to this Calculation the Patriarchs would have been very short-lived If Years were only so many Revolutions of the Moon it will follow that some of those Persons mention'd in Gen. 5. lived not so long as we generally do at this day Nay Methuselah himself according to this way of computing had not arrived to a hundred Years which is a number that several reach even in this Age of the World Thus you see what Absurdities ensue upon this Opinion Some therefore taking notice of these absured Consequences are forced to abandon this Conceit but yet they betake themselves to another which is this Lunary Years say they are so call'd either because they are but one Month or because they fall short of the Solar Yâ—ar eleven days as being reckon'd wholly by the Revolution of thâ— Moon These latter sort of Lunary Years consist of 354 days whereas the Solar Year contains 365 days in it It is by those and not by these that we are to reckon the years of the Patrâ—archs before spoken of say the present Objectors and accordingly their Years and ours now in use are not the same I answer it is true the Antient Hâ—brâ—ws held the Yâ—ars in Scripture to be Lâ—nar in this sense now mention'd and there is good ground for it because the Iâ—ws began the Month with the New Moon so that there could be not above nine and twenty days in one of their Months for the Course of that Planet is finish'd within that time And it cannot be denied that the old way of computing the Months among the Antient Arabians Grecians and Râ—mans was from the Phasâ—s of the Moon and consequently they reckon'd by these Lunar Years Iosâ—ph Scaligâ—r was the first that denied the Hebrâ—â— Years to be of this sort and undertook to prove that they were Sâ—lar i. â— that they contain'd 365 Days and consequently the Months consisted of 30 Days And herein he was partly in the right but when he contends that this was the use always among them and that they had no other Computation he goes too far But Petavius who designedly handles this Controversy viz. whether they were Lunar or Solar Years which they reckon'd by of old and are mention'd in the Old Testament is more exact when he holds that both the Lunar and Sâ—lar Yâ—ar were used by the Hebrews the first was their Civil the second their Sacred or Ecclesiastical Year This reconciles all But what have the Objectors gain'd by it They have only brought the Year down from 365 Days to 354 for this is a Lunar and the other a Solar Year and the one is but 11 days shorter than the other That is all which is no great matter It doth not considerably alter the Accompt and therefore it was to little purpose to alledg it Besides this may be said after all that the Years of the Patriarchs whom we are speaking of and those of the Hebrews or Iews who observ'd the New Moons and reckon'd their Months by their Appearances are not altogether the same and therefore we can't argue from these latter to the former especially when I have proved before from the Relation of the Deluge that the Years and Months were then of the like extent with ours Therefore we have reason to believe that Moses means Solar Years in Gen. 5. and other places which speak of the Lives of the Men of those first times and consequently that the Length and Duration of them were such as we have represented them to be which was the first thing I undertook to prove But all this time I have been but clearing the way to what I principally intended which is this To search into the Causes of the Long Lives of those that lived before the Flood for to say with Maimonides that it was a Miracle that they lived so long will not I suppose be satisfactory to the Curious Reader Wherefore I will enquire whencâ— it was that they usually lived seven or eight hundred Years and sometimes almost a thousand tho we read of none that reach'd to that full number This will appear very Reasonable and Accountable if you consider 1. That God gave them a longer space of time that they might multiply Mankind and replenish the Earth that as Theodoret saith their numbers might be increas'd by their Annosity Their Lives were lengthned out for the sake of Generation There was a necessity of the prolonging of their Days that the World might be peopled the sooner that the Earth might be stock'd with Inhabitants in a short time And this is a General Reason you see and therefore it is not likely that Longevity was the Privilege of a few only in those days as Maimonides and som others have thought but that it was common to the whole race of Men excepting a few as Enoch and two or three more perhaps 2. As men lived long before the Flood for propagating of Mankind the more speedily so their Lives were prolong'd that they might the better propagate Arts and Sciences for the use
of Life that they might find out and discover things the more successfully and deliver to Posterity the things which they invented It is Iosepâ—'s opinion that God indulg'd the Autediluvians a long Life that they might study the Stars and find out the Nature Motion and Influence of the Heavenly Bodies for they could not attain to a Certainty and an Experience of these things without this And he adds that the Great Year comes not about till the period of 600 Years wherefore it was requisiâ—e they should live so long at least But whether we admit of this particular Conceit of his or no it is certain that Astronomy and other Arts could not be attain'd at first in a short time Long Observation was necessary for this purpose frequent and repeated Experiments being the great Basis of most Arts. These therefore could not be accomplish'd and perfected but by a large term of Years The persons who lived to a great age were able to convey and entail Knowledg more effectually than wâ— can now only this is to be said that wâ— have some other ways and advantages of promoting Knowledg which they had not 3. Their long Lives were serviceable to a higher and a nobler purpose viz. for the retaining and preserving of Religion and the true Worship of God in a more intire manner for 't is to be remembred that there was no Scripturâ— then and therefore Religion could not be more advantageously spread and propagated than by a saâ—e Tradition And that this was especially aim'd at and designed by the Wisdom and Providence of God is evident hence that as soon as the matchless Treasure of Religion was deliver'd and secured to the World by committing the Law to writing the Age of Man was presently stinted and reduced to a set Period This shews that one reason why the Dimensions of Mens Lives were far longer in those days than they were afterwards was that Religion might be the more surely kept up they having no Written Laws at that time Therefore these Living Laws for such were the long-lived Patriarchs were requisite whereby the Will of God was communicated with great ease and advantage to all men This could be done even by Four Persons for the space of 2000 Years and more for Adam's Auditor was Methuselah whom Noah succeeded and taught Shem and he those of his Age even till the Year of the World 2160 or thereabouts So compendious a way this was of instructing the World and upholding Religion in it But of this I shall speak afterwards 4. Another ground of the Long Lives of the Patriarchs before the Deluge was their Healthful Temper wherein they much exceeded others that follow'd them For tho we need not assert as some have done that the Earth was not situated before the Flood as it is now that there were no Summers and Winters but that there was a perpetual Equinox all over the World yet this we may with good reason hold that there was a greater Equality of Heat and Cold in those days and as the consequent of that there was a more constant and uniform Temperature of Mens Bodies For we cannot but think that there was a great change caus'd by that Universal Deluge which cover'd the Earth this could not but damp and chill the Air and thereby exceedingly affect Mens Bodies and contribute towards the shortning of their Lives But before this general Inundation they were healthful and lived a long time And this Account which I give le ts us see that this was not a peculiar Donation to those Persons only whom Moses mentions but that it was vouchsafed to all that lived in those early times 5. I might add that their Food was purer and wholesomer than that of the following Ages The Fruits of the Earth came up more kindly before the Deluge than afterwards for we cannot but conceive that they were endamaged by the briny Waters of the Seas which were let loose on the Ground By this means the products of the Earth were not so nutritive as befoâ—â— not so adjusted to the Constitutions and Tempers of Mens Bodies and thence the Plenitude of Years was abated 6. Their Health and Long-living may be ascrib'd to their Temperance and Moderation for their Diet being more simple and plain consisting wholly of Herbs and Plants and such like Products of the Ground they were not tempted to that Excess which prevail'd afterwards when several sorts of curious and delicatâ— Dishes were allow'd them Hereupon follow'd Wantonness Intemperance Luxury and Riot and by these the Hale Temper of Mens Bodies was impair'd and Diseases bred and their Days shortned But as long as they continu'd sober and temperate they werâ— bless'd with a sound Constitution they were strong and vigorous witness what you read in Gen. 5. 32. Noah was fivâ— hundred Yâ—ars â—ld and bâ—gat Shem Ham and Japhet I could adjoin in the next place that it is very probable they had greater Skill in Physick than there was afterwards tho they had seldom occasion to make use of it The Professors of the Spagyrick Art do indeed tell us that the Longevity of the Patriarchs is to be attributed to their Skill in Chymistry for it is of that Antiquity they say but it is to be question'd whether there was any such thing at that time we may rather content our selves with this belief that they understood well the Nature of Herbs and Plants and had more Time and Opportunity to study their Qualities and Operations than Men since have and thence perhaps they made especial choice of such of them as were great Strengthners of Nature and upheld the Life of Man Again their quiet and contented way of living contributed much to the lengthning of their Lives They were generally free from Care and Distraction they understood not the Intrigues and Perplexities which vain Men are now plagu'd with In those Golden Times there was more Simplicity and Honesty Men were satisfied with a little and could live at a cheap rate But afterwards the World was disorder'd Mens Desires and Wishes grew immoderate and extravagant and their Days were worn out with Troubles and Vexations This is the best Account I can give of the Long Lives of the Patriarchs of the first Ages and of the shorter Term of Years of those that succeeded them The Third Patriarchal Dispensation or the Abrahamick Oeconomy began with Abraham and continued till the giving of the Law by Moses which was 430 Years Ex. 12. 41. Gal. 3. 17. The Person from whom this Period hath its Denomination was a Chaldâ—an by Birth and lived in Vr the chief City of Chaldâ—a In this Idolatrous Country it is probable he was partly infected with the Vicâ— of the Place and thence perhaps he is said to be Vngodly Râ—m 4. 5. But tho he was not wholly free from the impious Practice of Idolatry which then reâ—gn'd in the World yet he retain'd his Integrity as to the main and would not suffer himself to
be born down with the wicked Examples of others Maimonides and other Hebrew Writers tell us that he was cast into the Fire by the Chaldâ—ans because he would not worship it So the Trial of his Faith was by Fire in the most strict and limited Sense of the Apostle's Words 1 Pet. 1. 7. This we are certain of that it seemed good to God to call him out of that place of so great Temptation and to command him to repair to the Land of Canaan When Noah's Family and Race were corrupted he made choice of this Person above the rest and rais'd him up to profess the true Doctrine and Worship He vouchsaâ—ed to reveal his Will to him in an extraordinary and peculiar manner and to make a Covenant with him and to constitute him the Father of the Faithful For Idolatry had invaded the holy Race of Sâ—â—m and thereby obliterated the Memory of the Covenant made with Adam and afterwards with Noah wherefore it was congruous to the Divine Wisdom to call forth Abraham who was of that Offspring and to renew the Covenant and Promise with him and further to assure him and his Seed of the Blessings that should accrue to them by the coming of the Messias It will not be amiss to take notice of the several Steps leading to this 1. God appear'd to Abraham in Chaldâ—a hidding him leave that Place and seek another Country and he assured him of his Blessing Gâ—n 12. 1 2 3. Thâ— Lord had said unto Abram Get there out of thy Country and from thy Kindreâ— and from thy Father 's Hâ—usâ— unto a Land that I will shew thee And I will make of thee a great Nation and I will bless thâ—â— and make thy Name great and tâ—ou shalt be a Blessing And I will bless them that blâ—ss thâ—â— and curse him that cursâ—th theâ— and in 〈◊〉 shall all the Families of the Earth bâ— blessed 2. Abraham being come into Canaan God appear'd to him first at Sichâ—m and the Promise he then made him was this Vnto they Sâ—â—d will I givâ— this Land Gen. 12. 7. 3. God appear'd again to him at Bâ—thâ—l and renewed his former Promises telling him that 〈◊〉 wâ—uld 〈◊〉 his Seed as thâ— Dust of thâ— Earth Gen. 13. 16. 4. He appear'd again to him incouraging and comforting him when he complain'd for want of an Heir He promis'd him that he should have a Son and that his Seed should be multiplied and repeats his Promise also concerning his possessing the Land of Canaan Only he adds that his Seed must expect to be strangers in a foreign Land and to be afflicted 400 Years before they came to settle in the promis'd Country Gen. 15. 1 to 17. And at the same time God solemnly made a Covenant with him saying Vnto thy Seed have I given this Land ver 18. 5. God appear'd to Abraham yet again and renewed the former Covenant saying unto him after this manner I am thâ— Almighty God walk before me and be thou perfect And I will make my Covenant between me and thee and I will multiply thee exceedingly and thou shalt be a Father of many Nations and I will establish my Covenant between me and thee and thy Seed after thee in their Generations for an everlasting Covenant to be a God unto thee and to thy Seed after thee Gen. 17. 1 2 4 7. And now it was that his name Abraham was given to him which signifies the Fathâ—r of a multitude i. e. of many Nations for Hamon which is the word here contracted is a Multitude 6. This Covenant is confirm'd with the Seal of Circumcision Every Man-child among you shall be circumcised Gen. 17. 10. This is a particular and distinct Account of God's appearing to Abraham and of his gracious communicating himself to him It is all in way of Covenant and accordingly what hath been said may be reduced to these two things 1. What God promiseth to do on his part 2. What Abraham and his Seed were to do on theirs God promised in general that he would be a God unto him and to his Seed yea he would be an Almighty or Alsufficient God to him which comprehends all that can be said But particularly God promised him these things 1. To give him i. â— his Posterity the Land of Canaan in due time 2. To multiply his Seed exceedingly even as the Staâ—s of Heaven 3. To bless all Nations of the Earth in his Seed And St. Peter in his Sermon Acts 3. 25 26. interprets and explains this Blessing speaking thus to the Iews Yâ— are the Children of the Prophets and of the Covenant which God made with our Fathers saying unto Abraham In thy Seed shall all the Kingdoms of the Earth be blessed Vnto you first God having raised up his Son Iesus sent him to bless you in turning away every one of you from his Iniquities Christ Jesus the Messias is the Blessing that was promis'd by God to Abraham This we learn also from St. Paul Gal. 3. 8 9. The Scripture foreseeing that God would justify the Heathen through Faith preached befâ—re the Gospâ—l unto Abraham saying In theâ— shall all Nations be blessed So then they which be of Faith are blessed with faithful Abraham And in the 14 th Verse the Apostle declares that thâ— Blessing of Abraham camâ— on the Gentiles through Iesus Christ. And to make this more evident he adds ver 16. To Abraham and his Seed werâ— thâ— Promises madâ— He saith not Vnto Seeds as of many but aâ— of one And to thy Seed which is Christ. This was the Covenant on God's part Now let us see what it was on Abraham's part He and his Seed were oblig'd by this Covenant to behave themselves answerably to such bountiful Promises made to them and such great things as were to be done for them As the Lord had ingaged to be their God so they by virtue of this Covenant undertook to be his 〈◊〉 to deport themselves as such in all the actions of their lives and to do nothing unworthy of this singular Honour and Favour confer'd on them All is summ'd up in those words Walk bâ—forâ— mâ— and be thou perfect To walk before God is to please him Enoch walked with God Gen. 5. 22. which by the Sâ—vâ—nty Intâ—rpretâ—rs is rendred Enoch pleased God And accordingly the Author to the Hebrews saith that Enoch before his translation had this testimony that he pleased God Heb. 11. 5. So Noah walked with God Gen. 6. 9. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 LXX I will walk before the Lord Psal. 116. 9. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 say the same Inâ—erpreters Therefore to walk and to please God are joined together by the same inspir'd Writer in 1 Thess. 4. 1. the latter being the Explication of the former This is according to the same Apostle to walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing Col. 1. 10. Thus Abraham and his Seed by virtue of this Federal Transaction were ingaged to walk before God to serve him
in that way which was most acceptable to him This religious and spiritual walking denoteth as the bodily one generally doth continued Motion Progress Acquaintance Converse Friendship And to walk before God implieth that the Persoâ—s who do so consider that they are in God's Presence and therefore do nothing but what is pleasing to him The walking before God after this manner denominates a Man perfect that is it is the only Persection which he is capable of in this Life We see then what it was that made this a peculiar Dispensation The Law of Grace or Covenant made with Adam and confirmed to Noah was renewed to Abraham with special and peculiar Promises to him and his Seed with singular Ingagements on their part Here were new Discoveries and Manifestations concerning the Messias viz. That he should be of the Seed of Abraham and consequently of the Nation of the Iews and that tho he should spring out of the Herbeâ— Stock yet he should be an Universal Saviour and all Nations should be capable of receiving benefit from him and of being blessed by him and that they should all be justified by Faith as we have ground to infer from what is said of Abraham in Gen. 15. 6. He believed in the Lord and he counted it to him fâ—r Rightcousnâ—ss and from the Apostle's Comment on it in Gal. 3. 8 9. And then this is peculiar to this Period that whereas hitherto there had been no diffâ—rence of any Countries and Nations of Men now there is a palpable difference made For as God chose a Person out from the rest of the World so he will now make of him a great Nation and People which shall be differenced from the rest of Mankind God seeing the World generally running into Idolatry and all sorts of Wickedness set up Abraham's Seed to stem the Torrent of Vice to keep up Religion pure and entire and to maintain the true Worship of God upon the Earth The Church before was not separated and gathered from the rest of the World but was in common with it as to Place and Stock till Abraham's time But now it is distinguish'd from other Nations and it is confined to one Race of People among whom there shall constantly be some religious Men who are true and living Members of the Church and of whom at length the Messias the Lord of Righteousness shall come according to the Flesh. This Stock and Posterity of Abraham were called Hebrews but what occasion'd this Name first of all is disputable The Iewish Antiquary and from him several others have thought that the Hebrews were call'd so from Heber the Son of Salah the Father of Peleg Others think it more reasonable to assert that they had their Name from Abraham I do not mean it in St. Augustin's sense i. e. Hebrai quasi Abraâ—â—i which was the Opinion of this Father at first but afterward he retracted it and adhered to the foremention'd one But I mean this that this Name of the Hebrews as several have been induced to believe is derived from Gneber transiit viz. from the passing of Abraham and others with him from Vr in Chaldea through Mesopotamia into Canaan Thence this Patriarch is called and that emphatically Abram the Passenger Hagnibri Gen. 14. 13. We translate it Abram the Hebrew But the Septuagint who well understood the true derivation of the word render it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Passenger or the Traveller The Reader may take his choice of these two Opinions viz. whether the Hebrews were call'd so from Heber or from Gâ—ibri But to speak freely tho I have no Author on my side I do not see why they might not have their Name from both i. e. from Heber and afterwards from Abraham For 't is certain that the Iews were the Progeny of that worthy Man Gneber or Heber and therefore from him might originally be call'd and he may be said to be the Father of the Hebrews But it is as certain that Abraham was also the Father of them and we cannot but acknowledg that his leaving his Country and travelling into Canaan where afterward his Posterity settled were most famous and remarkable Occurrences and might deservedly give him the name of Gnibri the Traveller whence the denomination of the People descended from him is Hebrews In this Name is recorded the Rise of that Nation viz. from Mesopotamia whence the Father of them came And you may observe that it is particularly and signally mention'd by God himself Iosh. 24. 2. that he led him over Euphrates to go to Canaan and therefore I am inclin'd to think that from this Epithet tho not wholly I say from this Epithet given to Abraham because he left his own Country and passed over Eâ—phrates and so came travelling to Palestine the Posterity of Abraham took their Name and were call'd Hebrews Afterwards they were callâ—d Israelites from Iacob whose Name was chang'd into that of Israel and Iews from Iudah Iacob's Son Some think this last Name did not prevail till the Kingdom upon Solomon's death was divided into Iudah and Israel But I see no footsteps of its prevailing then for these People are not called Iews but once in the Old Testament before the Captivity viz. in King Ahaz's Reign 2 Kings 16. 6. Which howâ—ver confutes that of Iosephus that they were first call'd Iews when they return'd from the Captivity in Babylon That they might be known to be a peculiar People they were distinguish'd from all others by the bloody Badg of Circumcision which was another thing that contributed towards the making this a new Dispensation It is true this Rite was instituted first with relation to Abraham's particular Person for in my judgment the best Account is given by Iustin Martyr of the primary reason of this practice viz. because Abraham believ'd in God even when he was aged and unâ—â—t for Generation and when his Wife was decrepid and barren he then believ'd I say that he should be a Father of a Child for that reason God gave him a Sign of this nature viz. the Circumcision of the Foreskin of that part of his Body which then through Age was useless as to Procreation but through Faith became otherwise But there are other Reasons secondary ones and some of them mystical which have reference not only to Abraham but the People descended from him 1. Circumcision was intended and appointed to be a Character of Genealogical Sanctity a special Mark of distinction between the People of God and Infidels between the true Worshippers and Idolaters between the holy Seed and the Profane in short between the Seed of Abraâ—am and the rest of the World Therefore all the forty Years the Israelites were in the Desert they did not make use of this distinguishing Mark because then they had no converse with other People and so there was no need of an external Note of distinction to discriminate them from other Nations 2. Circumcision
three Patriarchs who could give an Account of all that time wherein they lived which was above 2000 years were able to keep their Families and all other People that were near them in the knowledg of the true Religion and where they err'd and offended to correct them Thus Religion and Divine Worship might be faithfully transmitted from the beginning of the World to above twenty Centuries by three persons only The Church was then sufficiently taught by Tradition from Father to Son vivâ— vâ—câ— because of the Longevity of the Patriarchs some of whom lived 700 years others 800 or 900. For this reason the Church was without Scripturâ— almost five and twenty hundred years But afterwards when the years of mans Life were shortned God used another Method he taught men by a Written Law 2. The Degeneracy of the World was another Reason why the Law was committed to Writing The World at first had many Pious as well as Antient Patriarchs who were as Philo notes Living and Rational Laws and so stood in need of no Written ones for these are but Commentaries on those Old Fathers Lives But the Vices of men grew proportionable to their Numbers and when Mankind was spread wide up and down the Earth Immorality and Sin were dispersed likewise and the World became notoriously wicked The Deluge did not wash away the Contagion but in a considerable time after men were as bad as ever and the very Dictates of their Reasonable nature were discarded by them When they had thus obliterated the Law written on their minds God thence ingraved it on Tables of Stone If men had not been wonderfully corrupted there had been no need of this So faith the Apostle speaking of this Law It was not made for the Righteous but for the lawless and disobedient for the ungodly and for sinners I Tim. 1. 9. The same he had intimated before in Gal. 3. 19. The Law was added because of transgression it was given to be a Check to their notorious Sins and that they might not offend uncontroul'd And this may be the meaning of the Apostle's words in Rom. 5. 20. The Law entred that the Offence might abound i. e. that men might see how their Sins abounded God gave his Law in Writing to shew them their Guilt to convince them of their gross Miscarriages and to reduce them to the way of Virtue and Obedience that when God himself had writ down their Duty with his own hand they might be inexcusable 3. The Law was committed to Writing that it might not be forgot One reputed to be a Judicious Writer is of opinion that the Patriarchs were happier without the Written Law than with it it was a mark of God's love and favour that they had no books and writings I suppose he means because they did not need them But afterwards there was occasion for them for the Impressions of the Law of Nature were almost defaced and obliterated the Instructions and Traditions of their Fathers were neglected and the knowledg of God and their Duty could not be kept pure by Oral Tradition when not only their Lives were short but corrupted and miserably depraved Therefore an exact Written Law was wanting to set before their eyes and to remind them of what they were to do to put them constantly in remembrance of what God required of them Hereupon the Moral Precepts were written by God himself and delivered to Mâ—sâ—s that the might communicate them to the People and they to the rest of the World This was out of kindness to them it was design'd to be a Remedy against their forgetfulness and negligence Lastly which comprehends all the Law was written that it might not be corrupted Tradition was unsafe when the numbers of men were increased and the World was dispersed and arrived to a great height of Impiety Therefore God thought it necessary to preserve and perpetuate the Law by Ingraving it on Tables of Stone which are Solid and Duâ—able and by lodging it in the Aâ—k as in a safe Treasury by ordering it to be Transcribed and to be Read to all the People and that they themselves should read it continually This was the best way to prevent all Error and Imposture all Fraud and Corruption about the Law This made it a thing impossible to deprave and pervert the Letter and plain Sense of it For these Reasons that Word which for near 25 Centuries of Years was delivered and promulged by Tradition was committed to Writing in Moses's time and not before For these Reasons the Common Law of Nature was turn'd into this Statutâ— Law of the Commandments I will not here speak particularly of the Ten Commandments because in the Body of the Work which I intend I am obliged to insist upon every one of them distinctly and largely and also because it is the Writing of the Moral Law of which I have given you an Account not the Law it self that is part of this Mosaick Dispensation as it is different from those which went before The Ten Commandâ—ents were given now not that they were of no force before this time but now they were Written on Tables and more Solemnly Promulg'd This was it which we were to take notice of as New and proper to this Iudaical Period If any man thinketh that these Ten Commandments because they were deliver'â— to the Iews were drawn up for that Body of People only and are not of universal Concernment I could silence that surmise by shewing that these Commandments were in force before the Law given by Moses to the Iews and that every one of them was a Law before the Mosaick Oeconomy and that those who lived in all the former Dispensations observed these Commandments Nay they are all of them excepting only the Determination of the Sabbath day the very Law of Nature written on the heart of man at his Creation They are Dictates of Natural Reason and therefore they ought to be done though they were not commanded For this Reason likewise it is not proper to insist upon them in this place for they are no special part of this Oeconomy But the Ceremâ—nial and Iudicial Laws are the grand things which make this a distinct and peculiar Administration Of those therefore I will hasten to speak The Ceremonial or Ecclesiastical Law is no other than the Precepts given by God to the Iews concerning External Rites belonging to Religion and the Worship of God Of these Ceremonial Usages several were in use before Moses's time viz. Priests Altars Sacrifices Oblations Tithes Distinction of Clean and Unclean Animals Not Eating Blood Circumcision But now all the former Rites and Ceremonies are digested into One Body and are become more Fixed and Certain The Ceremonial Service of the Iâ—ws was now precisely determin'd and there was no varying from it Agaiâ— whereas in some Agâ—s one Ceremony was used in another another Now they are all together and are observed at the same Time and by the same Persons
