whole and in every part thereof For though that illustrates GODS being in his whole Creation as the soul thereof and as truely as any similitude can it nevertheless cometh far short of expressing it to our understandings who are so ignorant of our own Beings that most are doubtful whether the soul be in the body or the body in the soul In my private Judgement I think the soul contains the body and was partly thereto induced by this accidental experience A Gentlewoman of my Acquaintance had her Leg cut off close below the Knee who many years after that Leg was buried seemed to be so sensible of motion in her Feet and Toes and of itchings in the Leg and Foot that sometimes before she was aware what she did she would suddenly reach down her hand to scratch the place as if her Leg had still been there and then laugh at her mistake From whence I collect that her soul still extended an animating Faculty to the whole dimension of her body when a part thereof had been long cut off is rather the container of the body then contained therein because though that part had no being wherein that operation might be actually exercised as in a part of the body the soul was as intire as before This digression I leave to be considered by others as their Judgement shall incline them and perhaps it may be of some use 8. Indeed our Almighty Fathers residence in heaven and his universal Presence is unexpressable therefore we must like weaned Children in this and in all other such like Mysteries meekly submit to such illustrations as God hath vouchsafed and makes us capable of without admitting impertinent curiosities contenting our selves with those dispensations which will then be rendred sufficient for us and make that acceptable to him which we shall believe and do upon that account And if we be but as wary as we may be of what he hath revealed to preserve us from worshipping him according to our own Fancies we shall not be guilty of such gross Idolatries or Superstitions as they are who make to themselves graven Images or such spiritual Ideas as may derogate from the Majesty of God and obscure the knowledge of him revealed in his Word to their own confusion and cause others to the hazzard of their Souls and Bodies to sin against their own Consciences by compelling or alluring them to disobey God rather then men which mischieves cannot be avoyded by those who are not at all times careful to examine and try all spirits by the true Standard not onely their own Light and the Lights which are set up by humane Authorities but those Revelations also that seem to be Angelically inspired what Infallibility soever shall be to them ascribed For the Devil can transform himself into an Angel of Light and these later times are so full of Delusions and Impostures that none shall escape them but they who unfeignedly and diligently endeavour thus to do therewith imploring Gods promised assistance and trusting thereupon To these are due the promises both of this life and of that which is to come and they shall obtain their desire at full in due time upon earth or have what is here wanting supplied with a superabundance upon their souls hereafter Other speculative Notions I might express by contemplating Heaven the place of Gods Residence and such as are warrantable by his Word and Spirit but they cannot be yet born and I fear I have already or may in what follows express so much more then some will be pleased withal that I shall loose more Friends then I gain by it but I will discharge my Conscience and Gods Will be done Let other men do so without any sinister self-ends and I shall take no offence thereat This is part of that which I express or implicitely contemplate when I repeat the preface to the Lords Prayer Now I proceed to the Petitions The first Petition Hallowed be thy Name 1. THis Prayer consists of six Petitions The first three do principally relate to the Glory of God Not that he needs our Prayers for the advancement thereof for he being Eternally and all-sufficiently glorified in and by himself these Petitions have the first place in our Devotions for our Avail and for the better preparing way to obtain that which is pertinent to our selves and which cannot in equity be granted until we are in some degree qualified by conforming our wills and affections 〈◊〉 the Minde of God lest the granting of our Natural desires in temporary things before they are sanctified by the obtaining of some spiritual gifts to the abating of that Antipathy which is in us to the purity of Gods Divine Nature might totally obstruct the obtaining what we pray for and be more mischievous then the denyal thereof as questionless all temporal blessings would be if conferred upon us before we shall somewhat sympathize with our Heavenly Father and shew it forth by affecting and seeking the accomplishing of that which he willeth and worketh which Medium if well considered will appear to be both willed and prosecuted by him for our advantage in the composure of this Prayer though the sanctifying of his Name the