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<DATE>2012-01-13</DATE>
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<NAME>John Pas</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<PB REF="1">
<P>Generation-work: OR A Brief and Sea&s;onable Word, offered to the view and con&s;iderati|on of the Saints and People of God in this Generation, relating to the work of the pre&s;ent Age, or Generation we live in.</P>
<P><HI>Wherein is &s;hewed,</HI>
<LIST>
<ITEM>I. What <HI>Generation-work</HI> is, and how it differs from other works.</ITEM>
<ITEM>II. That <HI>Saints</HI> in the &s;everal <HI>Generations</HI> they have lived in, have had the proper and peculiar works of their <HI>Generations.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>III. That it is a thing of very great <HI>co<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">cernment</HI> for a <HI>Saint</HI> to <HI>aeternal</HI> to, and be <HI>indu&s;trious</HI> in, the work of his <HI>Generation.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>IV. Wherein doth the work <HI>of</HI> the <HI>pre&s;ent Generation</HI> lye.</ITEM>
<ITEM>V. How <HI>each one</HI> in particular may find out that <HI>part</HI> or <HI>parcel</HI> of it, that is properly his <HI>work</HI> in his <HI>Generation.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>VI. How <HI>Generation-work</HI> may be &s;o carried on, as that God may be &s;erved in the <HI>Generation.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>The fir&s;t part.</P>
<P><HI>By</HI> John Tillingha&s;t, <HI>an unworthy Mini&s;ter of the Go&s;pel, at</HI> Trunch <HI>in</HI> Norfolk.</P>
<Q><BIBL><HI>Gen. 6.9.</HI></BIBL> <HI>Noah</HI> was a ju&s;t man, and perfect in his Gene|rations, and <HI>Noah</HI> walked with God.</Q>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed by <HI>R. Ibbit&s;on</HI> for <HI>L<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">vewell Chapman</HI> at the <HI>Crown</HI> in <HI>Popes-head-Alley,</HI> 1655.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<PB REF="2">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>To the Supream Authority the Parlament of the Commonwealth of <HI>England.</HI></HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>Right Honorable,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>_AS the Lord <HI>Jehovah</HI> when he fir&s;t cho&s;e <HI>I&s;rael</HI> to be a peculiar people to him&s;elf, out of all the Nations of the world, did give unto them righteous Judges, <HI>Mo&s;es, Jo|&s;hua Gideon, Samp&s;on, Samuel,</HI> &amp;c. &s;uch as were after his own heart, and of his own rai&s;ing up: So is it his promi&s;e to his people in the la&s;t days (before the dro&s;s of <HI>Sion</HI> &s;hall be taken away, and her tin purged, and &s;he called the City of righteou&s;ne&s;s, the faithful City) that he will re&s;tore their Judges as AT THE FIRST, and their Coun&s;ellors as AT THE BEGINNING, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 1.25, 26.</P>
<P>How high the faith and expectations of Gods people of late years have been, as to the accompli&s;hment of the&s;e things, is known to many, and what unce&s;&s;ant prayers have been put up to the Throne of Grace, for the &s;ame, is be&s;t known to the Lord. That you are rai&s;ed up this day, to be <HI>the repairers of our breaches,</HI> and <HI>the re&s;torers of paths to dwel in,</HI> is (we hope) the long expected, and much looked for fruit of this our faith and prayer; which as it doth cau&s;e rejoycing within many hearts, &s;o hath it fixed the eyes of mo&s;t upon you to ob&s;erve what great thing that is which God by you is about to do for his poor people.</P>
<P>Not to teach you (Right Honorable) what is your work, but to declare what that is which the Lord in the age we
<PB REF="3">live in is about to do, and expects his people &s;hould eye and follow him in, is the de&s;ign of this little Treati&s;e, which although it had its conception &s;ome months &s;ince, and was then de&s;igned for other hands, yet could it not be brought forth until this day, in which it ca&s;ts it &s;elf into yours, not &s;o much &s;eeking protection (for what is truth will &s;tand of it &s;elf, and what is not &s;hall fall, though by men protected) as that it might hereby become the more &s;erviceable to that great intere&s;t it pleads for, in doing of which, the Author hath obtained what&s;oever is herein his end, de&s;ire, or joy.</P>
<P>And now (Right Honorable) God having rai&s;ed you up, and put into your hands &s;o great an opportunity, let not the &s;ame be lo&s;t for want of any improvement which may be made thereof; this is your day to honor God, and &s;erve your Generation; let this day &s;lip, and it may be hereafter when you would do the thing, you &s;hall not have a day to do it. Men, wi&s;e men, good men, have fallen before you, by putting off, and neglecting the work of their Generati|on take Feed le&s;t ye al&s;o fall through the &s;ame example of neglect; THE MORE EMINENT GODS HAND HATH APPEARED IN RAISING OF YOU, THE MORE NAKED AND REMARKABLE WILL IT BEE IN THROWING OF YOU DOWN, IN CASE YOU FAIL HIM, AS O|THERS BEFORE YOU HAVE DONE. But I am per&s;waded better things of you (Right Honorable) and things that accompany diligence, though I am bold thus to &s;peak: for &s;urely the Lord, who in an extraordinary way hath brought you together, hath &s;ome work more than ordinary to do by you; wherein if you &s;hall ob&s;erve, mak|ing it your bu&s;ine&s;s to follow him, <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">ing ju&s;tly, relieving the oppre&s;&s;ed, helping the fatherle&s;s; <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">eading the cau&s;e of the Widow,</HI> and <HI>walking humbly before him,</HI> though the Nations may ru&s;h again&s;t, you, as the ru&s;hing
<PB REF="3">of many waters, yet the Lord will rebuke them, and you &s;hall be as a <HI>burden&s;ome &s;tone</HI> to all your Enemies round about, who &s;hall weary them&s;elves with you, though all the people of the earth &s;hould be gathered together a|gain&s;t you; for behold the day is coming, in which the hand of the Lord &s;hall be known towards his people, and his indignation towards his Enemies, which when you &s;hall &s;ee, your hearts &s;hall rejoyce, and your bones &s;hall flouri&s;h like an herb, and your tongue &s;hall &s;peak and &s;ay, <HI>Lo this is our God, we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoyce in his Salvation:</HI> and when the light of this day is come, and the glory of the Lord &s;hall be ri&s;en upon you, it &s;hall then never repent you, that you have put your hands (though with your lives in them to the work of Chri&s;t, but what&s;oever you have herein done or &s;uffe|red, &s;hall now be your glory, joy, and Crown of rejoycing, which that you may at this day from Chri&s;t obtain, and in the mean time be faithful in his work, he &s;hall continue to pray for, who is</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Your Honors humble and unworthy Servant, John Tillingha&s;t.</SIGNED>
<DATELINE><DATE>July 8. 1653.</DATE></DATELINE></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="to the reader">
<PB REF="4">
<HEAD>To the Saints and people of God in <HI>England</HI> (Children of the &s;ame Fa|ther, Members of the &s;ame Body, partakers of the &s;ame Spirit, having the &s;ame hope) Grace and Peace be multiplied.</HEAD>
<P>_DEarly beloved in the Lord, It is not many years &s;ince that this poor Nation, and you in the &s;ame, did &s;igh and groan by re<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;on of that bondage, both Civil and Spiritual, which we were in to the will, of tyrann cal unju&s;t oppre&s;&s;ors, and the &s;uper&s;titi|ous innovations, and injunctions of Antichri&s;ti<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">n Task|ma&s;ters. What your fears and prayers, yea re&s;olutions to do for God, in ca&s;e of deliverance, were at this time, the ca&s;ting your eye a few years back again, &amp; taking a view of <HI>the &s;tate of things without,</HI> according as the wheel did then move, and <HI>the frame and carriage of your &s;ouls with|in</HI> under all, will better remember you of, than I can tell you. How &s;uitable the &s;pirits and actings of many of you who in this day were Gods remembrancers, and <HI>Si|ons</HI> mourners, have &s;ince the time God hath cast off the heavy yoke, and broken the bonds of our oppre&s;&s;ing per|&s;ecutors, been to your pa&s;t prayers and re&s;olutions, I fear (and yet I hope) when the violence of your di&s;temper &s;hall be over, and you &s;o far recovered as to weigh things in the ballances of righteou&s;ne&s;s, love, and impartiality, not &s;o much others, as your &s;elves will di&s;cern, and fir&s;t condemn. <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> of old expected and waited for <HI>the coming of their Me&s;&s;ia<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">,</HI> or <HI>Chri&s;t their King,</HI> yet no &s;ooner news abroad of his being born into the world but upon the account of a meer worldly intere&s;t <HI>(viz.</HI> fear of tumults
<PB REF="4">and commotions which might hereupon ari&s;e betwixt <HI>Herod</HI> the u&s;urper, and this King, to the imbroiling of them in wars who now were in quiet, enjoying their wealth in peace) they are troubled at it, <HI>Matth. 2.3.</HI> I wi&s;h a worldly intere&s;t may have no &s;uch effect now, as to beget trouble in the &s;pirits of any, at the coming forth of that mercy, which time was, they both prayed and waited for. Surely as it &s;avors of great ingratitude towards our mo&s;t gracious Father to call mercies given in as an an&s;wer of former prayers by the name of Judge|ments, &s;o al&s;o of no le&s;s &s;loath and negligence, when the glorious arm of God hath been made bare in work|ing wonders for his people, for them to &s;it &s;till, doing little or nothing for him. That nothing done of late years comes as an an&s;wer of the&s;e prayers put up whil&s;t we were in the hou&s;e of bondage, none of you will or can deny: If any thing el&s;e be wrought which then we prayed not for, it is either a <HI>&s;uperabounding of mercy,</HI> beyond what then we were able to aske or think, or a <HI>trial of our faith;</HI> If a <HI>&s;uperabounding of mercy,</HI> &s;hall we quarrel with God and one another for that? and if a <HI>trial of our faith,</HI> &s;hall we think that &s;trange which hath been the ordinary way of Gods di&s;pen&s;ations towards his in all ages, when he gives forth mercy, then to <HI>try their faith,</HI> and like a company of &s;ullen Children &s;hall we wrangle with our Father, and in a hu|mer&s;om fit throw away our bread, becau&s;e the cru&s;t is on it? O let it not be told in Neighbor Nations that the God of <HI>England</HI> hath been &s;o kind to his people; and Saints in <HI>England</HI> &s;o unkind to their Father, and one unto another.</P>
<P>Why (O ye Saints) &s;hould you not all in this day go hand in hand about your Fathers work? What hinders (unle&s;s the corruption of your hearts) your being as active for the Lord, and as holy as you will? Why
<PB REF="5">&s;hould the great work of the Generation (wherein the cau&s;e and honor of your Father and Redeemer is &s;o deep|ly engaged) be at a &s;tand, whil&s;t each of you are dri|ving on particular de&s;igns, parties and intere&s;ts? It is from you alone that God expects this &s;ervice; it is work the world cannot do, nor will God own them in the doing of it; he calls for this from the hands of you his hou&s;hold Servants; neglect it, and he can rai&s;e up others, even out of holes and corners, which &s;hall do the work, when you &s;hall be thrown by. When the Jews (once the vi&s;ible people of God) neglected Generation|work, God threw them by, and brought in the Gentiles; if Gentile-Churches now grafted in prove fruitle&s;s in this work, God may cut them off, and graft in the Jews again. If tho&s;e that are vi&s;ibly the children of <HI>Abra|ham</HI> put off Gods work, God can of &s;tones (great and hard hearted &s;inners) ra<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;e up children to <HI>Abraham,</HI> which &s;hall do the &s;ame When the learned and righte|ous Scriles and Phari&s;ees will not own Chri&s;t, he can rai&s;e up poor illiterate Fi&s;hermen, yea, Publicans (the wor&s;t of &s;inners) &s;itting at the receipt of cu&s;tom, for to do the thing. If <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> the chief City will not fur|ni&s;h Chri&s;t with in&s;truments to carry his work on by, he can find men for the &s;ame (where they were lea&s;t expect|ed) in the dark wa&s;te car<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ers of <HI>Galilee,</HI> and the little hole of <HI>Beth&s;aida, Joh. 1.44.</HI> Chri&s;t is never at a lo&s;s for in&s;truments, when he hath work to do; That any of you are imployed, it is more his free grace towards you, than from any need that he hath of you, he is not beholding to you for doing his work, but tis you are be|holding to him that he will honor you in it. O therefore Saints awake, awake, put on your beautiful Garments, &s;hake your &s;elves from your du&s;t, the Sun of right<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">|ou&s;ne&s;s is ri&s;ing upon you, the whole earth begins to be enlightned with his glory, it is now high time to rouze
<PB REF="5">up your &s;pirits, awake out of &s;leep, to be up and do|ing. Chri&s;t your Captain General is abroad in the field upon his march, in the way to his Kingdom, he will make no halts, if you &s;leep, loyter, &s;traggle or &s;it &s;till, you will be left behind, and lo&s;e the &s;ight of your Leader; he will bear no delaies, if you will not now come and ki&s;s him, &s;ubject your &s;elves to him, he will make a riddance of you, and throw you by, as he goes up to his Kingdom. The times of former neglect God winked at, but now he cals upon all that make mention of his Name, not to &s;it &s;till, not to keep &s;ilence, nor give him re&s;t, till he e&s;tabli&s;h, and till he make <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> a prai&s;e in the earth. That you may do this work, and the &s;ame in your hands may pro&s;per I &s;hall (as an additi|onal word unto the la&s;t general Head in the following Di&s;cour&s;e) leave with you the&s;e few particulars.</P>
<P N="1"><HI>1 Endeavor union with your &s;elves.</HI> Divi&s;ions will ob|&s;truct the work, Union will further it. The great work in the Apo&s;tles time never went on &s;o gloriou&s;ly and &s;uc|ce&s;sfully as when <HI>the number of tho&s;e that beleeved were of one heart, and of one &s;oul.</HI></P>
<P N="2"><HI>2 Strive after purity.</HI> The &s;even Angels that go out of the Temple with the &s;even Vials, their cloathing is <HI>pure and white linnen, Rev. 15.6.</HI></P>
<P N="3"><HI>3 De&s;ire God to lay you in with principles &s;uitable to his work, neither below it, nor above it.</HI> As a mans <HI>prin|ciples</HI> are, &s;o will his <HI>actions</HI> be, principle being the rule of action. Some mens <HI>principles are above generation-work,</HI> the&s;e vilifie and trample it as a low and carnal thing, and in&s;tead of laying them&s;elves out therein, they &s;lumber and &s;leep, doing nothing at all. <HI>Others principles are be|low the work,</HI> and in&s;tead of acting in it, they are of|fended at it. He who&s;e principles are above the work will not do it, for the thing is low and ba&s;e in his eies; and he who&s;e principles are below the work (in ca&s;e they con|tinue
<PB REF="6">&s;o to be) &s;hall not do it, for this is an evident &s;ign that God will lay him by; it being the way of God when he will u&s;e a man in a work, to give him principles as high as that work, and when he will laie a man by, to blind him fir&s;t to that work, in which he will laie him by.</P>
<P N="4"><HI>4 Carry a meek &s;pirit along with you in the work.</HI> When Chri&s;t rode as King into <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> he rode <HI>meek, meek;</HI> tho&s;e that would accompany Chri&s;t to his Kingdom, mu&s;t be of that &s;pirit their King is of. <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> never failed but once in the work of his Generation, and it was then when he lo&s;t his meek &s;pirit, <HI>Num. 20.10.</HI> Eapounded, <HI>P&s;a 106.32. They angered him at the waters of &s;t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ife, &s;o that it went ill with</HI> Mo&s;es <HI>for their &s;akes.</HI> But for what rea&s;on? &s;ee <HI>v. 33. becau&s;e they provoked his &s;pirit, &s;o that he &s;pake unadvi&s;edly with his lips.</HI> God is oft times in the &s;mall and &s;till voyce, when neither in the Whirl-wind, nor the Earthquake, nor the fire, <HI>1 King. 19.11, 13.</HI></P>
<P N="5"><HI>5</HI> And la&s;tly, <HI>Be much in prai&s;es.</HI> Prai&s;es in the la&s;t times &s;hall have the &s;ame efficaey and effect that prayer in former times hath had. In <HI>Rev 15.</HI> Whil&s;t the Saints who have gotten the victory over the Bea&s;t, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, are &s;ta<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ding on the Sea of gla&s;s, with the Harps of God, and &s;inging the &s;ong of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and of the Lamb, <HI>v. 2, 3, 4.</HI> The &s;even Angels with the &s;even Vials full of the wrath of God to be poured out upon the heads of the enemies of the Church, i&s;&s;ue out of the Temple, <HI>v. 5, 6, 7.</HI> And in <HI>Rev. 19.1, 3.</HI> it is ob&s;ervable, the final ruin of <HI>Babylon</HI> comes in as an effect of the frequent prai&s;es of Saints; in <HI>v. 1.</HI> They &s;ing <HI>Hal|lelujahs&mdash; I heard a voyce of much people in heaven &s;aying, Hal|lelujah</HI>&mdash; and <HI>v. 3. Again they &s;aid Allelujah,</HI> and what followed? <HI>her &s;moak ro&s;e up for ever and ever.</HI></P>
<P>The&s;e few perticulars coming to my mind whil&s;t this Epi&s;tle was draw|ing up, I thought good in this place to in&s;ert. I &s;hall no longer detain thee (Spiritual Friend and Reader) from the thing it &s;elf, which trears of that great work which the cies and hearts of not a few of Gods people at this day are &s;ixed upon, and taken up with, in reading of which, if thou &s;halt receive any light, or reap any &s;piritual benefit, give all the prai&s;e to the Lord, and pray for him, who is</P>
<CLOSER><SALUTE>A Companion in the tribulation, and Kingdom, and patience of Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</SALUTE>
<SIGNED>J. T.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB N="1" REF="6">
<HEAD>A brief and Sea&s;onable Word, humbly offered to the View and Con&s;ideration of the Saints and People of God in this Generation.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">E&s;pecially to tho&s;e in who&s;e hands for the pre|&s;ent the <HI>Work</HI> lyes, relating to the Work of the pre&s;ent Age or Generation we live in.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>Act. 13.36.</HI></BIBL> For <HI>David,</HI> after he had &s;erved his own Generation, by the will of God fell on &s;leep.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_THis Chapter for the greate&s;t part contains a <HI>rehear&s;al of that divine and heavenly Sermon preached by</HI> Paul <HI>at</HI> Antioch. The Subject-matter of his Di&s;cour&s;e is <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> the particulars in&s;i&s;ted on, are his <HI>Death</HI> and <HI>Re&s;urrection,</HI> the two main Pillars of Chri&s;tian Religion, the two chief Heads, or Common-places, to which <HI>Paul</HI> reduceth his whole Go&s;pel, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 15.3, 4.</P>
<P>His &s;cope in treating of the&s;e being to <HI>convince the Jews</HI> (who were in expectation of the Me&s;&s;iah or Chri&s;t) <HI>That the Me&s;siah was already come, dead and ri&s;en again, and that this Je&s;us whom he preached unto them was he,</HI> and al&s;o to per&s;wade all &s;orts of men, whether <HI>Jews</HI> or <HI>Gentiles,</HI> who expected Salvation, to look for it
<PB N="2" REF="7">no where el&s;e but only from this Je&s;us who was dead for &s;ins, and rai&s;ed again for the ju&s;tification of &s;inners.</P>
<P>And it &s;eems this was the A<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">&s;tles ordinary way, and method of preaching, not only <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">e, but every where el&s;e, e&s;pecially when he met with any <HI>Jews,</HI> as appears, <HI>Act.</HI> 17.2, 3.</P>
<P>The words read are brought in <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">nder the la&s;t of the&s;e, <HI>viz. The Doctrine of the Re&s;urrection,</HI> as the Apo&s;tle was proving and clearing that, for having evidenced <HI>Chri&s;ts Re&s;urrection</HI> from the te&s;timony of many who were Eye-witne&s;&s;es of the &s;ame, who had both &s;een him, and conver&s;ed with him after he was ri&s;en, ver&s;. 31. Hee for the further confirmation thereof, makes u&s;e of that no|table te&s;timony of the Prophet <HI>David, P&s;al.</HI> 16.10. who &s;eeing beforehand the Re&s;urrection of Chri&s;t, &s;pake thereof on this wi&s;e, <HI>Thou &s;halt not &s;uffer thine holy One to &s;ee corruption:</HI> Which words, &s;aith the Apo&s;tle, <HI>could not be under&s;tood of David,</HI> for they do no way agree to him, who fell on &s;leep, was laid unto his Fathers, and &s;aw corruption, <HI>but they do mo&s;t fitly agree to this Je&s;us,</HI> who was dead, and by the power of God in three dayes rai&s;ed again, and &s;o &s;aw no corruption, and there|fore mu&s;t needs be under&s;tood of him, and by them his <HI>Re&s;urrection</HI> was Prophetically pointed out many hun|dreds of years before the time.</P>
<P>And it &s;eems that this Argument drawn from the words of <HI>David</HI> to prove the <HI>Re&s;urrection of Chri&s;t,</HI> was of no little force; For not only <HI>Paul</HI> the Apo&s;tle of the <HI>Gentiles,</HI> but <HI>Peter</HI> al&s;o, the great Apo&s;tle of the Cir|cumci&s;ion, makes u&s;e of it to the &s;ame end and pur|po&s;e that <HI>Paul</HI> do<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">h here, <HI>Act.</HI> 2.25, 26, 27 &amp;c.</P>
<P>The words them&s;elves that I have pitched upon, are not any part of the Apo&s;tles Argument or proof, but &s;ome|what worthy ob&s;ervation. <HI>David,</HI> brought in by the way (as it were in a Parenthe is) whil&s;t the A po&s;tle was fol|lowing
<PB N="3" REF="7">up of his main Argument, which was, <HI>how that</HI> David <HI>fell on &s;leep, was laid to his Fathers, and &s;aw cor|ruption, and that therefore this Prophecie of not &s;ee|ing corruption could not be meant of</HI> David <HI>him&s;elf, but mu&s;t relate to Chri&s;t,</HI> plainly importing his <HI>Re&s;ur|rection.</HI></P>
<P>But now there was &s;omething Antecedent to <HI>Davids</HI> falling a&s;leep, very admirable and remarkable in him, which the Apo&s;tle will by no means let &s;lip, but &s;ets it be|fore all, as a thing worthy their imitation, which is, how that <HI>David</HI> before hee fell on &s;leep &s;erved his own Ge|neration by the will of God. <HI>For</HI> David <HI>after he had &s;erved his own Generation by the will of God fell on &s;leep.</HI></P>
<P>I &s;hall fir&s;t Paraphra&s;e upon the words, and then come to my Ob&s;ervations from them.</P>
<P><HI>Served his Generation (i.e.) did the work of his Generation;</HI> What was the <HI>work of his Generation David</HI> applied him&s;elf unto? he was not an Idler, a Slug|gard in his <HI>Generation. Timothy</HI> &s;erved with <HI>Paul</HI> in the Go&s;pel, <HI>Phil.</HI> 2.22. <HI>(i.e.)</HI> did the work of the Go&s;pel together with <HI>Paul.</HI></P>
<P><HI>His own Generation,</HI> not another <HI>Generation;</HI> every <HI>Generation</HI> (as I &s;hall &s;hew anon) hath its proper and pecu|liar <HI>Work.</HI> Now <HI>David</HI> made it his bu&s;ine&s;s to find out and attend unto that <HI>Work</HI> which did properly belong to his <HI>Generation.</HI></P>
