prove our notion of the Reign of Christ for a thousand years and the Triumphant state of the Church upon Earth before its final glorious Triumph in Heaven we might be furnisht from these last Chapters For they are not as is commonly supposed a description of the Church in Heaven The Prophecy of the nine last Chapters of Ezekiel is the same with that of the last Chapt. of the Apocalypse They exactly answer to the nine last Chapters of the Prophecy of Ezekiel That Prophet in those nine last Chapters sets forth in a figurative manner the condition of the Church of Israel after its restoration their glorious Kingdom and the wonderful Peace they should injoy after their return which return or recalling was to be after the fall of Antichrist St. John gives an account what the Church shall be after with relation to that Fall after it shall have bin accomplisht so that both these Prophets describe the Church as to the same Period and the same condition This will easily appear if we briefly run over that which remains of the Apocalypse It cannot be questioned but that our Prophet concludes the 20th Chapter with a description of the last day of Judgement The war of Gog and Magog follows upon the reign of a thousand years to the revolt of Gog and Magog succeeds their defeat after their defeat there is nothing but the last day which shall come and surprize the World in the twinkling of an eye This is signified by those words V. 11. Chap. 20. Then I saw a great white Throne and him that sat on it from whose face the Earth and Heaven fled way and there was found no place for them White as well as Purple is a Royal colour and withal a Priestly for the Priests were clothed in white The Holy Priest's garments on the day of Expiation according to the tradition of the Iews were called Bigdei Lavan white garments In like manner he that sat upon the Throne is our King and Priest The Earth and the Heaven fled from his face for they shall be burnt that they may be renewed V. 12. And I saw the dead small and great stand before God c. 'T is a description of the last Judgement to the end of the Chapter all this is plain The 21. v. 1. Chapter begins with these words And I saw a new Heaven and a new Earth for the first Heaven and the first Earth were passed away The first Vision of 21 Chapt. to the 9th V. respects that which follows the end of the world These words do evidently allude to what he had said just before and the Heaven and the Earth fled away As that was interpreted of what should happen at the last day of Judgement it is clear that these new Heavens and this new Earth must be understood in a literal and not a figurative sense for the new World after it hath been refined by fire And so the description we read of here even to the ninth Verse is that of eternal Rewards and Punishments 'T is true that which is spoken of the H. City v. 3 4. of the new Ierusalem coming down from Heaven prepared as a Bride adorned for her Husband of the Tabernacle of God with men of his dwelling with them and they with him and that God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and that there shall be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain All this I say might very well be applied to the Church as victorious upon Earth but this description is determin'd by what precedes and by what follows to Eternal Glory by that which precedes which is the description of the last day of Judgement and by that which follows which is the description of everlasting Punishment but the fearful and unbelieving c. v. 8. shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone which is the second death The 9th v. begins a new Vision The ninth Verse begins a new Vision and a more perticular description of the blessed Reign of Christ upon Earth In the same manner as the H. Spirit after he had in the 13th Chapter given an enigmatical and general description of the Antichristian Empire under the image of the two Beasts gives a more ample account of it in the 17th Chapt. So having in the 20th Chapt. described the reign of Christ though in few words he set forth that reign more at length afterwards that state of the delivered Church under the image of a great City called Ierusalem as after having set out the Antichristian Church under the image of a Beast and of an Empire he represents it under the Emblem of a great City called Babylon V. 9. And there came unto me one of the seven Angels which had the seven Viols full of the seven last plagues and talked with me saying come hither I will show thee the Bride the Lambs wife 'T is in all likelyhood the last of those seven Angels who had poured out the Viols and the same who show'd unto the Prophet the great City the mother of Fornications Cha. 17.1 Then came one of the seven Angels unto me which had the seven Viols and talked with me saying Come hither I will show thee the Judgement of the great Whore that sitteth on many Waters As it was this seventh and last Angel who had the Viols by whom the ruin of Antichrist was effected it doth most properly belong to him to show Babylon faln and Ierusalem rebuilt V. 10. And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high Mountain and showed me that great City the Holy Jerusalem descending out of Heaven from God. This is somewhat like what the Devil did unto Jesus Christ when he carried him up into an high Mountain and shows him all the Kingdoms of the world what the Devil makes appear by illusion St. Iohn sees by vision That he was carried or seemed to be carried up into an high Mountain makes it plain that the Ierusalem he was to be made see from thence was here upon Earth and not the Triumphant Church in Heaven though it be called the Holy Jerusalem descending out of Heaven from God. She shall be descended from Heaven because she shall abound in Graces which come from thence she is called the great City and 't is the first time she is so called 'T is a detestable name which in all the preceding Prophecy is given only to Spiritual Babylon But 't is on this account that then the Church shall possess the multitude of the Nations as Antichristianism doth at present V. 11. Having the Glory of God and her Light wus like unto a stone most precious even like a Iasper stone clear as Cristal V. 12. And had a Wall great and high and had twelve Gates and at the Gates twelve Angels and names written thereon which are the names of the twelve Tribes of the children of Israel V. 13.
I waited till farther Time which is the only true Touch-stone would distinguish foolish visions from real Prophecies I found something surprizing and extraordinary in the Prophecies of Cotterus Christina and Drabitius which are publisht by Comenius Cotterus who is the first of the Three is Great and magnifick the images of his visions have so much majesty and grandeur that those of the ancient Prophets have hardly more They are also admirably laid together every thing supports it self and one part doth not contradict another I cannot conceive how a simple Artisan could have imagined such great things without Divine assistance The two years of the Prophecy of Christina are in my judgement a train of as great Miracles as have ever been since the Apostles days and even the Life of the Greatest Prophets hath nothing in it more miraculous than what happened to that maid Drabitius hath also his Heights and Excellencies but for the most part he is obscure These three Prophets concur to fore-tell the Ruin of the Antichristian Empire as a thing that shall shortly come to pass but withal they have so many things that offend that no man can satisfy himself to rely upon what they say Therefore I resolved to look into the Fountain it self of the Holy Oracles to see if the Holy Ghost would not teach me something more certain and more exact concerning the approaching ruin of the Antichristian Empire than what other Interpreters have discovered from thence I will freely acknowledge that when I first lookt into the Divine Oracles my opinion was in favour of what I searcht for being altogether inclined to believe that we were near the end of the Kingdom and Empire of Antichrist I was also fully perswaded of this truth that the Papacy is the Antichristian Empire and that the principal Character of that Antichristianism is the superstition which for more than twelve hundred years hath disfigured the Church and made her desolate Many things without reckoning the modern Prophecies made me Hope that we were near the end of that Period of 1260 years at the close whereof Babylon must fall the Heathen be converted and the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ be fully settled First I reflected on the long duration of that Idolatry which hath been establisht in the Christian Religion I saw that it began about the end of the fourth Century that is thirteen hundred years ago it seem'd to me that no instance could be given where God suffered so great a Corruption for so long a time without giving some remedy and relief I considered farther that in the last age God gave a terrible blow to the Antichristian Empire and the Pagan Religion The Kingdoms of England Swede Denmark the Protestant States of Germany the Vnited Provinces the Switzers and a great part of France broke from the Papacy all at once appeared to me so considerable a matter that I could nor perswade my self but that God had made mention of it in the Revelations And yet I found no such thing among the Expositors of that Book or I found that they had lookt for it in those Places where I saw plainly that it was not Hereupon I suspected that that part of the Apocalypse which describes the degrees and Circumstances of the end of the Antichristian Empire was not well understood and consequently that it was much nearer than was commonly thought Considering the Reformation of the last Age as one half of the ruin of the Kingdom of Antichrist I supposed that the other half could not be far off there being already near 200 years from the one to the other When God makes great Empires fall and not all at once the distance is not commonly so great between the first part of the Fall and the second After this I considered the present posture of the World and it seem'd to me as if all things were prepared for some great Revolution 'T is as easy with God to work in one moment and without preceding dispositions as to take time and prepare the matter Nevertheless we see that by secret methods which men perceive not he opens the way to his greatest works For Example the Fall of Paganism by the preaching of the Gospel and the conversion of the Heathen World was a great Revolution God prepared all things for this great Event many ages before it came to pass by admirable means of which no man then knew the tendency and design 1. He reduced the World to two Languages which were almost universal the Greek and Latine that the knowledge of the Gospel might the more easily be communicated Difference of Languages being a great hinderance of such a communication 'T is true the Apostles had the gift of Tongues and could speak all Languages but we are not to imagine that all the Preachers of the Gospel had the same priviledge 2. The world was almost wholly united under one Empire viz. the Roman which was another means to facilitate the Conversion of the Nations For if the Earth had been divided into many little Principalities under several Soyeraigns as the West is at this day it had been as it were impossible but that divers of them if not the most part would have denied entrance to the Apostles who were the new Preachers Little Lords who have not much to do concern themselves more particularly about every part of their Territories than great Emperors who having the Government of the whole World to mind are forc't to remit the care of less important matters to their Deputies and Lieutenants 3. The dispersion of the Jews by their frequent Captivities was also a means which God made use of to prepare the way for the Conversion of the Gentiles they gave them the knowledge of the true God. 4. Another thing which contributed very much to this design of God was the Translation of the Bible into the Greek Tongue whereby the sacred Oracles became common among the Heathens And about the time of our Saviour's appearance in the World there were multitudes of those Proselites which are called Proselites of the Gate Such as were not really Iews but they ceas't to be Pagans They renounc't their Idolatry they were present every Sabbath day at the reading of Moses and the Prophets they had a distinct place in the Synagogues 'T is of them we so often read in the Book of the Acts under the name of devout and such as feared God among the Gentiles Cornelius was of that number It could not be difficult for them to abandon Paganism for they had already left it and they could not be hindred from becoming Christians by Judaism for they had never imbrac't it So that they became Christians without change or violence The greatest part of the converted Gentiles were such as these 5. And by the same good Providence of God Philosophy began to flourish among the Pagans a little before the coming of Christ which was of great use to refine the minds of men and