Advent of his Kingdom and the compleating of his Will seems in terminis to be the whole scope of the first three Petitions For the glorifying the Name of our Father will be an honor to us who are his Children The coming of his Kindom will bring us deliverance from those Tyrants by whom we are oppressed and the fulfilling of Gods Will here on earth as it is in heaven will both free us from their Impostures who impose upon us an obedience to their Arbitrary wills in the place of his and inlarge us from that slavish bondage of sin whereinto we are brought by seeking the accomplishment of our own carnal will Thus all things being done according to Gods VVill Heaven will begin to appear upon Earth where mans wickedness and wilfulness hath begun to make Hell This exceeding Love of God to mankinde in requiring no performances at our hands for the glorifyâ—â—g of himself but what may conduce to our happiness also should move us by his exemplary Love so unfeignedly to love him and one another for his sake that it may be accepted of as a fulfilling of his whole Law For the same Philanthrophy which is evidenced by his vouchsafing this Form of Prayer was manifest also in the Law of the Ten Commandments the first Table whereof relating primarily to himself is as pertinent to that which tends to the preservation and happiness of the humane Nature as that which is contained in the second Table if not more as I have made it evident by my Meditations upon the Decalogue 2. Hallowed be thy Name This is the first Petition and for the better understanding of what is therein prayed for the meaning of these two words HALLOWED and NAME must be explained and made known A Name is that whereby
little it makes a harsh discord So a little varying from the Truth makes a damnable errour Now perhaps that which I have here casually inserted concerning the two Witnesses being my private Judgment wherein I know no Antient or Modern Interpreter concurring may seem a presumption But I have given such Reasons of what I believe concerning them in a Tract intitled Parallelogrammaton whereof part was imprinted when I was close Prisoner in the Tower and the rest taken out of my Chamber by the Gentleman Jaylor there amounting to almost a 100. pages that I conceive it will make it more probable that those Witnesses are both slain and risen again then any thing yet alledged to the contrary and therefore if those papers be not freely restored I will revive them God vouchsafing me time and enablement And if what I have thereby and hereby expressed concerning the said two Witnesses and the Nation of the Jews with what might be added were well considered it would not as I believe be so generally believed as it is that Christs coming personally into his Kingdom upon Earth is deferred either because the Jews are not yet called or the Witnesses not yet slain and raised up again 21. That there is such a Mysterie to be manifested as the Kingdom to come there need to be no better evidence thereof then the Witness which the Spirit of God beareth unto it in our hearts by concurring with that rational faculty in our Souls which distinguisheth us from brutish Animals Common Reason dictates that whatsoever a friend of whose true worth we have had long experience in all changes shall warrant us to ask in his Name of another person in whom he hath an undoubted interest we may confidently petition for it and it were a great injury done to his Love and Dignity if we should suspect he did advise to ask for that which was not grantable or unlikely to be obtained The same Reason tells us that if a gratious earthly Prince hath been openly Scorned Dishonored Reviled Betrayed and every way inhumanely abused It is just he should in the same place be as openly and as much as is possible vindicated and glorified to the shame of his malitious impenitent Enemies How much more just then is it that the Eternal Son of God Lord of lords and King of kings should be glorified in his own Kingdom upon Earth in the fight and presence of his Saints Angels and all those by whom he was causlesly dishonoured betrayed and most cruelly and ingratefully recompenced with evil for good with hatred for Love and with all manner of Indignities for incomparable well deservings If this be just with men shall the righteous Judge and King of Heaven and Earth do less Justice on the behalf of his only Son If herein we distrust not our own Reason we should less suspect it when we have a Warrant above Reason to ascertain it which we likewise have out of the Word of God As for the witness which some conceive the Spirit of God beareth to the Light which is within them by extraordinary Revelations I must leave it to the soul and conscience of every individual man to try and examine them as they are enabled For that cannot be known or judged of by any but by them to whom they are revealed and by that Spirit which reveals them if they proceed from God VVhere he speaks not it will be in vain for any other to speak and until the Revelation of that aforementioned shall in some measure come into mens hearts We do but cast pearls to Swine and shall be in danger to be torn by them or else reputed madmen and Phaenaticks babling we know not what This also is to be considered that though the perfect manifestation of this Kingdom be not come down Universally upon earth yet it is come or shall come in a degree toward perfection first or last explicitely or implicitely into all to whom that Kingdom belongs before they depart out of this life He that shall come will come and not tarry beyond his time blessed be his Name and he hath given us sufficient earnests thereof 22. It is said Acts 1. 