inheritance and the utmost parts of the earth for thy possession Thou shalt breake them with a rod of iron and dash them in peeces like a Potters vessell Psal 2.7 8 9. And again In his dayes shall the righteous flourish and abundance of peace so long as the Moon endureth hee 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 bow before him and the enemy shall lick the dust c. Psal 72. And the Prophet Daniel declareth saying I saw in the night vision and behold one like unto the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven and came to the Ancient of dayes and they brought him neere before him And there was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom that all people nations and languages should serve him His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not passaway and his Kingdome that which shall not be destroyed Dan. 7.13.14 Again he having spoken of the four Monarchs that in this world should usurp the kingdome saith But the Saints of the most High shall take the Kingdome and possesse the kingdome for ever even for ever and ever vers 18. And again And the Kingdome and dominion and the greatnesse of the Kingdome under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of Saints of the most High whose Kingdome is an everlasting Kingdome and all dominions shall serve and obey him vers 27.28 This Kingdom of Christ and his Saints is to be after the foure Monarchs are ended as the Prophet doth plainly declare and that it being once set up shall continue much more time then they all it shall not passe away nor be destroyed but remain for ever even for ever and ever It is to have no end as the Angel Gabriel from heaven testified to Mary saying Feare not Mary for thou hast found favour with God and behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a Sonne and shalt call his name Jesus he shall be great and shall bee called the Sonne of the Highest and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his Father David and he shall reigne over the house of Jacob for ever and of his kingdome there shall be no end Luke 1.30 31 32 33. And according to all this spake the Lord before by the Prophet Nathan to David saying And it shall come to passe when thy dayes be expired that thou must goe to be with thy Fathers that I will raise up thy seed after thee which shall be of thy sonnes I will establish his kingdom he shall build me an House I will establish his throne for ever I will be his Father and he shall be my Sonne and I will not take my mercy away from him as I tooke it from him that was before thee but I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for ever and his throne shall be established for evermore 1 Chron. 17.11 12 13 14. And in another place the Lord God confirmeth it again saying Also I will make him my first born higher then the Kings of the earth my mercy will I keep for him for evermore and my covenant shall stand fast with him his seed also will I make to endure for ever and his throne as the dayes of heaven c. Psal 89.27 28 29. And again My covenant will I not break nor alter the thing that is gone forth of my lips Once have I sworn by my holinesse that I will not lie unto David his seed shall endure for ever and his throne as the Sun before me it shall he established for ever as the Moon and as a faithfull witnesse in heaven vers 34 35 36 37. And as one Apostle testifieth from another Psalm saying But unto the Sonne he saith Thy throne O God is for ever and ever a Scepter of righteousnesse is the Scepter of thy kingdome thou hast loved righteousnesse and hated iniquity therefore God even thy God hath anointed thee with the oyle of gladnesse above thy fellowes Heb. 1.8 9. Psal 45.6 Many more great and excellent things are spoken of this glorious kingdome of Christ and his Saints which as plainly appeareth by all these Scriptures is to have no end but is to endure for ever even for ever and ever world without end And shall be manifested when the 7th Angel soundeth the great and last trumpet even when Christ shall come in his glory and all his holy Angels with him and then shall he sit in the throne of his glory as himselfe saith Matth. 25. And so it is plain that it cannot bee understood of this world but must needs be of the world to come when all rule all authothority and power all enemies are subdued under Christs feet which in this world are not nor can be untill the end thereof as the Apostle yet further confirmeth saying For unto the Angels haâ—h he not put in subjection the world to come whereof we speak Heb. 2.5 By which words he first sheweth plainly that all their doctrine of the Gospel tended to an estate of inheritance in a world to come not this present world and that it was not to be in subjection to the Angels But as he saith One in a certain place testifieth saying What is man that thou art mindfull of him or the Sonne of Man that thou visitest him thou madest him little lower then the Angels thou crownedst him with glory and honour thou didst set him over the workes of thy hands thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet c. ver 6 7. according to Psal 8.4 5 6 7 8 9. And then argueth saying For in that he put all in subjection under him he left nothing that is not put under him But now we see not all things put under him saith he But we see Jesus who was made a little lower thâ—n the Angels for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honour that he by the grace of God might tast death for every man for it became him for whom are all things and by whom are all things in bringing many sonnes unto glory to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings ver 8 9 10. Now is Jesus Christ crowned with glory and honour in the throne of God the Father at his right hand in the heavens where he is to fit and reigne with him untill he hath put all enemies under his feet as in Psal 110.1 Not onely all the Monarchs and powers of wickednesse but also all enemies besides and death which now hath dominion over the bodies of the Saints it being the last enemy as in another place he proveth saying For as in Adam all died even so in Christ shall all be made alive but every man in his own order Christ the first fruits then afterwards they that are Christs at his comming Then commeth the end saith he when he shall have delivered up the Kingdome to
