his Church whatsoever Eclipse does befall her whether by Heresies or by persecutions And that there shall alway's be Belivers in the Earth who shall worship the one only true God in Spirit and truth even as the Angels and the blessed do adore him in Heaven II. ILLUSTRATION Of the Sealed Book which no Creature could open save the Lion of the Tribe of Judah REV. CHAP. 5. v. 1. And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a Book written within and without sealed with seven seals v. 2. And I saw a strong Angel proclaiming with a loud voice who is worthy to open the Book and to loose the Seals thereof v. 3. And no man in Heaven nor in Earth neither under the Earth was able to open the Book neither to look thereon THis Book can be nothing else but the Apocalypse which containeth every thing remarkable that was to befall either the Roman Empire or the Church of God. It is written within and without for the same reason because within it containeth the destiny of the Church and without the fate of the Roman Empire The form of this Book consisteth in seven leaves rolled after such a fashion that the second was shut up within the first and so of the rest The Seals denote the importance the Authority the stability and the obscurity of the Visions This darkness is such that no Creature how honorable soever could either open the Book or look into it That is to say who could so much as imagin the Events which it containeth v. 5. And one of the Elders saith unto me weep not behold the Lion of the Tribe of Judah the root of David hath prevailed to open the Book and to loose the Seals thereof But what no creature could do Jesus Christ hath done So St. John tells us at the very entrance in that he begun by these terms chap. 1. v. 1. The Revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave unto him to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass Jesus Christ is here called a Lion because of his Resurrection as he is a little afterward called a Lamb by reason of the sacrifice of his death And a Lion of the Tribe of Judah because he sprung from that Tribe according to the flesh The Root of David because tho he be tru'ly Davids son according to his humane Nature he is nevertheless Davids Father as well as his Lord according to his Divinity III. ILLUSTRATION Of the Lamb with seven Horns and Seven Eyes and of his being worshipped REV. CHAP. 5. v. 6 c. V. 6. And I beheld lo in the midst of the Throne and of the four living Creatures and in the midst of the Elders stood a Lamb as it had been slain having seven Horns seven Eyes which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth THis Lamb is Jesus Christ who tho risen is here represented as dead before the Throne to give us to understand that the merit of his death is alway's present before God and that his sacrifice is of an eternal vertu ' Horns according to the prophetick stile signify glory and power Psa 75. 10. The Lamb is represented having Seven which is a Mystick number to signify that nothing can be added to his glory and that his power hath no limits The seven Eyes and seven Spirits are of the same importance And do denote an omniscient knowledg and an immense wisdom by which he is every where present and conducteth all events as the soveraign Arbiter and Disposer V. 8. And when he had taken the Book the four living Creatures and four and twenty Elders fell down before the Lamb having every one of them Harps and golden Vials full of Odours which are the Prayers of Saints V. 9. And they sung a new Song saying Thou art worthy to take the Book and to open the Seals thereof for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy Blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and Nation V. 10. And hast made us unto our God Kings and Priests c. Here is the same worship given to Jesus Christ by the four living Creatures and by the four and twenty Elders that in the preceding Chapter had been rendred to Him who created all things for his pleasure which shews Christs being acknowledged for the true God by the four living Creatures and by the 24. Elders The Harps which they have in their hands are for the singing the praises of God and the Vials full of odours are for the invocating of him which are the two Acts of Adoration These Odours are called the prayers of the Saints because the Incense offered by the Priests of old were a Symbole of prayers as appeareth in the 141. Ps v. 2. Let my prayer be set forth before thee as Incense Some may possibly infer from hence that the Saints who are in Heaven do pray for those on Earth and that they do present unto God the prayers of such as are here in the world But this is to suppose that the four and twenty Elders are in Heaven and that the Saints spoken of in this passage are to be understood of Souls received into Paradise or as men are used to speak in the world of the Saints that are in Heaven which is a supposition without any ground or foundation For those believers that are in Heaven are not in any part of the Bible called Saints but only stiled Blessed Nor is it said here that these 24. Elders are Blessed The Vision is so far from saying this that it declareth the contrary because the very same persons having Vials full of Odours do say v. 10. Thou hast made us unto our God Kings and Priests and we shall reign on Earth Which sheweth that they who offer up the prayers of the Saints that are on the Earth are themselves likewise upon the Earth and where they hope to Reign So that the four and twenty Elders do represent the Pastors and Guides of the Militant Church who are said to offer up Odours by reason of their praying publickly for all the Congregations of Believers And these Pastors are represented under the number of 24. by an allusion to rhe twelve Patriarchs of the Old Testament and the twelve Apostles of the New as they were in the Vision of the foregoing Chap. These 24. Elders and the 4. living Creatures sing a new Song saying Thou art worthy to take the Book and to open the Seals thereof for thou hast redeemed us c. Which words seem to give light to that saying of Jesus Christ in the 13. Chap. of Mark v. 32. But of that day and hour of Judgment knoweth no man no not the Angels which are in Heaven neither the Son of man but the Father Then the Son as man knew it not because he had not offered the Sacrifice of his death for the satisfying Divine Justice but now he knoweth both the day