<P><HI>By the will of God.</HI> The&s;e words take in the <HI>ground</HI> or <HI>ri&s;e</HI> of <HI>Davids obedience,</HI> the <HI>matter</HI> and <HI>manner</HI> of it. The <HI>ground</HI> or <HI>ri&s;e</HI> was <HI>Gods will;</HI> God willed <HI>David</HI> to do the <HI>work of his Generation,</HI> and becau&s;e God willed him, he did it; he &s;erved the <HI>will of God</HI> in &s;erving his <HI>Generation,</HI> and therefore &s;erved his <HI>Genera|tion,</HI> becau&s;e it was the <HI>will of God.</HI> The <HI>mattor</HI> of <HI>Davids obedience</HI> was not humane inventions, or mens
<PB N="4" REF="8">traditions, but &s;uch things only, as God did <HI>will,</HI> and call him to do in his <HI>Generation.</HI> The manner of <HI>Davids obedience</HI> was not in what way he li&s;ted, or in humane prudence judged be&s;t, but in &s;uch a way as was mo&s;t con|&s;onant to Gods <HI>will</HI> revealed to him; as he did not of his own head frame the matter, &s;o did hee not determine of the <HI>way</HI> or <HI>manner,</HI> but in both did &s;et before him the <HI>will of God,</HI> and act according to that <HI>will.</HI></P>
<P>Not to gra&s;p together all that lies in the&s;e words, my aim being only at this, <HI>viz.</HI></P>
<P>Doct. <HI>That it is an e&s;pecial duty lying upon the Saints, to attend unto, and be active in the work or works of their Generation.</HI></P>
<P>Gods famous Worthies who have gone before us (whereof <HI>David</HI> here is in&s;tance) have done thus, who&s;e examples (though not in every thing, yet) in the&s;e things are rules to us, and therefore we &s;hould do it; yea, its <HI>the will of God,</HI> this <HI>David</HI> here grounds his obedience upon, which <HI>Will</HI> makes it as well our duty as his, and therefore we ought to do it.</P>
<P>In the carrying on of this, I &s;hall &s;hew,</P>
<P N="1">1 What <HI>Generation-work</HI> is, and how the &s;ame differs from other works.</P>
<P N="2">2 That Saints in the &s;everal <HI>Generations</HI> they have lived in, have ever had the proper and peculiar works of their <HI>Generations.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3 That it is a thing of very great concernment for a Saint to attend to, and be indu&s;trious in the work of his <HI>Generation.</HI></P>
<P N="4">4 Wherin doth the work of the pre&s;ent <HI>Generation</HI> lye.</P>
<P N="5">5 How each one in particular may find out that part or parcel of it that is properly his work in his <HI>Gene|ration.</HI></P>
<P N="6">6 And la&s;tly, How <HI>Generation-work</HI> may be carried
<PB N="5" REF="8">on &s;o, as that God may be &s;erved in the <HI>Generation.</HI></P>
<P>Fir&s;t. What <HI>Generation-work</HI> is, and how different from other works.</P>
<P>An&s;. <HI>Generation-work is that work, or tho&s;e works which the way or manner of Gods dispen&s;ations in the age a Saint lives in, calls him unto.</HI></P>
<P>When either the condition of the Church or people of God, or the tran&s;actions of God in the <HI>Age</HI> we live in, or the light of that <HI>Age</HI> calls us to &s;ome &s;pecial imployment, we may look upon that <HI>Work</HI> to be the <HI>Work</HI> of the <HI>Ge|neration.</HI></P>
<P>So that in the <HI>Work</HI> of our <HI>Generation,</HI> although the matter of the work be no other, then what the word hath laid down, and is commanded in the general, yet the call to the <HI>Work</HI> takes its principal ri&s;e from the way or manner of Gods <HI>di&s;pen&s;ations</HI> in, or unto that <HI>Age.</HI></P>
<P>Hence the <HI>Work</HI> of the <HI>Generation</HI> differs from that <HI>Work</HI> which lyes upon a Saint to perform, as he is a Saint, for tho&s;e <HI>Works</HI> are not limited to any one <HI>Generation,</HI> but are common to all; what I &s;tand bound to do as I am a <HI>Saint,</HI> I am alike obliged to do in that re&s;pect, in what|&s;oever <HI>Age</HI> or <HI>Generation</HI> I live; but now the <HI>work</HI> of my <HI>Generation,</HI> I &s;tand bound to that by vertue of Gods <HI>di&s;pen&s;ations</HI> towards the <HI>Age</HI> I live in; in &s;uch manner, as that thing which now is my <HI>work</HI> living in this <HI>Age,</HI> did I live in another <HI>Age,</HI> wherein the <HI>di&s;pen&s;ations</HI> of God were after another manner, would not be my <HI>work,</HI> but another thing would be my <HI>work.</HI></P>
<P>Hence likewi&s;e the <HI>work</HI> out <HI>Generation</HI> is different from the <HI>works</HI> of our <HI>Callings, Staetion, relation,</HI> or pre|&s;ent <HI>condition,</HI> for every of the&s;e bring their &s;everal <HI>works,</HI> but the&s;e properly as they are &s;uch <HI>(i.e.) Works</HI> or <HI>Duties</HI> flowing from my <HI>Calling, Station,</HI> in the world, <HI>Relation,</HI> or pre&s;ent <HI>condition,</HI> are not the <HI>work</HI> of my <HI>Ge|neration.</HI></P>
<PB N="6" REF="9">
<P>Though here I grant it, that the <HI>work</HI> of a Saints <HI>Ge|neration,</HI> may fall in with the <HI>works</HI> forementioned, either tho&s;e which lye upon him as a <HI>Saint,</HI> or tho&s;e which are the proper <HI>works</HI> of his <HI>Calling, Station, Relation,</HI> or pre&s;ent <HI>condition, (i.e.)</HI> the <HI>work</HI> of a Saints <HI>Genera|tion,</HI> and the&s;e, may be one and the &s;ame in Sub&s;tance, though two in diver&s;e re&s;pects, as I &s;hall make out to you.</P>
<P N="1">1 For <HI>common Duties which lye upon a Saint, as a Saint.</HI> A <HI>Saint</HI> may have &s;ome duties lying upon him as he is &s;uch a one, binding all <HI>Saints</HI> in all <HI>Ages,</HI> all the world over, which yet in &s;ome times may be the very <HI>work</HI> of the <HI>Generation.</HI></P>
<P>As for example. <HI>Beleeving</HI> is a <HI>work</HI> which lyes upon a <HI>Saint</HI> as a <HI>Saint;</HI> A man as he is a <HI>Saint</HI> is alwayes, in what&s;oever <HI>Age</HI> or <HI>Generation</HI> he lives in, bound to <HI>be|leeve,</HI> and have confidence in the promi&s;e and power of God; but it may &s;o fall out, that the di&s;pen&s;ations of God towards his people may be &s;uch, as that <HI>beleeving,</HI> which is an e&s;pecial <HI>duty</HI> lying upon <HI>Saints</HI> in all <HI>Generations,</HI> may be the great <HI>work</HI> God calls unto in that <HI>Age</HI> or <HI>Generation</HI> a <HI>Saint</HI> lives in. So it was in the time of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and therefore (as I conceive) did God &s;o &s;everely puni&s;h the <HI>unbeleef</HI> of that <HI>Age,</HI> becau&s;e this their fin was not only a neglect of a great and <HI>common duty,</HI> but a neglecting the very <HI>work</HI> of their <HI>Generation.</HI></P>
<P>Again, <HI>Prayer</HI> is a <HI>duty,</HI> which lyes upon a <HI>Saint</HI> as a <HI>Saint,</HI> no <HI>praying</HI> man, no <HI>Saint;</HI> for <HI>Saints</HI> have their denomination from calling upon the Name of the Lord, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1.2. But now <HI>Prayer,</HI> a <HI>duty</HI> &s;o general, and com|mon to all <HI>Generations,</HI> may be, as the ca&s;e may fall out, one &s;pecial <HI>work</HI> of that <HI>Age</HI> or <HI>Generation</HI> a <HI>Saint</HI> lives in. And &s;o (I take it) it was in <HI>Daniels</HI> time, when <HI>I&s;raels</HI> feturn from <HI>Babylon</HI> was approaching, and therefore <HI>Daniel</HI> is &s;o &s;tirred up to <HI>pray,</HI> and his <HI>Prayer</HI> made &s;o
<PB N="7" REF="9"><HI>well-plea&s;ing</HI> unto God, becau&s;e he did not the thing only as a common duty, but as the <HI>work</HI> of his <HI>Generation.</HI></P>
<P>And on the contrary, upon the &s;ame ground wee are now &s;peaking of, God doth (as I conceive) forbid <HI>Jeremy</HI> to pray for the people of that time, becau&s;e <HI>Prayer</HI> though as a common duty it remained, yet did it then cea&s;e as any <HI>part</HI> of the <HI>work</HI> of the <HI>Generation.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2 <HI>A Saint may have &s;ome duty lying upon him by vertue of his Calling, which may al&s;o be the very work of his Generation.</HI></P>
<P>As for example; Suppo&s;e a godly man be con&s;tituted a <HI>General,</HI> or an <HI>&V;nder-Officer</HI> in an <HI>Army,</HI> rai&s;ed again&s;t &s;ome great and profe&s;&s;ed enemies of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, at &s;uch a time as by Gods appointment, the ruine of the&s;e his enemies draws neer; for him to fight for, and under tho&s;e, in their defence who have given this power and com|mand to him, is the very <HI>work</HI> of his <HI>Calling,</HI> that which his place injoyns him unto; but now con&s;idering the cau&s;e he is ingaged in, which is the pulling down of &s;ome potent enemies of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, which God in, or about that <HI>Age</HI> be lives in, hath determined to ruine; So his fighting is not only the <HI>work</HI> of his <HI>Calling,</HI> but the very <HI>work</HI> of his <HI>Generation</HI> al&s;o.</P>
<P>Again, put ca&s;e a man is a Mini&s;ter, the making known the truths of God to others is the work of his <HI>Calling,</HI> in doing whereof he doth no more then what his <HI>Calling</HI> requires of him, but now as &s;uch a one &s;tudies and con|crives, making it his de&s;ign, &s;cope and aim, not only to &s;peak truths (which another man by being con&s;cientious in his <HI>Calling</HI> may do) but to &s;peak truths, and truths in &s;uch a manner, as is mo&s;t &s;uitable unto, and may through the ble&s;&s;ing of God mo&s;t conduce to the good and benefit of &s;ouls in tho&s;e times and places he lives in, &s;o he doth the <HI>work</HI> of his <HI>Generation.</HI></P>
<P>And as a <HI>Souldier</HI> in the field may do the work of his
<PB N="8" REF="10"><HI>calling</HI> by being faithful unto, and valiant for tho&s;e who intru&s;t him, and (yet the <HI>work</HI> of his <HI>calling</HI> and <HI>Gene|ration</HI> being mixed) not eye all this while the <HI>work</HI> of his <HI>Gen<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ration.</HI> So may a <HI>Mini&s;ter</HI> in the Pulpit do the work of his <HI>calling</HI> by preaching <HI>truth</HI> &s;oundly and power|fully, and yet (not having re&s;pect to what <HI>truths</HI> the pre&s;ent <HI>Age,</HI> and the nece&s;&s;ity of his hearers do in a more e&s;pecial manner rather than others, call for the opening and applying of) he may mi&s;s the <HI>work</HI> of his <HI>Generation.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3 <HI>A Saint by vertue of his &s;tation and relation may have &s;ome duty lying upon him, which may be the work of his generation, and yet the work of his &s;tation and relation.</HI></P>
<P>As for in&s;tance, A godly man is a Mini&s;ter of a Family, for him now according to his ability, to teach, in&s;truct, and prin<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">iple his Wife, Children and Servants, and to govern in his Family, is the <HI>duty</HI> of his <HI>&s;tation,</HI> or the place God hath &s;et him in, and the duty of his relation al&s;o, as he is a Husband, Father, Ma&s;ter, and when he doth this, hee doth no other thing than what the &s;tation God hath &s;et him in, and the bond of <HI>relation</HI> binds him to per|form: Bu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> now when he doth &s;o <HI>govern</HI> in his Family, and &s;o <HI>in&s;truct</HI> and <HI>principle</HI> tho&s;e under him, and in re|lation to him, as that both him&s;elf and his may acknow|ledge, and in &s;ome mea&s;ure an&s;wer the <HI>call</HI> of Gods pre|&s;ent <HI>di&s;pen&s;ations</HI> towards the <HI>age</HI> he lives in, whether to &s;uffer, if the <HI>di&s;pen&s;ation</HI> call for that, or to be &s;ervice|able in any active way, to &s;ome &s;pecial cau&s;e of God on foot in that <HI>age,</HI> he doth the <HI>work</HI> of his <HI>Generation;</HI> though his activity lye within the bounds of his family, yet &s;o long as what he acts tends to bring him&s;elf and his, as much as may be, to an&s;wer the pre&s;ent <HI>di&s;pen&s;ations</HI> of God, he doth the <HI>work</HI> of his <HI>Generation.</HI></P>
<P N="4">4 <HI>A Saint by vertue of the pre&s;ent condition he may be in, may &s;tand obliged to &s;ome duty, which yet may be
<PB N="9" REF="10">the work of his Generation as well as of his condition.</HI></P>
<P>As to exerci&s;e <HI>faith</HI> and <HI>patience</HI> under &s;ufferings for Chri&s;t, is the work of a &s;uffering <HI>condition;</HI> but now if my &s;ufferings fall out in &s;uch an <HI>age</HI> wherein the Church of God in general lies under per&s;ecution, then the exerci&s;e of <HI>faith</HI> and <HI>patience</HI> under the Cro&s;s, is not onely the <HI>work</HI> of my <HI>condition,</HI> but the very work of my <HI>Generation,</HI> that which the <HI>di&s;pen&s;ations</HI> of God in the <HI>age</HI> I live in, cals for at my hands.</P>
<P>By what hath been &s;aid, we &s;ee that &s;uch a ca&s;e may be that in the &s;ub&s;tance of the work, <HI>that work which lies upon a Saint as a Saint, and which is the work of his calling, &s;tation, relation, and condition, may be the &s;ame with the work of his Generation;</HI> and yet in divers re|&s;pects there may be &s;uch a va&s;t difference, that one man doing the &s;ame work, &s;hall do more then that which lies upon him, and every one el&s;e as <HI>Saints,</HI> or which his <HI>cal|ling, &s;tation, relation,</HI> or <HI>condition</HI> calls for, and another in doing the very &s;ame <HI>work,</HI> &s;hall do all this as well and better than he, and the <HI>work</HI> of his <HI>Generation</HI> al&s;o.</P>
<P>From what hath been &s;poken as touching this, the final conclu&s;ion is, <HI>that the work of our generation is not any work di&s;tinct in &s;ub&s;tance from all other works</HI> (for were it &s;out would be a thing more ea&s;ie to find it out than indeed it is) <HI>but the difference lies in con&s;idering the &s;ame work in divers re&s;pects,</HI> 'tis not diver&s;ity of <HI>work,</HI> &s;o much as di|ver&s;ity of <HI>re&s;pect</HI> in <HI>working</HI> that makes the difference.</P>
<P>Secondly, The next thing to be opened is, <HI>That the Saints in their &s;everal Generations, have had, and &s;till have their proper and peculiar works.</HI> My meaning is, That there is &s;ome <HI>work,</HI> which is more properly the <HI>work</HI> of <HI>Saints</HI> living in one <HI>generation,</HI> than it is of <HI>Saints</HI> living in another. <HI>Saints</HI> of this <HI>Generation</HI> have &s;ome <HI>works</HI> which <HI>Saints</HI> of former <HI>Generations</HI> had not; and <HI>Saints</HI> of former <HI>Generations</HI> had &s;ome works, which <HI>Saints</HI> of this <HI>Generation</HI> have not.</P>
<PB N="10" REF="11">
<P>For the making out of this, I &s;hall draw a <HI>line</HI> through the &s;everall <HI>Generations</HI> that <HI>Saints</HI> from the beginning have lived in, and take a view of <HI>Saints,</HI> and of their <HI>work</HI> or <HI>works,</HI> each of them in their &s;everal <HI>Genera|tions.</HI></P>
<P>To begin with <HI>Noah</HI> (for I cannot point out all <HI>Gene|rations</HI> from <HI>Adam</HI> downwards, but &s;uch onely upon which &s;ome remarkable actions of eminent Saints dwelling in tho&s;e <HI>Generations</HI> are fixed, thereby making them me|morable to after times) he be&s;ides all his other <HI>works</HI> had the proper <HI>work</HI> of his <HI>Generation,</HI> which was to build an <HI>Ark for the pre&s;ervation of his hou&s;e, and the crea|tures from the flood and univer&s;al deluge;</HI> by which he preached a real Sermon for one hundred and twenty years to the Old World, all the while the <HI>Arke</HI> was a preparing, and by which the Apo&s;tle &s;aith, <HI>Heb.</HI> 11.7. <HI>He condem|ned the world, (i.e.)</HI> the per&s;ons of that <HI>Generation,</HI> and this <HI>work</HI> it was a work di&s;tinct from the work of all other <HI>Generations.</HI></P>
<P>Next to him <HI>Abraham</HI> had the proper work of his <HI>Ge|neration,</HI> which was, <HI>to go forth of his Country, and from his Fathers hou&s;e, unto a Land which God &s;hould &s;hew him, and there to follow God from one place to another, beleeving that one day his &s;eed &s;hould en<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">oy that Land that now he was a &s;tranger in;</HI> but in the mean time to dwell in Tents with <HI>I&s;aac</HI> and <HI>Jacob,</HI> heirs with him of the &s;ame promi&s;e. This was not the <HI>work</HI> of after <HI>Generations,</HI> yet was it the <HI>work</HI> of his and their <HI>Gene|rations.</HI></P>
<P>After him <HI>Mo&s;e</HI> and <HI>Aaron</HI> and other <HI>faithful</HI> ones in their dayes, had the proper <HI>work</HI> of their <HI>Generation,</HI> which was <HI>to look up to God, and tru&s;t him for meat, and drink, and rayment, and pre&s;ervation in a barren wilderne&s;s where none of the&s;e things were to be had, and where they lay open to cruel enemies on every &s;ide, to the
<PB N="11" REF="11">malice of cruel imbittered enemies.</HI> To tru&s;t God in &s;uch an extraordinary way was not the <HI>work</HI> of after <HI>Ge|nerations,</HI> which yet was the &s;pecial <HI>work</HI> of this <HI>Gene|ration.</HI></P>
<P>Come to <HI>Davids</HI> time, he al&s;o had the proper <HI>work</HI> of his <HI>Generation,</HI> wherein (as our Text witne&s;&s;eth) <HI>he &s;erved God,</HI> which was <HI>to cut down Gods enemies round about, and thereby to make room and provi&s;ion for the hou&s;e of God, which was to be built at</HI> Jeru&s;alem, here was his di&s;tinctive work.</P>
<P>Next after him comes <HI>Solomon,</HI> who&s;e di&s;tinct <HI>work</HI> was, <HI>to build the Temple of God, which his Father</HI> Da|vid <HI>had made room and provi&s;ion for.</HI></P>
<P>To pa&s;s over the <HI>works</HI> of many following <HI>Generations,</HI> let us come to <HI>Jeremiah's</HI> time, had not Gods people in that age the proper <HI>work</HI> of their <HI>Genenation?</HI> which was <HI>willingly to put their necks under, and quietly &s;ubmit unto the yoke of the King of</HI> Babylon, <HI>giving them|&s;elves up unto captivity until &s;eventy years &s;hould be accompli&s;hed.</HI> God did not give any &s;uch po&s;itive com|mands unto other <HI>Generations.</HI></P>
<P>After this in <HI>Ezra's, Nehemiah's,</HI> and <HI>Daniels</HI> time, the&s;e Worthies, and the <HI>Saints</HI> of that <HI>age</HI> had the pro|per <HI>work</HI> of their <HI>Generation,</HI> which was, <HI>to go forth of</HI> Babylon, <HI>and rebuild the Temple of God at</HI> Jeru&s;alem, <HI>which</HI> Nebuchadnezzar <HI>had de&s;troyed.</HI></P>
<P>Thus all along in the times of the Old Te&s;tament, Gods Church and people in their &s;everal <HI>Generations</HI> have had their &s;everal <HI>works.</HI></P>
<P>Let us look to the <HI>New Te&s;tament</HI> which dawned in <HI>John the Bapti&s;t,</HI> had not <HI>John</HI> the proper <HI>work</HI> of his <HI>Generation?</HI> which was, <Q>to be the Fore-runner and Har|binger of the Me&s;&s;iah, to declare to the Nation of the Jews that the Me&s;&s;iah whom they expected and waited for, was now approaching, and that the glorious Kingdom
<PB N="12" REF="12">of God, in the pure admini&s;tration of the Go&s;pel was at hand, and that therefore it did behove every one now to have their eyes and hearts turned from <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> towards him, and his admini&s;tration, which was now approach|ing,</Q></P>
<P>After him the Apo&s;tles in their time had the proper <HI>work</HI> of their <HI>Generation;</HI> which was, <Q>to go forth and publi&s;h the glad tydings of &s;alvation, which before were cooped up within the narrow compa&s;s of <HI>Judea,</HI> to all the world, beginning at <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> to gather Saints together, &s;o fa&s;t as they were converted, into Churches, and to appoint over the&s;e Pa&s;tors and Teachers, and al&s;o to give Rules and Directions for the right ordering and governing of the Churches unto the end of the world.</Q></P>
<P>Let us come to the <HI>Saints</HI> of following <HI>Generations,</HI> had not they likewi&s;e their proper <HI>works?</HI> which was in &s;ome <Q>to bear witne&s;s before the wicked world, and the Heathen Tyrants and Infidels of tho&s;e ages wherein they lived, to the truth of that Doctrine they had received from the Apo&s;tles before them, by &s;ealing the &s;ame with their blood, and willingly giving them&s;elves up (as &s;heep to the &s;laughter) to the cruelties, tortures, ma&s;&s;acres of the Pagani&s;h world, in bearing te&s;timony to the truth of Je&s;us.</Q></P>
<P>Afterwards the work of the next <HI>Generation,</HI> was <HI>to bear witne&s;s by writing, preaching, and all &s;ound Doctrine, again&s;t the damnable Here&s;ies of</HI> Arrius <HI>and his com|plices, and others, which through that little tranquility which the Church injoyed under</HI> Con&s;tantine <HI>crept in, and over&s;pread the Chri&s;tian world.</HI></P>
<P>In after <HI>ages</HI> for &s;ome hundreds of years together, the work of Saints in their <HI>Generation</HI> was <HI>to bear witne&s;s by &s;peaking and &s;uffering unto the truth and wor&s;hip of Je|&s;us, again&s;t the pernicious errors, and fal&s;e wor&s;hip of Antichri&s;t, and the boundle&s;s and &s;welling pride, and pomp of that man of &s;in.</HI></P>
<PB N="13" REF="12">
<P>In <HI>Generations</HI> &s;ince, the work hath been <HI>to recover the truth and wor&s;hip of Chri&s;t, which was well nigh buried under Antichri&s;ts reign, to its ancient purity, lu&s;tre, and beauty;</HI> And &s;o <HI>Luther,</HI> and the Saints and Worthies of his <HI>Generation,</HI> as their principal work, did recover out of the jaws of the Bea&s;t, the precious truths of Chri&s;ts <HI>Prie&s;tly Office,</HI> the glorious Doctrine of our <HI>ju&s;tification by Chri&s;t alone,</HI> which was well nigh &s;wallowed up by the Antichri|&s;tian innovations of Ma&s;&s;es, Cro&s;&s;es, Pardons, Pennance, Purgatory, Vowes, Pilgrimages, &s;olitary and &s;ingle life, with other inventions of humane wi&s;dom, for the procuring a righteou&s;ne&s;s of our own.</P>
<P>And &s;ince him the great work of Saints in their <HI>Genera|tions</HI> hath been <HI>to recover the Kingly Office of Chri&s;t, which the Lordly pomp and tyranny of the man of &s;in and his followers had ca&s;t a mi&s;t upon, to &s;et up Chri&s;t as &s;ole King and Governor in his Churches, as well as the onely and alone High Prie&s;t of his Saints.</HI></P>
<P>Thus Saints all along from the beginning of the world in their &s;everal <HI>Generations,</HI> have had their &s;everal <HI>works</HI> proper and peculiar to the <HI>Generations</HI> they have lived in; &s;o as that what hath been the <HI>work</HI> of one <HI>Generation,</HI> hath not been the work of another; and what hath been the work of that other, hath not been the work of that, unle&s;s at &s;uch time (as it fell out in the <HI>Generati|ons</HI> of <HI>Abraham, I&s;aac,</HI> and <HI>Jacob,</HI> and al&s;o the &s;eve|ral <HI>Generations</HI> of the <HI>Saints</HI> under the <HI>Roman</HI> and <HI>Anti|chri&s;tian</HI> per&s;ecutions) wherein the <HI>di&s;pen&s;ations</HI> of God towards his people hath continued the &s;ame, and for &s;ub|&s;tance alike for divers <HI>Generations</HI> together, there the work hath been the &s;ame; for no &s;ub&s;tantial change in <HI>di&s;pen&s;a|tion,</HI> there is none in the work of out <HI>Generation,</HI> it being variation of <HI>di&s;pen&s;ation</HI> that cau&s;eth the work of our <HI>Ge|neration</HI> for to vary.</P>
<P>Third General Head; That it is <HI>a thing of very great