ruling in their hearts is judged already So those dwellers on earth being tormented with their just and righteous sayings which the Saints and servants of God the true successors of the holy Apostles and Church of their time maintained against their ungodly superstitious filthy flesh-pleasing wayes And the beast hee being now risen up and seated in the Dragons Throne and there being nothing more tormenting or grievous unto him and his false prophets and those dwellers on earth then the true and righteous doctrines and prophecies of these two Prophets Gods anointed ones the light whereof being so contrary to their wayes and works Therfore as holding it their wisest surest way that they should torment them no longer they make battell against them and kill them And this they effected and brought to passe partly by belying their testimony giving most false and blasphemous expositions of their sayings making the world beleeve that so they meant and partly by suppressing those which stood to maintain their true intent and meaning and partly by keeping close their written words forbidding them to bee published or read in any of the tongues or languages of the Nations which were under the authority and power of the beast that the people should not come to the knowledge and understanding of them lest they should see and discover their false and deceitfull delusions So the beast and his false prophets by putting out the light and true intent of Gods two Witnesses which was and is their life they killed them Vers 8. And their carkasses shall remaine in the streets of the great Citie which is spiritually called Sodome and Egypt where also their Lord was crucified ONely their dead letter or bare text of their testimony they would retaine and keep as wee see they have done in their Cells Temples and streets of the Nations and Kingdomes where the beast is worshipped who with Rome their chiefe doe make up that great Citie which because of their spirituall whoredomes and hardnesse of heart are described by the names of Sodom and Egypt they answering in a spirituall manner unto them both And they are charged also with the crucifying of the Lord himselfe even as the Lord had charged the Scribes and Pharisees of his time with the blood of Abel because like as they imitated Cain in hardnesse of heart and wickednesse in their killing the Prophets as he did his brother So these imitating those of Jerusalem that crucified the Lord of life in their murdering his faithful Servants his Saints Martyrs are justly charged with crucifying the Lord they making up one generation with all the Heathen and wicked murderers and shedders of righteous blood in the world For which cause he saith And in her was found the blood of Prophets and of Saints and of all that were slaine upon the earth Rev. 18.24 Ver. 9. And there shall of the Tribes and People and Gentiles see their dead bodies three dayes and a halfe and shall not suffer their Corps to be laid in Monuments ANd so those Nations and Kingdomes People and Gentiles under the name of Catholick Christians having the dead bodies or letter of Gods two Witnesses lying in their streets could and can yet handle and look upon them while those three dayes and a halfe the time times and halfe a time of the beasts reigne lasteth That is to say not as the beast and they of the Church of Rome expound it three naturall yeares and a halfe which they will have to be the time of the reigne of a great Antichrist of their imagining which they pretend is yet to come but 3 propheticall years a halfe that is so many years of years which according to the account of the Hebrews are 1260 years A long time for Gods two Testaments to lie dead among them and not suffered to be so read or heard as they maybe understood and laid up in the hearts of the people where they ought to have been laid and kept as in their true and naturall graves or tombs where they should have been buried not to be forgotten but to be kept in memoriall to the praise of God and salvation of his people Ver. 10. And the inhabitants of the earth shall bee glad over them and shall send gifts one to another because these two Prophets tormented them that dwell upon the earth NOw the beast his false prophets and all those worshippers of the beast here named because of their great number The Inhabitants of the earth they having attained their wills and prevailed over Gods two Witnesses and cast his truth to the ground as the Prophet Daniel also foretold are glad at their hearts and in triumph over them and for joy that they may now goe on quietly in setting up and adoring their own inventions They as one well observeth make themselves merry with bonfires vigils festivals processions and in token of their joy as the text saith send gifts one to another Kings Princes and people present and endow the beast and his Church with donations immunities possessions gold and silver offerings c. And the beast on the other side requites their love and devotion with Titles Bells Prayers Pardons Bulls and such like And the reason of this their wicked and ungodly rejoycing is because they had put out the eyes or light of Gods two Testaments which are here named two Prophets and before his two Witnesses and two Olive Trees and two Candlesticks vers 3 4. that their abominations filthinesses of their fornications might not be discovered and reproved by them as formerly had been which was so tormenting unto them and is and will be still to all such lovers and beleevers of lies whose hope and conversation and dwelling is here on earth as nothing can be more For so much doe the words imply in saying Because these two Prophets