of the Militant Church forasmuch as the Church Militant and Triumphant are but one and the same Mystical Body Tho in the mean time they be not in the Church Militant but retired and withdrawn For they are not any more upon the Sea but they are gotten upon the Shore XX. ILLUSTRATION Of the opening of the Temple and of the Smoak where-with it was filled REV. CHAP. 15. v. 5 10. THe whole House built upon Mount Moriah is called the Temple and yet only that Appartment called the Holy of Holies where the Ark stood was properly the Temple and which is otherway's stiled the Tabernacle of Witness The opening of the Temple which is here spoken of is an allusion to the Church of the Iews For under the Reign and Idolatry of Ahaz the Temple was shut up but under Hezekiâ— the Reformer it was again opened So that this is as if St. John should say I saw the time of the Reformation when the Idolatry and Superstition of Rome were condemned and the Truth of the Gospel was publickly preached From thence these three things are to be gathered 1 That the Vials which are mentioned in this 15 chapter and poured out in the following do belong to this state of the Church wherein Antichrist is made manifest and wherein there shineth a measure of light in the Church 2 That the Vials are all contained under the seventh Trompet seeing we have the same fact that is here mentioned repeated under that Rev. chap. 11. v. 19. And 3 the Temple is not here Represented open in order to give a passage to the seven Angels that pour out the Vials but to give way for all Nations to enter in according as it is said v. 4. that all Nation shall come and worship before God. And this may be collected from v. 8. where it is said that no man could enter into the Temple till the seven plagues of the seven Angels were fulfilled Which plainly shews that the Temple is therefore opened that there may be a way made for men to enter into it against whom it had been so long shut The Smoak that filled the Temple answereth to the Cloud that covered the Tabernacle of Moses and to the Divine Glory which so filled the Tent of the Congregation that Moses himself was not able to enter into it Exod. chap. 40. v. 34. which thing is also reported of the Temple of Solomon 1 Kings chap. 8. v. 10 11 Now as the Cloud was a Symbol ' of Gods gracious presence in the midst of Israel so the Smoak here spoken of is a presage of the Lords Return again into his Temple which he had for so song time abandoned to the Gentiles i. e. to the followers of the Beast and to the Citizens of Babylon chap. 11. v. 2. 'T is added that this Smoak caused that no man was able to enter into the Temple till the seven plagues of the seven Angels were fulfilled Which intimateth that tho the time of the destruction of the Churches Enemies draweth near and the time wherein the Gospel shall shine bright in the world yet that the Gospel will not be universally received and followed of all Nations till after the Subversion of Babylon which will not be until the Vials have been poured out XXI ILLUSTRATION Of the fall of Babylon and the Time when REV. CHAP. 18. THe Destruction of Babylon is described at length in the 18th Chapter But whereas Babylon may be taken either for the City of Rome or for her Empire which is the Papacy or Popery the Destruction described in the 18th chap. do's respect her only in the first sense to wit as She is the Seat of the Beast According as She is intended in the effusion of the fifth Vial that is as She is the Seat of the Papal Kingdom For after that the Angel had said that her plagues shall come in one day death and mourning and famine and that she shall be utterly burnt with fire because strong is the Lord God who judgeth her he then addeth that the Kings of the Earth who have committed fornication and lived diliciously with her shall bewaile her and lament for her when they shall see the smoak of her burning that the merchants also shall mourn over her because none buyeth her Merchandise any more and that every Ship-master and all Sailers in Ships shall cast dust on their heads when they shall see the smoak of her burning Now who are these Kings these Merchants these Shipmasters and these Sailors that do thus mourn and lament upon the seeing the subversion of Rome and the total ruin of her that was both the mother of their Faith and of all Churches The Kings are partly the Cardinals who do esteem themselves equal to Princes and partly Kings themselves and Soveraign's that are Secular The Masters of Ships are Archbishops and Bishops The Sailers are the inferior Clergy The Merchants are the Friers that sell the dispensations the Indulgences the Relicks the Agnus Dei's c. and who do vend those Triffles as the most precious of all commodities making people believe that the peace of their consciences and the salvation of their Soul 's pend upon them So that there shall be papists and Roman Catholicks subsisting after that Rome is destroyed and who shall worship that Idol tho reduced into ashes Thus 't is said in the 16th chap. v. 10. that the fifth Angel poured out his Vial upon the Seat of the Beast and his Kingdom became full of darkness The Seat of the Beast is the City Rome which is now the Seat of the Papal Kingdom as it was heretofore of the Roman Empire But this Kingdom shall subsist for a while after that Rome it self is destroyed Forasmuch as it is said that after the pouring out of the fifth Vial the Kingdom of the Beast became full of darkness i. e. sorrowful dejected full of affliction and mourning without that pomp and splendor which it had enjoyed before the effusion of that Vial. Yea St. Iohn tells us in the 19. chap. v. 19. that he saw the Beast and the Kings of the Earth and their Armies gathered together to make war against him that sat upon the white Horse and against his Army And that the Beast was taken and with him the false Prophet that wrought miracles before him with which be deceived them that had received the mark of the Beast and them that worshipped his Image and that these two were cast alive into a Lake of fire burning with brimstone So that it shall be after the destruction of the City of Rome ere the Papal Hierarchy and the Pope come to be entirely abolished The Time that is to run out between the one and the other is not expresly marked by the H. Spirit no more than the Time wherein Rome is to be destroyed But in all probability this destruction can not be far off For of the two signs which are to precede it we do already see one
general Councils which were constituted of the Bishops of the whole Empire these Councils contributed to the Exaltation of the Bishop of Rome So that Gregory I. spake according to his interest when he said that he had the same regard for the 4. Councils viz. of Nice Constantinople Ephesus and Calcedon that he had for the four Gospels Which was a plain Blasphemy and very suteable to Antichrist 6. St. John delivereth the Explication which the Angel gave of the Vision of the 17th Chapter v. 12. in these Words The ten Horns which thou sawest are ten Kings which have received no Kingdom as yet but receive power as Kings one hour with the Beast For we are not to seek for these Kings in the Eastern Empire that continued until the Turks became Masters of it which is something more than two hundred years but we are to seek for them in the Western Empire And the reason of it is because there were not several Kingdoms formed out of the ruins of the Eastern Empire as there have according to the Terms of the Vision been formed out of the Western We are not to confine our selves positively to the number of ten seeing that number is taken indefinitely in the Revelation Thus chap. 2. v. 10. the tribulation of ten days that is spoken of is to denote a long persecution All that is essential to be remarked is that these ten Kingdoms or Soveraignties are formed out of the ruins of the Western Empire Which Daniel says positively chap. 7. v. 24. as well as St. John who from the Angels Interpretation of the Vision saith that the ten Kings receive their power in the same hour with the Beast After these observations from Scripture it will be of advantage to consider the following matters of Fact which are all expresly recorded in History It was in the fourth Age that the Fasts Abstinences of the Montemists came to be received in the Church of Rome And in that Age Pope Syricius condemned the Marriage of Priests It was in the fourth Age that Pope Mark wrote Letters to Anastasius and to the Bishops of Egypt in these words The Church of Rome hath always been without afault and through the grace of God and the protection of St. Peter for ever shall be so Which words favour both of Idolairy and of Blasphemy 'T was in the 4th Age that the 2. first Councils of Nice and Constantinople were held as those of Ephesus and Chalcedon were kept in the fifth And although as these Councils did not greatly exalt the Bishop of Rome we may truly say that they opened a way and served as a Bridg to the following Councils which have made it their business to advance the Pope to what he is at this day 'T was in the fourth Age that the Emperors embraced the Christian Religion that they were so liberal to the Bishop of Rome and that they stript themselves of the dignity of Supream Pontiff in favour to him From the time of Iulius Cesar they had always retained it that they might thereby render their persons sacred and inviolable 'T was the Emperor Gratian that surrendred it and since that time none of his Successors have claimed it 'T was in the fifth Age that the Emperors withdrew from Rome and chose Ravenna and Milan for their residence 'T was in the beginning of the fifth Age that the Western Empire was destroyed by the Barbarians and that out of the ruins of it they formed several Soveraignties in Germany Gaul Spain and Italy 'T was in the fifth Age that in order to allure the Pagans to Christianity the Church espoused many of their Ceremonies such as the Invocation of Saints the Worship of Images the Veneration of Relicks and Prayers for the dead 'T was in the beginning of the fifth Age that Pope Innocent I. defended the Right of Appeals to the Sea of Rome Finally it was in the fifth Age that the Controversy between Pope Leo 1. and other Bishops about the matter of Appeals was in the most solemn and authentick manner that the Bishop of Rome could desire ended and determined in his favour When the two Emperors Theodosius and Valentintan granted unto him and issued out an Edict in the following terms We by this perpetual Edict have ordained that no Bishop whether they be of Gaul or of any other Provinces shall contrary to the