are mentioned in the 7th of Daniel was the peculiar name of the Messias or of that eminent Christ whose coming was the great expectation of the Jewish Nation and was appropriated to him alone For upon that solemn adjuration of the High-Priest to Jesus to tell him whether he were the Christ which was the putting him to his Oath about it the Answer which our Saviour gives to it is expressed in these very words of Daniel viz. The Son of Man that was to come in the clouds of Heaven Together with the Circumstance of Matth. 26. 64 65 66. sitting on the right hand of the power of God The same with his Being brough near to the Ancient of days who was upon his Throne Dan. 7. 10 13. with myriads of Angels about him And this was so presently understood for an Answer of his being the Christ and so generally that the High-Priest thereupon forthwith rent his cloaths and cryed that he had spoken Blasphemy and all the rest about him judged him to be worthy of death To me therefore it looks like an Infatuation in so understanding a Person as Grotius To make the Son of Man in this 7th of Grot. in v. 13. cap. 7. Dan. Daniel to signify nothing but the Roman People when he himself in his Comment upon the very same Expression and joined with the same Circumstances in the 24th of St. Matthew v. 30. had acknowledged it to be spoken of Christ And on St. Matthew 26. 64. does expresly say that our Saviour's owning himself there to be the Christ does refer to the same way of expressing it in this 7th of Daniel And which is the most to be admired This he does without giving any account of any necessity for it from this or any other place where it is used but thinks it sufficient that in this new sense it will uphold a new Hypothesis This is therefore another plain instance against how clear a Light Grotius is able to shut his eyes to be constant to a new Invention though against the unanimous agreement of all the World besides and even to the hazarding of the Crime of Blasphemy For a Crime of that nature was it judged to be by the whole Sanhedrim of the Jews as has been just observed to give the incommunicable name of the Son of Man in the 7th of Daniel to any other than to the true Messias And the error of their Judgment was only the fixing of that Crime upon him who was the True Christ to whom it did really belong It does indeed by this seem to be a double Blasphemy first to take away the proper Character of the Messias from the True Christ And next To give it away to a thing that neither he himself nor any else ever thought to be the Christ CHAP. II. Mat. XXIV The 14th Proposition The Kingdom of the Son of Man Dan. 7. is the second Coming of Christ in Glory This demonstrated upon Four General Heads First From its being the same with the Kingdom of the Saints in that Chapter 2. From its being the same with the Reign of Christ Rev. 11. 15. 3. From its being the same with the beginning of the Resurrection Dan. 12. 2. This evinced in three Lemma's 4. From its being the same with that which is determined by our Saviour and the Apostles to be the Second Coming of Christ in Glory This confirmed in six Particulars Dr. Hammond 's Objection against this answered SINCE now it is undoubted that the Kingdom of the Son of Man is some Kingdom of our Jesus The Characters of it will make appear what Kingdom of his it is and from a view of them it may be resolved That The Kingdom of the Son of Man in the 7th of Daniel is the Second Proposit 14. Coming of Christ in Glory One would easily be persuaded of this at the first fight of the glorious Properties of it and especially upon the account of its Vniversal Command and the Eternal Duration of it For what else is his coming in Glory for but to take possession of the whole World and to reign with his Father and his Saints in it to all Eternity And though he delivers up his Kingdom to his Father at the last end yet he has so much share in it as to have it here called his Everlasting Kingdom As elsewhere it is said also And he shall reign for ever and ever But it may be said that this Rev. 11. 15. was verified of Christ at his first coming For at his Ascension into Heaven he is said to have all Power given unto him both in Matth. 28. 18. Heaven and Earth It must therefore be shown that by the Characters of the Kingdom of the Son of Man in this place it cannot be that Vniversal Power which was given to Christ at his Dan. VII Ascension into Heaven and his sitting on the Right hand of Power For this purpose it is to be considered That the Kingdom of the Son of Man and That of the Saints in the 7th Chapter of Daniel is the same Kingdom for they both are described as beginning at the same time at the destruction of the Little Horn and have the same Characters of an Universal and Eternal Dominion which it is impossible for two different Kingdoms to have at the same time And the Kingdom of the Saints has these Properties in it 1. To begin at the destruction of a Kingdom that did devour v. 21 22. the whole Earth and of a great tyrannizing Power in it who did wear out the Saints of the Most High that is at the destruction of v. 26 27. all the Enemies of the Church upon Earth for thereupon it had his Dominion and all Dominions under the whole Heaven 2dly To be in the actual possession of the Obedience of v. 14. All People Nations and Languages and of All Dominions under Heaven 3dly To be Eternal from that first beginning of such an Ibid. v. 27. Universal Dominion And this can be nothing but Christ's Second Coming in Glory For tho' all Power both in Heaven and Earth was given unto him at his Ascension into Heaven yet St. Paul tells us That all things then were not put under him and that he had not Heb. 2. 8. then put down all Authority and Rule and Power nor had he 1 Cor. 15 24 25. put all his Enemies under his feet which yet we see is necessary to be done to have His Kingdom be That of the Saints in this 7th of Daniel and which when it does comes to pass St. Paul in the same places does shew us to be his Coming in Glory But what appearance ever was there of such an Universal Kingdom of Christ on Earth in the time of the Ten Poman Persecutions or in the time of the Saracen and Turkish Empires after them And what fourth Kingdom that ruled over all the Earth was destroyed at the Ascension of
Emperors and their Images as well as the Pagans It is manifest that there must be something more here meant than a bare external Civil Veneration of the higher Powers as the Ordinance of God It must be something very much like the Worshipping of Nebuchadnezzar's Image and of those Babylonian Kings in such a manner as not to be allowed the exercise of the true Religion And nothing less than this can answer the Character of the man of sin 2 Thes 2. 4. who is said to exalt himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped So that be as God sitteth in the Temple of God shewing himself that he is God And by the consent of all Interpreters that Prophecy does certainly belong to that state of things that is represented by the Beast and his Image By this then it appears that by the Worship here mentioned must be understood the giving of Divine honours or the peculiar Prerogatives of God or Christ to the Beast or his Image that is to the Civil and Ecclesiastical Authority of the Romans after the Restauration of the Imperial Roman Government in the West The unquestionable way to effect this would be to make * Grot. Responsde Antichristo pag. 77. I detest every thing that belongs to the Spirit of Antichrist that is the imposing persecuting Spirit And that has appeared not only near the Tyber but about the Lake Lemanus and in other places the Arbitrary will and pleasure of the Supreme Authority of the Roman State or the Church to be acknowledged for the Law of God Divinely inspired or to be publickly obeyed as such by outward compliance with it This is certainly to set up ones own will for the will of God and so to stand ones self in the place of God to the World And if this be exercised with an irresistible power over the Universal Church of Christ upon Earth it is plainly the showing ones self