Redemption The next prophecy shall be that of Joel who mentions the very signes which our Saviour said should be the immediate fore-runners of the Jewes Redemption And it shall come to passe afterwards saith he in his 2. chap. at the 28 ver that I will powre out my spirit upon all flesh and your sinnes and your daughters shall prophecy your old men shall dreame dreames and your young men shall see visions and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those dayes will I powre out my spirit and I will shew wonders in the Heavens and in the earth blood and fire and pillars of smoake the Å¿ Isa 24. v. 23. Mat. 24. v. 29. Rev. 6. v. 12. Sun shall be turned into darkenesse and the Moone into blood before the * Great not onely in regard of the strangenesse and dreadfulnes of events of things then to come to passe but great also in regard of the long continuance and tract of time which God in his revelations hereafter to be fulfild doth by the word Day as well without this epither as with it frequently import great and terrible t Ezek. 39.8 Mal. 4.5 Iude 6. Rev. 16.14 Day of the Lord come And it shall come to passe that whosoever shall call on the Name of the Lord shall be delivered for in Mount Zion and in Hierusalem shall be deliverance as the Lord hath said and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call And in the 3. chap. at the 1. ver Behold in those daies and in that time when I shall bring againe the captivity of Judah and Hierusalem I will also gather all Nations and will bring them downe into the valley of Jehosaphat which in the 14. verse is called the valley of decision and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel whom they have scattered among the Nations and parted my Land And at the 15. verse againe The Sun and the Moone shall be darkened and the starres shall withdraw their shining the Lord also shall roare out of Zion and utter his voyce from Jerusalem and the u Isa 2.19 c. Ezek. 38.19.20 Hag 2.22 Mat. 24.29 Rev. 16.18 ch 6.13.14 Heavens and the earth shall shake but the Lord will be the hope of his people and the strength of the children of Israel Mr. Petrie's Answer The Apostle Peter not onely makes use of these words but expones them and shewes the accomplishment of them in some degree as it is said in the sixth rule before for Act. 2.16 he saith This is that which was spoken by the Prophet Ioel And it shall come to passe in the last daies c. And verse 22. Ye men of Israel heare these words Jesus of Nazareth a man approved of God among you by miracles wonders and signes which God did by him in the midst of you as ye your selves know Reply The Apostle repeats but expounds not the Prophets words and consequently shewes not the accomplishment of ought that the Prophet affirms shall be done All that he shewes is this That the thing which then happened to the Apostles was the worke of the same spirit which Joel spake of but he saith not that it was the same worke The same spirit indeed was then powred out but it was not the same powring out of the spirit And for want of distinguishing betwixt the effusion of the same spirit and the same effusion of the spirit you affirme that those things which the Prophet saies the spirit shall doe not long before the Lord's second comming were then done at his first comming And the reason you bring from St. Peters words Act. 2. verse 22. to shew that the prophecy of Joel was then fulfild in part is a very strange one For the Prophet shewes what others shall doe through the extraordinary inspiration of the Spirit before the Day of the Lord comes and the words you have alledg'd doe shew what works Christ himselfe did when he was come Israel's Redemption I am not ignorant that the darkening of the Sun and Moone is sometimes taken allegorically and by way of allusion but that therefore it should be so understood here it doth not follow for where it is figuratively applyed it signifies the judgement it selfe which is to befall those people of whom it is spoken but where it is literally used it is put onely for a signe of an eminent destruction which shall suddenly follow it as the great and terrible Day of the Lord shall doe at the accomplishment of this prophecy Mr. Petrie's Answer Where the darkenesse of the Sun and so it may be understood of the Moone is used properly it is not put onely for a signe of an eminent and imminent destruction as it is manifest Luke 23.45 which was a Testimony from Heaven of Christ's innocency for conviction of the murtherers and chap. 21.25 the signes in the Sun and Moone and in the starres and the distresse of Nations upon the earth with perplexity and the roaring of the sea and waves are all to be understood properly as signes before the great and terrible Day of the Lord. So what is promised in the 28. and 29. verses of the second chap. of Joel was truely albeit not altogether fulfilled in the daies of Peter even how-beit the words of the 30. and 31. verses be properly understood and not wholly fulfild til the time immediately preceding the last comming of Christ Reply That the darkning of the Sun or of the Moone properly taken especially if supernaturall as this here is a signe of an eminent and imminent destruction you confesse but that it is onely so you deny And were this true I have not spoken much out of the way But the instance you bring of the darkning of the Sun at the time of our Saviours passion makes nothing for you For whereas you say it was a testimony from Heaven of Christ's innocency for conviction of the murtherers the historie of the Gospel tels you no such thing and interpreters are against you Sicut enim Deus tenebris involvebat terram Aegyptum sic etiam nunc totam Judâ—â—am in signum iraâ—i Dei et futurae poenae saith Pareus on the 27. chap. of Mat. at the 45. verse that is As God did once bring darknesse on the land of Egypt so likewise did he now on the land of Judea as a signe of his wrath and their ensuing punishment So Chrysostome too It was an undoubted signe of Gods anger for that which they did against him And Origen It was a presage of the future darknesse which should over-spread the whole Jewish Nation To which Dr. Mayer consents and with Origen concludes from the time of the darknesse continuance being three houres that the Jewish Nation should be in darknesse till about the Evening of the world Although then Christ's innocency may well be gathered from it yet for ought I can finde you goe alone in alledging it as a reason of the darknesse
hope for the house not made with hands eternall in the heavens 2 Cor. 5.1 And therefore that world is not a distinct world but even the same in which as Mediatour he shall give up the Kingdome to the Father Reply That the Apostle speakes of a world to come as well in respect of Christ as of himselfe it is evident first from Psal 8.4 c. which shewes that the world which the Apostle calls the world to come is the world in which those workes of God are that he made for man to have dominion over is the world I say in which the beasts of the field the fowles of the aire and the fishes of the sea doe inhabit And secondly it is cleare from the originall word by which it is exprest which is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the superiour world the third heaven as you take it but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the inferiour world the terrestriall globe the dwelling place of men and all other mortall creatures as we read Matth. 24.14 and Acts 17.6.31 And therefore the Kingdome of heaven in your sense that is Christs possession of heaven and his reigning over the Saints departed cannot possibly be meant by it but the Kingdome of heaven in our sense that is the heavenly Kingdome which Christ shall here visibly reigne over in time to come In the day the great day in which God hath appointed to judge 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the world in righteousnesse by him as it is Acts 17.31 that is to execute judgement and justice on the earth as the Prophet Jeremiah expresseth it chap. 23. ver 5. So that the Apostles words are as if he had said For not unto the Angels hath be appointed this inferiour world of which we spake before chap. 1. ver 6. to be subject in time to come but unto Christ as one in a certaine place testified saying What is man that thou art mindfull of him or the sonne of man that thou visitest him Thou madest him a little lower then the Angels thou crownedst him with glory and honour and didst set him over the workes of thy hands c. And thus it is manifest that your referring of the words whereof we speake to ver 3. is but a private fancie crossing the Apostles explication of the world to come by the prophecy of David Psal 8.4 c. And imposing such a signification on the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as is not to be found in all the Scripture And therefore we still conclude that the world which the Apostle speakes of is to be a distinct world in time from this we now live in and both in time and place from that in which our Saviour shall give up his Kingdome to the Father And as for those who by the world to come doe understand the time of the Gospell betwixt Christs first and second comming they doe hereby make the Apostle either to call the time in which he himselfe lived the world to come or to distinguish the time betwixt Christs first and second comming into two worlds at the least Whereas the scripture doth divide the whole time appointed to the heavens and earth that now are but into three worlds or parts of time the fiâ—st whereof containes the time from the creation to the floud and is the old world of which Saint Peter speakes 2 Epist chap. 2. ver 5. the world long since past The second containes the time from the floud to our Saviours next appearing and is the world that now is The third containes the whole day of judgement the 1000 yeares and little season mentioned Rev. 20. which is to beginne at our Saviours next appearing and to end with the world it selfe at the last resurrection and this is the world to come of which the Apostle here speakes Israel's Redemption For that which is to be given up is already past Mr. Petrie's Answer That which shall be given up is not past as yet neither shâ—ll it be given up altogether but in some manner as the Millenaries acknowledge at the end of their 1000 yeares Reply That which shall be given up is not past as yet you say true and that which shall beginne is not come as yet But surely it is false to say that we acknowledge Christs Kingdome shall not be given up altogether that we acknowledge I say that Christ as man as the Sonne of David shall not then cease to reigne when the generations of men over which he must reigne shall cease And this earth on which he must reigne shall passe away In a word when at the last resurrection he shall take the elect with him into eternall glory and delight and turne the reprobate from him into endlesse horrour and contempt For we know that the Apostle in 1 Cor. 15.24.28 teacheth otherwise saying Then commeth the end when he shall have delivered up the Kingdome to God even the Father c. And when all things shall be subdued unto him then shall the Sonne also himselfe he subject unto him that put all things un der him that God may be allin all Israel's Redemption And it is no where said that the new Jerusalem the City of eternall glory shall be subjected to Christ as a creature but that Christ as a creature shall after the judgement of the dead be there subject to the Father Mr. Petrie's Answer He as God-man saith Matth. 28. To me is given all power in heaven and on earth And thus all the consequences for proving the carthly Monarchy of the Jewes are naught Reply That the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the power our Saviour speakes of Matth. 28.18 was given to him as man and not as God for so he had it from all eternity interpreters agree And what though all power in heaven and on earth was then given to Christ as man What doth this make against my words which affirme that Christ as man shall after the judgement of the dead after all things are subdued unto him surrender againe this power as having no further use of it and in the new Jerusalem not reigne as man but be himselfe subject to the Father Or what doth it make against Christs 1000 yeares reigne on earth that he had then all power in heaven and on earth given unto him unlesse it will follow from hence that if he had been to reigne visibly on earth he might and would have done it at that time But certainely this will not follow for though our Saviour had then all power given him yet he was to exercise it to doe all that was to be done by it in that order and manner which God had appointed it to be done and no otherwise And therefore as we acknowledge that God had from all eternity the same power of creation which in the beginning of this world be first of all put into act and exercise so we acknowledge likewise that Christ hath now that power by which he shall reigne visibly on earth although