ancient customs attempt any thing hereafter without the Authority of the venerable Pope of the Eternal City But that whatsoever the Authority of the Apostolick Sea shall ordain shall be submitted to by all others as unto a Law. So that whosoever of the Bishops having appealed shall neglect to appear at the Tribunal of the Roman Bishop shall be obliged to appear before the Governor of the Province where he lives provided always that whatsoever things our Sacred Predecessors have granted to the Church of Rome shall be unchangeably and universally preserved We need go no farther in order to seek for the birth of the Antichristian Empire or to find the fatal Date where the 1260. days or the 42. Months of the continuance of the Beasts Reign doth begin For in what is already mentioned we find every thing that goes to the constitution of Antichristianism namely Error in Doctrine Idolatry in Worship and Tyranny in Government Forasmuch as we find the Roman Church at that time guilty of Forbidding Marriage and of Commanding to abstain from Meats which are the two characters of the Apostacy fore-told by St. Paul. And because we find her defiled with prayers for the dead with the Worshipping of Images with the Invocation of Saints with the veneration of Relicks and brought into a subjection to a Bishop who was by an Imperial Edict established Soveraign Judg of all other Bishops within the Circle of the Roman Empire That Edict was published anno 445. in favour of Leo I. and of his Successors It is then in that year at the soonest and at the latest also that we are to fix the fatal Epoche of the birth of the Antichristian Empire and consequently may hope to see the End of it in the year 1705. For if unto 445. which was the year of the Edict of Valentinian and Theodosius there be added 1260. the total will be 1705. And if from 1705. there be substracted 445. the Remain will be 1260. which is the time of the duration of the Beasts Reign The Historian Florus hath considered the Roman Empire passing through the different Ages and periods of human life and according to that Idea he hath marked the Birth and Infancy of that Empire under Kings its youth from Brutus and Collatinus who were the first Consuls till the time of Appius Claudius its Manhood from Appius Claudius till the time of the Emperor Augustus and its Old Age from Augustus till the time of Trajan under whose Reign that Historian lived and under which he says that the Empire tho' verging to a decrepitness bestirred it self as if it
their Felicity and whence they same 159 8 Of the Silence in Heaven for half an hour 162 9 Of the seven Angels with the seven Trumpets and of the Angel who cast the Censer into the Earth 163 10 Of the first Trumpet and of the Hail Fire and Blood. 165 11 Of the second Trumpet a Mountain burning cast in the Sea and a third part of it became Blood. 167 12 Of the third Trumpet A great Star fall from Heaven 169 13 Of the fourth Trumpet the third part of the Sun and of the Moon and of the Stars smitten 172 14 Of the fifth Trumpet the Key of the bottomless Pit given to the Star that fell from Heaven 174 15 Of the Locusts 179 16 Of the sixth Trumpet the loosing of the four Angels in the River Euphrates 194 17 Of the Angel with the Book open 201 18 Of the Voice of the Angel that had his right Foot upon the Sea and his left upon the Earth and of the seven Thunders 203 19 Of the Angels Oath and of the finishing the Mystery of God. 205 20 Of the Angels giving the Book to S. John to be eaten and of the effects which ensue thereupon Pag. 207 21 Of the measuring of the Temple and of the outward Court to be trodden under foot of the Gentiles 209 22 Of the two Witnesses their Sackcloth State the time of their Prophecying and their Dignity 212 23 Of the Witnesses being overcome and slain and left unburied 216 24 Of the rising of the Witnesses their Ascending into Heaven and of what follows upon their triumph 227 25 Of the seventh Trumpet The Ark opened in Heaven the Kingdoms of this world become the Lords 240 26 Of the pouring out of the Vials 245 27 Of the time that the Beasts Reign is to continue 265 28 Of the time when the Beasts Reign or the Papal Empire began 269 29 Of the Destruction of Gog and Magog 278 30 Of S. Johns Offence in falling at the Angels feet to worship him 280 31 Of Christs directing his Epistles and his Revelation to the seven Churches and why 284 ◠Defence of the Illustrations upon the Apocalypse concerning the Effusion of the Vials Page 1 Reasons for the Non-Effusion of the Vials 27 A NEW SYSTEME OF THE APOCALYPSE OR A Plain and Methodical Explanation of all the Visions of the REVELATION of St. JOHN The FIRST Part. I. ILLUSTRATION What we are to understand by the BEAST SAint John having in the 17. Chapter v. 1 2 3. told us how he was carried into the Wilderness by one of the Seven Angels that had the seven Viols and how he there saw a Woman sitting upon a Scarlet Beast full of Names of Blasphemy having seven Heads and ten Horns and having in the Vision related in the 13. Chapter described this Beast unto us we are therefore in the first place to inquire what is meant by this Beast with Seven Heads and Ten Horns that we may be able thereby to know with the more certainty and with the greater plainness who this Woman is that is called Babylon the Great whom the Beast carries Nor will it be difficult to understand the meaning and import of this Term Beast it having been explained in the Visions of Daniel For that Prophet having in the 7 th Chap. v. 3 4 5 6 7. declared how that he beheld Four Beasts rising out of the Sea the first whereof resembled a Lion the second a Bear the third a Leopard and the fourth different from the three former He adds that having asked one of the Angels that stood before the Ancient of Day 's what the meaning of that Vision might be it was answered him v. 17. that these four Beasts were four Kings which should arise upon the Earth So that this Explication vouchsav'd by the Angel unto Daniel concerning the Vision of the four Beasts do's fully inform us that this Term Beast in the Revelations of St. John signifies a Power à n Empire a Succession of Kings and Rulers as the four in Daniel's Visions represented the four Empires the Assyrian Persian Grecian and Roman with which the Church of God was concerned and which four Empires had been before represented by the Image that appeared to Nebuchadnezzar in his Dream Dan. 2. 31 c. The word Beast being then used in the Visions of Daniel to denote an Empire or a Succession of Soveraign Rulers it can have no other signification affixed unto it in the Visions of St. John forasmuch as one Spirit inspired both the Apostle and the Prophet And this is the more evident in that Daniel's fourth Beast is the same with that in St. Johns Visions as do's plainly appear by the universal and perfect Agreement that is between the one and the other 1. Whereas Daniel tells us c. 7. v. 7. that the Fourth Beast which is the Roman Empire and to which he gave no Name was different from the three former from the Lion the Bear and the Leopard so St. Iohn represents the Beast upon which the Woman sitteth not only as diverse from those three but as that which there is none that bears any resemblance unto and which as he says Rev. 13. 2. had the Body of a Leopard and whose Feet were as the Feet of a Bear and his Mouth as the Mouth of a Lion. 2. Whereas Daniel Chap. 7. 7. says of the fourth Beast that he had ten Horns St. Iohn says the same of the Beast that carried the Woman Rev. 17. 12. 3. And as Daniel informs us Chap. 7. 24. that the ten Horns of the fourth Beast were ten Kings that should arise out of that Kingdom St. Iohn likewise assures us Rev. 17. 12 that the ten Horns of the Beast upon which the Woman sitteth are ten Kings which had not then received any Kingdom 4. Whereas Daniel says Chap. 7. v. 8. 25. that the little Horn of the fourth Beast had a Mouth speaking great things and uttering words against the Most High. St. Iohn also say's of the Beast that carried the Woman Rev. 13. 5 6. that there was given unto him a Mouth speaking great things and that he opened his Mouth in Blasphemies against God. 5. Forasmuch as Daniel tells us Chap. 7. v. 21. concerning the little Horn of the fourth Beast that he made war with the Saints and prevailed against them St. John say's the same of the fourth Beast upon which the Woman sitteth Rev. 13. 7. namely that it was given unto him to make war with the Saints and to overcome them 6. And whereas Daniel declares Chap. 7. v. 25. that the Saints shall be given into the hands of the fourth Beast a time times and the dividing of time St. John declares also of the Beast upon which the Woman sitteth Rev. 13. 7. that Power was given unto him to continue forty and two moneths which make just three Prophetical years and a half 7. Lastly Forasmuch as Daniel says of the fourth Beast chap. 7. v. 11. that he was
considered two ways First more grossly and in the bulk as it comprehendeth all the Seven Heads and in that sense it is nothing but a Regency under the seven Forms of Government which Rome hath passed throw since its Foundation and so it indefinitely and at large designs the Roman Empire Secondly As it is used precisely or strictly to denote the Beast under the seventh Head which is the Pope or Papal Power and so it is represented by the Beast with Two Horns 'T is most evident that it is Rome under the seventh Head which is the Pope that is here spoken of in that it is the Healing of the Wound which the Beast had received under the sixth Head. For he both speaks of this Wound in the third Verse and then of the Healing of it by the Beast with two Horns which is the Papacy in the 12. Verse Now that the Papal Empire is the Seventh Head or the Beast with Two Horns will be demonstratively proved by observing the conformity which is between that Beast and the Papal Kingdom 1. For whereas the Term Beast does signify a Domination and an Empire it cannot be denied but that the Romish Church is an Empire and that it may be stiled the Papal Kingdom and the Roman Empire 2. Forasmuch as Horns according as we have proved do denote Iurisdictions and Powers so the Papal Authority comprehends a twofold Power and two kinds of Domination one over that which is Temporal and another over that which is Spiritual One over this Life and another over that which is to come So that the Papal Kingdom must be that which is meant by the Beast with Two Horns 3. Whereas 't is said Rev. 13. 