tormented them that dwell upon the earth Ver. 11. And after three dayes and a halfe the Spirit of life from God entred into them and they stood upon their feet and great feare fell upon all that saw them ANd after three dayes and a halfe that is to say after the time and times and halfe a time of the Beasts reigne spoken of in Dan. 7.25 12.7 and mentioned in Rev. 12.14 to be the time of the woman being nourished in the wildernesse And so taking a day in this place as a time is to bee taken in Dan. 7.25 Rev. 12.14 Then these three dayes and a halfe in a propheticall understanding are as the three times and a halfe are three yeares and a halfe of yeares And therefore not as they of Rome would have them three naturall yeares and a halfe which they make to bee the time of their expected two witnesses Enoch and Elias and their being killed and lying dead c. and of their Churches desolation and being in the wildernesse which they pretend they expect shall come to passe upon the rising of their Antichrist a Jew of
God even the Father when he shall have put down all rule and authority and power And then reasoneth from the words of the Psalm 110.1 For he must reigne untill he hath put all enemies under his feet The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death c. 1 Cor. 15.22 23 24 25 26 c. Where the Apostle proveth plainly that the Kingdome which Christ at his coming is to deliver up to his Father when all his enemies are subdued under his feet is the Kingdom where he is now sitting in the throne of God the Father at his right hand of which David said The Lord said unto my Lord Sit thou at my right hand untill I make thine enemies thy footstoole and therefore hee calleth it The Kingdome that is to say The supreme Kingdome and throne of God not his own which he is to receive and take possession of with his Saints in the world to come when all things are put under his feet Nay herein he is to be setled for ever as God promised his Father David I will settle him in my House and in my Kingdome for ever and his throne shall be established for evermore This is that of which himselfe speaketh and promiseth to his Saints saying And I appoynt unto you a Kingdome as the Father appointed unto me that yee may eat and drink at my table in my Kingdome and sit on thrones judging the twelve Tribes of Israel Luke 22.29 30. And where he saith again To him that overcommeth will I grant to sit with me in my throne even as I also overcame and am set with my Father in his throne Rev. 3.21 And again He that overcommeth and keepeth my words unto the end to him will I give power over the Nations and he shall rule them with a rod of Iron and as the vessels of a potter shall they bee broken to shivers even as I received of my Father Rev. 2.26 27. According to Psal 2.8 9. Where the Lord God also saith of him notwithstanding all those his enemies his opposites Yet have I set my King upon my holy Hill of Sion vers 6. By which testimonies a plain distinction is made between God the Fathers throne and kingdome and the Sonnes kingdome and throne In the throne of God no man or Angel ever sate nor shall sit but Christ the Sonne of David Davids and our Lord hee onely obtained it till all enemies were subdued But in the throne of the Sonne the Saints may and shall sit with him as the Son hath promised Now is the Sonne to bee substitute under God the Father as his King his speciall anointed King and first borne to sit upon his holy hill of Sion in the throne of his Father David to reigne over the house of Iacob whereof David is one Hee and they his redeemed ruling the Nations with a rod of Iron Which throne and kingdome God will so establish as that it shall remain for ever as the Sunne and as the Moon before him even for ever and ever world and kingdome without end as he promised And so God having thus put all things under his Sonne Christ himself only excepted and the Son having resigned delivered up the supreme kingdome and throne wholly to God the Father now is the Sonne also himselfe to bee subject unto him that put all things under him that God may be all in all as the Apostle saith 1 Cor. 15.27 28. And herein shall the Sonne lose no honor for as he is God hee is the same for ever as before when he was upon the earth having taken our nature upon him he prayed and gave thankes and was obedient for although he were the Sonne yet learned he obedience as it is written So now hee with his redeemed his Spouse the Church is to bee subject unto God the Father and to honour him as his head even as the Spouse his Church is to be subject unto him and to honour him as her head And here now let me ask the Millenaries a question or two and first this That if these things bee so and that the comming of Christ and his delivering up the Kingdome to God the Father and the end of the world and resurrection of the dead shall bee so together at one and the same time without any distance of time either dayes or houres between as Paul 1 Cor. 15.22 23 24 25 26 c. in plain words expresseth them Then I ask Where they will have time or place for their thousand years Monarch which they expect shall be between the comming of Christ and the end A second question is That if at the very time of Christs comming the dead in Christ shall be raised and his elect that are living be changed in a moment and caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the aire and so bee ever with the Lord as the same Apostle also saith 1 Thess 4.15 16 17. Then I ask Where they will have more Saints to die and to rise again from the dead a thousand yeares after as they teach A third question if Christ unto them that look for him shall appeare the second time without sinne unto salvation as it is said Heb. 9.28 Then I ask where they will have a third time of comming to such purpose which some of them imagine shall be A fourth question is That if Christ at his appearing and his kingdome when he commeth in his glory and all his holy Angels with him and shall sit in the throne of his glory and all Nations and people both quick and dead be brought before him and judged according to the words of Christ Matth. 