one of the latest Commentators on the Apocalypse and one of the most esteemed I found that he follows Mede in every thing save in the explication of the Harvest and the Vintage of the 14th Chap. the seven viols of the 16th and the death of the two Witnesses of the 11th Chap. that is that he had followed him in those places wherein he had succeeded well 't is in effect impossible to differ from him in those places But in those places where Mr. Mede was not Happy Dr. Moore is no more so than he If any other hath discovered these Truths he will oblige me that shall let me know it I shall be rejoyc't to understand that any other hath made the same discoveries this will confirm me in the perswasion which I have that I have found that which I inquired after After having proved in this second part that the end of the Reign of Antichrist is at hand I treat of that which is to follow after that Fall viz. the famous Reign of Christ upon Earth which hath been so often contradicted since the Beginning of the Christian Church I have inlarged a little upon it as being one of the most consolatory Truths which is in the whole Scripture I cannot but ascribe to a secret providence of God that Blindness which most Christians have been under hitherto concerning it for certain reasons God would not that they should see that Reign of Christ in the Prophecies tho it be there as clearly described as the Coming of the Messiah which yet the Iews will not see to be there you will therin find one Chapter for which the Iews are indebted to me for I re-establish them in their Rights and in their Hopes farther than Christians have as yet done Among the proofs of the Reign of a thousand years you will find an explication of the Type of the work of Creation which will not be unpleasant to those who love Mysteries I have nothing to say in vindication of this book It must run the common risque it must be left to the Judgment of the publick a Risque so much the greater in that treating of Prophecies no man thinks himself obliged to subscribe to the thoughts of those who interpret them I may well expect to be ill treated by others the learned and the wise as they pretend to be who mock at all Prophecies and all those who go about to interpret them these men are upon the borders of Impiety if they are not already plunged into it 'T is not for their sakes that I write I despise them at least their Judgment but I pray God for their salvation 't is for the comfort of the Good and upright that this work was undertaken God grant it may contribute to it if I am deceived I shall have but my common Lot with many others nevertheless I deserve some thanks for my good Intentions Let me add one word that this is not a book to be read Cursorily over and that but once I consent that it be read the first Time as a Romance but let such a one return to it and lay aside his Prejudices by little and little and at length accustom himself to those Idea's that at first seemed strange This advice I give chiefly to Roman Catholicks assoon as they perceive by the title of a Book that the design is to perswade them that their Religion is Antichristianism they fall into a rage and their Passion blinds them But yet for once let them take the pains to read it as a Romance and afterwards let them think that the matter deserves at least to be examin'd because no less than their Eternal Salvation is concerned in it I have no design to anger them I desire their Salvation 'T is the only end I propose God is my witness A Supplement to the Advice to all Christians This is what I have advertised the publick in the first Ediction in this second I find my self obliged to remove two scandals which I have learnt have been taken on the account of this book First there are some who believe the hopes I give of a Re-establishment within a few years may do much Hurt because all those who are thus perswaded will suffer themselves to sleep secure in the mean time in the Communion of the Roman Church saying if it be thus we may expect a while and bear our Captivity as well as we can we shall ere long see the end of it During which expectation they will still go to mass and joyn in the superstitions of the Church of Rome To this I have two things to say First that God's ends and ways are different from ours at this rate God should never have promised to deliver his Church that men might not grow secure in the Expectation of it God hath almost always hid Events from us and would not that at all times the Prophecies should be understood lest the knowledg and understanding of them should prejudice their accomplishment lest men should oppose it and stand upon their guard in that respect But who knows whether God ought not at last to make the Prophecies be understood that they may the more easily be fulfilled who knows whether so many of the Romish Communion who are already disgusted with their Religion may not open their Eyes by the Light which we set before them and resolve to become instruments in the hand of God for the accomplishment of this great work 't is certain that oftentimes Prophecies Counterfeit or Real have inspired those for whom they were made with the design to effect the things that were promised them after all when God discovers any truths of this nature he hath his reasons for doing so and we ought not to resist it upon pretence of some ill Consequences that would follow Ieremy during the siege of Ierusalem declared to all the world that the Chaldeans would take the City should he have forborn to speak that Truth which God had revealed to him because of some ill Consequences 'T is evident that nothing was more proper to lessen the courage of the Inhabitants and to promote the taking of the City of Ierusalem than such a discourse of the Prophet The other thing which I have to say on this first scandal is this that such who take occasion from this Book to continue in the Roman superstition waiting for deliverance have no need of this book to cherish the disposition they are in to remain there They are people who only search for Pretences to flatter themselves in the condition they are in and can never want them either here or there from this thing or another But in truth nothing can be more ridiculous than to take occasion from hence to continue in the Roman Church In three or four years or more there will be a great change in the Papacy we must than remain there waiting till that Change happen 't is to the same effect as if I should say I am in
pieces the whole Earth stamped the residue with the feet of it For it mortifyed all its neighbours whom it did not Subdue The 6th Ch. of the Revel belongs to this first part of the Prophecy of Daniel The 8th Ch. of the Revelation addeth to the Prophecy of Daniel for it shews the degrees wherby the Roman Empire was brought to its division into ten Kingdoms 8. It had ten horns I considered the horns behold there came up among them another little horn before whom three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots behold in this horn were Eyes like the Eyes of a Man a mouth speaking great things 24. The Angel explaining this place saith The ten horns out of the Kingdom are ten Kings that shall arise another shall arise after them he shall be diverse from the first shall subdue three Kings 25. And he shall speak great words against the Most High shall wear out the saints of the Most High think to change Times laws they shall be given into his hand untill a time times the dividing of time See the division of the fourth Monarchy into ten others which was made after the year 450. We shall see afterwards which are these ten Kingdoms From the midst of these ten comes up a little horn a Monarch that appears as nothing a Priest that insensibly encreases his power over these ten Kings so far as to take away the third part of their Demains Jurisdiction Power This is what hath been exactly accomplisht in the Papacy which hath taken away from the Western Kings more than a third part of their Estate which is become Church Lands dependant on the Church more than a third of their jurisdiction by the Tribunals of Bishops Officials who drew almost all causes to them under the pretence that there was something mingled with them that respected the Church the Sacraments or the Conscience Lastly more than a third part of their Power by the Usurpations of the Popes who have made Kings their Vassals a hundred ways Besides this the Popes have particularly overthrown these three Kingdoms that of the Greeks in Italy that of the Lombards that of Germany which they have made dependant on the Roman Church This little horn speaks words of blasphemy against God exalts it self above all that is called God against the Kings of the Earth It destroys the saints of the most high That is to say it persecutes them even to blood It thinks to change the Times the Law it makes attempts against the divine laws it destroys Gods Commands dispenseth with them It commands the adoration of images Creatures which God forbids It permits crimes which God abominates against which he hath made severe laws This also is the true description of the Pope the Papacy To this horn is given a time times the dividing or the half of a time one year two years half a year three years half in all 360. prophetical days to a year that is to say 1260. years See the text on which the 11th 13th 17. Ch. of the Revel are a comment I beheld till the Thrones were cast down v. 9. the Ancient of days did sit whose garment was white as snow the hair of his head like the pure wool his throne was like the fiery flame his wheels as burning fire A fiery stream issued came forth from before him v. 10. thousand thousands ministred to him ten thousand times ten thousands stood before him the judgment was set the books were open'd I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake v. 11 I beheld even till the beast was slain his body destroyed given to the burning flame In the explication which the Angel gives Daniel we read But the judgment shall sit v. 