imaginable But in truth after that I had throughly examined the vision of St. Iohn and the juncture of time where the Holy Spirit placeth the Reign of a thousand years to wit between the destruction of Babylon and all the Enemies of the Church upon the one side and the War of Gog and Magog as a fruit of the loosing of Satan after he had been imprisoned for a thousand years upon the other side I must declare that I find my self conquered and that I am forced to believe that the Church of God is to enjoy for some Ages an entire and uninterrupted peace here on the Earth I am confirmed in this opinion by a vast number of Prophesies both of the Old and New Testament which cannot be expounded without violence offered to them and are if I may so speak so many inexplicable riddles unless the Church of God be to enjoy that peace in this world of which those promises give us assurance And finding not the least danger in embracing that opinion I have closed with it without any further hesitation For what danger can it be to believe that the Church of God shall enjoy a thousand years Tranquillity here on the Earth I do see none unless it be that the believing so will give offence to the Orthodox who are of another mind and who affirm that the Cross is to be the Banner and Livery of the Church of God thro all Ages But these very Gentlemen do acknowledg that the Church had rest and peace during the Reign of Constantine And there are some who place the thousand years here spoken of under the Reign of that Emperor And do understand by them the Tranquillity that the Church enjoyed from the conversion of Constantine till the time that She became disturbed and persecuted by the Arrians So that the Orthodox Antimillenarians do confess that the Church had at least a twenty years calmness and serenity Why then should they be offended that others who are Orthodox make the peace which the Church is to enjoy to be of a greater length and duration And they cannot but own that the Cross is not essential to the Church of God. It is an accident without which the Church may very well subsist God can as well sanctify the Church in prosperity as in adversity in a calm as well as in a tempest Iob was righteous and rich in good works in the time of his affluence as well as in the time of his misery And why may it not be so in reference to the Church of God If the world be to last seven or it may be eight thousand years what danger will there be in allowing the Church of God one thousand years peace for the six or seven thousand that She is be in trouble and sufferings But let us without prejudice hearken unto what God saith to us upon this subject both by the Ministry of St. Iohn and that of the ancient Prophets Lo what St. Iohn tells us Rev 20. V. 1. I saw an Angel come down from Heaven having the Key of the bottomless Pit and a great Chain in his hand V. 2. And he laid hold on the Dragon that old Serpent which is the Devil and Satan and bound him a thousand years V. 3. And cast him into the bottomless Pit and shut him up and set a Seal upon him that he should deceive the Nations no more till the thousand years should be fulfilled and after that he must be loosed a little season V. 4. And I saw Thrones and they sat upon them and judgment was given unto them and I saw the Souls of them that were beheaded for the Testimony of Iesus and for the Word of God and which had not worshipped the Beast neither his Image neither had received his mark upon their Foreheads or in their right hands and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years V. 5. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished This is the first Resurrection V. 6. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first Resurrection on such the second death hath no power but they shall be Priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years V. 7. And when the thousand years are expired Satan shall be loosed out of his prison V. 8. And shall go out to deceive the Nations which are in the four Quarters of the Earth Gog and Magog c. The Church of Jesus Christ hath a right to say as Iob did I know that my Redeemer Liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the Earth Chap. 19. v. 25. And that not only to raise and gather together my Bones which are scattered about the Graves mouth when he cometh from Heaven with his Glorious Angels to judg the quick and the Dead at the general Resurrection but also to deliver me from the misery wherein I have been in this world and to cause me to enjoy an entire peace after the destruction of all my Enemies For Iob was as well a Type of the Church of Christ as of Jesus Christ himself who is her adorable Head. This is that peace of the Church which St. Iohn doth here represent after that he had described her sufferings For he saw her Rising after the ruin of Babylon and injoying the gracious presence of her Redeemer after the imprisonment of Satan and the conversion of the unbelieving and Idolatrous Nations If we will give credit to some Divines this is the most obscure passage in the Revelation but this obscurity does arise from themselves and from three prejudices wherewith they are possessed 1. That the world is not to last any long time because St. Peter says that the end of all things is at hand 1 Epist chap. 4. v. 7. 2. Thar the opinion of the Millenarians who conceived that Jesus Christ should come from Heaven down here upon the Earth to converse visibly with his people and to cause them enjoy all sorts of pleasures for a thousand years hath been condemned as a carnal opinion tending to sensuality 3. That the Cross is to be the Livery of Christs Disciples through all Ages because Jesus Christ hath said if any man will come after me let him take up his Cross Matth. 16. 24. and because the Apostles have declared that through many tribulations we must enter into the Kingdom of God Acts 14. 22. But we deceive our selves if we do believe the World to be fo near its end seeing before that the Jews are to be converted the Kingdoms of the world are to be brought in to Jesus Christ Babylon is to be destroyed and who knoweth how long time there is to be between the destruction of Babylon and the ruine of her King and of her Religion without reckoning what time there may be to run out from the end of the thousand years Reign to the end of the War of Gog and Magog and from thence to the
Christ shall Reign after an eminent manner upon the Earth for a thousand years 'T is this second Marriage which is spoken of here in the 19. chap. Which Chapter may be called an Epithalamium or a Wedding Song because St. Iohn say's that he heard as it were the voice of a great multitude and as the voice of many waters and as the voice of mighty thunders saying Alleluja for the Lord God omnipotent Reigneth Let us be glad rejoice give honor to him for the Marriage of the Lamb is come his Wife hath made her self ready to her was granted that they should be arayed in fine linnen which is the Righteousness of the Saints The Spouse of this Marriage is the Christian Church being filled up with the fulness of Iews and Gentiles The Iews refused to come to the Marriage of the Son of God Matth. 22. 