to be a God in the Temple of God For there could nothing else be understood by the Temple of God after the Destruction of Jerusalem but the Christian Church which also has that name in several places of the same Apostle's Writings A still much higher improvement of this Worship is it if it be enjoined as necessary to Salvation to believe these Arbitrary Decrees to be the Inspirations of God and to obey them But especially if these Decrees be not only about things left indifferent by the Word of God but are also Injunctions contrary to the Will and Word of God For this is to oppose and exalt ones self above God in the Temple of God And if this be done with the shew of the Authority of God himself in it this is to oppose all that is called God shewing himself to be God For he does certainly make himself very near as absolute a Sovereign of a Nation who does unjustly exercise all the Acts of the Sovereign Power of it against the will of the undoubted Prince of it but yet under the name of his Authority as he that does it by an open Usurpation of the Title of the Sovereign Power This Power and Authority is carried on with a still greater arrogance and claim of divinity in it if it pretends to a Title of Infallibility in all that it can enjoin For as this Divine Attribute is the fundamental ground of all the highest Acts of Faith in God so is it a claim of an infinite power in men and does give b Thomas de Albiis in his Tabulae Suffragiales does the best lay open the dreadful Consequences of establishing Infallibility in any Head of the Church or any where where it really is not Tab. 20 21. This Claim in reference to the Pope he proves there to be the Mother of all Heresies and the worst of all sins because if those who claim it should err it would lead all the Church into the same without any possibility of remedy There is the same reason for that Claim in any Governing-part of the Church where that Privilege really is not Authority to all the Acts of their own Will frees them from See References all Bounds and Measures or Rules to distinguish betwixt Truth and Falshood sets them out of the reach of all humane Judicature and makes their Will and Pleasure the last Appeal for all Controversies and their Arbitrary Decisions to be the Oracles of God How inconsiderable does the Worship of Nebuchadnezzar's Image appear to be in comparison with this profound Veneration of the Soul and Conscience given to the arbitrary false and wicked Decrees of either ignorant or designing Men under the Character of the Word and Will of God And all these particulars are made good in the matter before us by the Imperial Laws and their Sanctions and Edicts to force their own Faith in indifferent things And the Errors of General Councils upon the Consciences of the whole Christian Church Catholick to be assented to as c It had been the common stile of Councils ever since the Council of Nice to publish their Decrees under the Title of Things Divinely Inspired Thus does Socrates shew lib. 1. cap. 6. Ep. That Constantine there says of the Decree of the 300 Bishops at Nice That it was to be looked upon as the Sentence of God himself And ibid. Ep. 4. To the Churches he says of all Councils That whatsoever is decreed in the Holy Councils of Bishops the same is to be attributed to the will of God Cardinal Julian's Harangue to the Deputies of the Bohemians in the Council of Basil tells them That the Decrees of Councils are not less to be believed than the Gospel because it is THEY that give AUTHORITY to the Scriptures Divine Truth See References and many times as necessary to Salvation and the giving of the Secular Arm to execute the like Injunctions of the Roman Church Of this kind also are the unwarrantable Acts of Councils and the unlawful Canons of the Roman Church inforced by the d By vertue of such Orders from that Power as these Determinations in the Decretals and Glosses do authorize viz. That the Pope of Rome is by the Order of God set over the Nations and Kingdoms That it belongs to the Pope to depose the Emperour and all other Kings and States and to assign them Deputies That the Pope is to be esteemed the Vicar of Jesus Christ for all things here upon Earth in Heaven and Hell That he can make that which is square to be round Injustice to be Justice that which is nothing to be something That he has an Absolute Power of Judging and that justly Against the Law of Nature Nations and of particular Countreys Human and Divine above and against Right against all Decrees and Orders of Council That he can dispense with the Injunctions of the Apostles And these Glosses the Popes do recommend to the Publick as AUTHENTICK See Jus Canonic Gregor 13. Aventin lib. 6. Histor Boior
Chap. 7. v. 27. Power over all the Earth at the time that the greatness of the Kingdom of the Fifth under the whole Heaven began by the Conquest of it CHAP. VI. Dan. II VII The Five Kingdoms in the 2 d Chapter of Daniel immediatly successive to one another This agreed on by Interpreters and particularly evinced upon several grounds The nature of these Kingdoms shewn from their immediate Succession to one another Not successive forms of Government in the same Nation nor part of them of that kind From hece necessary that they must be the Four Monarchies And therefore must the Third in the 2 d and the 7th Chapter be the same Kingdom The First and Second also in both Chapters proved to be the same THE surest way to demonstrate the rest of these five Kingdoms to be the same is to find that those in the Second Chapter are immediately successive to one another For since the first of the Kingdoms in the Second Chapter is known to be the Dominion of Nebuchadnezzar and the last of them to be some Kingdom of Christ pag. praeced If they be all in an immediate v. 38. succession from the first to the last that will shew what kind of Kingdoms they must needs be to be able to fill up the distance of time betwixt those two Kingdoms by immediate Succession and thereby will make it appear from History what Kingdoms also they must be in particular and this will give light enough to find them to be the same with those in the 7th Chapter That the Five Kingdoms in the 2 d Chapter are successive to one Dan. II. another is undoubted For of the Second it is said And after thee shall arise another Kingdom And of the Third That it should bear Rule over all the Earth and so could it not be at the same time with any other that was different from it in the Earth at least where the Prophet lived And it is agreed by all that the Prophet's Countrey did belong to this Third Kingdom And then of the Fourth that it should break in pieces and consume all Kingdoms that had been before mentioned and so must come after them And then That these in the 2 d Chapter are all immediately successive Dan. II. to one another it is unanimously agreed amongst all kinds of Interpreters Jews and Christians of all Ages that are any CONSENT thing considerable which shews it to be here so plainly intimated if not expressed in words That the common sense of all considering Persons would judge it to be so from the usual acceptation of such words as it is signified by For how otherwise could those who differ from one another in almost every thing else be supposed to be so willing to agree together in this where there may be a great disadvantage given against the Party which they embrace by allowing it but no manner of advantage gained by it The Jews would be much surer of a defence for their deferring the coming of the Messias if the first Four Kingdoms were not determined to be the Four Monarchies immediately succeeding one another And it would not appear that Antichrist went along with the Kingdom of the Romans if the whole four were not found to be necessarily successive Empires that came immediately after one another from the times of Nebuchadnezzar The grounds of this agreement about the immediate Succession of these Kingdoms from the Text may be these 1. The mention of the number of them from the time of Nebuchadnezzar to the Kingdom of Christ seems to be plainly expressed to be to foreshew