26 they shall take away his dominion to consume to destroy it unto the end And the Kingdom do minion v. 27. the greatness of the Kingdom under the whole Heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the most high whose Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom all dominions shall serve obey him The judgment here spoken of is not the last judgment God appears sitting on a magnificent throne not to judg the whole world but to judg the Empire of the Beast the fourth Monarchy in its Antichristian Period to deal forth the various punishments that befall this Monarchy for 7 or 8 hundred years to bring it to its end This Fire these Flames these Wheels burning like fire on which the throne moves represent the greatness of those punishments And behold the Text of the 9th Ch. in which St. John presents to our view the Saracens the Turks that make desolate the Roman Antichristan Empire of the 14th 15th 16th 18th 19th where God in divers visions represents the different steps of the ruin of the Roman Antichristian Empire As for what is said here of the Kingdom given to the Saints 't is the matter Text of the end of the 11th Ch. of the 20 21 22. throughout So it will appear in following the path which we are entred into that the whole Revelation is a commentary on ten or twelve verses of the 7th Ch. of Daniel CHAP. IV. The systems of the seven seals the seven Trumpets that denote the great events bring the world to its end IN the 4th Ch. the H. Spirit open'd the scene the 5th is a preludium for the vision of the seven seals which is contained in the 6. Ch. The first book is sealed with seven seals that is to say 't is very obscure Indeed it is so to that degree that never will any thing be said on this first part of the Revelation that goes beyond conjecture probability Wheras as for the second I hold that one may attain to the true sense of it certainly know that one hath found it See what in my judgment may best be said on the seven seals How far the seven seals teach The seven seals certainly reach to the end of the world but not in that manner as the greatest part of our Interpreters have imagin'd in dividing the duration of the World from J. Christ to its end into seven Periods almost equal The six First seals do not go beyond 300. years But the seventh seal is subdivided into seven Trumpets doth produce them Now these seven Trumpets bring the events even to the last judgment the first not beginning till after the 6th seal So that these seven seals are as six branches that shoot forth from the body of a Tree with a seventh great branch which it self becomes a great arm shoots forth seven other branches As for this it cannot be doubted by any that read the beginning of the 7th Ch. with any attention
into the lesser waters For here a Mountain of fire is much more than a star of fire tho in truth a star is a thousand a thousand times bigger than a Mountain But the H. Spirit frames his speech according to appearances hath chiefly are spect to those fires that are often seen falling from heaven which are called Falling-stars Joseph Mede with all other Interpreters would find in this Mountain of fire this Starlike a Lamp much more of mystery than is in it pretending that this means some great person distinguisht by his dignity as a king or an Emperour or by his knowledg as a great Doctor Therfore many by this star understand a great Prophet But 't is not so This must be explain'd with relation to the first Trumpet we must know that this is but the sequel of the history of the destruction of the Roman Empire by the Barbarians The first part of this destruction was but Hail mingled with Fire a common storm such as often happens in summer wherin thunder lightning in hot countries are always mingled with the hail But afterwards this inundation of the Barbarians increased in such a manner that it was no longer an ordinary storm There fell not only Fire mingled with Water Hail this Storm becomes wholly pure fire a fall of terrible Lightning a true Mountain of Fire that fell on the Roman Empire over-whelm'd it Afterwards the fire continued to fall on a third part in truth no longer as a Mountain but as a fire-brand such as the stars are that appear to fall in the air See therfore here three fires The First is mingled with Hail The second is meer fire great as a mountain The third is as a great Lamp. The First afflicts the Trees of Europe or of the third part of the World. The second falls into the sea changes it into blood The third falls on the rivers fountains makes their waters bitter This evidently signifies the three first degrees of the Barbarians invasion They come at First like fire mingled with hail which burns the trees like a storm that spoils the fruits of the Earth They pillaged the Goods the Riches of the Empire The mountain of fire that falls into the sea is Alario that made Italy desolate took Rome 2ly They come like a meet fire that consumes devours They fell on the sea By that I understand the people of Italy the taking of Rome by Alaric Italy was in respect to the Roman Empire what the sea is in respect to the rivers The sea is the center the rivers are all round about it The sea is the gulf the rivers come from all parts to pay their tribute to this gulf Rome Italy was the midst of the Empire Rome was the sea whither all the Provinces came to pay their tribute their riches Alaric his Goths falls like a burning mountain on Italy the city of Rome he takes it and sacks it This sea becomes blood Italy was filled with slaughter After this the Barbarians suffer'd themselves to be appeased Alaric after he had taken Rome and made there a new Emperour named Attalus with whom he went to besiege Honorius in Ravenna gave peace to Honorius quitted Italy retired among the Gaulls where with his Goths he establishthimself The Vandals possessed Spain The Burgundians staid on the Rhone The Huns inhabited Pannonia And then the Fountains the Waters i.e. the people that depended on Rome felt the force of this fire of the judgment of God. But this fire did not turn the waters into Blood because then the slaughter ceased the opposition ceasing the Barbarians saw themselves Masters But they turned the Rivers and the Fountains into Wormwood i. e. They reduced the Roman Provinces into a bitter Servitude And by reason of this the name of Wormwood is given this last Fire that is to say this last Judgment and Punishment less than the former but yet so great as to make the people live in Bitterness For the Goths spoiled them of their Lands Goods See the Mystery of the second and third Trumpet I have no need to give notice that the third part of the Sea and the third part of the Rivers signifie the Sea and the Rivers of the third part of the World i. e. of Europe For I have given notice already of that once for all In truth they were the People of Europe that suffered these Desolations V. 12. And the fourth Angel sounded and a third part of the Sun was smitten and the third part of the Moon and the third part of the Stars so as the third part of them was darkened and the Day shone not for a third part of it and the Night likewise The Fall of the Reman Empire 'T is still the same Figure that rules that is to say that the Sun of Europe which is the third part of the World was darkened in like manner the Moon and Stars We must remember that in the Prophecies the Sun Moon and Stars alwayes signifie the Powers of a State. The Heaven of the politick World is the superior Region of Dignities that sheds kind or malignant Influences on the People We shall see this constantly observed in this Book in such manner that in all places where the Sun Moon and Eclypses are spoken of 't is unquestionable that we must understand the darkening and destruction of the sovereign Powers in the State or Empire spoken of Now what Empire is it that is here spoken of 'T is the Empire of Rome For yet once more we must stick to this Principle as one of the principal Keys of the Revelation viz. that it moves wholly on the Roman Empire and that 't is properly nothing but a Comment on what is said of the fourth Beast in the 7th chap. of Daniel The Roman Empire and în part the Invasions of it by the Goths and other Barbarians being here treated of there is no room for doubting but that the Sun of the third part of the World which is smitten signifies the Sovereign of Rome the Roman Emperor the Moon is the Imperial Dignity the Stars are the Grandees of the Empire And 't is the Extinction of the Roman Empire of Italy that happen'd in the year 455. after the Death of Valentinian the 3d when Genseric came from Africa with his Vandals took Rome and sackt it fifteen days one after another after which the Empire was torn among tell Kings according as St. John foretold it in the sequel of this Book CHAP. VII An Explication of the Visions of the fifth sixth Trumpet wherin are seen the Empires of the Saracens Turks THis fall of the Imperial dignity at Rome in the fourth Monarchy is a great affair Therfore the H. Spirit stays upon it makes a pause as a mark of distinction as we have before observed But that which follows also is a great affair
consider the Papism as a Religion that confesseth one only God that worships J. Christ God co-eternal with the Father the Redeemer of the World that believes the resurrection the life everlasting Hell and the last Judgment The eye confounds these fair and great objects with the additions of popery And this confused and indistinct view makes the additions to be esteem'd as nothing and appear very inconsiderable on the account of that Christianity that lies at the bottom That therefore we may know the Papism and what name we ought to give it we must consider it alone by it self and as separated from the Christian Religion Then it is certain it will deserve the name of an apostacy or a formal revolt from the faith For do but look only on that Troop of second Gods of Pilgrimages Indulgences Masses Saints Patrons Intercessors she Saints Images Reliques Idols the bread that is worshipp'd pray'd to and before which men prostrate themselves This is a true Paganism and a formal apostacy from the Christian faith My fourth and last Observation to justify that the terms of Apostacy from the faith which the Apostle makes use of here are not too high but agree very well to the Papism is Apostacy especially signifies Idolatry Neh. 9.26 that Apostacy though the word ordinarily signifies all sort of rebellion yet when Religion is spoken of it particularly signifies Idolatry So when the Levites confess the sins of their Nation and of their Fathers they say they were disobedient and they rebelled against thee The septuagint renders it they departed from thee and fell into apostacy by which without doubt is meant the Idolatry of the Israelites For that was the sin that did principally draw down the wrath of God upon them And the septuagint also says of Ahaz that plunged himself into the Idolatries of the Heathens that he apostatized from the Lord with a great apostacy 2 Chro. 28. not that he did absolutely abandon the God of his Fathers 2 Kings 16.15 for he kept the brazen Altar to enquire of the Lord therewith God gives such an Idea of the popish Idolatry as seems very extravagant If all the Idolatry of the Church be called apostacy and deserves that name it is certain the Idolatry of the Papism may well be called apostacy And hereupon 't is worth the while to enquire into the reason why God speaks in so high terms concerning the Idolatry of the Papism He calls that Church the great Whore that makes the Kings of the Earth drunk with the wine of