25.31 32 c. and Paul 2 Tim. 4.1 Then I ask how they can put it off to a thousand years after his appearing or make it a thousand years a doing A fifth question which is this And if they doe beleeve that although the people and children of this world here marry and are given in marriage and die yet in the world to come which is to be in subjection unto Christ they who shall bee counted worthy to obtain the same and the resurrection from the dead as Christ himselfe saith shall neither marry nor be given in marriage nor die any more but be as the Angels in heaven c. Luke 20.34 35 36. Then I ask how they will make this their opinion That there shall be a multitude of people of all sorts as now possesse that world after the resurrection of the just which shall for a thousand years space successively marry and be given in marriage and die to stand and agree with that which Christ speakes and not rather be clean contradictory to the same And as touching the first resurrection and living and reigning with Christ a thousand yeares spoken of Rev. 20. it is cleare by the very words of the text that the holy Ghost speaketh of and intendeth a resurrection spirituall of the soule which the Saints living here did and
their testimony and against the Prophets and people of God that stood to maintain the same have and shall certainly come to passe If they prophesie of famine either of the Word and knowledge of God which is the bread of life or of common bread signified here by shutting the heavens that it rain not c. Or if they prophesie of destruction by the sword here signified by turning waters into blood so giving them blood to drink for their shedding the blood of the Saints as it is exprest Rev. 16.3 4.5 6. Or if they prophesie of pestilence of earthquakes or any other calamity or judgement to come signified by smiting the earth with all manner of plagues so often as they will their word is a law such speciall priviledge and power they have that what they say and denounce shall stand not one jot nor tittle of their word shall fail till all be fulfilled According as the Lord spake of his Prophet Jeremiah and by him saying Behold this day have I set thee over Nations and over Kingdomes to pluck up root out destroy and throw down build and plane Jâ—r 1.9 10. And in another place Therefore have I cut them down by my Prophets and slain them by the words of my mouth Hos 6.5 And so Zerubbabel concerning the power that opposed him saying Not by Army nor by power but by my Spirit saith the Lord of Hosts Who art thou O great mountain before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain c. Zech. 4. Now what two men were there ever in the world or what two States of Magistrates and Ministers or other have there ever been that had power to doe all these things and by the word of whole mouth all those judgements of God already past and fulfilled on those former Monarchs Kingdomes Nations Cities people that have been the great adversaries of God enemies to his Word of Truth and destroyers of his Saints have been uttered and pronounced but the mouth of his two Testaments onely which the holy Prophets and Apostles have been the witnessers and recorders of In which respect the Lord did so greatly honour Moses and the Prophets they being dead and their writings onely remaining to the people saying They have Moses and the Prophets let them heare them c. And so to us now we have Moses and the Prophets yea more we have John the Baptist the Elias that was to come and Christ the Messiah promised and his holy Apostles insomuch as wee have their Records and Writings of the great things of Gods two Testaments which they had seen and heard from the Lord. And if we therefore will not heare them nor beleeve their record then neither will we beleeve if Enoch and Elias or Noah and Abraham or any other two or more of the holy Prophets and Apostles should come from the dead and preach anew unto us for so much doe the words of the Lord imply Wherefore it concerneth us greatly to read and consider and to desire of God to give us understanding And blessed is hee that readeth and beleeveth and keepeth the sayings of Gods two Witnesses which are his two Testaments for so I will now take it for granted of all that love the Lord and delight in his Testimonies Vers 7. And when they have finished their testimony the beast which ascendeth from the depth shall make battell against them and kill them THese words in the opinion of some I know will seeme to contradict that which hath been said of the two Witnesses because they will understand their testimony here spoken of to be their prophecying in Sackcloth 1260 dayes mentioned in verse 3. and so as if the words of this 7 verse did imply the killing of them by the Beast to be at the end of those dayes a little before his own death that he shall then get up again out of his consumption and make warre against them and kill them and their carkasses lie in the streets of his great Citie three naturall yeares and a halfe unburied that so the Beast and his false Prophets and those Kings and Nations and the people that worship the Beast may yet rejoyce and triumph over them before the Beast die and his Church come to desolation This they conceive and teach and that the two Witnesses must therefore be some two men of these times as Mr. Burton and the other that suffered with him and were imprisoned as they say three yeares and a halfe just to a day and then set at liberty by the Parliament and so raised from death to life and caused to stand upon their feet again for so they have published in their bookes yet not giving the honour wholly to them alone but joyning also together with them all those Ministers which had suffered and been supprest by the Bishops for not conforming unto their orders and rules who are now restored to places and meanes Some adding to