and to teach us faith by sensible things and therefore we should not rest on these borrowed words but know that the thing described goes beyond the earthly similitude Answer Surely Mr. Mede loc cit doth make it good against Jerome that the primitive Christians also spake not of sacrifices And yet soeing that text Mal. 1. verse 11. which speakes expressely of the Gentiles can be no patterne to expound those which speake particularly of the Jewes and of the house of Levi and that you alledge such pregnant prophecies for the restoring of sacrifices why should we not beleeve this also what absurdity will arise from such a beliefe certainely we know as well as you that they are now unlawfull but it will not follow from hence that they shall never be lawfull againe unlesse it can be be proved that God cannot againe command what he did sometimes forbid or that he cannot injoyne the use of a thing at severall times for severall ends or that God hath in his word forbid the use of these things at any time hereafter to wit as well after the comming of Christ as before it neither of which I presume can easily be maintained And as for that prophecy Ezek. 16. verse 53. c. which is your other maine pillar to support the figurative sense of all the prophecies in controversie and to beare down our proper and naturall construction of them it hath indeed not the substance but the sound of an argument onely and makes much against you but nought against us For first it shews them to be in an error who affirme that the captivity of Samaria of the ten Tribes is already return'd And secondly it is more forcible to disprove the Jewes returne from Babylon against which also it may be alledged then to disprove their future returne from all countreys For the 60. and 61. verse Neverthelesse I will remember my Covenant with thee in the daies of thy youth and I will establish unto thee an everlasting Covenant Then thou shalt remember thy wayes and be ashamed when thou shalt receive thy sisters thine elder and thy younger and I will give them unto thee for daughters but not by thy Covenant These words doe shew that this captivity of Jerusalem should returne againe and at her returne receive her sisters Sodom and Samaria and therefore the words verse 53. when I shall bring againe their captivity the captivity of Sodom and her daughters c. doe shew onely that this prophecie doth speake of the captivity and desolation of Jerusalem and her adjacent cities villages by the Romans from which they should no more be restor'd til Samaria and her adjacent cities villages should be restored and inhabited by the Israelites by the ten Tribes whose future returne is witnessed by so many evident prophecies and untill the place where Sodom and her cities stood should againe become a fruitfull land and full of inhabitants as the 55. verse doth intimate So that this prophecy is equivalent with that of Isa 32. verse 13. c. Vpon the land of my People shall come up thornes and briers yea upon all the houses of joy in the joyous City because the palaces shal be forsaken the multitude of the city shal be left the forts and towers shal be for dens for ever a joy of wild asses a pasture of flockes Vntil the Spirit be powred upon us from on high and the wildernesse be a fruitfull field and the fruitfull field be counted for a forest And the meaning of the word for ever here doth give an answer also to the text Amos. 5. verse 2. The virgin of Israel is fallen she shall no more rise For doubtlesse the negative adverbe no more doth imply in that place the like quantity of time as the affirmative adverbe for ever doth in this that is a long but not an infinite time as the insuing limitation of it Vntil the Spirit be powred upon us from on high doth infallibly declare And thus it is evident that both the prophecy of Ezek. chap. 16. verse 53. c. and the prophecy of Amos chap. 5. verse 2. doe shew onely what our Saviours prophecy doth Luke 21. verse 24. that Jerusalem should lie desolate a long time but not alwaies that is until the conversion of the Jewes by an extraordinary effusion of God's Spirit upon them and no longer as Joel also foreshews chap. 2. verse â—8 c. and consequently that which you deeme an invincible fort is fallen of it selfe and by its fall doth declare that Jerome's expounding of the houses mentioned Isa 65. verse 21. of vertues is a very vicious exposition For as the Pharisees made the commandement of God of none effect by their tradition Mat. 15. verse 6. so doe you make the word of God to be nothing by such faithlesse interpretations I say faithlesse because they teach men to destroy the very object of faith the plaine history of God's word by turning it into a meere poeticall fiction and consequently it is the ready way to make men have lesse faith then the Devils have to bring them to that passe that they shal be willingly ignorant that by the word of God the Heavens were of old and the earth standing out of the water and in the water wherby the world that then was being over-flowed with water parished and that by the same word they are kept in store reserved unto fire against the Day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men as St. Pet. saith 2 Epist chap. 3. verse 5 6 7. it is the ready way I say to make men willingly ignorant of all this and then what can follow but that they scoffe at the expectation of Christs comming saying where is the promise of his comming for since the Fathers fâ—ll asleepe all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation verse 4. Wheras you say then that because wee cannot conceive of Heaven in such a manner as it is God doth insinuate it into our affections by similitudes of things pleasant unto us Certainly it is easie to understand when God speaks of a thing by way of comparison and when he speaks of it as it is And though the joyes which God hath prepared for the Saints are unutterable yet the place the eternal habitation which he hath prepared for them is not inapprehensible For doublesse it is that new * That this city cannot be taken mystically for the Church now on earth it is evident seeing that new earth the ceation wherof the descending of this citie unto it as to the place after alledged is immediatly to ensue if not to contemporate with is not yet in being as S. Peter in his 2. Epist 3 châ— and 13.8 doth plainly declare Jerusalem described Revel chap. 21. and 22. which must descend to the new earth after the last judgment the judgment of the dead at the last resurrection For seeing the glorified bodies of the Saints shall still be flesh and
he is a Jew who is one inwardly and circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit And of such inwardly Jewes must the promises be understood at least in part that make mention of Judah And therfore it is a great mistaking of the prophesies if wee shall stil make an opposition twixt Jewes and Gentiles beleeving Gentiles are true Jewes as wee see they are called in the new Testament and unbeleeving Jewes are Gentiles and so are called Isa 1.4 and elsewhere Answer That the faithfull in general are Abraham's seed we deny not neither doe we affirme that any can be partakers of the promise made unto Abraham but the faithfull nor that there is now any difference betwixt the beleeving Jew and Greeke But yet we cannot grant that therfore there shal be no difference betwixt the Nation of the Jewes and all other Nations after Christ's next appearing Nor that the prophesies which concerne the Jewes righteous and flourishing estate at that time are to be understood of the Church of the Gentiles now Nor that by Isaac's and Jacob's children any besides the Jewes are meant And we doe not herein make the unbeleeving Jewes heires of the promises but the beleeving onely seeing as all the beleeving Jewes and Gentiles that are departed or shall depart before Christ's comming shall be brought with him to inherite the promise made unto Abraham so all the Tribes shall be converted against that time and be then acknowledged by all that see them to be the seed which the Lord hath blessed as it is Isa 61. verse 9. And consequently the distinction of the Jewes Rom. 10. verse 28 which shewes the estate of the Jewes in St. Paul's time is nothing to the pupose Neither is it indeed rightly applyed by you to the beleeving Gentiles For it doth no more prove a beleeving Gentile to be a Jew then that which you alledg Isa 1. verse 4. doth prove an unbeleeving Jew to be a Gentile which is onely an exclamation against the Jewes for their great wickednesse The meaning then of the text Rom. 2 verse 28. is onely this that that Jew was not a Jew beloved of God which was one outwardly onely by the circumcision which is in the flesh but that Jew was a Jew beloved of God which was oâ—â— inwardly by the circumcision of the heart in the spirit Wherfore Piscator observes in this verse an elegant antanaclasis or using of the same word in a seeming contradictory sense as if the Apostle had said thou art a Jew and not a Jew thou art a Jew before men but not before God as he expresseth himselfe in the close of the next verse The sixth rule All the prophesies cannot be understood of the Church on earth onely neither of the Church in Heaven onely but of both together or partly of the one and partly of the other and partly of both and so prudence must be had in the application of the promises Yea and there is a gradual performance of them and the accomplishment of them is in severall points of time so much as shall give content to God's children yet always leading to a further and further performance As for example God shewed mercy to these Israelites when they were in captivity he brought them home againe they were a poore and afflicted people and were much bettered by their bondage there was a degree of performance There was another degree in Christ's time when he joyned the Gentiles to them and both made one Church But when it is said The remnant shall doe none iniquitie and a deceitfull tongue shall not be found in their mouth Zeph. 3.13 these promises shall have their time when the people shal be more thorowly purged and certainly the full accomplishment shal be at the day of judgement and so long as we are in this life we are under an imperfect and unperformed estate Answer All the prophesies you say cannot be understood of the Church on earth onely neither of the Church in Heaven onely True but yet those prophesies which foreshew the Saints happinesse on earth are to be accomplished on earth onely and those which foreshew their happinesse in Heaven are to be accomplished in Heaven onely And there is no prophesie which speakes of the happinesse which the Saints shall injoy on earth that is to be understood of their happinesse in Heaven too as you chiefely understand the prophesies touching the Jewes future restauration Neither were those prophesies touching the Jewes to have a graduall accomplishment For as it is false that the Israelites the captivity of the ten Tribes did ever yet returne home as the prophesie in your Preface out of Ezek. 16. doth shew so it is false also that the prophesie touching the Jews deliverance Zeph. 3. v. 8. hath bin yet accomplished but it shall be accomplished when at their future return the Nations of the Gentiles shal be assembled against them to their own confusion as it is foreshewed also Rev. 16. in many other prophesies And as the 8. verse doth shew their temporal deliverance from their outward and bodily enemies at that time so the 13. verse shewes their spiritual deliverance from their sinnefull pollutions and ghostly enemies and their outward safety too which shall follow their temporal and spiritual deliverance for they shall feede and lie downe and none shall make them afraid And that all this is to be accomplished at the same time the comparing of the 11. verse with the 8. verse doth confirme for whereas it is said verse 8. Waite upon me until the day that I rise up to the prey c. it is said likewise verse 11. In that Day shalt thou be ashamed for all thy doings wherein thou hast transgressed against me c. In that Day in what day if not in the day before spoken of verse 8 which day indeed is call'd in Scripture the Day of judgement but yet it is not of so short continuance as you take it to be for it containes the 1000 yeares and little season mentioned Rev. 20. all which time is to follow our Savâ—ours appearing and to foregoe the last act of his reigne the judgement of the dead aâ— the last resurrection And consequently the accomplishment of the contents in the 13. verse cannot be at the Day of judgement in your sense that is at the judgement of the dead at the last resurrection as the close of the same verse and the preceding and subsequent verses doe declare although it shal be at the Day of judgement in the Scripture sense that is in the time of Christ's 1000. yeares reigne on earth The seaventh rule Here that general rule is also remembered when the words of Scripture being properly taken teach any thing contrary to the analogy of faith or honesty of manners or any thing frivolous that belongeth nothing to godlinesse or dissonant from the scope of the text or contrary unto other cleare texts of the same these words must be exponed figuratively