her fornication He saith she holds in her hand a Cup full of abominations and all this because of her Idolatry This looks as if it were very extravagant when applied to the Idolatry of the Papism For after all its false worship doth not appear to be any great matter the Church of Rome invocates Saints but besides that they are the friends of God she invocates them only in relation to God because he hath honoured them with his gifts She believes that the good things which are asked of the Saints are not obtained of them but because those Saints themselves do obtain them of God by their intercessions She prostrates her self before Images but the worship she gives them is relative and goeth up to their original And lastly it doth not appear that this popish Idolatry doth come near the Idolatry of the Heathens to which nevertheless the Holy Spirit hath not given such frightful names Here then are two things to be enquired into First why God gives us so odious an Idea of this popish worship Secondly why he speaks of it in higher terms then he doth of the heathen Idolatries As to the first question I answer that we need but plainly lay open the invocation of Saints their mediation their intercession and the adoration of their Images The invocation of Saints and their intercession ruins the fundamental Article of the exaltation of J. Christ at the right hand of his Father to see that there is nothing more Antichristian that doth more subvert Christianity and one of its principal Articles viz. that of the exaltation of Jesus Christ at the right hand of his Father This sitting at the right hand of his Father doth not meerly signify as is supposed an elevation to the glory and dignity of Soveraign Monarch of the Church It signifies also that perpetual assistance if I may use this term in that sense that perpetual action by which Jesus is always present with God his Father to speak to him in our behalf and to obtain of him all things that we stand in need of He assists at the right hand of God because that is the hand of glory and glory is for him The right hand also is the hand of good omen Therefore evil omens are called sinister ones i. e. very bad ones Now in this respect the assists at the right hand of God for us and therefore it is that sitting at the right hand is immediately joined with intercession Who is he that shall condemn It is God that justifies it is Christ that hath dyed or rather that is risen again who also sits at the right hand of God and makes intercession for us And elsewhere he is entred into the holy places with his blood newly shed and lives there that he may make intercession for us So that the honour of the exaltation of Jesus Christ consists in these two things First his royal dignity that exalts him above all the Church Second the glorious priviledge of continually assisting before the Father to be our Mediator These two great advantages belong to Jesus Christ in such a manner that they are incommunicable to every one besides This was what was typified by the high Priest who alone entred into the Holy of holies to present his incense there Whosoever therefore communicates these two advantages to the creature he destroys the article of the exaltation of Jesus Christ and consequently promotes an abominable doctrine The Papism destroys the two parts of the exaltation of J. Christ Now this is that which the Papism doth it destroys the exaltation of Jesus Christ by dividing it First of all it destroys his exaltation that is to say his royal dignity in giving him an Associate under the name of his Vicar who assumes as well as Jesus Christ the name of God Holy most Holy and Holiness For to make a Vicar for a King without his order and against his will is to give him a Rival Supposing therefore that this great office of Vicar of Iesus Christ be not according to God's intention it is certain that it is the highest of all encroachments on his right and authority and which deserves the odious names of apostacy and abomination Secondly It overthrows the mystery of his exaltation in giving Jesus Christ companions in his incommunicable priviledge of standing before the Throne of God The priviledge of assistikg before the Throne of
v. 16. The second is called the vintage v. 19. And the other Angel thrust in his sickle into the Earth and gathered the Vine of the Earth and cast it into the great wine-press of the wrath of God. It is plain at least that these two periods must be distant one from the other as much as ordinarily the harvest is from the vintage Now 't is well known that the prophecies represent in a little what the events shew in the great and consequently as the harvest is many days distant from the vintage it will be necessary that the two parts of the fall of the Antichristian Empire should be many years distant one from the other Now if meerly the fall of the Babylonish Empire takes up many years the flourishing and the strength of this Empire must take up much more time An Empire so strong can't be ruin'd in the twinckling of an eye and in one months time Moreover there must be an interval of rest between the harvest and the vintage All this necessarily supposeth more than three years and a half The 15th and 16th Chapt. contain the vision of the seven viols of the wrath of God that must be poured out on the Earth It is evident that all these seven viols respect the Antichristian Empire The first plague is an ulcer that seizes on the men that had the mark of the beast c. 16.2 The 15th viol is cast on the seat of the beast v. 10. at the seventh v. 19. the great City which is the same beast c. 15.2 is divided into three parts And before the viols were given to the seven Angels they that had obtained victory over the beast over his image over his mark and over his name are represented as rejoycing in the presence of the seven Angels that had received the seven plagues The fifth Argument the seven viols of the 15th Chap. are seven periods of the fall of the Antichristian Empire every one of these periods contains more than an Age. Fifthly All this makes it appear that these seven viols are seven periods included in the duration of Antichrists Empire under which God must pour out his terrible judgements on that Empire These seven periods must divide his duration into seven parts very near equal even though one should suppose that the seven periods contain this whole duration every viol and every period would have but six months to last according to the supposition of the Romish Doctors The truth is that these seven viols are included in the half of the duration of Antichrists Empire or a little more For 't is the History of the fall of that Empire If it lasts but three years and a half it is necessary that at the least it should be two years a growing so there will remain no more than eighteen months for these seven viols and to every period we must assign a little more than two months This is very plainly absurd There is no example of the like matter in all the Prophecies The seven seals the seven trumpets of the Revelation contain many ages 't is ridiculous to suppose that the seven viols contain but some months We shall see afterward that every viol extends it self to more than a 100 years The sixth Argument what is foretold in the 17th Chap. cannot come to pass in three years and a half Sixthly The 17th Chapt. represents to us the Empire and the Religion of Antichrist under the emblem of a woman sitting on a beast with seven heads and ten horns 'T is said this woman must make her self drunk with the blood of the Martyrs That first of all the ten Kings must give their power to the beast that afterwards c. 17.6 they must fight against the Lamb in favour of the beast v. 13. and that at last v. 14. these very same Kings must change their side and their opinion v. 16. Strip the whore make her desolate eat her flesh burn her with fire can so many changes in mens spirits and in the world can so many revolutions happen in three years and a half In the same Chapt. we find a head that lasts a little v. 10. The seven heads are seven Kings five are fallen the other is not yet come and when he cometh he must continue a short space I once believed that he that was to come and was to continue a little time was Antichrist But looking more carefully into the Text with reference to the events 't is plain that that can't be We must therefore v. 11. by him that was to continue a little time understand the eighth King. And the beast that was and is not even he is the eighth King. And this King is the second part of the head of the Emperors which being divided into two Christian Emperors and Pagan ones makes eight heads or eight Kings together with the other six This eighth head which is that of the Christian Emperors in truth lasted but a very little while viz. from Constantine to Valentinian who was assassinated by Maximus about 130 or 140 years See what the Holy Spirit calls a little time Judge if the Empire of Antichrist that must last longer than the eighth head must last but three years and a half The 7th Argument the duration of the Empire of old Babel is the figure of the duration of the Antichristian Empire Seventhly The 18th Chap. contains a larger description of the last ruin of this Antichristian Empire 'T is there represented as a great City called Babylon rich merchandizing pufft up with the concourse of people and of their riches carried thither for many ages Its inhabitants are described as Merchants grown rich by its commerce She is described as a City abounding in pleasure as well as in riches For all that contributes to pleasure and luxury enters into this description Chap. 1â— v. 12.15 Gold silver precious stones pearls purple silk sweet smelling vessels and most precious wood brass iron marble cinnamon v. 22. perfumes ointments incense wine oil musicians players on the harp pipers trumpetters In conscience is this the description of an Empire and of a City that must last but three years and a half that in that little space of time must be built raised enriched and ruined First of all the Antichristian Empire is called Babylon because ancient Babylon was its type and figure That Empire of old Babel lasted many ages and should these many ages be the type and figure of these three years and a half Can this be said or thought It happens well that the Prophets represent future things that are great by types that are much less This is the very nature of types They are little draughts of that which the event must produce at large So days in the types must naturally represent years But 't is absurd to say that years in the types represent but days in the things signified by the types
