and his Kingdom are Joyn'd 2 Tim. 4. 1. He shall Judge the Quick and the Dead at his Kingdom and at his Appearance Q. Give a proof of the Kingdom at his Resurrection A. The Apostle plainly declares it For he says Every one shall Rise in his own Order Christ the First Fruits and They which are Christs at his Coming And without Any other Mention of his Kingdom He says He must Reign till he hath put All his Enemies under his Feet Now when did this Reigning Begin but at his Coming Or where did the Apostle Give any Intimation of his Reigning but at his Coming according to all the Fore-mentioned Scriptures And when He Comes and Descends and no Longer Sits at the Right Hand of God Then God first makes his Enemies his Footstool not when he Sits but when He Comes and then He Begins to Reign and He Reigns Till all his Enemies are his Footstool And when He Descends and Comes and Reigns The Dead in Christ Rise and then He Brings Them with Him His Kingdom and the Resurrection of his Saints Begin together Q. What Place then hath the Day of Judgment A. The Day of Judgment is the same with the Kingdom of Christ and with the Resurrection All Begin Continue and End Together with this Difference The Judiciary Sentence is at the Beginning Rev. 19 last and at the End c. 20. 13. 14. 15. and between a Righteous and Holy Government which Government the Scripture often calls Judgment Psal 72. 4. And All Men whether They Rise to Life or to Condemnation are before and as it were about the Tribunal or Judgment Seat which is also the Throne of Christ and Receiving according to what They have done in the Body whether it be Good or Evil during the whole space of the Resurrection Kingdom and Judgment of Christ 2 Cor. 5. 10. Q. How long then does the Kingdom of Christ the Appearance in the Resurrection and the Day of Judgment last A. The Grand and the most Definitive Time in which Christ shall Reign with his Saints is while Sathan is bound and That is a Thousand Years And the Apostle Peter having named the Day of Judgment Immediately as it were Adjures Christians not to be Ignorant that One day as if He should say That One Day of Judgment is with the Lord as a Thousand Years and the several viz. Six Thousand Years before it but as each one day so making that Day of Judgment a Sabbatical Day or Sabbatism Rev. 20. v. 2. to 8. 2 Pet. 3. 8. Q. But seeing as hath been said The Living Remaining Saints have a State in this Kingdam of Christ in the New Earth even as the Saints dead in Christ have in the New Heavens How can so long a space as of the Thousand Years consist with the Apostles Doctrine 1 Cor. 15. 52. that speaks as of a close Connexion betwixt the Dead being Rais'd and the Wee of the Saints being Chang'd For saith He Behold I shew you a Mystery We shall not All dye but we shall All be chang'd in a moment in the Twinckling of an Eye at the last Trumpet For the Trumpet shall sound and the Dead shall be Rais'd Incorruptible and we shall be chang'd All as it were in one moment A. The Apostle shews the suddenness and Immediate effect of the Power of Christ in both Raising the Dead and Changing the Living but the so close Connexion betwixt the Raising and the Changing does not thence Follow For within the Time of John's Seventh and last Trumpet when the Kingdom of Christ Begins its Succession and which contains all from that Kingdom of Christ so beginning and its being Deliver'd up The Dead shall be Rais'd and the Living chang'd but at several distances of Time Forthe Apostle says the Dead in the Third person shall be â—aâ—â—'d To shew the Wee of Saints of the first person are of a different State and order of Time in being Chang'd from the Dead in Christ that shall be Rais'd Q. But it does not seem that this change of persons can bear the weight of so Great a point of doctrine A. I allow it if there were not that Great Consenting Scripture 1 Thess 4. 17. where the Apostle puts the same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or afterwards betwixt the Saints dead in Christ at the Coming of Christ Rising first and the Living Chang'd or which is the same Caught up that He had put betwixt the Resurrection of Christ and his Saints Rising at his Coming which hath made as great a distance as 1700 Years already For saith the Apostle the Lord Himself shall descend with a shout with the Voice of the Arch Angel with the Trumpet of God and the Dead in Christ shall Rise First Then we which are Alive and Remain shall be caught up viz. without Dying Now the word which is here Translated Then was 1 Cor. 15. 27. Translated Afterward and may therefore very well allow the distance of above a 1000 Years in one as in the other which distance the Translators knowing betwixt Christ's Resurrection and of his Saints at his Coming Translated Afterwards a word of distance in our English But not understanding so well that distance betwixt the Raising and Changing the Saints they render the same word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Thess 4. 17. Then which signifies often with us the same moment but this varies not the Truth of Things and of Scripture Q. How is the State of the Kingdom of Christ bounded at the Period or End of it A. By the Saints Living and Remaining being Caught up to Christ in the Air by the Subduing the last Enemy Death and by the Delivering up the Kingdom to God All in All So that the Coming of Christ and his Appearance in and at his Kingdom the Dead in Christ Rising His Saints the Wee left Living and the Judiciary sentence on his Enemies to be his Footstool at the beginning and these Great Pillars at the end bound at each Point this Greatest Oeconomy of the Fulness of Times and not only distinguish but exalt it far above all other Time And herewith Admirably Agrees the whole State of Things in the last Trumpet of the Prophecy of the Revelation wherein we have several Expressions of the Kingdom of Christ or his Taking to Him his Great Power and Reigning The Heavens open to Him with his many Crowns and the Title or Name on his Vesture and on his Thigh King of Kings Lord of Lords His Reigning and his Throne in the New Jerusalem The Time of the Dead being Judg'd and Rewards Given to All that Fear'd his Name Great and Small and the destroying them that destroy'd the Earth A voice Commands to write the Blessedness of All the Dead in the Lord and their Sabbatism Yea from henceforth or Immediately Christ with a Crown and on a White Cloud Giving down it Dew as the Dew of Herbs that the Earth may disclose its dead c. and Reaps his