the 2 Cor. chap. 6. at the 18. ver and that was enough to make you say that the whole chap. of Jeremiah is meant of the Gentiles and yet the wordâ— in Jer. 31. at the 1. verse are not the same with those in the 2 Cor. chap. 6. verse 18. and what if they were what though that which is common to the faithfull in generall as that God should be their Father and their God and they his people Sonnes and daughters and the like be applied as well to the Gentiles as to the Jews it will not follow from hence that where God saith he will be a God to the Jews and they shall be his people he meanes in that place the Gentiles and not the Jews or the Jews and Gentiles both And much lesse will it follow that any thing which is prophecied as proper to the Jews in particular or as opposed to other Nations should yet be understood of other Nations For doubtlesse if such prophecies belong not to the Iews onely no promises can be so properly distinctly and plainly made to any Nation which can assure that Nation that they belong to it and to no other You say next that the prophecy Ier. 31. at the 31. verse is exponed in Heb. 8. ver 8. c. There indeed it is wholly repeated but expounded it is not unlesse the same prophecy doth expound it selfe which is to make it both the text and the comment such poore shifts are you put to whilst you had rather say any thing to winne the unstable or to hide the truth from the unlearned then acknowledge it for a truth And to whom did the Apostle alledge this prophecy but to the Jews of whom it was spoken by the Prophet and why did he alledge it to them but to shew that Christ Jesus was the Mediator of the new Covenant which God had promised to make with them and that the ordinances of the old Covenant were by his death become voyd and unprofitable that hereby he might at once establish the faith of the beleeving Jews and if it had been possible have moved the whole Nation at that time to embrace the Covenant of the Gospel of which this prophecy doth plainly witnesse they shall be one day partakers even the whole house of Israel and Judah together And as this prophecy cannot expound it selfe and is indeed so plaine that it needs no exposition so it doth no more expound the other prophecies which you say are the same with it as it is repeated by the Apostle then it doth as it is delivered by the Prophet And they being all to be accomplisht to the Jews at the same time at the restoring of their Kingdom this prophecy is as much expounded by the others as the others are by this if not more For whereas this containes spirituall benefits onely those Jer. 32. at the 37. ver c. chap. 33. at the 6. ver c. and chap. 50. at the 19. ver c. doe containe spirituall and temporal benefits both for they foreshew the Jews withall their returne unto and prosperity in their owne country and so declare both where and when the new Covenant shall be made with them It follows and that of Ezek. 34. at the 12 c. is exponed by our Saviour Iohn 10. ver 11.16 These words of our Saviour you have before alledged as an exposition of the prophecy Ezek. chap. 37. at the 19. ver c. because our Saviour prophecieth of uniting two sorts of people the Jews and Gentiles into one Church after the calling of the substituted Gentiles and the Prophet of uniting the Kingdoms of Judah and Israel which were one people into one Kingdom againe in their owne land And you will have our Saviour's words to expound this prophecy too because our Saviour and the Prophet doe use the same Metaphor to wit the word sheepe to expresse men by But the sheepe the Prophet speakes of are the scattered Jews and none else and the sheepe our Saviour spake of were the Jewes impli'd in the words of this fold and the substituted Gentiles exprest in the words other sheepe and all Nations together intimated in the words one fold for after the calling of the other sheepe the substituted Gentiles there shall be one fold and one shepheard that is one Church and Kingdome over all the world under one King to wit Christ Jesus and therefore when you can prove this prophecie in Ezekiel to be meant of Jewes and Christians and all other Nations you may have some colour to say that our Saviour's words Joh. the 10. doe expound it And that of chap. 39. is correspondent you say with the prophecies of Joel c. And therefore it is not yet accomplished for I have shewed before that the prophecies cited out of Ial are not to be fulfilled til the great and terrible Day of our Saviours comming to wit that in the 2 chap. at the neere approach of that Day And that in the 3. chap. partly immediately before and partly at the very time of Christ's descending and this prophecy of Ezek. doth so plainly declare the returne of the whole Nation of the Iewes to their owne land none excepted that you could neither prove it to be already fulfilled nor deny that it shall be fulfilled because God who hath promised so to powâ—e out his Spirit upon them that he may no more hide his face from them hath therein promised both their conversion from sin and continuance in obedience And that of Zech. 10. at the 6. v. c. is one you say with Jer. 23. at the 6.8 v. you should have said at the 3. 4. v. But doth it prove that they are therefore fulfill'd already because they have one meaning because they were to be fulfill'd to the same people at the same time then you may say too that the Prophecies which concerne our Saviour's comming or the day of Judgement are already accomplished because they foreshew the same thing And thus it appeares by the three Prophecies which you have barely referr'd to three passages in the New-Testament whereof the first is mistaken the second the selfe-same Prophecie that is referred and the third neither spoken of in the Text to which it is referr'd nor of any affinity with it in the contents thereof by this I say it appeares that being unable to give a considerable answer to any of these Prophecies you had no other way to hold up your credit amongst your friends but by a subtle pretending that the greatest part of these Prophecies are exponed to their hands in the writings of the Apostles but whatsoever the rest may doe I presume the learned of your opinion will be ashamed of the few and meane instances which you have brought to make good your assertion for doubtlesse by such references with which you have answered these Prophecies you may shun the force of any Argument and expound any text of Scripture as you list Now in the
is a restauration after the destruction of Israel and not a Monarchy of the Jewes after the calling of the Gentiles Whereby it is manifest that in this note is a twofold error one inserting the words in the prophecy which are not in it another in misinterpreting the words of the Apostle Reply The Prophet Amos doth neither before nor at the 11. ver speake of the calling of the Gentiles but at the 12. ver where they are exprest And it hath been shewed before that the Apostle cites not the 11. ver for the calling of the Gentiles but for the conversion and deliverance of the Jewes after the calling of the substituted Gentiles For the Apostle having said Simcon hath declared how God at first did visit the Gentiels to take out of them a people for his Name confirmes it by this prophecy of Amos which in the 12. ver shewes that there should be some Nations of the Gentiles upon whom Gods Nune should be cal'd or who should be cal'd by Gods Name whilst David's Tabernacle lay waste whilst the Jewes were to continue in blindnesse And surely seeing there are so many prophecies which shew the generall conversion of the Gentiles at the restoring of the Jewes the Apostle in passing by them and alledging this prophecy to shew that God would at that time take but a part of the Gentiles to be a people for his Name doth to my thinking thereby plainly shew that the Jewes were then to be given up and to be no moâ—e Godâ— people until that day in which he hath appointed to build againe the Tabernacle of David at which time the residue of mâ—n also shall seeke the Lord as well as the Gentiles on whom God's Name is already cal'd You tell us next that the Prophet hath not these words after this but in these dayes But though the Prophet hath not these words yet the prophecy hath as the Apostle cites it who saith to this agree the words of the Prophets iâ— it written After this â— And the prophets words are not in these dayes but in that Day in that Day 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in that great Day of Christs Kingdom Neither is it likely that the Apostle cited the words after this in reference to what the Prophet had said which was not questioned buâ— rather to what he himselfe had said And if wee should referre these words to the foregoeing destruction of Israel how doth this prove that their restauration shall not follow the calling of the substituted Gentiles whenas it is evident that their threatned dispersion and sifting among all Nations after which they should be againe restored was more to be fulfilled upon them in the time of the substituted Gentiles calling then before and seeing you confesse that the preceding destruction was denounced against the Jewes onely how could you beleeve that by the raising of the Tabernacle of David that is fallen and building of it as in the dayes of old is meant the calling of the Gentiles and not the restoring of the Kingdom and people of David whom the foresaid judgement should ruine And yet you seeme to be so confident of the currantnesse of this exposition that you thus peremptorily conclude It is manifest that in this note is a twofold errour one inserting the words in the prophecy which are not in it another in misinterpreting the Apostle's words Certainely it is very manifest what spirit was predominant in you when you penned these bold and lowd untruths For did I insert the words after this into the prophecy or did the same Spirit who revealed the prophecy by Amos rehearse it thus by the Apostle search and see Nay doe you not say before and howbeit the Apostle cite them so whom then doe you here accuse of error me or him And as for misinterpreting the words of the Apostle it is already shewen that you would faine father your misinterpreting of it on the Apostle To which this may be added That the Prophet doth make a plaine distinction betwixt the people meant by the Tabernacle of David and the people meant by the remnant of Edom and all the heathen which are called by Gods Name For he saith that those meant by the Tabernacle of David shall possesse these What can the same people be the possessours and the possessed surely so it must be according to your interpreting of the building of Davids Tabernacle of the calling of the Gentiles seeing in the 12. ver not onely the remnant of Edom but the heathen that were to be called in the Jewes steed are plainly spoken of Or take it as the Apostle delivers it And then in your sense it will be thus After this I will returne and call againe the Gentiles that the residue of men that is the Gentiles which are not yet to be called may seeke the Lord all the Gentiles upon whom my Name is now to be cal'd Or thus that the residue of men that is all the Gentiles that are now to be cal'd may seek the Lord all the Gentiles upon whom my name is already cal'd And what sense is there in either of these interpretations one of which must needs follow upon your interpreting of the building of David's Tabernacle of the calling of the Gentiles by the Apostles seeing the conversion of the Gentiles upon whom God's Name is cal'd in the prophecy was to precede the conversion of the Gentiles meant by the residue of men And besides The building of the Tabernacle of David as in the dayes of old doth infallibly shew the restoring of a people to that estate condition they were formerly in which cannot be said of the Gentiles who were never before God's people The Marginall note And consequently that the Jewes endeavour to hinder the growth of the Gospel 1. Thess 2.14.15 was a sure proofe of the conversion of the Gentiles their owne rejection who unto the death of Christ were the peculiar people of God not wholly cast off until by their wilful unbeleife they forced the Apostles to turne from them to other Nations Act. 13.44 45 46. to whom God had not formerly revealed himselfe therefore could not at that time be said to returne unto the Gentiles whom he had but then receiv'd no nor to the Jewes whom he had then and not til then quite forsaken So that if we consider the Returning of God here mention'd in the prophecy to be appliable only to the Jews to whom alone God had so long before made himselfe known yet that the Jews were shortly after the calling of the Gentiles quite forsaken we must needs grant that their great happines here foretold hath not been yet injoyed but shall be when the fulnesse of the succedaneous Gentiles is come in And wherefore did the Apostle change the Prophet's in that day will I raise up into After this will I returne and build wherefore I say did he or rather the Holy Ghost in him make choyce of this