2. c. but they are here represented coming with joy And that is doubtless the reason why the Term Allelujah is four times used in this chapter as a Term familiar unto the Iews and ordinarily used by them in their Synagogues This Marriage is stiled a Supper blessed are they who are called unto the Marriage Supper of the Lamb v. 9. Because it is to be celebrated in the evening of the worlds duration The Marriage to which the Iews were first invited by their Lord is called a Dinner Matth. chap. 22. v. 4. but here at this second Marriage they are called to a Supper as being the last Invitation The Iews rejected the first Invitation because Christ left the Roman Empire in the state he found it whereas the Iews had strongly hop'd that the Messiah would have delivered them from its domination And now the same Roman Empire become Papal doth as much and more keep them off from Christianity because they cannot imagine that Idolaters can be the people of the Messiah and they have reason for it But when the Papal Empire shall come to be destroyed as it assuredly shall upon the Effusion of the Vials and when the Beast and the False Prophet shall be cast into the bottomless pit in a word when the Papacy shall be abolished with all its Idols then the Iews will be no longer deaf to Gods call but will come to the Supper of the Marriage of the Lamb shall unite with Christians to worship together the God of Abraham and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ The Church of Rome boasteth herself to be the Church of God but her vanity therein doth appear after such a manner that she might blush if she were capable being so vastly different from the Church which Jesus Christ acknowledgeth for his Spouse and which is called here the Spouse of the Lamb. There is as great a difference between the Church of Rome and the Church of Iesus Christ as there is between Babylon and Jerusalem between a Harlot and the Spouse of the Lamb. She discovereth herself by her gaud'ries and costly habit 's which serve for nothing but to gratify the sight and please the senses The Church of Christ manifesteth her self by another kind of Dress which is nothing but Righteousness and holiness For to her was granted that she should be arayed not in purpl ' and scarlet as Babylon but in fine linnen which is the Righteousness of the Saints XXIV ILLUSTRATION Of the holy Jerusalem REV. CHAP. 21. v. 10. ALL Interpreters do agree that this Ierusalem described Chap. 21 is the Church of God but they differ in this that some do believe it to be the Church of God glorified in Heaven whereas others do take it to be the Church Militant on Earth but victorious over all her Enemies and enjoying an universal peace during the 1000 years which have been spoken of This last opinion is the truest 1 Because the Angel entreth upon this description of the Church of God as he had entred upon the description of Babylon chap. 17. 'T is there said v. 1. One of the seven Angels which had the seven Vials talked with me saying I will shew thee the whore and her judgment The same is said here One of the seven Angels which had the seven Vials talked with me saying come hither and I will shew thee the Bride the Lambs Wife After the same manner that the glory of Babylon is represented there is the glory of the Church of God described here but such as she shall have afier the destruction of her Enemy 'T is in the prospect and hope of this that the Church do's rejoice Mica 7 8. c. Rejoice not against me O mine Enemy tho I be fallen I shall arise tho I sit in darkness the Lord shall be a light unto me I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him until he plead my cause then she that is my Enemy shall be covered with shame and mine eyes shall behold her troden down as the mire of the streets 2 The Church of God is here called the great City a Title which had been given to Babylon in the 16 17 and 18 Chapters Because the whole Earth went after Babylon while the Church of God did hardly appear being brought into a narrow compass and to a small number but now Babylon hath abandon'd the field and appeareth no more and now the Jews are brought again in and the fulness of the Gentiles is entred into the Tents of Jerusalem which being forced to stretch out her curtains by reason of the conversion of all nations is therefore called that great City This is exactly the little Stone in the Prophesie of Daniel which was to become a great Mountain And this Prophecy is to be fulfilled on the Earth before the day of judgment 3 'T is said in the 24 th verse that the Nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it and the Kings of the Earth do bring their glory and their honor into it Which can no way's be applied to the Church triumphant in heaven but agrees unto her as she is victorious on the Earth over the fury of the Beast and as she is in the enjoyment of her Millennian tranquillity It will be then that the Prophecy of Isaiah will be fulfilled chap. 49. v. 22 23. Behold I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles and set up my standard to the people And they shall bring thy Sons in their arms and thy Daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders And Kings shall be thy nursing fathers and their Queens thy nursing Mothers they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the Earth and lick up the dust of thy feet Moreover the Church of God as she shall be glorified in heaven having been described in the beginning of the Chapter as well as the frightful state of the damned is in the 8th verse it is evident that in the 9. verse and forward the Angel describeth a glory of the Church different from that of heaven which
can be no other save that of the Reign of the 1000 years Nor is there any doubt but that this Ierusalem which St. John describes is the very same with that whereof the Prophet Ezekiel hath given a description together with that of the Temple and that there are very many things in that description which cannot be perfectly understood till after the conversion of the Iews A NEW SYSTEME OF THE APOCALYPSE OR An Explanation of all the Visions Of the REVELATION of St. JOHN The SECOND Part. I. ILLUSTRATION Of the Throne the 24. Elders the Sea of Glass and the 4 living Creatures REV. CHAP. 4. THe most difficult part would be yet to do if the ten last Chapters of the Revelation were not as I have supposed an explanation of the Visions contained in the eleven first So that we must have recourse to the Explications given in the first part of this work if we would clearly see into the meaning of the Visions that remain to be explained in the second v. 2. Behold I saw a Throne set in heaven and one sate on the Throne v. 3. And he that sat was to look upon like a Iasper and a Sardine stone and there was a Rainbow about the throne This is a lofty description of the Majesty of God. And his not being named is an advancement of his Glory For God said to Manoah Iudg chap. 13. v. 18. why askest thou after my name seeing it is secret or wonderful The Iasper Stone represents the unchangeablness and eternity of his Essence The fiery Sardine represents his inaccessible Majesty And the Rainbow in heaven signifies the unalterableness of his Covenant v. 4. And round about the Throne were 24 Seats and upon the Seats I saw 24 Elders sitting cloathed in white rayment and they had on their heads Crowns of gold These are the Pastors and Guides of the Church militant under the name of the twelve Patriarchs of the Church of Israel and of the twelve Apostles of the Christian Church because it was in favour of the Church Militant that God revealed his Glory and Majesty to St. Iohn The Title of Elder is a Title of dignity whereof also the whiteness of their Garments and their Crowns of Gold are marks and indications And this gives us ground to hope that they who are Israelites after the Spirit and who through a true faith follow the doctrine of the Apostles shall one day come to be advanced to a glory like unto this v. 5. And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thundrings and voices and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne which are the seven spirits of God. This is a terrible threatning against the Enemies of Gods Church The Seven Spirits are the Spirit himself expressed by the number seven which is a Mystical number and which represents the variety the unexpressible number and the perfection of his Graces v. 6. And before the throne there was a Sea of Glass like unto Chrystall In the Scripture Waters signify people And the Sea is a heap of waters So that this is the Church composed of multitudes of people But to distinguish her from other Societies of the world that are Muddy filthy she is compared to Crystal which is as well pure as it is Solid and transparent She is said to be before the throne because She is ever under the eye and care of her Creator who carries her as the Scripture elsewhere speaketh engraven upon the palms of his hands Isa 49. 