Kingdom of Christ preparing to Cleanse his Sanctuary for his Kingdom 1772 So we must be in the 2218 Even Morn Q. Why then did not the Papacy wholly Fall at the Reformation A. That there might be as punctual a performance of the Full Time of the Three Times and a Half to the Papacy as could consist with the Kingdom of Christ to which some Appearance was at that Time due Q. Can the Reformation then be perfect A. No For the Thunders that open'd to it were Seal'd and There are They of the Synagogue of Sathan that stay the Glory of it till the Philadelphian State come And then even They shall worship at Philadelphia's Feet Rev. 3. 9. c. 10. 4. Q. When shall that be A. At the very same Time when the Popacy falls For They of the Synagogue stand by that Title and then Bow For Christ makes them by Grace so to Worship that is to Bow Q. How can such a Computation consist with No One Knowing of that Day and Hour not the Angels nor the Son but the Father only Mark 13. 32. A. God is said therefore as on purpose to Give the Revelation to Jesus Christ to shew to his Servants what before was only in the Father's Cognizance And then Blessed is He that Reads or Expounds and They who Hear or understand what is so Reveal'd by God to Christ. Revel 1. 1. 3. Q. But Christ further says Watch for you Know not the Day nor the Hour when your Lord cometh Mark 13. 35. A. That Watch is a Spiritual Watch without which tho' a Man Knew the day or Hour never so precisely Yet He would not Know the day and Hour of his Lords coming but It would be to Him as of a Theif in the Night and as a man dics in that Watch or the neglect of it So Christ comes upon Him tho' many Hundred Years after Death if It were not such a Watch the Apostle had discharg'd the Thessalonians of it by Adjuring them not to expect the day of Christ till after the Apostasie and in Them all Christians after till that Apostasie expire 2 Thess 2. 1. Q. Are the Thousand Years of Christ's Kingdom Litterally or Mystically to be understood A. They are both ways to be understood Litterally Adding so many Years to the Time Allotted to the Visible Creation till All be Deliver'd up to God Himself Mystically as a Thousand Years are a Cube of Time signifying the perfection of Time which none of the Patriarchs after Adams Fall could Attain how near soever They came to it Gen. 5. Q. Is it no Impeachment to the Kingdom of Christ never ending that Sathan is loos'd at the end of the 1000 Years and Deceives the Nations to a new Attempt A. No For It only gives Just occasion to Christ to magnifie his Power Judiciary Authority Justice and the Final Putting down All Rule and Power and Subduing the Last Enemies the Devil the Dead and Death and Hell And having Quickly drawn up all the Living Saints to his Own Throne first according to 1 Cor. 15. 24. 51. 1 Thess 4. 17. Rev. c. 3. 21. Rev. 20. and so Giving up the Kingdom every way perfectly prepar'd to God All in All the Glory of having Faithfully managed and happily Atcheiv'd All Things is for ever due to Him John 17. 24. Q. Are the Worship and Ordinances of the New Testament any way Prefigurative of this Kingdom of Christ A. Very Fully For the Gospel is the Gospel and word of this Kingdom The Prayer we stile The Lords Prayer is the Prayer of this Kingdom Taught to all his Disciples The Lords Day is the Type and Pledge of that Sabbatism Baptism is the Figure of being Sav'd 1 Pet. 3. 21. from that Deluge of Fire The Lords Supper is the shewing forth his Death till He Come 1 Cor. 11. 26. Then that Passover is fullfill'd and that Fruit of the Vine drunk New Luc. 22. 16. 18. Nor can any of the Old Testament Types Prophecies and Promises be Fully Drawn out but in that Kingdom and Appearance So that in Summ it is the Everlasting Gospel God hath always been Gospelizing throughout the Old and New Testament Rev. 10. 7. Q. But if These Truths are of this Great Weight Can the Churches of the Saints be so unacquainted with Them A. Even as the Jewish Saints and the very Apostles were Ignorant of the Sacrifice Resurrection Ascention and Intercession of Christ so Fundamental Points till the Powring down the Spirit for Preaching the Gospel then Even so and much more may the Saints of Gospel Times even now till the Second Powring down the Spirit for the Preaching the Everlasting Gospel be and have been Ignorant of the Full Dimensions of the Redemption of Christ Fulfill'd in his Kingdom of the Glory of that Oeconomy to the Highest Glory of God the Father in his Creation and Love of Man of the Resurrection as such a visible Appearance of the Just and Vnjust for a Thousand Years the Dead in Christ Rising first Of the Mystery of the Saints Remaining and Living on Earth making up the Full Number of all Saints and not Dying but being Chang'd of the necessity according to this Oeconomy of the Infinitely Holy and Wise Being of such a Preparation for the Saints as Priests of God and Christ a Thousand Years to be Vnited to God All in All And notwithstanding this Ignorance They may be True Churches of Saints but the nearer the Time Approaches the Slowness of Heart to Know and Believe these Things will Argue a greater Lukewarmness for the Kingdom Glory and Coming of Christ and It hath been all along a dark Shade of the Apostasie upon the Churches Q. What Spirit are we then to be of with Relation to the coming of Christ in this his Kingdom A. Of the Vehement and even Passionate Spirit of the Bride which says Come Make hast my beloved to the Mountain of Spices Anointed for thy Kingdom with that Precious Oyntment that Antichrist now Counterfeits to his Death as the Great Prince Messiah the Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec and thy Saints as Kings and Priests with Thee in that Great Day of thy Nuptials in thy Kingdom Rev. 22. 17. Cantic 8. 14. Exod. 30. 33. Psal 110. 4. Rev. 20. 2. Q. You seem to have forgotten this Marriage so great an Emblem of the Thousand Years Kingdom of Christ in Scripture A. I Reserv'd it as the Best Wine for the Last For it is indeed most often so made use of in Holy Writing by Solomon in that most Prophetick Nuptial Song of his of the Kingdom by Esay c. 62. 5. by Christ often and He makes his Coming to be on purpose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the sake of the Wedding and not as we Translate from it Luc. 12. 36. By the Apostle Paul Calling it as the Kingdom is Call'd Mystery Ephes 5. 25. 32. By the Apostle John in the Prophecy of the Kingdom just Appearing Rev. 19. 7. c. 21. 2. c. 22. 17. And it Carries Great Argument and Instruciton Q. What is the Argument A. That the Kingdom which is this Wedding every where in Scripture is not yet For the Bridegroom is now Taken from us as Christ Foretold He would be Luc 5. 35. Nor can it be at the Kingdom Deliver'd up For the Second Adam of which the First Adam's and Eves Marriage was the Type who is the Bridegroom is then the Bridegroom no longer But He Unites Himself with the Bride to the Father All in All John 17. 21. c. Q. What is the Instruction A. In Three Things 1. That even the Wise Virgins not Bearing this New Wine in their Old Bottles slumber even as the Foolish though with Oyl in their Vessels Grace in their Hearts which the Foolish not Having were shut out Mat. 25. 1. c. And 2. That we ought to be in Fasting and Sackcloth as the Children of the Bride-Chamber all these Days of the Bridegrooms being Taken from us Luc 5. 35. 3. That we should Hearing with an Ear to Hear and Thirsting most Affectionately to the Bridegrooms Saying Behold I come Quickly Resound Even so come Lord Jesus That He may say to us in Grace Come Then Also and with me Drink the Water of Life Freely And that we may do Thus The Grace of the Lord Jesus be with us All. Amen Rev. 22. 17. to the End FINIS