11. Ye men of Galilee Why stand ye gazing up into heaven This same Jesus who is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven There is also a cloud of other Testimonies bearing witness to this Kingdom particularly in the last Chapter of Daniel in the three last Chapters of the Apocalypse in the twentieth of Matthew in the Psalms and in well-nigh all the Prophets which I cannot now enumerate or insist upon left I should interrupt or distract the Meditations of my soul by Withdrawing my heart from those inflowings which now press upon it and perhaps consume that little time which I have to finish what I have begun In those Scriptures that which concerns this Kingdom and the King thereof the manner of their approach the signs fore-shewing it the effects of it and many particulars and circumstances pertinent to those Mysteries assisting us to obtain cognizance of them so far forth as will be needful both by literal and allegorical expressions are sufficient to evidence their essentiality to all those who observe and consider them with diligence and meekness to the right end Yea it will resolve their scruples whom an over-curious prying into the manner of Christs future personality upon the earth have made doubtful what to believe if they shall in humility well consider the difference which is between Spiritual and Natural Bodies or of what our future change will make us capable when that time cometh VVe have a dim glimmering demonstration thereof helping us to discern much beyond and above our Natural expectations by the transfigurations of our Saviour upon a Mountain in the sight of Peter John and James to whom Moses and Elias appeared to be talking with their Master For though the Natural state wherein his Disciples then were was not fully capable of that Mystery which they heard and saw they perceived enough to make them very well pleased with what they apprehended as appeared by their words And if we had no other Argument whereby we may be ascertained that there will be such a Kingdom upon earth then the Petition next following Thy will be done in earth as it in heaven it will sustice for it is impossible Gods will should be so done upon earth unless Christs Kingdom should come hither as we believe nor would Christ have taught us to pray for that which should never be or impossible to be performed 23. The Administration of this Kingdom upon earth was always in part visible somewhere and to some ever since the time of Christs Ascention And though it was much obscured soon after when the mystery of iniquity began to work and more when it was at highest yet even then it was very powerful by secret operations through the Administration of
MEDITATIONS UPON The Lords Prayer WITH A PREPARATORY PREAMBLE To the Right Understanding and True Use of this PATTERN Contemplated by the Author during the time wherein his House was visited by the Pestilence 1665. and is dedicated to them by whose Charity God preserved him and his Family from perishing in their late troubles That which we have we are oblig'd to give In recompence of that which we receive And with some this will relish though it be Fruit gather'd from an aged Wither'd Tree Many particulars pertinent to these last times are hereby offered to consideration by the said Authour Geo. Witheâ—… Legite perlegite Read all lest wrong by prejudice ensue Either unto this Author or to you For since all cannot be exprest together One place must often help expound another LONDON Printed in the Year 1665. To the Authors Christians Friends by whose Charity GOD hath hitherto preserved him in manifold troubles and sufferings Grace and Peace in our Lord Jesus Christ THe repute of a POET which I have had among some hath caused many Pious well-meaning persons to suspect that Meditations upon a Subject of this Nature are neither proper to me nor like to produce any considerable Esteem or Effect yâ—t I have better hopes for Poesie is a good Gift vouchsafed for a prâ—paratory to Prophecy and oft hath been improved to the honour of God by those who abused it not to serve the World the Fâ—â—sh and the Devil In some degrees it hath also been so sanctified unto me by Gods Grace that many who had a sinister Opinion of that Faculty have acknowledged themselves profited thâ—reby in Dutiâ—s relating both to GOD and Man which makes me hopâ—ful these Musings will not be Fruitless I have rcceived seasonable Refreshments