Besides the Worship of the Patriarchs tho not wholly void of Ceremonies was Simple and Plain in respect of what was now Under this Legal Dispensation the number of Ceremonies was vastly increas'd and the Worship was all Gay and Pompous by reason of them Moreover as you will have occasion to observe several of the Ceremonies used by the Iews differ from the same in use among the Patriarchs as to some considerable Circâ—â—stances and Qualifications The Cerâ—monial Law of the Iews comprehended in it 1. The External Worship it 〈◊〉 which consisted chiefly in Obâ—â—tions and Saâ—â—ifâ—ces in Offerâ—ng and Consuming 〈◊〉 to the Honour of God 2. The things belonging to the Persons who Officiated as High-Priests Priests 〈◊〉 3. The Place of God's Worship viz. the Tabernacle and Temple with all the Utensils and Instruments employ'd about them 4. The Sacraments Circumcision and the Paschal Lamb. 5. The Times and Set Seasons of Worship 6. Some things that respect the Coâ—â—ersation of the Worshippers as the difference of Meats and Drinks Uncleanness in touching the Dead Garments c. 7. The Religion of Vows Of these in their order I begin with Oblations and Sacrifices which were the principal Matter of the Ceremonious Worship commanded by the Mosaick Law These two are distinct things as we see in Psal. 40. 6. Sacrifice and Offering thou wouldest not And in Dan. 9. 27. He shall cause the Sacrifice and Oblation to cease Zebach and Minchah which are the words here used for Sacrifice and Oblation are answer'd by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Heb. 10. 5. And the same Author again makes this division of the Legal Offerings 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gifts and Sacrifices Heb. 9. 9. The Iewish Writers keep this distinction inviolably in their Treatises relating to this matter First The Mosaick Law enjoined the Minchah the Gift or Oblation i. e. Meal Flower Bread Cakes Wafers Salt Oil Frankincense handfuls of green Ears of Corn and all other Fruits of the Earth These were brought and burnt before God or partly eaten and partly burnt But tho Minchah was the general Name for the Offering and Burning of all inanimate things which were presented to God yet the Bread Meal or Flower that was offer'd was more signally called Minchah For which reason I conceive if I may be permitted to be critical in this matter Minchah which we constantly translate in the â—entâ—teuch a meat Offering should rather be rendred a meal or flower Offering And the Sacrifices of Flâ—sâ— might be called the meat Offerings rather according to our usual way of speaking But the Mincah was a Câ—â—e made of fine Meal Oil and Frankincense and baked It was offer'd every Morning and Evening with the ordinary Sacrifices and at other times it was generally join'd with all bloody Sacrifices The like kind of Oblation among the Gentiles was called Libum The Oblations of the things before mentioned were sometimes stiled Terumoth or Heave-offerings from the manner of offering them viz. by holding them up and by shaking them up and down to signisy say the Jews that God was Lord of Heaven and Earth For Terumah was an Offering to God of something they had received to acknowledg God's Dominion over the whole Earth and to set forth his Praise and Honour It was an honouring of God with their Substance and a thankful remembrance of the Blessings they enjoyed in so good a Land The Oblations of these things were sometimes also called Tenuphoth or Wave-Offerings because they used this kind of gesture in offering them they waved them to and fro from the right to the left East and West North and South and this also was to declare that God was Lord of the whole World These Offerings were instituted by God as an Acknowledgment that the Fruits of the Earth which they enjoy'd were from him The liquid things which were offered to God were Water Wine Oil and Blood The way of offering these Liquors was partly by effusion they poured out the Water Oil and Blood and some portion of the Wine on the ground and spilt them about the Altar and upon the Sacrifices Thence that of the Apostle may be understood If I be poured forth for so it is in the Greek upon the Sacrifice and Service of your Faith Phil. 2. 17. And part of the Wine they drank whence you read of Drink-Offerings or Libations Of which the Psalmist speaks when he saith he will take the Cup of Salvation Psal. 116. 13. which is meant of the Drink-Offering of Praise which was in use when they sacrificed and feasted in the Temple These were the inanimate things of which 〈◊〉 Oblations consisted which were generally known by the name of Mincahor Meat-Offering as we translate it tho it is true likewise that Mincah which is a word of a large signification was the usual term for the daily Sacrifice Secondly Their Worship was accompanied with Sacrifices which were of living Creatures Zebach was the bloody Sacrifice such a one as was always attended with the shedding of the Blood of Beasts It is usually called by the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. a Slaughter Offering and sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and by the Latins Victima and Hostia These Sacrifices properly so call'd were Animals kill'd and then burnt These Animals used in Scripture were either Terrestrial or AErial Beasts or Birds Of Beasts there were these three kinds only viz. the Bull or Cow or Ox which made but one kind the Goat or Kid the sheep or Lamb and this may be observ'd that a Lamb is applied to the young ones both of Goats and Sheep Exod. 12. 5. The Iewish Masters take notice that these were the only Cattel that were used in Sacrifice because they are mild and tame Creatures God made choice say they of those Animals that are driven by others not those that drive and worry others as the Lion the Wolf the Leopard Whence they make a good moral Observation that those are the Elect of God and are fit to be offer'd unto him who are of a meek and patient Spirit Tho I believe the true reason why Bulls Sheep and Goats were the standing Sacrifices was this that they were obvious and easy to be had Of Birds or Fowls they sacrificed Pigeons and Turtle Doves and some add the Sparrow But this is certain that if we reckon not this last among Sacrifices we must put it into the number of Oblations The Iewish Sacrifices were either Set and Determin'd or Vnlimited and Occasional The former were these that follow 1. Such as were Anniversary as that once a year in the Holy of Holies and those that were offer'd yearly at the Passover and other Solemn Feasts And the Paschal Lamb it self was a Sacrifice and often so call'd Exod. 12. 27. 23. 18. 34. 25. Deut. 16. 4 5. Why then is it not numbred among the Sacrifices by those that write on this Subject 2. Such as
Vessel whilst the Israelites were in the Wilderness and so was continued till Solomon's Temple was finished and then Fire came down again from Heaven and consumed the Sacrifices 2 Chron. 7. 1. This was preserv'd till the Babylonian Captivity and afterwards renewed 2 Macc. 1. 22. Here the Difference between the Patriarchal Sacrifices and the Mosaick ones might be taken notice of The Patriarchs had no other Expiatory Sacrifices but Holocausts or Burnt-Offerings as is clear from several places Besides there were Anniversary Monthly and Weekly Sacrifices among the Iews but we know not that there was any such thing before the Law And some other Differences the Reader may gather from the particulars aforesaid But the End and Design of these Sacrifices are chiefly to be inquired into where we shall also see a further Difference in some things between the Mosaical and Patriarchal Sacrifices Let us see to What Purpose all those Bloody Offerings were appointed let us acquaint our selves with the Design of Heaven in it First They were as the Fruits of the Earth intended as Acknowledgments that God was their Benefactor He gave these Animals as well as those Fruits and therefore it was fit to offer these as well as the others 2. If we speak concerning the Continual Morning and Evening Sacrifices it is certain they were Symbolical they were a Token of God's Presence among them They were instituted as a Testimony of This as you read in Exod. 29. 38 to the end They were a Sign that the Lord would be continually with them and be their God 3. The Mosaical Sacrifices were to testifie what the Iews deserved for their Sins viz. Death By these Bloody Oblations it was signified that the Life of Beasts should expiate for the Life of Men who had sinned and were become worse than Beasts Sheep and Oxen were substituted in the room of Offenders these sinned and those were slain Though this could not be evidently discover'd by Natural Light as hath been said yet now upon God's declaring in the Law the nature of these Sacrifices it appears that this was one design of them Those Legal Sacrifices were a kind of Confession of their Guilt By killing their Beasts they did as 't were acknowledg that themselves deserved to be used so 4. The Mosaical Sacrifices were Federal Rites and design'd to signify the Correspondence and Agreement between God and Man To which purpose you may observe that as part of the Shelamim the Peace-Offerings was burnt on the Altar so the remainder and greater part were eaten by the People that brought it to shew that it was truly a Sacrifice of Peace a Ceremony of Communion and Friendship with God a Token of Fellowship and Amity between God and Man As for the Holocaust that indeed was all of it burnt but there was a Meat-Offering and Drink-Offering annexed to it to denote Familiarity and Friendship to shew that they were Guests in God's House or rather that they were of his Family and were fed at his Table and eat of his Meat as the Sacrifices are call'd in Mal. 3. 10. and Houshold Provision Again the great Design of the Mosaick Sacrifices was to Expiate and Atone Not only Burnt-Offerings or Helocausts but all Free-will-Offerings were Expiatory notwithstanding what Crellius affirms viz. that they were Eucharistical and therefore were not Expiatory But we must know that That Epithet doth not respect the End which those Sacrifices were design'd for but the occasion of their Offering them As for the name of Peace-Offerings that was given to this sort of Sacrifices not only because they were offer'd in way of Return for their Peace i. e. as the Hebrew word denotes their Safety and Welfare which were vouchsafed to them but because the offering of them did also procure Peace with God and did assure them of the like Blessing for the future from the same Propitious Hand And therefore tho in another Dispensation I distinguish'd between Eucharistical and Expiatory Sacrifices yet there is no reason to do so here when I am speaking of the Mosaick Sacrifices all or most of which have on them the evident marks and tokens of Expiation They were appointed to propitiate and appeaâ—e God's Wrath and therefore might all of them be call'd Pacifick as well as some That these Peace-Offerings were Expiatory is proved from this that here was putting the Beast to Death here was Sprinkling the Blood here was the Consumption of some part of the Beast on the Altar as an Oblation to God which are the three Ingredients of an Expiatory Sacrifice But what was this Expiation which was made by the Mosaick Sacrifices I answer It was threesold 1. In respect of Corporal Punishment The Sanction of the whole Mosaick Law is express'd in Deut. 27. 26. Gal. 3. 10. Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the Law to do them Which Curse imports no less then Death it self besides all the miseries of this life But God was pleas'd to mitigate the rigour of this Sanction and whereas according to the strictness of the Law those who were found guilty of violating it were to Die this was not put in Execution but Beasts were appointed to suffer death for the Offenders and their death was accepted for the death of Sinners 2. These Sacrifices Expiated as to Legal and Bodily Impurities which separated them from publick Converse and Worship Such were Leprosy Touching the Dead c. Hence the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrâ—ws saith that they Sanctified to the purifying of the Flesh Heb. 9. 13. 3. These Sacrifices which is the most considerable thing of all Expiated for Moral Impurities viz. all sorts of Sins I know it is asserted by some Men of great Learning when they discourse of Sacrifices that the Mosaick Law gave no pardon to heâ—â—ous Sinners that great Offences were not expiated by Scarifices This is more especially held by 〈◊〉 who urges that the Sacrifices under the Law were available only for lesser Sins not for great ones And Volkelius and other profes'd Socinians insist upon the same thing and labour to prove that Sacrifices were offer'd only for expiating of Sins of Lgnorance Weakness and Error and that Death was the Penalty of all great and enormous Offences The same is defended by Smalcius as the Reader may find it in his Writing And we are told by one of our own Divines that the Jewish Religion allow'd of no Expiation but for legal Impurities and involuntary Transgressions such as proceeded from Ignorance and Inadvertency but not for Sins of Presumption and such as were committed with an high hand If Men sinned wilfully there was no Sacrifice appointed by the Law for such Sins And another of great repute in our Church agrees with him saying The greater Crimes under the Law were no otherwise to be expiated but by the Blood of the Offender himself whereas for lesser ones the Blood of Beast
them And these Envoys of Heaven were sent not only to God's own People but sometimes to others as the Ninivites Thus Revelation was made by Voice God spake himself or by others audibly and this was no uncommon way of divulging and discovering his Will Again God spake i. e. communicated himself heretofore not only by the sense of Hearing but by that of Seeing He was pleased to make known his Divine Pleasure by some visible Appearances which most vigorously struck on that Sense and gave more evident Testimony of the Will of Heaven Thus God discovered himself 1. by Angels Appearing for tho it was not the Appearing of these Messengers but their Speaking to persons which gave them the discovery of God's pleasure yet the former was no mean Confirmation of what was delivered because those Glorious Spiâ—â—ts could not appear to Mankind unless they were commission'd by God When he thought fit to send them then and not else they descended from Heaven and shew'd themselves to Men. 2. Writing was another manner of Visible Revelation Thus the Law was deliver'd to Moses and afterwards this way of Revelation grew frequent the Sacred History of Moses and other Histories and Prophecie being committed to Writing Thus the Antient Church before Christ's coming had the Written Word of the Holy Scriptures to inform them 3. God spake to the Sight by those Representations which in Holy Writ are so usually stiled Visions for these properly belong to the outward Sense of Seeing they are either Real Spectacles exposed to the eye as the Burning Bush which Moses saw Exod. 3. 2. and the Pillar of a Cloud which went before the Israelites in the day and the Pillar of Fire which conducted them in the night Exod. 13. 21. and the Cloud in the Temple 2 Chron. 5. 13 14. call'd the Glory of the Lord 2 Chron. 7. 1 2. And this Expression is used in other places of the Old Testament to signifie that Visible Glory and Majesty whereby he manifested himself to Mankind in those times Or else Visions in Holy Scripture are certain Images of things represented by God to the Eye as those Strange Appearances and Signs mention'd in the Books of Ieremiah Ezekiel and Daniel Whether these things may be said to be real Objects or whether they be mere Apparitions we need not as some solicitously inquire If they be Resemblances caused by God and there be such an Impression made on the Sense of Seeing that the Organ be affected as if there were such an Object before it it is sufficient to denominate it Vision But this is not to be doubted of that these external Representations and Figures pointed out Real things either present or to come From this sort of Manifestation call'd Vision the Prophets who were most conversant in this way of Revelation were stiled Seâ—rs 1 Sam. 9. 9 18. 2 Chron. 35. 15. Thus I have distinctly spoken of Voices and Visions but it must be observed also that these two are joyned together sometimes This you may see in some of the foregoing Instances and in others not named the Revelation by Voice was mixed with that by Vision so in the New Testament Saul saw a Light and heard a Voice But I am confined at present to the Old Testament for I speak now only of the variety of Revelations which were before the Gospel-Dicd\sspensation It is to be observed moreover that sometimes Vision and Voice were accompanied with an Extasy tho the persons were awake yet they were cast into a Trance Lastly under this head it is remarkable that all the outward and sensible ways of God's revealing himself especially those that are visible are call'd by the Jewish Masters the Shekinah i. e. the Divine Presence and Majesty whereby the doth as it were dwell and is constantly present with his Church for the word Shakan signifies to inhaâ—â—â—â— or dwell whereby he doth gloriously discover himself to his Servants With reference to this the Apostle saith to the Israelites pertaineth the Glory Rom. 9. 4. i. e. the Glorious Presence and Habitation of God with them not only by Angels but all those other ways before spoken of in which he appear'd and manifested himself in the times of the Law This St. Paul stiles the Glory because this Visible Appearing of God is so stiled as you have heard in the Old Testament and because the Seventy Interpreters whose way of speaking this Apostle is wont to imitate used the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to express the Glorious Presence of the Divine Majesty in any kind of Sensible and External manner 2. There are Inward as well as Outward Revelations These are made more immediately to the Soul as the other were to the Body First God spake or reveal'd himself to the Fancies of Men by Dreams He thought good to communicate his Will to persons by a powerful Influence on their Imaginations whilst they were asleep as well as by presenting things to their Senses when they were awake Thus God reveal'd himself to Abraham Abimelech Iacob Ioseph Pharaoh Solomon Nebuchadnezzar In their Dreams their Fancies were impress'd with such and such Representations they verily thought they beheld this or that Object as Iacob thought he saw a Ladder that reached from Heaven to Earth And because these Representations seem to be offer'd to the eye therefore they are sometimes call'd Visions in Scripture I saw a Dream saith Nebuchadnezzar Dan. 4. 5. And so we read of a Dream of the night Vision Isai. 29. 7. But if you speak of Visions in the proper sense then it is certain Visions and Dreams are two distinct Species of Revelation and so I have made them having before spoken of Visions strictly so call'd But this is a thing not consider'd sometimes by Writers on this Subject and so they confound Visions and Dreams Secondly God speaks to the Soul not only by working on the Imagination in Sleep but by immediate Inspiring the minds of the Prophets when they are awake This way of revealing his Will to Men is call'd Inspiration and sometimes Illumination but there is a gradual difference between these the former being of a higher degree than the later and the later being as it were a Preparative to the former This Inspiration which is made by an inward Afflatus and Excitation of the Spirit is signally call'd the Holy Spirit by the Jewish Writers A man say they is said to have the Holy Spirit when being awake and having the full use of his Senses he speaks by the Incitement of the Spirit Thus the Prophets of old spake as they were stirr'd up by this Inward Afflation and Instinct The Jewish Doctors think that this degree of Divine Revelation is especially in the Psalms of David and the Proverbs of Solomon and the Book of Iob c. the Writers of which are termed by way of Excellency Chetubim Scriptores by the Hebrews and their Writings are distinguish'd from other Books of
according to that of the Apostle That which may be known of God was manifest in them for God shew'd it unto them Rom. 1. 19. But as the Apostle there adds they held the Truth in unrighteousness and when they knew God they glorified him not as God but changed the Glory of the incorruptible God into an Image made like to corruptible Man and to Birds and fourfooted Beasts and creeping things and were filled with all unrighteousness fornication wickedness covetousness maliciousness full of envy murder and all manner of Vice and Villany But tho it was thus with the Gentiles generally yet it was not so with them All there were many that abandon'd Idolatry and profess'd the only True God There were excellent Persons even among the Heathens who were eminent for Grace and Holiness as the Examples before mention'd testifie There was a kind of a Church out of the Church Many of the Gentiles had the knowledg of 〈◊〉 and of his Covenant with Mankind for a great part of the Covenant consisted in the Moral Law which was solemnly proclaim'd on Mount Sinai and was the principal part of the Mosaick Religion but appertain'd to all Men for being the Law of Nature it had respect to the whole Race of 〈◊〉 it concern'd every Person of what Nation or Countrey soever And it might be remark'd to this purpose that at the promulgation of this Law there were present not only Israelites but Strangers and Gentiles Exod. 12. 38. Num. 11. 4. Deut. 29. 11. This intimated that the Church was not shut up within the Iewish Nation the Covenant of Grace extended farther than Iudea And thus we see this Dispensation is a Dispensation of Grace Not only as the whole Gentile World was a sharer in the common Favours and Blessings of Heaven but as some of them were actual partakers of the peculiar and saving Grace of God upon their owning the God of Israel and turning unto him Thus God excluded no sort of People from the participation of his Favour But that of St. Peter was verified God is no respector of Persons but in every Nation he that seareth God and 〈◊〉 Righteousness is accepted with him Acts 10. 34 35. And what I have said is not inconsistent with those places of Holy scripture which speak of the Iews as of a peculiar People and which exast them above all other Nations in the World What Nation saith Moses is there so great who hath God so nigh to them as the Lord our God in all things that we call upon him for As if he had said Other Nations indeed are great yea greater as to 〈◊〉 than the Iews in this they out do us but the Nation of the Iews is to be preferred to them all because God Himself dwelleth with us he is always nigh at hand and we converse familiarly with him daily whenever we inquire of him he answereth us whenever we stand in need of Direction and Assistance he goes before us as our Guide He protects and defends us He helps and delivers us Again What Nation is there so great that hath Statutes and Iudgments so righteous Where he sheweth on another account the Iews Preeminence viz. their having so exact a Law given them by God It appears not that the Gentiles had any Special Rules and Positive Laws prescribed them as the Iews had The Laws of the Old Testament were revealed only to this People and to no other Nations They were peculiar Laws and therefore the Gentiles were not under the particular Obligation of them Moses his Law never bound any but the Iews and Proselytes who made themselves Inhabitants of that Land it obliged no other Nations under Heaven For it was designed for the Jews only and not for others that is Christ being to be born amongst them God granted to them Particular and Special Favours to distinguish them from other people to Sanctifie and Consecrate them especially Therefore God separated the Israelites from the rest of the World and gave them particular Constitutions and Injunctions he shew'd his Word unto Jacob his Statutes and Iudgments unto Israel he hath not deale so with any Nation and as for his Iudgments they have not known them Psal. 147. 19 20. i. e. the Nations of the World were not govern'd by particular Laws as the Iews they were not so highly honour'd and blessed God was not pleas'd to manifest himself to them in a like degree In this regard the Psalmist saith Psal. 139. 4. The Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself and Israel for his peculiar treasure And in this respect God saith to Israel You only have I known of all the Families of the Earth Amos 3. 2. God knew that People in a manner different from all others he convers'd with them in a more intimate way than with the rest of the World he reveal'd himself to them in a particular and special manner he govern'd and ruled that People by peculiar Laws and Sanctions and he wrought extraordinary Wonders to support and deliver them so that in comparison of the Iews God may be said not to have known the Gentiles The Apostle likewise declareth the Preference and Prerogative of the Iew above other People in answer to that question What advantage hath the Jew or what profit is there of Circumcision much every way saith he chiefly because unto them were committed the Oracles of God They had singular Discoveries and Revelations of God's Will above others which was a Sign and Assurance of the greatest Favour imaginable They had Holy Laws to make them holier than others and they carried the Sign and Mark of the Holy Covenant even on their flesh For this reason God may be said to have been the God of their Nation But whilst he shew'd more especial kindness to them he did not neglect the rest for besides that all of them lived under the Law of general Grace many of them were specially favoured and experienced the distinguishing Grace of God The Blessings of God's Church reached even to some of those that were not within the Pale of it A Divine Light was reflected from the Church to those that were not thought Members of it Some enlightning and refreshing Rays were sent out to them tho the Sun was not risen on their Horizon The Sum of all is that when God made a Covenant with Abraham and his Posterity the Israelites he did not debar other People from Saving Grace and all Spiritual Benefits There were besides Abraham's Family and the Body of the Israelites who came from Abraham other Persons in the World who knew and worship'd God in a true and right manner Some that were at a great distance from the Holy Land and were Aliens to the Commonwealth of Israel were Heirs of Eternal life Some of all Nations were virtually included in the Covenant altho not mantioned Tho they were not to enter into Canaan and Canaan could not hold them which was part of the Covenant to the