11. that the Two Horns of the Beast were like the Two Horns of the Lamb. All do know that Jesus Christ hath a twofold Authority or two kinds of Soveraignty One over the Soul and another over the Body One over that which is Temporal and another over that which is Spiritual And seeing the Pope boasts of this twofold Authority under pretence of being the Vicar of Jesus Christ it does therefore follow that he is the Beast with the Two Horns 4. And whereas 't is said Rev. 13. 11. that the Beast with two Horns spake as a Dragon 't is undeniable that the Pope speaks in the same manner and not only like the Devil Matth. 4. 9. assumeth to himself a Right of Disposing of all the Kingdoms of the World and of forbidding men to obey the Commandments of God but as the calumniating Spirit he reproacheth Gods Word both by accusing it of falsehood and by robbing it of its perspicuity integrity perfection sufficiency and of its Authority which he challengeth to himself 5. It being said Rev. 13. 12. that the Beast with two Horns exerciseth all the power of the first Beast whose deadly wound was healed This does perfectly agree to the Papal Power For the Roman Empire that flourished in St. Iohn's time having received a Deadly Wound it became healed thro the application of the Papal Authority as a Plaister unto it Now that Wound consisted in two things in the Subversion of the Pagan Idolatry and in the Abatement of the Glory of Rome And the Heathens were wont to observe in their Disputations against the Christians that as the ancient Religion fell from its splendor so the Glory of Rome did proportionably decay And as the Pagan Idolatry became in effect destroyed by the conversion of Constantine and the care of his Successors so Rome as to its Glory being first much darkned and almost extinguished and then being destroyed by the Goths tho it came afterwards to be restored yet it was never honored to be the Residence of the Emperors in that they fixed their abode at Ravenna and Millan These two Wounds seemed to be incurable but the Papal Soveraignty did perfectly heal them both For in the room of the God's Worshipped under Paganism there was set up the Adoration of Angels Saints the Consecrated Bread and of Relicks So that by this new Idolatry Panagism became again restored And withal Rome hath recovered a Glory not only equal unto its former but greater than what it had seeing the Pope thro having made it the Seat of his Empire appears there as the true Successor of the Heathen Emperors as the Commander of Kings and as the Supream Pontife as well as Chief Cesar who hath united the Priesthood to the Imperial Dignity In a word the Pope is the Head of a Senate attired in Purple and challengeth a Right of Deposing Kings and of disposing Crowns and who receives Tribute from all People and makes himself to be adored not only with a Civil but with a Religious Adoration as the Emperors of old used to be Both Blondus and Steuchus Bishop of Egubium do ingenuously describe without being aware of it how the Wound which Rome had received is again healed thro means of the Soveraignty that is come to be vested in the Pope The first says That the Majesty of Rome is now greater than ever it was because the Princes of the Earth do now worship the Successor of St. Peter as perpetual Dictator that is as Soveraign Pontife and as Vicar of the High Priest Jesus Christ And the other tells us That if after the Subversion of the Roman Empire God had not raised up the Papacy in which the ancient Majesty of Rome is revived that City had been a Habitation of Brute Beasts whereas by the establishment of the Papacy it hath recovered a grandure very little different from that which it had in the time of the old Empire seeing all Nations do now no less Reverence the Bishop of Rome than heretofore they obeyed the Roman Emperors So that by this it appears that the Beast with Two Horns is nothing but the Papacy forasmuch as the Papal Power hath healed Rome of the Wound she had received under the Emperors and rendred her again both Idolatrous and Mistriss of the World as she was heretofore 6. Whereas 't is said of the Beast with Two Horns Rev. 13. 12. That he causeth the Earth and them that dwell therein to worship the first Beast this agrees also to the Papacy which causeth that Rome being healed of its Wound is as much if not more reverenced than ever it had been upon an alledged pretence of having been the Chair and Seat of St. Peter As the Pagans made a Goddess of Rome Heathen by consecrating a Temple and dedicating a Feast unto her which they called Septimontium so Christians do no less make a Goddess of Rome Christian both by stiling her the Mistriss of the World and thro attributing to her the Priviledg of Infallibility that does belong to none save unto God. 7. 'T is further said Rev. 13. 13. That the Beast with two Horns doth great Signs and Wonders so that he maketh Fire come down from Heaven Now all men do not only know that the Romish Legends are full
in Woods or in Holes of Rocks and were accused of committing there execrable Crimes and Murders and of being guilty of Conspiracies against the Government and of Uncleannesses and incestuous Converses as doth appear by the Apologies of Tertullian and other Writers of that time And whereas it is said that the Dragon was cast out of Heaven unto the Earth and that there was no place found any more for him in Heaven nor for his Angels this was verified by the conversion of Rome and her Emperors because Paganism being then destroyed both in Rome and through the whole Empire and the Devil being neither any more Worshipped under the name of Mars nor his Angels which are they that were his persecuting Emissaries respected and dreaded as they had been before there was no place found any more for him in heaven ` For in Rome he had no more a Temple where he was worshipped nor were there throughout the whole Roman Empire any more Pagans who did adore him so that he is thenceforth accounted of as fallen from Heaven to Earth according to the Prediction of the Son of God Luc. 10. 18. I beheld Satan as lightning fall from Heaven And forasmuch as St. John farther says I heard a loud voice saying in heaven now is come salvation and the Kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ for the Accuser of our Brethren is cast down This is a description of the joy that was among believers when they saw Iesus Christ victorious and triumphant over the Dragon the subversion of Idols the down fall of paganism and the Church come out of Caves Woods and the Holes of Rocks and to assemble openly in the very Temples where the Dragon had been worshipped and there to worship the true God Creator and Redeemer So that if it be asked who those Angels of the Dragon are that fought for him I answer that they are the Philosophers the Orators the Priests of the Idols Gods and Magistrates who made use of all sort of Tricks Frauds Outrages of blind Zeal Violence Fines Banishments Imprisonments and Executions As upon the other hand Michaels Angels are the Pastors and Teachers who made use of no other Weapons nor Defence but that of the Sword of the Word of God of Faith of a holy Life and of Patience As it is said v. 11. that they overcame the Dragon by the Blood of the Lamb and by the word of their Testimony and they loved not their lives unto the death XI ILLUSTRATION Of the Flight of the Woman REV. CHAP. 12. v. 14. THis Flight of the Woman had been mentioned v. 6. where it is said that after the Man child was caught up unto God and to his Throne the Woman fled into the Wilderness where she hath a place prepared of God that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore Days But it appeareth by the 14 verse that this was spoken there by way of Anticipation and that the Flight of the Woman fell out after the fall of the Dragon that is after the destruction of Heathenism and the conversion of the Emperors Which gives us to understand that the Birth of Atichristianism followed soon after the deliverance from the Persecutions of the Pagan Emperors For ever since the Church decayed in her Purity the prosperity which She enjoyed under the Christian Emperors having suddenly and insensibly corrupted her And Platina tells us that a voice was then heard Hodie venenum funditur in Ecclesiam i. e. Poison is now poured forth upon the Church Nevertheless this Flight of the Church did not lye in a change of Place but in a change of her external State. In a word it was an Eclipse rather than a proper Flight a Darkness rather than a Retreat and discovered it in the pride Covetousness Luxury and Dissoluteness of the Churches Guides and in the Doctrines Worship and Ceremonies which She borrowed from the Pagans The Place which God had prepared for her was a little Corner of that Temple which is spoken of Rev. 11. 1. when the outward Court was trodden under foot by the Gentiles that is by those who had adopted and brought in Human Traditions and Heathenish Rites and Ceremonies into the Christian Religion The Two Wings given unto the Woman to forward her Flight and to render it the more expeditious and safe do denote the same thing that the measuring of the Temple doth in the eleventh chap. For he speaketh here of the same persons to wit the Church and of the same Time namely that which succeeded soon after the End of the Churches Persecution by the Heathen Emperors and of the same Design which is the Preservation of Believers against the Calamities threatned by the Trumpets The Wilderness into which She fled Intimateth unto us the Churches Obscurity Poverty and Distress of which there were different degrees For at some seasons the Church was not so much as visible no more than the seven thousand of the ten Tribes were under Ahab and Iesabel that were unknown to the Prophet Elias She fled into the Wilderness with the Wings of an Eagle as the Church of Israel is said to have been carried upon Eagles Wings Exod. 19. 4 which both shews the speediness and the safety of her Flight and that She should remain and be entertained within the Bounds of the Roman Empire And as the Eagle's being the Arms of the Roman Empire putteth this out of all doubt so the Two Wings of the Eagle do denote the Empire of the East and that of the West where the Church of God hath been kept hidden and had been fed during the time of her Poverty and great Distress And She hath been Fed not with the unsavoury and poisonous Food of Human Traditions and Ceremonies or Doctrines drawn from the Pagan Religion but with the sound and wholsom Food of the Word of God. Nor can She be fed with any other Nourishment so that this is the same thing with that which is said in the 11. chap. v. 2 3. viz. that while the Holy City should be trodden under foot by the Gentiles the Lord should cause his two Witnesses to prophesie a thousand two hundred and threescore dayes cloathed in Sack-cloth For this Prophecy of the two Witnesses is nothing else save the Bread and Food of the Church which he speaketh of here From which it necessarily followeth that this Flight of the Woman into the Wilderness is of the same Date with the treading down of the City by the Gentiles which is mentioned chap. 11. v. 2. The Time that the Church was to be nourished in the Wilderness is expressed by Time Times and half a Time. Which amounts to the 1260. dayes of the sixth verse Nor can this be gainsaid in that no man can deny but that the Flight spoken of v. 6 is the same with the Flight that is discoursed of v. 14. Now we shall see elsewhere what is meant both by the 1260. Dayes and