paraphrase in place of the text if not of purpose to make that which hath been said the more plainly appeare to wit that the day of the Jewes deliverance is to await the accomplishment of the surrogated Gentiles vocation For though this consolatory prophecy according to the order of the things revealed to the Prophet hath relation only to a foregoing judgement denounced against the Jewes yet it is not therefore misinferred here by the Apostle as a subsequent too of the anticipated conversion of the Gentiles and that because the very same time which was foreappointed by God for the execution of that punishment upon the forsaken Jewes was also foreappointed by him to be the time for the promulgation of his mercy towards the substituted Gentiles as these next words that the residue of men might seeke after the Lord and all the Gentiles upon whom my Name is cal'd doe most clearely intimate For what is meant by the residue of men but the remainder of those Nations which are not to be converted til the foresaid redemption of the Jewes their redemption I say as well out of all countries into which they are scattered and from all Nations amongst whom as was foretold they have been sifted so many hundred yeares as from all their sinnes which moved God to use such severity towards them And what by the Gentiles on whom Gods Name is cal'd but the remnant of those Nations which are now already or shall if any more shall while David's Tabernacle lies waste become the people of God in the hardned Jewes stead So that this prophecy doth as well prove a profession of the Gospel by a great part of the Gentiles before the Jewes deliverance and in the time of their blindnesse as by all that are left of them afterwards For that by a people on whom God's Name is cal'd or which is called by God's Name is to be understood a people belov'd of God and cal'd out from other Nations to serve him as the Jewes were heretofore and as Christians are now I thinke none will deny or that by the residue of men and all the Gentiles upon whom God's Name is cal'd all other Nations besides the Jewes are meant And was there then ever aâ— yet such an unanimous consent in the true worship of God betwixt the Jewes and all other Nations as is here foretold surely never betwixt them and any one Nation No nor long betwixt themselves And the more the pity no lesse odds hath a long time been and stil is amongst Christians both in their opinion and practise of religious duties Vide Commentationum Apocalyp partem primam de sigillis pag. 55. 56. Mr Petrie's Answer This is meere cavilling Before the calling of the Gentiles was not God averse from them and they from him and therefore when he looked graciously upon them he is truely said to returne unto them Againe in the words of Amos immediately preceding wee see that the Lord was offended with Israel and when he sent the salvation of God and glory of Israel among them it may be as truely said that he returned unto them Thirdly it is often in this note repeated that he had quite forsaken the Jewes but the Apostle cannot suffer this phrase Rom. 11.18 Hath God cast away his people God forbid for I also am an Israelite c. but more of this purpose hereafter Reply This is meere carping for to returne doth necessarily imply a former abode in that place or among that people to which the returning is or a former possession of that thing which doth returne For can it be said that you are returned to a place where you never were before or could Nebâ—tchadnezzar have said I lift up mine eyes unto Heaven and mine understanding returned unto mee if he had not been formerly endued with understanding It is not a sufficient reason therefore to prove that God did returne unto the Gentiles when he look't graciously upon them because he was before their calling averse from them and they from him unlesse it can be shew'd withall that God was sometime before that aversenesse not averse from them And whereas you say further that in the words of Amos immediately preceding the Lord was offended with Israel and when he sent the salvation of God and glory of Israel among them it may be truly said that he returned unto them If you had said and when he shall raise up the Tabernacle of David that is fallen and close up the breaches thereof c. he may be truly said to return unto them you had said the truth for the Prophet saith it is this and not the first comming of our Saviour that declares Gods returne to Israel after the full accomplishment of the wrath before denounc't against it which wrath had not wholly seized upon them untill Judah and Benjamin were dispersed also at the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans and before this the Apostles were turned from the Jewes to the Gentiles so that God had then ceased to be their God as our Saviour had said Matth. 21. ver 43. and therefore when he shall againe become their God as he hath foretold he will at the rebuilding of Davids Tabernacle then shall this Returne the Apostle speaks of be fulfill'd unto them for as God cannot be said to returne to a people in respect of a donation of outward and temporall blessings unlesse they be first taken from them so neither can he be said to returne to a people in respect of a participation of inward and spirituall blessings unlesse they be first depriv'd of the meanes of salvation which formerly they enjoy'd And it is very remarkable here how wavering you are both in your interpretation and application of God's Returning mention'd by the Apostle for first you understand it of Gods returning to the Gentiles in calling them by the preaching of the Gospel and presently after you understand it of his returning to the Jewes in sending Christ among them of whom neverthelesse you have hitherto deny'd that this Prophecie doth speake But I have said that the Jewes were quite forsaken and the Apostle you say cannot suffer this phrase Rom. 11. ver 1. Hath God cast away his people God forbid c. And yet the same Apostle in the same ch at the 15. ver saith If the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world what shall the receiving of them be but life from the dead and ver 32. For God hath concluded them all in unbeliefe that he might have mercy upon all and was not the Nation of the Jewes quite cast off when all the Tribes were thus concluded in unbeliefe or will you say that they have still continued the people of God under the Gospel as well as under the Law if you will not you must needs grant that the Nation is quite forsaken quite cast off although not so forsaken not so cast off as never againe to be received to mercy although some
quite different from the other And as spirituall pleasures appertaine to the Saints on earth as well as to the Saints in heaven so doe eating and drinking agree as well with glorified as unglorified bodies as well with the state of immortality as with the state of mortality For our Saviour did eate on earth at his Disciples table after his resurrection and he saith that the glorified Saints shall eate and drinke with him at his table after their resurrection And further he saith that after the last Judgement there is in the new Jerusalem the fruit of the tree of life to be eate of and the water of the river of life to be dranke of his words are To him that over cometh will I give to eate of the tree of life in the midst of the Paradise of God Rev. 2.7 and againe Rev. 22.14 15. Blessed are they that doe his Commandements that they may have right to the tree of life And whosoever will let him take of the water of life freely And indeed seeing God creates nothing in vaine it were vaine to thinke that the tree of life should beare twelve manner of fruites monthly unlesse they were to be fed on or that the river of the water of life should runne through the midst of the streete in the holy Jerusalem if it were not as well to be dranke of by the Saints in glory as to nourish the tree of life on the sides of it And therefore unlesse you can bring better proofes to shew that I am misinformed or doe misinforme then these texts of the Psalmist or any you have cited hitherto you your selfe will be found an over-hasty misinformer against the truth Israel's Redemption And as it is evident from his owne words that the Throne of his Kingdome is not now in heaven so it is plaine from Saint Pauls in 1 Cor. 15.12 that it shall not be thereafter the judgement of the dead his words are these As in Adam all dye even so in Christ shall all be made alive But every man in his owne order Christ the first fruites afterwards * They that are Christs at his comming-If there were not to be some distance of time betwixt the resurrection of these and other men it had been as easie for the Apostle to have said they that are dead or all that are in the grave And if there shall be a precedencie of time then no doubt but it shall be such a precedency as may bring some advantage and honour unto the Saints and therefore not onely of a few houres or dayes but of a more notable continuance and length of time of many yeares For if Christ should descend for no other purpose but to call all men to judgement then as there would he need of none so there could not well be any priority of time to distinguish their resurrection because in that act both good and bad must be assembled before him at the same time and the wicked doubtlesse should then be raised as soone to see his comming as the just to meete and accompany him therein they that are Christs at his comming and therefore not the m Zech. 14.5 1 Thes 3.13 chap. 4. ver 14 15 16. 2 Thes 1.10 Col. 3.4 Martyres onely Then commeth the end what presently after his comming no but when he hath delivered up the Kingdome to God even the Father and when shall that be when he shall have put downe all rule and all authority and power For he must reigne till He that is the Father hath put all his enemies under his feete which will be fully accomplished when the last enemy shall be destroyed which is death and when all things shall be thus subdued unto him then shall follow that inutterable glory that height of happinesse where the Sonne also himselfe shall be subject unto him that did before put all things under him that God may be all in all Mr. Petrie's Answer 1. Whether the Apostle might have said so or so Can any man gather necessarily out of these words so great a distance of time betwixt the resurrection of the godly and of the ungodly Here the Apostle nameth the godly and not the ungodly not importing any notable distance of time but because he had said ver 22. In Christ all shall be made alive which words cannot be properly and univocally meaned of the ungodly whose rising shall be for the accomplishment of the second death therefore here ver 23. he justly â—mits the mention of the ungodly and speakes of the godly as also he doth 1 Thes 4.16 17. where we find expressely an order among the godly saying The dead in Christ shall rise first and then we who are alive and remaine shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meete the Lord in the aire The Apostle in both texts speakes of the same comming of Christ as this Author acknowledgeth and applyeth the words to the same purpose pag. 50. As none will say that there shall be any notable priority in time betwixt the one and the other sort meeting Christ so and farre lesse doe these words speaking onely of them that are in Christ import two resurrections different the one from the other the space of a 1000 yeares Yea and the Apostle saying That we shall be caught up and meete the Lord in the aire and so shall be ever with him How can any imagine that we shall come downe againe from the aire to abide so long a space upon the earth and therefore he speakes there of the generall resurrection when they who are in Christ shall be ever with him not in a temporall but everlasting glory And seeing the Apostle speakes both here and there of the same resurrection certainely he speakes not here of a resurrection before the time of the generall judgement 2. pag. 49. After these words of Paul at his comming Mr. Maton inserteth and not the Martyrs onely Why inserteth he these words doth any who denyeth this earthly Monarchy say that the Martyrs and no more shall come with Christ no but some Millenaries say so And here he would marke a word against them Be it so 3. He wresteth the words thus Then commeth the end what presently after his comming no but when he hath delivered up the Kingdome to God even the Father and when shall that be when he shall have put downe all rule and authority and power c. Here instead of explication is a very contradiction of the text by inserting a negative and conveighing it closely with a query The particle Then hath relation to the words preceding and the word Comes is not in the originall as yee may see by the divers characters in the translation and it may as well be rendred Then or at that time is the end when he shall have delivered up c. So that the very time when he shall deliver the Kingdome is when they who are Christs shall arise at his comming And