Scribes and Doctors of the Law whom the Phariâ—ees at that day followed These wilfully mistook and depraved the Moral Law and our Saviour sets himself against these and their Doctrine He doth not oppose one Law to another but all that he doth is this he corrects and amends the Law as it was corrupted by the Scribes and Pharisees or rather he doth not correct and amend Moses's Law but the Phariâ—ees Expositions In this Chapter Christ is not a Legiflator but an Interpreter He expounds the Law aâ—ight and takes off their false Expositions and gives the true and genuine sense of the Law He acquaints them that there is a farther meaning of it than they imagined more is commanded in the Prâ—cepts of the Law and more is forbidden than they think And to convince them throughly of this he proceeds to particulars instancing in some Duties which seem to be New and Proper only to Christianity but he acquaints them that they are not New but Old Commandments and so likewise he instances in some Actions which are unlawful under the Gospel and seem to have been made so first of all by the Christian Laws but the design of this Discourse is to let them know that they were forbidden by Moses and were sins long before the Coming of Christ alâ—ho by them of Old the Antient Depravers of the Law they were not thought to be so 1. Anger is Murder by the Christian Law and so it was by the Law of the Ten Commandments Ye have heard that it was said by the Antients Thou shalt not kill restraining this to the External Act only and whosoever shall kill shall be in dâ—nger of the judgment But I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his Brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment he is interpretatively a Man-â—layer Ver. 21 22. You are to know that tho Immâ—derate Anger be not in express terms forbidden in the Law yet it is inclusively and by just Consequence forbidden Of Cain it is recorded that he was very wroth Gen. 4. 5. and wer read the Result of it ver 8. Cain rose up against Abel his Brother and slew him Wrath is the Parent of Murder He that is excessively incens'd against another is disposed to kill him and iâ— this inordinate Passion be not check'd or some obstacle interpose it will proceed to that height Therefore if Bloodshed be a sin Anger is so too and ought to be suppress'd with the ordinary concomitant of it viz. using of reviling Language as Raca Fool and the like 2. An Vnchast Heart and a Lustful Eye are Adultery and Fornication by the Law of Christ and they were no less by the Mosaick Law And therefore when Christ faith ver 28. Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed Adultery already with her in his heart he doth not declare this as a thing contrary to what the Precepts of Morality require of us but to what had been dictated by the corrupt Glosses of the Jewish Doctors of old and of the Pharisees at that time viz. that there is no such thing as the Adultery of the Eye or of the Heart and that these are not forbidden in the Seventh Commandment But our Saviour lets them know that this is a great mistake and that he had not introduced a New Law but only revived an old One. To look on a woman to lust after her was always sinful and unlawful I made a Covenant with mine Eyes saith Job why then should I think upon a maid Chap. 31. ver 1. which argues that it was a sin in those times even before there was any written Law to indulge either lustful Thoughts or Looks And this I take to be the Reason of the Law of Fringes given to the Jews Num. 15. 38 39. viz. that these being constantly in their view might be a means to divert their thoughts as well as sight for so 't is expresly said that they were to entertain their Eyes with looking on them that they might not seek after their own Heart and their own Eyes after wâ—ich they used to go a whoring We read afterwards that it was the Pious King's Prayer Turn away mine eyes from beholding vaâ—ity Psal. 119. 37. And that there is a Restraint to be laid upon this outward Sense and upon the inward Imagination which is wrought upon by it is the acknowledgment of the Wisest Heâ—rew Doctors among whom it is proverbially said the Eye is the Inlet to sin and R. Ben. Maiâ—on saith expresly that evil Thoughts were forbid by the Lâ—w. 3. Swearing rashly is forbidden here by Christ and so it was by the Third Commandment But this as well as the other was misinterpreted by the Scribes and Doctors and not understood in its full Extent Whereupon our Saviour corrects their mistakes saying Swear not at all neither by Heaven c. ver 34. As much as if he had said you make nothing of Swearing by Heaven and by the Earth and by Ierusalem and by your Heads and this is a very common and frequent thing with you and you are perswaded that you act not amiss in doing thus for you think that the Commandment forbids only False Swearing and Perjury you have been told that these are the only breach of that part of the Law But I tell you another thing that Law forbids not only False but Rash Swearing you violate that Commandment as often as you use any vain and unnecessary Oaths as often as you prophanely swear by God's Name as often as you make use of other Names besides God's to swear by as often as you swear by Heaven or by the Earth c. This is the true meaning of our Saviour here Some have thought that all Swearing is forbid in this place by Christ as unlawful under the Gospel altho it was lawful to Swear under the Law but if you consider that it is a Religious Act and is innocent and harmless in its own nature and sometimes becomes necessary as in matters of Controversie which can't otherwise be decided and is an Act of Charity and Righteousness when it is for the real advantage of the Community or any of our particular Brethren and sometimes it is and is approved of by the Example of St. Paul in the New Testament you will be induced to believe that Religious Swearing is lawful even under the Gospel and that there is no New Law given by Christ to forbid it now That which he forbids is Unnecessary and Prophane Swearing yea moreover he commands you to avoid all Swearing in common intercourse and converse one with another and as much as lies in them to abstain wholly from an Oath He would have them to be Persons of so holy and strict lives of such integtity and faithfulness that no one should have occasion to require an Oath of them but that they might be credited upon their bare Words and Promises He would have them shew such Truth
another both in Opinions and Manners caused great Feuds and Contentions and unspeakably hindred the Practice of Religion among that People To these famous Sects might be added the Herodians call'd the Leaven of Herod Mark 8. 15. by Christ they were of the Religion of the Sadducees and therefore on that account as Doctor Hammond observes may be said not to be a distinct Sect from them See Mat. 16. 6. 22. 16. Mark 8. 15. 12. 13. But they were singular in this that they were much devoted to Herod and his Government and consequently that of the Romans they were great upholders of Casar's Interest against the Pharisees and other Jews who look'd upon Casar as an Usurper Thus they were a different Sect or Faction Some thought and held that Herod was the promised Messias these were the Herodians according to Tertullian Chrysostom Epiphanius and other Fathers The Samaritans were another Sect among the Iews and had been a long time these had their Name from Samaria the chief City of the Kingdom of Israel which fell off from Rehoboam and took Ieroboam for their King When the Iews were carry'd captive into Assyria by Salmanasser a Colony of Assyrians was placed in this City who being molested by wild Beasts desired an Israelitish Priest to teach them the Religion of that Countrey where they were planted whereupon a Priest came and instructed them and they partly observed Moses's Law and partly follow'd their own Idolatry and Superstition From these came the Samaritans who were reckon'd as rank Schismaticks by the generality of the Iews Accordingly the Iews had no dealings with them Joh. 4. 9. but maintain'd an irreconcileable quarrel against them Several Reasons concurr'd to keep up this Feud and Antipathy 1. The Samaritans were of the Race of the Assyrians who carri'd the Iews captive 2. They oppos'd and obstructed the rebuilding of the Temple when the Iews undertook it after the return from the Captivity Ezr. 4. 4. 3. They possess'd a part of the Land which of Right belonged to the Jews 4. They receiv'd only the Pentateuch and rejected the other Books as Uncanonical for when the Iewish Priest mention'd before was sent to them the Cannon of the Bible consisted chiefly of Moses's Writings for all the Historical Books were not extant at that time and 't is certain none of the Prophets were 5. They sacrificed not in the Temple at Ierusalem but on Mount Gerizim where they had a king of a Temple peculiar to themselves and was to them as that at Ierusalem was to the Iews It was built at first for them by Sanballat two hundred Years after it was destroy'd by I. Hircanuâ— Herod when he rebuilt Samaria made a Temple in it but the Samaritans worship'd not in it but on Mount Gerizim 6. They were averse to many of the Mosaick Rites and Ceremonies and differ'd from them in several parts of Worship Some say they were inclined to Idolatry 7. They as well as the Sadducees held there was no Resurrection or Future Life which was directly contrary to the firm Belief and Perswasion of the Iewish Church For these Causes they were extremely hated by the Iews and were not admitted to Conversation or Worship with them Whence that common Saying He that eats Bread with the Samaritans is as if he eat Swines flesh And another in use among the Jews was this If a Samaritan pronounce a Blessing it is not lawful to say Amen after it They must neither eat nor pray with this People but look upon them as Accursed There were the Galilâ—ans Luke 13. 1. who were rather a State-Party or Faction than a Sect. Their Principle was not to submit to the Roman Government for they held it unlawful to obey a Magistrate that was a Pagan Some think they were the Followers of Iudas the Galilaean Acts 5. 37. Ioseph the Iew after he had reckon'd up other Divisions among the Iews mentions this and tells us that they were as to the main Pharisees but this they had peculiar to themselves that they most impetuously desired Liberty believing that God alone is to be esteem'd and call'd a Lord and Prince they underwent the most exquisite kinds of Punishments rather than they would recede from this Opinion and rather than they would give any mortal Man the Name of Lord. It may be observ'd that the Ringleader of this Party is call'd Simon by the foresaid Jewish Writer in his Book of the Iewish War as well as Iudas in his Book of Antiquities because perhaps he had both these Names Thus and much more was the Iewish Nation divided into Sects and Factions thus it was disorder'd and corrupted Their Priests and People their Church and State their Doctrine Discipline and Manners were all depraved Religion was decayed every where Vice and Wickedness were predominant in all places among them And this was but a Specimen of what was more Catholick and prevailing in the Empire at that time to which the Iews were Tributary for with the Empire came in all Vice and Debauchery nothing was approved of but Sensuality and Intemperance and all Exorbitancy and the Virtue Modesty and Sobriety of Antient Rome were laid aside When the World was thus out of Order and was like to be worse CHRIST the Redeemer arrived he came to bless us with greater Discoveries of God's Will to inform and amend the erring and sinful World to give Rules of exact Holiness and to commend Religion and Virtue by his own Example And besides the World was at that time engaged in Wars and Tumults and frequent Battels attended with confused noise and Garments roll'd in Blood nothing but Disorder Outrage and Slaughter insested the Earth and lo at such a time as this the Prince of Peace visited the World and brought with him Tranquillity and Repose and created a great Calm and Serenity in the World This shews how seasonable the Incarnation of Iesus was and why he came at that time and wherefore Christianity was introduced at that very Season and not before 8. and Lastly God hath always discover'd himself to be a God of Order and Method he proceeds by certain Steps and Degrees And this may satisfie us why the Christian Dispensation took not place till other Dispensations had gone before God erected not this huge Fabrick of the World in a moment but procâ—eded leisurely and by degrees The World began with a Chaos and Conâ—usion the Earth was at first a floating Bog it wâ—s without form and void but in six days time it grew to what it is So was it with Religion its first day was in Adam the second in Noah the third in Abraham the fourth in Moses the fifth in the Gentile Oeconomy and the sixth and last in the Messias thus it gradually clear'd up and had its Consummation in Christ. Observe as God in the Creation proceeded from things more imperfect to those that are perfecter Trees and Plants and all Vegetatives were created before
State of the Christian Church prouâ—d from several places of Scripture Mat. 24. 3. 19. 28. Acts 3. 21. Rom. 8. 19 20. Heb. 2. 5. 9. 10. 1 Cor. 1. 7. 1 Pet. 3. 8. From those divers Texts that we meet with in the Old Testament which make mention of the Kingdom and Reigning of the Messias A five-fold acception of the Kingdom of Christ in the New Testament The 1 Cor. 15. 25. urged The Millenary Reign The Rise of the Antient Opinions about it It is proved that Christ shall not personally reign upon Earth The deceased Saints shall not rise again to reign with him here What is meant by the Souls of them that were beheaded for the Witness of Jesus What is to be understood by their living and reigning with Christ. Two late Writers take it in a literal Sense but without any ground Who are the rest of the Dead that lived not again What are the first and second Resurrection The Reign of Christ a thousand Years is to be upon Earth By a thousand Years we are to understand a certain and definite Number Some Opinions concerning the Beginning and End of the thousand Years refuted Mr. Brightman's odd Fancy rejected We have had some Forerunners and previous Pledges of the millenary Kingdom Mr. Mede's Opinion which joins Christ's Reign and the Day of Iudgment together consider'd p. 609. CHAP. XX. The Millenary Reign is attended with the Destruction of Antichrist i. e. Papists and Mahometans This proved from several Passages in Scripture How the Papal Antichrist shall be destroy'd by the Spirit of God's Mouth Another Attendant of the Reign of Christ upon Earth is the Conversion or Fulness of the Gentiles An Objection answered A twofold Calling or Conversion of the Gentiles Partial and Total The Parable in Luke 14. speaks of this latter The Occasion and Manner of this Conversion The Progress of Arts and Sciences hath imitated the Motion of the Sun The like is observable of Religion The General Conversion of the Jews is a third Concomitant of the Reign of Christ. Whether the Jews shall be fixed in their own Countrey again The Author's Iudgment concerning the Texts of Scripture which are alledged to prove the National Conversion and Return of the Jews Lev. 26. 38 39 c. is meant of the General Return of that People In Deut. 30. 1 c. there is a Primary and a Secondary meaning The latter applied to the Ten Tribes The future Restoration of the Jews proved from Isa. 11. 11. from Isa. 60. from Hos. 3. 4 5. from Amos 9. 14. from Zech. 12. 10 c. from Luke 2. 30 31. from Luke 21. 24. from 2 Cor. 3. 14 c. from several Passages in Rom. 11. What is meant by all Israel The 26 27 28 and 29 Verses particularly consider'd and shew'd to be Arguments for the Complete Conversion of the Jews The 7. Rev. 4. speaks of this The Occasion Manner and Means of it both ordinary and extraordinary enquired into p. 673. CHAP. XXI Universal Righteousness is another Attendant of this Last Dispensation An Objection doubly answered It is not a Sinless State Greater Knowledg than ever shall be at that Time Religion shall then appear in its Native Purity The Influence of the Holy Spirit on Mens Lives shall be more effectual than formerly Jesus shall in a more emineâ—t manner be exalted Other Fruits of this happy Reign How these great things shall be wrought Civil Magistrates shall be made use of Christ's Reign is not inconsistent with that of Kings and Princes Ecclesiastical and Spiritual Rulers shall be Instruments in this great Work All Persons are some ways capable of promoting it Universal Peace is another Blessing that attâ—nds this Kingdom of Christ. On what account it must needs â—e so Scripture attests it An Objection oâ—viated A Concurrence of all manner of Temporal Blessings in this happy State More especially Bodily Health and Long Life Also a vast Increase of the People of that Time The Savage Brutes shall become Tame and Gentle Thâ—se Earthly Blessings are but Appendages of this Dispensation They are Inconsiderable in respect of the Divine Blessings which constitute this State The Author's Doubtings and Reluctances He is not positive as to Particular Circumstances He cannot determine concerning the Fore-runners of this Revolution The Freedom he uses in a Point that is highly probable He follows not some late Writers in assigning the particular Time when the Millenary Reign shall câ—mmence The punctual Date is not to be known The Thing discoursed of is certain tho the Time as to us is not so The Degeneracy of the present times is no obstacle to this The Author leaves a Testimony of his Wishes and Desires p. 721. CHAP. XXII The Last part of the Evangelical Dispensation under the loosing of Satan out of his Prison Who are Gog and Magog Not only the Mahometan but the Roman Power shall be revived The last Days before the end of the World shall be extremely Wicked They shall be exceeding Perillous and Calamitous Christ comes to Judgment The Conflagration of the World succeeds this whatever some have suggested to the contrary A Particular Answer to a late Writer's Arguments on this Subject It is observed how be resembles Origen A plain Exposition of those Words Nevertheless we look for New Heavens and a New Earth wherein dwelleth Righteousness A farther Proof from the same Chapter The Nature and Design of the Final Conflagration The Sum of the whole preceding Discourse p. 760. Errata to the Second Volume PAg. 424. l. 28. r. indication P. 505. l. 31. r. true nature of P. 510. l. 17. r. were for P. 518. l. 29. dele and consequently P. 527. l. 12. r. the most learned Bp. Stillingfleet P. 536. l. 17. dele that P. 543. l. penult before a insert who was P. 560. l. 16. r. and it P. 586. l. 16. r. ensuing that P. 630. l. 8. for on r. no. P. 631. l. 3. from the bottom after all make a full Stop P. 675. l. 9. r. intensness P. 676. l. 16. r. as the. P. 677. l. 17. dele only l. 18. r. naturally P. 697. l. 23. place yet after not P. 770. l. 23. r. sâ—ender P. 772. l. 4. for Adverb r. Conjunction discretive A SURVEY Of the Various Methods and Dispensationâ— OF RELIGION c. VOL. II. CHAP. XIV The Truth and Certainty of the Christian Oeconomy and consequently of Christianity it self evinced That the Mosaick Dispensation was not design'd to be Perpetual is proved from 1. The Prophesies concerning the enlarging of the Church together with the nature of the Jewish Observances 2. Gods dispensing with the Mosaick Rites and Laws 3. Their being neglected sometimes by the Holiest Men. 4. God's disregarding them 5. The Confession of the Jewish Rabbies An Objection viz. that it is said the Mosaick Law shall be for ever distinctly answer'd Prophesies which seem to relate to the Jewish Church are to be interpreted concerning the Christian one
cogent Reasons to perswade us that they truly and faithfully delivered down to us those things This I will make good from the Consideration 1. Of the Persons that transmitted these things 2. Of the Evidence of the Cause First as to the Persons I will consider both their Lives and their Deaths Their Lives are sufficient proofs of their Integrity in delivering the Scriptures of the New Testament to us and of their confident belief of the Truth of all that is contain'd in them The Primitive Christians lived after another rate than we do now They did not wrangle and quarrel as we do they did not â—ight and devour one another as the manner of too many is of latter times but they were remarkable for their mutual Love and Concord for their Humility Meekness and Condescension to one another and they were admired for their Gravity Sobriety Self-denial and Patience they were eminent for their Piety towards God and their Innocent and Righteous dealing with all Men. The Ministers practised what they preached and the People were ambitious to imitate their Preachers and both were singularly Good and Virtuous This was it which gain'd so many Proselytes to Christianity in those first times this brought them to a perswasion of the Truth and Reality of Christ's Doctrine Therefore when Origen had excellently proved the Truth of Christianity to Alexander Severus that noble Emperor ingenuously confessed that he was more convinced of the Truth of that Religion by the humble and loving carriage of Christians than by all Origen's Arguments The exemplary and blameless Conversation of those Primitive Professors argued that the Doctrine and Principles of their Religion were real and certain For how can it enter into any sober Mans thoughts that such holy and upright Men true followers of the Apostles and Disciples of Christ would have constantly confessed and owned the Christian way unless they had been throughly convinced of the Truth of it and that it was the very same which was confess'd and acknowledg'd by the Apostles themselves These Holy and Godly Men made Conscience of a Lie and counted it a heinous Crime to falsify yea they esteem'd it no less than a damnable Sin to disbelieve or misreport those things concerning Christ and the Christian Doctrines They were really perswaded in their Minds that their Salvation lay at stake that their Eternal Welfare or Everlasting Ruin were concern'd in these things And can you imagin then that they would report them falsly and impose upon the World by delivering things which were counterfeit Again as the Lives so the Suffering and Death of the Saints in the Primitive Days and in the succeeding Ages are an undeniable Argument of the Truth of what was deliver'd to them and of what they conveyed to us They underwent the most exquisite Pains and Torments with ineffable Courage and Constancy and nothing could prevail with them to renounce the Christian Religion insomuch that when the Pagan Adversaries in those days would express any thing to be impossible they did it thus Ye may sooner make the Professors of Christ quit their Mastersâ— Doctrine This was a thing not to be effected for those Persons first of all forsook their worldly Goods and then parted with their Lives to hold fast their Religion This patient Suffering and undaunted Dying of so many thousands is an unquestionable Proof of the Truth of Christianity For those enlightned and sanctified Men would never lay down their Lives to maintain a Falshood and to perpetuate a Lie No they knew whom they believed in and for whom they suffer'd and that made them so couragious We may conclude then that the Christian Doctrine is confirm'd by the Blood of those Worthy Men those expiring Saints did testify the Truth of Christianity and therefore they are stiled Martyrs Secondly The Evidence of the Cause is an impregnable Argument of the Reality and Truth of these things which I am speaking of There is this following heap of Evidences 1. A great Presumption arising from just Causes and Circumstances yea and from a multiplicity of them which in all Courts of Judicature is of considerable weight and value with understanding Judges This first but lowest sort of Evidence the Christian Church since our Saviour hath not been destitute of for there were never higher Presumptions in any Cause under Heaven than there were in this But we need not mention this when we have 2. The Notoriety of the Facts i. e. when the things in trial are openly and commonly known when they are avouched by publick Fame and the universal Vogue of Men. And that this was the case of Christianity ever since Christ left the Earth cannot be denied by any Man of Modesty and Truth 3. The Succession of Christians and Churches in the World is a plain Proof that they verily believed those things which made them Christians and Churches Hereupon they deliver'd to us those Writings which they receiv'd from the Hands of the Evangelists and Apostles by their transmitting them to Posterity they shew that they believe them to be sacred and certain Verities 4. The Succession of Bishops and Pastors is an other Evidence for it was their Office to read publickly the Scriptures of the New Testament and to preach the Doctrines contain'd in them and consequently to own them to be Truth which is a good Motive to us to do the same 5. The frequent Disputes which Christians in all Ages have held with those who opposed the Scripture and Christianity are no mean Testimony in this Cause 6. To these may be added the famous Writings of the Christians in the several Centuries their Apologies Dialogues Sermons Homilies Orations Commentaries Histories All which proclaim their serious and firm Belief of what they have convey'd down to us 7. All Christian Churches have deliver'd to us certain Symbols or Articles of Belief which they reckon'd to be the Standards of Evangelical Faith and Truth 8. The Constant Communion of the Church and the publick Worship of God in the solemn Assemblies of Christians ever since the days of the Apostles the setting apart a Day for that Worship the reading of the Scriptures at such times the instructing the People out of them the celebrating the Lord's Supper the constant custom of openly rehearsing and proâ—essing the Christian Belief the Prayers and Praises offer'd to God in the name of Christ the yearly Commemoration of the Birth Death and Resurrection of our Saviour the Sacrament of Baptism which acknowledgeth the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost 9. The sundry Decrees and Canons of Synods and Councils held in the Christian Churches Lastly the many Laws and Edicts of Christian Emperours and Princes in defence and confirmation of our most holy Religion These and all the rest before-named are clear Proofs and Evidences that the Evangelical Writings which contain the Doctrine and Actions of our blessed Lord were rightly and truly convey'd to us and that we are in possession of the same Faith and