the determinate time of that Kingdom For there is nothing mentioned in any of the rest excepting that Tyranny in the last times of the Fourth Kingdom which ushers in the Kingdom of Christ about any Religious concern or any Action of God which yet is ordinarily the business of every Divine Prophecy Daniel does expresly tell Nebuchadnezzar that the end of his Dream was to make known to him from God what should be in the latter days And by the latter days must be there understood at least the latter days of those Kingdoms which are the subject of the Dream and therefore must they include the days of the last of those Five Kingdoms or the time of the Kingdom of Christ therein mentioned The whole number then seems to be wholly for this end to shew how many Successions of Empire there should be betwixt the Reign of Nebuchadnezzar's Kingdom and the Kingdom of Christ For who would not assuredly conclude it to be for that end only when there is nothing considerable spoken of the rest of the number And when the gloriousest state of things that ever was mentioned is set forth in that last Kingdom with this Introduction to the Interpretation of them all that the whole shew was to make known what should be in the latter days And how could that be possibly shewn by such an orderly number unless there had been no other Kingdoms betwixt them This therefore does make it manifest that the Succession of these Kingdoms was immediate to measure out the exact time of the coming of Christ in glory 2. An orderly number when joined with Successive Reigns as it is here under the names of a Third and a Fourth Kingdom v. 39 40. is generally used in speech to signify an immediate orderly Succession And who would ever call those a Third or a Fourth Kingdom from the First which had two or three more coming in betwixt them and the First 3. And then the last of the Five is known to be immediately Chap. 2. 44. Chap. 7. 26. successive to the Fourth pag. 120. which is an instance to shew the manner of the Succession of all the rest unless there were any thing clearer against it which is not by any pretended 4. The parts also of the Statue which represents these Kingdoms are immediatly joined to one another which must denote a property in the things represented some way answerable to it and that in Successive Kingdoms can be nothing else but the immediate Succession of them Upon these grounds it may safely be concluded That these Four Kingdoms in the 2 d Chapter do immediatly succeed one another especially when there is nothing offered against it but on the contrary as has been observed it has the unanimous Consent of all the differing Parties of Interpreters And by that it appears that in the Judgment of all that have considered these things it is so plainly suggested from the Text That unless it be really so there is occasion given for an unavoidable delusion about such things of moment as the great Tyranny of the last King of the Fourth Kingdom over the Church of God and the Universal Eternal Kingdom of Christ succeeding it and which the whole Prophecy was designed wholly to make known as is expressed v. 28. Chap. 2. It may therefore now be determined what kind of
Eighth substituted in his place by the Emperor's Approbation And the Old Law that there should be no consecration of the Pope without the Emperor's Order was renewed by the Authority of the Pope and another Council and Anathema and Banishment was the punishment of the Disobedient D. 63. C. In Synodo 23. See Note l on the Thirteenth Chapter Theodor. Ã Niem says He saw the Patent from whence this was drawn preserved at Florence in testimony of the Imperial Dignity and he lived under John the XXIIId The Emperor Henry the Second upon complaint of great Disorders of the Roman Church goes in the year 1046. to Rome there deposes Gregory the Sixth and fets up Clement the Second and the Romans swear to him that they would never chuse them any Pope without his Consent And upon the meeting of a great Council there it is ordained that the New-elected Pope shall not be so accounted till the Authority of the Emperor should confirm it and that the Pope ought not to be created without his Authority Petr. Damian in lib. Gratis Platina Onuphr in Clement 2. The Council of Lateran Ann. 1055. order the Election of the Pope to be begun by the Cardinals and the rest of the Clergy and People to consent to it and adds seeing nevertheless the Honour due to our dear Son Henry who is at present held for King and to be Emperor afterwards as we have granted to him and his Successors who shall obtain this right in person of the Apostolick See In the Synod at Rome in the Year 1106. is that dreadful Charge drawn up against Gregory the Seventh or Hildebrand for aspiring to the Papacy without either the Consent of the Emperor of the Romans or the Senate or People In the Year 1107. the Emperor Henry the Third sets forth a Remonstrance against Pope Paschal the Second and concludes That although by Right and force of Arms he could retain the Ancient Custom observed of so long time by so many Holy Fathers touching the Election of the Popes and the Right of Investitures yet he should not much trouble himself about it if they would return him the Estates and Chattels which they retained by the Gifts of the Laity and would content themselves with the Title Aventin Histor Boior L. 6. And upon taking Pope Paschal Prisoner by Henry it was sworn to by the Pope That the Right of confirming or investing the new chosen Bishop should be always in the Emperor and none should dare to own them before they were invested by the Emperor's Command Sigebert says thus concerning this Affair Chron. Ann. 1111. The King or Emperor would use the Authority which the Emperors had used since the time of Charlemaigne for 300 years and more under 63 Popes 1118. Gelasius the Second succeeded Paschal the Second and was created without the knowledge of the Emperor Henry who thereupon returns from Padua to Rome and consecrates Gregory the Eighth in his place 1165. Paschal the Third was confirmed Pope by the Council of Wurtzbourg where this Remarkable Decree was made That for the future no Pope should be created but after the Ancient Fashion by the Consent of the Emperor Aventin Hist Boior L. 6. And afterwards That the Pope should be called only Nuntius Christi and not to be the Rival of the Imperial Power And an oath was thereupon taken by all there present The Universities of Oxford and Paris agree about the Year 1404. that the Emperor has right of Patronage to the Pope and to the Roman Church That the Election of the Pope does not appertain of divine Right to the Cardinals but to the People and the Confirmation of him to the Emperor Epist Universit Paris Editae A. Hutten Ann. 1520. Emperor's confirmation of him and was the Imperial Authority that did many times call them k Nothing is more common in the History of the Church than the summonings and depositions of Popes by the Emperors to an account for their irregular actions and depose them The usual Titles that the Bishops of Rome gave their Emperors were l Guicciard Histor L. 4. In this time of the Exarchat that is after Justinian's recovery of Italy the Bishops of Rome had no Civil Power passing their lives under the subjection of the Emperors without the Authority of whom or of their Exarchs they durst not receive or exercise the Pontifical And therefore their Addresses to the Emperors must be proportionably submissive as follows 601. Gregory the Great who by the Romanists is made the Example of a Good Pope in his Second Book Ep. 62. 