he cannot put it into act untill he descend to take the Kingdomes of this world unto himselfe Thus we finde that he had power to lay downe his life and power to take it againe before he did either John 10.18 And that all judgâ—ment even the judgment of the great day was committed unto him at his fiâ—st comming John 5.22 And thus it appeares that aâ—l your answers to the consequâ—nces by which we have proved our Saviours visible reigne on earth are of no consequence at all ISRAELS REDEMPTION CHAP. II. That Christ shall reigne personally on Earth prov'd by expresse Prophesie ANd thus it hath bin proved by consequence that our Saviour shall hereafter reigne on earth You shall now heare it directly and expressely affirmed Behold saith the Angel to the Virgine Mary thou shall conceive in thy wombe and bring forth a Sonne and shalt call his name Jesus he shall be great and shall be called the Sonne of the Highest and the Lord shall give unto him the u Matth. 2.6 Acts 2.30.31 Throne of his Father David Luke 1.31 Behold saith Jeremiah in chap. 23. ver 5. c. the dayes come saith the Lord that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch and a King shall †Ch. 33.15.16 reigne and prosper and shall execute judgement and justice x Isa 8 8. Job 19.25 Hob. 1.2 in the * Whatsoever losse Luke 19.11 12 13.14 c. Acts 3 19.20.21 Revel 11.15 Rom. 4.13 the disobedience of the first Adam brought on himselfe and his posterity that no doubt the second Adam hath recovered with advantage for himselfe and his chosen But the first Adam lost not onely hiâ— right to heaven but the happy estate too which an innocent life would for a long time have continued to him and his on earth And therefore that intercourse and familiarity with God that rule and command over men and all other creatures which Adam before the advancement of mankinde to it highest happinesse should have here enjoyed if he had not fell that and fore more then that shall Christ with hiâ— chosâ—n inherit at his next appearing And now seeing even reason it selfe doth thus strongly â—â—ation for our Saviours future soveraignty what unreasonablenesse were it in us any longer to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bt the literall accomplishment of these and all other sacred revelations which so fully describe and â—â—â—â—â—earely confirme it earth In hiâ— dayes Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely and this is his name whereby he shall be called The Lord our righteousnesse Behold saith Zechâ—â—riah in chap. 6. ver 12. the man whose name is the Branch and he shall grow up out of his place and he shall build the Temple of the Lord even he shall build the Temple of the Lord and he shall beare the glory and shall sit and rule upon his Throne and he shall be a Priest upon his Throne and the Counsel of peace shall be betweene them both And in Ezek. 34.22 c. I will save my flocke and they shall no more be a prey and I will judge betweene cattell and cattell and I will set up one Shepheard over them and he shall feede them even my Servat David he shall feede them and he shall be their Shepheard And I the Lord will be their God and my Servant David a Prince among them I the Lord have spoken it And in chap. 37. ver 24. c. David my Servant shall be King over them and they shall have one Shepheard and they shall also walke in my judgements and observe my Statutes and doe them and they shall dwell in the Land that I have given unto Jacob my Servant wherein your Fathers have dwelt and they shall dwell therein even they and their children for ever and my Servant David shall be their Prince for ever And in Isai 9.6 c. Vnto us a child is borne unto us a Sonne is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his Name shall be called Wonderfull Counseller the mighty God the Everlasting Father the Prince of peace Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end Vpon the Throne of David and upon his Kingdome to order it and to establish it with judgement and with justice from henceforth even for ever the zeale of the Lord of Hosts will performe this And in chap. 52. ver 13. c. Behold my Servant shall deale prudently he shall be y Psal 118.22.23 24. c. exalted and extolled and he very high As many were z 1 Luke 2.34 35. astonied at thee his visage to wit at the time of his suffering was so marred more then any man and his forme more then the sonnes of men So to wit at his next appearing shall he sprinkle many Nations the Kings shall shut their mouthes as him for that which had not been told them shall they see and that which they had not heard shall they consider And in Micah 4.6 c. In that day saith the Lord will I assemble her that halteth and I will gather her that is driven out and ber that I have afflicted and I will make her that halted a remnant â—â—â—â—ber that was cast farre a Rom 〈…〉 15.32 â—ff a strong Nation and the Lord shall reigne over them in Mount Zion from henceforth even for ever And in Psal 72.6 c. He shall come downe like raine upon the mowne grasse as showers that water the earth In his dayes shall the righteous flourish and abundance of peace so long as the Moone endureth He shall have dominion also from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth They that dwell in the wildernesse shall how before him and his enemies shall licke the dust The Kings of Tarshish and of the â—fles shall bring presents the Kings of Sheha and Seba shall offer gifts Yea all Kings shall fall b Ps 68.29.31 Isa 45.22.23 downe before him c Psal 22.27.28 Phil. 2.10 Rev. 14.6 7. chap. 15.4 all Nations shall praise him And in Psal 102.13 c. Thou shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion for the time to favour her yea the set time is come for thy servants take pleasure in her stones and favour the dust thereof So the heathen shall feare the Name of the Lord and all the Kings of the earth thy glory When the Lord shall build up Zion he shall appeare in his glory Now that these prophecies concâ—rne the reigne of Christ alone I thinke no man doubts and that they are already fulfilled it cannot be proved Mr. Petrie's Answer These texts may prove something against your fellow Mr. Archer who thinks that Christ after he hath put the Jewes in possession of their Monarchy shall ascend againe into the heavens and the Jewes in the meane time shall reigne till his third comming But they prove nothing against us who hold that Christ reigneth on the true Throne of David Reply This answer
is a double confession of the truth you oppose for first in sâ—ying That these texts prove something against Mr. Archer who thinks that Christ after he hath put the Jewes in possession of their Monarchy shall ascend againe into the heavens you plainely acknowledge that they prove his abode amongst them to governe their restored Kingdome And consequently that you your selfe are in an errour in denying the restauration of their Kingdome as well as Mr. Archer was in denying Christs personall and immediate government of it And secondly in saying That they prove nothing against you who hold that Christ reigneth on the true Throne of David You acknowledge likewise that these prophecies doe prove that our Saviour was to reigne on the true Throne of David and consequently that seeing he hath not yet he shall hereafter reigne over the whole Nation of the Jewes in their owne d land â—â—er 33.15 â—6 17. The Throne of Israel on which David reigned being the true Throne of David and no other But to say that Christ now reigneth on the true Throne of David is to affirme that he is now reigning over the Jewes in the Land of Judea and what can be further from truth then this Israel's Redemption For neither did Christ at his first comming sit on Davids Throne nor any other of Davids linage or of that Tribe or of the other Tribes For the Scepter was then departed from Judah and a Law-giver from between his feete Mr. Petrie's Answer He sits on the right hand of the Throne of Majesty in heaven Heb. 8.1 which was typified by the Throne of David Reply You told us even now That Christ reigneth on the true Throne of David And you tell us here That he sits on the right hand of the Throne of Majâ—sty in heaven which was typified by the Throne of David And doth he reigne then on both these Thrones at once on the true Throne of David the type and on the Throne of God he antitype too But I pray what scripture doth teach you to call the Throne of David a type of the Throne of God Surely if this were so Christ must needes have reigned on the Throne of his Father David before he could have been exalted to the right hand of the Throne of Majesty on high Because the possession of the typicall Throne must needes pr cede the possession of the typified Throne This therefore is an unwarrantable conceit and we know that these prophecies speake onely of his reigning on the Throne of his Father David and not of his reigni g on the Throne of God And if by the Throne of David which is promised to Christ is meant the Throne of God what then is meant by the Throne of the House of Israel which is promised to him Jer. 33.17 Is not this all one with the Throne of David if it be then by the Throne of David cannot be meant the Throne of God unlesse you will say that by the Throne of Israel the Throne of God is meant also And if the Throne of Israel be not meant of the Throne of David then tell us what it is and why you take it to be all one with the Throne of David pag 26. where you alledge this text of Jeremiah to shew that the promises of the Priesthood and of the Kingdome are conjoyned and mixed after the same straine And tell us too what is meant by the Kingdome of David upon which Christs government is said to be as well as upon the Throne of David Isai 9.7 And besides what reason can you alledge wherefore we should not as well take that part of these prophecies in a proper sense which speakes of our Saviours reigning on the Throne of David as that part which speakes of his being borne of the seede of David the one being revealed unto us in as plaine termes as the other Israel's Redemption Neither were Judah and Israel then in the Land together Mr. Petrie's Answer There is neither Jew nor Greeke neither bond nor free neither male nor female but we are all one in Christ Jesus and if ye be Christs then are ye Abrahams seed and heires according to the promise Gal. 3 28. Reply In the 23 chap. of Jer. we reade this prophecy Behold the dayes come saith the Lord that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch and a King shall reigne and prosper and shall execute judgement and justice on the earth In his dayes Judâ—â—h shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely and this is his name whereby he shall be saved The Lord our righteousnesse In which words there are these particulars foretold first that Christ should be borne of the seede of David I will raise unto David a righteous Branch Secondly that he should reigne And a King shall reigne and prosper Thirdly how he should reigne to wit civilly as other Kings which is set forth first by the quality of his administration And shall execute judgement and justice Secondly by the place where he should doe it On the earth Thirdly by the people amongst whom the Jewes the Tribes of Judâ—â—h and Israel And fourthly by the time when to wit when the Jewes should be redeemed out of captivity and sâ—tled in their land When Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely Now of all these particulars there is but one already accomplisht which is that touching our Saviours incarnation and the rest remaine to be fulfi led â—t his next appearing Amongst which I have alledged onely the last to prove that our Saviours reigning here foreshewed was not fulfilled at his first appearing to wit because Israel was not then in the land with Iudah To which you give no other answer but this There is neither Jew nor Greeke neither bond nor free nor male nor female but we are all one in Christ Jesus and if we be Christs then are ne Abrahams seed and heires according to the promise And what then doth this make the prophecies oâ— God of none effect may the reader conclude from hence Therefore Iudah and Israel shall not dwell safely in the land together nor Christ be sent to reigne over them on the Throne of David Surely he may as well conclude Therefore amongst Christians there are no men nor women no masters nor servants no Iewes nor Gentiles But the Apostles words will countenance no such contradictory infeâ—ences for his meaning is That grace doth conjoyne and assimulate those whom naturall and civill respect doe difference and div de For they that have put on Christ are not distinguisht in him he saith as they are in the world by nation fexe and condition but they are all one They are one in denomination and title being all Christians they are one in ranke and society being all of one mysticall body they are one people being all Abrahams seed and they have one inheritance being fellow-heires according to the promise And what though the beleeving Gentile be one in Christ with