Water of Life and over Them the second death can have no power Q. But it seems They only who have been Martyrs and especially They who would not Receive the mark and Name of that Antichristian Idolatrous Power which the Revelation calls the Beast are They who thus Rise and enjoy that State a Thousand Years Rev. 20. 4. A. They are indeed the principal there nam'd to Answer the Table or Representation of Things in that Prophecy of the Revelation But it is subjoyn'd immediately v. 6. Blessed and Holy is He that hath part in the first Resurrection though they are not the principals Beheaded for Christ And the Apostle Paul assures us All who have died in Christ will God bring with Him That none should Mourn without hope for Dead Friends as if They should loose that Glory For none of the Saints can be perfected the one without the other The Living Saints cannot prevent the Dead and the Wee of the Living Saints are Joyn'd in that Glory with the Dead Rais'd 1 Thess 4. 15. and Heb. 11. last Call'd we All as making up the whole Q. What then shall be the State of the Saints Living and Remaining at the Coming of the Lord A. They also are as was said Partakers of the First Resurrection so that the Second Death shall have no Power over Them For the Blessed and the Holy is only He who is so Partaker And it is expresly said These shall not dye but be Changed and caught up to meet the Lord in the Clouds and be for ever with the Lord So they cannot fall into the Lake of the Second Death The Leaves of the Tree of Life are therefore for the Healing these saved of the Nations And the River of Life from the Throne runs down to them and the Trees of Life are for their Food and Medicine and the Healing Waters from the Sanctuary so that whatever doth Live shall Live Rev. 22. 2. Ezek. 47. 11. They shall be as Adam had he continued in Paradise served with the whole Variety of the Creation for Use and Delight without Lust or Sensuality without Labour Sorrow Curse or Death till They are so changed and they shall propagate a Holy Seed Psal 110. 3. in such abundance as to recompence with a much more to the Glory of the Second Adam Rom. 5. 12. to the end for the few that are saved within the World of the First Adam Q. What Entercourse shall there be betwixt the Saints of the New Heaven above and the Saints of the New Earth beneath A. Such as betwixt the Lights of Heaven and the Firmament and our Selves now on Earth For the Nations of the Saved shall walk in the Light of the New Jerusalem above shining as the Sun and Stars down to them And as All Glory on Earth is refer'd to the Light of the Sun and the Heaven over us So the Saints the Kings on Earth shall bring their Glory to the New Jerusalem above especially They shall give their Glory and walk in the Light and Enjoyment of God and of Christ And Angels and Saints above Angels Equalls shall Ascend and Descend on that Jacobs Ladder whose Foot being on Earth its Top reached to Heaven and God and the Lamb are on the Top of it and by Ezekiel's steps enlarging and winding still upward shall All below Ascend upward Gen. 28. 12 13. Ezeck 41. 7. Q. Give yet a fuller Account of the State of the wicked in this Kingdom of Christ A. The Scripture is not so full nor so clear in setting out the State of the Wicked under this Kingdom yet so that It is most certain that They who have lived before it are rais'd to Illustrate the Glory of it and to bear the Shame and Dishonour of their wickedness under the Just and Righteous Condemnation of Christ call'd a being slain with the Sword of his Mouth Shame and Contempt shall be pour'd upon Them as a Just Recompence of all the Scorn They have cast upon Christ his ways and Servants and They shall be seen in a State of Punishment Destruction and Death under a sharp sense of it in Themselves and so that They shall be seen as Carcasses whose Worm dyes not and their Fire is not quenched so that They are an Abhoring of all Flesh And this is a Just and Righteous Recompence of all the Cruelties They have exercised upon the Servants of God and their Disobedience to God and to Christ and their so obstinate prefering the present World before and above the World to Come Lastly in what ever State Any of them can be suppos'd to be They are certainly so under Christ and his Saints That They are made his Foot-stool Dan. 12. 2. John 5. 29. Esay 66. ult 2 Thes 1. 9. Psal 110. 1. Q. When does the Kingdom of Christ begin A. It begins at the Coming and Appearance of Christ and at the Resurrection of his Saints at that his Coming and Appearance a Resurrection to Life Honour and Immortality and to a visible Glorious Appearance with Christ and Reigning with Him Q. Is there not a Resurrection of the Wicked at the same Tme And if so How then does their Resurrection stand in Relation to the Happy Resurrection A. There is their Resurrection as was last declared but because It is a Resurrection to Punishment and Dishonour It is called Death and They are called the dead though iâ— a visible Appearance The Scripture therefore but seldom names the Resurrection of the wicked as a Resurrection and when it speaks of the Resurrection at any Time absolutely It means the Happy and blessed Resurrection as Luc. 20. 35 36. 1 Cor. 15. throughout Rev. 20. 4. 6. And therefore there can be no other Respect had to them in the Kingdom of Christ and the Resurrection proper to it but as They add to the Triumph of the Kingdom and are in a State of Deprivation of its Glory Q. What proof can you give of the Kingdom of Christ at his Coming and Appearance A. The whole Stream of the New Testament Joyns his Coming and his Appearance and his Kingdom One with Another The Son of Man coming in his Kingdom Mat. 16. last When the Son of Man shall come in his Glory and All the Holy Angels with him Then shall He sit on the Throne of his Glory Mat. 25. 31. Remember me when Thou Comest in not into thy Kingdom Luk. 23. 42. Because They thought the Kingdom of God should immediately Appear He spake a Parable unto Them of a Nobleman going into a Far Country to Receive a Kingdom and to Return and Having Receiv'd a Kingdom He Return'd in it Luke 19. 13 15. When we made known unto You the Power and Coming of Christ and were Eye Witnesses of his Majesty to wit in the Transfiguration that Great Fore-Appearance of his Kingdom Behold He who is the Prince of the Kings of the Earth cometh in the Clouds and Every Eye shall see Him Revel 1.5.7 And his Appearance
Wheat with his own Hand and gathers by his Angels the clusters of the Wicked to cast Them into the Wine-press of the Wrath of God which He coming in his Kingdom Treads and Slays or Condemns with the word of his Mouth All the wicked Small and Great Chains and Seals up Sathan into the Bottomless-pit the making all his Enemies his Footstool while at the same Time there are the Nations of Them that are saved viz. of the Living Remaining And this Kingdom lasts till the Living Remaining are caught up to sit with Christ on his Throne as he sate Down on His Fathers Throne and the Devil the Dead Death and Hell are Cast into the Lake of the Second Death which is the Subduing the Last Enemy Death at which Heaven and Earth flie away from that white Throne of Pure and Liquid Eternity and the Kingdom Delivered up to God All in All Esay 26. 19. Mat. 13. 30. Rev. 11. 15. c. c. 14. 