65. to the Emperor Mauritius hath these Expressions He is guilty before the Almighty who in all that he says or does is not clear towards His Most Serene Lords and I the Unworthy Servant of Your Piety If c. And I when I speak thus to My Lords what am I but dust and a Worm of the Earth c. Power is given My Lords from Heaven over all men I have committed will Christ say my Priests or Bishops into thy hands And l. 2. Ep. 64. my tongue cannot express the favour that I have received of the Almighty and of the most Serene Emperor My Lord. And Ep. 52. I have sent him to the Feet of My Lords And yet Gregory speaks boldly enough to him when he reproves him as his Confessor L. 2. Ep. 64. And L. 6. Ep. 11. to Anastasius Bishop of Antioch All that are advanced into Holy Orders ought always to give thanks for it to Almighty God and always pray to God for the Life of our most Pious and most Christian Lord the Emperor Pope Agatho Concil 6. Act. 2. and 4. tells the Emperor That he gave ready obedience to the things that were commanded him by the Sacred Letters Patents of his most Clement Fortitude And that again To do his due obedience to the Emperor in making the Bishops of those parts Address themselves to the Most Pious Feet of his Goodness calls Rome the Servant City of his most Serene Empire often uses according to your most Pious Command And we beseech you upon the bended knees of our Soul 800. Ado Viennensis in Chronic. An. 798. Aimoin l. 4. c. 90. Refute the Coronation of Charlemaigne by Pope Leo. And that after the Acclamations of the People He was adored by the Pope after the manner of the former Emperors And Salvian in Epistolam ad Parentes Explains what is meant by the manner of the Ancient Emperors He says That As Servants they kissed the feet of their Masters An. 854. Pope Leo the 4th writes to the Emperour Lotharius That he observed His and his Predecessors Commands and should always observe them Dis 10. c. 9. An. 1158. Pope Adrian the 4th Together with all the Cardinals and Clergy send to the Emperour Frcderick and acknowledg him Lord and Emperour of the City and of the World Urbis Orbis Raderius de Gestis Frederici l. 1. c. 22. Paulus
with a greater variety of Circumstances to determine the nature of that which is the great Affair in them all From hence then it does now appear That the wounded and healed Head in the 13th Chapter is so far from being one of the seven Hills of Rome that The wounded and healed Head of the Beast in the 13th Chapter Coroll 3 is the same last Ruling Head of the Beast with that in the 17th Chapter For the Beast in the 13th Chapter is under the same last Ruling Head with that in the 17th Chapter Coroll praeced Prop. 9. And the last Ruling Head of the Beast in the 17th Chapter called The eighth King was an Head that had been one of those seven that were past and gone before it and was now revived again by Coroll 1. Prop. 5. Which is the same with A last Ruling Head of Seven which was wounded to death and healed again The Beast therefore in the 13th Chapter is certainly in the state of an Head wounded to death and healed again After the certainty of which it will be a very extravagant thing to question Whether the wounded and healed Head which the Beast in the 13th Chapter is under be that wounded and healed Head which it is said in the Text to have CHAP. IX Rev. XI The 11th Proposition That the Judgment of the Dead Revel 11. 18. is the Judgment of the Dead at Christ's second Coming The Three Creeds confirm it The extravagance of the Grotian Interpretation of this Judging the Dead The Reign of Christ over the Kingdoms of this World His second Coming in Glory The twelfth Proposition The Beast in the 11th Chapter the same with The Beast in the other Chapters THere is now only the mention of the Beast in the 11th Chapter remaining to be found to be the same state of it with those in the other Chapters After which it will be very easie to look through the whole process of these Visions and to be thereby satisfied of the consistency of all the parts of them and their mutual dependance upon and relation to one another notwithstanding the seeming interfering order of them For this purpose it is to be observed first That the Judgment of the Dead Revel 11. 18. is the Judgment of the Dead at Christ's second Coming Prop. 11. For the phrase of Judging the Dead is always used for the Day of Judgment all over the New Testament And it is a fundamental Article of the Christian Faith expressed by those peculiar words in the Apostles Writings and put into the Apostles Creed in the same words and so was that peculiar expression always used by the first Fathers and for nothing else and in all the Three Creeds is it joined with Christ's second Coming as it is also for the most part found together with it in the New Testament And this shews the constant use of this expression by the whole Church in all times Wherefore to make the phrase of Judging the Dead to signifie here as some do only the Revenging the Cause of the Dead is to change the signification of a very peculiar and generally-known expression into a very uncommon acceptation of it and to do that without some great necessity for it for which there is here no apparent evidence pretended is the way to license men to allegorize all the Articles of our Belief away And besides this acceptation of Judging the Dead for the avenging them is beyond all example Judging and Judgment in general are indeed ambiguously used in Scripture but Judging the Dead is never any where made use of but to signifie the Judgment at Christ's second Coming and so was it always taken by the Christian Church in all Ages and so conveyed down by them in the same words in all the Ancient Creeds for several Ages and joined with the mention of Christ's second Coming So that of all the shifts that Grotius is put to for upholding his Interpretation there seems none to be more monstrous or that does more shew his resolution to cut all the Knots that he cannot unty than this miserable shift of making the Judging of the Dead here to signifie the Revenging of the Dead To assure one still further of this it appears to be the same phrase by which it is granted that the real Judging of the Dead is signified in these very Visions as Rev. 20. 12. See Grot. in 20 Apoc. v. 12. It is also added in this 11th Chapter v. 18. to make it more unquestionable That thou shouldst give the reward to thy servants the Prophets and to the Saints and to them that fear thy Name small and great Which shews that it is a change of the state of the Dead themselves by the reward that is given to their faithfulness and this can be nothing but their reward at the second Coming of Christ to Judgment For betwixt Death and That there is no other reward for the Prophets and Saints small and great at one time as is here expressed The time of the Dead is come that they should be judged and that thou shouldst give the reward c. From hence it cannot but be concluded That the Reign of Christ over the Kingdoms of this World Rev. 11. Corollary 15. is Christ's second Coming in Glory For first it is joined with judging of the Dead at the 18th verse The time is come that the Dead should be judged that is The time is now come now that thou hast taken to thee thy great power and hast reigned as just before it is expressed That glorious Reign and the Judging of the Dead are very expresly joined together in the same Doxology of the four and twenty Elders and so ty'd to the same time that if they be not contemporary yet there is nothing comes in betwixt them and therefore must that Reign of Christ be at least at the same time with his Coming in Glory And what can such a glorious Kingdom of Christ be at that time but his glorious Coming or Appearance For since there is but one second Coming of Christ to be expected his glorious Reign and his second Coming fixed as here to one time must certainly be the same thing And that which secures them to be the same without farther ground of scruple is That this Reign of Christ is said to be Universal over all the Kingdoms of this World and also Eternal with his Father for ever and ever v. 15. Which can be nothing but his Kingdom of Glory If it be objected That Christ's Coming in Glory is the beginning only of a Spiritual and Heavenly Kingdom whereas it is here said The Kingdoms of this World are become the Kingdoms of Christ It is to be considered That the first shew of his Kingdom is agreed by all to be upon Earth at his Coming and for the remaining part of it it is here expressed to be for ever and ever and so also a Kingdom in Heaven with his Father It may