Censer and filled it with fire of the Altar and cast it into the Earth and there were voyces and thundrings and lighnings and an Earthquake TRumpets were used under the Law for two uses One was for War and to encourage the people to fight The other was for peace and to stir up the people to a holy rejoicing Those spoken of here are of the first sort The Seven Angels are the denouncers of those Evils which God was to pour out upon the Church to punish her decay in zeal and Charity The other Angel who stood before the Golden Altar with a Golden Censer is Jesus Christ that appeared in the 7. Chap. with the Seal of God and appeareth now as a Priest with a Censer that is to say as an Intercessor And his Intercession appeareth here with two different effects one for his people in obtaining their prayers to be accepted and his giving value to them is figured by incense The other against false Christians upon whom he scattereth fire from off the Altar This is the fire of division whereof Christ speaks Luke 12. 49 51. I am come to send fire on the earth Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on Earth I tell you nay but rather division 'T is said that this fire was taken off the Altar because it was to be kindled in a Church destitute of zeal and charity and because this fire of division was to be about Religion as the subject of it and by reason that Jesus Câ—rist was to be the cause of it or at least the pretence The voices thundrings lightnings and Earthquake that ensued upon the Scattering of this fire do plainly represent the strifes quarrels and troubles which under the Reign of Constantin and his Successors broke out among the Bishops and Pastors Who being given up to covetousness luxury and ambition raised such troubles as shook the Christian Religion and opened a door to Antichristianism which did appear under the Trumpets X. ILLUSTRATION Of the first Trumpet and of the Hail Fire and Blood. REV. CHAP. 8. V. 1. And the seven Angels which had the Seven Trumpets prepared themselves to sound V. 7. And the first Angel sounded and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood and they were cast upon the Earth and the third part of the Trees was burnt up and all green Grass was burnt up WE find not in History any change that befell the Church so near to the withholding the winds and to the Silence for half an hour i. e. so near to the peaceable Reign of Constantin which either more opened a door to Antichristianism or which better correspondeth to this Hail to this fire and to this blood caused by this first Trumpet than that so much noted Heresie of Arius 1 Arianism begun to lift up its head under the Reign of Constantin The Church had no sooner peace than the Devil let loose this Heretick to trouble her 2 This Heresie infected the whole Empire The world saith St. Ierom trembleth and is amased to see it self become Arian It lasted near three hundred years Many Councils were assembled to stop its course And it was in these Councils that the Bishop of Rome laid the foundation of that Supremacy which made him afterward to be considered and feared as the Head the judg and the absolute Monarch both of the world and of the Church 3 The hail the fire and the blood do admirably agree to that Heresie 'T is called Hail by reason both of its violence and of the noise which it made and because of the barrenness and coldness which it begot in mens hearts out of which it drove away godliness and charity 'T is stiled Fire because of the contentions which it kindled And it is called Blood by reason of the bloody persecutions which it raised And whereas she third part of the Trees and every green Herb are said to have been burnt up it is because more than one half of the Pastors who are designed by Trees and the generality of the people signified by all green Grass were infected with it XI ILLUSTRATION Of the second Trumpet A Mountain Burning cast into the Sea and a third part of it became Blood. REV. CHAP. 8. V. 8. And the second Angel sounded and as it were a great Mountain burning with fire was cast into the Sea and the third part of the Sea became blood V. 9. And the third part of the Creatures which were in the Sea and had life died and the third part of the Ships were destroyed 'T Is certain that Mountains do in the language of the Prophets signify the Kingdoms of the Earth Thus Mount Sion signifieth the Church which is the Kingdom of God. And thus 't is said Isaiah chap. 2. v. 14. that the day of the Lord shall be against all the high Mountains that is against all Nations tho' never so fierce and against all Kingdoms how powerful soever So that this burning Mountain thrown into the Sea cannot be better explained than of the Nations of the Goths Visigoths Ostrogoths Vandal's and Gepid's that under the Reign of Valens about the year 378. broke in like an inundation upon the Roman Empire destroyed Rome and who abolished the very Name of the Roman Empire in the West about the year 547. These Nations are stiled a burning Mountain because of their violence and of their swiftness This Mountain was cast into the Sea because it was an effect of the wrath of God that these Nations broke in upon the Roman Empire which was a great Sea a heap of many peoples which the Scripture useth to express by waters Now this burning Mountain is not said to dry up the Sea tho that be the proper effect of fire but it is said to have caused the third part of the Sea to become blood the H. Spirit having a respect to what is here signified by this Mountain namely the fierce and bloody humour of these Nations who drowned a part of the Roman Empire in blood infected the people of this Empire with Errors and destroyed a part of its Cities designed here by Ships XII ILLUSTRATION Of the third Trumpet A great Star fell from Heaven REV. CHAP. VIII V. 10. And the third Angel sounded and there fell a great Star from heaven burning as it were a Lamp and it fell upon the third part of the Rivers and upon the Fountains of Waters V. II. And the Name of the Star is called Worm-wood and the third part of the waters became Worm-wood and many men died of the waters because they were made bitter SEeing Jesus Christ hath in the first chap. v. 20. expounded the seven Stars which he had in his right hand to represent Pastors it must necessarily be that by the Star spoken of here some Bishop or Pastor should be intended And forasmuch as it is a great Star it must be a great Bishop that is designed and the Pastor of some Church which men esteem'd to be the
but we shall be extreamly surprised at the re-establishment of the Reformed Churches in France because we know the King to be of opposite Sentiments to them But as it is the King of France who contributeth most to the Glory of the Papacy So it shall be the King of France that shall contribute most to its ruin It was a Louis XII who in the last age threatned to destroy the Romish Church perdam Babylonis nomen And it shall be a Louis who will execute the threatning of that generous King. The God of heaven and Earth the King of Kings who has the hearts of Kings and of people in his hand raiseth in us this hope because it is further added in the Prophecy 5 That the same hour there was a great Earthquake and the tenth part of the City fell It may be doubted whether this Earthquake may come to pass according to the letter But it is most certain that Earthquakes in scripture signify great alterations that fall out in States And to bring no other example save one that relates nearly to this matter Whosoever remembers that Earthquake which was in France when the King returned from the Pyrenees after the Treaty of Peace and the consummation of his Marriage and considers the great alterations which have since fallen out in that Kingdom not only in reference to Religion as well Popish as Reformed but in reference to Justice to Policy to the Finances and to War will no longer question but that the Earthquake which is to be after the Witnesses have lyen three days and a half dead doth promise as surprising a change in France as to all those regards and an alteration wherewith all the world will be contented except it be the Clergy the Monks and the Jesuites Some will doubless ask what reason I have to understand France rather than any other Kingdom by this tenth part of the City which is to fall after the Eartquake My reasons are these 1 I presuppose that the City here spoken of is Babylon or the Papal Empire or the Romish Church which is the Empire of Antichrist This Truth we have already proved 2 I presuppose that France is One of the ten Horns of the Beast One of the ten Kingdoms that were to be formed out of the ruins of the Roman Empire according to Daniel and which was to begin at the same time with the Beast according to St. John that is to begin with the Papal Empire This is evident in History 3 I presuppose France is one Street and one part of the City i. e. of the Papal Kingdom Nor can any deny but that the Gallican Church or the Church of France stiles it self by the Title of the Catholick Apostolick Roman Church that the Pope Reigns there over what is called Spiritual that he hath there his Ministers and Agents that he receiveth Annates from thence and that there is no Arch-Bishop or Bishop in France but who receives his Mission and Authority from the Pope 4 I suppose that France is the most beautiful and glorious Kingdom of all those Kingdoms which are Tributary to the Pope They do so account it by calling the King of France the most Christian King and the eldest Son of the Church And it is worthy of remark that even in St. Johns time France was by way of excellency stiled the Province because of all the Provinces of the Roman Empire France which was then called Gaul was the best and the most powerful This is so certain that the name do's yet remain and is attributed to the Southern part of France