13. to the End c. 19. c. 20. all along All which are Admirable Correspondencies with all the Former Scriptures and their High Importance already given And Thus the Kingdom of Christ is from the First Resurrection the First because at the Beginning of the Kingdom of Christ and the Second Death the Second because at the End of the Kingdom of Christ For the First Resurrection hath properly no Second but is All One Resurrection from the First Rising of the Dead in Christ to the Living Remaining Saints caught into the Partakership of it And the Second Death hath no First but is All one Death from the Having no Part in the First Resurrection in the Holy City and no Right to the Tree of Life to the Casting into the Lake of the Second Death So the First Resurrection and Second Death are only Oppos'd As First and Second Q. Is there Any other Scripture Representation of this State of the Kingdom of Christ that may Evidence it to be such a peculiar Dispensation that hath never yet been and that shall be yet before the Giving up the Kingdom to God All in All A. There is that Great One The Time of the Restitution of All Things viz. Of the whole Creation Deliver'd from the Bondage of Corruption into the Glorious Liberty of the Children of God Rom. 8. 21. which is at the same Time with the Re-Livening which we Translate Acts 3. 19. Times of Refreshing the Dead in Christ or as the Apostle John Rev. 20. 4. calls it the Souls Living And This must be what never hath yet been For it must be when Jesus before Preached and whom the Heavens must Receive till He be Sent Come which we All Acknowledge hath not been yet and yet must be before the Kingdom Deliver'd up For then the Restitution shall be Deliver'd up also There is also the New Jerusalem which according to the Compare of Ezekiel in the Israelitish Description of Things proper to the Old Testament and Johns proper to the New Testament Assure There must be such a State of Things as never hath yet been And in Regard of a Higher State where the Throne of God and the Lamb are and Those who Immediately as being in their presence Eat of the Tree of Life and drink of the Water of Life and in Regard of the Nations Saved and Healed must be a State above and below and so before the Kingdom Deliver'd up to God and the Father when he is All in All. Q. This being a very Great Point and so Differently Expounding those Fundamental Points of the Resurrection and of the Day of Judgment as in the Kingdom of Christ There need besides the given Proofs of Scripture which are generally Explained so as to Reach no further then the Common Exposition of these Doctrines Great Accounts of Scripture Reason drawn from the most Intimate Sence of it to Establish such an Exposition A. There are Exceeding High Accounts from Scripture-Reason of the Manifold Wisdom Holiness and Justice of God in this Grand Oeconomy or Dispensation Q. Give Account of the First and Fundamental and most Immediate Reason of such a Dispensation A. That there might be a State of Visible Appearance of the Glory of Christ and of his Saints and of the Contempt Dishonour and Retributions of Justice on Wicked Men For that These Things should Appear be set in open View in a Full and Clear Light is every where made Known in Stripture First as a Recompence to the Deep Humiliation of Jesus Christ Himself and to his Saints who have been all along but especially since the Delay of his Kingdom at his Resurrection in a Low Scorn'd and Persecuted State Tortur'd by Cruelties and Forc'd out of the World by Violent Deaths who have therefore from the Truth of God been Arm'd and Encourag'd in their Obedience and against these Sufferings by the Assurance of a Visible Appearance in Glory and Reign with Christ and of the Visible Shame and Confusion of their Enemies and of all Wicked and Unholy Men who have so obstainately preferr'd the Present before a Future State Esay 65. 13 14 and to the End Mic. 7. 17. and Dan. 12. 1 2. Phil. 2. 9 10 11. Heb. 11. 35. with many more Scriptures Q. But can there be no Appearance of this Glory and of that Contempt but in such a state of the Kingdom of Christ A. No Not in this World because however some Appearances may be of these Things on each side in some Instances Yet in General All is so in Confusion and Disorder here and this is the very Cross-Handed State of Evil to the Servants of God and of the Prosperity of Wicked Men that no Man Knows Love or Hatred by All that is before him Not in the State of Spirits in Heaven above or in Prison below For All Scripture Reason makes it most Evident There can be no Appearance without a Resurrection Not in the State of Eternity For then God All in All as the Highest Glory Swallows up the Less when God is All in All The Son is subject There must be therefore a Distance of the Rain-bow the Emblem of Christs Kingdom from the Sun that its Beauties may be seen so the Glory of Christ in his Humane Nature and of his Saints in visible Glory must be seen at a Distance from God All in All Not in the Day of Judgment or the Resurrection as a short Transitory Space For that could be no Kingdom nor any Appearance worthy so Great a Cause that had only a moment But it must be a settled Oeconomy or State of Duration the Fullness of Times as it own proper Times and not short Time on-only When the Great Potentate gives a Show it shall be of a thousand years Duration Eccles 9. 1. 1 Cor. 15. 28. Ephes 1. 10. 1 Tim. 6. 15. Rev. 20. 6. Q. How may This be also Set in Agreement with the State of the Wicked A. Very exactly For here They very generally appear in Prosperity And the State of
Obedience of Christ the Linnen white and clean which is the Righteousness of the Saints that It Invests Them All which makes the difference betwixt the Saints and the Reprobate Inconceivable For the Talents that the Reprobate might have here by General Grace to Adorn Them are Taken from them and All their Sins find them out and are as the Garment that covers them and the Girdle wherewith They are Girded continually Allowing yet the differences of Punishment betwixt the more and less Malicious Sinners Jerem. 50. 20. Luke 23. 40. c. Mat. 25. 28. Q. But the Kingdom of Christ seems a State of Purgation for that last State of Delivering up the Kingdom to God All in All Why may not therefore some that have not Repented here Find place in that State for Repentance especially when some are Converts so near Death and so many dye Infants and are Sav'd who had no space of serving God in this World A. In the deep and wise dispose of God besides that Standard of Glorifying God here on Earth the Spirits unreconciled to God in Christ and unsanctified in the very moment wherein They leave the Body become Devilish James 3. 15. and so can be no more chang'd after then Devils and the Bodies being laid down without any Seeds of the Divine Life not the Temples of the Holy Spirit are Taken up in the very same State and can never be chang'd because the Spirit to Inhabit them cannot And so thus as the Spirits of Holy Men are Pledges of Happiness to the whole Man so the Spirits of Vnholy Men in Prison are Hostages for the whole man to Justice under Wrath and hereby there is in each order of Spirits having in themselves a sense of their Future Condition a Preparation for the Kingdom of Christ in Glory or in Dishonour For thus there is no discontinuance in the Sense and Knowledge Each have in the Reasons of the Future State as there would be if the Spirits of Men stâ—pt in the dust as their Bodies do till the Resurrection and that Visible Appearance in the Judgment and Kingdom of Christ But They are Spirits in Prison or with Christ 1 Pet. 3. 19. Philip. 1. 23. Q. But there seems to be some Greater Refinement of Saints in the Kingdom of Christ for Vnion to God All in All A. The Spirits of Saints having been with Christ from their Leaving the Body and in the very beginning of the Kingdom of Christ the whole * Just Men not Spirits made perfect Man being made perfect Heb. 12. 