in general and of the Heads and Horns and Actions of a Beast in that Prophecy There are a multitude of Instances there of the constant use of these figures in one and the same determinate Notion and it is generally agreed That St. John by the like expressions in the Revelations does every-where allude to them as the Original Copy of his Figures and as a Nomenclator to explain the meaning of them See References in the 5th Chapter There is also this further advantage in the Prophetical Usages of the mystical Expressions in Daniel That there is the concurrence of almost all Interpreters in the particular signification of them who yet differ from one another about the signification of the same Expressions in the Revelations And as I found this to be of very great effect for the silencing of mine own Scruples so is it the most certainly satisfactory method for the generality of the World The Prophecies of Daniel have indeed that advantage above CONSENT any other Mystical Writings of that nature that the things foretold in them are so plainly described That all who have considered them have in all Ages till this latter generally agreed about their Interpretation One or two Instances to the contrary in the space of so many Ages will be no material exception against it by Rule the 4th Porphyrie the Philosopher who is the first that is said to be of a different mind from the rest yet gives such a reason for his confining the date and matter of these Prophesies to the times of Antiochus Epiphanes as does unquestionably confirm the clearness S. Hierom. Prooem in Dan. of his Expressions in all his Visions St. Jerom acquaints us that his reason for it was Because it seemed plain to him That the Author must have lived about the times of Epiphanes from the distinct Account he gives us in the 11th Chapter of the Successions and Actions of the Syrian and Egyptian Kings under the names of the King of the North and of the King of the South till the time of Epiphanes And so he will have it to be an History of what is past and not a Prophecy of things to come Could there be a greater Testimony of the clearness of Prophetical Expressions than to see a profest Enemy to it acknowledge it to be so very plain that he could not believe it to be Cathol Expos Eccles in Apoc. Tanta enim dictorum fides fuit c. For the things were so plainly fulfilled that to Unbelievers he seemed not to have foretold things to come but to have related things before past and done any thing but an History of things past As for his suspicion of the Authority of it that is as satisfactorily answered as need be 1. By our Saviour's owning the Prophecy Matth. 24. 15. Which to Christians is an undeniable proof though it could not be so to an Infidel 2. Josephus who lived about the time of Christ not two hundred years after Antiochus Epiphanes does own the Prophecy of Daniel for the most considerable of any that they had and relates of it That it was shown to Alexander the Great by Jaddus the High-Priest upon the account of the 8th Chapter which did plainly foretel his Conquest of the Persian And that this was owned by Alexander and rewarded with many great Privileges to the Jews particularly that of being Tax-free every seventh year which no question remained to Josephus's Age as the publick Memorial of that Action What an unaccountable Forgery would that be which should be able to impose so strangely upon one of the most Learned Antiquaries in that Age and make him take a Writing concerning his own Nation not Two hundred years old for an Ancient Writing of Five hundred years standing 3. Especially when we consider that it had been long received into the Jewish Canon of Scripture in Josephus's days and had been constantly used in Greek Translations in their Synagogues as appears by our Saviour's Quotations which is impossible for a forged Book not much above One hundred years old to have been After this assurance Porphyry's suspicion that it was an History of things seen by the Writer of it is as great a confirmation as can be desired of the clearness of Daniel's meaning in his Prophetical Descriptions in some parts of his Visions And the general concurrence of almost all Interpreters about the determinate sense of the rest is proof enough of the plainness of his Expressions in all For what can give one a plainer ground to presume that it is easie to arrive at a perfect knowledge of the signification of the Mystical Schemes of a Prophecy than first to see it accused by an Enemy of having been wrote after the things were done only upon the account of the clearness of the terms that are used to express them And next to see all Interpreters of the most different Parties and Interests unanimously agreed upon the particular Application of them This is an encouragement sufficient to make one hope for the fullest satisfaction from the Visions of Daniel concerning the constant signification of the same Mystical Terms in both Prophecies In order to which The first thing that it is the most necessary to be resolved about as the general Basis of all that is to follow is this Proposition That the Kingdom of the Son of Man in Daniel the 7th v. 13 Proposit 13. 14. is some Kingdom of Christ Jesus upon Earth 1. That it is some Kingdom upon Earth is manifest from v. 27. where it is said that it is the greatness of the Kingdom under the whole Heaven 2. That it is the Kingdom of our Jesus is as certain as it is that our Jesus was the true Messias For there is no name of the Messias any-where so peculiarly owned by Christ as this name of the Son of Man is all over the Gospel And as by the note of reference joined with it it must refer to some use of that name in some places of the Old Testament where it is before mentioned so do we find St. Matthew 24. 30. what place of the Old Testament that is For our Saviour does there join that name of his with the very same Circumstances that it is mentioned with here in Daniel In that place of St. Matthew and in all the other Gospels beside in his Prophecy of his coming he calls it the coming of the Son of Man in the clouds of Heaven with power and great glory which is just the same with that in the 7th of Daniel about the coming of the Son of Man in the clouds of Heaven and his waving an Vniversal Kingdom given him at the time of that Judgment when there were infinite multitudes of Angels attending It is most certain from our Saviour's Examination before the High-Priest That it was the commonly received Opinion of all men in those days That the name of the Son of Man in those circumstances of his appearance that
the last end of the world as by all is granted for in the 39 40 49 verses it is accompanied with the last discrimination of the Good and the Evil. Now to evade this it is alledged That 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here rendred the World may signify here as it sometimes does that present Age and then the phrase 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is no more than the end of that present Generation But let the use of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 alone by it self be what it will yet nothing is more known than that single words must follow the common use of the Phrase that they are a part of whatsoever Dan. VII their signification is alone by themselves and the use of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we see by those three places in one Chapter is to signify and express the end of the World For the same reason must that same Phrase in St. Matthew 28. 20. be taken in the same sense because however dubious it may there be by reason of the thing of which it is said yet since the signification of it is known to be determined in other places the dubious use of it must be determined by that which is clear and undoubted 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 used by St. Paul 1 Cor. 10. 