from many of you whose Persons or Names I yet know not nor am likely to know whilst I live therefore I must commit your Reward to him who knows you and will remember your kindnesses when we have quite forgotten each other I know that you who are living expect nothing from me toward a Recompence and the greatest number of my known Friends in this City have their Reward already for I believe they are with God Yet to discharge my Conscience that the like Charity may not seem cast away upon those who may as much need it and better deserve it I endeavoured to leave behind me a grateful Testimony which might be some evidence that I consumed not the remainder of my life preserved by your Mercy either in idleness or in living wholly to my self and among other such-like endeavourings partly published and partly reserved in private hands composed the ensuing Meditations during my solitariness in the late Pestilence as also that I might have been found well-doing if God should have then called me This being finished by his Gracious assistance I now offer it up for a Thank-oblation to him and bequeath it also as a token of my gratitude to you who are yet living hoping it will be acceptable to both being the Fruit of his Mercy and yours without more of mine then the putting that into words which God put into my heart when I had no Book but his nor so much in memory wâ—itten by any humane Author upon this Subject as may be comprehended in one line and being carried upon the wings of my single Contemplation to various Objects like an Eagle flying every way to seek food for her self and her Eaglets you will here finde some things perhaps which will be offensive to weak stomacks But I know it is wholesome and am confident that if it be tasted without prejudice it will at last be pleasing to their Appetites who at first disgust it However I have well intended it and Gods will be done VVe may in Judgement differ in some Cases As innocently as we do in Faces But in our Failings if preserve we shall The Bond of Love it makes amends for all Until therefore convinc'd by Truth Divine Enjoy your Conscience and leave me to mine He that so doth not though he Truth profess Shall else retain it in unrighteousness And he whom Loving Caution doth offend VVill that while be nor mine nor his own Friend Savoy Decemb. 30. 1665. I am your Faithful and humble Servant GEO. WITHER THE PREAMBLE IF all that which is comprehended and may be pertinently apprehended by every Contemplative Soul seriously meditating the Words and Actions of our blessed Redeemer whilst he continued upon earth it would unquestionly be believed that St. John the Evangelist did not Hyperbolize when in the verse concluding his Gospel he affirmed that besides what he had therein expressed Jeses did many other things which if they should be all written he supposed that even the world it self could not contain the Books that should be written Therefore it cannot be justly expected that all which is contained in that brief Form of Prayer recommended to his Disciples then living can possibly be made forth explicitely in every Essential and Circumstantial pertinency thereof by the single Faculty of any one contemplative Believer how large soever his Intellectual Capacity may be much less can it be expected from me who by what I have endeavoured to raise up my Soul thereby to entertain the true Spirit of Prayer can reach to but a part of those Notions which may be extracted from that Body of Devotion whereby the powerful and true performance of our duty in Prayer is evidenced and preserved yet for as much as it hath been much stifled in this last Generation by meer Formalites and by multiplying such vain words as our Saviour terms Babling and in regard some also in other respects good and Pious men have totally neglected that wholesome Form of Words and othersome superstitiously repeated them for fashionsake onely without any sence of what is thereby petitioned for either toward the advance of Gods Glory or of their own well-being I have added my Mite to rectifie that which I think ought to be reformed 2. It cannot be denyed but that many have made an Idolatrous and superstitious use of Gods written Word and particularly of this superlative Form of Prayer as if the bare repetition thereof even in an unknown Tongue were a Charm effectual to such ends as they fancy though they neither understand the meaning of the Words nor if they do endeavour so to conform their devotion and affections thereto that it may be made acceptable according to his intention who prescribed it For he gave it to be used either literally or in the sence of his Original words indifferently as also to be a standing Patern whereby all verbal and mental Prayers should be regulated lest we sometimes blaspheam God or curse our selves instead of praying for Blessings or lest we err by that vain babling which our Saviour reprehended in the hypocritical Scribes and Pharisees Christ Jesus very well knew both by his Divine Wisdom and experimentally by assuming our humane Nature all our defects