a very bad smell which hath reacht even to us it formed a most frightfull object upon which the adorers of the Pope and of the so called holy seat cannot even now adays reflect without horror and indignation This plague fell upon the Earth i. e. upon the globe or whole mass of the Antichristian world For the members and the head the whole and the parts were cover'd over with this dismal corruption This corruption was and is 20 this day a terrible blow to Popery And further it cannot be express'd how great a plague how sore a blow this See received from hence For this gave occasion to the Emperors to meddle with the affairs of Rome and its Bishops The Successors of Charlemaine having let go this fair patrimony kept themselves in Germany during which time the Popes got strength and made themselves Masters But the excesses of the Court of Rome obliged the Otho's Emperors of Germany to march into Italy there they corrected and deposed some Popes and chose others to their mind They revived the ancient right which the Emperors had of confirming Popes after their election which was a very sore mortification of which they did not recover untill Gregory the VII And besides this corruption rendred the See of Rome contemptible to all nations In some Countries men took liberty to write very bitter invectives against it some of which are come to our hands This is a wound that bleeds even at this day and affords us a very strong argument against the pretentions of infallibility and supremacy challeng'd by the Church of Rome For we will never cease to object and very rationally that God is too good and too wise to suffer the Seat of his Vicar and of an infallible Vicar to be infected with so dismal a corruption These considerations let us see that none ought to object against us that we make one of the plagues of the Antichristian Empire to be that corruption which is one of its Characters The same thing we shall see in the fourth plague where we will make it appear that the tyranny of the Antichristian Kingdom which is one of its Characters is notwithstanding become one of its plagues When these Characters are risen to an immoderate height they become sensible they discover Antichristianism and by discovering it they destroy it for its safety consists in being a mystery it is a mystery of iniquity This is the first plague and the first period of Antichrists declining this period lasted above a 150 years for this corruption continued for a good space of the eleventh Age. The second and third plagues are thus set down v. 3. And the second Angel pour'd out his viol upon the sea and it become as the blood of a dead man and every living soul dyed in the sea v. 4. And the third Angel pour'd out his viol upon the rivers and fountains of waters and they became blood Waters signify people the sea of blood the Croisades Observe that the sea and waters in Prophetick visions signify people or nations this is so well known that it needs not to be proved And supposing that this Emblem is not common in other Prophets it is most evidently so in St. John. Come saith the Angel to him Chap. 17. v. 15. I will shew thee the judgement of the great whore which sits upon many waters The waters which thou sawest where the whore sits are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages The first viol was pour'd out upon the earth i. e. upon the whole Globe for earth contains both dry and moist The corruption of manners was spread over the head and the members over the papal Seat and all its subjects But this second viol is pour'd only upon the waters the sea and the rivers i.e. upon the people of the Antichristian Empire or upon the different Nations Tribes and Languages as the Spirit does express it it falls not upon the Head and the Seat on the contrary it is the Seat of the Beast which contributes to this Plague The waters of the sea were turn'd into blood and every living soul dyed What more native and lively representation could have been made of the Rage of the Croisades In all languages and in all sorts of style a sea of blood rivers of blood streams of blood signify a very great slaughter Now the proper Character of the Croisades is slaughter murther which falls not upon the head of the Antichristian Empire but upon the people all was there turn'd into blood Never was there such a prodigious effusion of blood in the sea i. e. among the peoples In the first Croisade there dyed more then two millions of men in three or four year 'T is evident that God did lead these wretched creatures as it were to the shambles that they should find the punishment of their crimes the took away so great a quantity of blood that he might cure the Ulcers of Christendom For that he might purge it of that vast rabble he permitted the Devil to inspire them either with such a sottish superstition or an extravagant ambition that they must go and deliver the holy Land or go and conquer Kingdoms in the East This plague lighted only on the sea not at all on the dry land upon the subjects of the Popedom not at all upon the Popes On the contrary the Popes improved that evasion to greaten their power to plunder whole Countries to make Generals of Armies to act as soveraign Monarchs and to lay a heavier yoke upon Kings whom they order'd to march and sent them as their slaves into the East and during their absence plundred their Kingdoms We must not imagine that all the plagues laid down by St. John must tend to the ruin of the See of Rome or to the diminution of its power for some are to light upon the head of that Empire to crush it others upon the people to punish them because they worship the Beast the plague of blood and slaughter is for the people This plague of the Croisades is divided into two plagues because of its long duration for it lasted 200 years from the end of the eleventh Age untill the end of the thirteenth The third viol which makes the third plague fell only upon rivers i. e. upon lesser waters because after a hundred years the fury abated there was no more marching of the whole West unto the East only that of some particular nations as of the Freneh among others under the conduct of St. Lewis and consequently the effusion of blood was much less there were only rivers of blood whereas the former Croisades had made a sea I shall add this explication which I have given does exactly agree with the Genius and Emblems of the Prophets The Prophet Ezec. 32.6 says to Egypt I will water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest even to the mountains There must be no less then a sea of blood to overflow a Countrey
appearance will be the last And as Peter de Lune after he had been deposed by the Council of Constance went and held his Seat in the mountains of Arragon where he continued a Schism ten or twelve years so 't is probable that the Popes being driven out of the rest of Europe will shelter themselves among the Spaniards from whose hearts it will be a hard matter to pull popery away Lastly it must be observed that 't is true the harvest does spoil the Earth of a part of her fruits but it doth not of all it remains to be a fair and pleasant season the Autumn which follows hath its beauties its profits and advantages it is a second Spring the medows are crown'd with an after-growth the trees put forth new flowers But the vintage makes all waste A lively Emblem in harvest and vintage of what hath happen'd and shall happen in the ruin of popery it spoils the Earth of the very remainders of its fruits and beauty and immediately Winter comes that puts on the Earth the very complexion of death and destruction This is an Emblem of what fell out in the first destruction of popery and of what shall in the second The Reformation cut down several fair Countries in the last age but notwithstanding many were left to it nay it had great success massacred an infinite number of the faithful procured to it self the confirmation of a famous Council engaged those Kings who were its vassals to double their endeavours for the preservation of its Worship and Doctrines It hath gain'd ground in the East in China in the Indies in the West in America by the conquests of the Spaniard and Portuguese It hath sent Missions even to the end of the World hath made an infinite number of false Christians it hath regain'd on one side as much as it had lost on the other and hath made its worship and Idolatry to reign as much as ever For Spain and Italy were never more deeply plunged in Idolatry then since the Reformation It hath strengthned its tyranny for the Popes since the Council of Trent have domineer'd and acted as Soveraigns over Kings and as Superiors over Councils In the reforming of the Calender Gregory XIII did an act of an Vniversal Monarch which the Popes had never done in the ages of their greatest insolence They have deposed Kings of England and in France Henry III. and Henry IV. They have laid an Interdict upon the Common-wealth of Venice and the Kingdom of Portugal In a word Popery hath had great prosperities that have comforted it under its disgraces But as for the blow or stroke which God is ready presently to give it it will be a dispatching blow it will be a vintage that shall spoil it of all its fruits and utterly take away all its beauty the Winter shall come upon it and its desolation shall be irrecoverable This is the substance of the vision let us view the circumstances And I looked and behold a white cloud and upon the cloud one sate like unto the Son of man having on his head a golden crown and in his hand a sharp sickle J. Christ himself often appears in the visions of the Revelation This personage like unto a man is probably the Son of God found in fashion as a man on the account of his Incarnation the golden crown which he wears on his head does prove that 't is he though he executes his judgements by his Angels notwithstanding he often himself appears on the scene of the World in the book of the Revelation He is probably the Heroe in the sixth Chapter who appeared sitting on a white horse Chap. 6.2 and had a bow and a crown was given him and he went forth conquering and to conquer He is the same who appears again in the 19 Chapter sitting a second time upon a white horse and was called faithful and true and in righteousness doth he judge and make war. He always sits upon something that is white sometimes upon a white horse sometimes upon a white cloud White is the symbol of innocence and mercy A white cloud is a throne of mercy a red cloud is that of justice But mark it must be some grand work for which Jesus Christ himself comes for the Holy Ghost does not bring him upon the stage for some mean matter Now since the Apostles age no work had been done so great as that of the last age He had a sharp sickle in his hand He comes upon a white cloud intending favour to his children but with a sickle for his enemies 'T was a great mercy to his own when he took them out of Bahylon the last age But 't was a terrible stroke of a sickle to Antichrist And another Angel came out of the Temple crying with a loud voyce to him that sate on the cloud Thrust in thy sickle and reap for the time is come for thee to reap for the harvest of the Earth is ripe He who sits upon the cloud gives out orders to the Angels and receives none from them but he recieves from his Father and the Angels may be charged to carry these orders to the Son. Thus the Angel who here gives orders to Jesus Christ speaks not in his own name but in the name of him that sent him The time to reap is come Their iniquity is come to its height Their measure is full Another Angel came out of Heaven he also having a sharp sickle This is the destroying Angel who went through Egypt the executioner of the judgements of God this Angel comes onely as a second for he who sits upon the white cloud disappears not he is the Master and 't is under his direction that this second Angel gives the last blow to popery Another Angel came out from the Altar which had power over fire and cryed with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle c. Here mention is made of an Angel who hath power over fire and in the 16. Chapter we find the Angel of the waters Shall we conclude that every Element hath its Angel who presides over it and the events which fall out by its means so that one Angel presides over the Sea and shipwracks another over fire and burnings This seems very probable to me for the providence of God makes the winds his Angels and a flame of fire his Ministers The Angel of the fire comes out from the altar which popery had prophaned by its prophane sacrifices and false worship And 't is the Angel of the fire who is here employ'd to signify that now the fire shall consume the Antichristian Kingdom without any hopes of recovery 'T is not necessary that the Kingdom of Antichrist should be destroyed with great shedding of blood The wine-press was trodden without the City and blood came out of the wine-press even unto the horses bridles by the space of a thousand six hundred furlongs 'T is a great question