right hand of God which is another effect of his Resurrection is expresly spoken of by the Psalmist Ps. 110. 1. The Lord said unto my Lord sit thou at my right hand until I make thy foes thy footstool which St. Peter takes notice was fulfilled Acts 2. 34. And indeed the Antient Rabbies generally interpreted the 110th Psalm of the Messias And that they had reason to do so is plain from Christs Question to the Pharisees Matth. 22. 43. How doth David in spirit call the Messias Lord which would have been frivolous and to no purpose if this Psalm were not to be understood of the Messias yea if it was not so understood by the Pharisees They might have denied that Hypothesis of his and have reproved him for misinterpreting the Psalmist's words But you see they were so far from doing so that they sneaked away in silence being not able to answer him a word ver 46. they knew full well that they were gravelled with our Saviour's Query and that that Psalm was one of the clearest Prophesies of the Messias and his Kingdom and Offices that is in all the Old Testament Thus all the remarkable Passages concerning our Saviour were foretold his Birth Life Doctrine Conversation Miracles Death Burial rising again and ascending into Glory and we cannot deny but that they were as punctually fulfill'd and thereby the Truth of Christianity is abundantly declared Many other Predictions concerning Christ might be mentioned as that first and most early one of all in Gen. 3. 15. The Seed of the Woman shall bruise the Serpents Head which in St. Iohn's Language is no other than this that the Son of God was to be manifested to destroy the works of the Devil 1 Ep. ch 3. v. 8. Afterwards that Message of the Angel to Abraham in Gen. 22. 18. was a Prediction concerning Christ in thy Seed shall all the Nations of the Earth be blessed which cannot be understood of any but the blessed Jesus who is a universal Blessing a Catholick Benefit to the World Of his coming Moses his words are to be understood Deut. 18. 15. The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee of thy Brethren like unto me unto him ye shall hearken There never appear'd any Prophet like unto Moses but Iesus the Messias the Parallel between which two Eusebius hath excellently shew'd in sixteen or seventeen particulars Yea Christ far exceeded Moses in all great and miraculous Actions as well as in his Doctrine This latter is spoken of in Isa. 2. 3. Out of Sion shall go forth the Law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem signifying that Christ was to change the Law of Moses as to many considerable things and to establish one which should be more excellent and more lasting That also is a most pregnant place Hag. 2. 7 8 9. I will shake all Nations and the desire of all Nations i. e. the Messias shall come and I will fill this House this second Temple with Glory saith the Lord of Hosts The Silver is mine and the Gold is mine saith the Lord of Hosts with these I could adorn and enrich the Temple but it shall be dignified with some greater thing viz. the appearing of the Messias in it upon this account the Glory of this latter House shall be greater than of the former saith the Lord of Hosts and in this place will I give Peace saith the Lord of Hosts Here it is plain that the Messias was to come before the second Temple of Ierusalem should be destroyed by the Romans for the second Temple is said to be more glorious than the first though in it self less glorious because Christ came into it in the days of his Flesh and honour'd it with his Presence If you look to the second Temple it self which was built by Zorâ—babel and afterwards adorned by Herod and compare it with the first Temple built by Solomon it was far less glorious than that It was not so rich and sumptuous a Fabrick and it wanted several things which were in the other as the Ark with the Mercy-seat and Cherubims the Holy Fire from Heaven the Sâ—ekinah or Presence of the Divine Majesty the Holy Ghost and the Vrim and Thummim Thus they are reckon'd up in the Talmâ—d tho others say some of these were not lost in the Captivity as the Ark and the sacred Fire but were preserv'd and were placed in the Temple aâ—terwards However granting this to be true the loss of those other things rendered this Temple much inferior to the former one Therefore for this reason alone it is that the Glory of the second Temple is greater than of the first viz. because of Christ's Presence there This is expresly mention'd by the Prophet Malachi the Lord whom you seek shall suddenly come to his Temple Mal. 3. 1. And further you may observe that it is said here the desire of all Nations i. e. Christ or the Messias shall come which denoteth this to us that the Messias came at that time when he was expected and desired by the Nations by both Iews and Gentiles and that was the very time when he was born as I shall shew afterwards Again those Prophesies are remarkable where the Branch is promised Thus the Prophet Isaiaâ— treating of Christ's Kingdom in the 4 th Chap. of his Prophesy hath these words In that Day shall the Branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious ver 2. Or you may read it the Branch the Lord i. e. the Branch who is the Lord Iehovah viz. the Messias who is God as well as Man Of him the same Prophet speaks again in chap. 11. ver 1. There shall come forth a Rod â—ut of the Stem of Jesse and a Branch shall grâ—w oâ—t of his Roots Which it is evident by the Character that follows can be meant of none but the Messias So likewise Iâ—râ—miah prophesying of the times of the Gospel speaks thus Behold the Days come saith the Lord that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch and a King shall reign and prosper and shall execute Iâ—dgment and Iustice in the Earth In his Days Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely and this is his Name whâ—râ—â—y he shall be call'd the Lord our Rigâ—teousness Jer. 23. 5 c. And with a little variation he repeateth the same in chap. 33. ver 15 16. which if you consult the Context in both places cannot be understood of any but Christ thâ— Lord. Nor can that of Zâ—chary be taken otherwise Beâ—old I will bring forth my Servant the Branch chap. 3. ver 8. And again chap. 6. ver 12 13. Behold the Man whose Name is 〈◊〉 Branch and he shall grow up or branch up out of his place and he shall build the Temple of the Lord even 〈◊〉 shall build the Temple of the Lord and he shall bear tâ—e Glory and he shall sit and rule upon his Throne c. which last Clause
Iews object Particularly the three Chaldâ—â— Paraphrasts expresly inserâ— the word Messias into the chief of those forecited Places which speak of Christ especially those that are dark and obscure are explain'd and plainly interpreted concerning that Messias who is our blessed Iesus In short then whatever the Scriptures of the Old Testament so long ago foretold concerning our Saviour are exactly verified and fulfilled and acknowledged to be so by the Iâ—ws which is an undeniable Argument that the Mâ—ssiaâ— is come and that Iesus was that Mâ—ssiaâ— But here the Iews come upon us with such Objectionâ— as these 1. The Messias was to be another kind of Person than what Jesus of Nazareth was he was to be a glorious Prince he was to come with Royal Majesty and Pomp. For he is frequently stiled a King in the Writings of the Prophets and particularly Zechary foretels that his Dominion shall 〈◊〉 frâ—m Sea to Sea and from the River even to thâ— ends of the Earth Zech. 9. 10. And some of the Iews confidently assert that the Messias shall marry and the Kings of the Earth shall give their Daughters to him Several Concubines he shall have and his Children shall succeed him in the Kingdom Health Wealth Prosperity external Glory and Felicity shall attend him But Jesus came not in this manner therefore he was not the Messias I answer as for the Character they frame of the Messias of being a great Secular King c. it is clearly against the Description of the Messias whose Humility and Sufferings we read prophesied of The Old Testament represents him as a Person despised rejected of men a man of Sorrows and acquainted with Grief c. he was indeed a King but he tells us that his Kingdom was not of this World it was a spiritual Dominion and Soveraignty which he came to erect he came to rule in the Hearts and Consciences of Men And thus his Kingdom reached even to the ends of the World the Gospel being preached and he being acknowledg'd in all places under Heaven But the Jews look only for a carnal Messias their thoughts run wholly on some great and successful Warrior some eminent Personage that atchieves mighty things in the World And therefore if we may give credit to a late Writer the Asian Iews were enclined to take Oliver Cromwel for the Messias and sent Messengers hither on purpose to enquire of his Extract and Lineage For he having done strange things at home and being dreaded abroad they thought he might be able to do them a kindness to deliver them from their Pressures and to restore them to their Land again If the Great Turk would do this and make them great and glorious some of them would be apt to take him for the Messias and all the Prophesies of the Old Testament should be brought to speak for him Tho the Jews are dispersed and are a forlorn People yet they nourish hopes of a Messias who will inable them to throw off their Rags and will bless them with Riches and Abundance and with the Confluence of all worldly Prosperity The antient Iâ—ws before Christ talk'd not after this rate But People are wont to wish for and fancy what they most want Their low Ebb and poor Estate make them promise themselves a Messiâ—â— who shall come with outward Pomp and Magnificence who shall be great and potent and prefer them to places of Honour and Profit But this is dreaming and therefore is a sufficient Confutation of it self 2. It is objected by the Jews that the Messias is not come because it is foretold that universal Peace shall be the fruit of his coming Isâ— 11. 6 c. Isa. 65. 25 c. but these things are not fulfilled Quarrels and Divisions have not left the World since Christ appeared yea rather they have been augmented therefore the Messias is not arrived I answer briefly first these Predictions were literally and historically fulfill'd at our Saviour's coming into the World for there was an Universal Peace at that time The Emperour Augustus under whom he was born had hush'd and still'd the Civil Wars and Commotions at home and all Nations abroad submitted to the Roman Empire Egypt became a Roman Province AEthiopia sued for Peace India enter'd into League with Caesar the Parthians trembled at him the Cantabrians Rhetians Pannonians Germans yielded to his Arms. When he had thus by Victory or Terror purchas'd Peace when all the World lay submissively at his Feet he shut up Ianus's Temple which was a sign of a general Repose and profound Peace and then the Prince of Peace came into the World Yea in those Countries which at that time were not under the Power of the Roman Empire all was quiet and still In Denmark and Norway and those other Northern Regions there were no Wars no Enemies appear'd And afterwards Tâ—rtullian appeals to the Râ—mans themselves in justification of this Truth that since the World hath been blessed with our Saviour's Arrival Wars and Slaughters have been very much allay'd With whom another Apologist agrees telling the Pagans that Wars and Hostilities were so far from being increas'd since Christ's coming that they were exceedingly diminish'd and suppress'd Thus the Prophesies were accomplished Secondly the Design of the Gospel which Christ and his Apostles preached was to introduce Peace The Christian Religion dictated no less and directed Men how to practise it Therefore observe the Reason adjoined to the Prophesy concerning Peace Isa. 11. 9. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy Mountain for thâ— Earth shall be full of the knowledg of the Lord as the Waters cover the Sea i. e. the knowledg of Christianity and the excellent Rules of it are in themselves subservient to Peace and Unity in their own nature they promote this Blessing in the World Thirdly the time shall come when this Promise shall be compleately fulfill'd Tho it is spoken of the time of the Messias yet it is not said that it shall presently be fulfilled and that in the heighth of it Christianity hath brought Peace into many Kingdoms and Countries and hath expell'd Wars thence This cannot be denied there is History enough to make it good which might be a sufficient answer to the Objection But moreover the Gospel of Christ in due time will have a greater and larger Effect and universal Peace Amity and Concord shall obtain in all the Churches of Christ as I shall prove when I come to treat of the last Dispensation 3. Whereas we have proved and the Iews themselves have confessed that according to the Prophesies of the Old Testament the Messias was to come before this time they reply in way of Objection that their Sins have hindred the Messias's coming at the time prefixed It is said in the Talmud the Messias shall reign two Thousand Years but because of oâ—r Sins tâ—ose Years are already past and Rabbi Elias is quoted for it In answer to which sorry Shift first
whether they will adhere to God or forsake him it is to make an experiment either of their Stedfastness or their Hypocrisy We have it from the mouth of our Blessed Saviour that there shall arise false Christs and false Prophets and shall shew great signs and wonders so great that if it were possible they shall deceive the very elect Mat. 24. 24. And St. Panl lets us know that the Man of sin the Son of perdition shall come with all power and signs and lying wonders which last words lying wonders seem to have a very large signification for as this may be one meaning of them that though the actions they shall do shall be real and true though the things shall be really done yet they are but lying wonders because thereby the Devil impoâ—â—th on Men and leads them into error and falshood or because these wonders are to attest a lye to maintain false and erroneous Doctrines so it is probable likewise they are call'd lying wonders because they are false and counterfeit and seeming only although they are pretended to be true Miracles So it is foretold in Rev. 13. 13 14. that the Grand Impostor of the last Times shall do great wonders so that he maketh Fire to come down from Heaven on the Earth in the sight of Men and deceiveth them that dwell in the Earth by the means of those Miracles or Signs which he hath power to do True Miracles cannot be wrought by Satan or his Instruments but he can do wonderful Things and lying Miracles and such are these here mentioned which false Prophets and Seducers are able to effect They either exceed not the course of Nature and are the Effects of natural Causes tho they be hid to us or else they are mere Cheats Deception of Sight and Delusions of the Senses and so they are only seeming Miracles and lying Wonders This is an undeniable Truth that tho Evil Spirits and wicked Men are permitted to do things prodigious and strange yet they cannot work true Miracles for a Miracle is something above yea contrary to the course of Nature Now God alone can alter this established Order This is proper to him only no Creature can effect it The Author of Nature can only change it He that first made all things of nothing can alter the Propriety of things Thus as the Psalmist speaketh God alone dâ—th greâ—â— Wonders Psal. 136. 4. Miracles are wrought by a divine Power wholly Having shew'd you what is the true Natural Miracles I am to prove that those Acts of our Saviour and his Apostles which we call Miracles are really such and are not counterfeit but true This is evident from what I have said already for those things which they did were above the power of Nature as healing all sorts of Diseases tho in themselves incurable feeding Thousands with a small Portion of Food and yet so that they carried away more than was first provided restoring People to Life after they were really dead and the like These things exceeded the Virtue of natural and created Agents and therefore must be acknowledg'd to be Divine and Heavenly and by consequence were true and proper Miracles But moreover I will prove that these Miracles of Christ and his Apostles were accompanied with such peculiar Circumstances as spake them to be of divine Original As 1. The simple and plain way of doing their Miracles is very remarkable Christ cured some by laying his Hands on them others by prayer and invoking of his Father others by a mere touch of his Hand as the Leper Mat. 8. 3. Others by their only touching the Hem of his Garmeâ—t were made perfectly whole Mat. 14. 36. Multitudes were cured of their Diseases with a bare word yea with a word he raised the Ruler of the Synagogue's Daughter only saying to her Maid arise Luke 8. 54. He cured a Noble Man's Son so likewise a Centurion 〈◊〉 Son at a distance Iohn 4. 46. Mat. 8. 5. which could not be with application of Medicines or using of any Means Other Methods he made use of sometimes as when a blind Man was to be cured he anointed his Eyes with Clay macerated with Spittle and also bid him wash in the Pool of Siloe The ten Lepers were not presently healed but he bid them repair to the Priests and as they went they found their Cure At the raising of Lazarus he shed Tears groaned in his Spirit and call'd him out of his Grave with a loud Voice But these and all his other Miracles were wrought without Formality and Ceremony without any superstitious Rites and Observances without either Natural or Artificial Applications which is a great Argument that they were true Miracles and no Impostures for these latter are always done with Ceremony and Pomp with strange words and as strange Gestures and Actions 2. The Miracles of Christ and his Apostles were not obscure but evident not done in a corner but in the open light and so if there had been any Cheat and Forgery in them they might have been observed and they would most certainly for Christ and his Apostles had subtil Enemies about them who were busy in prying into all the Circumstances of their Actions When Christ cured the Man that had had an Infirmity thirty eight Years it was at a publick Meeting at the great Feast Luke 4. 33. He dispossessed a Man of a Devil in the midst of the Synagogue Iohn 11. 45. The Man was cured of the Palsy before the Multitude Mat. 9. 8. the Widow's Son was restored to Life before much People Luke 7. 12 and most of his other Miracles were wrought publickly so that there were many Spectators and Observers of them And it is certain that among these neither Wit nor Malice were wanting to find out the Errors and Deceits if there were any Yet we know that the Miracles of Christ were published by the Evangelists especially St. Mattâ—â—w whilst yet the Persons were alive upon whom they were wrought and whilst innumerable Persons who were Witness of those things were surviving 3. Whereas one or two are said to have been cured in the Heatâ—en Temples and Impostors have been cried up for a few wonders they have done it is to be taken notice of and remembred that Christ cured vâ—ry many and the number of other Miracles which he did was exceeding great The Multitude of them is an argument of their Truth and Reality for it shews that it was not a thing by chance besides when so many Miracles were done there can be no suspition of doing them in a fraudulent manner for it had been easy at one time or other to discover it 4. Christs Miracles were not only many and various but often repeated and done several times over Both he and his Apostles did those extraordinary things daily and one Miracle was wrought by them to confirm another which gives us further Assurance that they were not counterfeit and false for then by frequent reiterating them
not of Human Race And further it is remarkable that this People endeavour'd in the Emperor Adrian's Reign to restore and reedifie their Temple but were forced to desist from it And afterwards when Iulian out of hatred to the Christians set them about that Work as they were laying the Foundation an Earthquake shatter'd all they had done and Fire flash'd out of the ground wherewith many thousands of the Iews were destroyed as is testified not only by several Christian Writers but by Ammianus Marcellinus who was a Heathen But by the way it may be observ'd when the Christians built a Temple in the same place they were not molested but finish'd it and made it the Patriarchal Seat and flourish'd five hundred years till the time that Ierusalem was taken by the Saracens This Iewish People now have neither Temple nor Priest Altar nor Sacrifice their Rites and Ceremonies are ceas'd their Tribes are confounded their Prophets are extinct they have no certain State or Commonwealth no Laws no Prince no Governor of their own they are scatter'd over the face of the whole Earth and are a despised and loathed People This cannot but be thought to be the just Iudgment of God upon them for their murdering of Christ. And there cannot be a more visible Evidence of the Truth of Christianity than this viz. the Destruction of the Iewish Poliâ—y and the miserable Dispersion of that People for these sixteen hundred years It was observ'd by the Enemies of the Iews heretofore how they prosper'd above all other People They are a certain sort of Men saith an Historian who tho they have been often diminished yet they have so increas'd that they have been too hard for the Power of the Roman Laws and they have almost arrived to the Confidence and Liberty of making Laws for the rest of the World But this singular Providence of God towards the Iews is long since changed and they have been through many Ages the remarkable Example of Divine Justice and Vengeance such as no Story can parallel Tully is not to be regarded when speaking of the Iews he saith That Nation doth sufficiently declare by its being conquered and made Tributary and by being reduced to the utmost Servitude how dear it was to the Gods He speaks this after his Pagan manner But Sulpitius Severus who was a better Judg of Religion and of the Issues of it speaking of the Destruction of Ierusalem by Titus and of the dispersion of the Iews thereupon gives us this Remark This last overthrow of the Temple and Captivity of the Iews whereby they are banished from their Country and are daily seen to be scatter'd over the whole Earth are a Testimony to the World that this Punishment hath befallen them for no other cause than for laying their wicked hands upon Christ for when at other times this People were deliver'd to Captivity for their Sins they never underwent that slavery beyond seventy Years But now these Persons who were the Dear Off-spring of those that were the Darlings of God Almighty the Beloved of the Lord his Chosen People his peculiar Charge and the singular Care of Heaven have been for sixteen Centuries forsaken of God and all Men and are the very Offscowring of the World This utter Extermination of the Iews is an unanswerable Argument against them and shews that they lie under the Curse of God for their rejecting the Saviour of the World and for putting to Death the Messias Two of their Rabbies seriously pondering this Argument urged upon them by Luther were convinced of their gross Error and Sin and were the day after baptized at Wittenberg in the face of the whole University And truly this must be said that the total dispersion of the Iews can never in all its Circumstances be reconciled with the Providence of God his Goodness Wisdom and Promises if they continue the People of God still and are in favour with him For can it be imagined that God would leave his Beloved People so long and wholly disown them Is it worthy of God and agreeable to his Wisdom and Mercy which are interested in the Salvation of Men to let the True Religion so they count Iudaism fall to the ground and be utterly abolished and to set up another a False one so they reckon Christianity to be in its place This is plain and convincing I think It is harsh and incredible that the God of Order and Righteousness should deal thus that he should cause this Confusion in the World and throw down and even break in pieces a Religion which is the only True one according to them It cannot enter into any Reasonable Mans mind that God would let his own Religion and People be thus confounded It is evident therefore that the Iewish Religion was but for a time and that the Christian Religion was to succeed that and that this is the True Religion likewise that God sent this severe Punishment on the Iews for their refusing of Christ the True and Only Messiah and for their Opposing and Persecuting and at last Crucifying this Holy One. Thus the Christian Religion is attested and vouched by the dreadful Plagues and Iudgments on the Persons and Nations that opposed it Vengeance hath pursued the Enemies of the Gospel Lastly from the Excellency of the Christian Religion and of all the Principles Doctrines and Truths that belong to it I gather the Reality and Certainty of it This is another Divine Testimony which might be enlarg'd upon Never was Holiness so strictly urged as now never was there an Institution that was so Heavenly and Sublime as this never was there any that directed Men to such Noble Ends and afforded them such Joys and Solaces Wherefore it cannot proceed from any but God A Religion that so immediately leads to him must needs come from him Since Christianity doth fit us for Heaven we have Reason to believe that it came from thence But because I had occasion to insist largely upon this Particular when I undertook to assert the Divine Authority of the Scriptures and afterwards when I demonstrated the Excellency and Perfection of them I will say no more of this last Argument of the Truth of Christianity And thus you see the firm Basis of it These arâ— the Testimonials to prove the Truth of our Religion and that it is a Dispensation different from all the rest These are the Proofs whereon we found this Oeconomy and there is no other evidence that a Reasonable Man can desire I say no other becausâ— here are all kinds of Evidience Christianity is proved by the Witness of credible Men and by the Attestation of God himself It is proved by Natural and Supernatural Arguments by Reason and by Faith We have the Certainty both of Human and Divine Testimony which may be call'd a Demonstration for a thing is demonstrated when it appears that there is an absolute Impossibility that the thing should not be thus