as might neither be unacceptable to God nor an offensive stumbling-block to the weak Converts of those times wherein they were composed And if this be granted Why should we not likewise think that all those Forms of Prayer and Praise whatsoever which were at any time Originally inspired by the Spirit of God whether suddenly or by premeditation will always be effectual for them who shall pray in the same Form with the same integrity of heart and with the same intentions when the necessities or occasions are the same especially when upon well weighing the words they shall and may if need be tacitely or explicitely wave such of them or their commonly received sence as the mutability of events or the practice of the times or their misunderstanding of them hath made offensive to them or the consciences of their weak Brethren to whom offence may be thereby given For this is no more then we do if we do as we should when we pray in the words of Davids Psalms the literal sence whereof may be in some places retained and must be waved in some other lest we pervert the meaning of the Holy Ghost 10. In thus using our Christian Liberty and Prudence if we become offensive to any against our wills it is an offence rather taken then given yea such an offence as will of necessity be and cannot be totally avoided whether we joyn with others in their Forms of Prayer and Praise or absent our selves from them because whether we communicate or not we shall offend some weak Brethren on one hand or the other unless we will exclude all from being our Brethren in Christ who are not altogether one with us in our judgement and practice in each circumstance which I shall never do in regard in such things at we differ upon it fares with us as with such as paint the similitude of a City or Castle which may much differ in the portraicture yet each several resemblance be true because the several stations in which the Artists take view of the place will occasion a great dissimilitude of that which is represented We therefore in such things as I now treat of can by no means be preserved blameless or excused but by taking heed that we sin not against our own Consciences or knowledge in what we do nor judge uncharitably of those who in like manner believe and act as they are perswaded in their hearts and in prosecuting that whereby if it be offensive greater offences may be avoided This being well considered as also that there is no publick Liturgy or private set Form of Prayer extant to my knowledge in the Christian world so absolutely perfected of all occasions persons times places but that it may justly admit of some additions or alterations except onely this which was recommended to his Church by our Saviour and is therefore commonly called The LORDS PRAYER this we ought to adhere unto as the onely standing Form and Pattern to be Vniversally received by all Christians as it hath been by all true Believers ever since the first institution thereof and wherein they ought unanimously to joyn without scruple until the Kingdom comes to perfection on earth which we thereby pray for Herein we may all together joyn in words comprehending every particular Member of Christ Jesus and his whole Mystical Body speaking as it were with one mouth for and in the name of all And it contracts a common treasure of Mercies though not in the Popish sence or to be disposable as that Church fancies out of which every Individual Member of the true Catholick Church is relieved and provided for both to his temporary and spiritual well-being yea many millions before they had any more then a potential Being as also many after they had a visible Being were and are benefited thereby and reduced from being despisers or heedless of that gracious Provision which was made for them and to the enjoyment whereof their own prayers whilst they were in that minde could not else have brought them no nor any other Mediator but the Author of this Prayer Nevertheless this excellent Form ought neither to be superstitiously used as it is by some or compulsively imposed upon any who is conscienciously scrupulous of using it until he shall be fully convinced of that whereof he doubteth The Christian Liberty which I take unto my self and allow to all other men in things relating to God and their Consciences I have as occasions were from time to time offered declared in several Tracts heretofore written intending nothing in a disrespective way of opposition to any National Churches or Particular Congregations or Persons except to the malignant Conventicle of Antichrist onely but that all they who have protested against it may agree together in that Truth to the glory of God and to the mutual edifying of each other in love For The Spouse of Christ hath Daughters many a one But so fair as their Mother she hath none However to the blackest fair befal For I have an affection for them all 11. I have made this Preamble larger then I thought it would have been when I began but it is not material whether I preach