11. is quite another expression and can signify at best no more than the last Ages of the World 2. The coming of the Son of Man in that place of St. Matthew is joined with the last discriminating Act of the Good from the Bad by the sending his Angels out for that purpose v. 31. which is certainly the same Circumstance with that before-mentioned in St. Matthew 13. and which is twice in that Chapter joined with that which is acknowledged to be the real end of the World This is also further confirmed from the 31 32 verses of the very next Chapter to this which is but a continuation of the Account of the coming of the Son of Man that is Matth. 25. here mentioned In those verses of the 25th Chapter there is the same circumstance with that here mentioned of the coming of the Son of Man with his holy Angels to discriminate the Good from the Evil And that that Act of the Angel's in the 25 Chapter is certainly at the Day of Judgment is unquestionable from the 46 verse and is acknowledged by all 3. The coming of the Son of Man is said to be here with power and great glory and his Angels are employed with him And such a glorious Coming as that with his Angels is known every-where else to signify the second Coming of Christ As in Saint Matthew 16. 27. where it is joined with the last Reward and follows upon the discourse of gaining or losing ones own Soul As also 2 Thessalon 1. 7. where that Appearance of Christ with his Angels is certainly his coming to Judgment v. 8. with flames of fire v. 9. to the everlasting destruction of those that obey not the Gospel There is also the same Circumstance of his coming with his Angels in glory St. Matthew 25. 31. where it is acknowledged that it signifies his coming to Judgment 4. This coming of the Son of Man in St. Matthew is at the same time that he sends out his Angels with a great sound of a Trumpet to gather his Elect from all parts of the World and that is a peculiar v. 31. Circumstance of Christ's last coming As is acknowledged in 1 Thess 4. 16. and in 1 Cor. 15. 52. 5. The description of his coming in the clouds of Heaven was the chief thing that made Grotius himself acknowledge that this Grot. in v. 30. tum praecipue id quod c. Act. 1. 9 11. must be meant of our Saviour's last coming because it was so promised Act. 1. 11. That he should come from Heaven upon a Cloud just as they then saw him going into Heaven And this is confirmed by 1 Thess 4. 17. which is acknowledged to signify the last coming of Christ 6. To this may be added the consideration of the concurrence of most of these same peculiar Circumstances in places which do unquestionably signify the last coming of Christ As in the 31st and 32d verses of the 25th Chapter where we have almost just the same crowd of particular Expressions and Descriptions with those in the 30th and 31st verses of the 24th Chapter There is the mention of his coming in glory and with his Angels and to gather the Elect from the rest out of all Nations So again in the 4th Chapter of 1 Thess v. 16 17. there are the Circumstances of the Triumph and of the Clouds and the Angels employed in it as here And in the 27th verse of the 16th Chapter of Saint Matthew we find the coming in glory and the Angels and the last Reward Who can desire a more convincing Proof of the same signification of words in several places than to see them thus joined with the same very many peculiar Circumstances and Expressions in all those places And therefore do we find an almost unanimous CONSENT Consent amongst all sorts of Interpreters that this coming of the Son of Man St. Matthew 24. 30. must be his second coming in glory Grotius himself in this is forced to be of the same mind with the rest Dr. Hammond indeed does here venture at a strain higher than ever his Friend Grotius could allow himself A great Objection is it judged by some to be That it is said of this coming of the Son of Man in St. Matthew 24. that it should be immediately after the tribulation of those days which were v. 29. a little before mentioned about the Destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the Jewish State And the time of this seems to him to be still more necessarily determined to that Age by that Solemn Asseveration Mat. XXIV Verily verily I say unto you This Generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled In the first of thâ—se places there will be found to be no ground for the exception if it be considered from St. Luke what is the Tribulation of those days It is there expressed to be the being led away Captive into all Nations and the treading down of Jerusalem by the Gentiles till the times of the Gentiles should be fulfilled And thâ—n the immediately after the Tribulation of those days is a time that is yet to come And the coming of the Son of Man in St. Luke in the same Discourse with that other before-mention'd in St. Matthew is found to be after this mention of the Captivity It will not be very hard in the next place to understand what things they are whose fulfilling is tied to that present Generation if we do but look into the terms of the Question in St. Mark where we find it demanded about the ruine of the Temple only What Mark 13. 4. shall be the sign when all these things that is about the
Chapter there are Five Kingdoms represented by four Beasts and a Majestical appearance of the Kingdom of the Saints And in the 2d Chapter there are Five Kingdoms represented distinct from one another by the Four several qualities of the parts of a Statue and a Stone made a Mountain If we can find these Five Kingdoms in each to be the very Chap. 2. 36. same Kingdoms in reality as they seem at the first view of them to be from their being exactly the same number of Kingdoms and from the extraordinary likeness of the fifth of them in each it will be easy from thence to conclude what is the signification of any Figure in general as distinct from the several parts of it that are represented with it in Rule and Power which is the first part of the Proposition And here is this further encouragement to ground our hopes of it upon That it is unanimously agreed by all Interpreters of CONSENT all Ages that are considerable That they are the same Five Kingdoms in each of those Chapters thô there be a different apprehension in some few of them from the rest about the particular names of these Kingdoms But because they have not distinctly proved the certainty of those Grounds upon which they build this common agreement It may be useful for a constant assured satisfaction of this point once for all to reflect upon the evidence that there is for it and to put it into a close and distinct order to make it unquestionable Consider then first That the 5th Kingdom in the 7th Chapter v. 13 14. must be some Kingdom of Christ For it was a Kingdom given to one like the Son of Man by the Ancient of days who had v. 9 10. Hosts of Angels Ministring unto him which cannot possibly be any thing but God himself And the name of the Son of Man is so peculiarly owned by Christ himself all over the Gospels That he cannot be more plainly known by the name of Christ or of Jesus than by that And 't is observed by a very accurate Mr. Mede Critick That there is no other place in the Old Testament that he could fetch this name of the Son of Man from as a name of the Messias but from this very place of Daniel The Circumstances of which our Saviour doth also expresly add to that name in his Prophecy about the Coming of the Son of Man in the Clouds of Heaven with great glory which we find in all the three Gospels and is the same with what is said here Of the coming of the Son of Man in the Clouds of Heaven to the Ancient of days with an infinite multitude of Angels about his Throne and a very glorious appearance Consider next That this Kingdom of the Son of Man in the 7th Chapter is said to be both Eternal and Vniversal or over all the Earth There could not well be more care taken to signifie this than there seems to have been by the fullness of the expressions for both of these For The Eternity of it in such words as these an Everlasting Dominion which shall not pass away v. 14. and a kingdom that shall not be destroyed and a kingdom for ever even for ever and ever as if it had been on purpose to stop all suspicions of ambiguity in the use of the word everlasting and for ever And then to assure the real universality of