delivered then all this is in the texts which we have brought and can bring for it And therefore we both have and can prove by scripture even expresse scripture that the restored Ierusalem shall be the place of Christs Throne although it be beyond our power to make you acknowledge that we can and have proved it it being the pâ—culiar act of the Spirit of God to doe this of that Spirit I say whose apparent testimonies you so presumptuously resist and so lightly esteeme ISRAELS REDEMPTION CHAP. III. That the Kingdome of Israel and the thousand yeares reigne of the Saints shall concurre ANd thus even one prophecy of Zech. doth clearely unfold all that we averre touching our present subject to wit That our Saviour shall reigne on earth and in Jerusalem For as it tels us That the Lord shall be King over all the earth that in that day there shall be one Lord and his name one So it saith too that at the very instant of our Saviours descending All the Land shall by an earthquake be turned as a plaine from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem and it shall be lifted up and inhabited in her place from Benjamins gate unto the place of the first gate unto the corner gate and from the tower of Hananiel unto the Kings wine-presses c. Moreover another notable content of this prophecy is That when our Saviour comes to reigne over all the earth he comes not alone but brings all the Saints with him Mr. Petrie's Answer We see neither that be shall come to reigne after that manner over all the earth neither that he shall bring all his Saints with him and for this last point be alledges no text of scripture but will have it to be taken on his bare word which we refuse to doe We reade that when be shall come to judge he shall bring all the holy Angels with him Matth. 25.31 and all Nations shall be gathered before him and that be shall send his Angels to gather the elect from the foure winds but that they shall come with him into an earthly Monarchy we finde no where And neverthelesse as if it were unquestionable he addeth Reply Unlesse you had made a covenant with your tongue to deny every thing that we prove you could not have said That we alledge no text of scripture which shewes that Christ shall bring all the Saints with him For what is the meaning of these words Zech. 14.5 And the Lord my God shall come and all the Saints with thee Or what meanes Saint Paul when he saith 1 Cor. 15.23 Afterward they that are Christs at his comming doth he not meane that all the Saints departed shall then rise and can they rise in their bodies at Christs comming and yet not come then from heaven to be reunited to their bodies These tâ—xts we have alledged in exprâ—sse termes and do you take them for canonicall or apocrypha if for canonicall then surely your foresaid report of us is apocrypha And yet this is not all that we have to say touching this point for as you read Matth. 25.31 That Christ shall bring all the holy Angels with him so you may read too in 1 Thes 3.13 these words At the comming of our Lord Jesus with all the Saints And chap. 4.14 Them also that sleepe in Jesus will God bring with him And Jude ver 14. out of the prophecy of Enoch Behold the Lord commeth with ten thousands of his Saints And therefore that Christ shall bring all the Saints with him is not our bare word but the plaine word of God And so it is too that they shall come to reigne with him on earth as we have already proved and the texts following doe further declare And besides how can you choose but beleeve that Christ shall bring all the Saints with him though there were no expresse scripture for it seeing you beleâ—ve that all the dead shall rise at the same time surely you must either deny this or grant that Israel's Redemption Which words as they doe establish the literall sense of the r Luke 14.14 ch 20.35 36. Ioh. 6.39.40.44 54. Phil. 3.11 1 Thess 3.13 ch 4.14 c. Ezek. 37.12.13 fiâ—st resurrection mentioned in the 20 chap. of Rev. So they make the Kingdome of Israel and the 1000 yeares reigne of the Sainâ—s there spoken of to synchronize and meete together for why shall the Saints come with him but because they have a share in his Kingdome and are to be his assistants in it as he told the Disciples Luke 22.28 Mr. Petrie's Answer The first resurrection of bodies imports a second resurrection and so either these who rise shall dye againe and rise againe at the second resurrection or they who shall rise at the first shall not dye at all and others shall rise againe at the second resurrection This Authour makes it no where manifest which of these two be holdeth and Mr. Archer holdeth the first opinion but neither of them hath any warrant from Scripture and the testimonies that are cited here on the margine shew that there shall not be such a resurrection of the righteous for it is said Luke 20.35 They who shall be accounted worthy to obtaine that world and the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage neither can they dye any more for they are equall unto the Angels being the children of the resurrection If they can dye no more and be equall unto the Angels then they shall not rise at a second resurrection neither shall they live an earthly life which in the best degree is inferiour unto the life of the Angels John 6.39 This is the Fathers will that of all that he hath given me I should lose nothing but should raise it up at the last day and ver 44. No man can come unto me except the Father who hath sent me draw him and I will raise him at the last day If the last day be the day of the generall judgement as certainely it is even supponing the temporall Monarchy for a 1000 yeares and the elect shâ—ll not be raised till the last day as these words imply then there shall not be a first and second resurrection unlesse the second resurrection be after the last day and consequently there not being a resurrection of the children of God till the last day the first resurrection mentioned Rev. 20. cannot be understood of the bodies but rather arising from sinne whereof mention is made Ephes 5.14 and Col. 3.1 He cites also Phil. 3.11 If by any meanes I might attaine unto the resurrection of the dead These words name the dead generally and make nothing for a first and second resurrection but ver 20. it is said Our conversation or freedome is in heaven whence also we look for the Saviour who shall change our vile body that it may be like unto his glorious body If the freedome POLITEVMA of the godly be in heaven then they expect not a
recompence when this Kingdome of God shall beginne And it being evident from the text that this Kingdome of God is to be a Kingdome in which there shall be eating of bread that is according to the signification of this phrase in the Gospell of such creatures as God hath ordained for mans food on earth this Kingdome of God must needes be meant of a Kingdome on earth and consequently the recompence our Saviour spake of is to be given on earth and the resurrection of the Saints to enjoy this Kingdome is to precede the rising of all others which shall not be till the time of this Kingdome be sully expired The second testimony is in Joh. 6.39 40 44.54 of which the last ver is this Who so eateth my flesh and drinketh my bloud hath eternall life and I will raise him up at the last day And these last words are the close of the other verses also whence you argue thus If the last day be the day of the generall judgement as certainely it is even supponing the temporall Monarchy for a 1000 yeares and the elect shall not be raised till the last day as these words imply then there shall not be a first and second resurrection unlesse the second resurrection be after the last day And what coherence is there in this argument what appearance of truth certainely it savours not of your great skil in Logique For neither the first not the last resurrection shall be till the last day and yet both shall be in the last day seeing the last day shall beginne with the first resurrection and end with the last But yet we have good reason to beleeve that our Saviour spake here only of the first of these resurrections because in v. 54. he speakes onely of raising them that should be worthy partakers of the Sacrament of his body and bloud which Sacrament is to shew forth the Lords death till he come as Saint Paul affirmes 1 Cor. 11.26 and for ought we yet know no longer If therefore you have no better arguments to support the spirituall interpretation of the first resurrection Rev. 20.4 5 6. then this it were farre better that you did lay your hand on your mouth then plead for it And indeede how could you imagine that God should reveale unto S. John the rising of men from sin as a secret then unknown unto the world that I say he should foreshew this as a thing then to come which began â—n Adam himselfe and was at that time the daily effect oâ— the preach ng of the Gospell The third text is that of Saint Paul in Phil. 3.11 If by any meanes I might aâ—t â—ine to the resurrection of the dead To which you answer these words name hâ— dead generally c. Certainely no more generally then the same Apostles words in 1 Cor. 15.42 c. doe Where he saith Sâ— also is the resurrection of the dead it is sowne in corruption it is raised in incorruption it is sowne in dishonour it is raised in glory it is sowne in weakenesse it is raised in power it is sowne a naturall body it is raised a spirituall body And doe any besides the just rise in glory in power and with spirituall bodies or do you thinke that it was need full for Saint Paul to use his utmost care and endeavour that he might attaine to rise at that time when thâ— unjust should rise The resurrection therefore which the Apostle strove so much to attaine unto was no other then the resurrection of the dead in Christ then the first resurrection of which it is said that he who hath a part in it the second death hath no power over him As on the contrary all that dye before this resurrection and are not raised in it shall perish everlastingly But because you had no more to say to the text which I have quoted you alledge the 20 ver of the same chapt out of which you raise these arguments If the Politeuma the freedome of the godly be in heaven then they expect not a Monarchy on earth And if their bodies shall be like unto Christs glorious body they shall not live an earthly life nor dye againe But as we allow your last argument for we know not who doth affirme the contrary to wit that the Saints shall after their resurrection be either mortall or sinneâ—ull so in your first argument we first deny your translation of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which you make the ground of your argument For it signifies not there a freedome or priviledge but a manner of living as by the Apostles opposing of his owne conversation to the conversation of some carnall minded Ministers of the Gospell it is apparent and therefore it is rendred by Piscator word for word for our civill life or behaviour is in heaven that is is as temperate as if we were inheaven in the presence of God and the holy Angels And secondly we deny the argument it selfe For though we suppose that the godly have now no outward freedome on earth for an inward and spirituall freedome you must needes grant them seeing he that is called in the Lord is the Lords free-man as it is said 1 Cor. 7.22 and all the royall dignity which you allow the Saints consists in this though then we suppose I say that they have now no outward freedome for this also they have as appeares in 1 Cor. 7.21 and chap. 9. ver 19. yet it will not follow from hence that they expâ—ct none on earth hereafter when Christ shall change their vile bodies that they may be like unto his glorious body The two next texts are one in 1 Thes 3.13 and the other chap. 4. ver 14 15 16 17. in both which the Apostle speaks of the rising of none at Christs comming but of the dead in Chr st And seeing the resurrection of their bodies doth equally belong to the godly and the ungodly why should we not thinke that he would as well have spoken of the resurrection of these also as of the other if they had been to rise at the same time with the other Doubtlesse you could shew no reason why the Apostle should speake so much and so often of the resurrection of the godly at Christs comming and nothing of the resurrection of the ungodly if they had been to rise all together And therefore you have here also strugled onely with your owne fancy and now the third time strangled this deformed issue of your slanderous imputation to wit that the raised Saints shall dye againe and rise againe For this opinion is indeed altogether inconsistent with the truth which we hold touching the reigning of the raised Saints with Christ a 1000 yeares before the last resurrection And suppose any one had vented this errour yet it is an argument of your malice to prosecute the confutation of it in your answer unto me I say thus to prosecute it as if it were the common opinion of us