23. They are for 1000 years Confirm'd in that most perfect State and with Angels They Behold in this Great Oeconomy the utmost God is pleas'd to have seen in a Created State in order to Vnion with God All in All and so are Deliver'd up with the Kingdom the Just Contrary to which is in every particular to Wicked Men for their being Cast into the Lake Q. Hath not the Eternal Word in Humane Nature a Kingdom throughout Eternity A. The Eternal Word in Humane Nature hath a Kingdom throughout Eternity but not as the Son of Man but as the Eternal Word The Glory in which then Christ is seen by his Saints being the Glory he had with the Father before the World Began of the same Nature wherein He is now at the Right Hand of God till He appears and the Vnion in that Eternal State is by God to God by the Word to the Father so the Son as Man is Subject and God All in All John 17. 5 24. Q. Is God excluded in the Kingdom of the Son A. No He is Excepted saith the Apostle who put All Things under Christ The Throne of God even as of the Lamb is in the New Jerusalem It is Gods Kingdom He Appoints sitting at the Right and Left Hand of Christ But the Divinity pleases so to Oeconomize its own Glory that the Son may be seen to Reign in Glory 1 Cor. 15. 27. Revel 22. 3. Mat. 20 23. Phil. 2. 11. Q. But it seems by the High Expression of God who is purest Spirit being All in All and by the Lake of the Second Death and even the New Heaven and New Earth after the 1000 Years Flying away Revel 20. 11. there is no Bodily or Material Nature Continued no not of the Son 's Glorious Body who is then Subject nor of his Saints A. Scripture having Declar'd no such Thing No such Thing can be suppos d but that Christ and his Saints shall be in Bodies But it is certain There shall be Highest Spirituality in Conformity to the Divine Nature that He may be All in All and in Vnion to Christ most Spiritual Bodies Even as in the Lake All the Damned become Spiritual Wickednesses to the Highest Degree All which Confirms the Nature and State of the Resurrection to stand in Visibility and Appearance for the thousand Years Phil. 3. 21. Ephes 6. 12. Q. What kind of State must that be of the Beast and of the False Prophet who are Cast Living into the Lake even before the Devil the Dead Death and Hell are Cast into it Rev. 19. 20. c. 20. 10. c. A. The finding out the meaning of that State is the more necessary because it will much clear that Last Issue or Casting of the Devil Death and Hell into the Lake 1. The Casting into the Lake therefore signifies Finall and most utter Cessation of Action so that the Casting the Beast and the False Prophet into the Lake Imports to us that the Antichristian State of which the Beast and the False Prophet were the Supream Constituents or Parts being the Counterfeit and Undermine of the True Kingdom of Christ shall as the Apostle speaks 2 Thes 2.8 be utterly Consum'd and Abolish'd by it 2. In that it is a Lake Burning with Fire and Brimstone It speaks severest Punishment and Torment by the True Kingdom of Christ shining upon the Beast and False Prophet and as it were in their very Faces 3. In that the Beast and the False Prophet are Cast Alive into the Lake It Declares that the Full Abolition of the Antichristian Kingdom shall be in the very Beginning of the Kingdom of Christ and that the Punishment of the Antichristian Kingdom as the Counterfeit and Undermine of the Kingdom of Christ shall be the most Conspicuous and Illustrious of all the Punishing Part of Christs Kingdom So that All other Enemies of Christs Kingdom shall be only as Dead Men Slain with the Sword of Christs Mouth in Comparison But the Severity upon the Anti-christian Kingdom shall be like Burning Alive as it were in Just Recompence of their Vivi-Comburia or Burning Those Servants of Christ They call'd Hereticks Alive upon the Beast his False Prophet and all their Worshippers and their Babilon And the Smoke of their Torment Ascendeth for ever and ever and Wicked Men have their part first but are not cast till the very End into the Lake Rev. 19. 3. 21. c.
the Second Death is a State Given as Removed from all Appearance Psal 73. all along Rev. 20. last So that there must be such a peculiar State of Appearance under Wrath according to all Scripture Q. Is not This a Curiosity only of Speculation or of what Practical Force is it A. Surely of very Great seeing nothing is so suited to moving to Repentance and to perswade us to Holiness as this Terror of the Lord that is so suited to men Knowing and understanding Themselves as here in Bodies And which is so written in Nature that Any Instances of it in this World either of Gods Crowning Holy Persons and their Actions with Honour or his Judgments on wicked Men made Examples here do above All other Things exceedingly Affect us 2 Cor. 5. 10. 11. Psal 64. 7. 8. 9. And the Contrary is by Solomon Accounted the Great Cause of Impenitency Eccles 8. 11. Q. How comes it then to pass the Resurrection hath been no more thus Explain'd and press'd A. Because the darkness of the Apostasie and Love of this present World as if the Glory of it were Given to Antichrist as the Vicar of Christ is that Word which the Apostle says hath Eaten as it were a Gangrene as if the Resurrection were now already or as if there were no Resurrection in such a State of Glory and of Visible Appearance in contempt but a sudden Translation into Eternity with God or in the Lake 1 Cor. 15. 12. 2 Tim. 2. 17. 18. Q. Give Account of a Second Scripture Ground of this Visible Glory and Kingdom of Christ and of the Subjection of his Enemies A. Without such a State of the Kingdom of Christ in the Creation restor'd or in a Restitution of All Things the Redemption of Christ were not Perfect and Compleat For whatever the First Adam desolated the Second Adam was to Restore and to Bring again into order There must be therefore a Deliverance of the Creature from the Bondage of Corruption and from all their mutual Enmities So that the Wolf and the Lamb may dwell together c. And on this very Account There must be a Generation of Saints below as Adam and his Seed should have been in Paradise and the Saints dead in Christ in a Restored State in the Heaven above which Evil Spirits now Inhabit and from thence They behold the Glory and Happiness of the Humane nature in the Remaining Saints here below and the whole Creation of God as Renewed and Restored by the Mediator and by Him set out in Glory according to Psal 8. which is by Heb. 2. 5. c. Applyed to the World to come whereof we speak and to Jesus Christ Adoninu or Lord in our Nature or the Second Adam Q. But is there any proof that this State of Restitution pertains not only to the Glory but to the essential perfection of the Redemption A. I Account the Apostle hath given us the proof of this in the Resurrection the greatest Instance of the Restitution So that by a Parallel with that the whole Restitution will be prov'd also to pertain to the essential Perfection of this Redemption Q. What is that proof A. It is 1 Cor. 15. 12. and so forward Q. How do you draw out the proof of what you are upon according to that Scripture A. In these Four Things 1. That whatever Adam lost and whatever was a Part of the Death Threatned upon Adam's Fall must be Restor'd by the Second Adam the Mediator For so saith the Apostle v. 21. 