which is stiled Province from the latin Provincia It being therefore said in the Text that the tenth part of the City fell the Holy Spirit did questionless intend by that expression the most excellent part of all So that it is from thence very natural to understand France by the tenth part of the City Lastly we have already observed that it is not said that the two Witnesses were killed and that they lay unburied in the places or Streets in the plural number but in the Street of the great City in the singular which is as much as to say a Popish Kingdom marked out by way of excellency And therefore seeing the Holy Spirit had the most excellent of all the Popish Kingdoms in his Eye and seeing we have seen the death which in so surprising a manner hath befallen the Witnesses in France we may without any difficulty conclude that it is France which is this tenth part of the City that is to fall 6 'T is said that the tenth part of the City shall fall This may at the first view appear a dreadful prediction against France But yet it is not so For we must observe that this threatning is not as it would at first seem denounced against the tenth part of the City but against the City it self Because as that is the alone cause of the death of the two Witnesses so that is also the object of Gods vengeance 'T is then the City the Papal Kingdom which is to receive a terrible loss by the falling away of France Whereas France it self will increase both its strength and Glory by that falling off and withdrawing So that upon the whole I do not doubt but that it is the conversion of that beautiful Kingdom which is promised in this place And that which confirmeth me the more in this conjecture is what followeth namely that there i. e. in the tenth part of the City which was to fall by an Earthquake there shall be slain of men seven thousand and that the remnant shall be affrighted and give glory to God. In which words we have two Events represented unto us whereof the one is very different from the other both of them worthy of observation The one is an effect of the vengeance of God the other an effect of his Mercy The first event is the death of seven thousand names of men Which is a figure where seven thousand names of men are put for seven thousand men of name that is of quality reputation and dignity These Men of Name are doubtless either the Doctors who make a great deal of noise in France in the Sorbone in the Society of the Oratory in the Society of the Jesuites and among the Clergy or else persons of quality who are distinguished from others by their birth and by their honor The Number of seven thousand denotes an indefinite number but very considerable And the death of these men will be a death parallel to the Death of the Witnesses that so like may be returned unto them for like For that the same shall be rendred unto Babylon which She rendred unto Sion is both threatned in the Prophesies of Isaiah and in the Revelations of St. John Isa 14. 6. Rev. 18. 6. Not that these seven thousand men shall be compelled by the fury of Missionary Dragoons to abjure Popery and to embrace the Reformed Religion For
that is not the way by which the Reformed Religion planteth it self in the hearts of men That is a method only sutable to the Popish Religion and to the Mahometan But the meaning is that they shall no more dare to write or to speak in favour of Popery against the Reformation that their Societies shall be put down and that they shall banish themselves out of the Realm upon their not finding it to be their interest to continue all which will be a death unto them But we may take the words of the Text litterally and without a Figure Seeing there shall be killed seven thousand names of men that is there shall be no more of that kind of Doctors who are distinguished by their Societies and Fraternities no more Monks no more Jesuites and it may be no more Arch-Bishops no more Abbots and no more Cardinals in the Kingdom The 2 d Event marked in the Prophecy is that the remnant shall be affrighted by the resurrection and ascention of the Witnesses i. e. by seeing the reestablishment of the Reformed Churches and shall give glory to God. Which questionless denoteth unto us the conversion of all those people who belong to France For there is nothing by which God is more eminently glorified than by the conversion of men And that expression of their giving glory to the God of Heaven deserveth to be remarked Why is it not said they shall give Glory to God why to the God of Heaven This beyond all contradiction strikes at them who put themselues in the place of God. Every one knoweth the Station which the Pope and the Roman Church hold in all parts of the Papal Kingdom They make a God of the Pope and of the Church both in ascribing to them the glorious Attribute of being Infallible which appertaineth to none but to the Deity and in making the Authority of the Church the Foundation of the Faith of Christians But this is a perishable Divinity a God of the Earth a false God from which men shall turn to the God of Heaven the living and true God whose Word shall then be the alone Foundation of Faith. 'T is well known how they have made the great Louis a God through their compelling Protestants to change their Religion for this only reason because it was the Kings Will to have it so But affairs will alter and all France shall give Glory to the God of Heaven They shall give to Cesar the things that are Cesar's but not the things which belong to God. Yea Cesar himself shall give glory to the God of Heaven If what we have said in reference to the Resurrection of the two Witnesses and of that which is to ensue thereupon be no more than a Conjecture as we will give it no other Title yet it may be affirmed that it is a conjecture accompanied with great probability and that there is some Foundation for it For if we dare not say that St. John foretold the Event which is actually come to pass we may say that such a thing is fallen out which may be called both the death of the two Witnesses and their lying without being put into Graves Seeing what we have seen befall the Reformed in France does exactly answer to the Terms of the prediction And if the death of the Witnesses be what we have explained it then it cannot be denied but that all which we have said in reference to their Resurrection is a conjecture that hath a Foundation and a probability As to the Time when we are to see their Resurrection there is no doubt but that we are to reckon from the period at which their death fell out And it may be said with great appearance of truth that the Edict of Fontain bleau which repealed that of Nantes that was the Foundation of the Liberty of the Reformed was the fatal stroke which gave the Witnesses their death For the Edict of Fontain bleau declareth that of Nantes to be now useless seeing there remain but few Protestants to be converted to the Catholick Religion and they hope these will be soon reduced as others have been Forasmuch then as the Edict of Fontain bleau was registred towards the end of October 1685. and that it speaks of the extinction of the Reformed Religion and of the Protestants which was that foretold by St. John under the death of the two Witnesses as a thing done and that what remained of them were not to be reckoned upon we may then very probably say that upon counting the three years and a half from the forementioned October the Witnesses shall again rise and the Reformed shall be re-established XXV ILLUSTRATION Of the Seventh Trumpet The Arkopened in Heaven The Kingdoms of this world become the Lords REV. CHAP. 11. V. 14. The second Wo is past and behold the third Wo cometh quickly V. 15. And the seventh Angel sounded and there were great voices in Heaven saying the Kingdoms of this World are become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign for ever and ever V. 16. And the four and twenty Elders which sate before God on their Seats fell upon their faces and worshipped God saying V. 17. We give thee thanks O Lord God Almighty which art and wast and art to come because thou hast taken to thee thy great power and hast reigned V. 18. And the Nations were angry and thy wrath is come and the time of the dead that they should be judged and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy Servants the Prophets and to the Saints and them that fear thy Name small and great and shouldest destroy them which destroy the Earth V. 19. And the Temple of God was opened in Heaven and there was seen in his Temple the Ark of his Testament and there were lightnings and voices and thundring and an Earthquake and great hail ALtho this be the seventh Trumpet yet it can no way's be the last Judgment that is spoken of here as it might seem to be at the first view For the pouring out of the seven Vials is to be followed with the destruction of Babylon and that is to be followed with the conversion of all Nations and with the Reign of a 1000. years After which shall come the War of God and Magog And all these things being to go before the Judgment of the last day it is not possible that that should be the subject of this seventh Trumpet under which the seven Vials are to be poured out Nor do the 24. Elders say that the time of Judging the quick and the dead was come but they only speak of the Dead which sheweth that is not the Judgment of the last day that is spoken of where the Living shall be judged as well as the Dead And withall 't is here said that the Kingdoms of this world are to become the Kingdoms of Jesus Christ which admirably agrees to the Millennian Reign when all Nations shall be converted but no