<PB N="14" REF="13">concernment for a Saint to attend unto, and be active in the work of his Generation.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Generation-work</HI> is the mo&s;t neglected <HI>work</HI> of all others, with the generality of Profe&s;&s;ors, who either con|&s;ider not that &s;uch a <HI>work</HI> there is; or if they do, yet they think that it belongs to others, not to them to mind it; but in ca&s;e they be indu&s;trious in tho&s;e common <HI>duties</HI> which lye upon them as <HI>Saints,</HI> and tho&s;e &s;pecial <HI>duties</HI> which attend their <HI>Callings, Stations, Relations,</HI> or pre|&s;ent <HI>condition,</HI> it is enough for them, and matters not, whether they be <HI>active</HI> in the bu&s;ine&s;s of their <HI>Genera|tion,</HI> yea or no. Yea many that are imployed therein do not &s;ufficiently weigh the greatne&s;s of the <HI>work</HI> they have in hand. I &s;hall therefore here endeavour to &s;hew of how <HI>great concernment it is for a Saint to attend unto, and be active in this work,</HI> which I &s;hall lay before you in &s;ome particulars.</P>
<P N="1">1 <HI>God by his di&s;pen&s;ations calls aloud for it.</HI> The <HI>di&s;pen&s;ations</HI> of God have a <HI>voyce,</HI> and God oft by the&s;e be&s;peaks a <HI>duty,</HI> or <HI>duties</HI> of his people, <HI>Mic.</HI> 6.9. <HI>The Lords voyce cryeth unto the City</HI>&mdash;What voyce is this? why meerly the voyce of a <HI>di&s;pen&s;ation,</HI> Gods <HI>di&s;pen&s;a|tions</HI> being commands, <HI>Hear the Rod, and who hath appointed it;</HI> To di&s;obey then the vi&s;ible call of a <HI>di&s;pen|&s;ation,</HI> is to di&s;obey a command of God.</P>
<P><HI>The hazarding our lives</HI> is a weighty matter, and if done carele&s;ly, a great &s;in, yet <HI>He&s;ter</HI> upon the vi&s;ible <HI>call</HI> of a <HI>di&s;pen&s;ation</HI> (<HI>viz.</HI> Gods cau&s;e and people of God lying at the &s;take ready to &s;uffer) runs this &s;ore <HI>hazard;</HI> to which though &s;he was &s;tirred up by <HI>Mordecai</HI> (as one Chri&s;tian friend now may &s;tir up another, in &s;uch a capa|city as <HI>He&s;ter</HI> was, to befriend Gods cau&s;e, were it now dying, as then it was) yet were not <HI>Mordecayes</HI> words her warrant, he being not indued with a Prophetical Spirit, nor&s;peaking as &s;uch (as his doubtful &s;peech &s;he weth,
<PB N="15" REF="13"><HI>Who knows whether thou art come to the Kingdome for &s;uch a time as this?</HI>) but the <HI>call</HI> of the <HI>di&s;pen|&s;ation.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Meroz</HI> was <HI>called</HI> by Gods <HI>di&s;pen&s;ations</HI> to <HI>help the Lord again&s;t the mighty.</HI> We read not of any parti|cular command <HI>Merez</HI> had to do it, only the call of a <HI>di&s;|pen&s;ation</HI> (Gods people were under <HI>oppre&s;&s;ors,</HI> and God was up to deliver them) which call <HI>Meroz</HI> neglecting. <HI>Meroz</HI> is doubly and bitterly <HI>cur&s;ed</HI> by the Angel of the Lord for it, <HI>Judg.</HI> 5.23. <HI>Cur&s;e ye Meroz</HI> (&s;aid the An|gel of the Lord) <HI>cur&s;e ye bitterly the Inhabitants thereof, becau&s;e they came not to the help of the Lord to the help of the Lord again&s;t the mighty.</HI> Whereas contrariwi&s;e <HI>Jael</HI> the wife of <HI>Heber</HI> the <HI>Kenite,</HI> having no other <HI>call</HI> but this very <HI>call Meroz had</HI> (for though it were pro|phecied a <HI>woman &s;hould &s;lay Si&s;era,</HI> yet was not that re|vealed to her, or in ca&s;e it were, yet no particular woman named, that was no warrant for her) in obedience hereto &s;laying <HI>Si&s;era,</HI> is doubly ble&s;t, and that <HI>above women,</HI> as the other is doubly and bitterly cur&s;ed. Ver&s;. 24 25. <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed above women &s;hall Jael the wife of Heber the Keni<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e be; Ble&s;&s;ed &s;hall &s;he be above women in the Tent</HI>&mdash;</P>
<P N="2">2 <HI>Generation-work is of all others the greate&s;t work, and a neglect herein the greate&s;t &s;in.</HI> My mean|ing is, that that <HI>obligation</HI> wherein I &s;tand bound unto the <HI>work</HI> of my <HI>Generation,</HI> is a greater <HI>obligation,</HI> than that whereby I &s;tand bound to any other <HI>duty;</HI> and my fault or error herein is a greater and more provoking error, than any other of my errors; which A&s;&s;ertion although it may &s;eem &s;trange, yet it appears thus, in that God him|&s;elf doth more delight in, and account of that <HI>duty</HI> per|formed, which is the <HI>work</HI> of our <HI>Generation,</HI> than he doth of the performance of any other <HI>duty,</HI> although it be a thing e&s;pecially commanded by him&s;elf; and on the other &s;ide, God is more di&s;plea&s;ed with, and provoked
<PB N="17" REF="14">by tho&s;e errors that men commit in the <HI>work</HI> of their <HI>Generation,</HI> than with any other of their errors what&s;o|ever.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t is evident in tho&s;e words of <HI>Samuel</HI> to <HI>Saul</HI> 1 Sam. 15.22. <HI>Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt-offering, as in obeying the voyce of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than &s;acrifice, and to hearken than the fat of Rams.</HI> The offering <HI>&s;acrifice</HI> was Gods command, and a principal part of his wor&s;hip in tho&s;e dayes, yet when <HI>Saul</HI> out of pretence of obeying this <HI>command</HI> of God, di&s;obeyed God in that other &s;pecial <HI>command</HI> of utterly de&s;troying <HI>Amalek,</HI> which was the great <HI>work</HI> God had to do, and <HI>Saul</HI> was imployed in, in that <HI>Generation;</HI> the Prophet from the mouth of the Lord doth not only reprehend him, and condemn his fact, but pronounceth the&s;e two things upon this occa&s;ion now compared together, that God did more abundantly delight in, and account of the obeying of his voyce in that <HI>work</HI> which was the work of <HI>Sauls Generation,</HI> than either he did, or would do in Burnt-offerings, Sacrifices, or the fat of Rams, though things of his own appointment: In a word, the meaning is this, that obedience to God in that thing which is the <HI>work</HI> of our <HI>Generation,</HI> is more acceptable to God than the performance of the mo&s;t &s;pe|cial acts of his wor&s;hip, as Sacrifice and Burnt-offerings in tho&s;e dayes were.</P>
<P>Hence we find in Scripture (which &s;erves further to evidence this) that when &s;pecial Ordinances or acts of wor&s;hip have come in competition with the <HI>work</HI> of the <HI>Generation,</HI> Ordinances and acts of wor&s;hip, have yeelded and given place to that. Circumci&s;ion was a &s;pecial Or|dinance given to <HI>Abrahams</HI> &s;eed, with that &s;everity that the uncircumci&s;ed was to be cut off from among&s;t his people; yet forty years together, whil&s;t <HI>I&s;rael</HI> walked in the wilderne&s;s, the <HI>work</HI> of that <HI>Generation</HI> being &s;uch as
<PB N="16" REF="14">could not with &s;afety to their per&s;ons admit of Circumci|&s;ion, which required &s;ome fixed abode, at lea&s;t for &s;ome time (as <HI>Jo&s;h.</HI> 5.8.) which they were ever uncertain of, be|ing to follow the motion of the cloud (as <HI>Num.</HI> 9.17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22.) Circumci&s;ion though Gods Ordinance (rather then God will alter the way of his <HI>di&s;pen&s;ations,</HI> which he could ea&s;ily have done) for forty years together (till <HI>I&s;rael</HI> was entred <HI>Canaan,</HI> and &s;o from under that <HI>di&s;pen&s;ation</HI> of the cloud) mu&s;t, and doth yeeld and give place unto the <HI>work</HI> of the <HI>Generation.</HI></P>
<P>And which i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> yet more, not only &s;pecial Ordinances, but al&s;o common <HI>duties</HI> have given place to the <HI>work</HI> of the <HI>Generation.</HI> To keep inviolate Articles and condi|tions of peace when made, though with a <HI>Turk,</HI> is a <HI>duty</HI> which the rule of common equity and ju&s;tice betwixt man and man requires. Yet <HI>Jael</HI> when the <HI>work</HI> of her <HI>generation</HI> called for all the help &s;he could lend it (though a league were betwixt <HI>Jabin</HI> King of <HI>Hazor,</HI> and her Husband, yet) in the time of peace (which peace too (as far as we can under&s;tand) betwixt her Husband, and this <HI>King,</HI> was kept inviolate, as on <HI>Jabins</HI> part) &s;he (ta|king her advantage) murders <HI>Si&s;era</HI> the chief Captain of <HI>Jabin</HI> King of <HI>Hazor</HI> in his Tent, and is &s;o far from be|ing blamed, as &s;he is <HI>commended</HI> and <HI>ble&s;&s;ed</HI> by the Holy Gho&s;t for it.</P>
<P>And as this fir&s;t is clear, &s;o the other (viz. <HI>That neglect of Generation-work is the greate&s;t &s;in</HI>) is as evident, not only from the foregoing words of God to <HI>Saul,</HI> 1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 15.23. paralelling his di&s;obedience herein with &s;ins of the highe&s;t, and of a &s;carlet dye; as Rebellion, Witch-craft, and Idolatry; but al&s;o if we con&s;ider, how that of all the &s;ins we read of in Scripture, we find not any more provoking to the Lord, and falling &s;o heavy upon the head of the &s;inner, as offences and neglects in the <HI>work</HI> of their <HI>Generation.</HI> The Spies who were &s;ent
<PB N="18" REF="15">by <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> to view the Land of <HI>Canaan,</HI> becau&s;e they &s;in|ned again&s;t the <HI>work</HI> of their <HI>Generation,</HI> they pre&s;ently dye of the plague before the Lord. The whole Congre|gation of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> (not <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and <HI>Aaron</HI> excepted) be|cau&s;e they di&s;tru&s;ted the power and goodne&s;s of God, whereas the great <HI>work</HI> of that <HI>Generation</HI> was to <HI>tru&s;t God,</HI> and beleeve in his <HI>power</HI> and <HI>goodne&s;s,</HI> which Le&s;&s;on they were taught by the daily <HI>dispen&s;ations</HI> of God to|wards them, wherein his <HI>power</HI> and <HI>goodne&s;s</HI> were mani|fe&s;ted before them) have that heavy and di&s;mal &s;entence pa&s;&s;ed upon them, <HI>That they &s;hould never enter into the re&s;t of Canaan, but their Carka&s;&s;es &s;hould fall in the Wilderne&s;s,</HI> Num. 14.29. which afterwards God in the way of his providence fulfilled upon them, cau&s;ing them to wander in the Wildeme&s;s forty years, untill all that <HI>Ge|neration</HI> was con&s;umed. And which is very ob&s;ervable, they, befides this, were guilty of many other grievous &s;ins, being <HI>Idolaters, Fornicators, Lu&s;ters, &amp;c.</HI> as the Apo&s;tle tells us, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 10. <HI>beginning,</HI> and yet for none of the&s;e is the <HI>&s;entence</HI> pa&s;&s;ed upon them, but only for their mi&s;carriage in that which was the <HI>work</HI> of their <HI>Gene|ration,</HI> Heb 3.19. <HI>They could not enter in becau&s;e of their unbeleef.</HI></P>
<P>Yea wherefore was the <HI>unbeleef</HI> of the <HI>Jews</HI> in our Saviours and the Apo&s;tles time, puni&s;hed &s;o &s;everely with a breaking off, and a rejection for now 1600 years together, but becau&s;e therein they &s;inned again&s;t the <HI>work</HI> of their <HI>Generation,</HI> which was to beleeve in Chri&s;t, and im|brace him as the Me&s;&s;iah, who they had long expected, and God in this <HI>age</HI> had &s;ent among&s;t them? their crucify|ing of Chri&s;t was a grievous &s;in; but becau&s;e not a &s;in again&s;t the <HI>work</HI> of their <HI>Generation,</HI> therefore they are not for that act rejected, but contrariwi&s;e, after this the Go&s;pel is by &s;pecial command to be preached to them, as <HI>Luke</HI> 24.47. but for not beleeving in Chri&s;t, and re|ceiving
<PB N="19" REF="15">him for the true Me&s;&s;iah, which was the <HI>work</HI> of their <HI>Generation,</HI> they are rejected (as <HI>Rom.</HI> 11.20&mdash;<HI>becau&s;e of unbeleef they are broken off</HI>) and &s;o remain unto this day.</P>
<P>To all which let me further add, that not in the&s;e only, but many examples more, it &s;eems to be Gods u&s;ual way in the execution of his wrath again&s;t &s;inners, to write the &s;entence of their condemnation upon the forehead of this &s;in, rather than any other. <HI>Saul</HI> &s;inned in offering &s;acrifice, and was then threatned with the lo&s;s of the Kingdome, 1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 13.13, 14. But the execution of this threatning, and the unkinging of him comes in upon his mi&s;carriage in that of <HI>Amalek,</HI> a &s;in again&s;t the <HI>work</HI> of his <HI>Genera|tion. Aaron</HI> &s;inned mo&s;t foul<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ly in the bu&s;ine&s;s of the Golden Calf, and at another time in murmuring again&s;t <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> but the &s;entence pa&s;&s;ed upon him that he &s;hould dye in the Wilderne&s;s, is for his not <HI>beleeving</HI> at the wa|ters of <HI>Meribah,</HI> a &s;in again&s;t the <HI>work</HI> of his <HI>Genera|tion,</HI> Num. 20.12, 13. God u&s;ually writing the &s;entence of his di&s;plea&s;ure upon the forehead of the mo&s;t provo|king &s;in.</P>
<P>From what hath been &s;poken my A&s;&s;ertion &s;tands firm, viz. <HI>That the obligation whereby I &s;tand bound unto the work of my Generation, is a greater obligation than that whereby I &s;tand bound to any other duty, and my fault or error herein is a greater error than any other of my errors.</HI> From which principle (before I leave it) I &s;hal draw another, which naturally flows out of it, <HI>viz. That it is the duty of a Chri&s;tian man, imployed in Genera|tion-work, when other works, and this do &s;tand in com|petition, to choo&s;e neglect in any duty, rather than in that, wherein the work of his Generation lyes, yeat<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> break through all that he may follow this, his obliga|tion hereto being the greate&s;t obligation, his neglect herein the mo&s;t provoking &s;in.</HI> Which thing though for
<PB N="20" REF="16">the truth thereof it need not blu&s;h, carrying its evidence with its &s;elf, yet in receiving of it, u&s;e Chri&s;tian wi&s;dom, and much more in the practice.</P>
<P>And here as a Conclu&s;ion to all the re&s;t, let me take the boldne&s;s for to add, what hath been &s;ometimes the i&s;&s;ue of retired thoughts, that for this rea&s;on hath God &s;o glo|riou&s;ly, and eminently owned, beyond belief, and to ad|miration, the never to be forgotten proceedings of the Ar|my of <HI>England,</HI> becau&s;e (though they have &s;eemed, at lea&s;t been charged by &s;landerous Tongues and Pens, with violating the bonds of relation) they yet have in all pre&s;&s;ed on, and followed after (though through a cloud of di&s;|maid difficulties and dangers) the <HI>work</HI> of their <HI>Gene|ration.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3 In doing <HI>the work of our Generation, we are mo&s;t &s;erviceable to the de&s;ign of God, that is on foot in the age we live in.</HI> As there never yet was an <HI>age</HI> in the world, wherein God was not driving on, one great <HI>de&s;ign</HI> or o|ther (although the manife&s;tation of his mo&s;t glorious de|&s;igns, and works of wonder, have ever been limited to &s;ome particular <HI>Generations;</HI>) &s;o hath God in all <HI>ages</HI> de|clared him&s;elf exceedingly well plea&s;ed with &s;uch of his children, who&s;e obedience hath more directly fallen in with his de&s;ign on foot in their <HI>age. Daniel</HI> whil&s;t he is praying and mourning, hath the Angel <HI>Gabriel</HI> &s;ent unto him with this redoubled te&s;timony from Heaven concerning him, that he was <HI>a man greatly beloved,</HI> Chap. 9.21, 22, 23. Chap. 10.11, 19. <HI>I&s;ay, Jeremy,</HI> and other godly men prayed, yet do not we read of any &s;uch te&s;timony given concerning them praying, as here is concerning <HI>Daniel,</HI> Why &s;o? the rea&s;on may be this, <HI>Daniels</HI> prayer fell in with Gods <HI>de&s;ign;</HI> God was upon a great <HI>de&s;ign,</HI> to de|liver his people out of <HI>Babylon,</HI> this <HI>Daniel</HI> prays for, Gods de&s;ign, and <HI>Daniels</HI> obedience meet together, and therefore doth God &s;et a &s;pecial &s;tamp upon <HI>Daniels</HI> prayer.</P>
<PB N="21" REF="16">
<P>Now in doing the <HI>work</HI> of our <HI>Generation,</HI> we are more &s;erviceable to Gods <HI>de&s;ign,</HI> than we can be any other way; for there being onely a re&s;pective difference betwixt the&s;e two (the &s;ame work which re&s;pecting God, is his <HI>de&s;ign,</HI> re&s;pecting us, is the work of our <HI>Generation. I&s;raels</HI> de|liverance from <HI>Babylon</HI> was in re&s;pect of Gods <HI>de&s;ign;</HI> but in re&s;pect of <HI>Daniel,</HI> the praying for this, was the work of his <HI>Generation</HI>) we cannot be active in the one, but in &s;o doing we become &s;erviceable to the other; as <HI>Daniel</HI> by prayer became in&s;trumentally &s;erviceable to <HI>I&s;|raels</HI> delivery. Which by plentiful ordinary in&s;tance might be illu&s;trated; but enough having been &s;aid for the under|&s;tanding of the Reader in the&s;e few words, I &s;hall not multiply.</P>
<P N="4">4 God hath <HI>choyce di&s;tingui&s;hing mercy for that man that follows him in the work of his Generation:</HI> as,</P>
<P N="1">1 God will <HI>overlook many failings in that man. Caleb</HI> and <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> were men, and therefore had their <HI>failings</HI> as o|ther men, yet becau&s;e <HI>Caleb</HI> and <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> did cleave to God in that &s;pecial <HI>work</HI> they were imployed in, <HI>Num</HI> 14.6, 7, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> which was the work of their <HI>Generation,</HI> therefore God o|verlooking all their other failings, as though they had none at all, pronounceth of them that they <HI>wholly followed the Lord,</HI> Numb. 32.12.</P>
<P N="2">2 God will <HI>&s;tand by that man and never leave him,</HI> that &s;ticks clo&s;e to him in the <HI>work</HI> of his <HI>Generation. Abraham</HI> left his Country to attend to the <HI>work</HI> of his <HI>Ge|neration,</HI> and how did God in all perils <HI>&s;tand by A|braham? Abraham</HI> was put to it in <HI>Egypt,</HI> and like to loo&s;e his wife, God <HI>&s;tood</HI> by him there, <HI>Gen.</HI> 12. <HI>Abra|ham</HI> was ingaged with four Kings, <HI>Gen.</HI> 14. God <HI>&s;tood</HI> by him there, <HI>Abraham</HI> was in a great &s;trait at <HI>Gerar, Gen.</HI> 20. God <HI>&s;tood</HI> by him there. <HI>Abraham</HI> &s;tood to the <HI>work</HI> of his <HI>Generation,</HI> and God for ever <HI>&s;tood</HI> by <HI>Abraham.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3 God will <HI>own that man in ca&s;e he live thereto in the
<PB N="22" REF="17">work of the next Generation,</HI> that abides faithful in the work of the pre&s;ent <HI>Generation</HI> he lives in. It is &s;aid of <HI>Noah, Gen.</HI> 6.9. <HI>Noah was a ju&s;t man and perfect in his generations, and</HI> Noah <HI>walked with God;</HI> teaching us thus much, by &s;peaking in the plurall number, that Noah <HI>was ju&s;t, walking with God in the generations he lived in</HI> before the flood came; and when the flood was coming, this <HI>Noah</HI> was the onely man that God did own in the <HI>work</HI> of that <HI>Generation.</HI> So <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> was faithful in the <HI>work</HI> of that <HI>Generation</HI> whil&s;t <HI>I&s;rael</HI> journeyed in the wilderne&s;s, and how eminently did God own <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> in the work of the next <HI>Generation,</HI> when <HI>I&s;rael</HI> entered into <HI>Canaan?</HI></P>
<P N="4">4 God will <HI>provide a hiding place for that man a|gain&s;t tho&s;e &s;torms which may fall upon the Generation he lives in,</HI> that is active in the <HI>work</HI> of his <HI>generation. Noah</HI> had an <HI>Arke</HI> provided for him when a <HI>flood</HI> came upon the world of ungodly men. In <HI>Ezekiels</HI> time, chap. 9. when the <HI>de&s;troying Angels</HI> were to pa&s;s through <HI>Jeru|&s;alem,</HI> a mark of deliverance was fir&s;t to be &s;et upon the foreheads of all <HI>tho&s;e that did &s;igh and cry for the abo|minations thereof,</HI> which was the <HI>work</HI> God in &s;uch an <HI>age</HI> did call unto, as <HI>I&s;ay</HI> 22.12, 13. Yea though <HI>Noah, Daniel</HI> and <HI>Job</HI> (active men) living in a perver&s;e back|&s;liding <HI>generation,</HI> cannot ward off Gods blow from the <HI>generation,</HI> yet <HI>they &s;hall deliver their own &s;ouls,</HI> Ezek. 14.13. to 22. <HI>Per&s;onal deliverances</HI> &s;hall attend &s;uch men in common calamities, and National de&s;olations.</P>
<P N="5">5 God will <HI>reveal his &s;ecrets to &s;uch. Noah</HI> in his time had the <HI>&s;ecret</HI> of drowning the old world <HI>revealed</HI> to him. <HI>Abraham</HI> in his time the <HI>&s;ecret</HI> of <HI>Sodoms</HI> de|&s;truction, the <HI>&s;ecret</HI> of <HI>I&s;iaels</HI> bondage in <HI>Egypt,</HI> the <HI>&s;ecret</HI> of the Me&s;&s;iah's coming forth of his loyns, di&s;cove|red to him. <HI>David</HI> in his time had that <HI>&s;ecret</HI> where the Temple &s;hould be built to him, 1 <HI>Chron.</HI> 22.1, 2. com|pared
<PB N="23" REF="17">with 2 <HI>Chron.</HI> 3.1. <HI>Daniel</HI> in his time the <HI>&s;ecret</HI> of <HI>Nebuchadnezzars</HI> dream, the <HI>&s;ecret</HI> of the time of Chri&s;ts coming in the fle&s;h, chap. 9.24, 25, 26. and of the <HI>Jews</HI> conver&s;ion, chap. 12.11, 12. to him. And <HI>Peter</HI> and <HI>Paul</HI> in their time the <HI>&s;ecret</HI> of the Gentiles conver&s;ion to them, <HI>Act.</HI> 10.9. to 17. <HI>Gal.</HI> 1.16, 17. God having in all <HI>gene|rations</HI> &s;till made tho&s;e keepers of his Cabinet, who have been faithful in the <HI>work</HI> of their <HI>generations.</HI></P>
<P N="6">6 God hath <HI>peculiar honor wherewith he will crown tho&s;e per&s;ons that follow him in the work of their gene|ration. Mo&s;es</HI> was eminent in his <HI>generation,</HI> and what peculiar <HI>honour</HI> had God for <HI>Mo&s;es? Num.</HI> 12.6, 7, 8. <HI>If there be a Prophet among you, I the Lord will make my &s;elf known unto him in a vi&s;ion, and will &s;peak unto him in a dream. My &s;ervant</HI> Mo&s;es <HI>is not &s;o, who is faithful in all my hou&s;e. With him will I &s;peak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches, and the &s;imilitude of the Lord &s;hall he behold.</HI> In the day of Chri&s;ts humiliation, the Di&s;ciples of all other were mo&s;t eminent in following and owning of Chri&s;t, and what beculiar honor hath Chri&s;t for them above others? <HI>Mat.</HI> 19.<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">8. <HI>Verily, I &s;ay unto you, that ye which have followed <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e in the regeneration, when the Son of man &s;hall &s;it in <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">he Throne of his glory, yee al&s;o &s;hall &s;it upon twelve Thrones, judging the twelve Tribes of I&s;rael.</HI></P>
<P N="5">5 <HI>Neglect of Generation-work expo&s;eth a man to a <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">orld of dangers:</HI> as</P>
<P N="1">1 Danger of <HI>lo&s;ing gifts and Talents.</HI> The &s;loathful <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ervant mentioned in the Parable, <HI>Mat.</HI> 25. not impro|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ng the <HI>Talent</HI> given him, to his Lords <HI>advantage,</HI> in his <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">eneration,</HI> hath his <HI>Talent</HI> taken from him, <HI>v.</HI> 28.</P>
<P><HI>Saul</HI> (though a wicked man) had two great <HI>Talents</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">mmitted to him by God, a <HI>Talent</HI> of a Kingdom, and a <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">alent</HI> of common gifts of the Spirit, fitting him for <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">vernment, and the di&s;charge of his Office as a King.