22. and he Brings it in by way of Argument For since by Man came Death by Man came also the Resurrection of the Dead And as in Adam All Dye so in Christ shall All be made Alive By Agreement of Reason since by Man came the Curse on the Creation of God by Man came also the Restitution and if there be Argument in one It must be also in the other 2. A Future State of Happy Spirits might be supposed without a Resurrection as well as a State of Spirits in misery without a Resurrection Now the Apostle supposes a State of Spirits in Misery though there be no Resurrection of the Dead For Those words v. 17. You are yet in your Sins suppose a State of Future Misery of Spirits without a Resurrection Therefore There might be a State of Christ in the Glory of Spirits and so of his Saints though no Resurrection But this according to the Apostle's Argument will not suffice the very essential perfection of the Redemption without a Resurrection Proportionably the Curse upon the Creation being a part of Adam's Death as appears Gen. 3. 18. 19. That must be taken off as necessary to the essential Perfection of the Redemption And a Happy State of Eternity in a dissolved Creation can no more suffice then a Happy State of Spirits without a Resurrection 3. The Vnjust Arise and are yet in Their Sins for They Rise to Condemnation So that a Resurrection without a State of this Restitution wherein that Resurrection shall be Happy is a Death and not a Resurrection in general Scripture Account Therefore Resurrection is to Glory all along this Chapter 4. To the Compleating of this parallel betwixt the First Adam's death and the Second Adams Life There must be a Wee of Saints who shall not dye but be Changed making up the All the Full number of Saints viz. Those who are Dead in Christ and Those who are Changed For in the State of Restitution There can be no Death to the Seed of the Second Adam And if It be in this World It must be a World in a State of Restitution And because such a State on Earth had been if Adam had not sinn'd It must be now by the Second Adam Q. Is there yet any Further Account of the Kingdom of Christ from Scripture Reason A. There is yet the Highest Scripture Reason for the Kingdom of Jesus Christ that is that His Saints may be Fitted to be deliver'd up with the Kingdom to God and to the Father that He may be All in All which is the ultimate End and Last Result of All Things The Apostle therefore discourses of the Kingdom of Christ as in an Immediate Conjunction with and Subordination to that Eternal Kingdom of the Father God All in All. 1 Cor. 15. 28. Q. Why do you call this the Highest Scripture Account of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ A. Because That which is the Highest and last means to the Highest and Last End which Highest and Last end gives value and Reason to All means Receives the Highest Reason and the most Absolute necessity for it self from that Last End now It is most evident and certain from the Apostles discourse The Kingdom of Christ is the Highest and Last means to the Last and Highest End It is the Highest because It Alone is thought worthy to Touch and Attain that End And It is the Last because no other comes between it and that End For when in
this Kingdom Christ hath Fully declar'd God's Name to the Saints and put down all Rule Authority and Power in order to God's being All in All Then in the Highest and last Act of Subduing or Casting Death and Hell into the Lake and also in the Highest Act of declaring the Name of God It delivers up it self and is subject that God may be All in All. John 17. 26. 1 Cor. 15. 28. 54. c. Revel 20. last Q. If the Kingdom deliver'd up to God and the Father be the Last End It must be an End before all Oeconomy or Dispensation of means For the End must be before all means How do you state this A. It must needs be so even before Creation it self and therefore we Read so often of the Purpose of God before or from the Foundation of the World Ephes 1. c. 3. And It Contain these Two Things as not of Free Dispensation but of Absolute necessity 1. That the Eternal Rest of All Created Beings can be only in Vnion to the Father the Word the Spirit who are One and who Inhabit Eternity Creatures therefore below being capable of this Vnion as All which have not Understanding are Annihilated And Creatures of Understanding Angels and Men can be no other then miserable in the loss of this Vnion Hell therefore the lowest Lake lies in departing from God Mat. 25. 45. 46. 2. The Eternal Vnion if there be such an Vnion which is of Free Grace only can be only by God to God and so must be by the Eternal word through the Eternal Spirit to the Father Now among All the Varieties of Dispensations wherein These Grand Ends which upon the supposition of Creatures Eternally Happy are Absolutely necessary are brought to pass by Infinite Wisedom and Power The Kingdom of Christ is Supreme in the order of means or Dispensations as is evident in that It is the Last and so Supreme Q. If the Kingdom of Christ be the Supreme Dispensation and means It must then be in the Eye of God before any other Means or Dispensation And if Creation be but Dispensation in order to the Supreme End of God being All in All the Kingdom of Christ must be in the Eye of God before Creation it self either of Angels or Men A. And so the Scripture always Represents it The Lamb had the Book of Life for his Kingdom before the Foundation of the World and His Purpose in Christ is an Eternal Purpose And Angels and Men even All Things were Created by Him and for Him and by Him They Consist Ephes 3. 11. Col. 1. 15. to 21. Q. But are not These Things to be understood of Christ as He is the Eternal Word and not as in our Nature A. They are All proper to the Eternal Word not by way of Free Dispensation but Absolutely and Eternally and to the Eternal word in our Nature by way of Free Divine Dispensation in order to the union of all Created Beings of Understanding to God All in All. Q. Wherein then stands this Dispensation A. In that the Eternal word far above Angels Principalities Powers Became lower then the Angels by Becoming Man and so Comprehended the whole Created Intellectual Nature that he might be the Head of the whole in their Vnion to God And that in Him They might All be Reconciled to God with the whole Inferior Creation which Having serv'd the Glory of the Creator by Jesus Christ They Fly back into their Former State of Nothing in themselves but indeed are Return'd into the Divine Immensity and Angels and Men be Vnited to God for ever Ephes 1. 10. Col. 1. 20. Q. What need could the Angels who never sinned have of a Mediator by whom They should be Vnited to God or what Sign is there in Scripture of any such thing A. In that even Purest Created Nature is not Clean in his sight that is Compar'd with the Infinite Holiness of God and that there is Folly in it The Angels that Stand Stand by their Election and Cover their Faces before God and Christ in an Humble Thankful and Reverential Acknowledgment hereof Learn by the Church the Great Mysteries of the Gospel Adore and Worship the First Begotten Coming into his Great World to Come and Converse in Innumerable Companies with his Saints above and below in his Kingdom even as they Serve as Ministring Spirits now for the Heirs of that Kingdom Job 4. 18. c. 15. 15. 1 Tim. 5. 21. Isa 6 2. Ephes 3. 10. 1 Pet. 1. 