of late have given it They say the Time of the Regeneration is the Time of the Church from Jesus Christ to the end of the World. That during all that time for 1600 years the Apostles have sat as it were on Thrones to judge the Church because we consult them and have recourse to their Oracles But 1. 'T is a strange abuse of words to call by the name of Regeneration such corrupted times as those of the Church for the last twelve hundred years 2. 'T is to take the words in a very figurative sense indeed to call that which the writings of the Apostles do at this day sitting upon Thrones and judging the twelve Tribes of Israel 3. Lastly I know not why the twelve Tribes of Israel should come into this promise and why they only since they are altogether excluded from the Covenant and are not governed by the writings of the Apostles I confess then that I find nothing therein but what is obscure But all is plain if by Regeneration I understand the happy Reign of Peace and Righteousness and Charity For the Church must be greatly renewed to reach that blessed state Then indeed the Son of man shall be sat on the Throne of his Glory He shall then have the full Dominion whereas now he reigns as it were but by halves and after the end of this World he shall reign no longer for then he shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God his Father If we suppose that then the raised Apostles shall be at the head of the twelve converted Tribes and shall govern them and send their orders by them to the rest of the World according to which all other Governours throughout the Earth shall manage themselves If I say this be supposed no Text can be plainer The word Thrones will then be taken in its natural signification and to Iudge will signify the same as it doth throughout the Scripture perticularly in the book of Iudges where we read that Iephta and Sampson and Samuel judged Israel so many years Lastly by this means we shall understand why the twelve Tribes of Israel are mentioned 't is because the Apostles are to have a perticular care and oversight of them as being their own People although their authority shall be universal I confess this seems to me most probable Nevertheless I determine nothing but suspend my judgement 4. Doubtfull Character Whether Jerusalem shall be rebuilt 4. I leave it also as doubtful whether Ierusalem shall be rebuilt to be the seat of Christ's Kingdom to say the truth as I believe that the Iews shall meet together in their own Country I see no reason why they should not rebuild the City of Jerusalem Which being rebuilt will doubtless be the most illustrious City in the World and if you will the seat of the universal Empire not of an Earthly Monarchy that hath its Armies Tributes Customes Forts and Governours spread throughout the Earth but it shall be the principal seat whence shall flow the Orders and Oracles of Iesus Christ whereby the whole World shall be governed 5. Doubtfull Character The duration of this Kingdom 5. Lastly I will not determine how long this Kingdom shall last A thousand years are exprest oftentimes determinate numbers are put for indefinite But I see no inconvenience will follow if we take that number in its natural signification and I am of that opinion After this Reign of a thousand years there is a great Event to be brought about set forth in these words V. 7. Chap. 20. 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 to gather them together to battel the number of whom is as the sand of the Sea. V. 9. And they went up on the breadth of the Earth and compassed the Camp of the Saints about and the beloved City and fire came down from God out of Heaven and devoured them VVhat shal happen after the thousand years explained I see but one sense can be given to this that you may comprehend it you must know that we are not to take those promises of the conversion of all Nations and of all men in perticular in such a strict and rigid sense as to admit of no exception I have already told you that the Church shall then as far exceed the World and the Good the wicked as now the World and the Men of the World do the Good. Therefore there shall then be some remaining people not converted They shall be supprest and kept under during the thousand years and shall not molest either the Peace or Purity of the Church But at the end of this Period their numbers shall be increast and become very considerable And before the end of the World a cruel persecution against the Church shall arise from them and because the number of three and half is fatal for persecutions 't is not unlikely that this shall also last three years and half before the end of the World. During three natural years and half the Sanctuary was shut up and prophaned by Antiochus For three years and half Iesus Christ preacht in an afflicted state for three prophetical years and half the two witnesses prophecied clothed in sackcloth for three prophetical days and half i. e. three natural years and half these two witnesses should remain dead in the streets of the City So to me it seems probable that the last Persecution after the thousand years of Rest shall last three years and half and then may come the Antichrist of St. Irenaeus whom I will so far honour as to believe that he had learnt the Mystery of this last Persecution from some Apostolical Persons which he confounded with the reign of the Apocaliptical Beast for 1260 days Neither is it improbable but that the Ring-leader of this last Persecution may be a Iew for there is no mean to be found among that People they are all either very Good or very Bad. They who shall live when the Iews shall be converted shall be able to Divine something of it For if they then see a remnant of obstinate Iews cantonize themselves in some corner of the World and resist the general stream of Conversion there will be some ground to believe that this shall be the first bud of that Great Rebellion which the Providence of God reserves for the end of the World. And so it may be there shall arise a Iew as St. Irenaeus said pretending to be the Messiah who shall persecute the Church and reign for three years and half before the end of the World and be destroyed within a few days before the last Iudgement This shall be the Diminutive of the great Antichrist which should not be confounded with the Man of sin of whom Saint Paul speaks nor with the Beast in Revel 13. nor with the Woman chap.
in the preceding Chapters where I have shown that Empire and a Kingdom Peace and Prosperity are promised to the Church of Christ in such a manner as hath never hitherto been fulfilled Object VVhen Christ shal come the Church shall be most corrupt 4. After this they tell us that when God describes those Times which shall immediately precede the end of the World instead of representing them as a golden Age they are painted out as an Age of Iron and darkness Iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold false Prophets and false Christs shall arise they shall work signs and wonders to deceive if possible the very Elect. Math. 24. v. 12.24.37 The coming of the Son of man shall be as the days of Noah When the Son of man shall come Luke 18. c. 8. he shall not find faith upon Earth And 2 Ep. Thessal 2. chap. 't is said the Lord shall destroy the man of sin by the brightness of his coming But all this is grounded on a false supposition viz. that there shall be no other coming of Christ but for the last final Judgement which is not true the coming of Christ here spoken of is that to settle the Peace and Glory and Kingdom of his Church and we may be certain that this is meant in almost all the Passages where the coming of Christ is spoken of It is true that when Christ shall come to destroy the Antichristian Kingdom he shall not find true Faith upon Earth that is very little of it Experience confirms this for we are now in that very time Farther when Christ shall come the third and last time for the last Judgment it may well be that there shall be a great scarcity of faith piety in the World at that time for Gog and Magog shall be increas't there shall be a great seduction upon Earth and a great affliction upon the Church So that these Prophecies shall have their accomplishment whenever Christ comes They were fulfilled at his first coming when he came in the flesh for the Church was then exceedingly corrupted and so at his second coming when he shall come to destroy the Antichristian Kingdom For in our days there is a very great corruption and shall be at his third coming for at the end of the world there shall be an Insurrection against the Church and against the Son of God. 5. Object The day of Judgement would not then be unknown 5. It will farther follow say these Gentlemen that the Hour and the day of Iudgement would not then be unknown as our Lord J. Christ hath said it is For if just after the fall of the Antichristian Empire the reign of Christ for a thousand years must take place we likewise know that at the end of that Reign of a thousand years shall be the day of Judgment First you must know that our Lord J. Christ saith not that the day of the last Judgment shall be alway concealed he only saith that no man then knew it concerning that day saith he knoweth no man. That depends on the fixing the time of the 1260 years for the reign of Antichrist Now no man knew for certain at that time when the 1260 years should begin God did not permit that it should be well known till this last Age which is as also the last of the reign of Antichrist for 1260 years Moreover after having well fixt the Epocha of the birth of Antichrist that we may discover his end yet can we not thereby come to the exact knowledge of the day of Iudgement 1. Because we know not whether the thousand years of the reign of the Church must begin just at the end of the 1260 years of the reign of Antichrist We may say the contrary without saying any thing that is improbable that the thousand years are not to be computed but from the compleat establishment of the Kingdom of Christ 2. We cannot tell whether the Period of a thousand years is to be exactly so much neither more or less for the H. Ghost is not so critical and precise and often makes use of a round and certain number to signify one that is uncertain unless when he makes use of a broken number as three and half for then we cannot doubt but we are to reckon exactly so much So that these two things being always doubtfull we can never know the precise time of the Judgement day 6. Object The world would then last a long while 6. After this they say that if the Church must reign a thousand years on Earth the World is yet to last for a long time which is not likely it should because the Apostles even in their days spoke of the end of the world as a thing approaching and near at hand We are in the last times saith St. Paul. The coming of I. Christ is at hand saith St. James My littie children It is the last time saith St. John. They ought to confess that these passages make against them instead of being for them The Apostles called their Days the last times and the last hour and yet almost two thousand