and when there is a Contradiction involved in the Matter otherwise So here is a Moral Impossibility that it should be otherwise take all things together and it is not possible but that it should be thus and the contrary implies a Contradiction to Sense Reason and Scripture I should now proceed to the last Thing I propounded to speak of viz. the Degrees of the Evangelical Dispensation but this bâ—ing the Administration which is peculiarly ours and wherein we are most concerned I will before I go any further offer such Rational Deductions to you as this part of our Discourse naturally affordeth 1. Assent to the Christian Religion Which is a very Reasonable Inference for Assent or Belief naturally follows on the Clearness of Evidence and the more Clear and Demonstrative the Evidence is the Firmer and Stronger will the Belief be For as the Testimony is such must this needs be and therefore if the former be not only Human but Divine and consequently be Infallible the latter must be proportionable What is Divine saith an Excellent Writer doth by its Excellency conciliate Belief and by its Truth gain Authority For this Reason no Art or Science can pretend to that Certainty which is in Divinity Politicks are fallible Philosophy goes upon contrary Hypotheses Medicks guess rather than know the inward Causes and Springs of Diseases The Lawyer hath his Ieofail Law it self is very Uncertain and Arbitrary if you consider the infinite Disagreement of divers Nations even about the same thing Yea even Mathematicks if we may believe those that best understand them are mixt with Uncertainties and Falshoods there are Fallacies and Paralogisms in Geometry all is not plain downright Demonstration as appears from the Quarrels and Contests among Mathematicians themselves But Divinity is truly a Science and surpasseth all others because the Ground of it is supernatural Light and the very Testimony of God himself Particularly the Articles of Christianity are founded on Divine Revelation and therefore are unquestionable The Doctrine of the Gospel is built on this Rock this Stable and Impregnable Rock The Foundation of God standeth sure it continues the same and cannot be moved Christian Theology is founded on a sure Bottom Christ Iesus the Son of God and who is himself God having fixed it Heaven and Earth shall pass away but this Word shall not pass away With relation to this Mr. Boyle's Treatise of the Excellency of Theology compared with Natural Philosophy is well worth our perusal That admirable Person so well skill'd in the Study of Physiologie shews the Preeminence of the Study of Divinity above it on this account that Theological Truths are evidenced by Divine Testimony and therefore we may firmly acquiesce in them and require no further or greater Proof as indeed there can be no greater tho as I have shew'd they are not destitute of other Evidences The Evangelical Truths especially are the True Theologie That of Plato and Aristotle and other Philosophers to which they were pleased to vouchsafe This Name being but a sorry and ill contrived Rhapsodie therefore the Christian Church gave the Title of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to St. Iohn because he above all the rest of the Evangelists so expresly â—â—clared the Divinity of the Son of God which is the Noblest and Sublimest Point of Christianity and is matter of pure Faith and Divine Revelation Be convinced then of the True Grounds of your Christian Belief of the solid Foundations and undeniable Evidences which Christianity is built upon Know this that God could not have done more for the begetting of a strong Faith and Assurance 2. Assert and defend maintain and hold fast your Religion and let nothing shake your Faith and Confidence Indeed it is a wonder that such strong Supporters of the Christian Religion should be struck at by any but so it is Hereticks Iews and Pagans of old and high-flown Enthusiasts Deists Atheists Lewd and Dissolute Christians of late have endeavour'd to shake these Foundations Be you therefore the more Zealous in the defence of Christianity knowing that it is no Shadow or Phantom it depends not on Imagination and Conceit but is certainly True beyond all the subtile evasions and subterfuges of Sophisters It is an Excellency in a Man's Life to be upon sure Grounds and consequently to know what to do You have this Advantage in the Christian Religion it being something which is certain and fixed and therefore this should make you constant in the Profession and Exercise of it this should make you steady in your Resolves and Actions Your Religion being so Firm and Certain you ought to stand to it and to suffer none to rob you of it but to part with all for it These are the two Particular Inferences from this last thing I have discoursed of viz. the Truth and Certainty of the Christian Religion There are more general Deductions to be made from the whole Dispensation and they are these 1. Let us take notice of and admire the transcendent Worth of the Christian Religion I have traced Religion through all its several Stages I have lâ—t you see the whole intire Progress of it and you cannot but observe that all the former Dispensations made way for this of Christianity It must then be a very admirable Thing to which all that went before in God's own Oeconomies was but a Prelude a Preface a Preparative All before were but rude Draughts and imperfect Models They were a Foil only to set this off they were but as the dusky Twi-light to the brighter Day All that went before was but Infancy and Childhood This is Manhood and full Age. This one Consideration is sufficient to convince us of the Greatness and Majesty of the Kingdom of Christ under the Gospel Tho the Law which immediately preceded it and was the choicest of all the former Dispensations had some Lustre in it yet in comparison of the Gospel it had none its Glory vanished as the Light of the Stars when the Sun appeareth They saw in a Glass darkly they had but short and dim Representations of things they had none of that Clearness and Certainty which we under the Gospel have attained to Notwithstanding what was said before that they had many Ways and Rules to judg of True Prophets by and to know them from False ones yet this must be added that it was very difficult Prophecy might be easily counterfeited Fancy and Imagination made strong Impressions and deceived many they frequently had delusive Dreams and Visions In most of the Differences between the True Prophetick Spirit and the Enthusiastick Impostures of Pseudo-Prophets as they are set down by the Iewish Writers I find little satisfaction nor can any one who looks for Rational and Solid Accounts But the Prophecies and Revelations under the Evangelical Dispensation are Satisfactory and Certain We have now a more sure Word of Prophecy The excellent Discoveries made to the World by the Sacred Oracles of the Gospel are
Plain Evident and Undeniable Let us then be sensible of the Goodness of our Condition and of the Eligibility of it before that of those who lived before this fulness of time came Whereas the Jewish and Gentile Religion were defective and corrupted and Ignorance and gross Mistakes had invaded Mens minds and the True Worship of God was enervated and destroy'd by Atheism and Superstition God was pleased to restore and new model Religion and to give Men a perfect and exact Rule whereby they might reform their Lives and be conducted to Blessedness And this is the Christian Institution which every way surpasses both Judaism and Philosophy it discovers the most absolute Worship of God and dictates the most accurate Precepts of Morality and directs us to the only Means of Salvation This is the sole Prerogative of Christianity and we owe it to the immediate Revelations and Disâ—overies made by God himself Most Men that stile themselves Christians know little or nothing of the Excellency and Preheminence of the Dispensation that bears that Name But let us endeavour to be of the Number of those who both understand and admire the superlative Excellency of the Christian Oeconomy which we are under 2. Let us not only understand and admire it but let this most Blessed Dispensation stir up our most thankful Resentments Behold with grateful minds how our Condition is unspeakably better than that of the Persons who lived under other Dispensations and particularly than that of the Iews who were under the Dispensation which was immediately before ours We have cause to thank the Merciful Lord of Heaven and Earth that our Lot is cast into such Times that we were reserved for this Best of Dispensations that we are blessed with a most Excellent and Worthy Religion a Religion that is in it self Reasonable and every ways adapted to our rectified Faculties and enlightened Minds a Religion that hath the most lively Principles to actuate and inform us the compâ—eatest Rules to guide and direct us and affords us the most effectual and powerful helps to Virtue and Godliness a Religion that holds forth the dreadfullest Punishments to deter us from Vice and assures us of the Highest Rewards to animate and as it were to bribe us to Virtue a Religion that comprehends in it all the Excellent Things which the most improved Philosophers talk'd of and innumerable more not to be parallel'd by any Model of Religion whatsoever a Religion that contains nothing in it but what is of great Moment and Importance and is admirably serviceable to the best and most advantageous Purposes Let us account it an unspeakable Mercy and Favour that we are the Disciples of so worthy and excellent an Institution Let us laâ—d the Divine Goodness that we have these Infallible Oracles to guide us that we are taught of God and that Iesus Christ is our Instructer This is sufficient to raise our Esteem and Value of this Dispensation By this we have the Advantage of all that went before us and this it self is the greatest Advantage For now the Word hath been made Flesh and hath pitch'd his Tabernacle on Earth and hath dwelt amongst us and all the Benefits and Privileges of his Coming are offered to us It seemed good to God to confer this singular Honour upon Vs We see Christ's Day and hear his Gospel we have the Completion of all the Mosaick Types and Representations and all the Prophecies and Promises are fulfill'd before our Eyes We cannot complain that our Religion is harsh and difficult like that of the Iews for all those troublesome Observances are removed and no burdensome Service no intolerable Homage is required of us Our Service is perfect Freedom wherefore we are engaged to stand fast in the Liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free Now since the Woman the Church is clothed with the Sun she hath the Moon the old Mosaick Laws and Ceremonies which shined with a faint and borrowed Light under her feet Let us disregard those old dark Types and Shadows in comparison of the clear Light of the Gospel and let us heartily bless God for so great and matchless a Mercy as the New Dispensation of Christ Jesus 3. I infer as the Meliority of our Condition so our greater Obligation to Holiness and strictness of Life Old things are pass'd away and behold all things are become New under the Gospel-Dispensaâ—tion Let not our Lives be the only exception to it Let the Manners of Christians speak the Transcendency of the Gospel above Philosophy Let us live better than the wisest Heathens in as much as our Rules of Living excel theirs Let it never be said that the Behaviour of Pagans outstript that of Christians and that the Gentile Religion made better Men than the Gospel doth It is true the Pagan Moralists spoke highly against Vice and always rhetoricated in their Declamations against it but the Business of Christians is to live those Great things which they discours'd of Let there be observed not only a great Elogium of Virtue in our Words and Professions but let us take care that all Men may read the Excellency of our Religion in our Lives and thereby discern plainly the vast difference that there is between a Christian and a Philosopher Let us urge it on our Minds and Consciences as our indispensible Concern to yield impartial Obedience to our Master's Commands and to govern our Lives by the unerring Rules which he hath given us Let us not bear the Noble Title of Christians without the true Badges of Christianity Let us not prophane this Name by acting contrary to it Either let us lay aside this glorious Character or do things worthy of it We have a Holy Religion therefore our Conversations should be so too Here our Saviour's words are to be remembred Vnless our Righteousness exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees of the most strict Pretenders to Judaism as well as Philosophy unless we live more Heavenly Lives and under a greater Sense of Religion we must not expect to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven we shall never attain to Happiness For the Gospel-Oeconomy requires greater strictness than that of the Law as well as of any other Dispensation because the Means of Grace and the Methods of Salvation are much more powerful now and we ought to find and feel that Power in us Let us then think speak and live as those who have such clear and plain Discoveries of God's Will such Divine and Heavenly Truths made known to us with a prospect of such glorious Things hereafter as may effectually encourage us to embrace those Truths and to frame our Actions according to them How shameful will it be that so admirable a Religion should produce nothing but empty Shews and Formalities fair Words and goodly Appearances that it should make us Christians only in Title and Profession and leave us worse than Infidels in our Manners Is our Religion the best why are not we
latter those that succeed And yet as it is in the growth of human Bodies tho the Strength and Stature of them be alter'd yet the same Nature and Persons remain in the mature Years that were before so it is here saith he Christianity is consolidated by Years it is enlarged by Time it is sublimed by Age but still it continues incorrupt and intire And afterwards cap. 29. It is â—itting saith he that the heavenly Philosophy for so he stiles the Christian Religion which was sowed in the Church by the primitive Fathers should afterwards grow up flourish and be cultivated by the Industry of their Sons that by process of time it should become more polish'd but yet that it should retain the same Plenitude Property and Integrity that it had as to its Substance at first Thus that excellent Writer And I was very glad to find my Notion of the last Time confirmed by a Person of so much Judgment and Sagacity and of so great Repute in the Christian Church The Sum of what he saith is that Christianity shall be improved by succession of Time and at last this Beauty shall receive its finishing stroke Now this I will endeavour to make good from Reason and Scripture It is reasonable to believe that there shall be a better State of Religion because this is founded on the constant Method of God in the World We find that it is his Way and Course to proceed in a gradual manner and that not only in the things of Nature as at the Creation of all ranks of Beings but in those of Religion as I have shew'd in the several Stages of it since it began Wherefore it is reasonable to conclude that it will be thus in Christianity that as it hath had already its different Steps Measures and Gradations so there is a greater yet to come and that it shall arrive to the heighth of its Glory in this World Again it is reasonable to believe that great things are to come because so little is done hitherto The unbelieving part of the World is very vast and large The greatest Kingdoms of the Earth are those of the Tartars the Indians the Chinoise the Persians the Turks all whâ—ch are Strangers to the Religion of Iesus Divide the World into three Parts and it will appear that two of them are inhabited even by profess'd Pagans Or if we divide it into six parts we shall find that five of them at this day know not Christ but are either Idolatrous Pagans which are the greatest number or Iews or Mahometans And of the sixth Part how few of those that outwardly make Profession of Christ have true Faith and deserve the Name of Christians Popery which can scarcely be reckon'd as a part of Christianity hath spread it self through the most flourishing Kingdoms in Eâ—rope and hath got footing in Asia and is not wholly a stranger in some parts of Africa and hath found its way even into America Among the Churches which disown Popery some of them are grosly ignorant erroneous and superstitious as the Muscovian Abyssine and Greek Churches generally And even among the Reformed Churches what Divisions and Dissentions what unchristian Feuds and Animosities are there What variety of Opinions is there amongst them How unsetled are they in their Notions and Apprehensions How little of the true Virtue of Religion and Power of Godâ—iness is to be observed among them How is the Satanical Kingdom kept up and maintain'd every where How industriously is it recruited and establish'd Whereas Christians should live better than all the World beside it is sad and deplorable that their Words and Actions bid deâ—iance to every thing which appertains to so Sacred and Honourable a Title They profess the best Religion in the World and do things that are the worst Some that bear this venerable Name are as wicked and proâ—ligate as any other sort of Men upon Earth the grosâ—est Enormities of Barbarians are acted by them It is too apparent a Truth that many who go under the Name of Christians conspire against the Religion which Christ hath set up in the World as well as Iews Turks and Pagans In fine look where you will and you will have cause to say how short is Christianity of its full Arcomplishment What slender effects are there of it in the Lives and Manners of Men How little Progress hath it made in so many Ages How narrow is its Kingdom How ineffectual are its Laws in most places Whence it is rational to infer that there must be some greater Work effected both in the Kingdoms of the World which have no notice of Christ and the the Christian Faith and also in that part of the World which is already Christian. A farther Oâ—câ—nomy or rather a farther Exaltation of this Evangelical Oeconomy which we are under is to be 〈…〉 hoped for We should be tempted to think 〈…〉 God 's Providence if there be no more to be done if Christianity attains not to a greater height than hitherto it hath It is a very surprizing and amazing Problem abstracting from the diâ—ine Destinies concerning it and the Predictions of it in the Holy Writings that 〈◊〉 Kingdom of Satan in all Ages of the World 〈…〉 greater numbers of Subjects than that of Christ. It â—â—ems very harsh and dismal that so many should perish that among Heatheâ—s Iews Mahomâ—tans and even Christians Satan should have such a Haâ—veâ—t But now this is soon answer'd by what I have suggested this which I oâ—fer is a very clear and eaâ—ie solution of the Difficulty for there will be moâ—e Saints in the space of the thousand Years whiâ—h I shall afterwards describe than there were wicked and impenitent Sinners in all the other thousâ—â—ds 〈…〉 preceded this Dispensation There will be such a 〈◊〉 of general Conversion and universal Sanctity through all the Regions of the World that the number of the saved shall at last surpass that of the damned This will plainly appear from what I shall propound in the sâ—quel of this Discourse and it will give us a fair and comfortable Idea of the Divine Philanthropy it will let us see that the Scales of Providence hang even it will clear up the dark Proceedings of Heaven and fully satisfie uâ— about the Wisdom of God in the Conduct of the World Another Argument that I shall make use of shall be from the gradual Improvement of all Arts and Sciences in the World It was well noted by one of the Antients and that with reference to the Dispensations of Religion that the commencement of Sciences is defective and imâ—â—rfect but by little and gradual Additions they come at last to their complete pitch Nothing is more observable than that Learning hath had its noble Accessions in the several successive Generations of Mankind Which was foretold by Seneca long ago who speaking of the Phâ—nomena of Comets and the like Philosophical Disquisitions prophetically utters these words The time shall come when
two thousand Years ago but this hath been proved to be false Antiquity and it is much like their having Writers among them antienter than Moses as Isaac Vossius reports If I should grant what some assert that the Chinois long ago knew the virtue of the Loadstone so far as it directed them to the North Point and that the Saracens receiv'd this Secret from them a very considerable while ago yet 't is certain that the Europeans came not to the knowledg of it till about three Centuries since and 't is as certain that by this excellent Invention Shipping and Navigation have been improved to a wonder and they were never so before in any Countrys of the World This Mystery was found out and managed and the Compass contrived by Flavio Goia of Amalphis in Naples about the Year of our Lord 1470. A most admirable Invention of great use and advantage to Mankind for hereby they are enabled to visit the spacious World and to be acquainted with the Customs and Manners of foreign Cnuntries and by that Means to furnish themselves with useful Observations for the cultivating their Minds the augmenting of Sciences and even making the whole Universe some ways serviceable to every particular part of it Hereby Trade and Commerce are infinitely increased all kind of Traffick and Merchandizing is advanced the Riches and Treasures of the most remote parts of the World are brought home to us and that Wealth which others knew not what to do with we convert to proper uses and benefit Mankind by it Yea Religion as well as Trade is promoted by this Art for hereby we not only come to be acquainted with God's Works over the whole face of the Earth which administers abundant matter of Praising and extolling the Divine Wisdom Goodness and Mercy but by the help of this Invention we have the Advantage of propagating the Gospel and spreading the saving Knowledg of the True God and of his Son Jesus Christ throughout the World The Improvement of Navigation may be serviceable to this great and excellent End yea we hope it is partly so already the New Voyages and Discoveries being a happy Introduction to the Conversion of the Gentiles By means of this Art a New World hath been the Invention of the latter Age for tho the Antients were not altogether ignorant that there was such a Country Westward as this witness the vast Isle Atlantis which the Egyptian Priests told King Solon of and that vast Island which the Phoenicians had some notice of on the West of Africa yet these were but faint Attempts and Essays The Discovery of the Western World to real purpose and the being actually acquainted with it and taking possession of it were reserv'd to be the Atchievement of these latter times and accordingly it was first discover'd in the Year of our Lord 1492. by Christopher Columbus a Native of the Republick of Genoua Tho to speak the exact Truth it was as De la Vega rightly informs us one Sanchez a Native of Helva in Spain that first found out those Regions He used to trade in a small Vessel from Spain to the Canaries but it happen'd that by a long and tedious Tempest he was driven upon those Western Countreys and at his Return he gave Colon or Columbus Information of what he had seen and died soon after he had done so of a Disease that he had got by his dangerous Voyage Afterwards A mericus Vesputius a Florentine made a farther Discovery A. D. 1497. and gave the Country the Name that it now bears Ferdinando Magellan found out the South Limits A. D. 1520. Drake and Candish added more Furbisher and Davis the East Side of it Willoughby and Burroughs made enquiry into the West And by the whole unspeakable Advantages have accrued to Mankind the World is made open and wide its State and Condition are well known Commerce and Traffick are increas'd Religion is propagated and the Name and Worship of Iesus are carried to those remote parts which knew nothing of them before Thus what hath been already found out is very wonderful and surprizing and we may hope to be acquainted in due time with what is more so we may expect daily to hear of great discoveries about that vast Continent towards the Antarctick Pole From Places I proceed to Things and here the modern Inventions are very considerable The first which I will take notice of is that of Gun-powder and Great Guns which tho some have thought was known in China 1500 Years ago and others have asserted that the City of the Oxidrakes in India was acquainted with it yet there is little ground for any such suggestions It is more probable that it was wholly a late Discovery and that the use of Gun-powder the Ingredients of which are Brimstone and pulveriz'd Charcoal from whence it takes fire and Salt-Petre whence come the force and noise was found out about 300 Years since by Barthold Swartz a German Monk Some have fancied that this is meant by Fire Smoke and Brimstone Rev. 9. 17. which is foretold to be used in the Turkish Armies for by the shooting of Gunpowder the Air is as it were set on fire and becomes of a Iacinth colour for that also is mention'd there by reason of the blew Smoke and at the same time the scent of Sulphur is smelt wherefore Fire-Guns and Pistols are thought to be meant and the place is to be understood concerning these latter times wherein that Invention hath been used And by the by here it might be observ'd that it is a kind of an Imitation of Thunder and that since the Invention of it the Nature of that Meteor which hath those two properties Light and Noise is easily explain'd as on the contrary an inquisitive Person hath well noted that one Reason why the Antients were so imperfect in the Doctrine of firy Meteors was their Ignorance of Gun-powder and Fire-works which best discover the Causes of many Phaenomena thereof Tho Gunpowder and Guns seem to be Instruments of greater Cruelty than those which were formerly used in War yet if we consider things aright we shall not find them to be so There are not so many kill'd in Battel since these were made use of as there were of old This you may know by the vast Numbers that were brought into the Field then and the Number of those that were â—lain was proportionable They went out to Battel with almost incredible Multitudes heretofore King Ieroboam brought eight hundred thousand chosen Men into the Field mighty Men of War 2 Chron. 13. 3. And King Abijah who fought with Ieroboam slew five hundred thousand of these Men ver 17. You read in no Story of such a â—laughter in one Field The Ethiopians brought a thousand Thousand against King Asa's Army 2 Chron. 14. 9. Iehoshaphat had eleven hundred and threescore thousand in Arms 2 Chron. 18. 14. Darius's Army which came to Battel in