it It is called A Kingdom that all people nations and languages should serve him And the greatness of the kingdom under the whole Heaven And All Dominions shall obey him And it did succeed in v. 27. v. 23. the place of a Fourth Kingdom upon Earth which had devoured the whole earth and trod it down If now we look into the 5th Kingdom in the second Chapter we shall find just the same Characters of it from the 44th Verse It was to be set up by the God of Heaven It was never to be destroyed nor to be left to other people but was to stand for ever which secures the Eternity of it from any successions after it And the Vniversality of it appears from its breaking in pieces and consuming all other kingdoms which had Ruled over all the Earth especially the Fourth Kingdom which before it had subdued all things even a third Kingdom which bare Rule over all the v. 39 40. earth Here then are Two Kingdoms Both without End Both over all the Earth and therefore Both in the same place Let the Earth signify what it will since it must signify in both places at least the Prophets Countrey as all agree this makes it appear That the latter time of both is most undoubtedly the same because they are both at a time or eternal in the same place which no two distinct Kingdoms can properly be that are of the same kind as these are described to be Both the Kingdoms of the God of Heaven and such as began to be set up in the days of the other Kings Besides they both began the Universality of their Reign at the Ruin of a Power which had devoured the whole earth and Ch. 2. 39 40. Ch. 7. 23 26. which had broken in pieces and consumed all other Kingdoms and did themselves Rule over all the earth in the room of the former so that they both then continue at the same time in the same place and the continuance of them both is to all eternity And then they begin their Reign in that same place together Or else that which should come after the other would put an end to it which is a contradiction to the Eternity of either of them It seems then to be absolutely impossible That the Fifth Kingdom in each of those Chapters should not be one and the same Kingdom of Christ Eternal and Vniversal and which began at the ruin of another universal dominion before it Now if the Fifth Kingdom in each of these Chapters be the same the Fourth also in each of them before it must be the same For the Fourth Kingdom in each of those Chapters was the only Ruling power over all the earth when it was destroyed by the last For by the destruction of it the Fifth got its dominion over all the earth And so the Fourth could not possibly be more than one and the same Kingdom in each of the Chapters because the whole earth in each must as has been observed signify at least the same place and there could be but one Kingdom in the same place at the same time that each of them in those Chapters is said to be destroyed by the last For they are both destroyed by the same Fifth Kingdom as has been shown at the same time That is at the beginning of the Universal Reign of that Kingdom in each Chapter Two different Kingdoms cannot be destroyed by a Third in the same place and at the same time And the Fourth Kingdom in each is one Ruling
a Superior Authority in himself above that of the Emperor but because he judged the Emperor's mind to be contrary to the Council of Chalcedon And it was accounted a kind of Sacrilege to revoke any thing that was decreed in Council But neither could the Authority of the Pope nor of the rest of the Clergy hinder the Council from doing as Councils used to do that is from being of the same mind with their Emperor And so as Justinian would have it they condemned the three Chapters and pronounced an Anathema upon all those who should defend them or any part of them by the Authority of the Council of Chalcedon Whereas it is manifest that in that Council the chief of these things were particularly examined and Ibas and Theodoret the Authors of these Writings were received by the Synod as Orthodox and the r Concil Chalcedon Action 8 va Which when he had said All the Bishops cried out Theodoret is worthy of his Seat in the Church Let the Church receive its Orthodox Pastour c. And Action 9. c. 10. The Popes Legat Paschasius in the name of all the rest pronounces That upon reading the Votes of the most Reverand Bishops Ibas was approved by them For upon a review of his Epistle we acknowledg him to be Orthodox and for this Decree him to be restored to his Bishoprick and that the Church from whence he was unjustly put out be repaired And this Approbation of the Council of Chalcedon is quoted by Pope Vigilius against Justinian in his Constitution And decrees the contrary to him with this preamble We following the judgment of the Holy Fathers And afterwards These things therefore we having ordered with caution and diligence Epistle of Ibas in particular declared to contain in it no heretical Opinion Here was as great an instance of Imperial Authority over a Council as could well be given to make them define his Will to be an Inspiration of the Holy Ghost contrary to matter of fact And the Pope and his own Clergy were sufficient Witnesses of it to the World by refusing to subscribe to that falshood about a thing which their Eyes might be the Judges of in the Acts of the Council of Chalcedon In that Synod does Justinian also Authorize a new way of Anathema's in the Church and that was to curse the dead whom he judged not to have been right in the Faith which was a practise never before heard of And therein among the rest he curses Origen who in his time was accounted one of the most eminent Fathers of the Church for sanctity of life for profound Learning and his great Services to the Church So that if it has pleased God to pardon him and some of the rest their Speculative Errors they possibly may be those Saints in Heaven against which the Beast is said to open his mouth in blasphemy Rev. 13. 6. But besides this he brings in fashion another way of cursing in the Council which all the Rational World cannot but look upon as very strangely extravagant and that was to anathematize all such who did not damn all those whom they called Hereticks Which certainly was one of the highest Acts of Tyranny over the Consciences of the Universal Church and which of all their Injunctions was the most difficult to subscribe unto For whatsoever accommodating Interpretations men may find out to subscribe to a form of Faith which they do not believe in the common sense of the words yet they can never justify themselves in pronouncing the Curses of God upon all those who do not subscribe to it And yet both this and the former way of Cursing was from that time continued in the Church Never was there before such an appearance all at one time of a new assuming Power over the Church of God as in the conduct of all that business of the three Chapters insomuch that it was generally enough taken notice of to make the worship of the Beast appear a very strange and new thing and to make the World wonder after the Beast as it is said of him The Books of Facundus Bishop of Hermiana against that Emperor for these Arbitrary Proceedings are a sufficient Testimony what noise these things did at that time make in the World and nothing could have made them to be so slightly passed over in History but the greater Extravagancies of the Popish Councils that came afterwards That Bishop tells him s Facundus Hermianens ad Justinian Lib. 12. c. 3. cap. 5. That it was not lawful for the Emperor to intermeddle in this manner in the Office of the Priest shows him the Example of Vzziah and Dathan and that none but Christ alone can have a Kingdom together with a Priesthood That his Book was against the Decrees of the Council of Chalcedon and that no Emperor but he did ever before change the Decrees of a Council of his own head bids him look up into Heaven with the Eye of Faith and there see all those Blessed Fathers which he had accursed now Inhabitants of Heaven And speaking of the like haughtiness of the Emperor Zeno As if says he the Faith of all the Churches did depend upon the