these the zealous Magistrates and States now in place of authority But to answer these Teachers not denying any of Gods faithfull Servants Magistrates or Ministers the least part of their due and right onely let me tell them that so teach They are utterly deceived in their imaginations concerning the two Witnesses and also much mistake the words of the text For first it saith not of the two Witnesses which are the two Testaments onely as hath been sufficiently proved and I now take it for granted And when they have finished their prophecying in Sackcloth as if they should cease so to doe before the Beâ—st should kill them Neither doth it say when the 1260 dayes of the Beasts reigne shall be accomplished then the Beast should make warre against them and kill them Nay this were very contradictions and unreasonable for how could the Beast kill them when his dayes were ended Or if he could what would it then avail him the time of their prophecying also being expired Nay it had been much more for his advantage to have killed them long before seeing they were before even in the Prophet Zechary his time though they had not yet finished their testimony till about three hundred yeares before the beast rose And 2ly the two Witnesses of God being the two Testaments cannot bee said to finish their prophecying in Sackcloth till all Gods elect are called and sanctified by their word and that the sufferings of Christ in them his members for his Word sake are ended Neither did the two Witnesses ever otherwise prophesie then in Sackcloth that is in mourning All the holy Prophets Apostles and Sâ—ints have in mourning and weeping born record of them and in faith and patience testified the truth of their words to the world and were hated and persecuted for their sake not their own but because they testified and walked in the light of them And in this kind of habit they are to prophesie untill the Lord come in his glory For although the Lord would as he said so give unto his
shall bee a thousand two hundred and ninety dayes Blessed is he that wayteth and commeth to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty dayes adding to the thousand two hundred and ninety dayes five and thirty dayes more which make a thousand three hundred thirty five and then saith as being the words of the Angel of God to Daniel But go thou thy way till the end be for thou shalt rest and stand up in the lot at the end of the dayes vers 11 12 13. The Prophet from the Angel intending by dayes yeares and counting the years after the use of the Chaldeans and not of the Hebrewes between whom in three years and a halfe there was as it seemeth thirty dayes difference And so if Daniel was to goe his way and rest till the and bee and that he shall stand up in the lot at the end of the dayes then must the end of necessity be at the end of the dayes But Daniel was to goe his way till the end should be and was to rest and stand in the lot at the end of the dayes therefore the end of the dayes must needs be the end even the end of the world And now therefore if the time between the end of those dayes of Antichrists reigne and the end of the world will indeed for certain be so short as those Scriptures declare then where will there be time or place for that glorious thousand yeares Monarch of Saints which so many learned Ministers and zealous people at this day look for and hold as an Article of their faith to bee here in this present world before the end thereof Surely neither the Prophets nor Christ nor any of his Apostles doe admit of such a thing Those people and Ministers whatsoever they are for zeale and learning they are herein utterly deceived misunderstanding the Scriptures which speak indeed of a glorious Kingdome and many great and excellent things the Saints shall receive and possesse not for the limited time of a thousand yeares in this corrupt world but for ever and ever a thousand and ten thousand times ten thousand yeares even for eternity in the uncorrupt world to come which world and kingdome shall have no end as the Scriptures declare Esay 9.7 Esay 45.14 15 16 Dan. 7.14.25 Luk. 1.32 33. and sundry other places Those Ministers and people therefore which look for such a millenary Monarchical kingdom in this world may do well to renounce that Atticle of their faith as they call it in meeknes and humblenes of heart seek and desire of God to give them his holy Spirit of truth whereby to understand with comfort his word of truth The things that are to be between the end of Antichrists reigne and the end of the world are by Christ himselfe foreshewed in these words Matth. 24. Immediatly after the tribulation of those dayes shall the Sunne be darkned and the Moone shall not give her light and the Starres shall fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens shall bee shaken c. Where the Lord intendeth by the Sunne the word of his truth the Gospel of salvation which had been darkned by Antichrist and should now toward the end of his dayes break forth and shine again to discover his abominations and for the saving of Gods elect which the Lord also intended before ver 22. in these words But for the elect sake those dayes shall be shortned And implying also that it should shine yet more brightly after the end of Antichrist and that the greatest part of the time of 45 yeares intended by the word quickly and the word immediatly shall be for the prosperous proceeding of the Gospel and full accomplishing of all Gods elect And as the Sunne thus shineth so shall the Moon that is to say the earth and the inhabitants thereof whose light doth depend upon the light of the Gospel as the light of the Moon doth on the light of the Sunne she shall now give her light according also as a holy one in another place saith The Sun shall suddenly shine again in the night and the Moon three times in the day c. And the Starres of God shall appeare in heaven God will raise up in his Church true and faithfull Shepheards that shall as starres in heaven