the Ear. If I would go abroad and observe what hath been found out for the Use and Benefit of Mans Life I might take notice of that so Pleasant and Profitable Commodity of Sugar For whereas former Ages knew the use of Honey only as the Universal Sweetner there is now discover'd a more convenient one by which a great part of our Food is made more delicious and many things in Physick are prepar'd and by which the whole work of Confectioning is maintain'd It is true Pliny speaks of Sugar Saccharum as it was taken out of the Canes and saith it was used in Medicines but it was rare and in small quantities and in Galen's time it was scarcely known and then it was used raw and indigested and was unserviceable to many Purposes But at last this useful Condiment was Boyl'd and Bak'd Dried and Condens'd and made up as now we see it This is an Invention not above 200 Years old And the first Confectionerâ— or Comfit-maker in England was one Baltazar Zanches a Spaniard A. D. 1596. I might mention the many Ingenious and Artificial Contrivances about Planting Agriculture ordering of Bees Architecture Painting which last is in some respects much better and more exact than it was of old as Monsieâ—r Perault hath shew'd And in several other things the Moderns have made great and worthy Improvements and very considerable Additions to what was before But I will confine my self to some of the Arts and Sciences and briefly recount some of the Improvements which have been made in them To begin with Medicks unto which Anatomy belongs it is true Pliny tells us that the Egyptian Kings caused Dead Bodies to be cut up to find out the Situation and Structure of the Parts of Man's Body and the Causes of Diseases But another tells us that Hierophilus was the first that Diffected the Bodies oâ— Men he was Contemporary with Phalaris and practis'd this on Malefactors that were sent to him out of the Prisons Democritus of old used Dissections by the same token that he was thought by the Abderites to be made for doing so i. e. for cutting up Cats and Dogs But it doth not appear that he or Hippocrates or Galen or any of the Famed Physicians open'd Humane Bodies But we have of late ventured to search frequently into these as well as those of Brutes and from both we have found out several things worth our search The Circulation of the Blood may justly pass for a New Invention even the Discovery of this Age for though some and even a Physician too have thought that Solomon meant this by the Wheel as the Cistern Eccl. 12. 6. Though Plato in his Timaeus seems to have had some knowledge of this according to others and though a late Writer before mentioned affirms very confidently that the Chinese were no Strangers to it above 4000 Years ago yet we are not certain that the Wise Man's Words are to be understood with reference to this thing and Plato's Words can much less be understood so and that Relation concerning the People of China as well as their extravagant Computation is disbelieved by most of the Learned Or say that this was not first found out by Dr. Harvey yet if we consider that he was the Person who so plainly Illustrated this matter and set down the true way and method of it and clearly demonstrated how this Operation in the Body is perform'd and fully answer'd all the Arguments and Objections which were brought against it we may justly stile him the first Inventor of it Not to speak of the Infusion or Injection of Blood into the Veins of Animals first used by Dr. Wren which afterwards was advanced into Transfusion and first practised by Dr. Lower I might mention several New Passages and Conveyances in the Body lately found out as the Valuae of the Veins by Fabricius ab Aquapendente the Lymphatick Vessels by Bartholine the Lacteal Veins dispers'd through the Mesentery by Asellius the Common Receptacle of the Chyle fastned to the Vertebrâ— of the Back a little above the Reins and the Lacteal Veins of the Breast or the Ductus Thoracicus which go from the Receptaculum to the Subclavian Veins found out by Pecquet Glisson hath nobly search'd into the Liver Wharton into the Glandules Willis hath discover'd several things in the Brain And what plenty of useful Inventions do we meet with in the Writings of Sylvius Bilsius De Graeff Diemerbroek Malpighius Vesâ—ingius Densingius Steno Highmore c. Indeed Physick and Anatomy have had the greatest Improvements of late of any Faculty whatsoever Medicks are exceedingly Cultivated the Nature of Diseases is more narrowly enquired into and understood the Signs and Symptoms of them are daily more manifested and the Therapeutick part is infinitely more inlarged and advanced by a mixing of Galenical and Chymical Medicines by the vast variety of Observations and Experiments and by the Skill and Sagacity of those that have lately labour'd in that Art so that this Age is grown Famous for Great and Wonderful Cures and the Health and Long Life of Man are marvellously promoted In Astronomy there are New Discoveries also The late Ages have been more knowing in the Heavens than those that went before Now we are acquainted with the Suns Spots i. e. the Filth and Scum which it sometimes contracts the Mountains and Shadows of the Moon the Lunulae or Satellites of Iupiter mutually Eclipsing one another and the Ansulae Saturni So that whereas heretofore there were but Seven Planets known now Six more are added 4. about Iupiter and 2. about Saturn We have found Mercury and Venus to be Horn'd and to be subject to the other Aspects of the Moon The Stars are grown into Suns in our Days for there are as many Suns as Fixed Lights and there is on difference between these and that Luminous Body which we call the Sun but that they are further off from us than this There are New Hypotheses of the Heavens and the Earth and of the Rest and Motion of either which if they be not adjusted to exact Truth yet serve to illustrate and better set forth the Doctrine of the Celestial Bodies and their various Phaenomena and thereby to lead us to admire the Wonders of the Creation and to extol and praise the Great and All-wise Contriver of this Mundane Fabrick Nor is Astronomy yet come to its Zenith to its Meridian We on good Grounds expect that by the benefit of the Optick Tubes and Telescopes which are every day growing more perfect we shall penetrate farther into the Nature of the Heavenly Bodies and have a more compleat insight into them And it is not to be doubted that we shall in time have a more correct Account of the Suns Course and consequently a Reformation of the Calender and then that Complaint will cease that the present Computation is not exactly agreeable to the Natural Motion of the Sun or Earth Arithmetick is mightily
as to the Knowledge of the Arts and Sciences but is still impregnating and is still teeming with them And shall we think that as to Religion only there is a Decay There is no Ground for such a Surmise Shall Divinity which is the great Art of Arts remain unimproved Shall we think that all Knowledge but that which is the best of all increases and prospers No we can prove the contrary and thence entertain Hopes of greater Increases yet to come The First Christians as hath been observed did not understand some Parts of their Religion and the Nature of it so well as they did afterwards or so well as it shall be understood They were not exact in Points but Lived better than now The Ancient Writers such as Clement of Alexandria Origen Athanasius Ierom Augustin Chrysostom Hilary Ambrose Theodoret Theophylact and the rest have done excellently towards the explaining of the Holy Scriptures but the Moderns especially since the Reformation have wonderfully added to them And yet the greatest Harvest of Truth is yet to come not for discovering any New Doctrines but for explaining the Old ones and penetrating further into difficult Places of Scripture Who sees not what a vast difference there is between these and the former Times in point of Divine Knowledge How little was there of it heretofore among those who ought to have had a large Stock of it I mean the Clergy whose Ignorance in the Holy Scriptures and in the Doctrines of Christian Theology was scandalous and even ridiculous Indeed some of them were versed in School-Divinity but this was for the most part so far from making them more knowing in the Useful and Practical Doctrines of Christianity that it rather darkned and confounded them In the former Days of Popery Hebrew and Greek the Languages in which the Bible was wrote were meer unintelligible Jargon to the Generality of Church-men And as for the People their Ignorance and Blindness were yet grosser and they were not suffered to make any Enquiry into Religion Then that Politick Maxim prevail'd Keep Men in Ignorance and thereby enslave them It was an unpardonable Crime for Men to think their own Thoughts much more to speak or write them Ramus having published some new Notions of Logick and particularly against Aristotle who was at that time in great Credit was murder'd among the Calvinists in the Parisian Massacre The poor Man was a Martyr for Logick it is no wonder then that so many were for Divinity There was no liberty for Scruples in those peremptory Times for the Roman Doctors cut out Mens Belief and then forced it upon them A strange kind of Casuists that solv'd all Controversies in Religion as Alexander did the Gordian-Knot by the Sword by meer Violence Thus Mens Souls and Bodies were injur'd the former were blinded the latter enslaved They might be truly said to be bound in Chains of Darkness But we by the Divine Blessing are free'd from that Ignorance and Bondage which we owe to the Reformation whereby that Darkness was dispell'd and that Vassallage removed And now we are no longer tied up in the dark we both see and walk and we daily make progress in Divine Learning An undeniable eviction of which are the Discourses and Writings of those of the Reformed Churches especially of Divines for from these we may gather the vast Improvements in Sacred Knowledge They generally argue with close Reason they talk great Sense they shew a deep Insight into the Inspired Writings they cloath their Matter with fit Words they use an intelligible and easy Method they are happy in applying of Divine Truths in brief their Notions are amended and all the important Doctrines of Christianity are more plainly and clearly delivered than before And the Peoples Knowledge is proportionable they hear with Judgment they discourse with Understanding they try the Spirits whether they be of God they are able to confute Gain-sayers In the Countries where Protestantism hath taken good Footing there is scarce any difference between the Clergy and Laity in the knowledge of the Chief and Practical Points of our most Holy Religion These are understood by the inferior and most ordinary People as well as by Gentlemen Mâ—rchants and Tradesmen yea the other Sex study read and discourse of them Thus humane Minds are enlightned and enfranchised The Elastick Power is restored to them they act without Restraint and fill the Earth with Knowledge and Truth Judge now whether the World grows old and decays and is sunk into a degenerate Posture Say rather that it is much amended and is like to be improved yet further in future Times For from what hath been already we may infer what shall be afterwards We see Divine Knowledge and Learning have been continually in the Increase allowing only for some Interruptions that were violent and lasted not long and yet we are sensible they are not come to the Full whence therefore we reasonably conclude that there are to be farther and greater Augmentations in succeeding Ages And where the Knowledge of Divine Things prevails there Religion will get sure Footing and Vertue and Piety will be powerfully advanced and the Church edified and inlarged These are the Grounds I lay of that Expectation which I have of a more compleat and improved State of the Christian Church here on Earth before the Conclusion of all Things But because our Thoughts and Reasonings concerning this matter may be shallow and vain or too daring and presumptuous I will build my Hopes and Belief of that more perfect State of Christianity on the Testimony of the Holy Scriptures I grant that some are too forward to press Texts to this purpose they are wont to alledge several Plâ—ces in the Old and New Testament which have nâ— relation to this Matter Especially those that 〈◊〉 for Christ's Personal Reign on Earth quote 〈◊〉 out of every Book of the Bible several Passages which they interpret in Favour of their Opinion Whereever they find the Word King or Kingdom if they respect the Messias and the Times of the Gospel they presently snatch at them and apply them this way in the mean time over-looking the Kingdom of Christ which hath been all this while under the Gospel and is spoken and prophesied of so often in the Sacred Writings But though they are to be blamed for this that they strive to make all Scriptures speak their Opinion and accordingly force them to do it yet it is most certain and undeniâ—â—le that this Future State which I am now speaking of is foretold in many Places of Scripture in plain and intelligible Terms and particularly in some of those Places where Christ is mentioned as a King and his Administration under the Gospel is called a Kingdom But first I will produce some other Texts where this New and Last Dispensation is spoken of It is probable that this is meant by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mat. 24. 3. thâ— Consummation or End of the Age i. e.
of this Age or Dispensation we are now under for this is the proper Signification of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And accordingly in this Chapter is foretold by our Saviour what shall happen in the End or Conclusion of this Dispensation and what are the Signs and Forerunners of the following Scene of Things in this World as well as of the Day of Judgment in the close of it Some think this is meant by the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mat. 19. 28. for they join this Word with those that immediately follow When the Son of Man shall sit on the Throne of his Glory and read the whole thus Those who have followed me i. e. all Persons who are true Christians and Followers of me shall in the Regeneration when the Son of Man shall fit on the Throne of his Glory fit also upon Twelve Thrones This shall happen in that last and blessed Dispensation of Christianity which is fitly called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it was used by the Ancient Philosophers both Platonists and Stoicks to signify the Renovation of all Things their happy Restitution to their former State In this Time of the Regeneration or Restauration of the World Christ properly Reigns here on Earth shewing vengeance on his Enemies and rewarding his sincere Followers as you read in the next Verse Every one that hath forsaken Houses or Brethren or Sisters or Father or Mother or Wife or Children or Lands for my Name 's sake shall receive a hundred-fold viz. in this present Time as 't is expounded in Luke 18. 30. the parallel Place to it Which implies that the former Passage relates to Christ's Reigning upon Earth or sitting on the Throne of his Glory in this World But I confess there are some Things that occur in the Context and in another parallel Text Mark 10. 30. which may induce us to think that these Words are not absolutely meant of the matter now before us and therefore I will not urge them But the Times of the Restitution of all Things Acts 3. 21. seem to look this way for we may observe that the Times in the plural denote several Ages and Successions of Time and so may be well applied to the Millennium And moreover it is remarkable that in those Days there shall be a Restitution of all Things not only of all Persons but of all Things there shall be an universal Restauration of the World a blessed Change in the whole Creation which must needs point to that Time which I am speaking of and not to the Day of Judgment as some would have it But it will be Objected that 't is said here the Heaven must Receive Christ until those Times therefore it must be meant of the Last Day The Answer in brief is That the meaning of the Place is that Christ shall not return until those Times of Restitution be come and perfected till there be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an universal total and compleat Restoring of the World and then soon after this follows the Final Judgment This is included in that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Revelation or Manifestation as our English Translators render it of the Sons of God which the Creature earnestly expects longing and groaning to be delivered from the Bondage of Corruption into the Glorious Liberty of the Children of God Rom. 8. 19 20. If you take 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Creature for the Gentile World as Dr. Hammond and some others do it may be fitly applied to the present purpose For according to what God hath determined and in the Scriptures foretold concerning their future Conversion of which I shall speak anon they may be said to expect and have been long expecting this joyful Revelation they earnestly look for the Manifestation of the Sons of God viz. when they and all other Infidels shall be converted to the Faith and thereby become the Sons of God or when the Iews particularly who were originally the Children of God shall embrace the Gospel But we may take the Word in a larger Sense for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Creature sometimes signifies Man or Mankind in the Sacred Style and so I apprehend it is to be understood in Mark 16. 15. Preach the Gospel to every Creature i. e. to every Rational Creature viz. Men. And so in the Talmud and other Rabbinical Writings the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Creature is as much as Man But there is yet a more comprehensive Sense of the Word for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here may be the same with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the whole Creation ver 22. of this Chapter the whole created System of the World and every Thing in it and so by the eâ—rnest Expectation of the Creature or the Creation we may understand the fervent Longing not only of all Mankind but of the whole Stock of created Beings They all in their Way and according to their Capacity long and groan for the last Welcome Dispensation which is fitly call'd by the Apostle a Deliverance from the â—ondage of Corruption i. e. from the Slavery of Sin by reason of which every Creature is in some sort enslaved The whole Frame of the Creation groans and travaileth in Pain they are as it were in Pangs of Child-birth which is a frequent Similitude in the Holy Scriptures ready to bring forth impatient of being delivered This is appositely call'd here the Adoption v. 23. because it is accompanied with Freedom And it is styled the Redemption of our Body i. e. it is as it were a Releasing us from Captivity a perfect Deliverance from all Servitude and Misery There could not be a more congruous Expression to set forth that Dispensation which I am now treating of as will appear from the particular Account which I shall speedily give you of it It is no improbable thought that this is meant by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the World to come Heb. 2. 5. whereof saith the Apostle we speak viz. in that Chapter where he speaks of Christ's Kingdom and in Chap. 6. ver 5. where it is call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Age to come that particular Age of the World when Christ and his Apostles appear'd or more generally that Time wheâ— the Gospel was preached And I have observed before that this manner of speaking is borrowed from the Style of the Iews who were wont to call the Time of the Messias Gnolam habba the World or Age to come But as these are general Terms to signify the Time of the Messias so they are taken in a more restrained Sense for the last and concluding Part of this Time viz. when Christianity shall be at its Heighth That properly and peculiarly is this World to come that particular State of the Gospel when all Persons Jews Gentiles and Infidels shall imbrace the Christian Religion when all the Nations and Kingdoms of the World shall become the Kingdoms of Christ. This New Evangelical World this New Kingdom of the Gospel is likewise
that Person and against the Faithful Christians who shall then expect his Reign And here the final Overthrow and Slaughter of these Adversaries of the Church are plainly foretold and particularly described with which is immediately join'd the Gathering of Israel i. e. the perfect restoring of that Nation And the next Thing is The Vision of the Temple which after all the various Conjectures of Papists and Protestants must needs be meant of this State of the Church which I am speaking of otherwise you can make nothing of that strange Draught of the Temple What I have thus briefly hinted is largely set forth in the Prophecy it self which is worth the Reader 's Perusal And I doâ—bt not but after he hath well consider'd it he will come to this Issue namely That this Prophecy hath not yet been fulfilled and therefore it shall be in Time and that Time is the Period I am now treating of If you say That by Gog and Magog are meant the Syrian Armies which plagued the Iews of which the Books of Maccabees give us a particular Account I reply That though we grant this yet those who I have named may be meant here also For I have in another Place proved that there is a Double Literal and even Historical Sense in some Places of the Bible And so there is here I doubt not and I shall afterwards shew That the Turks have a good Claim to the Names of Gog and Magog Again the Turks Rise was foretold in Rev. 9. 14 c. So their Ruin and Downfal are mention'd in the same Book 16. Chap. 12. v. The Vial is poured out upon the great River Euphrates i. e. the People inhabiting there the Turks who dwell in that part of the World on the River Euphrates The Water thereof was dried up i. e. the Turkish Power and Dominion are impair'd That the Way of the Kings of the Earth might be prepared i. e. that some Great and Eminent Persons may be converted and come over to the Christian Church Then in general we find Seducers and False Prophets threatened in Scripture with Ruin and shall we not think That that Vile Miscreant who gloried in the Title of Prophet and is signally so styled by those that adhere to his Principles and Laws wherewith he hath bewitched so great a part of the World shall we not think I say that that Grand Impostor is concern'd Can we imagine or suppose that the Vengeance of God which is threatened against Seducers and False Teachers reaches not to him And when we consider what a great deal of Mischief this Mahometan Sect hath wrought in the World and what vast Regions of the Earth it hath possessed we shall easily be inclined to believe that when Christ's Kingdom is set up and Christianity is come to its Perfection the World shall be cleared of this Spreading Pest. As for the Fall of the Roman Antichrist it is in express Words foretold in many Places of Scripture Out of the Old Testament I will mention only that Famous Prophecy of Daniel concerning the Fall of Rome and the Reign of Christ for both these go together 7. Dan. 19 20 c. to the end of the Chapter I have else-where commented upon it but now I shall only make use only of that part of it which is to our present Purpose How natural is the Character of the other Horn which arises out of the Fourth Beast i. e. the Fourth Kingdom or Empire upon Earth appliable to Papal Rome For it is said It shall subdue Three Kings i. e. the Greek Emperour whose Jurisdiction reach'd to Italy and the Kingdom of Lombardy and the German Emperours who had Dominion in Italy It is further said This Horn had a Mouth that spake very great Things v. 20. and more particularly in the 25 v. He shall speak great Words against the most High and shall wear out the Saints of the most High and think to change Times and Laws And the same Horn made war with the Saints and prevail'd against them v. 21. which by the most judicious Protestant Writers is applied to the Papacy But now hear the Doom of this Great Speaker and Warrior The Iudgment shall sit and they shall take away his Dominion to consume and to destroy it unto the End And 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 whose Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom and all Dominions shall serve and obey him v. 26 27. Which is answerable to what was said in v. 14. concerning the Coming and the Kingdom of the Son of Man i. e. Christ who frequently styles himself so If you consider these Things with many more in this Chapter you cannot apply them either to the Kingdom of the Seleucidae or Antiochus or Mahomet and his Empire But you must necessarily understand them of the Roman Power and especially that which is Papal and you cannot but see that they are a lively Description of that Bloody Dominion and of the Downfal of it and of the Reign of Christ which shall immediately succeed it that is of the Flourishing State of the Christian Church in a more Glorious Manner than ever Thus the most Eminent and Learned Expositors who are not Friends to the Roman See interpret this Prophecy but none hath comprised the Sense and Import of it in so few but full Words as that Reverend Prelate of our Church The Seventh Chapter of Daniel saith he points at a State of Christ's Church which is not yet come and when it doth come will be with a Vengeance to the Roman Church Whose present State will be utterly overturn'd to make way for the sâ—tting up of Christ's Universal and Everlasting Kingdom which is to be erected when the Mystery of God is finished Rev. 10. 7. 12. 15. and that cannot be till Babylon i. e. Rome be thrown down Rev. 18. 2. 19. 1 2 6. And we are so far from thinking this Kingdom will be Invisible that we believe it will be the most Illustrious Appearance that ever was of Christian Truth Righteousness Charity and Peace among Men. In the New Testament likewise this is signally foretold St. Paul who was blessed with extraordinary Revelations concerning future Things acquaints us That the Reign of Christ which he calls his Coming shall begin with the Ruin and Desolation of the Antichrist of Rome for every unprejudiced and impartial Man must confess that the Second Chapter of the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians speaks of Him and that the Man of Sin and that wicked One whom the Lord will consume and destroy is no other than He. It is very strange to see how Grotius bestirs himself and uses all Artifices imaginable to perswade the Reader that the Papal Power is not meant here He is forced to say that this Second Epistle to the Thessalonians was writ before the First and several such
Keturaâ— should at last contribute towards the making up the Great and Entire Body of Converted Gentiles And Iacob's Prophecy concerning Ephraim looks this way His Seed shall become the Fulness of the Gentiles Gen. 48. 19. For the Word Gojim is most properly applied to the Gentiles not to the Iews And Our Translation is short when we render the other Word a Multitude for the proper import of it is Plenitudo Fulness Now when it was foretold that Ephraim's Seed should be the Fulness of the Gentiles the meaning is that from Ephraim shall proceed Innumerable Nations who shall imbrace the Gospel and so fill up the Conversion of the Gentiles To this Prophecy appertains Psal â— 8. Ask of me and I shall give thee the Heathen for thine Inheritance and the uttermost Parts of the Earth for thy Possession The great and wonderful Access of the Gentiles to the Church of Christ from all Regions of the World is plainly predicted in Isa. 49. 5 c. 54. 1 c. 60. 1. to 15. v. 66. 19 c. The Places are so well known that there is no need of reciting them And in several other Prophets there are the like Predictions To which questionless our Saviour referr'd when he told the Iews that such and such Things should beâ—al them until the Times of the Gentiles be fulfilled 21. Luk. 24 until the full Time come when the Gentiles shall be universally called into the Church Of this our Lord speaks Joh 10. 16. Other Sheep from among the Gentiles I have which are not of this Fold of the Jewish Church them also I must bring and they shall hear my Voice they shall be Converted and become obedient Christians and there shall be one Fold one Church agreeing in the same Faith and Worship and Religious Practice and one Shepâ—erd they shall acknowledge me to be their Head and Pastor As it had been foretold concerning the Times of the Gospel this last Time especially They shall all have one Shepherd Ezek. 37. 24. they shall be united into one Body under one and the same Head And it may be that which he saith to the Church of Thyatira is to be interpreted of This He that overcometh and keepeth my Works unto the end to him will I give Power over the Nations and I will give him the Morning-Star Rev. 2. 26 28. The most Easy and Natural Sense of which Words is this That he that is Faithful to the end shall be honoured with the Conversion of Eastern Nations I will give him those Heathen People where the Morning-Star ariseth I will give him the Conversion of Those as the Reward of his Faithfulness A Future Calling of the Pagans may be expected at length as the Recompence of Overcoming and of Keeping my Works unto the end But supposing say some that this and other Texts of Scripture before mention'd speak of the Conversion of the Gentiles yet these Prophecies were all Fulfill'd in the Days of the Apostles when they went out to preach the Gospel to all Nations and so they have no reference to that Conversion of the Gentiles which I am speaking of But to this I answer That the Prophecies of the Conversion of the Gentiles were not fulfilled in those Times for though many Pagans were Converted in the Days of the Apostles yet that Conversion was not General Those Persons who were then Called were but the First-fruits of the Whole and Compleat Calling of the Pagans to Christianity which is to be a little before the Conversion of the Iews To this purpose the Apostle of the Gentiles is very clear in Rom. 11. 25 26. I would not Brethren that ye should be ignorant of this Mystery that Blindness in part is happen'd to Israel until the Fulness of the Gentiles be come in and so all Israel shall be saved The Blindness of the Iews and the Salvation of the Gentiles are here called by St. Paul a Mystery And in this he intimates that those he wrote to did not know and comprehend the Design of God in this Matter Wherefore he unfolds this Mystery this Great Secret of Providence to them acquainting them that God took occasion from this strange Event to communicate the Gospel to the Gentiles and to convert them to the Faith and then by the Calling of these the Iews should afterwards be provoked to believe and to accept of the Gospel and so they should all be saved But whether this be spoken of a General Conversion towards the end of the World or only of the Great Numbers converted by Christ and his Apostles at the â—irst preaching of the Gospel as some are of Opinion is now to be considered I conceive then that there is a Twofold Calling or Conversion of the Gentiles a Partial and a Total one The first was when the Iews were rejected viz. in the Time of our Saviour and the Apostles then the Gentiles were called in to supply their room This is said to be the Salvation which is come to the Gentiles ver 11. of this Chapter and the Reconciling of the World v. 15. But there is a second Calling of The Gentiles and that is named here the Fulness of the Gentiles which is something that is Greater and Higher than the other for it denotes a compleat Body of them This is set forth in the Parable of the Great Supper 14. Luke where the Iews were those that were â—idden But upon their Refusal of the Invitation the Servants are commande to go into the Streets and Lanes of the City and bring in the Poor Maimed Halt and Blind These are the Gentiles that in the Apostles Times and ever since have been converted to the Christian Faith But after this is done it is said Yet there is room viz. for more Converts to Christianity and accordingly the Servant is bid to go out into the High-ways and Hedges and compel them to come in that the House might be filled Here is a plain Distinction between the former and the latter Conversion of the Gentiles After the first Invitation and Entertainment there was more room which intimates in my Opinion a future Calling of them And they are to be fetched out of the High-ways and Hedges to shew that though they be never so Mean and Unworthy they shall Partake of this Grace which shall be so Powerful and Effectual in those Days that they shall seem to be forced and compelled to come in And what follows is very observable and much to our present purpose they are thus compell'd to come in to the Great Supper of the Lord that his House may be filled that the Church may be Compleated and made Entire which it could not be without the Conversion of these Gentiles at last Many were converted before but now there shall be a General Imbracing of the Faith All Nations shall come to the Messias And there is another great Difference between that first Calling and this viz. That the General Calling of the Iews which