Emperor's Will and as if none must believe otherwise than the Emperor should command him to believe Baronius also does censure him as guilty of great Arrogance in presuming to set forth these Decrees concerning the Catholick Faith Anno 546. However we find Justinian still keeping his point against them all he defends this cursing of the Dead in a publick Edict of the Confession of his Faith and turns the Council into a Law of the Empire Novell 42. The Pope all this while whose Authority is pretended to be so absolutely necessary to the making of a Council declared himself contrary to all this was banished Petav. Ration Temp. part 1. l. 7. c. 7. for it and so ill handled in it that it was at last the cause of his Death So that here was a very clear appearance of the Imperial Roman Authority in the Church which appears to be the only soul and head of this which is called the fifth General Council For it could not have its name of a Council of the Roman Church from any at that time but the Bishops there assembled and the Imperial Authority which confirmed it To pretend that it was afterwards confirmed by another Pope and so made a Council is to give the Pope a power to change the nature of things For if it wanted its due Authority at that time it must be no Council at all and the Pope may as well be allowed to turn all the Religious Meetings of Bishops that ever were into Councils at his pleasure There was then nothing here but the worship of the Beast alone without the False Prophet to assist him But that all the Irregularities of these Procedures are chargeable upon the Roman Church as the beginning of the Tyrannical Exercise of their Power is
Christ into Heaven into whose Place and Dominion the Kingdom of Christ and his Saints did succeed 2. The Kingdom of the Son of Man or of the Saints appears to have the same individual Characters with that state of the Church which has been already shewn by Coroll Prop. 11. Rev. 11. 15. to be the time of Christ's Second Coming in Glory For they both begin at the last end of a Kingdom signified by A Beast Dan. 7. 14 26. Rev. 11. 15. which ruled over all the World and at the end of the last Persecution of the Church and from that time they reign in triumph for ever and ever They are both from their first beginning over all the Kingdoms of the World and Eternal They are therefore described to reign in the same place for the same continuance of time and at the same particular time and it is impossible for two different Kingdoms of the same nature to be in the same place and at the same time Wherefore since the One of these is known to be the time of Christ's Second Coming in Glory the Other must also of necessity be the same Accordingly do we find in both the circumstances of Warring against the Saints and overcoming them just before the beginning of them and a famous remarkable Judgment accompanying them 3. To confirm this still further from this Prophecy it self if we compare the circumstances of the Kingdom of the Son of Man in this Chapter with the description of the Resurrection in the 12th Chapter it will be unquestionable For the time times Dan. 12. 2. and an half in the 7th verse of the 12th Chapter are said to end at the end of the Wonders that had before been prophesied of and at the beginning of the last deliverance of the People of God from affliction Now the end of the Wonders or things of the Prophecy is the awaking of those that sleep in the dust of the Earth v. 2. which by the circumstances of Everlasting Life and Everlasting Contempt appears to be a Resurrection of the Dead and this must certainly be the time of Christ's Coming in Glory And then the time and times must also end at this Second Coming of Christ because they are said to end at the conclusion of those Wonders which is at the awaking of the Dead From hence it appears That these times in the 12th Chapter are the same particular time with the time and times and the dividing of time in the Dan. 7. 25. For they are both of them the same length of time and they both end at the last deliverance of the People of God from Persecution in this World Those in the 12th Chapter are described to end at the accomplishment of a scattering of God's Mat. XXIV People just before the awaking of the Dead or Christ's Second Coming in Glory and those in the 7th Chapter are described to end at the destruction of the little Horn which is followed by an universal Reign of the Saints for ever and therefore shews the Persecution that preceded it to be the last The times therefore in both Chapters do end at the same time and being both of the same length of duration they must therefore be the same particular time from the beginning to the end of it And hence it appears That the Kingdom of the Son of Man in the 7th Chapter is Christ's Second Coming in Glory because it begins at the end of the times in that Chapter which are the same with the times in the 12th Chapter which have just now been proved to end at Christ's Second Coming in Glory And here it is well worth the observing what another wresting of plain words Grotius presents us withal about the Grot. in Dan. 12. 2. awaking of the Dead ch 12. v. 2. He would have the Heathen Porphyry to be the best Interpreter of these words who makes this rising of the Dead to be nothing but the return of some persecuted Jews and yet both Grotius and Porphyry confess That the words are very wonderfully and artificially put together to hint at the mystery of the Resurrection So wonderfully indeed as it is to be admired how they can be made to intend any thing else 4. Again the very same peculiar words and description with these in the 7th of Daniel about the coming of the Son of Man does our Saviour use to signifie his Second Coming in Glory Matth. 24. 30 31. And withal it may be plainly observed That he referred to that place in Daniel in those words and that description which it is therefore convenient in the first place to be well satisfied in It is affirmed by a very judicious and impartial Critick That Mr. Mede the term of the Son of Man in that verse of St. Matthew and which was so familiar an expression with him to signifie his being the Messias could be taken from no other place in the Old Testament as the Name of the Messias but from this 7th Chapter of Daniel But surely this will never more be questioned when it is considered That our Saviour contrary to almost all the custom of his Discourses any where else has quoted Daniel by name but a few Verses before this 30th Verse in the very same v. 15. continued Prophecy When therefore soon after this we find in that Verse the same words and circumstances with these here in Daniel about the Coming of the Son of Man how is it possible for any man to question Whether our Saviour did mean the same thing with that which was signified in Daniel by the same words unless there were some so very clear ground against it as to force him to question it Which will not here be found Grotius therefore our chief Adversary in these things does allow That the same expression Matth. 26. 64. is a plain reference to this 7th of Daniel which makes him to appear so much the more extravagant in his fancy of quite another meaning in the same words and description of that place in Daniel from what he determines them to signifie in St. Matthew It is now therefore to be confirmed That by the same description and words of Christ Matth. 24. 30 31. cannot be understood any thing but his Second Coming in Glory which will appear from these following Considerations 1. The Coming of the Son of Man Matth. 24. 30. is joined with the end of the world for the time of it as may be seen in the question about it v. 3. And there is no other mention of the end of the world to answer that question in all the Chapter but as it is included in this Coming of the Son of Man and the sending his Angels to gather all to Judgment after it As for the phrase in the Original to signifie the end of the world 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is the very same that is made use of Matth. 13. in three several places in that one Chapter for