years have passed since Those Texts therefore must not be taken in too rigid a sense We have spent one Chapter on purpose in this Book to explain those Passages 7. Object The Scripture speaks but of one Resurrection 7. Lastly they tell us that according to the Scriptures at the coming of our Lord J. Christ All the Dead must be raised at once the Righteous and the Wicked which agrees not with the supposition of the Millenaries who would make one part of the Dead to rise at the beginning of the reign of a thousand years and the rest at the end of it But how can any one say that the Scripture saith that when it speaks the quite contrary that one part of the Dead must rise first which is the first Resurrection and that the Rest of the Dead are not to rise till the thousand years are fullfilled There are some passages 't is true wherein the Resurrection of the Good and Bad is spoken of as that which shall be at the same time and so it shall accordingly be for this first Resurrection will be but of a very few viz. of the Ancient Martyrs The remainder of the Faithful shall not be raised till the end of the World. Many Dead were risen with Christ when he rose and are certainly with him body and soul in Heaven Notwithstanding this the Scripture speaks of the Resurrection of all the Dead as a thing deferr'd and adjourn'd to the last Day because one little Exception destroys not a general Rule 'T is strange that these Gentlemen find so much difficulty in this first Resurrection Methinks they should remember the many Saints who were raised with Christ Why may not Christ raise some of the New Testament Saints at the coming of his Kingdom as well as raise some of the Ancient Patriarchs when he rose from the Grave However notwithstanding all that I have said on this subject of that first Resurrection I once again declare that I am not sollicitons to decide it Therefore I have and do again place it among those things which are doubtful I am informed that the learned and famous Prof. Mr. Witsius of Vtrecht hath thought fit to declare his mind on this subject in some publick Lectures I am told that he agrees with me concerning a great change which is to be in the Church before the end of the World with respect to Manners Union in Doctrine and the spreading of the Christian Faith as well among the Iews as among the Nations which as yet are Pagan He is also willing De X Tribubus Israelis c. 9. §. 1. cap 11. § 17 that the Iews should hope to return to their own Land and rebuild Ierusalem I would ask no more and am more rejoy't to meet with the concurrence of so great a man in that which is Essential than I can be troubled that he differs from me concerning that first Resurrection for I must acknowledge that I meet with very great difficulties about it But when I look upon it on that side and in that manner as I have represented it I find it to be very probable Nevertheless I am far from being fully perswaded of the Truth of it as I am concerning those Arâ—â—cles wherein we two agree These I think are all the Objections wherewith these Gentlemen oppose us For I regard not what they say when they tell us That this Reign of a thousand years is a Iewish vision a Fancy derived from the impure Fountain of their Traditions This is to declaim and not to prove 'T is not impossible but there may remain something that is good among the Traditions of the Iews at least St. Paul and St. Iude believed so The first learnt from their Tradition the names of the Magicians of Aegypt who opposed Moses and likewise those words of Moses I exceedingly quake and fear which we no where read in the Old Testament And St. Iude learnt from thence the combat of Michael the Arch-angel with the Devil for the body of Moses also the Prophecy of Enoch They urge likewise against us a multitude of ancient and modern Authors But I had rather give credit to Iustin Martyr and Papias who might have seen St. Iohn than to all those who have wrote since God hath his particular reasons why he will not that the Prophecies should be understood in every Age. FINIS
THE ACCOMPLISHMENT Of the SCRIPTURE PROPHECIES OR THE Approaching Deliverance of the CHURCH Proving that the Papacy is the Antichristian Kingdom and that that Kingdom is not far from its Ruin. That the present Persecution may end in Three years and half after which the Destruction of Antichrist shall begin which shall be Finisht in the beginning of the next Age and then the Kingdom of Christ shall come upon Earth Written in French by Mr. PETER JURIEU one of the present Ministers of the French Church at Rotterdam In two Parts Faithfully Englished from the New French Edition Corrected and Enlarged by almost a third part with the explication of the Visions of Daniel and the Revelation LONDON Printed in the Year 1687. TO THE NATION OF THE JEWS I Desire of that People that they would please to read this book attentively and without prejudice especially from the middle of the second Part to the end they will find nothing there that can irritate ' em I confess the hopes they conceive of a Kingdom of the Messiah which shall be chiefly for them is built upon express and unquestionable Prophecies that even their Ierusà lem should be rebuilt and that they shall be again gathered together in their own Land. And if any thing be capable to recover them from their obstinacy for the establishment of the Law of Moses and against the Law of Christ this is certainly the most likely method which we make use of because it grants them almost all the Advantages which they expect Advice to all Christians concerning the approaching End of the ANTICHRISTIAN Empire of the PAPACY and of the coming of the Kingdom of Christ THE Afflicted Church seeks for consolation where can she find it but in the Promises of God when the present prospect is sad and dolefull we must search for it in what is future The promises of God are either General or Perticular The general Promises are such as assure us in the general that God will not cast off his children that this Grace shall never forsake his Church that he will be with them to the end of the World that though the mountains be overthrown he will not depart from them But afflicted persons would be glad of something more perticular they would be willing to see in some particular Promises near about what Time they may expect the Period of their Calamities Now the Promises and this insight into the future is no where to be had but in the Prophecies They doubtless contain the promises which respect the Deliverance of the Church yea they set forth the very Time and the circumstances of it But as God hath caused the Prophecies to be written more for his own glory than for our sakes 't is almost impossible to dive into the meaning of them till their accomplishment The depth of the Prophecies And experience teacheth us that even after the Things are come to pass we do not well understand the Prophecies which foretold ' em Insomuch that it may be said that God hath rather concealed Things in the Prophecies than thereby revealed ' em He hath reserved to himself the knowledge of Futurity 'T is his Prerogative Nevertheless this is not to be taken in that strict and rigid sense as if we were to reckon all the Prophecies to be unintelligible to all men and in every age to be so As his providence hath presided in a peculiar manner in composing the Prophecies so 't is certain it doth perticularly direct and govern as to what concerns the interpretation of them God will not that they should be understood in every age But from age to age from year to year his Spirit discovers to Interpreters what he thinks fit and leaves the rest under a vail of Ignorance till the fixed time which his wisdom hath appointed shall come for the full and perfect revelation of it They are not Impenetrable We are not therefore to be discouraged by reason of the difficulty we are not to look upon the Prophecies as absolutely impenetrable We must seek that we may find we must ask that we may receive we must humbly and devoutly knock at the Gate of Heaven that it may be open'd to us We are obliged to those Interpreters who have gone before us for if they had discovered nothing it may be no entrance being made we should never have attained the knowledge of these mysterious truths But we are not to stop at their labours and acquiesce in what they have done as if they had succeeded well in every thing This is so far from being true that the contrary is much more so For one Truth which they have hit upon they have miss't several The misforture of other Interpreters hath not disheartn'd me hoping that I have discovered many things which to them were concealed But I may say that I did not out of choice apply my self to the study of the Prophecies I found my self forced to it by a kind of violence which I could not resist Two things led me to it 1. The cruel and horrible Persecution which at this day makes such terrible ravage and desolation in the Church Endeavouring some consolation under the deepest sorrow I ever felt by searching into the grounds we may have to hope for a speedy deliverance of the Church and not finding them other where I inquired after them in the Prophecies which foretell the destiny of the Church and the most remarkable changes through which she is to pass 2. The next thing that made me resolve to dive into these sacred Oracles was the concurrence of so many Prophecies obscure indeed of an uncertain and doubtfull original which fore-tell a speedy and perfect Deliverance of the Church For Example The concurrence of modern Prophecies concerning the fall of Antichrist the famous Prophecy of Vsher Arch-bishop of Armagh who fore-tells a most terrible Persecution at hand the most dreadfull of any which the Church hath suffer'd hitherto but withal the shortest after which shall come the fall of the Antichristian Empire The Prophecies of Cotterus Christina Poniatouski and those of Drabitius and several other more obscure ones which I have heard and considered without giving much credit to 'em I compared these Prophecies so universally spread and coming from so many several places to the general rumours about the time of the birth of Christ that were every where divulged throughout the Roman Empire of a Great King that should be born in the East to whom all the World should pay obeysance I did not find my self much disposed to give credit to those modern Prophecies Credulity being the ordinary source of much delusion I always stood upon my guard in that perticular as much as possible Nevertheless I could not but be toucht with a secret opinion that in all this there might be something more then humane something of an hand of Providence therein As the Holy Virgin I kept these sayings in my heart without passing a judgement