12. Q. How did Christ Appear in this Dispensation for Man before his Fall A. If God Charges even the Holy Angels with Folly so that the Heavens were not Clean in his Sight How much less Men whose Houses are of Clay and whose Foundation is in the Dust There must be therefore a prospect in the Divine Eye of their State in a Mediator and as in Glorious Bodies Job 4. 19. Phil. 3. 21. Q. What Types or Fore-Appearances were there hereof A. Adam Himself as Comprehending Humane Nature in his State of Holiness and Blessedness even before his Fall was but a Type of Him that was to Come and who did indeed so Comprehend all his Seed The First Sabbath was but a Type of the Great Sabbatism of the Second Adam that Remains to the People of God in the World to Come For This Sabbatism then Remain'd Although the Works were Finish'd from the Foundation of the World and That Paradise was but a Type of the Paradice of God Rom. 5. 14. Heb. 4. 3 4. Rev. 2. 7. Q. But how does the State of the Kingdom of Christ Agree with the Redemption of Fallen Man by Christ A. Admirably it Agrees and in a much Fuller and Clearer View For His Saints as in Highest Representation of his Redemption are every single Person in Robes wash'd white in his Blood They are Priests of God and of Christ as to their Justified State And as to their Sanctification the Throne of God and of the Lamb are in the midst of Them They see his Face as his Servants they serve Him His Name is in their Fore-heads They are as the Pillars of his Temple and Go out no more from Him And there can in no wise Enter into that State Any Thing that defileth so that every one must be Holy As to their Happiness and Glory They Reign with Christ for ever Thus in the particulars Consider them together as in the General Assembly and Church of the First born written in Heaven And so They are the New Jerusalem the Bride or Lambs wife to whom It is Given in Regard of Justification to be Cloathed with Linnen White and Clean which is the Righteousness of the Saints As to Holiness It is Clear as a most Precious Jasper and Wall'd High and Guarded by Watch of Angels from all Defilement As to Happiness and Eternal security The Lord God and the Lamb are the Light thereof and the Glory of God Enlightens it that it can see in no
other Light God and the Lamb are the Temple of it that cannot be defiled The City hath the Tree of Life Bearing Twelve several kinds of Fruit viz. an universality and perfection of Life and a River of Life Clear as Chrystal Proceeding from the Throne Heb. 12. 25. Rev. c. 20. c. 21. c. 22. Q. But how does so Great a State and the so High Expressions of it work as to the Delivery up of the Kingdom to God All in All and to Christ as the Bond of union A. These Two ways First That the State of Delivery up of the Kingdom to God All in All cannot be better expounded to us then in those so divine words of our Lord in his Mediatory Prayer John 17. 21. That They All may be one as Thou Father art in me And I in Thee That They also may be one in us that the World may Believe that Thou hast sent me And the Glory which Thou gavest me Have I given Them that They may be one as we are one I in Them and Thou in me That they may be made perfect in one and that the World may Believe that Thou hast sent me and hast loved Them as Thou hast loved me Father I will that Those which Thou hast given me may be with me where I am and may Behold my Glory which Thou hast given me For Thou loved'st me before the Foundation of the World Oh! Righteous Father The World hath not known Thee But I have known Thee And These have known that Thou hast sent me And I have declared to them Thy Name and will declare it that the Love wherewith Thou hast loved me may be in Them and I in Them Q What Arises from these words to our present purpose A. First That so High Expressions can fit no State but of God All in All even as He was before the Foundation of the World All in All and to which State Our Lord's words so much Refer when All the Saints are thus one with God in Christ then is He thus All in All as before the World began Secondly That as this State Requires the Highest Purification of which the Purification of the Virgins for the Royal Bed of Ahasuerus is but a dark Emblem so no Expressions of such a preparatory Purification but as before Represented in the New Jerusalem and Kingdom of Christ can be parallel to such a Purification But They Reach it and Admirably Reach it The present State of Sanctification is much too Low for it The Purity of the Bride the Lambs Wife and of the Saints in this Kingdom Rises to it Thirdly All this Preparation and this Eternal Vnion is in the Eternal word who was with the Father and One with him and whom the Father loved before the Foundation of the World And He thus prepares his Saints not only in this State though here also but in his Kingdom most Highly Compleatly Perfectly and therefore especially John 17. 24. 26. Q. Give me the second way how so Great a State and so High Expressions of it work to the Delivery up of the Kingdom to God All in All A. In that although this Kingdom of Christ be so Holy so Heavenly so Pure so much of God in it and so Happy and Blessed in Christ and in his Saints yet because It is the Kingdom of the Man Christ Jesus and of his Saints in a visible Created Glory and not the Highest Vnion to God All in All Christ Gives this Last Declaration of the Name that is of the Nature and Glory of God He freely Delivers up this his Kingdom and the Son as in humane Nature suffers most willingly that Glory of Himself and of his Saints to be Swallow'd up by God All in All and unites them with Himself to the Father as He is the Eternal word and so They are with Him for ever Beholding the Glory He had with the Father before the World was which is the Highest Instance of self-denial of all Created Glory and Giving up All to God All in All that could be given John 17. 5. Q. What Signs are there of such a Preparation in the Kingdom of Christ for God All in All A. In Token of this this State is call'd a Sabbatism a Paradise There is a Tree of Life and a River of Life All which Point to the Higher Perfection of Vnion with God All in All then was even in that Kingdom of Christ Even as Priesthood and a Temple-State do For though God and the Lamb be the Temple Yet God being our Temple is not so High as our Vnion to God All in All. Q. How does the State of the wicked Agree with this so High State of the Kingdom of Christ in preparation to their being cast into the Lake when God is All in All A. Their being in a Visible State and beholding the Glory of Christ and of his Saints in a Visible State gives them that Conviction that the Father sent Christ that He Loved the Saints as He Loved Christ that They are Forc'd to Know and to Believe it For this They could not see here but would be Highly perswaded of the Contrary And when the Saints are Delivered up to God All in All and They in the Lake It is not then to be seen by Them In this Kingdom then It must be seen And yet in this very State they being Irreconcileable to the Divine Kingdom They are even with the Comfort of the Saints Beholding their Abhorr'd State and way Cast into the Lake that They might be no more Annoyance to the Divine Kingdom but at an utter Separation from it Remembred no more cut off for ever from the Hand of God in a Land of Silence Forgetfulness and Vtter Darkness Ezek. 14. 22. Rev. 20. last Q. But how are the Saints below Fitted then for this State of being Deliver'd up to God All in All A. They having their part in all the Priviledges of the Saints above and being Caught up to Christ before the Delivery up of the Kingdom are thereby fitted to be Deliver'd up with All Saints and to be united to God All in All. Q. But seeing the Saints of Christ have been also All Sinners and many of Them very Great Sinners and some not brought home to Christ till Death Whereas many of the Lost have been of Fair and Innocent Lives how can such a difference in this Visible State of the Resurrection consist with the Glory of Justice then to be manifested A. The Infinite Richness of Grace having made in All the Saints the Great difference of Vnion to Christ in the Glory of whose Righteousness They Appear and thereby in the Participation of the Divine Nature Their Sins are so Blotted out through the Blood of the Lamb in this State of Re-enlivening as though They are sought for They cannot be found And even the Works of the Few Moments of Holy Action as of Converts how near Death soever Follow Them and are so enlarg'd by the