in the Porch or in the Church so I teach true Doctrine and may respectively be heard Many Precautions appearing necessary to prevent such Objections as might probably obstruct my good purpose have occasioned the spinning of so long a thread yet I shall presume to make a little longer to clear the way to a right understanding and use of that which Christ hath left to his Church both for a Pattern of Prayer and Praise and to make that more plain which I have touched upon before The Romanists will have that and all Publick Prayers made in the Latine Tongue as being now the holy Catholick Language and as if the Vnity of the Church in Prayer consisted in speaking the same words though not understood which is an Antichristian Principle wherein lieth a grand cheat Some who joyn in words that they understand not moved in Conscience toward God to do as they are taught and knowing no other way of serving and worshipping may as I believe pray in and by the Spirit helping them in their ignorance as Paul seems to imply but the Doctrine and practice of their Teachers is directly contradictory to that Apostles practice and demonstrates by what spirit they are guided We ought to pray both in the Spirit and with our understanding also as far as it will extend This Prayer may be used in the Original words or in any other Language by them who understand it and in our Mother-tongue translated into such words as contain the true sense thereof It comprehends as is aforesaid explicitely or implicitely all things whatsoever essentially pertinent to the glory of God and the well-being of his people in general and in particular throughout all times and upon all occasions insomuch that by conforming to that Pattern or the sense thereof though in
interpreted by the Spirit and cherished by that Anointing Oyl which the foolish Virgins never had in their Vessels nor they who pretend they have it to sell I heartily pray we may be found among those wise Virgins who were watchful that we may distinguish the Bridegrooms voice from Impostors lest we be shut out from entering when he cometh 11. I hereby intend nothing in opposition to them who believe the Rumors aforementioned but leave them to credit them as they are perswaded until they find cause to the contrary expecting from them the like indulgence to me For if I hear unquestionably that such a remainder of Israel by Miracles and Divine instinct are come into their antient Inheritance shall there be setled by way of preparation Then having Repentance wrought in them shall have their eyes opened to see by Faith and confess with their mouthes that Jesus Christ whom their brethren betrayed sold and crucified was their promised King I shall know it is of God and rejoyce in it as much as any But till then I shall be warie of giving credit to what I hear and wish all other men so to do least they be deluded by mistaking the meaning of those Prophets who foretold the bringing back the Captivated Israelites to their Country thinking those Predictions which were fulfilled before and at Christs first coming are still expectant as relating to their Temporal Kingdom For I believe that the gathering together of the dispersed Israelites presaged by the Prophets intended not those only which were Jews according to the Flesh but those Jews and Gentiles who are the spiritual seed of Abraham by Faith dispersed throughout the World and such Jews as Paul meant Rom. 2. 28 29. where he saith He is not a Jew who is one outwardly neither is that circumcision which is outwardly in the flesh but he is a jew who is one inwardly and Circumcision is that of the heart and in the Spirit not in the Letter which being so we may justly suspect they have mistaken the meaning of the Prophets who apply their predictions to such a carnal Restauration of the jews as is now expected That mistake as I believe might be cured by observing that immediately after such Prophecies as foretold their temporal Restauration the coming of Christs Kingdom is frequently presaged in the Texts following in the same Chapters If there seem to be any Prophesie which predicts such a returning of the jews as is now looked for after the Birth Death and Ascension of our Redeemer Let it be well considered whether it means any more then a returning to their Countrey by way of Preparation to their Spiritual returning unto the Kingdom of their rejected King or whether as I rather believe the main intent of all the Prophets who Prophesied ought in relation to what should be after Christs Ascention when the Partition-Wall was broken down and Jews and Gentiles made one people had not respect to Christs Kingdom only on Earth as it should be manifested at his first coming or at the second till the end of the World Isaiah in his 60. Chapter and to the end of his Prophesie and Daniel in the last of his Prophesie concur with St. John in the last of his Revelation in predicting the glory of that Spiritual Kingdom which though it be upon Earth will not be an Earthly Kingdom nor so inglorious as that will be at