16. And round about the throne were four living Creatures full of eyes before and behind v. 7. And the first living creature was like a Lion and the 2d like a Calf and the 3d had the face of a wan and the 4th was like a flying Eagle v. 8. And the four living Creatures had each of them six wings and they were full of eyes within and they rest not day nor night saying holy holy holy Lord God Almighty which was and is and is to come These four living Creatures are beyond all exception the same with those in the Vision of the Prophet Ezekiel chap. 1. For that Prophet stiles them in his 10 chap. v. 5. Cherubims which signify Angels These are then four chief Angels as they are called in the 10 chap. of Daniel v. 13. and they are elsewhere called Archangels as having Angels under them And thence it is said Rev. 15. 7. that one of the four living Creatures gave unto the seven Angels seven Vials full of the wrath of God who liveth for ever ever Which cannot agree but to Archangels These Archangels are represented by the number four either with respect to the four parts of the world according to which the four gates of the new Ierusalem are disposed which was represented by the Mystical Temple of Ezekiel or else with respect to the four Empires under which the Church of God hath been in subjection and afflicted In Ezekiel these living Creatures are represented each of them having the four resemblances of a Lion of an Ox of a Man and of an Eagle but here each is represented as having but one because St. Iohn saw them in a posture of standing whereas Ezekiel saw them in a posture of motion together with their wheels The Lion is an Emblem of invincible courage The Ox is a Symbole of strenth and patience The Man of meekness And the Eagle of promptitude swiftness All which serve to declare the qualities of these Angels in their Execution of divine Orders As their being full of eyes expresseth the knowledg and wisdom wherewith they execute them V. 9. And when these four living Creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him that sat on the throne who liveth for ever and ever V. 10. The four and twenty Elders fall down before him that sat on the throne and worship him that liveth for ever and ever and cast their Crowns before the Throne saying V. 11. Thou art worthy O Lord to receive glory and honor and power for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created Here we have the exact form of true Religion and of lawful worship The Mystical living Creatures do adore none but God the 24 Elders do worship none besides the Lord it is before him that they do alone bow and it is only at his feet that they cast down their Crowns 'T is to him alone that they ascribe honor and glory and they themselves assign the reason of it For say they thou hast created all things Whence is it that the Holy Virgin is not here named if She be also the object of Religion and of worship And why ought we not to be content with that form of Adoration which the Angels of Heaven practice especially seeing we every day say thy will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Moreover the Scope of this Vision is to assure Christians that God will be alway's in the midst of
Iohn expresseth these two effects when he saith that he found the Book sweet in his mouth as honey and that it made his belly bitter Therefore Luther and all those others who have travelled in the work of the Reformation have executed the order which the Angel gave here to St. Iohn Thou must Prophesie again before many peoples and Nations and Tongues and Kings The Term to prophesie signifies not only the foretelling things to come as if this order had respected only St. Iohn but it signifies likewise to Instruct to teach to preach the Gospel in which sense the word to prophesie is applied in the 1 Cor. chap. 14. v. 24. c. XXI ILLUSTRATION Of the Measuring of the Temple and of the Outward Court to be trodden under foot of the Gentiles REV. CHAP. II. V. 1. And there was given me a Reed like unto a Rod the Angel stood saying Rise measure the Tewple of God the Altar them that worship therein V. 2. But the Court which is without the Temple leave out and measure it not for it is given unto the Gentiles and the Holy City shall they tread under foot forty and two Months HEre we have represented unto us the Reformation of the Church For this is the execution of the Order which St. Iohn had received Thou must prophesie i. e. thou must preach the Gospel afresh to many peoples Nations Tongues and Kings And St. Iohn as hath been observed represents therein all those whom God was to imploy in that great work For the Execution of this commission there is given unto St. Iohn a Reed like unto a Rod and there is an Angel saying unto him Rise and measure the Temple of God and the Altar and them that worship therein This Reed is the Word of God called a Rod or a Scepter Ps 45. v. 6. and a Rule Gal. 6. 16. Because neither errors nor manners can be otherway's reformed than by the application of the word of God which condemneth both Errors and vices and lay's before us what we ought to believe and what we ought to practice As often as the Church of Israel was Reformed it was done by the application of no other Rule Iosiah and Hezekiah made use of no other no more did Ezra and Nehemiah There is here an Allusion to the 40. chap. of Ezekiel v. 5. c. where the prophet received Order to measure the Temple to assure him of the deliverance from the Babylonish Captivity And Iews as well as Christians are agreed that the Temple described by Ezekiel is not the Material Temple of Jerusalem but that of the Messiah which neither is nor can be any other than his Church which St. Paul calls the Temple of the Lord 2 Cor. 6. 16. And consequently this is the Temple which is to be re-established by the destruction of Antichristian Babylon that so there may be a correspondence between St. Iohn and Ezekiel He is commanded to measure both the Temple aud the Altar because there is nothing in the Church but what stands in need of being Reformed Since all Nations have been made drunk with the Wine of Babylon both Religion and manners Faith and Worship Head and Members in a word every thing ought to be measured every thing stands in need of Reformation The Court without the Temple trodden under foot by the Gentiles is the Christian Church but become Antichristian by its Idolatry The Gentiles that is to say the Pagans are represented treading that is frequenting the outward Court of the Temple because almost all the Ceremonies of the Roman Church are borrowed from the Heathen And for this cause also it is called the Court without which was no part of the Temple For the Roman Church is not properly the Temple and Church of our Lord it is but the outward Court where the Gentiles have liberty to come Whereas it is given in command to leave the outward Court out it is as much as the enjoyning all those who are measured and Ruled by the Word of God and who are elsewhere called the Sealed of God to withdraw and actually separate from the Church of Rome and to make a Society apart in order to their worshipping God according to his word So that is the very same command with that given Rev. 18. 