21. 8. Q. How is This to be Applied to the Casting the Devil Hell and Death with all their Dead into the Lake just before Christ Delivers up the Kingdom A. Hence it Appears That the Action of the Devil in Deceiving is only Chain'd up but not utterly Abolish'd in the thousand Years Kingdom of Christ For He is Loosed out of Prison for a Little Space after the Thousand Years and He Deceives the Nations again But Fire comes down suddenly from Heaven on those Nations in the very Attempt and then an utter end is put to Sathans whole Action For He is Cast into the Lake and so notwithstanding the Victory over Death in the First Resurrection of Dead Saints and the Living Remaining Saints not Dying but being Chang'd Yet till They are all Actually Chang'd so that Mortality or Possibility of Dying Puts on Immortality and Corruption puts Incorruption and so Mortality is swallowed up of Life in the Living Remaining Saints Caught up even as in the Dead in Christ Rising first who cannot Dye any more being in perfect Immortality Luc. 20. 36. Death and Hell with all their own Subjects the Dead are not Cast into the Lake so as to be utterly Abolish'd from any possible place in the Kingdom of God Then They are and when this Last Enemy Death is thus subdued Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Then so Long after his First Beginning to Reign Delivers up the Kingdom having Done all to be Done as the Second Adam and God is All in All But still and for ever even Eternally That Lake Burns with Fire and Brimstone For the Kingdom of Life shines in the Face of it with Everlasting Torment while it is not yet able to Return one of its Sulphur Steams in Revenge 1 Cor. 15. 24 55 56. Revel 20. 10. to the end 2 Thess 1. 9. Q. Have we any Accounts of Time kept in Scripture from the First Creation to the Times of Restitution or of the Kingdom of Christ A. There hath been for the sake of it kept a Constant Account of Time from one Point to the other Q. What Reason have you to think so A. Because as the First Coming of Christ in the Flesh is said to be in the Fulness of Time viz. of that Time Because it was in be in the Fulness of Time viz. of that Time Because it was in the Just Time according to Daniels seventy Weeks and according to the Agreement of all Christians So this Time of the Heading of All Things under Christ in his Kingdom is call'd the Fulness not of Time as of one Time but of Times as of all Times Issuing according to Just Account into it And further it is call'd the Oeconomy or the wise Order of All Times in Relation to it by the Supream and wise Pater-Familias or Governour of the World who as the Great Potentate King of Kings and Lord of Lords Giving the whole Family of Angels and Men a Show of and for his Glory would have it at this Fulness of Times for a Thousand Years and These are call'd Gods or Christs Proper Times and the Times of Refreshment and the Times of Restitution as in the Just Place of that Time All which speaks that there was a Strict Calculation of Time for it and to it Gal. 4. 4. Ephes 1. 10. Acts 3. 21. 1 Tim. 6. 15. Q. Where is This Account of Time to be Found A. It is to be found all along Holy Scripture in this manner In the First Roll of Patriarchs from the Creation to Shem the Head of the New World after the Flood 1658 years Genesis 5. c. 11. 10. From Shem to Abraham Receiving the Promises by the Second Roll of Patriarchs 425 Y. Gen. 11. to c. 12. From thence to the Going out of Egypt immediately before the Tabernacle of Testimony set up 430 Y. Exod. 12. 40. c. 40. From thence to Solomon's Temple Begun in his Fourth Year and so to his Death 516 Y. 1 Kings c. 6. 1. c. 11. 42. From thence to Ezekiel's Divine Temple and City drawn by his Bearing the Sin of Israel divided from Judah so many Days for Years according to the Reign of Israel's Kings to their Captivity and then by the Kings of Judah to 14 years after the City Jerusalem smitten and the Temple Burnt 390 Y. Ezek. c. 4. 4. 5. c. 40. 1. c. From thence to the End of Judah's Captivity drawn by the Forty days for Years of Ezekiel Bearing the Sin of Judah as from that vision of the City and Temple to Cyrus his First year 40 Y. Ezek. c. 4. 4. 5. c 40. 1. Ezra 1. 1. From thence by the Sanctuary that then lay Trodden under Foot to the Sanctuary of the Vniversal Church Cleans'd drawn in the 2300 Evens Morns according to the Prophetical Cypher before nam'd and establish'd for after Times of a Day for a Year 2300 Y. Dan. 8. 13. 14. Q. Can we know whereabout we are in nearness to the Kingdom of Christ by so long a Line of Time A. If we would be diligent in Searching and Comparing Scripture we might find this Line divided into 75 Years before Daniel's 70 Weeks began for the Word going forth to Restore and Build Jerusalem Into 490 by those 70 Weeks for the Death and Resurrection of Messiah and the first Apostolical Preaching to the Jews Into 1260 of the Roman Papal Apostasie Into 30 and 45. after that Apostasie making first the 1260 1290 then the 1290 1335. The first 75 in preparation to the Litteral Jerusalem and Temple Restor'd after Litteral Babylon falling and the last 75 preparing to the New Jerusalem after Mystical Babylon falling exactly Answer One after Another and by all these Summs laid together we certainly know There must be 400 between the Weeks ended and that Apostasie began From whence It Follows we must be in the 2218 Even Morn just 7 Years before the Fall of Mystical Babylon Dan. 9. 24. c. 12. 11. 12. Q. Is there any other way of knowing the Time A. There is even plainly Running into ordinary Observation For there are Time Times Half a Time plainly given to the Beast the last Part of the Roman Fourth Monarchy in Daniel c. 7. 25. and Sworn to Him for Scattering the Holy People c. 12. 7. and the Church is Accordingly said to be in the Wilderness for those Times in the Revelation Rev. 12. 14. Now at the Reformation There was such a Retrenchment of the Papal Power as could not be till the Morning of the Half Time with the Truth of Prophecy Then there might even as Christ might Rise at the Morning of the Third day though according to Prophecy He was to be Three days and Three nights in the Heart of the Earth The Reformation therefore Beginning at 1517 by Luther as all Agree and the Half Time being an 180 Years as being the Half of 360 a Time It must needs be There can be but 7 Years to the End of the 1260 and so to the