hold forth the light and truth of his two Testaments to the word and so the powers of the heavens spirituall will bee in their heavenly way and order again All these things are plainly implied in the words of Christ else how can the Sunne be said to be darkned and the Moon to lose her light and the Starres to fall from heaven c. immediatly after the tribulation of those dayes of Antichrist if they did not and should not shine forth and give their light some time before the end of those dayes and also after more especially therefore all these things must be And the true Church of Christ which had been troden under foot and caused to hide her face as it were in the wildernesse so long shall come forth and bee seene neer like as she was once in her primitive state clothed with the Sunne even Jesus Christ and his righteousnesse and having the Moon that is all earthly and corruptible things under her feet as disregarded her conversation and affections being farre above them all in heaven where her Lord is and from whence shee looketh for him to come and bring all those his rewards with him that hee hath promised And having also on her head a Crown of twelve starres the true and sound doctrine of the Lambs twelve Apostles and of the holy Prophets walking in the light and truth thereof according as they walked with true love toward God and also toward men And so be as once she was in these spirituall heavenly respects truely visible like a Citie set upon a hill that cannot be hid and as a Candle in a Candlestick which giveth light to all in the house her faith shining again throughout the world And when shee shall bee in this estate like as at the first when she was travelling with child to bring forth her first fruits unto God and to the Lamb the Dragon stood before her to devoure her child and persecute the woman into the wildernesse as Rev. 12. So now when she shall be travelling with child again ready to bring forth her last fruits unto God and to Christ then the Dragon that old Serpent being loosed out of his prison where he had been bound so many hundred yeares shall goe out to deceive the Nations that are in the four quarters of the earth Gog and Magog and gather them together and compasse the camp of the Saints about and this the beloved Citie till fire descend from God out of heaven and devoure them as it is written Ezek. 38. and 39. Rev. 16.21 Rev. 20.9 For as the time of the Churches fairest beauty was but short before the Dragon so cruelly used her so shall
this time of her renewed beauty be as short before he shall be loosed to work this his last misehiefe against her Then shall the Sunne be darkned more then ever it had been it shall be as black as Sackcloth of haire and the Moon shall not onely be darkned but also be turned into blood as it is said Rev. 6.12 according to Ioel 2.31 For great bloodshed shall be upon the earth at this time as the Prophet Esay also saith And the Starres that is such as are in outward place and name as starres and lights in the Church shall like untimely figges fall from Christian religion to Mahometisme or other such like heathenish Apostasie and then shall the powers of the Heavens bee shaken These are the signes that shall goe before the great and terrible day of the Lord as those Scriptures before mentioned declare And then those Armies of Gog and Magog being destroyed by fire from heaven and the Devill that deceived them being cast into the lake of fire the seventh Angell shall sound the great and last trumpet as followeth Vers 15. And the seventh Angel sounded with a Trumpet and there were made lowd voyces in heaven saying The Kingdomes of this world are made our Lords and his Christs and hee shall reigne for ever and ever Amen MAny great things are to bee done at the sounding of this Trumpet For this is it of which St. Paul saith We which are alive and remain unto the comming of the Lord shall not prevent them that are asleep for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout with the voyce of the Archangel with the Trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first then we which are are alive and remain shall bee caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the aire and so shall we be even with the Lord 1 Thess 4.15 16 17. And again Behold I shew you a mystery we shall not all sleep but wee shall all be changed in a moment in the twinckling of an eye at the last trump for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed c. 1 Cor. 15.51 52 53. And Christ saith Mat. 24. Then shall appeare the signe of the Son of man in heaven and then shall all the Tribes of the earth mourn and they shall see the Sonne of Man comming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory and he shall send his Angels with a great sound of a Trumpet and they shall gather together his elect from the foure winds c. vers 30 31. And again Rev. 10. And the Angel which I saw stand upon the Sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven and sware by him that liveth for ever and ever who created heaven and the things that therein are and the earth and the things that therein are and the sea and the things that are therein that there should be time no longer But in the dayes of the voyce of the seventh Angel when he shall begin to sound the mystery of God should be finished as he hath declared to his servants the Prophets verse 5 6 7. When this great and last trumpet shall sound mentioned in all those places before cited and whereof the Prophet Esay long before this spake Esai 27.13 Then shall all those great things be done spoken of in the same places The Lord shall come in his glory and then hee shall sit in the throne of his glory the dead both good and bad shall be brought before him and be judged Then shall all the Tribes and kindreds of the earth even the whole multitude of the ungodly that ever had been on the earth and they also which pierced him see him and mourn and waile because of him and hee shall send his Angels with