4. Come out of Babylon my People Babylon ought to subsist 42. Months after that the outward Court of the Temple is given to the Gentiles that they may tread the holy City under foot so long but of that time we shall speak in another place XXII ILLUSTRATION Of the two Witnesses their Sackcloth State the Time of their Prophecying and their Dignity REV. CHAP. 11. V. 3. And I will give power unto my two Witnesses and they shall prophesie 1260 day 's cloathed in sackcloth V. 4. These are the two Olive Trees and the two Candlesticks standing before the God of all the Earth V. 5. And if any man will hurt them fire proceedeth out of their Mouth and devoureth their Enemies and if any man will hurt them he must in this manner be killed V. 6. These have power to shut Heaven that it rain not in the days of their Prophecy and have power over waters to turn them into blood and to smite the Earth with all plagues as often as they will. THEY who by the two Witnesses do understand the old Testament and the New have not hit the meaning of this place They have not come home to the sense but they have touched a little on the side of it The word of God is the Testimony for it is frequently so called Psa 119. So St. Paul stiles also the Gospel 1 Cor. chap. 2. v. 1. But they who profess the Truth and are the defenders of it are properly the Witnesses here spoken of They who since the birth of Antichristianism have cried against its Errors and Idolatry And we must observe that these Witnesses are stiled also Candlesticks which is the Title given by Jesus Christ to the seven Churches is the Epistle which he writ to them Rev. 1 20. Nor is it strange that he speaks only of two Witnesses altho he be speaking of a numerous Society seeing in all language both divine and humane great Bodies of men do make but one Mystical person Thus the Israelites are considered in Hosea as one Woman Thus likewise all sincere Christians are stiled in the Revelation the Lambs Wife and all false Christians are called the great Harlot And the Historian Florus represents the whole Roman people as a man that had past through the different Stages of human life These Witnesses are precisely two neither more nor less They are not fewer that their Testimony may be sufficient they are not more through an Allusion to the History of the ancient people of God whose conduct had been committed two to Moses Aaron to Iosuah and Caleb to Elijah and Elisha to Zerobabel and Jehashua to Ezra and Nehemiah to Haggai and
one or more particulars and that this Iudgment was executed by means of the Reformation which begun in the last Age thro the Ministry of Luther and Zuinglius But that the Vintage signifies a definitive Judgment which shall ruin the Papal Empire beyond recovery thro a general Reformation that shall take place in the beginning of the next Age when the 42. Months and 1260. days will be accomplished These two Reformations seem to be promised by that repetition of the voice from Heaven Bayblon is fallen is fallen However they may be solidly established upon the History of the ancient People of God the Iews The Children of Israel had a twofold coming out of Babylon of the Chaldees One in vertue of the Edict of Cyrus under Zerubbabel and Iehosuah a second in the virtu of the Edict of Artaxerxes and Nehemiah and Ezra Now that the Antitype may correspond with the Type there must be two remarkable Reformations of the Christian Church to answer the two deliverances out of the Captivity of old Babylon The one was about 160. years ago and was effected by the Ministry of Zwinglius and Luther The other is to be when God comes to execute his decree against Rome and to make her drink the Cup of his fury Upon the first return of the Israelites out of Captivity all they did was to erect the Altar and rebuild the temple but upon that which was the second they built the Walls of Ierusalem which made the re-establishment of the Church of Israel entire and perfect 'T is to be much after the same manner in the two Reformations In the first the worship of God was restored which was like the building of the Altar and the rearing up of the Temple But the walls of Ierusalem are not yet restored that is the Church of God is not setled in peace and safety Nor will that be till the next coming out of Babylon thro a general second Reformation In a word the Reformation of the Church is at present very imperfect It hath neither the extent nor that perfection which it ought to have Not the Extent in that it reacheth only towards the west and towards the North. Not the perfection because the Reformed are much divided and there are many Sects which disfigure the Reformation But the last Reformation shall be perfect both in its Latitude and in its purity In its extension in that it shall reach into the South and into the East and to all parts In its purity because there shall be no more Sects no more fondness for parties no more Quarrels no more disputes The Wolf shall dwell with the Lamb the Lion and the Ox shall feed together and a little Child shall lead them They shall not hurt nor destroy in all the holy mountain of the Lord. For the Earth shall be full of the knowledg of the Lord as the waters cover the Sea Isa 11. 6 7 8 9. Then shall this prophecy of Isaiah be fulfilled when the Vials of Gods wrath are fully poured out and when the Lord shall have executed his last judgment against Babylon which is here expressed by the Vintage This judg'ment is denounced in Terms that are certainly Hyperbolical But yet we have a hyperbole parallel to it both in the 8 chap. of Isaiah v. 7. and in the 30. chap. v. 27 28. The words of St. Iohn are these and blood came out of the Wine-press even unto the horse-bridles by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs The meaning of which is this that there hath not hitherto been so terrible a judgment as God will bring upon Rome the Seat of the Papal Empire And if the Observation of a certain Learned English man be true that the Ecclesiastical State which is called Romania and which extends it self from Rome to Ancona and to the Ponds of Verona be in length two hundred Italian miles we need not doubt but that this is the place here intended seeing 200 Italian Miles make just 1600 furlongs He who is said here to appear like unto the Son of Man sitting upon a white Clowd and having on his head a Golden Crown is Jesus Christ as is evident by comparing the 14. v. of this chap. with v. 13. of the 1. Chap. and with v. 2. of the 19 ch The Angel that is represented coming out of the Temple saying to him that sate upon the Cloud thrust in thy sickle is the Church calling for vengeance As in Luke chap. 18. v. 7. where it is said shall not God avenge his own Elect which cry