all But as yet I know no father of it besides your selfe unlesse it be that father of lies who suggested it unto you And therefore the reader had neede beware how to take your words upon trust for doubtlesse if he hearken to your bare word he shall never beleeve what God hath foretold nor know what we hold The last text is Ezekiels vision of the dry bones chap. 37. And if it betokens thâ— Jewes returne from their captivity as ver 11. doth seeme to interpret it where it is said These bones are the whole house of Israel Yet it is observeable first that the deliverance here foreshewne is of all the Tribes of the whole house of Israel Secondly that it is to be after such a long and reâ—â— us captivity as should make them even despaire of a deliverance as ver 11. doth declare And thirdly that at the time of their deliverance they shall become an exceeding great Army us it is said ver 10. which observations doe infallibly manifest that this prophecy hath not been yet accomplished and consequently that when you say this vision doth foreshew the returne of the Jewes from their captivity no withstanding the exâ—reamity of their misery you doe unawares confesse that they are not yet returned but shall returne at the accomplishment of this prophecy For when were the Jewes delivered out of a captivity of such a long continuance as it here intimated by these very dry hones and by the raising of them our of their graves or when did all the Tribes the whole house of Israel returne to their land or when did any of them that I say not all that I speake not of so great an Army as is here foretold make their way into their owne countrey by force of arm since their forty yeares march into Judea out of Egypâ—â— And therefore as all the other texts have relation to the first resurrection onely so hath this last to the future Redemption of the Jewes out of captivity to their returne againe into their owne land against the time of their redemption of the Saints bodies out of their graves at our Saviours appearing And that which followes in the chapter doth as plainely reveale the uniting of all the Tribes in their owne land under one King and our Saviours personall reigning over them there as the vision of the dry bones doth their returne to their land Israel's Redemption And as the Elders in Revel 5.10 said in the hearing of Saint John Thou best made as unto our God Kings and Priests and we Å¿ Rom. 5.17 ch 4.13 Luk 19.17.19 2 Tim 2.12 ch 4.8 1 Pet. 5.4 shall reigne on * Sanctorum super terram regia dignitas authoritas in hoâ— mundi statu nulia est sed extiâ—uÌ„ perpetue calamitates ac persecutiones quâ—s à tyraâ—â—is muâ—â—â— bujus regibus patiuntur De altâ—râ— igitut mâ—ndâ— statu hoc accipi â—â—um Quod siverâ— super terram regnabunt sancti utique ea non a 〈…〉 â—n idâ—â—iâ— quod non est creaturae dominâ—â—â— non est Eodem videtur Chrâ—stus respexisse Matth. 5.5 Est hâ—â— observandum quod sanct 〈◊〉 regnab mus non regnamuâ— Quo digitum intendunt ad alterum seculum Nâ—â—â— sanct 〈…〉 constituti â—â—m regnant super terram quâ—â— cum pat entia adhuc expectâ—â—â— liberationem 〈◊〉 quam accelerare non possunt Apoâ— 6. v. 16.21 They are the words of Mar. Frid Wendelinus cha 2â— of the 2 â—â—ct of his Naturall Contemplaticas pag. 429.430 urged in defence of an accidentall change of the world against the essential abolition of it both which Tenets are as I think very true if referr'd to their proper seasons if shunning both the improvident confounding and pernicious wresting of Scripture we affirme a marvellous renovation of this Heaven and Earth at the beginning of our Saviours Kingdome and a creation of new at the end thereof that is at the last judgement when as it is in the 20. of the Revel and the 11. ver This heaven and earth shall fly â—râ—â—y and no place be found for them and if they shall have place no more then surely they can have beeing no longer for place is an inseparable affection of their being and consequently this Scripture proves an absolute annihilation of the first world which I suppose no man will deny If he doth observe when this passing of the first heaven and earth is to be accomplishâ— to wit above a thousand yeares after the renewing of them for they are to be renewed at our Saviours entrance into his Kingdome but they are not to passe away till the giving up thereof to God the Father at the last Judgement and so it stands firme that these words imply no lesse then a perishing which yet may further be establisht by three other undeniable testimonies One of the same Apostle in the next chap. at the 1. vers And I saw saith he a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away and there was no more sea Which last câ—â—se expresly affirming an utter abolition of the sea doth plainely informe us that by the dying and passing away of the first earth which with the sea makes but one globe is meant a substantiall perishing of it Another of Moses in the 8. chap. of Gen. at the 22. vers While the earth remaâ—neth seed time and harvest and cold and h aâ— and summer and winter and day and night shall not cease and therefore when seed-time and harvest and summer and winter and day and night shall cease as it is most certaine they shall at the last Judgement the earth it selfe must of necessity then cease also A third of Job in his 26. chap. at the 10. vers He hath compassed the waters with bounds untill the day and night come to an end Deut. 11. vers 21. which words being compared with the precedent testimony wherein day and night are shewne to be of equall duration with seed time and harvest and with that of the 22. of the Revel where it is said of the new Ierusalem and the inhabitants thereof there shall be no night there and they neede no candle neither light of the Sunne must needs be taken for a plaine and positive proofe that the day and night shall come to an end and consequently that the starres and so the sublunary creatures too whose generation and continuance doe more or lesse depend upon celestiall influences being all made onely for the use of man while he is to have his reâ—â—â—ency and abode on this earth shall at mankinds removall from hence together with this earth with which they were created be brought againe to nothing earth Mr. Petrie's Answer That these words Rev. 5.10 signifie the honour and priviledges of the godly on earth it is out of doubt But the question is whether John saw these Elders in heaven and whether they shall come from the heaven to the earth againe or
entrance and end of his reigne and an eternall judgement upon them and all other ungodly sinners at the last resurrection of the dead All which judgements the Prophets doe foreshew to be in the last day and not the last of these onely And therefore our Saviours comming shall not be at the last of these but at the first And whereas you alledge Psal 110. to shew that Christ shall not come till the last judgement it is false that this Psalme doth teach us any such thing for it shewes onely that Christ shall not come till that day in which God hath appointed to make his enemies his footstoole of which day the last judgement is but the last act And it is false also that Christs sitting at the right hand of God is his reigning For the Apostle Saint Paul saith That he sits not there reigning over his enemies but expecting the time in which they shall be made his footstoole Heb. 10.13 that is in which God shall bring him to reigne over them And that which followes in the Psalme doth shew what is to follow Christs comming from the right hand of God and not what is to goe before it as is shewed before Object 5 Fifthly you say That Christs Kingdome is an heavenly Kingdome 2. Tim. 2.17 and the reward of the godly is in heaven Matth. 5.10 11. as our Saviour spake of it and never of an earthly Kingdome unlesse by way of aversation Who made me a Judge saith be Luke 12.14 and the godly have prayed and wished to be with him in the heavens and never prayed to reigne in his earthly Kingdome 2 Cor. 5.1.6 Phil. 1.3 Sol. 5 And we say that the Kingdome of Christ is to be heavenly in condition and no way earthly but in place And that the reward of the godly departed before Christs comming is to be both in heaven and on earth Although the text Matth. 5.10 is meant onely of Christs Kingdome on earth called the Kingdom of heaven partly because of the heavenly constitution thereof but especially because the God of heaven shall mightily manifest his power in the setting of it up and because Christ and the Saints now in heaven shall come from heaven to governe it And we confesse that Christ at his first comming refused to be made a King and to undertake the actions belonging to his Kingly office because that was not the time in which he was to sit on the Throne of David but when he should come againe into the world as hath been plentifully proved And as Saint Peter Acts 2.30 31. doth plainely prove from the prophecy of David Psal 16. That Christs sitting on Davids Throne was not to foregoe but to follow his resurrection And what though the godly living in this world have prayed and desired to be dissolved and to be with Christ in heaven did they not therefore expect and wish to come with him againe from heaven certainely it is notoriously false to affirme that the godly never prayed to reigne in Christs Kingdome on earth For what is it that Christ taught them to aske in these petitions Thy Kingdome come Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven and what was it that the sonnes of Zebedee and the penitent theife sought for or what was it that the Elders sang praise to the Lambe for Rev. 5.9 10 was it not because by his death he had purchased for them a Kingdome then to come on earth Object 6 Sixthly you say That God hath raised up Christ from the dead and set him at his right hand in the heavens farre above all principality and power and every name that is named not onely in this world but also in that which is to come and hath put all things under his feete and gave him to be the head over all things Eph. 1.20 21 22. Whence it is manifest that seeing our Saviour governeth his Church and all Spirits are subject to him which authority is given unto him and so as God-man his Kingdome is not to beginne as yet Sol. 6 But certainely it is not manifest from hence that Christ doth now governe his Church any otherwise then he did before his incarnation that is outwardly and openly by mortall agents and inwardly and secretly by his Spirit and divine power Neither is it manifest from hence that all things are actually put under his feet or that all things are now thus subject to his manhood For who can better expound the Apostles meaning then the Apostle himselfe who in Heb. 2.9 saith We see Jesus who was made a little lower then the Angels for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honour that is raised from the dead and set at the right hand of God in the heavenly places farre above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named not onely in this world but also in that which is to come as it is exprest in Ephe. 1.20 21. But now we see not yet all things put under him saith the Apostle too Heb. 2.8 which words are quite contrary to these And hath put all things under him c. Ephes 1.22 What shall we say then that the Apostle speakes contradictions God forbid For they are put under him in a propheticall sense by a certaine appointment of it which is the meaning of the Apostle in the Ephesians where he speakes as the Prophet doth of what God intends to doe as if it were already done And they are not put under him in a proper and grammaticall sense by an actuall performance and visible manifestation of it which is the meaning of the Apostle in the Hebrews nor doubtlesse shall they be thus put under him untill that world to come of which the Apostle speakes Heb. 2.5 c. shall be put under him And then also he shall be visible Head over all things to the Church For then he shall sit and rule upon his Throne on the Throne of David on which God hath sworne with an oath to set him Acts 2.30 And shall be a Priest upon his Throne as Zechariah hath foretold chap. 6. ver 13. Object 7 Seventhly you say That when Christ shall descend from heaven with a shout and voice of the Arch-Angel with the trumpet of God the dead in Christ shall rise first and they who are alive and remaine shall be caught up together with them in the cloudes to meet the Lord in the aire and so shall be ever with the Lord 1 Thes 4. Here he is speaking of the same resurrection whereof be speakes 1 Cor. 15. as appeares by ver 52. and here he shewes the rising of the dead and change of the living to be together and that they both together shall meet the Lord and be ever with him Sol. 7 And what then will you conclude from hence that therefore these Saints shall not live with Christ on earth no you cannot for though they shall meet the Lord in the aire yet