Heaven that I can't be induced to think that we shall have it here on Earth Those High-fliers who represent the Millennary State as such lash out too far and remember not that our Heaven is not to be here The binding of Satan which is spoken of is not such a Binding as if the Devils were all shut up and none of them had the least Liberty to solicite and entice us to Sin I observe that it was the Chief of these Infernal Spirits that was bound by the Angel Rev. 20. 1. which I gather from the several Names that are here given him viz. the Dragon that old Serpent who is the Devil and Satan which are heap'd up on purpose to distinguish this Arch-Daemon from the rest This is that very Apostate Ghost it is probable who wrought the First Mischief in the World the Fall of the First Man and Woman by assuming the Shape of a Serpent or rather by entring into and acting a Real Serpent whence he is called here the old Serpent He being the Subtilest and most Malicious of all the Diabolical Crew is bound and cast into the bottomless Pit and shut up and a Seal is set upon him that he should deceive the Nations no more He who was the Head and Ring-leader of the rest and by whose order they generally acted is secured and thereupon their Power is extremely abated though they are not chain'd up in the same manner that He is It is not likely that they forget their old Employment but they do what they can in it though it be but little They shall not be totally absolutely and fully bound till the Last Day and therefore they will not cease to tempt and deceive Men till that time but they shall be Restrained in a very great Measure and Degree However if we suppose the whole Body of Evil Angels so confin'd that they are utterly uncapable of Tempting yet as long as Men are on this side of Heaven Corruptions will adhere to them The Best will Sin to the Worlds end because they are a Compound of Flesh and Spirit Their Make and Frame being such there can be no intire Freedom from Sin in this Life But this high Degree of the Evangelical State shall set them at as great a Distance from it as they can be capable of in this lower Region of the World For First in that happy Restauration Men shall be Blessed with a greater Knowledge than ever which is the Ground-work of true Holiness The Inspired Prophets who speak of those Days assure us That the Earth shall be full of the Knowledge of the Lord as the Waters cover the Sea Isa. 11. 9. And perhaps this is intended in Isa. 65. 20. The Child shall die an Hundred Years Old i. e. all Persons shall grow up to maturity of Understanding even before they have attain'd to any considerable Number of Years The Children shall have such Knowledge that if they die in their Childhood they shall be as Knowing as some of those heretofore that were very Old that lived an Hundred Years This is the Privilege of those that are reserved for the New Heavens and the New Earth or the New-created Ierusalem which the Prophet speaks of there as we learn from ver 17 18. There will be more Knowledge because there will be a more General Commerce according to that of Daniel who prophesied concerning these Times Many shall run to and fro and Knowledge shall be increased Dan. 12. 4. viz. by that free and peaceable Travelling by Sea and Land from one Part of the World to the other which will be the uninterrupted Privilege of those Days For I am not inclined to submit to that New Hypothesis That the Earth in the Millennium will be without a Sea Which is founded on a wrong Bottom for the supposes the 〈◊〉 will be after the Conâ—â—agration which â—e imagines will burn up the Sea or his Comet which he fansies will drink it up For according to this Gentleman 's New Philosophy as a Comet procured the Universal Flood so it will bring on the Final Conflagration and so he makes the Drowning of the World and the Burning of it up to be from the same Cause But leaving this Theorist to his own Inventions I think we may rationally assert that the Eâ—rth shall not be destitute of Sea in the foresaid Thousand Years because I shall prove afterwards that the Firing of the Earth will not happen till after those Years be expired And consequently we may be perswaded of the Truth of what I before suggested that a Commerce by Sea as well as by Land shall be mightily increased and improved in that Millennary State In order to this it is probable that there will be a Common Language for all the World a kind of a Lingua Franca but much larger that may be used by all whereby all Nations will be enabled to hold correspondence with one another at the greatest Distance Travelling is uneasy now because we must have a Druggerman to interpret between us and the Foreigners we converse with but then they will be incourag'd to visit one another when the Conversation between them is become so easy By this means the great Principles of Christianity will be soon propagated and known in the World especially when I add that now Mens Minds shall be better disposed than ever to understand the Truth and to entertain the Doctrine of Iesus The true Notions of Things shall bear sway and Men shall not take Pains to Cheat and Delude themselves as well as others as hath been their constant Course through all Ages Secondly in this remarkable Renovation of the World which we expect Religion shall appear in its Native Purity and Simplicity and Men shall see and understand the Real Worth of it Indeed Religion like the Sun at its first Rising made long Shadows it abounded with Obscurities and Dusky Representations and Men were imployed chiefly in external Formalities and Ceremonies But when it shall be in its Meridian at its greatest Height there will be none of these Things but it shall be chosen for its own Sake and loved for its intrinsick Value Even at the first founding of Christianity itself many imbraced it because it was attested by such Extraordinary and Miraculous Occurrences as then every Day shew'd themselves so that they were in a manner thrust upon Christianity and they were compell'd as it were to receive it But it shall not be so afterwards it shall commend itself to the World by its own Natural Excellency by the Worthiness of its Noble Principles which it is furnished with and thence Men shall serve God Freely and out of Choice and the Christian Religion shall then appear more eminently to be a Reasonable Service This must needs promote a more than usual Holiness in the Hearts and Lives of Men for when Religion is esteem'd for its Self and its inward Excellency it will cease to be measured by mere Words and outward Shews
perhaps may be the Meaning of 1 Cor. 6. 2. Do ye not know that the Saints shall judge the World I offer it to be considered whether we may not interpret it thus Do you not know that there shall be a time when there shall be a Christian Magistracy in the World and that especially when Christianity is coming to its Height there shall be such Godly Rulers and Iudges as shall reform all Things that are amiss in the World And this great Sway and Authority shall make way even for their judging of Angels Afterwards v. 3. I am far from abetting in this Discourse the wild Fancy of those Enthusiastick Spirits who make the Reign of Christ on Earth inconsistent with that of Kings and Princes who at the same time that they set up King Iesus pull down all others Their Fifth-Monarchy brooks no Crowned Heads But they forget that in the same Place where the Evangelical Prophet saith Behold a King shall Reign in Righteousness meaning Christ and this Kingdom which I am now discoursing of he adds And Princes shall rule in iudgment Isa. 32. 1. Though it is said the Scepter shall depart from Iudah when Shiloh first comes yet neither then nor afterwards is it to be taken out of the Hands of Christian Princes Their Monarchy and Christ's Kingdom are not incompatible Yea I am so far from giving any Allowance to this sort of Men that I confidently aver Christ's Kingdom whereof I am speaking shall be set up and maintain'd by the Kings and Rulers of the Earth Christianity shall arrive to that excellent Pitch by the Assistance of the Civil Magistrate by the Incouragement which shall be given to it by the Secular Powers There is Ground for what I say for we are expresly told that those who formerly gave their Kingdom to the Beast shall afterwards hate the Whore and shall make her desolate c. Rev. 17. 16 17. These great Things shall be effected by Monarchs Princes and States entirely devoting themselves to the publick Good and Welfare and to the Glory of Him who is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords The Builders of that Ierusalem shall hold the Trowel with one Hand and the Sword in the other They shall at the same time Rear this happy Structure and severely Punish those who endeavour to hinder them till at last by sharply Animadverting on all Wickednesses and Enormities these be driven out of the World and Universal Piety and Righteousness come in their room Again This great Work shall be promoted and advanced by the help of Spiritual Pastors and Teachers whose Care and Faithfulness whose Courage and Zeal are as requisite in this present Affair as that of the Civil Magistrate The Rulers and Guides of the Church shall then shew themselves true Lovers of Souls by not refusing any Labour of Love for their Peoples Good they shall preach the Word be instant in Season out of Season reprove rebuke exhort with all Long-suffering and Doctrine they shall Watch in all Things do the Work of true Evangelizers make full proof of their Ministry They shall discharge their Holy Function with all Mildness and Clemency with all Tenderness and Compassion and yet with all Fervency and Vigour They shall let all Men see that they make the Honour of God and the Saving of Mens Souls the Grand Design of their Ministry And it is not without great reason that I mention both these great Orders of Men Magistrates and Ministers for it is absolutely requisite that they go hand in hand towards the accomplishing that Great Work which I am discoursing of Moses and Aaron must befriend each other Zerubbabel and Ioshua must join in building the Temple The great Hinderance of the Improvement and Increase of Christianity hath been the disunion of these Two The Temporal Rulers and Spiritual Overseers have not concurr'd in the promoting the same Religious Designs The Secular and Ecclesiastical Powers have frequently been divided among themselves and thereby have retarded and impeded the Common Good But it shall not be so in those happy Times there shall be no disagreement between Ecclesiastical the State and Church no opposition between the State and Civil Laws The Spiritual and Secular Officers shall be so far from being an Impediment to one another in their particular Charges that they shall make it their Business to promote the respective Cause and Interest of each other If Phocas and Boniface held together and thereby wrought such horrid Mischiefs in the World it is certain we may experience as great and notable Effects of a contrary Nature from the unanimous Concurrence of pious Governours in the Church and Commonwealth When they mutually advise and consult with one another and act jointly for the Advancement of Religion and Godliness as in the Times of Constantine the Great Theodosius Valentinian Gratian when they strive with great Ambition and no other Ambition who shall be most serviceable and beneficial to the Christian Community this will be found to be the true Method for the propagating and establishing of Religion in the World And seeing Religion is the only unshaken and lasting Basis of Kingdoms it is the Concern of thâ—se Two Ranks of Persons to agree to advance this above all Things whatsoever They are to remember that even Civil Politicks are best guided by this Conduct and that if a Nation or Council exclude this in any of their Laws and Constitutions they can't be said to be Wise and Politick For what is disagreeable to Religion is unsafe dangerous and extremely Impolitick To be short all lies in Rulers both of Church and State both Spiritual and Civil These as I apprehend will be the special Instruments which God will imploy to work that happy and wonderful Change When God pleaseth to send such Princes and Leaders as Zerobbabel such Priests as Ioshua such Teachers and Scribes as Ezra the Building of the House of God will soon be finished Such Great and Noble Spirits being sâ—t on work will easily bring it to perfection The Gospel will be completely established Christianity will be universally propagated and Evangelical Righteousness will prevail every where in the World Yea All of us are capable of promoting this great Work more or less and therefore we ought to make it our Concern Our earnest and constant Prayer should be that this Kingdom may come and prevail and prosper that Antichristianism wheresoever it is and under what Shape and Guise soever it appears may be demolished and destroyed that the Infidelity of Iews and Pagans may have a period that Vice and Immorality Irreligion and Prophaneness may be trod down and that the Contrary may be set up and advanced in all the Regions of the World And we are obliged to set forward this blessed Design not only by our Devotions but our Endeavours and to hasten the actual Prevailing of it in our Lives and Practices that Iesus may be seen to Reign among Men and that Christianity may be
now wearing off and that we shall have an end of it without any such thing But then when I consider'd that those Places of Holy Scripture which foretell the Calamities and Distresses of the Church of Christ may have respect only to the Times which preceed those Thousand Years I was again induced to believe that there shall be such a State as I have represented that Christ will set up his Kingdom in a more Illustrious and Effectual manner than ever and that this Kingdom shall be accompanied with lasting Peace and Righteousness with the General Conversion of Jews and Gentiles and the Ruin of Anti-christ As to some Particular Circumstances which I have mention'd relating to this Prosperous State of the Christian Church I am not Positive It hath pleased God to deliver things of this Nature Darkly and Mystically and there are no express places of Scripture on which a certain and unquestionable expectation of them can be grounded because we have no sure Word to ascertain our Determination Therefore as to the Particular Way and Manner of the things I have been Discoursing of I deliver nothing with Confidence It is the main of the Dispensation that I assert and which I verily believe though I censure no Man for thinking or saying otherwise I am sensible of this that when we see how the World is at this Day we may be enclined to think there is no probability of this Great Change There seems to be little likelihood at present of this Happy Reign in other parts of the World as well as among our selves for we seem to be every Day degenerating more and more and we run further from that excellent Temper and Genius which are required in that Future Paradise But then I consider that this is to be accomplish'd by a Divine Arm and Conduct and shall be the work of Heaven in a singular and particular Degree The Supreme Arbitrator and Manager of the World can of a sudden dispel all Difficulties and alter the Course of the Universe and frame Men's Minds as he pleaseth When we remember how mean and despicable Christianity was at first but how strangely it spread it self afterwards and made its Progress through the whole World against the greatest Opposition imaginable we may then believe the same may happen again and that what hath been foretold concerning that Glorious State may be fulfill'd Thus I will not despair of that happy Time Both Popery and Mahometism or either of them may for a time decay and grow less and then recover strength Or perhaps one or both of them may remain without any Diminution entire There may be a Superfoetation in the Mother of Harlots she may conceive and bring forth a New and replenish the Earth with her Children It may be the Reformation which hath been begun and set forward in some Parts of the Christian World may be put back Papal Superstition and Tyranny may return again and Rome may sit a Queen and know no Sorrow but what she creates to the true Professors of Religion One would be apt to think as much upon reading what is said concerning the Two Witnesses Rev. 11. 7. When they shall have finish'd the Testimony viz. at the end of 42. Months or 1260 Years the time of the Anti-christian Reign the Beast that ascendeth out of the Bottomless Pit shall make War against them and overcome them and kill them whereupon there is great rejoycing over them and making merry v. 10. It may come to pass that the Seven Hills may be exalted higher than ever and the Reformed Religion depress'd and trampled on Christianity may as Mr. Herbert presaged hoise Sail for America the Gospel may leave us to go to them and we may be half Pagans before it comes to us again Or if we hold fast-the Faith we may be forced to part with every thing else that is dear to us It may be our lot to undergo all Dangers Calamities Outrages and Persecutions before that Blessed Sabbatism arrives There may be a very Dark Night before that Lightsome Day is seen But at last it shall appear yea shine forth and the World shall be every ways the better for it Yea it may and I hope will shew it self in God's good time without any such Sad and Tragical Prologue to it as this I have ventured to offer my Conjectures about it and the freedom I have taken will not be disliked I conceive by Persons of sober Minds In my Judgment that is a very Curious and Notable Saying of Mr. Mede in his Epistle to the Reader before his Comment on the Apocalypse speaking of the interpreting of the Prophetical Writings and other Obscure Matters in Scripture Unless saith he there be liberty given to us to be somewhat free in our Thoughts and Opinions yea even in our Errors and Mistakes sometimes about these things we shall never clear our Passage to those Profound and Hidden Secrets of Truth Accordingly I have freely suggested my Thoughts and if therein I have represented some things amiss let it be remember'd that it was in the pursuit of Truth and of that Truth which it was difficult to attain to or rather let it be examined whether Truth be not here found out by that which some interpret a Mistake I declare I am not Dogmatical in what I have said nor will I perswade others to sit down with Peremptory Confidence that this is the certain meaning of all the Prophecies in Scripture before alledged But then this must be said there are several things highly Probable of which we have no Absolute Certainty and This that I have been Discoursing of is of that Nature Many Passages in Holy Writ do exceedingly favour it and there are no Contemptible Reasons to inâ—line us to a belief of it And when we have both Scripture and Rational Arguments on our side it is more than half of the Opinions which make a very plausible shew in the World can really lay claim to If after all you enquire concerning the Particular and Determinate Time when this Sabbatick State shall begin my Answer in brief is That I cannot neither will I attempt to assign any such thing When I say I cannot my meaning is that I apprehend no possible way of doing it in a Certain and Satisfactory way for otherwise I could as some have done pretend to present the Reader with a Punctual Calculation of the Time when these things shall happen Perhaps I might say without Ostentation that I have made enquiry into the Chronology of the Scriptures as well as others and have considered all that any Writers of Note have said on this Matter and have made search into these Mysteries my self but after all I declare that I find no Foundation for a Precise and Individual Assignation of Time In general we know Christ's Kingdom on Earth shall commence when the Seventh Angel soundeth his Trumpet for then the Kingdoms of the World become the Kingdoms of the Lord and of
his Christ Rev. 11. 15. But when this Last Angel shall do this Office we are ignorant though a Learned Foreigner lately is confident that this is the Time But we see he had but little ground for it for his Calculations have proved false though he thought he had some more than ordinary Foundation in the Transactions and Events of these late times for what he offer'd And he hath been follow'd by some of our own Countrey Men who presumed to assign the Punctual and Precise time when those Prophetick Passages in the Book of the Revelation were to be accomplish'd as if they above all other Men had a Key to those Divine Secrets and were authorized to unlock them I look upon this as the Product of a well-meant Mistake of their misapplying some Apocalyptick Texts which they were betray'd into by apprehending that the Circumstances which the Publick Affairs were in at that time were agreeable to those Prophecies But certainly this Rashness is very blamable because it may give occasion to ill-minded Men to disbelieve all the other Prophecies in the Apocalypse because the Period of these which was with so great Confidence determin'd is found to be untrue Nay indeed it hath sometimes happen'd that when Positive Men have peremptorily set a certain Year it hath generally proved a worse Time than ordinary on one account or other instead of a welcome issue of their Predictions some very unusual and dismal thing appears upon the Publick Stage as it were a doom for such rash Prognostications Here therefore ought to be a great deal of Caution Prudence and Sincerity But so it is we may observe that it is the way of these Apocalyptick Men like the Clocks of Basil always to anticipate the time they are too hasty in fixing the Periods of Prophetick Occurrences either because they impatiently desire the approach of them or because they are ambitious of being thought the first Discoverers of these Secrets In the Book of the Revelation the Time of the Beasts Reign seems to be determined viz. 1260. Days Rev. 11. 3. 12. 6. i. e. as all grant so many Years for that is the Prophetick way of Numbering which are the same with the Time and Times and half a Time Dan. 7. 25. Rev. 12. 14. and with the 42. Months i. e. of Years Rev. 11. 2. 13. 5. Now if we could tell when the Apocalyptick Beast began we might from what is here expresly set down exactly know its end but the former being no where mention'd we are at a loss for the latter A very Sober and Modest Pen fixes the beginning of the Beasts Reign in the Year of our Lord 456. and consequently by adding 1260. to that number makes the end of it to be A. D. 1716. But according to this way of Computing the Papal Beast was in being before there was Popery properly so called in the World which is sufficient to invalidate that Calculation However if those Numbers refer to the end of the Beast as it is certain they do I agree with this Writer that it cannot be very far off But as to the precise time we may conjecture but we cannot be certain It may be our Chronology is Defective it may be the Account which we have of Years is not Exact and consequently our Calculations cannot be accurate Or suppose they were yet our Saviour acquaints us when he speaks of such Affairs that the time shall be shortned for the Elects sake Mat. 24. 22. So that our exactest Chronology will not avail us then I have nothing therefore to say concerning the Punctual Date of this Notable Revolution which hath been the matter of our Disquisition Yea perhaps it is impossible for any Man to know it infallibly I mean without a particular Revelation Yet I will not as the Iews curse those who Calculate these Times but rather wish that Men would be Sober and Modest in this as in all other difficult and intricate Points It is folly to be over-curious and sollicitous here but it is no less than Presumption and Arrogance to be Peremptory This should suffice us that there is a time when these things shall be accomplished In the mean season let us comfort our selves with the expectation of that Blessed State of the Church Let it be remembred that however things go now there shall be a better Face of them hereafter and though we may not live to the arrival much less the fruition of it yet it is some solace to our Minds that with Moses we have a sight at a distance of that Blessed Canaan the Land of Promise in which all the Defects and Declensions that have been either in Nature or Morals shall be repair'd and amended Nor doth the ill posture of things at present in the least retard my hopes or belief of a change for the better for though it sounds like a Paradox yet it is an experienced Truth that things farthest off are nearest Look into the Calendar and you will see that December which is at the greatest distance from Ianuary is the next Month to it See it in Nature when the Night is darkest it is nighest break of Day Look on the Globe of the Earth and you will find the extream parts of the East bordering on the West And so it is here when things seem to be most remote from this Revolution they are nearest to it Extremity proves successful sometimes The worst Times introduce the Best The Condition of the World is like that of some Disâ—ased Bodies which must of necessity be brought low before they can arrive to a sound and perfect Constitution Our weak languishing and perishing State may by the Divine Disposal make way for our Health and prove the fore-runner and occasion of our lasting Happiness Though the World in some Ages is palpably worse than in others yet bating the Last Scene of all when in respect of the Universal prevailing of Vice it seems to be worst of all as at this time even then it is tending to the best for this hath been always observable since the first Creation that the greatest Corruptions and Apostasies have made way for the most remarkable Reformations and accordingly the horrid Degeneracy of these present times not only among our selves but in all Christian Countries is one Argument to incline me to believe there will be a mighty alteration Irreligion Impiety and Atheism are now making their greatest and last Efforts before that Glorious Day which I have been describing arrives An Universal Prophaneness is to preceed and usher in an Universal Holiness and Purity Unchristian Wars and Commotions Divisions and Contentions in Churches and States are the fore-runners of a General Peace and Repose The World will not go off thus as it is but a more pleasant and delightful Scene of it will appear and this so Vitiated and Corrupted Age shall be followed with as Eminent a Restoration Though we are ignorant of the exact time of it yet this