way's agreeth to the last Judgment when all Kingdoms shall come to an End. We must therefore by the Term Dead understand the Church of God but as afflicted by reason of the War which the Beast was to make against her for the space 1260 years ere he came to be destroyed For Afflictions are in the Scripture stiled a death 2 Cor. 1. 10. and 2 Cor. 11. 23. And by the Term to judg we are to understand to deliver In which sense David say's to God Ps 35. v. 24. Judg me according to thy rightoousness that is deliver me because he addeth and let not mine Enemies rejoice over me To which purpose there are many other places in the Scripture Because therefore the Church shall be delivered from all her Persecutions at that time when Babylon comes to be destroyed and the Kingdoms of this world brought in to Jesus Christ it is here said upon the arrival of these two great Events that the Dead shall be judged But if we have a mind to retain the natural signification both of the Term Dead and of the Term judged the sense will be that when Babylon shall be destroyed and the Kingdoms of this world converted to Jesus Christ then the Martyrs shall be judged and have justice done them through the whole extent of the Papal Empire Whereas they are now accounted of as damned Hereticks they shall be then reckoned and esteemed blessed and to have died true Martyrs So that this is exactly the first Resurrection whereof we have spoken in the Illustration about the thousand years and of the judgment which is there mentioned The opening of the Temple which this Seventh Trumpet promiseth accordeth fitly with the Sense that we have given Under the Reign of Ahaz when the Apostacy was Universal the Temple was shut But when a Reformation came to be made by Hezekiah the first thing that was done was the opening of the Temple 2 Chron. 29. 3. Thus the Mystical Temple which had been shut up under the Reign of Antichrist shall be opened and the worship of God shall be restored And which is worthy of our observation 't is not said that a new Temple was built but that the ancient Temple was opened So that the Church which is the Mystical Temple hath in despight of the attempts of Antichrist alway's subsisted That which we are to see in the great and general Reformation which the Seventh Trumpet promiseth is not a new Church but a re-establishment of the old As for the Ark which was seen at the opening of the Temple it may be either considered as a figure of Iesus Christ or as containing the two Tables of the Law of God. With respect to the first the sight of the Ark signifies that Jesus Christ who had been obscured during the Reign of Antichrist through an addition of copartners with him both in offices and in the work of Redemption and through the joining another sacrifice to that of his death shall be perfectly revealed to all the world as the word represents him when once the Kingdoms of the Earth are converted and brought in With respect to the second the Sight of the Ark signifies that the Word of God the reading whereof had been forbidden by Antichrist as of a Book dangerous and hurtful to Salvation shall be put into all mens hands and every one shall be allowed and have full liberty to read it and meditate upon it Moreover the Sight of this Ark does also fore-tell and promise the Conversion of the Iews For the Ark having been lost since the Captivity in Babylon of the Chaldees the Sight of it do's promise that when Gods people shall be delivered out of Antichristian Babylon that the Iews shall be converted and recalled The opening of the same Temple is spoken of chap. 15. v. 5. as we have observed in the 20th Illustration of the 1st part But there are two differences between the opening of the Temple in that place and the opening of it in this One is that the Ark doth not appear there as it doth here because at the first Reformation the Iews were not Converted as they shall be at the second The other is because the Smoke that proceeded out of the Temple upon the first opening of it hindred all from coming into it because the time of the conversion of all Nations was not then come whereas upon the opening of it now and that time being come there is mention of no smoke whereby any should be indred to enter Finally the Lightnings the Voices the Thundrings and the great Hail which accompanied this opening of the Temple comprehend the third Wo which was not to arrive till under the Seventh Trumpet and which design nothing else save the judgments that are to be inflicted through the pouring out of the Vials XXVI ILLUSTRATION Of the Pouring out of the Vials REV. CHAP. 16. THere are some who think the fifth Vial is poured forth and consequently that the four first are likewise poured out and this because of that conformity which seems to appear betwixt the fifth Vial that denounceth Darkness that is to say some great disaster to the Seat of the Beast and between that which befell the Papal Empire from the time of the great Schism till the time of the Council of Constance which put an End to that Schism Seeing the Seat of the Beast was during that whole time as it were smitten and his Kingdom was become full of darkness through the great decay of the Papal Authority which Decay of Authority was much increased by the Reformation that begun under the Popedom of Leo X. But this Reason is not of that strength as to perswade me that the fifth Vial was at that time poured out Forasmuch as the Affliction signified by Darkness which befell the Papal Empire through the Reformation begun by Luther hath not been so great as to answer fully the force of the Terms used in reference to that Vial namely that the Kingdom of the Beast was full of darkness and they gnawed their tongues for pain Rev. 16. 10. Besides it was only the Seat of the Beast it was the City of Rome which is the Beasts Seat that was afflicted by Luthers Reformation but the Papal Kingdom was not so afflicted on the Contrary great part of that Empire rejoiced at the Reformation Whereas it is to be observed that it is not said that the Seat of the Beast but that the Kingdom of the Beast was full of darkness So that the fifth Vial doth as once threaten both Rome and its Empire with another Affliction that shall befall them when the general Reformation shall be accomplished when all the Western Nations shall come to be delivered from the Papal Tyranny and to be perfectly inlightned with the Light of the Gospel And therefore the fifth Vial is not poured out nor by consequence the two last 'T is expresly said chap. 15. v. 1. that the Seven Vials are the seven last
plagues and that by them the wrath of God is consummated Now against whom is it consummated Without doubt it is against Babylon against Rome and the Papacy against the Kingdom of Antichrist And the wrath of God cannot be said to be consummated until that prophecy chap. 18. v. 20. be fulfilled Rejoice over her thou Heaven and ye Holy Apostles and Prophets for God hath avenged you on her And a mighty Angel took up a stone like a great milstone and cast it into the Sea saying thus with violence shall that great City Babylon be thrown down and shall be found no more at all This Oracle is not yet fulfilled Babylon is yet standing The Kingdom of Antichrist doth yet continue From whence it does at the least follow that the last Vial is still to be poured out and as I may say that there is not one drop of it yet fallen But the same do's appear as evidently in reference to the sour first as it do's in relation to the three last For besides that it is said of them all in general that they are the last plagues and the consummation of the wrath of God against Babylon St. John further tells us ch 8. v. 13. that he heard an Angel flying thorow the midst of Heaven saying with a loud voice Wo wo wo to the Inhabitants of the Earth by reason of the Trumpets that are yet to sound And chap. 9. v. 12. after the sounding of the fifth Trumpet St. John adds one Wo is past and behold there come two Woes more hereafter One of these two Woes fell undoubtedly out under the sixth Trumpet under which Mahometanism and the Turkish Armies destroyed the whole East And therefore the third Wo must come to pass under the seventh and the last Trumpet St. Iohn accordingly declareth expresly chap. 11. v. 14. that the second Wo is past and behold the third Wo cometh quickly And after that he immediately subjoins that the seventh Angel sounded and that there were great voices in heaven saying the Kingdoms of this world are become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall Reign for ever and ever This is a wo for the Papacy but it is a happiness for the Church of God. For it is exactly the general Reformation which shall comprehend in it the conversion of the Jews of the Mahometans of the Pagans and of the Papists and the uniting of all Sects of Christians into one belief and into one Worship together with the final End of the Papal Kingdom Whence it uncontroably follows that all the Vials being contained under this third Wo they are yet to be poured out Forasmuch as we are this year 1687. still under the sixth Trumpet and are groaning under the pressures of the second Wo. Which over and aboye all the Massacres that were seen in the former ages hath made us to see in this age the two Sackcloth Witnesses overcome and killed by the Beast So that here we have a new proof that all the Vials from the first to the last are yet to be poured out forasmuch as the Vials are no other thing but the seven Thunders which are spoken of Chap. 10. And indeed the Thunders are seven in number as well as the Vials are And as the Thunders do signify the judgments of God against the Enemies of the Church so the Vials do signify the same in that by them the Wrath of God is to be consummated Moreover the things threatned by the Thunders are delayed from being executed until the sounding of the Seventh Trumpet For St. Iohn tells us Chap. 10. v. 4. that being about to write he heard a voice from Heaven saying Seal up those things which the seven Thunders uttered and write them not Why was this Because they were not to be executed until the Mystery of God should be finished which is not to be till under the Seventh Trumpet For the Mystery of God is the bringing in of all Kingdoms to Jesus Christ the conversion of all Nations and the uniting of all Christians from whence that peace of the Church shall arise which is to continue during the thousand years that Satan is to be bound And if there be any difference betwixt the Vials and the Thunders it consisteth only in this that the Thunders are the denunciation of the Judgments of God and that the Vials are the execution of them For tho the Thunders were heard by St. Iohn under the Sixth Trumpet yet they were not to be executed till under the Seventh under which it is that all the Vials shall be poured out I do know that there are famous Writers who pretend to demonstrate the effusion of most of the Vials as already past by that conformity which they observe in Events with the Terms that exptess the Evils which each Vial doth contain But that conformity doth not necessarily prove that they are all poured forth nor indeed that any part of them is what hath been now said proves the contrary in a manner that comes near to demonstration All that agreement does only prove that they shall be poured out in their proper times and that of this we are not to doubt seeing what is already come to pass is an assurance of what is to ensue So that what fell out in the time of Luther tho' conformable to the prediction about the ruin of Babylon does not serve to prove that Babylon is entirely fallen but is as it were an Earnest put into our hand whereby the total fall of it is promised unto us and which is to be a pledg of the full payment of all that is promised us in reference thereunto Forasmuch then as it is certain that not so much as one of the Vials is yet poured forth it becometh us in point of Wisdom to affirm nothing dogmatically in the expounding of them That which may be affirmed as certain and indubitable is first that as the Trumpets declared the manifestation of Antichrist and his advances in the establishment of his Empire together with the rise of the Mahometan Religion and the growth of the Turkish Empire so the Vials shew the fall and ruin of these two Enemies of the Christian Religion Secondly That when the Vials come to be poured out there shall be no long distance between the pouring nut of one of them and the effusion of the rest Because it is said in the 10th Chapter v. 6. that the Angel sware that there should be time no longer That is to say that there should be no more delay that the Judgments of God shall overtake the Beast without any respit betwixt one and another and that the seven Thunders shall break forth and fall as it were close and near together And consequently that the Vials which are nothing but the seven Thunders shall be so poured out that before the pouring forth of the first be ended the second shall begin and so the rest Thirdly That there shall be scarce any distance