best in respect thereof which shall be confined to Sion and Jerusalem in the Land of Canaan For When the new Heaven and the new Earth shall be created the old Name shall be left as a curse and the Servants of the Lord called by a new Name Esa 65. This and other Prophesies concerning Christs Kingdom to come upon Earth are as I understand him well considered by my good friend Mr. T. M. of W. Senior in a Tract of his which I have lately seen with respect to the Jews temporary condition and Country so far forth as they seem to concern them by way of preparation to what shall be hereafter For their antient Country being as I think a part of that Garden which God planted Eastward in Eden shall no doubt when Christs Kingdom more visibly appears have many Prophesies there locally and literally as well as spiritually fulfilled and my intent is not to contradict what other men believe of that Mysterie but rather to prevent such mistakes as may be repugnant to the Essentiality thereof When I contemplate the said Kingdom of Christ and his personal Reign here on Earth looking backward and forward upon that Experimental knowledg of good and evil which Mankind is likely to acquire in the Six days of a 1000 Years apiece and the Knowledg also which will be gotten in that seventh part of time wherein Christ shall come both to the full Illustration and destruction of all that is Evil and to the plenary Demonstration and Perfection of all that is Good for restoring the Saints who shall live and reign with him to that Paradisical Estate out of which our first Parents were excluded When I say I contemplate this I have such a strong desire to express what I glimmeringly apprehend of it that being unable to perform it it makes me so sick and faint in Body and Spirit when I attempt it that I am forced to desist from those contemplatings to recover strength lest distracted by the variety of Notions I might in that weakness either extend my expressions to more then this Generation can yet bear or to that which may be misapprehended being forced to cry out in my heart with St. Paul Oh the depth of the riches both of the Wisdom and Knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his Judgments And his Wayes past finding out 12. I set no bounds to Gods Mercy nor am hopeless of the extent thereof to any whilst they are in the flesh until they have utterly excluded themselves by wilful malicious and final obstinacy and who they are I cannot certainly know Therefore neither judge peremptorily of any or neglect to pray for them No not to pray for the persons of Antichristian Prelates who have perverted the true intent of Evangelical Episcopacy which I reverence For I believe it possible for some of them to repent and be saved though they are the worst of all men who seem to be Members of Christs Visible Church Nor am I incredulous that there are were and shall be in every Age a Remnant of those called Jews though the worst of all men without the Visible Church preserved according to the Election of God and brought into Christs Fold But whether there shall be such an Vniversal return as some think I am yet doubtful it being nothing pertinent to my personal saving Faith For though it was expedient as David Prophetically prayed in the 59 Psalm that they should be scattered and not utterly rooted out to preserve Gods people mindful both of his Mercy and Severity yet by the words of
us do suppose him to be Elias though Christ himself hath told us he is come already And some other think him to be that beloved Disciple mentioned in the 21 Chapter of St. Johns Gospel where our Saviour presaging in what mode Peter should suffer and he then asking What that Disciple should do was thus answered If I will that he tarry till I come what is that to thee follow thou me Whereupon some inferred that Disciple he should not die though as was then averred in the words following Christ said not so nor as I believe intended it should be so understood yet that interpretation is retained by some to this day and now as I hear made use of to countenance the forementioned Rumour whereof I confess my self incredulous for the reasons afore expressed Doubtless when such an occasion was given to have it explained Christ would not have left that ambiguous which was misunderstood and so l believe of every mysterious expression which is necessary to be known by all men as pertinent to their Salvation unless it be to make us wary by what Spirit we interpret holy Scripture lest that which leads into all Truth may by our negligence or vain curiosity lead us into errors if misapprehended If there be any point mentioned in holy Scripture relating to the Kingdom to come which is topical or national let them look to it whom it concerns for I conceive not that it any otherwise concerns us then as it shall have an Universal Locality upon earth without respect to any Nation or Place in particular as appears to me by the words of our Saviour to the woman of Samaria John 4. 