night and day unto him Now the delaying to thrust in the sickle till called upon and commanded contains an allusion to the custom of the Iews who were not to put the Sickle into the corn till the High Priest who was in the Temple had given order for it Moreover this is the very same judgment with that which is described chap. 19. where the Wine Press of Gods wrath is also spoken of And the same likewise with that denounced in the Effusion of the Vials only with this difference that what the Vintage expresseth in general the Vials declare in particular XIX ILLUSTRATION Of the Sea of Glass mingled with Fire REV. CHAP. 15. v. 2. IT being the Scripture Stile of speaking to compare people to waters and a great multitude of people to the Sea we need not doubt but that it is the Church of God that is intended by the Sea here spoken of Now the Church of God is stiled a Sea because she is an Assembly of people And she is called a Sea of Glass in opposition to other Societies of the world which are tempestuous and muddy whereas the Society of Belivers is clean and peaceable being justified thro the blood of Jesus Christ and Sanctified by the Spirit of Regeneration Fire is mingled with this Sea because of the afflictions and persecutions which the Church hath suffered from Babylon As for those who had gotten the Victory over the Beast and over his Image and over his mark over the number of his Name and who stand upon this Sea of Glass with the harps of God in their hands and who sing the song of Moses of the Lamb. They can be no other than the Confessors and Martyr's who died in the faith of the Lord victorious over all the persecutions of Babylon And who are here compared to the Israelites that sung a song to the honor of God upon their having passed through the red Sea and seen the entire destruction of their Enemies And whereas 't is said of these conquerors over the Beast that they stood upon a Sea of Glass he meaneth no more than their being upon the shore For it is certain that this phrase upon the Sea doth else where signify the being meerly upon the Seashore 1 Kings 4. 20. where the sand by the Sea shore is spoken of as being upon the Sea. For these blessed Martyrs may be said to be
before the last day So that it is the same that St. Iohn meaneth by the first Resurrection and by Reigning with Iesus Christ a thousand years The same Daniel says in the seventh Chap. v. 27. that after the destruction of the Roman Empire represented by the fourth Beast that the Kingdom and Dominion and the greatness of the Kingdom under the whole Heaven were given unto the people of the Saints of the most High and that all Dominions shall serve and obey him This cannot be after the general Resurrection because then there will be no Dominions nor hath it hitherto been accomplished so that it must refer to the 1000 years whereof St. Iohn doth here speak But what can we desire more plain than that Prophesie of Isaiah chap. 65. v. 17. c. where God speaketh in these Terms Behold I create new Heavens and a new Earth and the former shall not be remembred nor come into mind But be you glad and rejoice forever in that which I create For behold I create Jerusalem a rejoicing and her people a joy And the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her nor the voice of crying There shall be no more thence an Infant of day's nor an old man that hath not fulfilled his day's for the Child shall die a hundred year old And they shall build houses and inhabit them and they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them They shall not labour in vain nor bring forth Children for trouble For they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord and their offsprings with them And it shall come to pass that before they call I will answer and while they are yet speaking I will hear There are many things in this passage of Isaiah that there can be no room for in the life to come yea not in an allegorical sense Nor have they been fulfilled from the time of the Prophet till our day's so that they are to be accomplished after the first Resurrection i. e. after the deliverance of the Church from all her Enemies and during the thousand years in which she shall enjoy a perfect peace We can give no sense to these words whereby to adjust them to the state of the glorified There will not be from thence an Infant of day's nor an old man that hath not accomplished his day's Shall it be in Heaven that these words are to be fulfilled the Child shall die an hundred years old Or are the following words to receive their completion in the state of Glory They shall build houses and inhabite them they shall plant vine yards and eat the fruit of them They shall not labour in vain nor bring forth for trouble for they are the blessed of the Lord and their off spring with them And it shall come to pass that before they call I will answer If we take these words in a literal sense as they may without any difficulty it is then certain that they are not hitherto accomplished nor hath any thing like unto this been ever seen on the earth Nor can we affix unto them such a Mystical sense whereby to shew that they have been fulfilled in a state of grace from the establishment of the Gospel till this time and much less can such a sense be proved in reference to a state of Glory Nor can we avoid the fastning the like Exposition upon that other Prophesie of Isaiah chap. 11. v. 1 c. And there shall come forth a rod out of the Stem of Jesse and a branch shall grow out of his roots And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him In righteousness shall he judg the poor and reprove the meek with equity He shall smite the Earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips shall be stay the wicked The Wolf shall dwell with the Lamb the Leopard shall lie down with the Kid the Cow and the Bear shall feed together and the Lion shall eat straw like the Ox and a little Child shall lead them They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain for the Earth shall be full of the knowledg of the Lord as the waters cover the Seas I dare maintain against the warmest Antimillenarians that this Prophesie is not yet fulfilled and that it shall be accomplished on the Earth after the destruction of Antichrist The fourth verse does plainly guide to this sense he shall smite the Earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked And it evident that St. Paul had these words of Isaiah in his thoughts when he wrote the 2d chap of the 2d Ep. to the Thessalonians For after that he had described Antichrist by his principal Characters he adds v. 8. the Lord shall destroy this wicked one by the breath of his mouth and shall destroy him by the brightness of his coming Of what coming of the Lord doth St. Paul speak It cannot be of the last It must be a coming that may accord what is said by the Apostle with what is predicted by Isaiah And whensoever the Iews come to be brought home and all Nations converted it will then appear so clearly that Iesus Christ is come into the world that if he should descend from heaven unto the Earth we could not be more convinced This coming of the Lord will be magnificent and glorious forasmuch as it will make the Church from that time forward to appear as an Army glorious in holiness and victorious over