had been grown young again We may very rationally form such an Idea of the Papal or Antichristian Empire But we may according to the Scripture go a little further than the Historian Florus hath done and ascend to the very Conception of this Antichristian Kingdom For it was conceived in the time of St. Paul because he writes to the Thessalonians 2 Ep. chap. 2. v. 7. that the Mystery of Iniquity did then work It was then as an Embrio and a Foetus but it began to stir in the second Century when Victor the Bishop of Rome upon a very frivolous occasion namely about the day on which Easter should be kept Excommunicated the Churches of Asia but he was too feeble to continue and justify what he had done After the conversion of the Emperors who chose to bring heathenish Superstitions into the Church in order to facilitate the conversion of the Pagans Antichristianism begun to acquire considerable strength and strove to come into the world and to shew its head Especially when Pope Mark in the 4th age wrote those bold and blasphemous letters which we have mentioned and when Innocent I made that bold effort in reference to the matter of Appeals whereof he claimed to be Judg. But yet Antichristianism did not openly appear nor come abroad because it had not the assistance of the Secular power to midwife it into the world It was then born and came into the world when the two Emperors Theodosius and Valentinian came in to its succour and when by an Edict wherein these two Emperors joined and exerted their Authority the Bishop of Rome was established Soveraign Judg of all Bishops Since that Edict it hath been always growing It s Infancy was from Leo I. until Boniface III who improving the favour of the Emperor Phocas boldly assumed the Title of Universal Bishop which his predecessor Gregory I durst not challenge because that Iohn Bishop of Constantinople had taken it before him It s youth was from Boniface III until the time of that famous Hildebrand called Gregory VII under whose Popedom it arrived at its manly State. For to this day there was never a Pope more haughty nor a Tyrant more terrible than he was He brought Henry IV. to come and demand pardon of him in the Castle of Canoss where he made him attend three whole days without shewing the least regard to his dignity and when he had admitted him to audience treated him with the like haughtiness that the most absolute Master would treat the meanest domestical Servant It s Manhood extended from thence until the time of the great Schism which endured 50 years and was at last ended by the Council of Constance in the year 1415. And then began its Old age which is now so far advanced that it may be said to be decrepit and extreamly feeble and to have as it were one foot in the Grave XXIX ILLUSTRATION Of the Destruction of Gog and Magog REV. CHAP. XX. V. 7. And when the thousand years are expired Satan shall be loosed out of his prison V. 8. And shall go out to deceive the Nations which are in the four quarters of the Earth Gog and Magog to gather them together to Battel the number of whom is as the Sand of the Sea. V. 9. And they went up on the breadth of the Earth and compassed the Camp of the Saints about and the beloved City and fire came down from God out of Heaven and devoured them V. 10. And the Devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brim-stone where the Beast and the false Prophet are and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever THe destruction of Gog and Magog being not to arrive until after the imprisonment of Satan for a thousand years and till after the Millennian peace of the Church we cannot discourse of it otherway's than by conjecture This prediction is unquestionably the same with that of Ezekiel For there hath not hitherto been any Defeat like unto that which Ezekiel chap. 39. relates concerning Gog and Magog which he representeth to be such that they shall be seven Months in burying their dead Bodies and that the fire in which their Arms are burnt shall last seven years v. 9 12. Since Ezekiels time until this day there hath been seen nothing proportionable unto it nor any thing in the whole known world that comes near it This then being a Sealed Prophecy we must wait for the sense of it till it come to be accomplished Nor will it be fulfilled until after Satans Imprisonment and the Churches rest for a thousand years and until after the ruin of the Beast and the false Prophet who are in this Vision supposed to be in the lake of fire and brimstone So that it is highly probable that St. Iohn doth only repeat the prophecy of Ezekiel For as Ezekiel doth not relate the Destruction of Gog and Magog until after he had described the Resurrection of the Church of Israel so St. Iohn doth not treat of this Affair till after the description of the Church's re-establishment and of her peace for a 1000 years And as Ezekiel represents the people of God before they came to be assaulted by Gog and Magog as a People that were in the enjoyment of an entire peace that dwelt void of fear and who had neither Walls nor Gates nor Barrs and who without being troubled lookt after their Herds and their fields so St. Iohn do's in the same manner represent the Peace of the Church before the breaking out of the War which Gog and Magog were to be ingaged in Finally As Ezekiel after he had recounted the Defeat of Gog and Magog describes the Mystical Temple and with that finisheth his Prophesie so St. Iohn after he hath recited the destruction of Gog and Magog describes the same Temple which Ezekiel had described and which is nothing else save the Church and Mystical Temple of the Son of God and with that he finisheth his Apocalypse If it be demanded who these Gog and Magog are I answer that it appears by Ezekiel that they are a people on the north of Judea as the Tartars and Scythians are And in all likelihood they and others sprung from them are the people who being deceived by Satan loosed out of his prison shall raise the most dangerous War against the Church that she ever met with and that therefore God shall deliver her after a more illustrious manner than ever he had done before XXX ILLUSTRATION Of St. John's Offence in falling at the Angel's feet to Worship him REV. CHAP. 19. V. 10. And I fell at his feet to Worship him and he said unto me see thou do it not I am thy fellow servant and of thy Brethren that have the Testimony of Jesus Worship God for the Testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophesie SEeing the Angel reproveth St. Iohn for having east himself at his feet it must needs be that that Apostle
Kingdom For it doth not say that the Seat of the Beast became full of darkness but that his Kingdom was filled with darkness So that the Seat of the Beast being destroyed by the fifth Vial the effect of that judgment will be that his Kingdom which still continueth shall become dark shall be afflicted and filled with sorrow upon the having lost its capital Seat. This is that which darkness doth signify being a Term often applied in the Scripture to represent a great and sore affliction This is what the Anonymous Author would have said and which he really did say in his Illustrations And not that which Mr. Iurieu imputeth unto him of saying that these words and his Kingdom became full of darkness signifie a total destruction of the Papacy or of the Papal Empire 'T is all therefore impertinent which he opposeth to this Notion By what Rule say's he and in what language doth darkness necessarily signify a total ruin But herein he fighteth against his own shadow and not against the Anonymous Author who never said nor thought that the darkness under the fifth Vial signifieth the universal destruction of the Papal Empire for this he acknowledgeth is not to arrive till under the seventh Vial. 