by the Croisades The encrease of the Sun's heat in the fourth plague is the encrease of the papal authority the Ecclipse and darkning of this Sun in the fifth plague is the grand Schism between Rome and Avignon the Kings of the East who pass over Euphrates in the sixth plague are the Turks who pass over the Bosphorus to invade the remainder of the Greek Empire and a part of that of the Latins and lastly the dividing of the great city into three parts in the seventh plague is the dividing of the Latin Church into three Communions Papists Lutherans and Reformed I lay down as a principle which I cannot doubt of that I have it the mark in the explication of these plagues But this 't is said seems rash to assert so confidently that which can only be a strong conjecture Men may object what they please against this exposition but I cannot recant it And I desire the World seriously to consider only these two things 1. That my explications very well agree with the words and Metaphors of the prophecy 2. That 't is impossible that chance should produce an explication so universally lucky It must be remembred what we said concerning the Epistles to the seven Churches on the question whether they are Prophetical We granted that there are some passages that agree well with the applications which are made but we observed that these applications are far from being universally true 't is therefore chance that produced those lucky agreements But if any one comes who shall make such a measured division of times and such a just application of these times and the events in them unto the Characters with which these seven Churches are marked so that nothing is defective then I shall remain perfectly satisfyed that this last Interpreter hath exactly hit the truth it will be no longer a conjecture Let me therefore be permitted to remain perswaded that I have hit the truth as to the seven plagues seeing they so perfectly agree with tho events which are past My fifth Principle is that I have not been less happy in hitting the true sense of the harvest and vintage in the fourteenth chapter A man must be blind if he sees not that these are the two parts of the fall of Babylon Babylon is fallen is fallen that great city and immediately after this fall is divided into harvest and vintage I cannot hinder my self from seeing that this signifies the first fall of Popery by a first Reformation which certainly is come to pass and the final fall of Popery by a second Reformation which must come to pass None can I think seriously consider the perfect agreement between the representations and the Original but be will be perswaded that 't is so 6. My sixth and last Principle is that we are in the last Persecution which the Church must suffer from the Kingdom of Antichrist And this last conclusion so naturally and necessarily flowers from the foregoing ones that none can acknowledge the preceding but he must likewise own the truth of this Let us now see whither these Principles do lead us All our Principles lead us unto the eighteenth Age to find the end of Antichrists reign If the Papacy be the Antichristian Kingdom then certainly the period of 1260 prophetick dayes or 1260 years which are assigned to the duration of the Kingdom of the Beast belong to it If the principal Character of this Kingdom is Idolatry 't is clear we must begin to reckon the duration of this Kingdom from that time in which Idolatry was set up in the Church Now 't is certain that the Idolatrous worship of Reliques and of Saints was fully establisht in the fifth Age Reckon 1260 years since the fifth Age this will bring you to the beginning of the eighteenth Age. If the Empire of the Papacy be the Empire of the Beast we must begin it at the time when the Roman Empire was divided into ten Kingdoms Fore the Holy Ghost speaks so in express and clear terms Reckon 1260 years since the division of the Roman Empire into ten Kingdoms which was done in the fifth Age and this will lead you to the eighteenth Age. If the Roman-papist See is that man of sin of whom St. Paul speaks in the 2d Chap. of the Epist to the Thessalonians we must reckon the 1260 years assigned to his Empire from the time that the Imperial dignity which held at Rome ceased to hold â— 6 7. or withhold which happened in the fifth Age. Reckon again your 1260 years since that time and you will see that you fall upon the eighteenth Age. If we have hit right in explaining the seven viols and the seven plagues the last viol hath been poured out since the time of Luther and its influence is running still according to the proportion of the preceding viols it cannot be running out above two hundred years Reckon again by this rule and you will fall into the eighteenth Age. If the harvest and the vintage in the fourteenth chapter are really the first and second part of the fall of the Antichristian Papacy which must be produced by as many Reformations then the Reformation in the last Age must have been the harvest lengthen as much as you please the space of time between the harvest and vintage you cannot make it longer than two hundred years Reckon and you will fall upon the eighteenth Age the find there the vintage and the final ruin of the Papacy Lastly if all that we have said is rational 't is impossible that this should not be the last persecution for the Reformation cannot be raised again so as to fall down a second time seeing we have proved that the Period of 1260 years is about to expire therefore reckon this persecution as the last and make it to be as long as you will provided you observe the measure which God hath set to the longest persecutions that the Church hath suffered and this however will bring you unto the eighteenth Age. Observe I pray you how many things do bring you to this eighteenth Age. Admire the meeting of so many paths which do all bring you to the same point And remember this undoubted Principle that 't is impossible that false conjectures should hit right in every thing I entreat above all the Roman-Catholicks to consider seriously this Principle How can they perswade themselves that system of lyes and false suppositions should hang well together That we should find in their Roman See exactly all the Characters which are given to the man of sin to the Beast in the Revelation to spiritual Babylon to the whore clothed in scarlet that â—ve should meet with the Characters of the Papacy in its birth exactly in the time that the Prophets have markt out for the birth of the Antichristian Kingdom that we should find so exact these seven great judgments of God denoted by seven plagues that God should exactly at this time permit that F.
Maimbourg should publish one history upon another of the declining of the Empire Of the Croisades Of the Schism of the Greeks Of the great Schism of the West Of Lutheranism and Of Calvinism for this purpose to raise our attention unto these great events of the seven plagues which without this perhaps none would have thought of I earnestly beseech them I say seriously to consider this heap of circumstances and to tell me in their Consciences whether Chance can produce and agreement of above a hundred or two hundred points relating to the same subject None can ever make this reflection seriously but he must be convinced CHAP. XVI Of the thousand years reign That in all the past time there is not a time to be found wherin Satan hath been bound Four heads of arguments to prove this reign The first is the fifth Monarchy so plainly promised to the saints WE have done examining that which relates to the fall of the Antichristian Kingdom That we may keep our word that we gave in the Title of our second part we must now enquire what must happen to the Church after that great event This laid down in the 20 chapter of the Revelation in these terms v. 1. And 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 witness 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 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 Behold the Text which is the subject to so many doubts and so many controversies Behold that which hath made the pretended Hereticks who are call'd Chiliasts and Millenaries I mean not those Chiliasts who have believed a thousand years reign of the Church during which time it must enjoy according to their opinion the carnal and sinful pleasures of the world these were filthy spirits which came out of the Dragons mouth A distinction between carnal and spiritual Millenaries But as for those who believe that after the ruin of Antichrist and before the end of the world God reserves to himself a period of a thousand years in which he must reign by himself and his people pour out upon them an abundance of his spirit bring al Nations to his knowledge govern them with a golden scepter and no longer with an iron one secure them from all evil and from all danger of corruption as for these I say the time is coming and that very shortly that men shall be ashamed that they have branded them with the names of Chiliasts of Millenaries and fifth Monarchymen I have former by observed that there is something that is surprizing and divine in the due understanding of Prophecies We wonder at the strange stupidity of the Jews who do not discern in their own Oracles our Jesus and their Messias We are Astonisht at the dismal blindness of the Papists who do not see the Beast and Antichrist in that which they call their Holy See and their Holy Church God hath had reasons why he hath given these men eyes that they should not see and a heart void of understanding Certainly here is the same thing There must be a blindness greater then can be imagined 'T is surprising that men have not seen in the Scripture the Reign of Jesus Christ on the earth in those who see not this Kingdom of Iesus Christ and the Church which must make the seventh Period of the world There is something supernaturall in this blindness I had this favour from God that I saw this Reign in the Scriptures ever since I was able to read and understand them without having read either any Commentaries upon the Revelation or writings of the Millenaries I hope to make out the truth of this Reign with such clearness that if shall be difficult to shake any doubt of it It is impossible to find in the time by-past room for the Period of a thousand years in which Satant must be bound First it is agreed on all hands that within the duration of the Church we must necessarily find a Period of a thousand years in which it may be said that Satan hath been bound i.e. hindred in his designs which are seduction and persecution This it too plain to be denyed But where shall we find this Period I am sorry to see so great so learned and so holy a person as Vsher Archbishop of Armagh to place this period of a thousand years within the time of Christs Incarnation and the eleventh Age. How can any one say that the Devil was bound during that space Is it with respect to seduction In the three first Ages did he not seduce men Were not the Pagans seduced Their Religion was it not the Ruling Religion There were Christians I grant but I am perswaded that they were not the fiftieth part of the whole Roman Empire In the succeeding Ages hath he not set on foot that grand seduction that is called the Beast the False Prophet the Kingdom of Antichrist Hath he not brought Idolatry into the Church the abomination into the sanctuary such tyranny pride and corruption of manners that there was never greater among the Pagans With respect to persecution hath he been bound how much blood hath shed how many Butcheries hath he acted how many Massacres what a great number of Martyrs Can it enter into any mans thoughts that this should be called the Period of Satans binding He was never so broken loose The falsity of their hypothesis who begin them at Constantin What do those gain who come three hundred years lower and hold that Santan began to be bound at the time of Constantin They must upon that principle place their ending at the year thirteen hundred and so include within their Period of the thousand years the rage of the Beast who hath fed upon the blood of the saints the seductions of the false Prophet who makes the Image of the Beast to be worshipped and the whole world to run after him who obligeth all men to bear his mark upon their foreheads who makes war against the Saints and overcometh them In one word they must take in into their Period of Santans binding that space of time in which