<PB N="24" REF="18">which la&s;t is called the <HI>Spirit of the Lord,</HI> yet but a com|mon <HI>Talent</HI> of Government, as is clear, becau&s;e <HI>David</HI> is no &s;ooner anointed King, and the right of Government his, but this <HI>Talent</HI> is taken from <HI>Saul,</HI> as one who now had no longer to do with it, 1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 16.13, 14. Both the&s;e he lo&s;eth by faultring in the <HI>work</HI> of his <HI>Generation,</HI> as compare, 1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 15.26, 28. with Chap. 16, 14.</P>
<P N="2">2 Danger of <HI>lo&s;ing communion with God.</HI> Whil&s;t <HI>David</HI> was abroad in the field, hewing down Gods ene|mies round about him, which was the Ma&s;ter-piece of <HI>work</HI> God allotted him in his <HI>Generation,</HI> what &s;weet triumphant <HI>communion</HI> had he with God, a clear te&s;ti|mony whereof is, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 108. (a P&s;alm mo&s;t probably compo&s;ed in the day of his glorious Exploits, chronicled, 2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 8.) But afterwards when <HI>David</HI> &s;ending forth his &s;ervants about that <HI>work,</HI> which was his <HI>work</HI> in his <HI>Gene|ration,</HI> betakes him&s;elf to his ea&s;e in his Palace, at the time of the Kings going forth to battel, 2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 11.1. (which circum&s;tance of time is therefore (I take it) with &s;uch exactne&s;s noted, to give us to under&s;tand, that <HI>David</HI> ought now to have been abroad in per&s;on, the <HI>work</HI> being Gods, and not to have &s;ent his Servants without him (though we may do our own <HI>work</HI> by a Proxie, yet Gods <HI>work</HI> calls for our per&s;ons) how &s;adly doth he lo&s;e his <HI>commumon with God,</HI> falling into that foul &s;in in the mat|ter of <HI>&V;riah,</HI> which was a blemi&s;h upon this holy man all his life time afterwards; and which although it is &s;ad to con&s;ider, yet is ob&s;ervable concerning him, that notwith|&s;tanding God by his Prerogative Royal, gave <HI>David</HI> not only the pardon of his &s;in, but al&s;o his life (which now by, blood-&s;hed, though a King, was by vertue of that po&s;itive command, which admits of no exception, <HI>Gen.</HI> 9.6. for|feited) as 2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 12.13. <HI>The Lord hath put away thy &s;in, thou &s;halt not dye.</HI> Yet do we not read of any thing remarkable (&s;ave only defending him&s;elf again&s;t &s;ome do|me&s;tick
<PB N="25" REF="18">in&s;urrections, and forreign inva&s;ions) done by him afterwards, as before.</P>
<P>So al&s;o <HI>Solomon</HI> his &s;on, whil&s;t his thoughts ran upon the <HI>work</HI> of his <HI>Generation,</HI> what <HI>communion</HI> had he with God, God appearing to him once and again, and en|duing him with <HI>wi&s;dome</HI> (the thing he de&s;ired) above all that ever were before or &s;ince him: But when afterward his heart was more taken up with Women, than the <HI>work</HI> of his <HI>Generation,</HI> how did his former <HI>communion with God dye,</HI> and he that before built a hou&s;e for the wor&s;hip of the true God, now builds high places for Idolatry, 1 <HI>King.</HI> 11.7, 8. Which &s;ad example ought to be had in perpetual remembrance by &s;uch as are imployed in <HI>Temple-work</HI> (the bu&s;ine&s;s of this <HI>age</HI>) that it fare not with them as with the builder of the material Temple, who fir&s;t building gold to the true God, did afterwards build &s;tubble to a fal&s;e.</P>
<P N="3">3 Danger of <HI>being laid a&s;ide by God.</HI> It hath been the ordinary way of Gods <HI>di&s;pen&s;ations,</HI> as well in later as former times, to make u&s;e of &s;ome particular in&s;trument for &s;ome time in his <HI>work,</HI> whom afterwards before the <HI>work</HI> hath been brought unto perfection he hath <HI>laid a&s;ide,</HI> by which, although (as not unlikely) Gods <HI>de&s;ign</HI> may be to remove his peoples eyes from in&s;truments to him&s;elf, yet it is ob&s;ervable, God hath &s;eldome or never <HI>ca&s;hired</HI> a man by him imployed, till fir&s;t by &s;ome means or other he hath <HI>ca&s;hiered</HI> him&s;elf; and which is more to be noted, the very thing which hath occa&s;ioned the <HI>laying</HI> of &s;uch in&s;truments <HI>a&s;ide,</HI> hath mo&s;tly, if not ever, been &s;ome mi&s;carriage or other in the <HI>work</HI> of their <HI>Generation,</HI> that being the fatal Rock &s;uch men &s;plit upon.</P>
<P>Once more here let us review that of <HI>Saul,</HI> whom God was plea&s;ed for &s;ome time to imploy, as a &s;courge to the <HI>Ammonites,</HI> and <HI>Phili&s;tines,</HI> and yet afterwards by one error committed in the <HI>work</HI> of his <HI>Generation,</HI> he is for
<PB N="26" REF="19">ever <HI>ca&s;hiered</HI> by God, and put out of his <HI>work.</HI></P>
<P>But more &s;trange and worthy ob&s;ervation is that of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and <HI>Aaron,</HI> two eminent in&s;truments, and both godly, which God made &s;ingular u&s;e of in <HI>Aegypt,</HI> and at the Red Sea, in the Wilderne&s;s, and upon Mount <HI>Sinai,</HI> &s;o appearing to them, talking with them, e&s;pecially to <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> as never man befides him enjoyed the like, yet the&s;e two &s;o choi&s;e and worthy in&s;truments, becau&s;e they failed a little in the <HI>work</HI> of that <HI>Generation,</HI> which was (as before was &s;hewn) <HI>to beleeve in God, and tru&s;t his power and goodne&s;s,</HI> although their failing was at &s;uch a time (which one would judge might render them excu&s;able, at lea&s;t le&s;s guilty) wherein the whole Congregation erred with them, and (as it were) did hurry them into it; yea and for <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> he never fayled but this time, &s;o that (this once excepted) he all along had <HI>followed God fully.</HI> Yet I &s;ay becau&s;e they failed God in that <HI>work,</HI> which was the <HI>work</HI> of the <HI>Generation;</HI> they for that, and no other rea|&s;on, are laid by as to the perfecting of that <HI>work</HI> (<HI>viz.</HI> bringing of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> into <HI>Canaan</HI>) which mo&s;t happily and pro&s;peroufly was begun and carried on a great way, under them as in&s;truments, as <HI>Numb.</HI> 20.12. <HI>And the Lord &s;pake unto Mo&s;es and Aaron, becau&s;e ye believe me not, to &s;anctifie me in the eyes of the children of I&s;rael, therfore ye &s;hall not bring this Congregation into the land which I have given them.</HI> So exceedingly di&s;plea&s;ing to God are errors in the <HI>work</HI> of our <HI>generation,</HI> that he will not let &s;uch things pa&s;s, no not in his deare&s;t children, without &s;ome &s;ignal manife&s;tation of his <HI>di&s;plea&s;ure.</HI> And which I can|not let pa&s;s without a further mark yet &s;et upon it, as a thing mo&s;t worthy the &s;erious thoughts of every one, and &s;uch in e&s;pecial, whom God above others, hath u&s;ed and honoured in the <HI>work</HI> of the <HI>Generation,</HI> is, how that one &s;ingle failing in the <HI>work</HI> of the <HI>Generation,</HI> may cau&s;e a <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> to be laid a&s;ide.</P>
<PB N="27" REF="19">
<P N="4">4 Danger of <HI>&s;tumbling at the work of the Genera|tion, and all the di&s;pen&s;ations of God about it.</HI> The <HI>Jews</HI> in Chri&s;ts time neglected the <HI>work</HI> of their <HI>Generation,</HI> which was to <HI>beleeve in Chri&s;t, &amp; receive him as the true Me&s;&s;iah,</HI> who&s;e coming their Nation was in expectation of, and the very <HI>work</HI> it &s;elf (through this neglect) be|came a <HI>&s;tumbling &s;tone</HI> to them; they <HI>&s;tumble at it,</HI> to think they &s;hould receive this man for their Me&s;&s;iah, and <HI>&s;tumbling</HI> at the <HI>work,</HI> they likewi&s;e <HI>&s;tumble</HI> at the &s;everal <HI>di&s;pen&s;ations</HI> of God about it. Chri&s;t comes of mean Paren|tage, they <HI>&s;tumble</HI> at that, appears fir&s;t from <HI>Galilee,</HI> they <HI>&s;tumble</HI> at that, works miracles, they <HI>&s;tumble</HI> at that, is fol|lowed by Publicans and &s;inners, they <HI>&s;tumble</HI> at that; com|mits the Go&s;pel to poor Fi&s;hermen, they &s;tumble at that: Neglect the <HI>work</HI> of thy <HI>Generation</HI> and <HI>&s;tumble</HI> at it: <HI>Stumble</HI> at the <HI>work</HI> of thy <HI>Generation,</HI> and <HI>&s;tumble</HI> at all the <HI>di&s;pen&s;ations</HI> of God about it.</P>
<P N="5">5 Danger of <HI>being blinded in, or &s;hut out of the work of the next Generation, in ca&s;e thou live to &s;ee it.</HI> For God in his ju&s;t judgement when men have &s;hut their eyes again&s;t, and withdrawn their hands from the <HI>work</HI> of the pre&s;ent <HI>Generation,</HI> doth blind the&s;e per&s;ons to, and will not honor them in the <HI>work</HI> of the following <HI>Generation</HI> though yet they may live to &s;ee it.</P>
<P>The Scribes and Phari&s;ees wilfully &s;hut their eyes to the <HI>work</HI> of <HI>Johns Generation,</HI> and what followed? they &s;ee afterwards the <HI>work</HI> of Chri&s;t in his <HI>Generation,</HI> and of the Apo&s;tles in theirs, and through the ju&s;t judgement of God upon them, their eyes are <HI>&s;hut,</HI> and they are <HI>blinded</HI> thereto.</P>
<P>A mo&s;t pregnant place to our purpo&s;e we have, <HI>Ezek.</HI> 44. ver&s;. 9. to 17. where under legal phra&s;es, and allu&s;ive termes, the Holy Gho&s;t &s;etting forth Go&s;pel-wor&s;hip, &s;peaks very pathetically of two &s;orts of Prie&s;ts, belong|ing to that Go&s;pel-&s;tate. One were &s;uch as had defiled
<PB N="28" REF="20">them&s;elves with the pollutions of the former <HI>Generation,</HI> by going a&s;tray to Idols when <HI>I&s;rael</HI> went a&s;tray, ver&s;. 10, 12. who by way of puni&s;hment are to bear their ini|quity, which is not wholly to be turned out of the <HI>work</HI> of God, who will &s;till u&s;e them in the general, and more common acts of his wor&s;hip, as ver&s;. 11, 14. but to be &s;et by as to the more &s;pecial and peculiar acts of his wor&s;hip in the <HI>Generation,</HI> becau&s;e they polluted them&s;elves with the Idolatries, and Super&s;titions of the former <HI>Generations,</HI> as ver&s;. 12, 13. Another &s;ort of Prie&s;ts there were, who when <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> and their fellow-labourers went a&s;tray, and defiled them&s;elves by Idolatry, did notwith&s;tanding walk clo&s;ely with God, keeping their Garments pure from the defilements of that <HI>Generation,</HI> the&s;e are privileged to draw neer to God in the more &s;pecial acts of his wor&s;hip, to come into his Sanctuary, and perform the &s;ervice (not of the outward Court only, but) of his Table, as ver&s;. 15, 16.</P>
<P>The difference betwixt the&s;e is worthy yet a more <HI>narrow</HI> &s;earch. The one have the charge of the gates of the hou&s;e, ver&s;. 11. the other Gods charge in his hou&s;e, ver&s;. 16. the one &s;hall only kill the burnt offering and &s;a|crifice for the people, ver&s;. 11. the other &s;hall &s;tand before God to offer the fat, and the blood, ver&s;. 15. The one &s;hall &s;tand before the people to mini&s;ter to them, ver&s;. 11. the other &s;hall come neer to Gods Table to mini&s;ter to him, ver&s;. 16. The one &s;hall bear all this as their &s;hame for their former abominations, ver&s;. 13. the other &s;hall receive all this honor as a reward for their not partaking in the abominations of the former <HI>age,</HI> ver&s;. 15, 16.</P>
<P>The re&s;ult of all is clearly this, That &s;uch per&s;ons who have plaid loo&s;e with God in the former <HI>Generation,</HI> though live they may to &s;ee the next <HI>Generation,</HI> and be imployed in &s;ome common <HI>works;</HI> yet will not God u&s;e them in the &s;pecial <HI>works</HI> of that <HI>Generation,</HI> except &s;uch
<PB N="29" REF="20">of them that &s;hall renounce their former pollutions, of which more hereafter.</P>
<P N="6">6 Danger of <HI>becoming an Apo&s;tate, and an open enemy to the truths of God. Demas</HI> for&s;akes <HI>Paul,</HI> and the <HI>work</HI> of his <HI>Generation,</HI> and what follows? he becomes an <HI>Apo&s;tate,</HI> and exchangeth Heaven for Earth, imbracing this pre&s;ent world.</P>
<P>In the Apo&s;tles dayes the great <HI>work</HI> of that <HI>Genera|tion</HI> was <HI>the con&s;tituting of Churches, and Saints a&s;&s;embling them&s;elves together for mutual edification in Chri&s;tian &s;ocieties;</HI> and if you mind it, the Apo&s;tle lays the ri&s;e of that Soul-damning &s;in of wilful <HI>Apo&s;tacy</HI> in a neglect of this, <HI>Heb.</HI> 10.25, 26. <HI>Not for&s;aking the a&s;&s;embling of our &s;elves together, as the manner of &s;ome is; For if we &s;in wilfully</HI>&mdash;</P>
<P>And which I cannot here pa&s;s over, that unpardonable &s;in again&s;t the Holy Spirit, which our Saviour him&s;elf chargeth the Scribes and Phari&s;ees with, took (as is apparent) its ri&s;e hence; For fir&s;t, they neglect the <HI>work</HI> of their <HI>Gene|ration,</HI> viz. of <HI>receiving Chri&s;t,</HI> this <HI>neglect</HI> draws on an <HI>oppo&s;ition;</HI> this <HI>oppo&s;ition, malice again&s;t Chri&s;t,</HI> this <HI>malice,</HI> brings forth <HI>bla&s;phemy</HI> again&s;t tho&s;e very <HI>works</HI> of Chri&s;t, calling them <HI>Diabolical,</HI> which their con&s;ciences now and then convinced them, were wrought by the power of God; this malicious and deliberate bla&s;pheming of what their Con&s;ciences, I &s;ay, now and then (for they had apparent <HI>&s;tumbling-blocks</HI> before them, with which un|doubtedly they did &s;ometimes blind Con&s;cience) convinced them, was wrought by the finger of God, is that very &s;in which Chri&s;t him&s;elf calls the Sin again&s;t the Spirit, that hath neither forgivene&s;s in this world, nor that which is to come, <HI>Matth.</HI> 12.24. compared with ver&s;. 31, 32.</P>
<P>Let all hence tremble to oppo&s;e, or reproach the appa|rent <HI>works</HI> of God in their <HI>Generation,</HI> le&s;t&mdash;</P>
<PB N="30" REF="21">
<P>Now to conclude, Who&s;e ears hearing the&s;e things would not tingle? Who&s;e hearts con&s;idering the&s;e things would not quake, to be found guilty of the &s;in, and expo|&s;ed to the <HI>dangers</HI> that attend neglect of <HI>Generation-work?</HI></P>
<P>Thus much concerning our third general Head: I now come unto our fourth, which is,</P>
<P N="4">4 <HI>Wherein doth the work of this pre&s;ent Generation lye?</HI></P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> As the que&s;tion is very weighty, and of great concernment, being the Butt aimed at in my whole di&s;|cour&s;e, &s;o that in the di&s;cu&s;&s;ion hereof, I may in the fear of God walk evenly, and (without winding or turning to any intere&s;t, &s;ave that of truth) pitch (if po&s;&s;ible) upon that which is the proper and direct work of the <HI>generation we live in;</HI> It will be nece&s;&s;ary in order thereunto, to <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ay down &s;ome few general Rules, as way-marks, to guide <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">he Reader, to the di&s;covery of that which is the proper <HI>work</HI> of his <HI>generation;</HI> what&s;oever <HI>generation</HI> he may be &s;uppo&s;ed to live in; which when particularly applied to the pre&s;ent <HI>generation,</HI> will give us light into what is or may be the proper <HI>work</HI> or <HI>works</HI> thereof, as</P>
<P N="1">1 <HI>Be inqui&s;itive to find out (according to Scripture account) the particular age or generation it &s;elf, that it is fallen to thy lot to live in:</HI> which though it be hard to do, yet in regard the wi&s;dom of God in Scripture hath &s;et &s;ome di&s;tinct and notifying mark upon every <HI>age,</HI> the &s;ame, by indu&s;try, and waiting upon the Father of lights, for light, may be attained.</P>
<P N="2">2 The former being done, add thereunto a <HI>narrow and impartial &s;earch for di&s;covery of tho&s;e glorious and remarkable things, the accompli&s;hment of which, God in his word hath promi&s;ed and foretold, in and about this age.</HI></P>
<P>In this way the holy man <HI>Daniel</HI> came to under&s;tand the
<PB N="31" REF="21"><HI>work</HI> of his <HI>Generation:</HI> Fir&s;t, he con&s;idered the time he lived in, to be about the end of the 70 years captivity fore|told by <HI>Jeremy.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2 He ob&s;erves that there was a &s;pecial <HI>promi&s;e</HI> of deli|verance from this captivity made to tho&s;e times, Chap. 9.2. whereupon having di&s;covered the <HI>work,</HI> he addre&s;&s;eth him&s;elf to God by prayer for the doing of it, <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 3, 4.</P>
<P N="3">3 Ob&s;erve <HI>Gods vi&s;ible di&s;pen&s;ations towards that age, and the various tran&s;actions of things therein, how they corre&s;pond with the things foretold and promi&s;ed; for as hath been already ob&s;erved in Generation-work, it is di&s;pen&s;ation gives the Call.</HI></P>
<P N="4">4 Ob&s;erve <HI>what work that is which is mo&s;t oppo&s;ed and raged again&s;t by Satan, and wicked men in the ge|neration.</HI> For it is mo&s;t certain, that the <HI>work</HI> of the <HI>ge|neration</HI> (Gods cau&s;e and glory which above all things Satan hates, being there imbarqued) hath ever been the mo&s;t oppo&s;ed work by the Devil and his In&s;truments. Was it not &s;o in <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> his time? <HI>Nehemiah's</HI> time, <HI>John Bapti&s;ts</HI> time, the Apo&s;tles time, and &s;ince that in <HI>Luthers</HI> time, I &s;pare to &s;ay, and in our times too?</P>
<P N="5">5 Ob&s;erve <HI>what (not men of worldly wi&s;dom and prin|ciples, but) the mo&s;t &s;piritual enlightned Saints have upon their hearts as the work of their generation.</HI> For from the beginning it hath been Gods way to make choyce of &s;uch for the di&s;covery of <HI>Generation-work</HI> unto, before all o|thers.</P>
<P>The Old world had its <HI>wi&s;e men,</HI> and men of <HI>rare in|ventions,</HI> Gen. 4.20, 21, 22. Yet not the&s;e, but <HI>righteous</HI> Noah <HI>&s;aw the work of the generation. Egypt</HI> in the time of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> was famous for its <HI>wi&s;e men,</HI> as al&s;o <HI>Babylon</HI> in <HI>Nehemiah's,</HI> yet neither the one nor the other &s;aw the <HI>work</HI> of tho&s;e <HI>generations,</HI> but onely a poor handful of de&s;pi&s;ed people that God had in either. <HI>Judea</HI> in Chri&s;ts
<PB N="32" REF="22">time was plentifully &s;tored with <HI>learned</HI> Scribes, Doctors and Rabbies, yet not the&s;e, but a company of poor di&s;|regarded Fi&s;hermen had the <HI>work</HI> of that <HI>generation</HI> re|vealed to them. This, though alone it be not &s;ufficient to conclude the work, yet when joyned with the re&s;t, credit undoubtedly ought to be given to it.</P>
<P N="6">6 And la&s;tly, <HI>Be much in prayer to God for light herein.</HI> The great work of the Apo&s;tles <HI>generation, viz.</HI> The bringing in of the <HI>Gentites</HI> was revealed to <HI>Peter</HI> and <HI>Paul</HI> both, even whil&s;t they were in prayer, as <HI>Act.</HI> 10.9, 10. with chap. 22.17, 21.</P>
<P>Having thus by this general light paved out a way to walk in. My next <HI>work</HI> is to &s;ee what particular light, by applying the&s;e things unto the pre&s;ent <HI>age,</HI> may from hence be gained unto the work thereof.</P>
<P>And here according unto the method before pre&s;cri|bed, our fir&s;t inquiry mu&s;t be after the <HI>age</HI> it &s;elf. <HI>What age is that mo&s;t likely to be, that we are fallen into?</HI></P>
<P>In an&s;wer to which, my A&s;&s;ertion is, <HI>that it is mo&s;t pro|bable that we are fallen into that very age in which the Jews are to be converted.</HI></P>
<P>Now although here I mu&s;t nakedly acknowledge, that I could heartily wi&s;h, for their &s;akes, who&s;e this little Book is, yet clearer and more unque&s;tionable grounds for the proof of this my A&s;&s;ertion, than tho&s;e that this opi|nion commonly &s;tands upon: Yet in regard I know no clea|rer principle to demon&s;trate (for bare conjectures are no proofs) the <HI>work</HI> of the <HI>Generation</HI> from, then this taken for granted, <HI>that we are fallen into that age in which the Jews &s;hall be converted;</HI> and al&s;o in regard it is re|ceived for a truth (and &s;o in ca&s;e of mi&s;take I &s;hall not be the fir&s;t) by many late Chri&s;tian Writers of worthy me|mory, yea, with much confidence a&s;&s;erted by the <HI>Jews</HI> them&s;elves, though under another notion, than what we
<PB N="33" REF="22">truely call it of conver&s;ion to Chri&s;t, as <HI>Mana&s;&s;eth Ben. I&s;rael,</HI> in his Book entituled, <HI>The hope of I&s;rael,</HI> Sect. 29, 32, 35, 36. is proof; I &s;hall therefore endeavor to give you (with as much clearne&s;s and brevity as I may) the &s;ub&s;tance of that light, which by the labors of godly judicious men, [as <HI>Brightman, Archer</HI>] hath been let into that Scripture, which is the main bottom to this opinion, leaving the Reader to judge, and a little time to manife&s;t the verity or fal&s;ity of what is written, the which we have <HI>Dan.</HI> 12.1. compared with 11, 12. where <HI>Daniel</HI> hath a promi&s;e made to him of his peoples <HI>deliverance,</HI> and that at a certain time when <HI>Michael</HI> &s;hould &s;tand up, <HI>at that time &s;hall thy people be delivered;</HI> (which words (as I conceive) comprehend both the beginning and con|&s;ummation of their deliverance, to which, two di&s;tinct times are a&s;&s;igned, as afterwards.) Now becau&s;e this thing was a great <HI>&s;ecret,</HI> and <HI>Daniels</HI> affection to Gods glory, and the good of his own people, tran&s;ported him with de|&s;ire to know the particular time, he therefore moves the Que&s;tion, <HI>When &s;hall this be? How long &s;hall it be to the end of the&s;e wonders? v.</HI> 6. An&s;wer hereto is made &s;o darkly, that <HI>Daniel</HI> hears, but under&s;tands not; n&amp; therfore although in words far different, yet (as by the following an&s;wer ap|pears) aiming &s;till at the &s;ame thing, he puts the Que&s;tion again: <HI>What &s;hall be the end of the&s;e things?</HI> An&s;wer then is made, <HI>v.</HI> 11, 12. <HI>And from the time that the daily &s;acrifice &s;hall be tak n away, and the abomination that maketh de&s;olate be &s;et up, there &s;hall be a thou&s;and two hundred and ninety daies. Ble&s;&s;ed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thou&s;and three hundred five and thirty days.</HI> The meaning whereof &s;eems to be this, that the beginning of the <HI>delivery</HI> of <HI>Daniels</HI> people (<HI>viz.</HI> the <HI>Jews</HI>) &s;hould fall out <HI>a thou&s;and three hundred and nine|ty days</HI> (<HI>i.e.</HI> &s;o many years, a day for a year being the Scripture account, as <HI>Numb.</HI> 14.34. <HI>Ezek.</HI> 4.4, 5, 6.) <HI>af|ter
<PB N="34" REF="23">the taking away of the daily &s;acrifice, and the &s;etting up the abomination that maketh de&s;olate, and forty five years after that</HI> (for &s;o many days hath the &s;econd number more than the fir&s;t) <HI>that the great trouble, which the Scripture not onely here, but el&s;ewhere plentifully reveals</HI> (as <HI>Ezek</HI> 37.38, 39. <HI>Joel</HI> 3.1, 2. <HI>Zach.</HI> 12. <HI>&amp;</HI> 14.1, 2.) <HI>will attend that people in their beginning to &s;eek the Lord, and</HI> David <HI>their King, &s;hall they be de|livered from by the &s;tanding of</HI> Michael <HI>their Prince,</HI> as <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 1. Which becau&s;e till that day their deliverance (though began before) &s;hall not be compleated, there|fore is the ble&s;&s;ing annexed not to the fir&s;t, but to the latter time. <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed is he that waiteth and cometh to the</HI> 1335 <HI>days.</HI></P>
<P>The great knot here is (for the untying of which more light would be welcome) <HI>When the taking away of the daily &s;acrifice, and the &s;etting up the abomination that maketh de&s;olate</HI> (which is to be the head of our account) <HI>had its accompli&s;hment,</HI> and here the variety of mens judgements hath brought forth various conjectures, which not in this place to &s;can, I &s;hall pitch on that which &s;eems to carry greate&s;t probability of truth with it, which is the opinion of tho&s;e that bring it down to <HI>Julians time,</HI> fix|ing upon (as the mark they begin their account at) that particular act of his of endeavoring (by &s;etting the <HI>Jews</HI> thereabouts) the re-edifying the Temple at <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> and &s;o thereby in malice and oppo&s;ition to Chri&s;t and Chri|&s;tian-Wor&s;hip, to re&s;tore <HI>Judai&s;m,</HI> and <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Wor|&s;hip, at which time a fearful Earth-quake in the night did overturn all they had built in the day, yea, threw the very foundation &s;tones of the Temple out of their places, which before had never been removed.</P>
<P>Now the rea&s;ons why a fixation here is rather to be cho|&s;en, than any where el&s;e, are,</P>
<P N="1">1 Becau&s;e if we make any other act &s;ince Chri&s;t before
<PB N="35" REF="23">this, the Head of our account, <HI>the time is already expired,</HI> and yet the <HI>Jews</HI> not delivered.</P>
<P N="2">2 Becau&s;e, <HI>No act what&s;oever could more patly a|gree to the words them&s;elves, than this of</HI> Julians, <HI>which was an abomination of the highe&s;t to endeaver the &s;et|ting up of the Jewi&s;h wor&s;hip, when God had thrown it down, and that out of a de&s;ign to throw down Chri&s;tian wor&s;hip, which God had &s;et up:</HI> and &s;uch an abomination as brought a de&s;olation, and an utter removal of the dai|ly &s;acrifice, the <HI>Temple-ground,</HI> the only place of &s;acrifice, being at this time lo&s;t. For although the daily &s;acrifice did cea&s;e before from <HI>Titus</HI> time, by whom the Temple was ruined, as it al&s;o did all the time that <HI>I&s;rael</HI> was in <HI>Babylon,</HI> whil&s;t the fir&s;t Temple lay wa&s;te, yet properly could it not either then or now, nor no more now than then, be &s;aid to be taken away, becau&s;e the <HI>Temple-ground,</HI> to which (as the onely holy place) the Jewi&s;h wor&s;hip was tyed, whereon a <HI>new Temple</HI> might be built, was &s;till remaining. But at this time, not onely the foundation &s;tones being thrown up, but the very <HI>Temple-ground</HI> be|ing lo&s;t in the Earthquake, it is not improper to &s;ay, <HI>the daily &s;acrifice was taken away.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3 This likewi&s;e &s;eems be&s;t to agree to the words of Chri&s;t him&s;elf, concerning the de&s;truction of the Temple, <HI>Mat.</HI> 24.2. <HI>There &s;hall not be left one &s;tone upon another that &s;hall not be thrown down.</HI> For although the Temple was demoli&s;hed by <HI>Titus,</HI> yet the foundation &s;tones did &s;till lie one upon the other; but now this act of <HI>Julians</HI> brought &s;uch a de&s;olation, that as the building was ruined formerly, &s;o the very foundation now had <HI>not a &s;tone left upon a &s;tone,</HI> which punctually agrees to Chri&s;ts own words.</P>