should content us that the thing it self is undeniable viz. that the Evangelical Oeconomy is not yet perfect that great things are yet to be done that though our Blessed Saviour shall not descend from Heaven till the Day of Judgment for I am none of those that dream of his Personal Reign upon Earth yet by his Spirit he shall come and Reign here a Thousand Years and advance Christianity to its utmost heighth At which time all â—ntichristian Doctrines and Powers shall be exploded and destroyed the Fulness of the Gentiles shall come in the Dispersed Iews shall be gather'd and imbrace the Faith of Christ Universal Righteousness and Holiness shall prevail and the Peaceable and Philadelpâ—ian Spirit shall be infused into all Churches so that they shall be of one Heart and of one Mind This â—uture Kingdom of Christ this Happy part of the Evangelical Dispensation is not unworthy of our Assent and Belief However I have entertained my self and the Reader with an Idâ—a of the Delightful and Happy State of Christianity here on Earth If it be not adjusted to Truth though no Man alive I am sure can prove it is not yet it shall remain as a Testimony of my Hearty Desires and Wishes that the Gospel may flourish in a Higher Degree than ever it yet did that Christianity may be the Religion of the whole World and that all Mankind every where may know the True God and Iesus Christ whom he hath sent and that knowing him they may Universally practise his Law and do his Will and that they may all be United and Cemented together in the Bond of Peace and Love CHAP. XXII The Last part of the Evangelical Dispensation under the loosing of Satan out of his Prison Who are Gog and Magog Not only the Mahometan but the Roman Power shall be revived The Last Days before the End of the World shall be extremely Wicked They shall be exceeding Perillous and Calamitous Christ comes to Judgment The Conflagration of the World succeeds this whatever some have suggested to the contrary A Particular Answer to a late Writers Arguments on this Subject It is observed how he resembles Origen A plain Exposition of those Words Nevertheless we look for New Heavens and a New Earth wherein dwelleth Righteousness A farther Proof from the same Chapter The Nature and Design of the Final Conflagration The Summ of the whole preceeding Discourse I Am unwilling to go off from this Pleasant Scene especially to one that is so Black and Melancholick as that which follows But the uncontrollable Wisdom and Providence of Heaven leads us to it and therefore we must be obsequious to their Conduct I proceed then to the Fourth and Last Part of the Evangelical Dispensation namely that which immediately preceedeth the Coming of Christ to Judgment For I have shew'd before that it hath had its Infancy and Childhood its Youth its Manhood or Full Growth and now come its last and feeble Years Wherefore I call this the Old Age of Christianity for now it miserably Declineth and grows Weak and Decrepid Now the World degenerates again and in a short time it becomes very Wicked and Impious For we are expresly told that when the Thousand Years are expired Satan shall be loosed out of his Prison Rev. 20. 7. The Wicked shall again assaâ—lt the Church for we must know that the World shall not through all the time of the Thousand Years be free of the Ungodly Race of Men. The Tares i. e. the Children of the Wicked One are to grow up till the Harvest Mat. 13. 30. and that will not be till the End of the World as the same Infallible Teacher hath told us Every Individual Person shall not be Vertuous and Good Heaven only being the place where there are no Sinners but there sâ—all remain and spring up at last upon Earth some very Bad Men out of which Brood afterwards as soon as Satan shall be set at liberty and come to hatch them there shall arise a Deadly Generation of Vipers a Cursed increase of the most profligate Sinners who will be set upon Mischief and will invade and wast the Church and make it their work to Deceive and Seduce the Nations or rather Satan who sets them on work is said here to do it v. 8 9. He shall go out to deceive Nations which are in the Four Quarters of the Earth Gog and Magog to gather them together to Bâ—ttel the number of whom is as the Sand of the Sea And they went up on the breadth of the Earth and compassed the Camp of the Saints about and the beloved City The plain General meaning of which Words is this that as of Old God's People the Iews were beset on the North and South with Gog and Magog their implacable Enemies who are meant but not exclusively of others in the 38. and 39. Chaâ—tâ—rs of Ezekiel so the Saints at that time shall be environ'd with their's who will prove no less Restless and Implacable And the more â—articular and Abstruse meaning is this that the Race of the Turks shall be those that shall cause this Disturbance for these are meant by Gog and Magog for the old Gog and Magog were Scythians as is Universally agreed by the Learnedest Commentators on Gen. 10. 2. where we find that Magog was one of the Sons of Iaphet who was the Father of the Getae Massagetae Scythians Sarmaritans and their Neighbours the Tartars from whom it is generally asserted that the Turks first Sprung Iosephus is positive that Magog was the Father of the Scythians and tells us that Magogae was the Name that the Scythians were anciently known buy among the Greeks We learn from Pliny who often gives a better account of Places than of Manners and is very exact in some parts of his Geography that Magog and Scythopolis were Coincident Names of the same Place Therefore there is reason to think that Gog and Magog in this place of the Apocalypse are the Turks and Mahometans who are as â—â—is generally acknowledg'd descended of the Scythians And these are that Stock of People who 〈◊〉 so Molest and Persecute the Saints of the Most High after the expiring of the Thousand Years And it is not unlikely that the Papal Beast will begin to lift up his Horn again I do not mean that any of those individual Persons who acted before shall now appear for they are secured The Beast as well as the False Prophet is in the Lake of Fire and Brimstone v. 10. But there shall be those that shall revive the old Roman Tyranny and Superstitions and shall join their Forces with those of the Mahometan Faction Both these Parties shall arise and shew themselves soon after the thousand years are ended And the Prince of the Infernal Daemons who had been imprison'd and chain'd up all that space shall be Head and Commander of them and gather them to Battle Their Numbers shall be exceeding great even like the Sand of
Judgment shall be chiefly Effected by the Preaching of Enoch and Elias So far we may allow it to be true that such Holy and Zealous Men as they were shall be the Instruments of this Great Work and you may be certain it will easily be brought to Perfection when such Persons are raised up by God to act in it And with Pathetick Instructions Invitations Admonitions and Convictions shall be joyned most Ardent Prayers for at such a time the Christian Church will be stired up to pity the forlorn state of this miserable People and to solicit Heaven with importunate Addresses in their behalf The Devout Mr. Herbert may be a Pattern in this particular who when he had express'd his sense of there Condition in these and the like Words Poor Nation whose sweet Sap and Iuice Our Cyens have purloyn'd and left you dry Compassionately adds O that my Prayers mine alas Oh that some Angel might a Trumpet sound At which the Church falling upon her Face Should cry so loud until the Trump were drown'd And by that cry from her dear Lord obtain That your sweet Sap may come again Moreover the wonderful Conversion of the Gentiles which shall be a forerunner of that of the Iews shall be another cause of the coming in of these latter and of their accepting the Gospel This is suggested to us by our Apostle v. 11. of the 14. to the Romans Salvation shall come for so we may read it because there is no Verb in the Original to determine the time to the Gentiles to provoke them i. e. the Jews to jealousie And this is yet more clear from 25 and 26. v. of the Eleventh Chapter before insisted upon which not only assert the General Calling of the Iews but that it shall be after the Fulness of the Gentiles i. e. when the Gentiles are Converted Blindness in part i. e. for a certain time is happen'd to Israel untill the fulness of the Gentiles be come in And when this is come in then the Jews shall no longer be blinded I take this to be a clear Text for the Priority of the Gentiles Conversion before that of the Iews though I find it opposed by several and particularly by our Learned Hammond who attempts to distort the Words and by the Author of The State of the Church in Future Ages Chap. 6. where he contends that the Apostles Words are to be understood in a qualifi'd sense and that is this Blindness in part is befallen Israel for so long as until the time come in which the Gentiles shall come in in their fullness that is they shall come in then more generally than ever before But whatever this dark Gloss drives at this is a plain obvious and intelligible Truth that though there was a great and notable Conversion both of Gentiles and Jews in the Apostle's time yet that could not be meant here because the Apostle speaks of something to come in Future Ages viz. a Compleat and Vniversal Conversion of those two And as to the Order of them he lets us know that the Gentiles shall be first Converted and then the Iews for saith he the Blindness and Hardness of these latter shall not be taken away until the fulness of the other comes in i. e. until the full number of Gentiles be come into the Church of God by a hearty imbracing and professing of Christianity Can any thing be plainer than this Could the Apostle have used any clearer Words to express this matter viz. That the Conversion of the great Multitude of the Heathen World will preceed that of the Jews that it will be a means to remove their Blindness and Hardness and to cause them to own the Christian Faith Wherefore I can't submit to this Authors qualifi'd sence and that for a Reason which himself assigns in another Place To force an unusual Signification upon a Word where the Scope of the Place and Nature of the Matter where it is used does not necessarily require it hath little Authority in it to procure assent But this Sence which I offer is further evident from what the Apostle adds in the forenamed Place So all Israel shall be saved The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so is very Emphatical and Remarkable here for it acquaints us that the General Conversion of Salvation of the Iews shall be such shall be so that it shall be the Effect and Consequence of the Gentiles foregoing Conversion SO they shall be Converted in this Manner they shall be Saved and no otherwise The Jews shall behold that strange Revolution and sudden Change in the Pagan World and thence be stirr'd up to make an Alteration among themselves A holy Emulation shall possess their Minds which shall push them on to this great Work So i. e. in this Manner and Method all Israel shall be Saved the whole Body of the Jews shall be received into the Church Perhaps this Universal Call may be promoted by some extraordinary Appearance or Spectacle in the Heavens Some would infer from that Place before-cited They shall look on him whom they have pierced that our Saviour will come and be seen at that Grand Change of Affairs but from what I have said already on that Passage it is manifest that it is not capable of the Sence As for Rev. 1. 7. Behold he cometh with Clouds and every Eye shall see him and even they which pierced him and all Kindreds of the Earth shall wail because of him which is thought by some to be a parallel Place with that which I last named because there is some likeness in the Words in both Places I rather think it is spoken of the Last Day the Day of Judgment when they shall see the Son of Man coming in the Clouds of Heaven Matth. 24. 30. which is generally acknowledged to the meant of Doomsday Then all impenitent Sinners and more especially they that pierced and crucified Christ and died in their Sins shall see him to their unspeakable Sorrow But those Words if any in Dan. 7. 13. may seem to be some proof of Christ's Appearing himself in the Clouds when his Kingdom on Earth is to be set up anew One like the Son of Man came in the Clouds of Heaven and there was given him Dominion and Glory and a Kingdom c. for I have shew'd before that these Words are a Prediction of the Millennium Though I cannot be positive here for it may be this coming in the Clouds of Heaven may only refer to the Manner of the Vision which Daniel had I saw in the Night Visions saith he one like the Son of Man who appeared as if he came in the Clouds yet I must needs say I am rather enclined to think that this Place speaks of a visible Appearance of our Saviour at the Entrance of the Millennary Reign especially in order to the rouzing and alarming of the Hardned Iews who will be looking after Signs from Heaven And therefore at such a time it
is likely Christ may appear in the Skies with an amazing Splendor and Glory to these gazing Spectators I conceive he may Personally Appear above though he will not Reign Personally on Earth After he hath shew'd himself he soon retreats and remains in Heaven till the Last and Final Day Mr. Mede who once thought that our Saviour would make a visible Appearance in the Clouds in order to the Jews Conversion afterwards retracted this Opinion as may be seen in one of his Letters because there is no good Foundation for it viz. in Mat 24. 30. which he had formerly quoted for that purpose But whether there is any Foundation for such an Apprehension in that Place of Daniel I leave to the Reader to judge I only offer'd it as probable but am perswaded that no Man can Absolutely determine any Thing in this Case and therefore he is very presumptuous that attempts it Chap. XXI Universal Righteousness is another Attendant of this Last Dispensation An Objection doubly answered It is not a Sinless State Greater Knowledge than ever shall be at that Time Religion shall then appear in its Native Purity The Influence of the Holy Spirit on Mens Lives shall be more effectual than formerly Jesus shall in a more eminent Manner be exalted Other Fruits of this happy Reign How these great Things shall be wrought Civil Magistrates shall be made use of Christ's Reign is not inconsistent with that of Kings and Princes Ecclesiastical and Spiritual Rulers shall be Instruments in this great Work All Persons are some Ways capable of promoting it Universal Peace is another Blessing that attends this Kingdom of Christ. On what account it must needs be so Scripture attests it An Objection obviated A Concurrence of all manner of Temporal Blessings in this happy State More especially Bodily Health and Long Life Also a vast Increase of the Poeple of that Time The Savage Brates shall become Tame and Gentle These Earthly Blessings are but Appendages of this Dispensation They are Inconsiderable in respect of the Divine Blessings which constitute this State The Author's Doubtings and Reluctancies He is not positive as to Particular Circumstances He cannot determine concerning the Fore-runners of this Revolution The Freedom which he uses in a Point that is highly Probable He follows not some late Writers in assigning the particular Time when the Millennary Reign shall commence The punctual Date is not to be known The Thing discoursed of is certain though the Time as to us is not so The Degeneracy of the present Times is no obstacle to this The Author leaves a Testimony of his Wishes and Desires HAving spoken of Three of the Grand Concomitants of the Reign of Christ I proceed now to the Fourth which is Vniversal Righteousness and Holiness You might have observed that in some of those Places of Scripture which I alledged to evince the Future calling of the Jews and Gentiles and you may observe in several others besides which speak of this happy Revolution and the consummation of the Messias's Kingdom that there is some mention all along made of the Holiness which shall abound in that Time This is reckon'd among the Blessings of Christ's Kingdom in several Places of the Prophetick Writings Thy People shall be all Righteous Isa. 60. 21. I will sprinkle clean Water upon you and ye shall be clean Ezek. 36. 25. I will save you from your Uncleanness ver 29. which is the same with cleansing them from their Iniquities ver 33. They shall not defile themselves any more with their detestable Things or any of their Transgressions Ezek. 37. 23. In those Days HOLINESS TO THE LORD must be engraved on the Bells of the Horses Zech. 14. 20. There shall be such a Catholick Reformation that every Thing even the meanest and commonest shall share in it We find it to be the Office of the Messias to bring in everlasting Righteousness Dan. 9. 24. not only that of his Own whereby we are to be justified but an Inherent one in our selves though produced by the Holy Spirit whereby we are sanctified If it be said that this and some of the other Texts refer to those Times which are past viz. when Christ came in the Flesh or when the Apostles made so many Converts to our Holy Religion or even to the present Times of the Gospel and therefore they have no respect to what is to come I answer That the Consequence is not valid for though these Prophecies were partly and initially fulfilled before yet it doth not follow thence that they shall not be Completely fulfilled hereafter I grant that they are in part come to pass for there never was more Holiness than since the Rise of the Gospel but I assert withal that the Full Accomplishment is yet behind for there shall be a larger Effusion of Holiness in the ensuing Dispensation Or the former Answer which I gave in the like Case may be Satisfactory here viz. that this kind of Prophetick Passages have a Double Meaning and therefore must have a Double Accomplishment Many of these Predictions which foretold what should be at Christ's first setting up the Kingdom of the Gospel do also foretel what shall happen at his Coming in the Millennium This is a safe way of interpreting those Place and giving an Account of those Prophecies yea this solves the Difficulties which occur in this Controversy This is no groundless Notion but built upon the Interpretation of Scripture dictated by the Holy Ghost himself as I have proved in another Discourse where I have shew'd that this is the peculiar Excellency of the Sacred Writings to have a First and a Second or if you will a Direct and a Collateral Meaning which we find in no other Books whatsoever that are Historical This is applicable here those Passages in the Prophets concerning an extraordinary Measure of Sanctity and Righteousness are to be understood not only of the Primitive Times of Christianity but more especially of those that shall be towards the latter end of the World viz. in the Blessed Reign of Christ. It is not to be doubted but that the Prophetick Words reach to these Two times so that they are fulfilled twice In the Sacred Writings not only different Persons and Things but different Times and Seasons are contain'd in the same Words And as this Holiness of the future State on Earth is foretold in the Holy Scriptures so it naturally follows from what hath been said before For when Babylon shall fall and the Mystery of Iniquity with it when those whose grand Design and Business it was to extirpate the Purity of Religion shall themselves be rooted out when both Iews and Gentiles shall universally abandon their evil Opinions and wicked Practices and jointly set themselves to the Study of God's Will and the observance of their Duty you cannot but think there will follow upon this an Universal Sanctity in the World I do not mean a Sinless State for this is so like
by mere Opinion or by Matters of an indifferent Nature We live in an Age wherein Men talk and discourse much concerning Religion and yet the Generality of them have less Religion than any Age ever had Why Because they place Religion in Words and Pretences in some peculiar Sets of Opinions and in a meer external Shew of some Performances that relate to Devotion But in that happy Kingdom which we look for Substantial Religion will take place and the only Standard of it shall be True and Solid Piety Thirdly A greater Measure of Grace shall be bestowed on the Christian Church more of that Divine Spirit Not in the Sense that some mean that Extraordinary Gifs and Supernatural Endowments shall be confer'd and that the Outward Teachings of Man shall cease and become useless But I mean thus that the effectual Power of the Holy Spirit shall be seen in making Men better which indeed is the grand Design and Office of the Holy Ghost and therefore shall take Place in that happy Time The most admired and glorious Gifts are mean and base in respect of Real Goodness and Holiness i. e. a hearty Love of God and his Ways and an upright Life resulting from it Therefore we may infer that by a more abundant Communication of the Spirit these shall be advanced in the World In the Golden Age of Christianity there shall be a mighty Power and Efficacy on Mens Minds exciting them to worthy and noble Actions causing them to be zealous for Religion and to act with Vigour and Concernedness and to overcome all Difficulties that lie in their way and in a Word to design and bring to pass Great Things for the Honour of the Supreme Being and the Good of the World Fourthly IESUS shall then in a more eminent Manner be exalted his blessed Undertakings for our Redemption and Salvation his Merits and Perfect Righteousness shall be more than ever esteem'd admir'd and extoll'd This shall be a more especial Time of magnifying and celebrating the meritorious Transactions of our Lord Christ for the Saving of Mankind Which must needs produce a very high Degree of Holiness in Mens Lives for there is not a more genuine Source of it than the Consideration of what Christ hath done and suffer'd for us There is not a more effectual Spring of True Obedience nor a more powerful Motive to it than the Free and Unmerited Love of God the Father through his beloved Son Iesus Wherefore now the Reformed World shall exercise itself more and more in this true Way that leads to Purity and Holiness viz. a perpetual valuing and prizing the Grace of God in the Gospel through the Blood of the New Covenant This hath not been sufficiently done hitherto yea it hath been shamefully neglected in all Ages of Christianity Therefore now it shall be performed with great Zeal and Application by all the Inhabitants of the New Ierusalem Though their Works and Obedience shall exceed all that went before yet they shall not presume to rely upon them Though their Lives shall be more strict and blameless than ever yet they shall entertain no Opinion of their own Worthiness but confide wholly in the Spotless Obedience of the Lamb of God and they shall attribute all to Iesus and his Holy Spirit Lastly to heap up many Things together in those blessed Days there shall be no New Religion but New Hearts that is more enlightned more warmed and more sanctified There shall then be a continual Striving to excel one another in laudable and vertuous Actions Religion and Piety shall be Fashionable and Goodness and Holiness shall be esteemed most Honourable All Perfidiousness and Fraud all Lying and Falshood shall cease and Truth and Sincerity Integrity and Open-heartedness shall universally prevail Swearing will then be of little Use unless it be as a meer Act of Solemn Worship and owning a God for where there is no distrust of one another where 't is known that Persons deal Truly and Uprightly Oaths are not needful to attest or confirm what they say In those Days Men shall conciliate an assent to what they speak they shall perswade others of the Truth of what they assert or promise by plain Words and by an honest Life Briefly all-sinister and base Designs all unworthy Aims and vitious Ends shall be laid aside and the Glory of the Great God and of his Son Iesus Christ shall be the main Thing which shall influence upon their Lives If it be demanded How this great Change shall be wrought I answer It shall be done by the powerful Aids and Assistances of Heaven which shall be vouchsafed to Men in a very plentiful Manner Hereby they shall be inabled above their own Abilities and Strengths to subdne their Lusts to conquer their Vices and in the most exact manner to conform their Lives to the Rules of the Gospel If you further ask What outward instruments and Means God will make use of to accomplish this Great Work I conceive it shall be effected by Active and Zealous Governors For we cannot but take Notice that Persons of that Character have been raiâ—'d up continually in order to great Revolutions and Alterations in Church and State as is evident in the Examples of Cyrus Alexander the Great Constantiâ—â— the Great Charles the Great and the Electors of Saxony And in the beginning of our REFORMATION in this Land what strange Things did a Resolute and Couragious King bring to pass Much more may be effected here and all the World over by God's inspiring the Hearts of some Christian Kings and Princes with Valour and Resolution especially by adding Goodness and Holiness to these by blessing them with a real Sense and relish of Religion in their own Minds and Consciences Being thus qualified what is there too hard for them to accomplish What may not be expected from Governors of this Character Wicked Rulers are the greatest Mischief and Plague of the World and accordingly it hath been Satan's Stratagem throughout all Ages to procure such Magistrates as will abett and further his Design i. e. that will patronize all Vice and Wickedness and if it be possible establish it by a Law This hath been the Cause and Sourse of that horrid Deluge of Vice which hath broken in upon all Cities and Countries and miserably overspread them Therefore I infer that when God will vouchsafe to stem this mighty Torrent he will set up some Eminent Persons in High Places who by their powerful Laws as by so many Walls and Ramparts shall effectually stop its impetuous Course I question not in the least but that those Words in Rev. 20. 4. I saw Thrones and they sat upon them and Iudgment was given unto them refer partly to this they signify to us that Power and Authority which shall be at that time Evil-doers shall be call'd to an Account and punish'd according to their Offences and the Earth shall in a manner be cleared of all wilful and stubborn Criminals This