the sound of the same great Trumpet and they shall gather his elect together from the four winds c. Then there shall bee time for repentance no longer but the great mystery of God shall be finished even that great mystery of the redemption of all Gods chosen ones the whole house of Israel spirituall as he had declared to his servants the Prophets and whereof they all that have been since the world began have spoken according as it is testified of them Luke 1.69 70 71 c. Acts 3.21 and as their own written prophesies doe shew more abundantly And this is that redemption wherewith the Lord himselfe doth comfort his chosen hee having foreshewed all the sigâ—â—â— that should goe before the same saying And when yee see these things begin to come to passe then look up and lift up your heads for your redemption draweth neere Then know yee that the kingdome of God is nigh at hand Luke 22.28 31. Now the kingdomes of this world so long time usurped by Monarchs and Antichrists shall be made the Kingdomes of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reigne for ever and ever The kingdomes of this world in respect of the creation and workes of God for so by right they did alwayes belong to the Lord and to his anointed the Prince of the Covenant though they have been usurped and polluted by Satan and his powers of wickednesse which now shall be removed and the earth and heavens cleansed all things shall be new as it is written Esay 65.27 60.22 2 Pet. 3.13 Rev. 21.1.5 This corrupt world shall be purged and made incorruptible as these our corrupt bodies shall and instead of corruption and evill righteousnes and holines shall dwell therein And so in this consideration as the state shall be in the restitution of all things differing from that it is now it shall be another world not this and therefore the Scripture calleth it the world to come Heb. 2.5 c. This present world is not that world which was before the Flood as Peter saith The world that then was being overflowed with water perished 2 Pet. 3.6 and yet we all know and so did Peter that in respect of the works of Gods creation of the heavens and the earth it is the same though in some other kind of respect it is not the same but another So the world to come though it shall bee another world farre differing from this world in state and condition yet in those respects of creation it will be the same And therefore it may rightly be said in the day when the Lord shall come to reigne The Kingdomes of this world are made our Lords and his Christs and he shall reigne for ever and ever And because others to whom they belong not doe now possesse them And they with the whole earth unto the utmost ends thereof by right of inheritance are the Lords as it is written I will declare the decree the Lord hath said unto me Thou art my Sonne this day have I begotten thee Ask of me and I will give thee the heathen for thine
the body untill the resurrection of the body and then so to rise with it and be named for both For one corrupt opinion or point of false doctrine brings alwayes more of the like nature with it But I leave this to their consideration and come again to the Text to see what it further saith Ver. 16. And the four and twenty Elders which sate on their seats in the sight of God fell on their faces and adoring God said Wee thank thee Lord God omnipotent which art which wast and which shalt come because thou hast received thy great power and brightnesse NOw the seventh Angel having sounded the great and last Trumpet the Lord being come in his glory and the Kingdomes of this world made his who is to reign for ever and ever world without end Hereupon the four and twenty Elders which are Moses and the Prophets as the four Beasts mentioned in Chap. 4.9 are the four Evangelists fall down on their faces before the throne of God adoring him for that his judgements against Antichrist and his worshippers which they by the seven-fold Spirit of Majesty given them of God spake of and denounced from time to time against them were now justified upon them And the everlasting Kingdome of the Lord their God whose dominion reacheth from Sea to Sea from the River to the ends of the earth is now set up for evermore according to all that he had foreshewed them and by the same Spirit spoken by them Hereupon they falling down and adoring the justification of God break forth into praises and thanksgiviving saying We thank thee Lord God omnipotent which art which wast and which shalt come because thou hast received thy great power and brightnesse c. Ver. 17. And the Gentiles were angry and thy wrath is come and the time of the dead to be judged and to render reward to thy servants the Prophets Saints to them that fear thy Name little and great and to destroy them that have corrupted the earth ANd notwithstanding the rage fury of those great Monarchs of the world that like wild Boares of the Forest that rose up against the Lord and against his people and Citie Ierusalem and of those Beasts of the field which said against the Lord and his anointed Let us break their bonds asunder and cast their cords from us And of all those Antichristian powers of so long continuance that have with the rest to fill up their measure rejected the Lord and trode his truth to the ground and made the holy Citie of his Saints as a street to trample upon And of all that innumerable multitude of Gog and Magog which that old Serpent the Devill and Satan shall at last gather together with their mighty men and chiefe Captaines against this great day of the Lord bringing them down and compassing the camp of his Saints about and the beloved Citie intending to destroy root out and take the prey and spoyle of all These all who are here described as they are also in Psa 2. by the name of Gentiles And the Gentiles were angry c. are now to endure the wrath judgment of him who with justice judgeth The great day of his wrath being come and the time of the dead to be judged Now the Lord for whose glory this day is made