<P>And it is ob&s;ervable that Chri&s;t him&s;elf makes this <HI>&s;et|ting up of the abomination of de&s;olation,</HI> foretold by <HI>Da|niel,</HI> the immediate fore runner hereof, <HI>ver.</HI> 3. compared
<PB N="36" REF="24">with 15. which according to what hath been &s;aid, was both immediate fore-runner and cau&s;e al&s;o.</P>
<P>Now for the preci&s;e time of this Helli&s;h exploit, there are among Hi&s;torians four (how many more I know not) dif|ferent accounts of the particular year in which the &s;ame was acted, though all I have hitherto &s;een or heard of, conclude it to be within the year of our Lord, 360. or 367. yet whether or no through &s;ome mi&s;take of Chronology, the difference may not be &s;omewhat wider, I cannot deter|mine, though judge it very unlikely that it can or &s;hould be much.</P>
<P>Accounting therefore (that we may draw to a head) from the year 366. (and the rather, becau&s;e the very year <HI>Daniels</HI> fir&s;t number of days, will from thence fall in with, is already made famous by general expectations of &s;ome remarkable thing to be done therein) and the beginning of the <HI>Jews delivery,</HI> is likely to be, either in the year it &s;elf, or thereabouts of our Lord, 1656. for adding 366. (the &s;uppo&s;ed year of Chri&s;t, wherein <HI>Julian</HI> did this) to <HI>Daniels,</HI> 1290. and there is made up the full &s;um (neither over nor under) of 1656. which if when that time &s;hall come we &s;ee accompli&s;hed, we need not then make it a que&s;tion, whether forty five years after their deliver|ance &s;hall be compleated, or not, <HI>Daniel</HI> having foretold, that in his la&s;t number of 1335. which he that &s;hall take but ten from the 300 and add the &s;ame to the 35. will find that made up 45. and the foregoing number of 1290. to remain.</P>
<P>And becau&s;e this reckoning is but of latter times, it is not therefore to be rejected, but rather to be received; be|cau&s;e <HI>Daniel</HI> him&s;elf tells us, that the truth of this Pro|phe&s;ie was to be &s;ealed up till the time of the end, as <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 4.9. which is al&s;o a manife&s;t argument, that this cannot relate (unle&s;s in a typical way) to the times and &s;tory of <HI>Antiochus Epiphanes,</HI> as &s;ome godly and learned men would carry it.</P>
<PB N="37" REF="24">
<P>If any by calling in doubt the thing it &s;elf, <HI>viz. Whe|ther ever &s;uch a thing as the Jews conver&s;ion &s;hall be;</HI> que&s;tion the whole. My an&s;wer to &s;uch is, That could I with that clearne&s;s demon&s;trate the time of it, as (through the Lords a&s;&s;i&s;tance) it is ea&s;ie to do, the thing it &s;elf (were this the place for the doing thereof) I &s;hould have &s;u&s;pect|ed my &s;elf to have injured truth, had I dropped doubtful words concerning the &s;ame.</P>
<P>Yet becau&s;e this An&s;wer is none at all, and I would not have any take bare words for Arguments, and yet am loath here, neither is it proper to &s;tart the que&s;tion; there|fore &s;etting a&s;ide the joynt and concurrent te&s;timony of every of the Prophets of the Old Te&s;tament (<HI>Jo|nah</HI> onely excepted, which is rather a Hi&s;tory than a Pro|phe&s;ie) in this thing, the truth whereof is not much more difficult to prove, than to affirm: I &s;hall one|ly commend to &s;uch, that of <HI>Paul, Rom.</HI> 11. who &s;peaks expre&s;ly not of <HI>&s;piritual,</HI> but of <HI>natural Jews,</HI> whom therefore he all along oppo&s;eth to the <HI>Gentiles,</HI> calling them al&s;o <HI>branches broken off,</HI> which cannot be <HI>&s;piritual</HI> branches but <HI>natural,</HI> v. 21. &amp; the &s;ame <HI>broken off,</HI> &s;hall be <HI>grafted in again,</HI> v. 24. And this not done only one by one in continuance of time, but (according to that of <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 66.8.) in a manner all at once, <HI>ver.</HI> 25, 26. And &s;o all <HI>I&s;rael</HI> &s;hall be &s;aved&mdash; which as yet we have never &s;een, and yet becau&s;e Scripture &s;peaks it, are to believe it.</P>
<P>Thus according to pre&s;ent light (both of what I have received from others, and have been able to add of my own) a di&s;covery of the <HI>age we live in</HI> hath been made, and found to be that in which the great <HI>work of I&s;raels re|demption</HI> is mo&s;t likely to be effected.</P>
<P N="2">2 Our next thing is (that we may walk in the path before laid down) to ob&s;erve what <HI>tho&s;e glorious and remarkable things are, the accompli&s;hment where|of God hath foretold and promi&s;ed in and about the&s;e times.</HI></P>
<PB N="38" REF="25">
<P>And here give me leave to &s;ay, that when I take a view of what holy Scripture hath recorded, of that time in which <HI>I&s;rael</HI> &s;hall return to their own Land, and al&s;o to the Lord, and <HI>David</HI> their King, that I do find this <HI>age</HI> (none more) <HI>full of wonders;</HI> to all which, Gods glorious <HI>work</HI> of <HI>redeeming Sion,</HI> literal <HI>Sion,</HI> or the <HI>Jews</HI> from their long <HI>captivity;</HI> and <HI>&s;piritual Sion,</HI> or the <HI>Gentile</HI> Chur|ches, from <HI>Antichri&s;tian</HI> bondage (as it were) the Axis up|on which they turn.</P>
<P>Now to enumerate each particular of tho&s;e tran&s;actions that Scripture tells us &s;hall fall out in this <HI>age,</HI> is not my in|tent, but onely to take notice of &s;ome of the chief, (and &s;uch as are mo&s;t free from exception) for the directing of us to that which is our &s;pecial <HI>work</HI> in this <HI>Generation.</HI> Which are,</P>
<P N="1">1 <HI>I&s;raels Redemption;</HI> Which although by menti|oning here again, I may &s;eem to tautologize, yet mu&s;t I do it, this being the fir&s;t and great thing promi&s;ed, which therefore we have before proved, and make u&s;e of as a mark to de&s;cry the re&s;t by.</P>
<P N="2">2 <HI>A large and plentiful conver&s;ion of Gentles to the Lord.</HI> as <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 2.3, Many people &s;hall &s;ay, <HI>Come yee, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord</HI>&mdash; Which that it relates to the time in and about which the <HI>Jews</HI> &s;hall be converted, is clear, <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 5. <HI>O hou&s;e of Jacob</HI> (<HI>i.e.</HI> ye <HI>Jews,</HI> as di&s;tingui&s;hed from the Nations before &s;poken of) <HI>Come ye and let us walk in the light of the Lord.</HI> And yet more clear, <HI>Mica</HI> 4.2. <HI>ver.</HI> 6.7. So <HI>I&s;a,</HI> 60.3, 4, 5. <HI>Lift up thine eyes round about and &s;ee, all they gather them|&s;elves together, they come to thee&mdash; the abundance of the Sea (or Nations &s;hall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles &s;hall come unto thee.</HI> Which that it is &s;poken of the <HI>Jews</HI> is clear, becau&s;e they are di&s;tin|gui&s;hed from the <HI>Gentiles;</HI> and that the time of their <HI>redemption</HI> is here &s;poken of, appears, if you look back to
<PB N="39" REF="25">Chap. 59.20. compared with <HI>Rom.</HI> 11.26. So <HI>Zach.</HI> 2.11. <HI>Many Nations &s;hall be joyned to the Lord in that day</HI>&mdash;What day is that? See ver&s;. 12. <HI>When the Lord &s;hall inherit Judah his portion in the holy Land, and &s;hall choo&s;e Jeru&s;alem again.</HI> So <HI>Zach.</HI> 8.20.21, 22, 23. To all which add <HI>Rom.</HI> 11.25, 26. where the Apo&s;tle &s;peaking of the <HI>conver&s;ion of the Jews,</HI> mentions al&s;o a <HI>fulne&s;s</HI> of the <HI>Gentiles</HI> about that time coming in.</P>
<P N="3">3 <HI>&V;niting Saints that differ,</HI> Zach. 14.9. <HI>In that day &s;hall there be one Lord, and his Name one?</HI> And when &s;hall this be? why, then, <HI>when all Nations &s;hall be gathered together again&s;t Jeru&s;alem to battel</HI> as ver&s;. 2. So <HI>Zeph.</HI> 3.9. <HI>I will turn to the people a pure language that they may all call upon the Name of the Lord, to &s;erve him with one con&s;ent.</HI> Divi&s;ion of languages made a divi&s;ion of men, but when Gods people &s;hall come to have a <HI>pure, unbroken language,</HI> all to &s;peak <HI>one</HI> and the <HI>&s;ame thing,</HI> divi&s;ion among&s;t Saints &s;hall cea&s;e, and there &s;hall be <HI>union:</HI> But when &s;hall this be? See ver&s;. 20. <HI>At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I will gather you, for I will make you</HI> (<HI>i.e. I&s;rael</HI> di&s;tin|gui&s;hed from other people) <HI>a name, and a prai&s;e among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, &s;aith the Lord.</HI> So <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 11.13. <HI>The envy of Ephraim &s;hall depart, and the adver&s;aries of Judah be cut off; Ephraim &s;hall not envy Judah, and Judah &s;hall not vexe Ephraim.</HI> When &s;hall this be? the foregoing ver&s;e tells us&mdash; <HI>He &s;hall a&s;&s;emble the out|ca&s;ts of I&s;rael, and gather together the di&s;per&s;ed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.</HI> So Ch. 54.13. <HI>all thy children &s;hall be taught of the Lord, and great &s;hal be the peace of thy Children</HI> (which may as well be un|der&s;to<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">d of outward, as inward peace, for <HI>all being taught of God,</HI> they &s;hall not jar among&s;t them&s;elves.) But when
<PB N="40" REF="26">&s;hall this be? why, then, when as the <HI>Jews</HI> which now are barren as a widow, and a wife of youth refu&s;ed, as ver&s;. 1.4.6. &s;hall be received <HI>into favour</HI> again.</P>
<P N="4">4 <HI>Pulling down of high and lofty things,</HI> under which as principal, or head, we are to comprehend the <HI>man of Sin,</HI> or <HI>Romi&s;h Antichri&s;t,</HI> I&s;. 2.11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17. <HI>The lofty looks of man &s;hall be humbled, and the haughtine&s;s of men &s;hall be bowed down, and the Lord alone &s;hall be exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord of ho&s;ts &s;hall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up, and he &s;hall be brought low. And upon all the Cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the Oaks of Ba&s;han. And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hils that are lifted up. And upon every high Tower, and upon every fenced wall, and upon all the &s;h<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ps of Tar&s;hi&s;h, and upon all plea&s;ant pictures. And the loftine&s;s of man &s;hall be bowed down, and the haugh|tine&s;s of man &s;hall be made low; and the Lord alone &s;hall be exalted in that day.</HI></P>
<P>The meaning of all the&s;e metaphorical expre&s;&s;ions is only this, <HI>That at this time the day of the Lord, the day of the Lord &s;hall be upon all the &s;trength and glory of the Creature, upon all high and lofty things and per&s;ons, that exait them&s;elves above the Lord Chri&s;t, to the pulling of them down.</HI> But when &s;hall this be? Then, <HI>when the Mountain of the Lords hou&s;e &s;hall be exalted above the hills, and all Nations &s;hall flow unto it,</HI> ver&s;. 2. the time (as even now was proved) of the <HI>Jews conver|&s;ion.</HI> So <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 24.21. <HI>And it &s;hall come to pa&s;s in that day, that the Lord &s;hall puni&s;h the ho&s;t of the high ones that are on high, and the Kings of the earth, upon the earth.</HI> When &s;hall this be? See ver&s;. 23. <HI>When the Lord of Ho&s;t &s;hall reign in Mount Sion, and in Je|r<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;alem, and before his Ancients</HI> (the people of ancient
<PB N="41" REF="26">times cho&s;en, and in Covenant with him) <HI>gloriou&s;ly.</HI> So Chap. 30. la&s;t. <HI>Tophet</HI> (the pit of de&s;truction) <HI>is or|dained of old, yea for the King it is prepared.</HI> The meaning is, not only an <HI>eternal</HI> (as &s;ome carry it) but <HI>temporal</HI> ruine &s;hall attend great ones. But when &s;hall this be? To that I an&s;wer, Although in the type it was fulfilled upon <HI>Senacherib</HI> King of <HI>A&s;&s;yria,</HI> and his Ar|mies, yet the whole Chapter, e&s;pecially from ver&s;. 18. hath relation to another time, which is that we are &s;peaking of, of the <HI>Jews conver&s;ion,</HI> as is evident, <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 19. <HI>For the people &s;hall dwell in Sion at Jeru&s;alem; thou &s;halt weep no more.</HI> But more clear, ver&s;. 26. <HI>The light of the Moon &s;hall be as the light of the Sun&mdash;In the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the &s;troke of their wound.</HI></P>
<P N="5">5 <HI>The e&s;tabli&s;hment of Ju&s;tice and Righteou&s;ne&s;s in the world,</HI> as I&s;a. 1.26, 27. <HI>And I will re&s;tore thy Judges as at fir&s;t, and thy Coun&s;ellors as at the begin|ning; afterwards thou &s;halt be called the City of righteou&s;ne&s;s, the faithful City. Zion &s;hall be redeemed with judgement, and her Converts with righteou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> Chap. 54.14. <HI>In righteou&s;ne&s;s &s;halt thou be e&s;tabli&s;hed; thou &s;halt be far from oppre&s;sion.</HI> So Chap. 60 18. <HI>I will make thine Officers peace, and thine Exactors righteou&s;ne&s;s. Violence &s;hall no more be heard in thy Land, wa&s;ting nor de&s;truction within thy borders; but thou &s;halt cal thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Prai&s;e.</HI> The&s;e places (as already hath been &s;hewn) looking all to the time of the <HI>Jews redemption.</HI></P>
<P N="6">6 <HI>The pouring out of more abundance of the Spirit,</HI> Joel 2.28. <HI>And it &s;hall come to pa&s;s afterwards that I will pour out of my Spirit upon all fle&s;h</HI>&mdash;When &s;hall this be? Even then, <HI>when in Mount Sion, and Jeru&s;alem &s;hall be deliverance,</HI> as ver&s;. 32. or more clearly, then, <HI>when God &s;hall bring again the captivity of Judah and
<PB N="42" REF="27">Jeru&s;alem,</HI> as Chap. 3.1. For although <HI>Peter</HI> (Acts 2.) &s;peaks of the&s;e words as fulfilled in his time, yet was that only in the beginning, the <HI>powring</HI> down of the <HI>Spirit,</HI> then being not &s;o <HI>general</HI> as that here promi&s;ed, and that which &s;hall be upon the coming in of the <HI>Jews.</HI> So <HI>Zach.</HI> 12.10. <HI>And I will poure upon the hou&s;e of David, and upon the Inhabitants of Jeru&s;alem, the Spirit of grace and &s;uppli|cation.</HI> So <HI>I&s;a</HI> 32.15. <HI>&V;ntil the Spirit be poured upon us from on high</HI>&mdash;It is ob&s;ervable, that the giving forth of the <HI>Spirit</HI> at this time is &s;et forth by this word of <HI>pouring,</HI> noting <HI>abundance</HI> that &s;hall then be given forth, more than in former <HI>ages.</HI></P>
<P N="7">7 As an effect of the former, <HI>Increa&s;e of light and grace,</HI> as <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 30.26. <HI>Moreover, the light of the Moon &s;hall be as the light of the Sun, and the light of the Sun &s;hall be &s;evenfold, as the light of &s;even dayes, in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the &s;troke of their wound,</HI> Chap. 52.8. <HI>They &s;hall &s;ee eye to eye (i.e.</HI> clearly) <HI>when the Lord &s;hall bring again Sion.</HI> See both, <HI>Zach.</HI> 12.8.&mdash; <HI>He that is fecble in that day &s;hall be as David, and the hou&s;e of David &s;hall be as God, as the Angel of the Lord be|fore them.</HI> Which that it relates to the time of the <HI>Iews call,</HI> the whole Chap. is proof.</P>
<P N="8">8 <HI>The exaltation of the Lord Chri&s;t alone as King,</HI> I&s;a. 2 11.&mdash; <HI>The Lord alone &s;hall be exalted in that day,</HI> Chap. 24.23. <HI>The Lord of Ho&s;ts &s;hall reign in Mount Sion, and in Ieru&s;alem, and before his Ancients glori|ou&s;ly.</HI> Chap. 2, 3, 4.&mdash;<HI>Out of Sion &s;hall go forth the Law, and the word of the Lord from Ieru&s;alem, and he &s;hall judge among the Nations,</HI> Zach. 14.9. <HI>The Lord &s;hall be King over all the Earth</HI>&mdash; All which places I have al|ready proved to &s;peak this time. So <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 33.22.&mdash; <HI>The Lord is our King, he will &s;ave us.</HI> When is this? <HI>An&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"></HI> then <HI>when Ieru&s;alem &s;hall be a quiet habitation,</HI> ver&s;. 20<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">
<PB N="43" REF="27"><HI>Look unto</HI> Sion, <HI>the City of your &s;olemnities: Thine eyes &s;hall &s;ee</HI> Jeru&s;alem <HI>a quiet habitation</HI>&mdash; Ezek. 37.24. <HI>And</HI> David <HI>my Servant</HI> (Chri&s;t of whom <HI>Da|vid</HI> was a type) <HI>&s;hall be King over them</HI>&mdash; And to what time doth this look? to that time in which <HI>I&s;rael</HI> and <HI>Ju|dah</HI> &s;hall be gathered together, and brought to their own Land, and be made again one Nation upon the mountains of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> as <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 21, 22.</P>
<P>Thus have I done with the &s;econd thing, <HI>viz. the things foretold to be done in this age.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3 The third is to ob&s;erve the <HI>vi&s;ible di&s;pen&s;ations of God towards the age we live in:</HI> and in ca&s;e upon inqui|ry the&s;e be found to an&s;wer to what God hath foretold, they &s;hall be in that <HI>age</HI> in which the <HI>Jews &s;hall be converted,</HI> then this will not onely &s;erve for di&s;covery of the thing in hand, wherein the <HI>work</HI> of this <HI>Generation</HI> lyes; but al&s;o adde a beam of light unto the former, viz. <HI>That we are fallen into that age in which the Jews &s;hall be con|verted.</HI></P>
<P>Onely here I would carry this along with me, that in regard as yet things are but coming on, therefore many things before this <HI>Generation</HI> is over, may be tran&s;acted, which yet we &s;ee little of. But in ca&s;e it appear that tran&s;|actions begin already to agree with the things foretold and promi&s;ed, have we not ground then to hope (things com|ing on apace every day) that before this <HI>Generation</HI> ex|pires, wee &s;hall &s;ee mo&s;t, if not all fully accompli&s;h|ed?</P>
<P>Let us then compare what God hath promi&s;ed to the <HI>age</HI> we &s;peak of with pre&s;ent <HI>di&s;pen&s;ations,</HI> and &s;ee what way Gods <HI>di&s;pen&s;ations</HI> are making, or have already made towards the <HI>performance</HI> of them.</P>
<P N="1">1 For the <HI>bringing in of the Jews,</HI> is not a fair way made to that already? by that general expectation they have of their Me&s;&s;iah's comming in this <HI>age,</HI> as
<PB N="44" REF="28"><HI>Mana&s;&s;eth Ben. I&s;rael</HI> (before quoted) is witne&s;s, <HI>&s;ect.</HI> 29.35. as al&s;o by that light that at pre&s;ent is among&s;t them (which the afore&s;aid Author in &s;everal of his Sections de|clares) into many of tho&s;e Prophecies of the Old Te&s;ta|ment which directly point at their <HI>call.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2 For the <HI>Conver&s;ion of the Gentiles.</HI> Not to &s;peak of the great <HI>conver&s;ions</HI> of late near home in poor <HI>Wales,</HI> and &s;ome parts of <HI>Ireland;</HI> and the hopeful way we are in, by the going out daily of poor de&s;pi&s;ed Labourers into the Lords Vineyard, of a large Harve&s;t: is it not admirable that in this <HI>age,</HI> and that within a few years each of other, the <HI>We&s;t</HI> and <HI>Ea&s;t Indies</HI> both, &s;hould be <HI>enlightned with the Go&s;pell,</HI> which never heard it before; verifying that, <HI>Mal.</HI> 1.11. <HI>For from the ri&s;ing of the Sun, even unto the going down of the &s;ame, my Name &s;hall be great among the Gentiles, and in every place incen&s;e &s;hall be offered unto my Name, and a pure offering, for my Name &s;hall be great among the heathen, &s;aith the Lord of Ho&s;ts.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3 As for the <HI>uniting of Saints that differ,</HI> although here with grief we mu&s;t confe&s;s the <HI>breach</HI> is yet too wide, yet with joy and comfort we may al&s;o truly &s;ay, it is not &s;o wide as lately it was, many clo&s;ing, and loving one ano|ther in mo&s;t parts of the Nation, who five, nay two years ago could not do it: and if &s;o little time have made &s;uch a ble&s;&s;ed beginning, what may we expect from more?</P>
<P N="4">4 And as for <HI>the pulling down of high and lofty things,</HI> if our <HI>age</HI> bear not witne&s;s of this, it doth of nothing; for doth not the whole world ring again with the noy&s;e that hath been made through the late fall of <HI>Regal</HI> and <HI>Epi&s;|coral</HI> powers in <HI>England?</HI></P>
<P N="5">5 For the <HI>e&s;tabli&s;hment of Ju&s;tice and righteou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> tho we want in re&s;pect of what we would have, yet all un|prejudiced per&s;ons mu&s;t nakedly confe&s;s a good foundation
<PB N="45" REF="28">to be already laid in order to the &s;ame, and as &s;ome hope|ful beginnings thereupon, &s;o our &s;elves to be in a fairer way by far, for more, than we were &s;ixteen or twenty years ago: which a little time we hope will ripen to perfecti|on.</P>
<P N="6">6 And for the <HI>powring out of the Spirit,</HI> though it ought to be our grief wee have &s;o little of it, yet can|not Gods people in this <HI>age,</HI> without great ingratitude to the Father of mercies, but acknowledge that he hath here|in al&s;o been more bountiful unto them, than unto others of his dear Children, and their fellow-&s;ervants in the fore|going <HI>age;</HI> thought the&s;e then with that little they had, bet|ter, and more obedient to their Father, than we now: and as we have ground for hope, &s;o is it our duty to beleeve for yet more.</P>
<P N="7">7 And as for <HI>increa&s;e of light</HI> (without tran&s;gre&s;&s;ing the rules of mode&s;ty, or exalting our &s;elves in this pre&s;ent <HI>age,</HI> in te&s;tification of our thankfulne&s;s to him from whom our light is) we may truly, and humbly &s;ay, that this pre|&s;ent <HI>age</HI> hath brought forth &s;ome truths, e&s;pecially tho&s;e which concern Chri&s;ts Kingdom, which till now have not with that clearne&s;s been revealed in any &s;ince the Apo&s;tles times.</P>
<P N="8">8 And la&s;tly, For the <HI>exaltation of Chri&s;t as King,</HI> when ever was there a time (&s;ince the Apo&s;tles) that could &s;hew half &s;o many Churches as at this day are to be &s;een in <HI>England,</HI> and el&s;ewhere? yea, when &s;ince the beginning was Chri&s;t ever in &s;o fair a way to be King over the world? and when &s;o much worldly power in the hands of godly men as at this day?</P>
<P>So that in <HI>Gods di&s;pen&s;ations</HI> to this <HI>age,</HI> we may al|ready begin to read tho&s;e very things he hath <HI>foretold</HI> &s;hall be in that <HI>age</HI> in which the <HI>Jews</HI> &s;hall be <HI>converted,</HI> which (as hath been before proved) is this <HI>age</HI> wee live in.</P>
<PB N="46" REF="29">
<P>And the more is this to be con&s;idered, becau&s;e <HI>di&s;pen|&s;ation</HI> being that which giveth call to the <HI>work</HI> of the <HI>Generation,</HI> it is enough (&s;uppo&s;ing we had no other proof) in ca&s;e we behold pre&s;ent <HI>di&s;pen&s;ations,</HI> pointing to &s;uch and &s;uch things, to know there lyes the <HI>work</HI> of this <HI>age:</HI> Yet in regard light burdens no man, and the lovers of truth are never offended with truth for its clear|ne&s;s, therefore this Rule (which alone gives &s;o much light into the <HI>work,</HI> as that it will be (as hath been before clea|red) &s;in in that man, who wilfully &s;hutting his eyes to the &s;ame, neglects the <HI>work</HI>) is here brought in, hand in hand with others, of no le&s;s evidence and demon&s;tration than it &s;elf.</P>
<P N="4">4 Our fourth Rule formerly laid down, is to <HI>ob&s;erve what work that is which is mo&s;t raged again&s;t by the Devil and wicked men,</HI> for ordinarily there (as was then proved) doth lye the <HI>work</HI> of the <HI>Generation.</HI> Now here con&s;ider what are tho&s;e things the Devil rageth again&s;t, and the World would fain hinder in this <HI>age.</HI></P>
<P>To omit the fir&s;t, becau&s;e the <HI>work</HI> not appearing as yet (though we hope God is making a way thereto) the De|vil doth not as yet appear openly (in this <HI>age</HI> more than formerly) for to <HI>oppo&s;e</HI> the &s;ame. But to come to the next.</P>
<P>Is not the <HI>Conver&s;ion of Sinners</HI> one thing raged again&s;t? witne&s;s the many ob&s;tructions in the way of propagating the Go&s;pel; The oppo&s;ition to the Doctrine of glad tydings to Sinners therein revealed, and al&s;o to godly men becau&s;e Mechanicks, whom God in many places with happy &s;uc|ce&s;s is plea&s;ed in this day to make u&s;e of, for declaring of them.</P>
<P>Is not the <HI>prevention of union among Saints</HI> another? by fomenting divi&s;ions through Je&s;uitical practices, and thereby drawing them into parties, and then &s;etting one par|ty again&s;t the other.</P>
<PB N="47" REF="29">
<P>And is not this another, the <HI>pulling down of high and lofty ones?</HI> doth not the world generally &s;torm to &s;ee Kings and Bi&s;hops plucked from their &s;eats? <HI>As one of their party &s;aith, Had he had a hand in the pulling down of Regal or Epi&s;copal Power, he &s;hould think him|&s;elfe to have committed the &s;in again&s;t the Holy Gho&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>And who knows not the oppo&s;ition that <HI>the e&s;tabli&s;h|ment of Ju&s;tice and Righteou&s;ne&s;s meets with at this day in the world?</HI></P>
<P>Yea farther, is not the <HI>Spirit</HI> a thing mocked at, you have the <HI>Spirit;</HI> the&s;e are men of the <HI>Spirit, &amp;c.</HI> And the very term of <HI>new Light</HI> is not onely di&s;ta&s;teful but re|proachful.</P>
<P>To conclude, What ways have been of late years to prevent and root out, if po&s;&s;ible, <HI>Chri&s;ts Kingly Govern|ment in his Churches?</HI> and are at this day to ob&s;truct the &s;ame, which is hoped to be now ri&s;ing over the world, is apparent to all men.</P>
<P>Thus we &s;ee that the very things Satan rageth again&s;t, are the &s;ame that the <HI>Prophecies</HI> of old have <HI>foretold,</HI> and the <HI>di&s;pen&s;ations</HI> of God call for in this age.</P>
<P N="5">5 We have but one Rule of di&s;covery more (prayer excepted, which is Clo&s;et-work) and that is, <HI>to ob&s;erve what spiritual inlightned Saints have upon their hearts, as the work of their Generation.</HI> And although here I cannot enter into mens hearts, yet this I may &s;ay, &s;o far as my own acquaintance leads me, I have ever ob&s;erved the pul|&s;es of the mo&s;t &s;piritual enlightned Saints beating this way: And the publique de&s;ires of many for things of this nature, &s;hews how others &s;tand inclined towards the doing of them.</P>