'T is true that being speaking of the effusion of the Vials in general he had said that the fifth Vial threatneth both Rome and its Empire with a much other kind of affliction than that which arose from the great Schism but upon explaining the fifth Vial in particular he had at the same time expounded this threatning namely that Rome shall be then utterly destroyed but that its Empire shall not be destroyed till under the seventh Vial. He had withal said in the same place that what fell out from the time of the great Schism till the time of Luther's Reformation was not an Event of that dreadfulness as to come up to the whole force of that expression that they gnawed their tongues for pain Mr. Iurieu answereth that darkness in that place doth not signify the being afflicted but that it signifieth Ignorance and Superstition Surely he did not mind these words and they gnawed their tongues for pain For as these words do explain the Term darkness so they determine the sense of it to that of affliction rage despite and despair which the Kingdom of the Beast will be filled with â— upon the destruction of the Beasts Seat. Which came not to pass during the Schism of the Anti-popes For to speak properly it was only the Anti popes that were then enraged one against another cursing Anathematizing and treating each other as the Son of Perdition and Antichrist but in the mean time the Cardinals the Bishops the Monks were never more caressed and in greater credit with the one side and the other In a word all under the Romish Jurisdiction were then contented and pleased that they could fish in troubled waters It was not then that the Beasts Kingdom was full of darkness nor then that the Citizens of it gnawed their tongues for pain so that we are still to expect the effusion of the fifth Vial upon the Seat of the Beast in order to the beholding the Kingdom of the Beast covered with darkness as the night and in order to the seeing the Pope the Cardinals the Prelates the Friers and all those whom the ruin of Rome shall not be a means to convert but who remain bigotted with the Infallibility and the other priviledges of the City of Rome overwhelmed with sorrow and gnawen with inconsolable despair thro seeing their Idol abolished Seeing the destruction of Rome which is the Seat of the Papal Empire ought to precede that of its Empire even as Rome the Seat of the Civil Empire was ruined before that Empire it is therefore the more probable both that this destruction is predicted in these words the fifth Vial was poured out upon the Seat of the Beast and that its Destruction will afflict all its Empire which is the thing signified by these words and his Kingdom became full of darkness This Exposition is as natural as that of Mr. Jurieu appeareth forced and strained For it maketh that the fifth Vial leaveth the Seat of the Beast untouched with the darkness of his Kingdom whereas the darkness should be alone adjudged to the Beasts Seat. For according to him the darkness denoteth the great Eclipse which the Papal Authority underwent during the Schism of the Anti-popes But according to the Text it is not the Seat of the Beast but only his Kingdom that becomes full of darkness thro the pouring forth of the fifth Vial. And indeed during that great Eclipse the Seat of the Beast enjoy'd an extraordinary lustre and was like unto the Countrey of Goshen while darkness covered all the rest of Egypt Which is a thing too absurd not to cause us to observe how forced the application is which Mr. Iurieu maketh of Events to the fifth Vial. The Anonymous Author's second proof consists in this that the Vials are stiled the last plagues and that by them the wrath of God is accomplished against Babylon against Rome her Pope and her Empire Whence it followeth that nothing of all this being yet come to pass but Rome being hitherto standing her Pope and her Empire still subsisting the last Vial must be yet to be poured out and as I may say that not one drop is hitherto fallen Mr. Iurieu confesseth that this proof is a difficulty and the only one which meriteth that name 'T is a great honor that he accounts it so but a greater that he hath left it in its full strength The Anonymous Author in urging the Terms of the last plagues by which the wrath of God is accomplished had considered the Vials under the respect that they bear to the Trumpets For the wrath of God under them comes to finish the trial of the Churches patience He having suffered the birth and progress of Mahometism and permitted the Papacy to form it self and to grow advance and rise to an insupportable Tyranny in order thereby to exercise the Faith and Patience of Believers This is done when the Measure of the Churches afflictions shall be come to their height and when God with reference to her shall have accomplished his anger which will be upon the sixth Trumpets ceasing to sound and then the seven Vials which are the seven Plagues shall arrive and begin to take place against the Papacy and against Mahometism 'T is for this reason that 't is said that by the seven plagues which are the Vials the wrath of God is finished From whence it followeth that the Vials are not contemporary with the 6th Trumpet and that it is not the 6th Trumpet which is subdivided into the seven Vials but that this subdivision is to be assigned to the seventh Trumpet even as it is not the 6th Seal but the Seventh which subdivideth it self into the seven Trumpets The sixth Trumpet no less than the preceding
five speaketh of nothing save of War against the Church of God. So long as it lasts Antichrist abates nothing of his fury but constantly makes the same efforts for the oppressing of the Truth and such as do profess it and while it endureth all things go ' on at the same rate against the Church of God. But as soon as the seventh Trumpet comes to be sounded by the seventh Angel the case will quite alter the wrath of God will break forth and the Vials empty themselves And this is the true Reason why the Vials are called the last plagues by which the wrath of God is fulfilled So that all which Mr. Jurieu hath said upon the Term last tho in it self very good and very ingenious yet it is altogether impertinent His curious remarks and comparisons which amount to the fourth part of his Apology are very incongruously placed For all he saith is founded upon a principle that is false namely that the seven Vials are contemporary with the seven Trumpets Whereof as the falsehood is already demonstrated so it will farther appear in what is hereafter â—o be said The 3d Argument which the Anonymous Author made use of was this that St. Iohn Rev. chap. 8. v. 13. declareth how he heard an Angel flying thorow the midst of heaven saying with a loud voice Wo wo wo to the Inhabitants of the Earth by reason of the Trumpets that are yet to sound and that he adds chap. 9. v. 12. after the sounding of the fifth Trumpet one Wo is past and behold there come two Woes more hereafter For as one of these two last woes did undoubtedly arrive under the sixth Trumpet under which Mahometism and the Arms of the Turks subverted Christianity in the East so it must needs be that the third Wo is to arrive under the seventh Trumpet This also St. Iohn expresly declares chap. 11. v. 14. the second Wo say's he is past and behold the third cometh quickly after which he immediately subjoins the seventh Angel sounded and there were great voices in heaven saying the Kingdoms of this world are become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall Reign forever This is a Wo for the Papacy and for Mahometism but a great happiness here in this life for the Church of God. For 't is plainly the general Reformation which shall comprehend the conversion of all Nations by giving them to see the total destruction of the Papal Empire From whence it clearly followeth that all the Vials are contained under the third Wo and consequently that they are yet all to be poured out forasmuch as we are still under the sixth Trumpet groaning under the pressures of the second Wo. Mr. Jurieu say's he doth not apprehend how these can be stiled invincible Proofs and he do's withal add that it is not true that the third Wo is confined to the seventh Trumpet To which I answer that it is as clear that the third Wo is contained under the seventh Trumpet as 't is evident that the second Wo is comprehended under the sixth and the first Wo under the fifth But by what doth it appear that the first Wo is contained under the fifth Trumpet and the second Wo under the sixth This appeareth by its being said that after the sound of the fourth Trumpet the Angel cried Wo wo wo to the Inhabitants of the Earth by reason of the Trumpets of the three Angels which are yet to sound It likewise appears in that after the sounding of the sixth Trumpet St. Iohn declares chap. 11. v. 14. the second Wo is past and behold the third cometh quickly And that we may know when it is to come St. John adds and the seventh Angel sounded and the Kingdoms of this world became the Lords and his Christs Now can the Kingdoms of this world be made subject to Christ before the destruction of Mahometism and of Popery 'T is then evident that the 3d Wo is comprehended under the seventh Trumpet as the 2d is under the sixth and the 1st under the fifth which renders the Argument of the Anonymous Author unanswerable The weakness of this proof saith Mr. Jurieu which is given us for invincible is that it supposeth a thing which is not true and which the Anonymous Author cannot evince by any sort of reason viz. that the plagues and the Vials are all comprehended under the third Wo. To whom that Author Answereth that he hath proved the third Wo to be contained under the seventh Trumpet as the 2d is comprehended in the sixth and the first in the fifth And forasmuch as the seventh Trumpet comprehendeth all the Vials because they are not poured out till after it hath sounded it invincibly follows that the third Wo is comprehended in the seven Vials and that the seven Vials do execute the third Wo. Nor is it to be helped if Mr. Jurieu will not see what St. Iohn so plainly declareth unto him To demonstrate saith Mr. Jurieu that the seven Vials are not comprehended in the 3d Wo 't is sufficient to prove as we have done that the seven Vials are seven Periods of time which run along as water runneth out of an hour-glass This principle of Mr. Iurieu that the Vials are seven Periods of time we have fully refuted have made it appear that both his principle and the reasons by which he endeavours to maintain it are worth nothing So that if he hath nothing else to alledg whereby to make it appear that the Third Wo is not contained in the Seventh Trumpet the Anonymous Author's argument may be still called invincible Moreover Mr. Iurieu's supposition that the sixth Trumpet under which we are hath been exerting its Influences for almost eight hundred years and that it s subdivided into seven Vials is a most false principle and unto which we have opposed that which is uncontrolable Namely that all the 1st 6 Trumpets do sound before the effusion of any Vial because according to St. Iohn there is not one of them poured out till under the seventh Trumpet which hath not yet begun to sound For as none of the Trumpets sound till after the opening of the seventh Seal so none of the Vials are to be poured forth till under the sounding of the seventh Trumpet Mr. Jurieu confesseth that the H. Spirit hath not evidently declared that the sixth Trumpet is subdivided into 7 Vials but he say's it may be inferred from this that whereas the seventh Trumpet was sounding when the Turks invaded the Grecian Empire which was about the tenth Century and that we find the first Vial to have fallen about that time upon the Empire of the Beast and that therefore the course of the Vials must be contained under the sixth Trumpet To which I answer that nothing of all this ariseth from the words of the Prophesie unless in the vertu ' of his principle that the Vials are periods of times and hour-glasses which run along with the sixth