21 22 33. Woman said he believe me the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this Mountain or in Jerusalem worship the Father Ye worship ye know not what c. But the hour cometh and now is when the true worshippers shall worship in Spirit and Truth c. VVhence I collect that if Place were not essential to the true VVorship of God when Christ first came into the world it will be less essential thereunto at his second coming or to have it limited to a narrower extent then to the whole Earth and all Nations 15. I am not doubtful but that in the last times there will be some extraordinary and eminent transactions and some in the next year after this 1665. and during four or five and thirty years after 1666. in relation to the approaching Kingdom of Christ and to those who have been so many Ages reputed the Off-spring of the Patriarks scattered throughout the world and I believe God will in his own time fulfil all his Judgements threatned for their Apostacies and obstinacies as also his gratious promises made unto their Fore-fathers but when that will be accomplised that or in what manner will be done which is expected concerning the Jews I leave it to Gods good pleasure and unto them to search in what mode it will be who think it concerns them more then I do who am contented with those manifestations which I finde in the Word of God not repugnant to each other or above my understanding There will be such Signs VVonders and Miracles as have been fore-told as also extraordinary preparations by Divine Providence before Christs second Advent which the Elect shall have sufficient means to know and make such use of as most tends to Gods Glory and to preserve them faithful to the end Yet unsafe it may be and an occasion of multiplying needless fears and troubles upon our selves to make such Ideas of Christs Kingdom and Raign upon Earth or such signs of its approach as are not plainly warranted by the VVord of God whose hidden wayes are past our finding out and so much as is revealed will be obscure to them whose unsanctified hearts seek after it in curiosity onely or with more desire to finde them sutable to their own imaginations that they may have somewhat wherein to glory then to make their ways conformable to Gods VVe are much taken with Novelties especially when we our selves first bring them to light and very apt superstitiously to repute things holy or unholy which Have neither holiness or unholiness in them except by our abuse VVe esteem some unholy which are sanctified some other to be holy which have no holiness in them but rather that which is most contrary For Example That is said to be the Holy-land which hath been during many Ages the most accursed of all Lands That to be a holy War which was but a wicked-politick divertisement of Antichrist to prevent the Interruption of his growing Grandeur by the Kings and Princes whom by that Engine he fool'd into an employment far from home That is said to be a holy Nation which hath had a long time no more holiness in it them Judas who betrayed Christ They are invocated and hallow'd as Saints and holy Martyrs who were Traytors both to God and men and whilst they lived not reputed so holy as some of their Neighbours And that Cross whereon our blessed Saviour was crucified is not onely called holy but reputed worthy of Divine honor also and hath many costly buildings dedicated thereunto and the chips of it sold for precious Relicks at dear rates though in truth it is not so holy as the Gallowes at Tibourn because that was intended for the execution of Justice upon Malefactors only though perhaps innocents do suffer thereupon otherwhile while We have many Inventions of our own The Devil hath so many deceitful Wiles also whereby to make false shows that he is promoting Gods VVork with him in every Dispensation that I suspend my belief of new Apparitions until I am fully convinced by a better Light then mine own bearing witness thereunto and therefore have here thrust in such Caveats as came into my heart to be a memorandum both to my self and others believing that whensoever Gods Kingdom comes openly into the world or invisibly into my heart where I feel it to be in some degree it will always evidence it self without delusion For it is the Kingdom of our heavenly Father which we are taught to petition for in this Prayer and nothing like the Kingdoms of this world 16. This is that Kingdom whose coming the Saints have long expected and though I mis-judge not of their so doing who call it the Fifth-Monarchy I think that Title too mean an Appellative in regard it is an Eternal Kingdom having no relation to Earthly Monarchies in respect of their precedency or otherwise but an Absolute Kingdom depending on it self and on him onely who is the Supream King thereof And when it comes into the World it will be little available to those who shall not find it to be in some measure come or so coming into their hearts that they may be made one with it and with the King thereof by Faith and Love This is not a Kingdom like that of the Nations which the Israelites foolishly