<P>Thus you may ea&s;ily perceive whitherto all the&s;e Rules tend, each of which &s;tanding upon firm ground, as hath been before declared.</P>
<PB N="48" REF="30">
<P>The conclu&s;ion then (putting all together) is this; <HI>That the work of the pre&s;ent Generation, which Saints are bound to attend unto, and to be active in,</HI> lies princi|pally in the&s;e things. <HI>The conver&s;ion of the Jews, propa|gation of the Go&s;pel, in order to a greater Harve&s;t of Gentiles, Joynting Saints (Chri&s;t my&s;tical body) into one. Pulling down of all high and lofty things, and per&s;ons, that oppo&s;e Chri&s;t. The e&s;tabli&s;hment of Ju&s;tice and Righteou&s;ne&s;s in the world, Striving with God in a more e&s;pecial manner for a greater degree of his Spirit, more light and grace than Saints in former Generati|ons have had; together with the exaltation of Chri&s;t as King, both in his Churches and al&s;o over the world.</HI> Which la&s;t, con&s;idering how that all the re&s;t are in a way of &s;ub&s;erviency thereunto, and do, as it were, centre therein, for therefore are <HI>Jews</HI> and <HI>Gentiles</HI> at this time to meet together, as Subjects under one Prince, that this <HI>Kingdom</HI> of his might be great, and full of Subjects; therefore &s;hall <HI>divi&s;ions</HI> among&s;t his <HI>people</HI> cea&s;e, that his <HI>Kingdom</HI> might be quiet and peaceable; therefore &s;hall <HI>high and lofty ones be pulled down,</HI> that Chri&s;t might have no <HI>Competitor</HI> or <HI>Check mate</HI> (as I may &s;ay) in this his <HI>Kingdom;</HI> therefore &s;hall <HI>Ju&s;tice</HI> and <HI>Righ|teou&s;ne&s;s</HI> be e&s;tabli&s;hed, that &s;o the <HI>glory</HI> of his <HI>Kingdom</HI> in this re&s;pect might &s;urpa&s;s the <HI>glory</HI> of all <HI>Kingdoms</HI> before it; therefore &s;hall there be more of the <HI>Spirit,</HI> more <HI>light</HI> and <HI>grace</HI> given forth to the Saints, that &s;o they might yeeld <HI>obedience</HI> to their <HI>King,</HI> not &s;o much from a <HI>Law without,</HI> as a principle of <HI>light</HI> and <HI>love within,</HI> I &s;ay all centering in this la&s;t, my utmo&s;t conclu&s;ion is, that the ma|&s;ter-peece of <HI>work</HI> in this <HI>Generation</HI> is, <HI>the advancement of the Kingdom of Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P N="5">5 But <HI>how may I come to know or find out that par|ticular part, or parcel of work, which is more proper|ly to be my work in my Generation, and which God re|quires
<PB N="49" REF="30">me to be active in?</HI> &s;eeing it cannot be &s;uppo&s;ed that any one man can be active in the whole <HI>work;</HI> neither undoubtedly is it required of him.</P>
<P>In an&s;wer to this, I &s;hall in general lay down this &s;eem|ing, contrary Propo&s;ition, <HI>viz. That there is no part or piece of Generation-work, but every Chri&s;tian man or woman may in &s;ome way be helpful thereunto, &s;o far as he is called to act, and con&s;equently becomes guilty of neglect of Generation-work in not acting,</HI> As,</P>
<P N="1">1 By <HI>prayer to God for the pro&s;pering and carrying on of the work.</HI> Tho&s;e who can do nothing el&s;e, are com|manded to <HI>pray for the peace of Jeru&s;alem,</HI> P&s;al. 122.6. yea all that make mention of the Lord in the day of Gods building Sion, are bound not to <HI>keep &s;ilence,</HI> nor give God <HI>re&s;t</HI> till he <HI>e&s;tabli&s;h,</HI> and till he make <HI>Jeru&s;alem a prai&s;e in the earth,</HI> I&s;. 62.6, 7.</P>
<P N="2">2 <HI>By humbling our &s;elves before God for that, what|&s;oever it be, whether found in the people of God, or in|&s;truments imployed in the work, or any other that proves ob&s;tructive, and a hindrance to the work.</HI> When the &s;in of <HI>Achan</HI> became an ob&s;truction to the <HI>work</HI> of <HI>Jo|&s;hua's age, Jo&s;huah</HI> and the Elders of <HI>I&s;rael rent their cloaths, fell to the earth on their faces, put du&s;t on their heads, humbling</HI> them&s;elves before God for it, <HI>Jo&s;h.</HI> 7.6.</P>
<P>Now although acting in this manner (in ca&s;e we can do nothing el&s;e) may &s;eem little in our eyes, yet in the eyes of God, it doth not &s;o, who takes it exceeding well at the hands of his people, when they can &s;erve their <HI>Genera|tion</HI> no other way, that they do in this.</P>
<P>When <HI>I&s;rael</HI> had &s;o provoked God, that God was upon the point of de&s;troying of them, as <HI>Deut.</HI> 12.13, 14. <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> then falls down before God forty dayes, and forty nights, and by <HI>prayer</HI> and <HI>fa&s;ting</HI> prevails with God, not only to &s;pare them, but al&s;o by the manife&s;tation
<PB N="50" REF="31">of his pre&s;ence and glorious power &s;till to go along with them, as <HI>Exod.</HI> 33.14, 15. And how plea&s;ing <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> prayer to God in this bu&s;ine&s;s, was, appears, in that the glorious di&s;covery of Gods back-parts to <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and proclamation of his Name before him (&s;uch a di&s;covery as never <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> him&s;elf at any other time, nor any man be|&s;ides him ever had) comes in as the <HI>fruit</HI> of this his <HI>inter|ceding</HI> for the people, and in behalf of the cau&s;e of God, as <HI>Exod.</HI> 33.19. compared with Chap. 34.5, 6, 7. <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> did many glorious <HI>works</HI> in his <HI>Generation,</HI> which others could not follow, yet God choo&s;eth to make his glory pa&s;s before him, not in doing them, but that which every Saint may imitate him in.</P>
<P><HI>Daniel</HI> in like manner, when as yet there was no vi&s;ible way for publick actings in that which now began to be the bu&s;ine&s;s of the <HI>Generation,</HI> makes it his private work to &s;trive with God by <HI>humiliation</HI> and <HI>prayer</HI> for the &s;ame, as Chap. 9. and how well God did like hereof, you have heard before, and the &s;ucce&s;s of <HI>Daniels</HI> prayer (ver&s;. 20, 21, 22, 23.) is &s;ufficient te&s;timony.</P>
<P>So al&s;o <HI>Nehemiah,</HI> when the <HI>work</HI> of his <HI>Age</HI> lay out of his power to act any thing therein, &s;ave only in this way of <HI>prayer</HI> and <HI>humiliation,</HI> he as the other (this being the common way of Gods people in &s;uch ca&s;es) betakes him&s;elf unto this <HI>work</HI> of <HI>praying</HI> and <HI>mourning</HI> before God in reference to the &s;ame, <HI>Nehem.</HI> 1.4, 5, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> And how wonderfully God was plea&s;ed herewith, the &s;equel of the &s;tory &s;hews, for within four months after (his <HI>pray|ing</HI> and <HI>mourning</HI> being in the month <HI>Chi&s;leu,</HI> ver&s;. 1.) the ninth month according to the Jewi&s;h account, as <HI>Zach.</HI> 7.1. in the twentieth year of <HI>Artaxerxes,</HI> and the re|turn thereof in the month <HI>Ni&s;an,</HI> Chap. 6.1. the fir&s;t month after their account, as <HI>E&s;ter</HI> 3.7. and all in one year, (as by comparing Chap. 1.1. with Chap. 2.1. is evident) God in an extraordinary way doth &s;o bring things about,
<PB N="51" REF="31">that this <HI>Nehemiah,</HI> the <HI>praying</HI> and <HI>mourning</HI> man for <HI>Jeru&s;alems</HI> de&s;olations, is furni&s;hed with commi&s;&s;ion and authority from the King to go to <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> and there to re-edifie the City, and build up the wall thereof, the very <HI>work</HI> of that <HI>Generation.</HI></P>
<P>In ca&s;e therefore <HI>Generation-work</HI> lie at &s;uch a plunge as thou can&s;t act no other way in it, or in ca&s;e thou bee&s;t one who wante&s;t both opportunity and imployment wherein thou maye&s;t be helpful in any particular way un|to thy <HI>Generation,</HI> then &s;erve the &s;ame in this general way, which &s;ervice from the hands of &s;uch a one is accepted of God, and the party doing the &s;ame, in Gods account, faithful in his <HI>Generation.</HI></P>
<P>Yet becau&s;e many there be, who be&s;ides the general way of acting (which is a <HI>duty</HI> common to all) may in other more &s;pecial wayes be &s;erviceable to their <HI>Genera|tion,</HI> who (yet neither their <HI>call,</HI> nor <HI>opportunity</HI> reaching to the whole <HI>work,</HI> but &s;ome part of it) will be further in|qui&s;itive how they &s;hall know that <HI>particular part of Ge|neration-work, which is more properly theirs.</HI> To the end that &s;uch may receive &s;atisfaction in this thing, I &s;hall de&s;ire them to go along with me through the&s;e following Rules.</P>
<P N="1">1 Ob&s;erve <HI>what part of Generation-work that is that thou art in a capacity to do.</HI> Every man is not in a <HI>capa|city</HI> to do the &s;ame <HI>peece of Generation-work,</HI> but one man is in a <HI>capacity</HI> to do one <HI>peece</HI> of the <HI>work,</HI> another, another; and although the more publick and general any mans imployment is, the more he is in a <HI>capacity</HI> to do; yet is there no man, unle&s;s we could &s;uppo&s;e &s;ome univer&s;al Officer over Nations and Churches, which might lawfully act in every mars &s;phere, which is in a <HI>capacity</HI> to do the whole <HI>work;</HI> Ob&s;erve therefore what <HI>work</HI> thou art in a <HI>capacity</HI> to do.</P>
<P>And here it will not be unnece&s;&s;ary to take into our ma|ture
<PB N="52" REF="32">con&s;ideration, the <HI>place</HI> and <HI>&s;tation</HI> God hath &s;et a man in, the &s;pecial <HI>gift</HI> a man may have, the <HI>light</HI> revea|led to him, together with the <HI>opportunities</HI> that lie before him, either of which may put &s;ome men into a <HI>capacity</HI> beyond others, to act in &s;ome one bu&s;ine&s;s of their <HI>Gene|ration,</HI> rather then another.</P>
<P>Now what work &s;oever any of the&s;e, or a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">l of them joyned together, do put a man into a <HI>capacity</HI> of acting, the <HI>di&s;pen&s;ations</HI> of that <HI>age</HI> calling to the performance of &s;uch things (for in <HI>Generation-work</HI> (as hath been proved) <HI>di&s;pen&s;ation</HI> gives the <HI>Call</HI>) a man may &s;afely conclude that to be his <HI>work</HI> in his <HI>Generation,</HI> which as Gods <HI>di&s;|pen&s;ations</HI> call him to, &s;o God him&s;elf will either here, or hereafter &s;trictly require an account of him, how he hath done the &s;ame.</P>
<P N="2">2 Ob&s;erve <HI>what work that is among&s;t tho&s;e things thou art in a capacity to do in thy Generation; which the di&s;pen&s;ations of God without, and the bent or inclination of the Spirit within, at &s;uch time as the &s;ame is mo&s;t &s;piritual, or thou ha&s;t mo&s;t intimate communion with God calls for the pre&s;ent doing thereof.</HI> For it is mo&s;t certain, that every thing that a man is in a <HI>capacity</HI> to do, he is not called alike to the doing of. I may be in a <HI>ca|pacity</HI> to do many things in my <HI>Generation,</HI> and my <HI>Call</HI> to &s;ome of the&s;e things may be <HI>greater,</HI> to others <HI>le&s;s:</HI> my <HI>Call</HI> may be to &s;ome for the <HI>pre&s;ent,</HI> to others for the <HI>future.</HI> Now to find out which of the&s;e my <HI>Call</HI> lyes <HI>fir&s;t</HI> unto, it is mo&s;t nece&s;&s;ary to ob&s;erve which <HI>Gods di&s;|pen&s;ations call loudest for,</HI> as that which is (as it were) the <HI>hinge</HI> upon which the re&s;t of the <HI>work</HI> doth turn, and which if <HI>neglected,</HI> nothing el&s;e can, or is ever likely (as it &s;hould be) to be done; to which, although the e&s;&s;ence of the <HI>Call</HI> lyes here; yet if al&s;o here be added (rather as matter of inducement, than a bottome for a <HI>Call</HI>) this other ob&s;ervation, <HI>How my &s;pirit &s;tands at
<PB N="53" REF="32">&s;uch times when I am mo&s;t &s;piritual, mo&s;t di&s;-ingaged from private intere&s;ts, and mo&s;t intimately familiar with God, and mo&s;t re&s;olved to follow him</HI> (which are the ordinary times of the holy Spirits &s;peaking) <HI>to the at|tempting of the&s;e things,</HI> and if then I find the <HI>impul&s;e</HI> of my &s;oul &s;trongly bending and inclining that way, that the <HI>dispen&s;ations</HI> of God would lead me; I may then conclude the <HI>di&s;pen&s;ations of God without, and the Spirit of God within, as in them&s;elves they ever agree, &s;o al&s;o now in witne&s;sing the &s;elf-&s;ame thing to me,</HI> that here doth lye that &s;pecial <HI>peece of work,</HI> which among&s;t the things I am in a <HI>capacity</HI> to do, God <HI>calls</HI> aloud for the pre&s;ent doing of.</P>
<P>The <HI>call</HI> of a <HI>Di&s;pen&s;ation</HI> without (<HI>viz.</HI> Gods be|ing ri&s;en to deliver his people) and an <HI>impul&s;e</HI> of <HI>&s;pirit</HI> within, putting man-like courage into a woman, was the onely thing moved <HI>Jael</HI> to attempt that dangerous, yet memorable act of &s;laying <HI>Si&s;era,</HI> Judg. 5.24, 25.</P>
<P>Yea what other <HI>Call</HI> the Judges of <HI>I&s;rael</HI>&mdash; who (<HI>Deborah</HI> the Prophete&s;s excepted) were not Prophets, for the holy Gho&s;t calls them <HI>Judges,</HI> and that in a way of di&s;tinction from Prophets, <HI>He gave them Iudges about the &s;pace</HI> of 450 <HI>years until Samuel the Prophet,</HI> Act. 13.20. Yea after <HI>Mo&s;es, Samuel</HI> (of a man) is the fir&s;t Prophet extraordinarily gifted read of, as <HI>Act.</HI> 3.24. <HI>Yea all the Prophets from Samuel, and tho&s;e</HI> that fol|low after: I &s;aw what <HI>Call,</HI> the&s;e Judges had (only <HI>Gi|deon, Samp&s;on,</HI> and <HI>Deborah</HI> that we read of, having ex|traordinary <HI>Calls,</HI> except the <HI>Call</HI> of a <HI>di&s;pen&s;ation,</HI> the bondage Gods people were in, and a <HI>&s;ecret impul&s;e of Spirit</HI> wrought in them by the Lord, &s;tirring them up to endeavour their deliverance: I cannot my &s;elf deter|mine, and therefore leave the doing thereof to others.</P>
<P N="3">3 Ob&s;erve <HI>what peece of Generation work that is,
<PB N="54" REF="33">which when thou ha&s;t ventured on it, thou ha&s;t found God mo&s;t eminently appearing to thee for thy encourage|ment, and al&s;o with thee for a&s;si&s;tance in doing of it; and know that the pro&s;ecution of that is properly thy work in thy generation. Jo&s;huah's</HI> &s;pecial and principal <HI>work</HI> in his <HI>Generation,</HI> was, the rooting out the <HI>Canaa|nites,</HI> and it was in this <HI>work</HI> that God did mo&s;t <HI>emi|nently appear to Io&s;huah,</HI> both for encouragement in the beginning of the enterprize, as Chap. 1.5, 6. and with his a&s;&s;i&s;tance carrying of it on, until the &s;ame was per|fected, as the &s;tory &s;hews us.</P>
<P N="4">4 Ob&s;erve <HI>what peece of Generation-work that is, which thou being in a capacity to do, in doing of, art like to meet with greate&s;t oppo&s;ition, and that from all hands, and &s;tick to that as thy work in thy Generation.</HI> Chri&s;t when he was here on earth, had two great <HI>works,</HI> the one relating to his <HI>Prophetical Office,</HI> which was to publi&s;h the glad tidings of &s;alvation; the other to his <HI>Priestly,</HI> which was to dye for poor &s;inners. In the fir&s;t of the&s;e he is <HI>oppo&s;ed</HI> both by the Devil, the world, and a profe&s;&s;ing party; and in the la&s;t, by one from whom one would lea&s;t expect it, even his beloved Di&s;ciple <HI>Peter,</HI> acted by Satan to <HI>oppo&s;e</HI> him in this <HI>work.</HI></P>
<P N="5">5 Ob&s;erve <HI>what peece of Generation-work that is, which when thou ha&s;t had a call, an opportunity, and an inclination to do it, and ha&s;t not &s;et about the &s;ame, God hath pre&s;ently with-drawn him&s;elf.</HI></P>
<P>Gods u&s;ual way is to check his peoples neglects, e&s;pe|cially in <HI>Generation-work</HI> by <HI>with-drawing him&s;elf,</HI> as hath been fully cleared in the foregoing Di&s;cour&s;e under that branch, di&s;covering the danger of neglecting <HI>Gene|ration-work</HI> in re&s;pect of our lo&s;s of <HI>communion with God</HI> thereby. If therefore &s;uch a <HI>with-drawing</HI> thou art, or ha&s;t been &s;en&s;ible of, and the&s;e to grow upon &s;uch neglects (le&s;t there come a greater after-clap, this being
<PB N="55" REF="33">but Gods warning-peece) minde better than yet thou ha&s;t done, that <HI>work,</HI> upon neglect whereof thou ha&s;t &s;en&s;ibly found the&s;e <HI>withdrawings,</HI> and know, the &s;ame is properly thy <HI>work</HI> in thy <HI>Generation.</HI></P>
<P N="6">6 Ob&s;erve <HI>what peece of Generation-work that is, which, put the ca&s;e thou wert to dye, would make mo&s;t for thy comfort, if done, and mo&s;t for thy di&s;comfort, if neglected.</HI> Some <HI>work</HI> there is which men have to do for God in their <HI>Generations,</HI> which if the me&s;&s;enger of Death &s;hould come, and the &s;ame not done, the heart would cry, <HI>O &s;pare me a little, that I may recover my &s;trength, to do this and the other work not yet done by me, as it &s;hould, before I go hence, and be no more &s;een.</HI> Now know this for certain, that that <HI>work</HI> which if I were now to die would afflict me, becau&s;e not <HI>done,</HI> is my <HI>pre&s;ent work</HI> without delay to do; For that which I find will fur|ther my <HI>joy</HI> in death, I may conclude, is my <HI>duty</HI> in my life, and if a duty in my life, and onely lifes pre&s;ent time is certain to me, then may I a&s;&s;ure my &s;elf it is my <HI>pre&s;ent work;</HI> the neglect whereof, as no pretence, how &s;pecious &s;oever can excu&s;e it, &s;o the doing thereof will admit of no delays, though there may &s;eem never &s;o great cau&s;e in rea&s;on for the &s;ame. O have not then that <HI>work</HI> to doe at death, the neglect whereof, though thou may&s;t go to Heaven, will le&s;&s;en thy <HI>joy</HI> in thy journey.</P>
<P N="6">6 And la&s;tly. <HI>But how may Generation-work be carryed on, &s;o as that God may be &s;erved in the Ge|neration?</HI></P>
<P>In an&s;wer hereunto I &s;hall lay done &s;ome Rules for di|rection, and &s;o conclude.</P>
<P N="1">1 Labor <HI>to find out what the work of thy Genera|tion is, and in what things chiefly it con&s;i&s;ts.</HI> A right Principle and a rectified Judgement mu&s;t ever goe be|fore practice, or otherwi&s;e practice would be irregu|lar.</P>
<PB N="56" REF="34">
<P>Now for our help herein, &s;ome light already hath been given in di&s;cu&s;&s;ing the two former Que&s;tions; which by <HI>ob&s;erving times and di&s;pen&s;ations, &s;earching the Scrip|tures, conver&s;e with Saints, and &s;eeking God,</HI> that Chri&s;tian who de&s;ires to be found in this <HI>work,</HI> may for his own &s;atisfaction add unto; which <HI>work</HI> as very need|ful in this <HI>point,</HI> to the end he may go by his own eyes, and not by others, I here commend to him, and leave him to.</P>
<P N="2">2 <HI>Be humbled for it in ca&s;e thou ha&s;t failed in the work of the former Generation.</HI> It is (as hath been ob|&s;erved Gods way to puni&s;h the errors of men in one <HI>Ge|neration,</HI> by blinding them to, and laying them by in the <HI>work</HI> of another <HI>Generation;</HI> which puni&s;hment in it &s;elf mo&s;t &s;ad, hath yet a particular <HI>di&s;pen&s;ation</HI> going along with it, exempting all &s;uch from the penalty; who for their failings in the former <HI>Generation,</HI> have taken &s;hame to them&s;elves, publi&s;hing their former errors, and humbling them&s;elves for it in the next <HI>Generation,</HI> which you may read, <HI>Ezek</HI> 43.10, 11. <HI>Son of man &s;how the hou&s;e of I&s;rael, that they may be a&s;hamed of their iniquities, and let them mea&s;ure the pattern. And if they be a|&s;hamed of all that they have done, &s;hew them the form of the hou&s;e, and the fa&s;hion thereof, and the goings out thereof, and the comings in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the Ordinances thereof, and all the laws thereof: and write it in their &s;ight, that they may keep the whole form thereof, and all the Ordinances thereof, and do them.</HI></P>
<P>The Law of Reprieval exempting the offendor from this heavy penalty of being <HI>blinded to,</HI> and <HI>ca&s;t out of</HI> the <HI>pre&s;ent work of God</HI> in the <HI>Generation</HI> he lives in, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">is <HI>conditional,</HI> if they be <HI>a&s;hamed,</HI> then <HI>&s;how them</HI>&mdash; but in ca&s;e they be not <HI>a&s;hamed,</HI> but &s;till ju&s;tifie them&s;elves in, and own their former errors, then of nece&s;&s;ity the contra|ry
<PB N="57" REF="34">follows, <HI>&s;hew them not the pre&s;ent work,</HI> but rather let them be <HI>blinded</HI> to it, <HI>hide from them the form of the hou&s;e, and the fa&s;hion thereof, and the goings out thereof, and the comings in thereof, and the Ordinances thereof, and the Laws thereof:</HI> Let all be hidden from them, and they laid by as to the whole, and every part of it, in ca&s;e they be not <HI>a&s;hamed.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3 <HI>Convert private cares, which onely concern thine own particular condition, into cares for the publick, and the Cau&s;e of Chri&s;t on foot.</HI> Mo&s;t of Gods people &s;pend their time wholly in <HI>caring</HI> about their <HI>condition,</HI> whether it &s;hall go well or ill with them as to their parti|culars; making it no part (or at mo&s;t but a little part) of their care, how it fares with the <HI>cau&s;e of God in the world.</HI> Now as this <HI>care</HI> is <HI>too low</HI> for a <HI>Saint</HI> to be ever poring about, &s;o is it one main rea&s;on why after many years of <HI>care,</HI> a di&s;&s;atisfaction &s;till remains in their <HI>&s;pirits</HI> about the thing; becau&s;e they have not learnt to leave this <HI>care</HI> with God, and to <HI>care</HI> more for the <HI>work</HI> of God, and the <HI>glory</HI> of God.</P>
<P>Thus did <HI>Mo&s;es, Num.</HI> 14. The people are in a hurly-burly, and talk of a new Captain, <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 4. and &s;toning &s;uch as would di&s;&s;wade them, <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 10. <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> now in this tumult lays a&s;ide the <HI>care</HI> of his <HI>own particular</HI> &s;afety, and makes it his utmo&s;t <HI>care</HI> to divert the wrath of God, that he now &s;aw coming upon the people, as <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 13, 14, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>And hath not Chri&s;t him&s;elf left us a &s;weet example of this, who when he was entring upon his great <HI>work</HI> of dy|ing, &s;eems to neglect his <HI>own particular,</HI> and makes it his great bu&s;ine&s;s to fortifie his Di&s;ciples again&s;t the &s;torm ap|proaching, by giving them a &s;eal of his love in his la&s;t Sup|per, preaching a Sermon of <HI>Soul-con&s;olation</HI> to them, and al&s;o praying to his Father, with much faith and fervency in their behalf; and which is ob&s;ervable in his Sermon and
<PB N="58" REF="35">Prayer both, for one word &s;poken to him&s;elf, and in his own behalf, he &s;peaks hundreds to them, and to his Father in theirs.</P>
<P>Admirable is that of <HI>Paul,</HI> 2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 1.11. who &s;eems to forget his <HI>own &s;alvation,</HI> that he might mind his <HI>work</HI> whereunto he was appointed, for he takes no more <HI>thought</HI> about that but onely to leave it with God&mdash; <HI>I know whom I have beleeved, and I am per&s;waded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him, again&s;t that day:</HI> As to &s;ay, I have tru&s;ted God with that, ile ven|ture that upon his <HI>care;</HI> but in his <HI>work,</HI> and for the <HI>cau&s;e of Chri&s;t,</HI> he &s;uffers all things, and runs all hazzards that he might be found faithful thereunto. &mdash; <HI>I am appointed a Prea|cher, and an Apo&s;tle, and a Teacher of the Gentiles. For the which cau&s;e, I al&s;o &s;uffer the&s;e things&mdash;.</HI></P>
<P N="4">4 <HI>Stand loo&s;e and di&s;-engaged from private intere&s;ts. Private intere&s;t</HI> of honor, profit, friends, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> hath oft times been a &s;nare to men, and &s;lurred them in, yea, &s;ome|times drawn them to oppo&s;e the <HI>work</HI> of their <HI>Genera|tion.</HI> A <HI>private intere&s;t</HI> of profit (though coloured o|ver with a pretence of &s;acrifice) led <HI>Saul</HI> to the &s;paring of <HI>Agag,</HI> and the be&s;t of the flock, contrary to the <HI>work</HI> of his <HI>Generation,</HI> which was to have <HI>de&s;troyed all,</HI> as 1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 15.2, 3. This proved a &s;nare to him, and for this (as before) he is ca&s;hiered by God.</P>
<P>It was a <HI>private intere&s;t</HI> of honor that made the Phari|&s;ees oppo&s;e Chri&s;t, becau&s;e the multitude which before a|dored them as Gods, did now withdraw from them, and follow him, and &s;o mi&s;carry in the <HI>work</HI> of their <HI>Gene|ration.</HI></P>
<P>It was a <HI>private intere&s;t</HI> of relations that made <HI>Solo|mon</HI> faulter &s;o foulely in the <HI>work</HI> of God in his days, his wives drawing him to idolatry.</P>
<P>It was a <HI>private intere&s;t</HI> of friend&s;hip with wicked men, becau&s;e great men; (<HI>viz.</HI> joyning with <HI>Ahab</HI> and <HI>Aha|ziah</HI>)
<PB N="69" REF="35">that brought the greate&s;t blur, and &s;courge too (that wee read of) upon good <HI>Jeho&s;aphat</HI> in his days.</P>
<P>What &s;hall I &s;ay more? It was <HI>private intere&s;t</HI> made the <HI>Gadarens</HI> &s;end Chri&s;t away, becau&s;e they were loth to lo&s;e their &s;wine. <HI>Private interest</HI> of gain was the root of that great oppo&s;ition made again&s;t the Go&s;pel in <HI>Thra|tira, Act</HI> 16.19, 20. and after that at <HI>Ephe&s;us, Act.</HI> 19.23, 24, 25, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> And <HI>private intere&s;t</HI> of honor and pre|eminence &s;et <HI>Diotrephes</HI> on work to oppo&s;e <HI>John,</HI> and the <HI>work</HI> of Chri&s;t in his Churches, <HI>Epi&s;t.</HI> 3. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 9.10. <HI>Pri|vate intere&s;t</HI> is an enemy to the <HI>work</HI> of the <HI>Generation,</HI> and every <HI>work</HI> of God about it.</P>
<P N="5">5 <HI>Favour and own the Saints of the Generation:</HI> and here by <HI>Saints</HI> I do not mean this or that party of men, but &s;uch men (of what&s;oever party they may be) as have the <HI>image of God upon them, Chri&s;t, and the Spirit of Chri&s;t in them.</HI> To <HI>di&s;own</HI> any &s;uch one, though men call it <HI>di&s;owning</HI> a Presbyter, <HI>di&s;owning</HI> an Independant, <HI>di&s;|owning</HI> an Anabapti&s;t <HI>&amp;c.</HI> yet Chri&s;t accounts it <HI>di&s;owning</HI> his little ones.</P>