all her Enemies There are three things promised in this Oracle The first is a perfect union of the Iews with all Nations This is promised under the Embleme of wild beasts dwelling and feeding peaceably with the Lamb and with the Ox. When was it that this was seen In the times of the Apostles when the Iews and Gentiles were converted by St. Peter and his fellow Apostles I do affirm that there was nothing then seen save a small pattern of the accomplishment of this prophecy Nor was that the time of the conversion of the Iews but rather of their rejection And the peace which appeared then in the Church made up of Jews and Gentiles was of too short a continuance to express all the Force and the whole extent of this Union and of this harmony of agreement which the Prophecy before us of Isaiah gives ground to hope for The 2d is an abundance and large diffusion of the knowledg of the true God. This is expresly promised in these words the whole Earth shall be full of the knowledg of the Lord as the waters cover the Sea. From the time of the Apostles till our day's there hath been nothing seen that may answer the greatness of this promise The darkness of Paganism prevailed in the Roman Empire till Constantine That of Arianism-followed soon after that of Heathenism And that of Antichristianism hath reigned for above these twelve hundred years and is not yet dissipated
had expressed the sufferings that were past For the Martyrs having demanded how long Lord ere thou avenge our Blood It was answered unto them that they should yet rest for a little season until their fellow Servants also and their Bretheren that should be killed as they were should be fulfilled So that as the complaint of the Martyrs expresseth the persecutions of the Church under the Pagan Emperors the answer is a prediction of the sufferings which the Church was to undergo under the Papal Antichristian Kingdom Moreover we may here observe who it is that is a true Martyr They are those who are slain for the Word of God. So that this Title cannot be denyed to Protestants because it is only out of hatred to their Religion that they are killed Nor are they put to death for any other cause but for the Word of God and for the holding that their Religion is certain supported by a Soveraign and Divine Authority full and sufficient for Salvation And is not the maintaining the rights and perfections of Gods Word a maintaining of Gods cause Is it not to die for Jesus Christ to suffer death because they will not consent to the injuries which the Papists do to his Gospel V. 12. And I beheld when he had opened the sixth Seal and lo there was a great Earth-quake and the Sun became black as sackcloth of Hair and the Moon became as Blood. V. 13. And the Stars of Heaven fell unto the Earth even as a Fig tree casteth her untimely Figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind V. 14. And the Heaven departed as a Scrowl when it is rolled together and every Mountain and Island were moved out of their places V. 15. And the Kings of the Earth and the great men and the rich men and the chief Captains and the mighty men and every Bondman and every Freeman hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the Mountains V. 16. And said to the Mountains and Rocks fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the Throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. V. 17. For the great day of his wrath is come and who shall be able to stand There appeareth not here any Horseman nor any living Creature no more than there did at the opening of the fifth Seal and the reason is because what is concealed under this Seal extendeth not through the whole course of the History of the Roman Empire and of the Church of God. Seeing that which is comprehended under this Seal is only one of the Revolutions that was to befall the Roman Empire There were three changes to overtake it By the first it was to pass from Paganism to pure and uncorrupted Christianity By the second it was to pass from pure and simple Christianity to a Christianity mixed and corrupted which is no other thing but Antichristianism or Popery And by the third it is to pass and return from Christianity corrupted and from Popery to a Christianity that is pure and freed from all the Errors and Superstitions of Antichrist This last change will be under and upon the effusion of the Vials and the Reformation that was made the last Age is a sample and earnest of it The Second was to appear under the Trumpets And the first was that which came to pass under this sixth Seal In all the changes there is spoken of the Heaven of the Sun of the Moon of the Stars of the Sea of Earthquakes of the removing of Mountains because it is the stile of the Prophets to express Revolutions which fall out in the world with reference to Religion in terms that agree to a change in the whole Universe Thus the Apostle St. Peter Act. 2. 14. c. applyeth the Prophecy of Ioel to the establishment which God begun to give unto the Christian Religion by the pouring forth of the Holy Ghost In that day I will pour out of my Spirit upon all Flesh and on my Servants and on my Handmaidens and they shall prophesy and I will shew wonders in Heaven above and signs in the Earth beneath Blood and Fire and Vapours of Smoak the Sun shall be turned into darkness and the Moon into Blood. 'T is not probable that the Holy Spirit should omit that memorable change which befel the Empire when the Emperors were no more Heathen Persecutors but Christian Favourers of the Gospel which if it be not comprehended under this Seal there is not the Footstep or mention of it in the whole Revelation And withal that Event doth accord the best of the World with this Vision For if the Enemies of Christs name appear here astonished desperate hiding themselves in the Mountains and crying to the Rocks fall on us and hide us from the Wrath of the Lamb all this accordeth admirably with the Event For History recounts unto us how the Judgments of God fell after a terrible manner upon the five last Heathen Emperors who had persecuted the Christians with an unbridled rage Diocletian and Maximian voluntarily laid down the Imperial Dignity being pressed to it by the sole remorse of their Consciences which gave them no quiet Maxentius was thrown headlong from the Milvian Bridg into the Tyber and in that very place where he had laid an Ambush for Constantin Maximin who had pulled out the Eyes of Christians lost his own Eyes by a disease that was as loathsome as it was painful and Lieinius was murthered by the Garrison of Thessalonica After that Constantin was arrived at the Empire all the Edicts against the Christians were repealed the Christian Religion was established by publick Authority the Idolatrous Temples were either pulled down or consecrated to the service of the true God their Altars were overthrown and the Heathens being stript of all Honors were sent into the Villages from whence they came to be stiled Pagans that is Inhabitants of the Villages a Title by which the Christians had been denominated before V. ILLUSTRATION Of the four Angels that withheld the four Winds and of the Angel that had the Seal of the living God. REV. CHAP. 7. V. 1. After these things I saw four Angels standing on the four corners of the Earth holding the four Winds of the Earth that the Wind should not blow on the Earth nor on the Sea nor on any Tree V. 2. And I saw another Angel ascending from the East having the Seal of the living God and he cried with a loud voice to the four Angels to whom it was given to hurt the Earth and the Sea. V. 3. Hurt not the Earth neither the Sea nor the Trees till we have sealed the Servants of our God in their foreheads IF those four Angels be good Angels then the withholding the four Winds must be something likewise that is good And that they are good Angels appeareth from thence because the Angel that had the Seal of the living God spake unto them as Angels of God. Hurt not says