will render unto every man justly and truly according to their works and wayes wherein their hearts have walked and delighted First to his Servants his Prophets his Saints and Martyrs that through faith and patience have overcome their just reward which for his name and promise sake is right and due unto them And next unto all those heathen Gentiles and people of all nations kindreds of the earth under what name and of what profession of religion soever they passe Jewes Catholiques Protestants or other whose hearts are hard unrepentant and unbeleeving who by their evill deeds have corrupted the earth their just reward also and recompence which to their workes and wayes is rightly due unto them For so much doe the words conclude in saying And to render reward unto thy servants the Prophets Saints and to them that feare thy Name little and great and to destroy them that have corrupted the earth And hereby it is also manifest that at the same very time when the last trumpet shall sound and the Lord shall come in his glory the dead both good and bad shall be raised and judged without any distance of yeares or dayes between the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised as Paul saith And although the salvation of the just and sufferings of the ungodly shall continue for a thousand yea and ten thousand times ten thousand thousands of yeares even for everlasting as the Scriptures declare yet the judgment and sentence passing will require no longer time in the hands of the Lord then one day as the Scriptures alwayes expresse it And that we should know for certain that this day will come at the same time when Satan with his Armies of Gog and Magog shall be upon Christendome compassing the Camp of the Saints about and fire shall come downe from God out of heaven and devoure them The holy Ghost in Rev. 20.9 10 11 12 c. doth plainly declare it And to the end that we should take notice thereof hee saith chap. 21.6 It is done I am Alpha and Omega the beginning and the end c. And in chap. 16. upon the same comming down of the Kings of the earth and of the whole world unto the judgement of the great day it followeth vers 17. It is done And in Ezek. 39. upon the same destruction of Gog and Magog it followeth also verse 8. Behold it is come and it is done saith the Lord. This is the day whereof I have spoken Which day will be the last day of this world spoken of by Martha Luke 11.24 and whereof Christ saith But of that day and houre knoweth no man no not the Angelt of heaven but my Father only Matth. 24. For although the Lord hath revealed and men may know the yeare yet the day and hour can no man know And as in this last day this present world shall end so in it shal the world to come and the kingdome of Christ and his Saints begin as it is also declared Matth. 25.31 32 33 c. 2 Tim. 4.1 And then shall be the restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of his holy Prophets that have been since the world began as it is also written Acts 3.20.21 There shall bee new heavens and a new earth and Jerusalem shall be made a praise in the earth And great shall bee the difference between the estate of this world to come which shall be in subjection to Christ and wherein he shall reigne and righteousnesse shall dwell for ever world without end and the now present world wherein the heathen and Pagan Monarchs and Antichrists reigne and iniquity beareth rule and dwelleth And for any to teach or perswade the Christian State now present as some in their Sermons and Printed bookes have done and doe that the Kingdome of Christ and his Saints whereof the Prophets have spoken shall be in this present world for a thousand yeares before the last day is to teach and perswade to a Doctrine against Christ and not for him whose Kingdome is not of this world which is not nor will be being corrupt subject unto him Antichrist and his Clergie of false prophets that have taken upon them as much as ever did any the name of the onely true Church of Christ in the world have been as a great Monarch in this present world for a thousand yeares past already and let them take it for their portion of happinesse But let no true Christian Ministers state or people bee of such a mind to teach such doctrine or looke for such a thing here againe But rather flie the glory and shadow of this world and look for the eternall Kingdome in the world to come ready to bee revealed when Christ shall come at the last day which I verily beleeve upon the grounds before mentioned many thousands now living shall live to see And so I rest their Christian friend wishing them all true happinesse grace and truth and peace in Christ Amen Now having here a little space let mee put a question or two more to the Millenaries As first if when God shall have created new Heavens and a new Earth Jerusalem a rejoycing and her people a joy there shall be no more thence an infant of dayes nor an old man that hath not filled his dayes as the Prophet Esay saith Esa 65.20 Then I ask how there can thence an infant or child of dayes or an old man die as they will have it in their Millenary estate Again if the resurrection of the ungodly shall not bee till the thousand years kingdome of Christ which the Millenaries make to be the day of judgement shall be expired as they teach Then I ask what time they will have for that great multitude of ungodly not risen from the dead to be judged and who they mean Christ shall be all that time of a thousand yeares a judging Or how hee can judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and kingdome as Paul saith if the dead be not all raised at his appearing and kingdome and brought before him to be judged or why he should need a thousand yeares or dayes time of pawsing in judgement or more then one true naturall day though there shall be a thousand and ten thousand times ten thousand yeares of execution and suffering yea yeares and dayes and nights everlastingly as it is written Matth. 25. and sundry other places FINIS