to be understood of a spirituall wrath doe indeed rather confirme then confute this exposition Seeing it is plaine that the Apostle in ver 28. speakes of such Jewes onely who for the Gentiles sakes that were to be received into their roome were become the enemies of the Gospell of Christ and consequently not of such on whom God had mercy or would have mercy any otherwise then in making of them instruments for the fulfilling of his promise made unto the Fathers touching that elect remnant of their posterity whom he purposed to call by a generall conversion Object 10 Tenthly you say That the estate of the Church is described such that the godly shall be mixed with the ungâ—dly even till Christ come and gather the tares from the wheat to be burned Matth. 13.39 Sol. 10 And surely we say not that Christ shall reigne on earth before he comes to doe this but when he comes to do this And therefore also his Kingdome for so he calls it ver 41. shall not be a Kingdome of such carnall delight as you to vilifie the truth ascribe unto it It being the onely scope of this parable and anonother in the same chapter to set forth the righteousnesse thereof Your last words are All these and such like passages the Millenaries willingly passe over But let the reader judge whether you have not more cause to be ashamed of such arguments then we have to be afraid to answer them Israel's Redemption And in my conceit Saint Peter in the very next verse doth intimate as much for having before used the word Day he warnes them not to be ignorant of this one thing That one day is with the Lord as a thousand yeares and a thousand yeares as one day As if he had told them that the day he spake of was indeed a thousand yeares the Holy Ghost alwayes using it in this sense when it is emphatically applied to our Saviours comming or the Jewes redemption Which as it is already proved shall happen at the same time And though God as he is eternall cannot be measured by time and as he is immutable feeles no alteration in time a thousand yea ten thousand times ten thousand yeares and one day houre or minute of a day being in this respect all one to him yet this shift cannot void the exposition already given seeing the apparent dependance of these words on the former doth clearely prove that Saint Peter intended not to shew what a thousand yeares and one day were to God in regard of his nature which it is like they knew before but only what is usually meant by one day in the word of God And indeed to what purpose had this sudden and serious advertisement been inferred if the Apostle did not hereby discover unto them besides the largest definite and limited acception of the word such a speciall relation of a thousand yeares to one day as cannot belong to any other number when as touching Gods immensity and immutability one day might as well have been compared with ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands or thousands as I said as with one thousand yeares Mr. Petrie's Answer Whatsoever be your conceit you may see that the Apostle hath another purpose there for ver 4. he telleth of scoffers jeering at the promise of Christs comming because all things continue as they were and so all things seeme to have subsisting in themselves he refutes this imagination and showes that the world both was made and continueth by the word of God who is able to destroy as sometimes he did and hath appointed a day of judgement and perdition of ungodly men Here he putteth the day of judgement and perdition of ungodly men for that the scoffers say where is the promise of his comming so that at his comming he will judge and punish the ungodly which is contrary to the opinion of the Millenaries Then ver 8. he answereth to that opinion of delay saying One day is with the Lord as a thousand yeares He saith not one day is a thousand yeares as the Millenaries make the commentary shorter then the text but is as a thousand yeares and therefore here is no exposition but comparison as if he had said albeit a thousand yeares seeme a long time to us and so the world seemeth to have continued long yet it is not so with the Lord to whom all time is short or none And then he shewes the end why God delayeth that comming to wit in long-suffering toward men awaâ—ing the repentance of the last of them Whereby you see another meaning and another purpose even contrary to that conceit of the Millenaries The Apostle might have named many millions of yeares as one day in respect of Gods eternity but according to the usuall custome of speech he nameth a round great number for any number Reply You had no other shift to avoid the answering of my former answer but to call it a shift And here you have dealt no better with me then you have often done before to wit left out what was most unpleasing to your selfe and instructive to the read 〈◊〉 and made a flourish against the rest and yet all this will not serve your turne for first it is a manifest slander to say That Christs judging and punishing of the ungodly is contrary to the opinion of the Millenaries For doe not we say that the destruction of the Army in Armageddon is to be at our Saviours descending as it is plainely revealed Rev. 19. and alluded unto chap. 14. ver 19 20. and that there shall be then also a destruction of all obstinate and rebellious sinners as it is foretold in 2 Thes 1.7 8 9 10. and Rev. 16.20 21. and intimated in the parable of the tares and the net cast into the sea Matth. 13. and doe we not say likewise that when the new insurrection of the Nations shall be at the end of the 1000 yeares peacefull râ—igne fire shall come downe from God out of heaven and devoure them Rev. 20 And doe we not hold that all this shall be before the last act of the great day of the Lambes wrath in which the sentence of damnation shall be pronounced against all unbeleeving sinners at the last resurrection All this then being undeniable there can be no truth in your foresaid words And as in ver 5 6. the Apostle shewes the faithfull why the wicked should make a scoffe at the promise of Christs comming and in ver 9. gives them the reason of Gods putting off of his comming so long so in ver 8. hee makes no answer to the opinion of delay but puts them in minde of the meaning of the day of judgement spoken of in ver 7 which two verses doe seeme to be brought in by way of Parenthesis For though a 1000 yeares which seeme a long time to us be but a short time with the Lord as you say yet doubtlesse that which seemes a short time to us
an humane fancie that it may be drawne into scorne and contempt under this notion And surely seeing it is a great unbeliefe to despise the revealed truth of God therefore we have great need to beware of such unbeliefe as it is said in the use Israel's Redemption Thirdly not to contemne or revile the Jewes a fault too common in the Christian worlds and that partly because we are unmindfull as well of the Olive from whence we were taken as of that into which we are graffed whose root beares us and not we the root and partly because we misapply the infallible promises of God by which he hath so freely and so feelingly so often and so openly declared that he will again graffe them in For if we were cut out of the Olive tree which is wild by nature and were graffed contrary to nature into a good Olive tree how much more shall they which be naturall branches be graffed into their owne Olive trees Rom. 11.24 Mr. Petrie's Answer Whether serveth more for to move us to love the Jewes to know that the Jewes and Gentiles are one in Christ whensoever they shall be converted or to thinke that the Jewes shall not be converted till Christ come againe and thou they shall be Lords over the Gentiles a 1000 yeares The former doctrine presently throweth downe the partition wall and this opinion still holden it up at least for a 1000 yeares Reply This Query as it doth in it selfe containe an apparent untruth so it is grounded on a misreport of our Tenet For first it makes us to thinke that there shall be no Jewes converted untill the whole Nation be converted whereas we hold the partiall and as I may so call it typicall conversion of them the conversion of them I say in their first fruites with you and the generall and contemporating conversion of them the conversion of them in the whole lump against you Onely we say that the partiall and successive conversion their conversion in some particular persons and families hath since the Apostles dayes been very thinne and rare Secondly you make us to thinke that the Jewes shall not be converted till Christ comes when as we hold that they shall be converted before his comming and be wholly freed from the opposition of the Gentiles at and by his comming at the judgement which shall light on the world when he descends to destroy the Army in Armageddon And thridly you make us to thinke that there shall be no spirituall union betwixt the Jewes and Gentiles in the time of the thousand yeares reigns whereas there is not to be a full and perfect union betwixt them in their acknowledgement and worship of the true God till then and in that time As our Saviours prophecy John 10.16 and Zech. 14.16 c. and Isai 2.2 3 4. and many other doe witnesse And though the Gentiles shall then be tributaries to the Jewes yet they shall be much more happy in this subjection wherein they shall have Christ for their King and the glorified Saints for their chiefe governours under him then ever they were in their former liberty which for the most part they so much abused to the provocation of Gods everlasting wrath against them Even as now you account that Jew which is become the Lords free-man which savingly embraceth the truth of the Gospell much more happy in his captivity under and subjection to the Gentiles then if he were Lord of the whole earth and withall a stranger from the covenants of promise having no hope and being without God in the world These are your misreports and as for your Query it selfe it is false to imagine that the knowledge of the conversion of a few Jewes can move us to a greater love towards them then the knowledge of the conversion of the whole Nation can And what love soever you may grant to be due to them in your dispute of it we may well thinke that you make shew of little towards them in your actions as these words pag. 65. Let Jewes follow Jewish fables c. doe manifest In which there neither appeares any symptome of your desire of their conversion nor of your love towards them or us Israel's Redemption And lastly earnestly to beseech God that he would speedily put into execution the meanes which he hath appointed for their conversion that he would even in these our dayes bring this mystery to light by powring on his people the spirit of grace and supplications whereby they may beleeve and repent For their happinesse will both increase and consummate ours Zech. 12.10 so also the Apostle * If the fall of them c. Observe here what Iewes are said to occasion the riches of the Gentiles Not those that beleeved when the Apostle wrote this although many of them were the first instruments of the Gentiles conversion and much lesse they that have beleeved since that time for these as they come farce short of the others both in number and qualifications so they may be said rather to have taken of us then given unto us to have inherited the riches of the Gospel with us but not increased them Not the first beleevers thereof nor such which hitherto have so slowly and thinly followed them but the stiffe-necked and stubborne Iewes who slew Christ who martyred and persecuted his Disciples They are here said to be the reconciling of the world and the riches of the Gentiles And that because their fall and casting away moved God so soone to visit us with the tidings of salvation And their fulnesse the receiving of them it must be that shall perfect us The receiving of them I say which were then cast away but how not in their owne persons for it is impossible that the same men should fall and not fall should be cast away and not be cast away but in their posterity and that not in part and by sits but wholly and at once For the Apostle speakes not of particular men and families but of all the Tribeâ— of the whole Nation And indeed what but a generall conversion of the Iewes can bring such felicity to the Gentiles as shall not onely parallel but exceed the blessings which we have already received by their unbeliefe If the fall of them be the riches of the world and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles how much more their fulnesse and againe If the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world what shall the receiving of them be but life from the dead Rom. 11.12.15 Now to our Lord Jesus Christ who is both the light of the Gentiles and the glory of his people Israel who is the faithfull witnesse and the first begotten of the dead and the Prince of the Kings of the earth Unto him that loved us and washed us from our sinnes in his owne bloud and made us Kings and Priests unto God and his Father to him be glory and dominion for ever and