if they can find way of escape which they uncessantly seek for And the number of these being doubtless the greatest it may be said that the Reformed are not buried because the greatest part practise that which they do with regret and have the Mass and all which doth attend upon it in the same abhorrency that they had them heretofore For I do account those who willingly go to Mass to be dead and buried altogether nor is there any hope of their return But for those who go with repugnancy and sorrow tho they be dead yet they are not buried and there is cause to hope that they shall suddenly rise They are dead in the esteem of those who have compelled them and who reckon upon them as good Catholicks whom they shall in time bring to what they would have them But they are not put into Graves they are not yet infected there is some hidden spark of life in them which will speedily manifest it self This spark of life consisteth in the sorrow they are under for what they are forced to do in a more ardent love to their Pastors than heretofore and in those prayers which without ceasing they make unto God for their restoration And to say all that I think on this subject So long as there remain of those seeming Converted and forced Catholicks in France it cannot reasonably be said that the pretended Heresie of Calvin is extinguished or that the Witnesses are burried The Witnesses do yet appear as Bodies not interred and exposed to be seen and are look't upon by the Papists themselves as dead of some they are lookt upon with pity of others with horror and of all with mistrust If the Popish Clergy had been hearkned unto who are animated by that murdering as well as lying Spirit we should have seen the revival of St. Bartholomew's day for the burying of those Witnesses whom they have killed and for the final extirpating of the pretended Heresie For they do see that there is no other way to compass their End. Their inclination to Massacre appeareth in the cruel treatment which they use towards those seeming Converts who to repair the injury they have done when they come to die refuse to partake of the Popish Sacraments whose dead bodies the Priests cause to be drag'd along the streets and thrown on the Dunghils We may very well say that the rage of Papacy hath no bounds seeing after they have murdered the Consciences of these new Converts they persecute their very Carcasses not only without shame but without fear of being reproached for their inhumanity This murdering Spirit which animates the Clergy induceth them to demand of the King or of his Council a general Massacre that they may thereby hinder the Heresie which they have extinguished from recovering life and strength again But the Kindreds Tongues Peoples and Nations will not suffer that the King should consent to a general Massacre for either the seeing the prejudice which that violent Counsel would do to his State the advantage which that effusion of Blood would give his Enemies or the fearing to provoke his Neighbours against him makes that his Majesty will not hearken to those Sanguinary Sollicitors for the burying of the Witnesses We are carefully to observe the place where the Witnesses are to be overcome killed and left without burial It is saith the Text in the Street of the great City This observation obviates an Objection that may be made against what we have alledged in our affirming the Extinction of the Protestant Churches in France to be the putting the Witnesses to death For some may say are the two Witnesses no other save the Reformed Churches in France The Church of England the Churches of the United Provinces those of Piedmont those of Switzerland those of Germany c. are not all these Churches of the number of the Witnesses as well as those of France Yes without doubt But neither the United Provinces nor the Cantons nor Swedland nor Denmark nor Hess nor Saxony nor Brandenburgh are Streets of the great City The Pope receiveth no Tribute from thence nor hath he any power in any of them Neither is there any place except Piedmont where the Papists have begun to make the like War as they have done in France As for England I know not if it may be sayd that it is become a Street of the great City because that Popery's being reestablished on the Throne in the Person of the King who declared himself a Roman Catholick upon his coming to the Crown Nor do I know whether we are not to expect the effect of that secret Plot of which there hath been a rumor in that Kingdom for these twenty years before we can tell whether the prophecy about the death of the Witnesses be fulfilled and before we can particularly determin the time of their Resurrection But the word used here in the Greek do's deliver us from that Entanglement For the Text not speaking of places but of one place doth thereby seem to inform us that the Witnesses are not to be killed any where else save in that place or Street which the Text doth design Which seems beyond all contradiction to be France in that we see the Witnesses Killed there not put into Graves XXIV ILLUSTRATION Of the Rising of the Witnesses their ascending into Heaven and of what follows upon their Triumph REV. CHAP. XI V. 11. And after three day's and an half the Spirit of Life from God entred into them and they stood upon their feet and great fear fell upon them which saw them V. 12. And they heard a great voice from Heaven saying unto them come up hither and they ascended up to Heaven in a Cloud and their Enemies beheld them V. 13. And the same hour was there a great Earthquake and the tenth part of the City fell and in the Earthquake were slain of men seven thousand and the remnant were affrighted and gave glory to the God of Heaven IF the 1260 Days signify 1260 Years as shall be proved in another place then there is no reason for the understanding the three days an half wherein the Witnesses lie dead for three Natural day's So that it is three years and a half that the Witnesses are to continue dead and without being put into Graves After which time they shall rise and shall ascend into Heaven This Resurrection and Ascention of the Witnesses doth import two things First That the Reformed Churches shall be reestablished and that in such a manner that the hand of God shall signally appear in it because there is none besides God who can raise the Dead 2ly That they shall be setled in a more Advantagious State than they were before even as the life which Christ had after his Resurrection surpassed that in glory which he laid down on the Cross That is the meaning of the Allusion which the Holy Spirit maketh here to the Resurrection and Ascention of our Saviour