<P>In <HI>Zech.</HI> 12.5. We have a glorious Prophecy relating, un|to the la&s;t <HI>ages</HI> of the-world, but more particularly to that <HI>age</HI> in which the <HI>Jews</HI> &s;hall be <HI>converted,</HI> and it chiefly concerns <HI>great ones,</HI> State&s;-men, the Governors of <HI>Judah,</HI> who in this day looking upon, and beholding Gods won|derful appearances in behalf of his <HI>Saints</HI> under their Go|vernment, <HI>owning</HI> of them, &s;hattering all that do but lif<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> up a hand again&s;t them, to peeces, bringing all Plots and Coun&s;els again&s;t them to nothing, they &s;hall from hence be &s;o powerfully convinced, that they &s;hall &s;ay in their hearts, <HI>The Inhabitants of Jeru&s;alem my &s;trength,</HI> (or is our &s;trength) <HI>in the Lord of Ho&s;ts their God,</HI> And ob&s;erve it, no &s;ooner do they &s;ay thus, <HI>Surely the&s;e are Gods people, here lies our &s;trength, wee'l &s;tick to the&s;e,</HI> but
<PB N="60" REF="36">pre&s;ently the <HI>work</HI> in their hands go on in de&s;pight of the mo&s;t powerful oppo&s;ition, God making of them the ter|ror of all the <HI>Nations</HI> round about them, yea, of the whole world, which &s;hall be <HI>but as &s;tubble to the fire before them,</HI> as <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 6. <HI>In that day</HI> (<HI>viz.</HI> the day in which the Governours of <HI>Judah</HI> &s;hall thus &s;peak) <HI>will I make the Governors of</HI> Judah <HI>like a hearth of fire a|mong the wood, and like a torch of fire in a &s;heaf; and they &s;hall devoure all the people round about, on the right hand, and on the left.</HI></P>
<P>A &s;ad example of the contrary we have in <HI>David,</HI> who (though he were a man after Gods own heart, and one that had faithfully &s;erved God for many years in his <HI>Generation,</HI> yet) by one injury offered to godly <HI>Uriah,</HI> his hands were &s;o weakned, that (as I have formerly &s;aid) comparing after acts with what he did before, we hardly find any re|markable thing performed by him in his <HI>Generation</HI> after|wards. As nothing doth more &s;trengthen a mans hand in <HI>Generation-work,</HI> then countenancing the <HI>Saints:</HI> &s;o con|trariwi&s;e nothing doth more enfeeble them, than to injure the&s;e.</P>
<P N="6">6 <HI>Keep Ju&s;tice alive again&s;t wilful offenders in the work. Achan</HI> put a &s;top to the <HI>work</HI> of the <HI>Generation</HI> in his time; but <HI>Ju&s;tice</HI> having free pa&s;&s;age upon <HI>Achan,</HI> pre&s;ently the <HI>work</HI> of the <HI>Generation</HI> goes on.</P>
<P N="7">7 <HI>Commit the managing of publique Affairs into the hands of faithful and holy men.</HI> It is ob&s;ervable, and (but that I &s;pare to run over again the li&s;t of <HI>Generations</HI>) I could for proof thereof produce many in&s;tances, that <HI>Generation-work</HI> hath never thriven, but have bin always done by halves or peece-meal, when it hath bin in the hands of &s;uch men, who not being faithful to God, have more pur&s;ued their <HI>own particular intere&s;ts</HI> of honor, profit, and the advancement of relations and alliances, than the good
<PB N="61" REF="36">and welfare of the cau&s;e, and the furtherance of the <HI>work</HI> of the <HI>Generation.</HI> But that which is enough for our pre|&s;ent purpo&s;e, is, how that in the la&s;t days, particularly in that <HI>age,</HI> in which Chri&s;t will pitch a field with tho&s;e Kings of the Earth, which &s;tand in the way of his Kingdom, he will pick and cull out as the only in&s;truments that under him &s;hall carry on this <HI>work,</HI> &s;uch as are called, and cho&s;en, and faithful; as <HI>Rev.</HI> 17.14. <HI>The&s;e &s;hall make wa<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> with the Lamb, and the Lamb &s;hall overcome them: For he is Lord of Lords, and King of Kings, and they that are with him, are called, and cho&s;en, and faithful.</HI> And al&s;o in that fatal blow which &s;uddenly after &s;hall be given to the <HI>Romi&s;h</HI> power, and the powers of the world con|joyned, his followers &s;hall not be &s;uch as either rowle in the pollutions of the world, or have &s;tained their garments with the <HI>Idolatries</HI> and <HI>Super&s;titions</HI> of <HI>Antichri&s;t,</HI> but onely &s;uch as &s;hall be cloathed in fine linnen, clean and white, as <HI>Rev.</HI> 19.8. <HI>And to her was granted that &s;he &s;hould be arrayed in fine linnen, clean, and white: For the fine linnen is the righteou&s;ne&s;s of the Saints.</HI> And <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 14. <HI>The Armies which were in Heaven followed him upon white Hor&s;es, cloathed in fine linnen, white and clean.</HI> Though men may imploy others, yet Chri&s;t will by degrees lay them by in the doing of this <HI>work,</HI> be|fore the &s;ame &s;hall be perfected.</P>
<P N="8">8 <HI>Take heed of divers things, which if not pru|dently fore&s;een and &s;hunned, may any one of them &s;lugg even a good man in the work of his Generati|on,</HI> as</P>
<P N="1">1 <HI>Take heed of being offended.</HI> Chri&s;ts Countrey|men could not receive him for the Me&s;&s;iah, becau&s;e they were <HI>offended</HI> at his meanne&s;s and poverty, <HI>Matth.</HI> 13.57. Many a man <HI>&s;tumbles</HI> at the <HI>work</HI> of his <HI>Gene|ration</HI> by an aptne&s;s to be <HI>offended</HI> at this and the other thing, as,</P>
<PB N="62" REF="37">
<P>Fir&s;t, At the <HI>n<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">w light of the Generation.</HI> As in the times before Chri&s;ts coming, and immediately after, &s;o long as God was opening his will to his people by a written word, every <HI>generation</HI> almo&s;t did beam forth <HI>new light,</HI> in regard of being, <HI>Abrahams Generation</HI> producing &s;ome|what, that was not revealed in <HI>Adams,</HI> nor to the old World; <HI>Mo&s;e&s;&s;es</HI> &s;omewhat, which was not revealed in <HI>Abrahams; Davids</HI> &s;omewhat, which was not revealed in <HI>Mo&s;e&s;&s;es; I&s;aiahs</HI> &s;omewhat, which was not revealed in <HI>Davids; Daniels</HI> &s;omewhat, which was not revealed in <HI>I&s;ays; John Bapti&s;ts</HI> &s;omewhat, which was not revealed in in <HI>Daniels;</HI> and <HI>Peter</HI> and <HI>Pauls</HI> &s;omewhat, which was not revealed in <HI>John Bapti&s;ts</HI> time: So in the <HI>Generati|ons</HI> &s;ince, God hath clo&s;ed up his word, (truth having brought forth its la&s;t in regard of being) and e&s;pecially &s;ince the man of Sin, (who creeping in, in the fir&s;t <HI>ages,</HI> corrupted and darkned the <HI>light</HI> of tho&s;e times for many <HI>Generations</HI> together) hath been going off the Stage, every <HI>Generation</HI> almo&s;t hath afforded its <HI>new light,</HI> in regard of di&s;covery, of that <HI>light</HI> which in the word had being before, but ob&s;cured by the fogs of Antichri&s;tiani&s;m. So <HI>Wickleff</HI> and <HI>John Hus</HI> in their ages made di&s;covery of &s;ome <HI>light; Luther</HI> in his <HI>Generation</HI> of more; <HI>Cal|vin</HI> in his of more, in re&s;pect of &s;ome things wherein <HI>Lu|ther</HI> was in the dark; and the <HI>ages</HI> &s;ince of more, in re|&s;pect of &s;ome things wherein all the <HI>foregoing Worthies</HI> were in the dark. And this to &s;ay is no di&s;paragement to them, who did worthily in their <HI>Generations,</HI> nor mat|ter of <HI>exaltation</HI> to our &s;elves, who have nothing but free Grace to boa&s;t of, nor any other rea&s;on to give, why it &s;hould thus be, but this onely, &s;o it plea&s;ed him.</P>
<P>Yet as then when truth came forth in being, <HI>the new light of the Generation</HI> did oftentimes <HI>offend</HI> per&s;ons li|ving in tho&s;e <HI>Generations,</HI> &s;o as they could not &s;ee the <HI>work,</HI> of the <HI>Cerations;</HI> as the per&s;ecutions that many
<PB N="63" REF="37">of the Prophets of the Old Te&s;tament, and the Apo&s;tles of the New, did &s;uffer from the men of tho&s;e <HI>Generations</HI> for the &s;ame, doth witne&s;s; So now when truth is coming forth in regard of di&s;covery, the new di&s;coveries of truth have been and are a continual <HI>offence</HI> to the men of the&s;e la&s;t <HI>Generations,</HI> even to the oppo&s;ing the very <HI>work</HI> of the <HI>Generation</HI> they have lived in; as the &s;ufferings of tho&s;e Witne&s;&s;es of Je&s;us, who &s;tood up for the Prie&s;tly Office of Chri&s;t about <HI>Luthers</HI> daies by the Papacy; and the per&s;ecutions of tho&s;e <HI>Worthies</HI> &s;ince who have maintained the Kingly Office of Chri&s;t by the Prelacy, and the &s;e|veral Nick-names of truth in this our <HI>age,</HI> and <HI>new light,</HI> the common by-word of the Country doth clearly and fully evidence.</P>
<P>Secondly, At tho&s;e <HI>&s;tumbling blocks which u&s;ually are laid in the work of the Generation.</HI> It is a thing to be noted, that almo&s;t in every <HI>age</HI> God hath laid &s;ome eminent <HI>&s;tumbling-blocks</HI> in the <HI>work</HI> of that <HI>age,</HI> both for the trial of the <HI>faith</HI> of his own people in getting over them, and for his Enemies to <HI>&s;tumble</HI> and <HI>fall upon;</HI> which <HI>&s;tumbling-blocks</HI> as they have exerci&s;ed the <HI>faith</HI> of the one, &s;o have they been continual Rocks of <HI>offence</HI> unto the other.</P>
<P>In <HI>Noahs</HI> time, when the <HI>work</HI> of that <HI>age</HI> was to ex|pect and prepare for a univer&s;al deluge, what a <HI>&s;tum|bling-block</HI> (in rea&s;on may we think) was it to the Old World to hear of &s;uch a thing one hundred and twenty years before it comes, to look for it year after year, one hundred and twenty years together, and yet no appearance of &s;uch a thing; might they not well conclude before half that time was expired, that <HI>Noah's</HI> preaching was a fable, and his building the <HI>Ark</HI> a fancy, for no &s;uch thing as he ex|pected would ever be?</P>
<P>When <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> was &s;ent of God into <HI>Egypt</HI> to deliver Gods people thence, which was the <HI>work</HI> of that <HI>age</HI>
<PB N="64" REF="38">what a palpable <HI>&s;tumbling-block</HI> was it to <HI>Pharoah,</HI> and the <HI>Egyptians</HI> to behold the very &s;ame miracles which were wrought by <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> to evidence his being &s;ent of God, done by their Magicians: might they not well &s;ay, is this man &s;ent of God? then are our Magicians, for they do the &s;ame things as he.</P>
<P>Afterwards in the wilderne&s;s did not this lie as an appa|rent <HI>&s;tumbling-block</HI> before that <HI>Generation?</HI> that <HI>I&s;|rael</HI> &s;hould there wander to and fro forty years, till the whole <HI>Generation</HI> of men that came out of <HI>Egypt</HI> were con|&s;umed, before they mu&s;t enter that Land they were brought out to po&s;&s;e&s;s?</P>
<P>At the time of the building the &s;econd Temple, upon <HI>I&s;ra|els</HI> coming out of <HI>Babylon</HI> (which being in the latter times of the Jewi&s;h State, (was I take it) the Type of Chri&s;ts building his Church in the la&s;t days, upon the coming out of Antichri&s;tian <HI>Babylon</HI>) what a <HI>&s;tumbling-block</HI> was it, that the great <HI>work</HI> of that time, the which they were come from <HI>Babylon</HI> about, &s;hould receive &s;uch a nip at the very beginning, as to be at a &s;tand forty years together before it could go on? might not Gods people fear, and E|nemies conclude, this <HI>work</HI> would now &s;urely come to no|thing? who will wonder that Temple-building hath been at a &s;tand for many years, &s;ince the comming out of <HI>Ba|bylon</HI> my&s;tical, that con&s;iders thus it was upon the coming out of literal <HI>Babylon,</HI> and their Temple was the type of ours.</P>
<P>Chri&s;ts coming into the world was accompanied with two notable <HI>&s;tumbling-blocks.</HI></P>
<P>Fir&s;t, He was born of <HI>mean Parentage,</HI> when as he was looked for among&s;t the Royal or Prie&s;tly &s;eed. Se|condly, He fir&s;t <HI>appears out of Galilee,</HI> and (by vulgar e&s;teem) is a <HI>Nazarene,</HI> whereas all knew the Me&s;&s;iah was to come out of <HI>Bethlehem.</HI> The&s;e two &s;o vi&s;ible <HI>rocks of offence,</HI> as they drew the generality to oppo&s;e
<PB N="65" REF="38">him, pleading again&s;t him, and for them&s;elves, <HI>Shall Chri&s;t come out of Galilee?</HI> Hath not the Scripture &s;aid, <HI>That Chri&s;t commeth of the &s;eed of David, and out of the Town of Bethlehem where David was?</HI> Joh. 7.41, 42. So were they &s;ore tryals to the <HI>faith</HI> of the <HI>god|ly,</HI> who not &s;trictly inquiring into Chri&s;ts de&s;cent, and the place of his birth, but taking things upon tru&s;t, from report of the vulgar (a weakne&s;s too incident to many true mea|ning &s;ouls) made that their <HI>&s;tumbling-block,</HI> which rightly under&s;tood, would have been a <HI>confirmation of their faith,</HI> as appears in that good plain-hearted <HI>Na|thaniel,</HI> who was without guile, could not tell how a while to get over this, <HI>Joh.</HI> 1.46. <HI>Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?</HI></P>
<P>And to &s;ay no more, When Chri&s;t &s;ent forth Apo&s;tles into the world about the great <HI>work</HI> of that <HI>Generation,</HI> did not this lye as a &s;ore <HI>&s;tumbling-block</HI> before many, to &s;ee the learned ones, the Doctors and Rabbies of the times &s;et by, and in this glorious <HI>work,</HI> a company of poor illite|rate Fi&s;her-men imployed?</P>
<P>And as it is mo&s;t evident, that in <HI>Generations</HI> formerly, God for wi&s;e ends hath ever laid <HI>&s;tumbling-blocks</HI> in the <HI>work</HI> of the <HI>Generations:</HI> So he that &s;hall but narrowly ob&s;erve Gods <HI>di&s;pen&s;ations</HI> towards his people of late in the&s;e our times, &s;hall find this verified, nothing more, there having hardly been any great Victory obtained, or any thing remarkable performed, which hath not had his <HI>&s;tumbling</HI> going along with it, and happy is he, who&s;oever is not <HI>offended</HI> thereby.</P>
<P N="3">3 At the <HI>declared di&s;&s;ents, or the private di&s;contents or murmurings of a religious party again&s;t the work of the Generation.</HI></P>
<P>God in his &s;ecret providence, &amp; un&s;earchable wi&s;dom hath &s;o thought it good, that <HI>Generation-work</HI> &s;hould meet with its affronts, not only from the tumultuous confu&s;ed rabble of
<PB N="66" REF="39">the world, but al&s;o from a religious party, who &s;hould either <HI>repine</HI> at, <HI>di&s;&s;ent from,</HI> or make <HI>oppo&s;ition</HI> again&s;t the &s;ame. It was a <HI>religious party</HI> (the whole Congre|gation of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> being a profe&s;&s;ing people, among&s;t which, undoubtedly very many that came out of <HI>Egypt,</HI> were truly godly, who yet &s;inned with the <HI>Congregation,</HI> and fell in the wilderne&s;s) that in the days of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> did &s;o heap up their <HI>murmurings,</HI> murmuring upon murmuring again&s;t the vi&s;ible <HI>di&s;pen&s;ations</HI> of that <HI>age.</HI></P>
<P>It was a <HI>religious party,</HI> yea, and that too upon a <HI>religi|ous ground</HI> (as well as a <HI>politick</HI>) <HI>Joh.</HI> 11.49, 50, 51, 52. that gave wicked counfel for the putting of Chri&s;t to death.</P>
<P>It was a <HI>religious party,</HI> the <HI>Jews</HI> and the <HI>devoute wo|men</HI> that rai&s;ed per&s;ecution at <HI>Antioch</HI> again&s;t the <HI>work</HI> of the <HI>Go&s;pel,</HI> expelling <HI>Paul</HI> and <HI>Barnabas,</HI> the faithful Preachers thereof out of their coa&s;ts, <HI>Act.</HI> 13.50. A <HI>reli|gious party</HI> have always had a finger in <HI>oppo&s;ing Gene|ration-work;</HI> And ob&s;erve, when a <HI>religious party</HI> hath <HI>oppo&s;ed,</HI> this their <HI>oppo&s;ition</HI> hath been &s;o great an <HI>offence,</HI> that not onely the common multitude, but right hone&s;t hearts have from hence <HI>&s;tood a loof from,</HI> and been <HI>&s;hy of</HI> the <HI>work</HI> of their <HI>Generation.</HI> Chri&s;t could not be re|ceived of the <HI>Jews</HI> for their <HI>Me&s;&s;iah,</HI> becau&s;e the <HI>reli|gious party</HI> of the Prie&s;ts and Phari&s;ee did <HI>oppo&s;e</HI> him: And how great an <HI>offence</HI> was this to the poor &s;imple meaning people, who but a little before &s;eeing his <HI>works,</HI> cryed out <HI>Ho&s;anna;</HI> being now by the&s;e men of credit po&s;&s;e&s;t that he was a Deluder, they change their note, and cry <HI>crucifie him, crucifie him,</HI> as the &s;tory tells us.</P>
<P N="4">4 At the <HI>after-mi&s;carriages and errors of tho&s;e who have been the onely active in&s;truments and lights at fir&s;t, in the work of the Generation.</HI> Tis matter of <HI>offence,</HI> to not a few, to &s;ee men <HI>active</HI> at fir&s;t in the <HI>work</HI> of their <HI>Generation,</HI> prove, afterwards retarders of the
<PB N="67" REF="39"><HI>work,</HI> and darkne&s;s thence to &s;pring whence the fir&s;t <HI>light</HI> of the <HI>Generation</HI> did ari&s;e: Hence mo&s;t are apt to call in que&s;tion the righteou&s;ne&s;s of that <HI>cau&s;e,</HI> and purity of that <HI>light</HI> which the fir&s;t owners by future <HI>mi&s;carriages</HI> have ca&s;t a <HI>blemi&s;h</HI> upon. Now though there &s;eemeth in it to be ju&s;t matter of jealou&s;ie, yet if &s;eriou&s;ly weighed and compared with foregoing Pre&s;idents it is not &s;o: for who knows not that <HI>Solomon</HI> was the fir&s;t King of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> that ever built a hou&s;e for the true wor&s;hip of God, and yet the fir&s;t that ever built High places for Idolatry. <HI>Peter</HI> was the fir&s;t Di&s;ciple that publickly confe&s;&s;ed Chri&s;t, and yet the fir&s;t that openly denyed him. <HI>Judea</HI> was the fir&s;t place where <HI>Go&s;pel-light</HI> did &s;hine, and from whence the world was enlightned, and yet the fir&s;t place where error &s;prung up, and the light of the <HI>Go&s;pel</HI> darkned, <HI>Act.</HI> 15.1. <HI>Certain men came down from</HI> Judea <HI>and taught the bre|thren, except yee be circumci&s;ed after the manner of</HI> Mo&s;es, <HI>yee cannot be &s;aved.</HI></P>
<P N="5">5 At the <HI>ga&s;tly look and untrodden foot&s;teps of &s;ome particular di&s;pen&s;ations and actings attending the work of the Generation.</HI> In all <HI>Generations</HI> almo&s;t there have been in managing the <HI>work</HI> of the <HI>Generation</HI> &s;ome <HI>parti|cular actings</HI> which outwardly have had &s;o foul an <HI>a&s;pect,</HI> that if not be held with an eye, &s;eeing God, his will, and de|&s;ign therein, might ju&s;tly breed <HI>offence</HI> &amp; di&s;like in the be|holders. With how offen&s;ive a eye did that act look, &amp; how may we think in rea&s;on, might it tend to the hardning the <HI>Egyptians,</HI> that <HI>I&s;rael</HI> going out of <HI>Egypt,</HI> pretending to wor&s;hip God, &s;hould by a cheat, (as &s;etting Gods will a&s;ide, mans rea&s;on would account it) plunder the <HI>Egyptians</HI> of all their Jewels and riches, a thing which if done with|out Gods &s;pecial command, had been contrary to morality.</P>
<P>And whether or no, had not Gods command authori|zed <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> thereunto, could that act of his in entring <HI>Ca|naan,</HI> and not onely taking their Land from them, but al&s;o
<PB N="68" REF="40">putting all the Inhabitants both young and old to the &s;word, been termed any other than an act of inhumane and barba|rous cruelty?</P>
<P>Yea further, let rea&s;on be judge of that act of <HI>Jaels</HI> in murdering <HI>Si&s;era</HI> at a time when his Ma&s;ter was in league with her Husband, and when as he too (as a man flying for life) committed him&s;elf to her for &s;helter, and what will it call the &s;ame but treacherous dealing, an act of perfidi|ou&s;ne&s;s and highe&s;t inju&s;tice?</P>
<P>What need I multiply? let rea&s;on, not &s;eeing Gods will, be judge of <HI>Jehues</HI> action, in putting the King his Ma&s;ter to death, and extirpating the Royal Family, and will it not brand the &s;ame with the odious names of Di&s;loyalty, U&s;urpation, and Treachery to his Prince? which yet was an act commanded by God, God having &s;o ordered it, that in all ages there &s;hould &s;tand in the <HI>work</HI> of the <HI>Generati|on,</HI> &s;ome &s;uch facing and &s;taring actions as &s;hould not onely amu&s;e men, but al&s;o offend the eyes of the ob&s;tinate, weak, or ignorant beholders.</P>
<P N="2">2 <HI>Take heed of being di&s;couraged.</HI> As <HI>offences</HI> on one hand hath put many a man by the <HI>work</HI> of his <HI>Ge|neration,</HI> &s;o have <HI>di&s;couragements</HI> on the other hand put &s;ome by, and weakned the hands of others in the <HI>work.</HI> Now there are &s;everal things at the which men are di&s;couraged, whereof I &s;hall particularize a few, As</P>
<P N="1">1 At <HI>the littlene&s;s and lowne&s;s of beginnings.</HI> It is Gods way in the carrying on of his great and <HI>glorious works of wonder,</HI> ever to begin very <HI>low,</HI> and ri&s;e <HI>high</HI> by degrees. I &s;hall in&s;tance onely in two things, both appertaining to Chri&s;ts Kingdom, and the rather becau&s;e (as hath been &s;hewed) that it is the <HI>great work of this age.</HI></P>
<P N="1">1 The Kingdom of Chri&s;t in his Churches, it is a mo&s;t <HI>glorious work,</HI> yet <HI>low in the beginning.</HI> The building of
<PB N="69" REF="40">the &s;econd Temple, which (as hath been &s;aid) was the type of this, had fir&s;t a <HI>day of &s;mal things, which lookers on were ready to de&s;pi&s;e.</HI> Zach. 4.10. <HI>Who hath de&s;pi&s;ed the day of &s;mal things?</HI> before a day of great things. Fir&s;t, a <HI>foundation &s;tone</HI> is laid, and then <HI>Zerubbabel</HI> the builder hath his hands holden forty years, before he can lay a <HI>top-&s;tone,</HI> or bring the <HI>work</HI> to perfection. The planting of Churches in the Primitive times, what a <HI>low beginning</HI> had it; one <HI>Paul,</HI> and a few poor Fi&s;her-men acting in this <HI>work,</HI> and that again&s;t all the world.</P>
<P>This is lively &s;et forth in that Parable, <HI>Matth.</HI> 13.31. <HI>The Kingdom of heaven is like unto a grain of mu&s;tard-&s;eed</HI>&mdash; It begins as a grain of mu&s;tard-&s;eed, which is the lea&s;t of all &s;eeds, and of this but one grain, not many; yet in the end it grows a <HI>Tree that the Fowls of the Hea|ven c<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">me to lodge in the branches of it.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2 The Kingdom of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> over the world, the glory of this <HI>work</HI> is &s;uch, that when it &s;hall be, the whole earth &s;hall be full of the glory of it; <HI>yet how little and low &s;hall this work be in the beginning.</HI> It is at fir&s;t <HI>a &s;tone cut out of the mountains without hands,</HI> little and weak, yet <HI>after, a great mountain filling the whole earth,</HI> Dan. 2.34, 35. It is fir&s;t <HI>a little one,</HI> after that a <HI>thou&s;and,</HI> I&s;a. 60. <HI>ult. A little one &s;hall become a thou|&s;and&mdash;</HI> It fir&s;t begins in <HI>Sion, i.e.</HI> in the Churches, a|mong&s;t a company of poor de&s;pi&s;ed wor&s;hippers of Chri&s;t (whereof <HI>Sion</HI> was a type) <HI>P&s;a.</HI> 2.6. <HI>Yet have I &s;et my King upon my holy hill of Sion.</HI> Afterwards it &s;pread it &s;elf over all the world, <HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 8, 9. <HI>Aske of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the utmo&s;t parts of the earth for thy po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion. Thou &s;halt rule them with a rod of iron, thou &s;halt break them in peeces like a potters ve&s;&s;el.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Davids Kingdom</HI> (the mo&s;t lively type of Chri&s;ts <HI>Kingdom</HI> over the world) how <HI>low</HI> and &s;eemingly unlikely
<PB N="70" REF="41">ever to ri&s;e, was it in the beginning? One <HI>David,</HI> a poor mans Son, a keeper of &s;heep, to be a King, and yet his Kingdom at pre&s;ent in the hands of another, a powerful King <HI>Saul,</HI> one cho&s;en and annoynted by God, to whom the whole Nation had &s;ubjected them&s;elves, and under whom they had obtained glorious Victories. Who would ever have thought this Kingdom could have ri&s;en, and yet it did?</P>
<P>Chri&s;ts riding into <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> as King (which, I take it, did &s;hadow out both the&s;e) it was upon an A&s;s, one of the mo&s;t de&s;picable of all the creatures; and yet, not upon a grown A&s;s neither, an A&s;s in his full &s;trength, but upon a Colt, the Foal of an A&s;s, the weake&s;t and mo&s;t de&s;picable, of the mo&s;t de&s;picable, <HI>Matth.</HI> 21.5.</P>
<P>Thus it is Gods way in great <HI>works</HI> (e&s;pecially in <HI>Ge|neration-work</HI>) to begin <HI>low,</HI> and <HI>ri&s;e</HI> by &s;teps. Now we &s;hall find that <HI>low beginnings</HI> in the <HI>work</HI> of the <HI>Ge|neration,</HI> have &s;ometimes been a <HI>di&s;couragement</HI> to per|&s;ons acting therein. So in <HI>Ezra's</HI> time, when the founda|tion of the &s;econd Temple was laid, the <HI>low</HI> and <HI>little be|ginnings</HI> did &s;o <HI>di&s;courage the</HI> ancient men who had &s;een the glory of the former hou&s;e, that it is &s;aid <HI>they wept with a loud voyce.</HI> chap. 3.12.</P>
<P N="2">2 At <HI>the powerfulne&s;s and &s;uccesfulne&s;s of oppo&s;ition again&s;t the work.</HI> As <HI>Generation-work</HI> hath never want|ed <HI>powerful oppo&s;ition;</HI> &s;o &s;ometimes <HI>oppo&s;ition</HI> for a while hath been <HI>&s;ucce&s;sful</HI> again&s;t the &s;ame. What <HI>powerful oppo&s;ition</HI> &s;hall be made again&s;t the <HI>work</HI> of God in the la&s;t times? <HI>viz.</HI> The <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">etting up Chri&s;t as King in <HI>Sion,</HI> or his Churches you have foretold, <HI>P&s;al</HI> 2. where we have <HI>oppo&s;ers</HI> of a higher note, <HI>Kings, Rulers; Oppo|&s;ers</HI> of a <HI>lower</HI> rank, <HI>Heathen people:</HI> Yet all, <HI>Prince,</HI> and <HI>Beggar</HI> can joyn hand in hand to <HI>oppo&s;e</HI> Chri&s;ts King|dom.</P>
<PB N="71" REF="41">
<P>And how <HI>&s;ucce&s;sful</HI> that <HI>oppo&s;ition</HI> made by the adver|&s;aries of <HI>Judah</HI> was to the <HI>work</HI> of the <HI>Generation</HI> in the days of <HI>Ezra,</HI> whereby a &s;top was put to the <HI>work</HI> for many years together, is there recorded. And which is to be noted, the very <HI>oppo&s;ition</HI> made by <HI>Judah's</HI> Enemys to the <HI>work;</HI> was, that which did exceedingly <HI>di&s;|courage</HI> and weaken the hands of them that wrought there|in, <HI>Ezra</HI> 4.4. <HI>Then the people of the Land weakned the hands of the people of</HI> Judah, <HI>and troubled them in the building.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3 At <HI>Great ones holding off, and withdrawing their hands from the work. Generation-work</HI> hath &s;eldom found the friend&s;hip of <HI>great ones; Have any of the chief Rulers or Phari&s;ees beleeved in him?</HI></P>
<P>In <HI>Nehemiah's</HI> time, the onely men that would not put their necks to the <HI>work</HI> of that <HI>age,</HI> were the Noble men, ch. 3.5. <HI>Their Nobles put not their necks to the work of their Lord.</HI> Now what a <HI>di&s;couragement</HI> it is to the meaner &s;ort to &s;ee the <HI>great ones</HI> &s;tand off, or with-draw, who knows not?</P>
<P>It is ob&s;ervable, which I would not here pa&s;s over, that in that <HI>age</HI> in which the <HI>Jews</HI> &s;hall be brought in, Gods fir&s;t glorious appearing &s;hall be among&s;t a middle &s;ort of people, <HI>Zech.</HI> 12.7. <HI>The Lord &s;hall &s;ave the Tents of Judah fir&s;t&mdash; i.e.</HI> God &s;hall fir&s;t begin to di&s;cover his glorious power, and make bare his arm of Salvation, not among&s;t the poore&s;t of all, who have no Tents, no place of habitation, but are Vagrant and Beggars; nor the riche&s;t, who have their &s;umptuous Palaces, and royal Hou&s;es; but a middle &s;ort of people, living in a plain, but an hono|rable and comely way, &s;uch as the way of living in Tents of old was; and the rea&s;on hereof is given, that <HI>the glory of the hou&s;e of David, and the Inhabitants of Jeru|&s;alem, do not magnifie them&s;elves again&s;t Judah, i.e.</HI> that men of Princely and noble blood, dwelling in Courts,
<PB N="72" REF="42">or &s;umptuous Palaces, or depending upon &s;uch places, may not (as hath been the manner from the beginning) magnifie them&s;elves again&s;t others, becau&s;e in a rank or ranks below them. If this &s;hall be the way of Gods <HI>di&s;|pen&s;ations</HI> towards that <HI>age,</HI> be not <HI>di&s;couraged,</HI> in ca&s;e we now who are fallen into the &s;ame, &s;ee many <HI>great ones</HI> with|drawing their hands from the <HI>work.</HI></P>
<P N="4">4 At <HI>the perfidious and treacherous dealing of &s;ome particular per&s;ons imployed in the work.</HI> It is no new thing in <HI>Generation-work,</HI> as to meet with <HI>oppo&s;ition</HI> a|broad, &s;o <HI>treachery</HI> nearer home. <HI>David</HI> in his <HI>work</HI> had a treacherous &s;on <HI>Ab&s;olom,</HI> a treacherous Coun&s;ellor <HI>Ach<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">tophel. Nehemiah</HI> in the carrying on of his <HI>work</HI> had a <HI>treacherous Shemaiah,</HI> yea <HI>treacherous</HI> Nobles acting with him as <HI>chap,</HI> 6.10, 17. Chri&s;t in his <HI>work</HI> had a <HI>treacherous Judas</HI> for one of his followers.</P>
<P>And what a <HI>di&s;couragement treachery</HI> in &s;ome, is to others, that one in&s;tance of <HI>Ab&s;oloms treachery</HI> is proof enough, which did &s;o &s;inke the heart of <HI>David</HI> him|&s;elf, and the hearts of all his mighty men of valour, yea of the whole Country, that <HI>they fled weeping with a loud voyce from Ab&s;olom,</HI> 2 Sam. 15.23.30.</P>
<P N="5">5 At <HI>the meeting with di&s;appointments. Di&s;appoint|ments</HI> of expectations prove oft times <HI>di&s;couragements,</HI> at be&s;t di&s;quietments to tho&s;e that meet with them in their <HI>work.</HI> A <HI>di&s;appointment</HI> did &s;o di&s;-hearten bold &s;pirited <HI>Jeremy,</HI> that he took up a ha&s;ty re&s;olution to quit his hands of <HI>Gods work,</HI> chap. 20.7, 8, 9. Yea <HI>Paul</HI> him&s;elf (though a man &s;o watchful, active, and having &s;uch command over his Spirit, as none more) was &s;o di&s;quieted by a <HI>di&s;ap|pointment</HI> (and one would think it a &s;mal one too, onely mi&s;&s;ing of <HI>Titus</HI>) that he lo&s;t a very fair opportunity of doing Chri&s;t &s;ervice at <HI>Troas,</HI> 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 2.12, 13.</P>
<P N="6">6 At <HI>unkindne&s;&s;es received from tho&s;e who&s;e good and welfare we have ever clo&s;ely pur&s;ued in the work.</HI>
<PB N="73" REF="42">It is a remarkable example, and pertinent to the thing in hand, that of <HI>Mo&s;es, Exo.</HI> 17. who having (as an in&s;trument under God) brought <HI>I&s;rael</HI> out of <HI>Aegypt,</HI> carried them through the Red Sea; yea made it his bu&s;ine&s;s from fir&s;t to la&s;t, above any thing of his own, to &s;eek their good and welfare, meeting with &s;o <HI>unkind</HI> a return, (for all his tender care of them) as that no &s;ooner did they want a little water, but pre&s;ently they fall to chide with, and up|braid him, as men ready to &s;tone him, ver&s;. 2, 3, 4. He is &s;o <HI>di&s;couraged</HI> hereby, as that this very <HI>di&s;couragement</HI> pu&s;heth him into that &s;in again&s;t the <HI>work</HI> of his <HI>Genera|tion,</HI> for which, and no other, he is &s;hut out of <HI>Canaan,</HI> as compare ver&s;. 7. with <HI>Num.</HI> 20.12, 13.</P>
<P N="7">7 At <HI>multiplyed &s;entences of death put upon the work;</HI> This though it will take in &s;ome of the foregoing <HI>di&s;couragements,</HI> which are but as &s;o many <HI>&s;entences of death</HI> put upon the <HI>work:</HI> Yet becau&s;e it may be extended farther, I &s;hall here allow it a particular place by it &s;elf.</P>
<P>The more grace and mercy is wrapped up in any of Gods <HI>di&s;pen&s;ations</HI> towards his people, the more and greater <HI>&s;entences of death</HI> are u&s;ually put upon that <HI>work</HI> which tho&s;e <HI>di&s;pen&s;ations</HI> call for, and by which, this mercy is to be u&s;hered in. The <HI>di&s;pen&s;ation</HI> of God to|wards <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> in bringing them out of <HI>Aegypt,</HI> was a <HI>di&s;pen&s;ation</HI> full of mercy, and nothing more verified in the &s;tory of it then this, that multiplied <HI>&s;entences of death</HI> did attend the work. Before deliverance comes, they are in <HI>hard bondage;</HI> when deliverance was neer, their <HI>bondage grows higher,</HI> and their tale of bricks is <HI>doubled.</HI> No &s;ooner are they come out of <HI>Aegypt,</HI> but they are in&s;tantly at <HI>deaths door,</HI> being &s;urrounded (as it were) with <HI>de|&s;truction;</HI> a <HI>Sea</HI> before them, <HI>Ro<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ks</HI> impa&s;&s;able of either &s;ide, an ho&s;t of <HI>armed men</HI> behind them, coming pur|po&s;ely to <HI>de&s;troy</HI> them, No &s;ooner is this danger over, but
<PB N="74" REF="43"><HI>wanting bread,</HI> the whole Congregation is ready to fami&s;h with hunger; and this no &s;ooner pa&s;t, but they <HI>want wa|ter,</HI> and are all at the point of <HI>peri&s;hing</HI> for thir&s;t; and by that time this was over, <HI>Amalek,</HI> a warlike Nation, en|gageth them (who had never &s;een War) in the open wilderne&s;s. God had great mercy, mercy upon mercy for <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> and here were great <HI>&s;entences of death, &s;en|tence of death</HI> upon <HI>&s;entence of death</HI> attending them, as they were in the way to it.</P>
<P>Now that which was the mi&s;ery, and indeed the very undoing of this people, was, that in&s;tead of <HI>beleeving,</HI> when a <HI>&s;entence of death</HI> was over them, they were <HI>di&s;couraged</HI> thereby, and &s;treight way began to <HI>murmure,</HI> which <HI>murmuring</HI> of theirs in the end co&s;t them <HI>dear,</HI> as the &s;tory will tell us.</P>
<P>But the principal thing in my aim is this, which is worth our ob&s;ervation, <HI>viz. That it was a mear di&s;couragement occa&s;ioned by a &s;entence of death, put upon the work of the Generation, through the evil report brought home by tho&s;e &s;pies &s;ent to view the land of Canaan, which was the fatal Rock whereupon the whole Nation of &s;ix hundred thou&s;and men, and up|wards</HI> (Caleb <HI>and</HI> Jo&s;huah <HI>excepted) did &s;uffer &s;hip|wrack,</HI> as will appear by comparing <HI>Num.</HI> 13.32. with Chap. 14.1, 2, 28, 29, 30. A le&s;&s;on for tho&s;e to think of, who giving way to their <HI>di&s;couragements,</HI> when a <HI>&s;en|tence of death</HI> is upon Chri&s;ts cau&s;e, do flinch from the <HI>work</HI> of Chri&s;t in the&s;e dayes.</P>
<P N="3">3 Take heed <HI>of envy again&s;t &s;uch whom God imploys in the work of the Generation.</HI> Envy again&s;t in&s;tru|ments imployed by God in <HI>Generation-work</HI> was a part of <HI>I&s;raels</HI> &s;in, for which they fell in the wilderne&s;s, as <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 106.16. <HI>They envied Mo&s;es in the Camp, and Aaron the Saint of God.</HI> Meer <HI>envy</HI> again&s;t Chri&s;t drew the Prie&s;ts and people in Chri&s;ts time to reject him, and
<PB N="75" REF="43">&s;in again&s;t the <HI>work</HI> of the <HI>Generation,</HI> Matth. 27.18. Mark 15.10.</P>
<P><HI>Envie</HI> of per&s;ons <HI>imployed</HI> in the <HI>work</HI> hath oft-times rai&s;ed oppo&s;ition to the <HI>work</HI> it &s;elf of the <HI>Generation:</HI> That work, which if done by &s;ome &s;hould have found ap|probation, is therefore di&s;plea&s;ing, becau&s;e done by others. <Q>As &s;aid a Popi&s;h Cardinal in <HI>Luthers</HI> time: <HI>A refor|mation indeed is needful, and to the wi&s;hed, but that</HI> Luther <HI>a ra&s;cal Frier &s;hould be the man &s;hould do it, this is intollerable.</HI></Q></P>
<P N="4">4 Take heed <HI>of procra&s;tinating that work which is the bu&s;ine&s;s of the pre&s;ent Generation, under a pretence that the time of doing of it is not yet come, neither are things ripe for it.</HI> This was the fault of tho&s;e in <HI>Haggai's</HI> time (for which they are &s;harply reproved for it) who did <HI>put off</HI> the work of the building of Gods hou&s;e, un|der pretence <HI>the time was not come,</HI> Hag. 1.2. This people &s;ay the time is not come, the time that the Lords hou&s;e &s;hould be built.</P>
<P N="5">5 Take heed <HI>of limiting God to Ordinaries.</HI> My meaning is, in ca&s;e <HI>ordinary</HI> means for the carrying on of the <HI>work</HI> be wanting, and cannot be had, take heed you do not &s;o bind up God to the&s;e, as thereupon to de&s;ert the <HI>work.</HI> In <HI>Generation-work</HI> God in all <HI>ages</HI> hath allowed him&s;elf a latitude in <HI>working,</HI> not tying him&s;elf to <HI>Ordi|naries.</HI> Now when God walks in a way of <HI>Extraordi|naries,</HI> it is not only lawful, but a <HI>duty</HI> in ca&s;e <HI>Ordinaries</HI> fail, to beleeve for <HI>Extraordinaries.</HI></P>
<P>It was an <HI>extraordinary</HI> thing to <HI>beleeve</HI> that the bare <HI>&s;triking</HI> of a Rock &s;hould fetch out water thence, enough to &s;upply a million of people ready to dye for thir&s;t; Yet becau&s;e <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and <HI>Aaron</HI> in an <HI>age</HI> wherein God walked in a way of <HI>Extraordinaries,</HI> did not <HI>beleeve,</HI> for this their <HI>unbeleef,</HI> is &s;everely puni&s;hed, <HI>Num.</HI> 20.10, 11, 12.</P>
<PB N="76" REF="44">
<P N="6">6 Take heed <HI>of neglecting the nick of opportunity that God puts into thy hands to do the work of thy Ge|neration in.</HI> There is a day, and a <HI>nick of opportunity</HI> which God lets &s;ome per&s;ons have to &s;erve their <HI>Generati|ons</HI> in; which if let &s;lip, they are gone (as to Gods u&s;ing of them any more) and that pa&s;t recovery.</P>
<P><HI>E&s;ter</HI> had a <HI>nick of opportunity,</HI> which had &s;he &s;lip|ped, though deliverance &s;hould have ari&s;en to Gods peo|ple another way, yet &s;he and her Fathers hou&s;e had been de&s;troyed. There was <HI>a nick of opportunity</HI> that <HI>I&s;rael</HI> had to enter <HI>Canaan</HI> upon the return of the Spies, which had they imbraced, the door &s;tood open for them, but they neglecting it (though it were in a ha&s;ty fit, and a thing which pre&s;ently too they recanted, wi&s;hing they had ne|ver done it) the door is &s;hut, and now it is too late to re|pent it, for their carka&s;es mu&s;t fall in the wilderne&s;s. Take heed of loo&s;ing the <HI>nick of opportunity</HI> wherein thou may&s;t act for God, le&s;t afterwards when perhaps act thou would&s;t, God will not own thee in his <HI>work.</HI></P>
<P N="7">7 Take heed of <HI>foreca&s;ting events, but do thy work, and leave events to God. Jonas</HI> by <HI>foreca&s;ting events,</HI> that God was gracious, and would therefore &s;pare <HI>Ni|neveh,</HI> and then he &s;hould be e&s;teemed a fal&s;e Prophet, runs from the <HI>work</HI> of his <HI>Generation,</HI> Jon. 4.2.</P>
<P N="8">8 Take heed of <HI>&s;etling thy &s;elf upon &s;eeming godly and righteous principles, when the&s;e cla&s;h with the work of the Generation.</HI> Many men look no farther then this, in ca&s;e they have a <HI>principle</HI> which &s;eems <HI>ju&s;t</HI> and <HI>pious,</HI> they think that will bear them out what ever they do. But had not <HI>Caiapha<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"></HI> &s;o, when he was Lord chief Ju&s;tice in coun&s;elling and contriving the mo&s;t notorious bloody de|&s;ign that ever &s;aw light? What more <HI>righteous, and &s;eem|ingly godly principle</HI> then this, that <HI>one man &s;hould dy<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> to &s;ave the lives of a whole Nation?</HI> yet this <HI>principl<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"></HI> &s;o <HI>ju&s;t,</HI> &s;o <HI>pious</HI> to an eye of rea&s;on was the Fo&s;ter-father
<PB N="77" REF="44">of that mo&s;t cur&s;ed nefarious act (I mean as acted by them) of putting Chri&s;t to death.</P>
<P>And here to add an in&s;tance or two more, borrowed of a worthy &s;ervant of Chri&s;t in the&s;e our dayes,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mr. <HI>Owens</HI> Sermon preached before the Parliament, Octob. 24. 1651. being the Publick Thank&s;gi|ving for our <HI>Worce&s;ter</HI> Deliverance.</NOTE> becau&s;e fitly applicable to the thing in hand. What more <HI>righteous</HI> <Q><HI>principle</HI> than this, that it belongs to the chief Ruler of a Nation, to &s;ee to the profit and glory of that Nation? Yet <HI>Pharaoh</HI> &s;etling him&s;elf upon this <HI>righteous principle,</HI> only evil as it did cro&s;s the <HI>work</HI> of that <HI>Generation,</HI> to the end his Realm might receive no detriment by letting <HI>I&s;rael</HI> go, who&s;e continuance in that bondage was &s;o much for their advantage, he, and his peri&s;h in their <HI>principles,</HI> being led by the&s;e to act again&s;t the <HI>work</HI> of their <HI>Generation.</HI> So what more <HI>prudent</HI> and <HI>ju&s;t prin|ciple</HI> than this, that it is not meet to let a Potent Enemy into the bowels of a Nation? yet <HI>Sihon</HI> King of the <HI>Amorites</HI> upon this <HI>principle</HI> oppo&s;ing <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> at the time in which God was leading them into <HI>Canaan,</HI> he and and all his people peri&s;h by it.</Q> Take heed of doing all that thou conceits thou ha&s;t a <HI>principle,</HI> will bear thee out in doing.</P>
<P N="9">9 Take heed <HI>of lending an ear unto &s;uch friendly re&s;pectful offers, which carry in the bowels of them (though guilded over with outward re&s;pect and friend|&s;hip) a crafty de&s;ign again&s;t the work of the Genera|tion.</HI> As <HI>Generation-work</HI> hath never wanted a party who have by open force <HI>oppo&s;ed</HI> the &s;ame; So likewi&s;e there hath mo&s;tly been a party attending of it, who by &s;ecret fraud and pretences of <HI>Friend&s;hip</HI> have &s;ought to undermine it, which latter have oft-times pro&s;pered in their de&s;igns (through the over-much credulity of per&s;ons
<PB N="78" REF="45">imployed in <HI>Generation-work</HI>) when and where the fir&s;t have failed.</P>
<P>Was it not a very <HI>fair offer of Moab,</HI> (when other|wi&s;e they could not have their wills upon <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> then) to come, and in a friendly way to call and invite the people to their hou&s;es, and to grant to them (though &s;trangers, and men of different <HI>principles</HI>) liberty to wor&s;hip with them? What a large <HI>&s;hew of re&s;pect</HI> and curte&s;ie was here? And yet no other but a meer <HI>crafty de&s;ign</HI> to draw <HI>I&s;racl</HI> to &s;in, by which (when no other way they could do it) they drew the <HI>wrath of God upon I&s;rael, Numb.</HI> 25.</P>
<P>So was it not a very <HI>fair</HI> Petition of <HI>Adonijah,</HI> 1 Kings 2.16, 17. to ask <HI>Abi&s;hag</HI> the <HI>Shunamite</HI> to wife? a thing one would think to man could have blamed; yet <HI>Solomon</HI> &s;pies out a <HI>crafty de&s;ign,</HI> laid in this &s;mooth Petition, which was to get the Kingdome, and con&s;equently to put by the <HI>great work</HI> of that <HI>Genera|tion,</HI> viz. <HI>the building of the Temple, which Solomon was appointed unto.</HI></P>
<P>So likewi&s;e what a <HI>friendly motion,</HI> and &s;eemingly full of <HI>dutiful re&s;pect</HI> and <HI>obedience,</HI> was that of <HI>She|majah</HI> to <HI>Nehemiah?</HI> Chap. 6.10. wherein no other thing is pretended but the di&s;covery of a dangerous plot in the hatching, and tender re&s;pect to the &s;afeguard of his per&s;on, and yet this no other but a <HI>crafty de&s;ign,</HI> to draw <HI>Nehemiah</HI> to &s;in, and to bring a &s;lurre up|on him, in managing the <HI>work</HI> of his <HI>Generation,</HI> ver&s;. 13.</P>
<P>To &s;ay no more, What could be in outward ap|pearance a more <HI>friendly offer</HI> then that of <HI>Judahs</HI> Adver&s;aries, <HI>Ezra</HI> 4.2. to come, and freely proffer their help, and to joyn with <HI>Judah</HI> in the carrying on that <HI>great work</HI> of Temple-building, which was the
<PB N="79" REF="45"><HI>work</HI> of that <HI>Age?</HI> Yea, and to do this at &s;uch a time when the <HI>work</HI> was de&s;pi&s;ed, and had lien dead many years, the in&s;truments imployed in it few and weak, &s;o that laying all things together, one would judge that there could be nothing in their hearts more than good will to the <HI>work,</HI> and de&s;ire the &s;ame &s;hould pro&s;per; when as yet there was no thing in all this fair &s;hew but a <HI>crafty de&s;ign</HI> lying at the bottome of it to ob&s;truct this work of God, as ver&s;. 4, 5, 6.</P>
<P N="10">10 Take heed <HI>of making rea&s;on of State the rule of publick actings.</HI> Jeroboams <HI>rea&s;on of State</HI> made <HI>Johu</HI> perform by halves the <HI>work</HI> of his <HI>Generation,</HI> de&s;troying the hou&s;e and image of <HI>Baal,</HI> but winking at the Calves in <HI>Dan</HI> and <HI>Bethel.</HI> This <HI>rea&s;on of State</HI> was that which led a grave wi&s;e Coun&s;el into a mo&s;t cur&s;ed practice, <HI>viz.</HI> the voting the Son of God to death, <HI>John</HI> 11.47. to the 54. The re&s;ults of pure <HI>rea&s;on of State,</HI> are oft-times dangerous, mo&s;t times con|trary to the <HI>work</HI> of the <HI>Generation.</HI></P>
<P N="11">11 Take heed <HI>of &s;etting up humane Laws above the work of the Generation.</HI> My meaning is, in ca&s;e the&s;e two come in competition rather to choo&s;e neglect in the <HI>work of the Generation,</HI> than in any way to be offen&s;ive to humane Laws.</P>
<P>If the Commands of God him&s;elf, and the &s;pecial acts of his wor&s;hip are to give place (as hath been be|fore proved) to the <HI>work</HI> of the <HI>Generation,</HI> then &s;ure|ly without any want of that due re&s;pect, that is, and ought to be given to mans Law, it may be &s;aid, and al&s;o without offence, that humane Laws are much more to &s;toop, and fall down to it; the Authority of God being above that of man.</P>
<P>In <HI>E&s;ters</HI> time there was a Law in the Kingdome of <HI>Aha&s;uerus,</HI> and the foundation of it was no other but the priviledge and honour of the &s;upreme Magi|&s;trate,
<PB N="80" REF="46">that who&s;oever, man or woman, &s;hould come in unto the King in the inner Court, except &s;uch to whom the King &s;hould hold out the golden Scepter, he &s;hould be put to death, Chap. 4.11. Which Law in it &s;elf was not evill, as it was meerly Politick, re&s;pecting only the Honour, State, and Priviledge of the King: Yet when the Cau&s;e and People of God lay at &s;uch a plunge, that without intrenching upon this Law, Gods Cau&s;e in that <HI>Age</HI> mu&s;t have fell to the ground; <HI>E&s;ther,</HI> though uncalled by the King, yea more, having no other Command from God (as formerly hath been &s;hewed) but only the vi&s;ible <HI>Call</HI> of a <HI>Di&s;pen&s;ation,</HI> pu&s;heth upon the Pikes of the Law, and runs the hazard of the perill of death, and how wonderfully God did &s;tand by her, and pre&s;erve her in &s;o doing, the i&s;&s;ue of this her dange|rous attempt recorded in the Hi&s;tory may &s;ufficiently in|form us.</P>
<P N="12">12 And la&s;tly, Take heed <HI>of conjunction with &s;uch who are not reall hearted to the Cau&s;e of God, and the work of the Generation.</HI> When <HI>I&s;rael</HI> went up out of <HI>Egypt</HI> a mixed multitude of <HI>Egyptians,</HI> and others that were not <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI> went up with them, <HI>Exod.</HI> 12.38. Which mixed multitude did afterwards prove a &s;nare to them, even in the very <HI>work</HI> of the <HI>Generation,</HI> by drawing the Congregation to murmure again&s;t the Lord, <HI>Numb.</HI> 11.4. <HI>And the mixed mul|titude that was among&s;t them fell a lu&s;ting, and the Children of I&s;rael al&s;o wept again, and &s;aid, Who &s;hall give us fle&s;h to eat?</HI></P>
<P>What need I relate that which every one knows? how godly <HI>A&s;a</HI> lo&s;t him&s;elf by his League with <HI>Benhadad</HI> King of <HI>Syria,</HI> and good <HI>Jeho&s;haphat</HI> by his compliance with <HI>Ahab,</HI> and <HI>Ahaziah.</HI> And al|though it be true that the examples of the Kings of <HI>Judah</HI> are not in all things patterns for States and King|domes
<PB N="81" REF="46">in Go&s;pel-dayes to walk by; yet the rea&s;on up|on which the Seer reproves <HI>A&s;a</HI> becau&s;e he relied upon the King of <HI>A&s;&s;yria,</HI> and not on the Lord, fals as &s;trongly upon profe&s;&s;ing States under the Go&s;pel, as it did on him: who &s;hall, I hope, be kept both from his &s;in, and &s;o from his reproof: Which he &s;hall con|tinue to pray for, who is a friend to <HI>Sions</HI> pro&s;perity, and al&s;o <HI>Englands</HI> welfare and intere&s;t, which is, and will be found &s;olely depending on it. <HI>They &s;hall pro&s;per that love thee,</HI> P&s;al. 122.6. <HI>Amen.</HI></P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="47" MS="y">
<PB REF="47">
<P>Generation-work: <HI>The Second Part.</HI></P>
<P>Wherein is &s;hewed, what the De&s;igns of God abroad in the World, may in all likelyhood be, at this pre|&s;ent day, and in the days approaching.</P>
<P>Being an Expo&s;ition of the Seven VIALS, <HI>Rev.</HI> 16.</P>
<P>And other Apocalyptical My&s;teries.</P>
<P><HI>By</HI> John Tillingha&s;t, <HI>the meane&s;t and unworthie&s;t of Chri&s;ts Laborers.</HI></P>
<Q><BIBL><HI>Rev. 14.7.</HI></BIBL> <P>Fear God, and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgement is come.</P></Q>
<Q><BIBL><HI>Chap. 12.12.</HI></BIBL> <P>Therefore rejoyce ye heavens, and ye that dwel in them; Wo to the Inhabiters of the Earth, and of the Sea, for the Devil is come down unto you, ha|ving great wrath, becau&s;e he knoweth that he hath but a &s;hort time.</P></Q>
<Q><BIBL><HI>Chap. 11.18.</HI></BIBL> <P>And the Nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead that they &s;hould be judged, and that thou &s;houlde&s;t give reward unto thy &s;ervants the Prophets, and to the Saints, &amp;c.</P></Q>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed by <HI>R. Ibbit&s;on</HI> for <HI>Livewell Chapman</HI> at the <HI>Crown</HI> in <HI>Popes-head-Alley,</HI> 1655.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<PB REF="48">
<PB REF="48">
<HEAD>The Epi&s;tle Dedicatory.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>To all tho&s;e who love. and patiently wait for the Appearing and Kingdom of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> Grace and Peace be multiplied.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>Dearly beloved in our Lord,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>_IT is reported of the Primitive Saints, that the&s;e words, the <HI>KINGDOM OF CHRIST,</HI> the <HI>KINGDOM OF CHRIST,</HI> were &s;o <HI>frequent</HI> in their mouths, that their malicious Adver&s;aries (willing to mi&s;take the &s;implicity of their meaning and in|tention) did make the words matter of <HI>Fact,</HI> charging them hereupon with <HI>Trea&s;on,</HI> as if they had driven on &s;ome de&s;ign to get for them&s;elves the Kingdom.</P>
<P>Whether the <HI>&s;implicity</HI> of the Saints in the <HI>age</HI> we <HI>live in,</HI> who being come to the very <HI>dawning</HI> of the day, and beholding the Lord <HI>going up</HI> to his Kingdom, cannot hold their peace, but mu&s;t cry out <HI>HOSANNA TO THE SON OF DAVID, HOSANNA IN THE HIGHEST,</HI> may through the <HI>&s;ubtlety</HI> of the old Ser|pent have any &s;uch <HI>abu&s;e</HI> put upon it, or no, I wave at pre&s;ent. But this I am &s;ure of, the fir&s;t ages had not the Kingdom of Chri&s;t &s;o <HI>much</HI> in their mouths, but after ages had it as <HI>little;</HI> their hearts were not &s;o warm to it, but the generations &s;ince have been as <HI>cold.</HI> And indeed
<PB REF="49">it was <HI>nece&s;&s;ary</HI> it &s;hould &s;o be; for the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> Antichri&s;t being to ri&s;e in the world, who after his ri&s;e mu&s;t continue to reign two and forty months, <HI>Rev.</HI> 13.5. it was needful therefore, to the end he might be <HI>revealed,</HI> that there &s;hould be (as the Apo&s;tle tels us 2 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 2.3.) <HI>a falling away,</HI> which falling away above all things was <HI>nece&s;&s;ary,</HI> that it &s;hould be in the <HI>Truths of Chri&s;ts Kingdom,</HI> no <HI>Truths</HI> being &s;o diametrically <HI>oppo&s;ite</HI> to <HI>Antichri&s;t</HI> as the&s;e; others &s;hake off his <HI>leaves,</HI> the&s;e pluck him up by the <HI>roots.</HI> If therefore the policy of the Dragon had not found out a way to brand <HI>the&s;e Truths,</HI> and by making them odious, to hold them down, his Kingdom mu&s;t have <HI>fallen</HI> many ages &s;ince, for he &s;hould have had no Bea&s;t to re&s;ign his Power, Seat, and great Authority to. It &s;tood him greatly in hand therefore by &s;ome means to cloud the&s;e, which by continuing to &s;hine, would have nipped Antichri&s;t in the bud; and this the wi&s;dom of God permitting, to ac|compli&s;h thereby in the end a more glorious de&s;ign, which he effectually did.</P>
<P>Hence within the <HI>fourth Century</HI> (at the end of which the Bea&s;t aro&s;e) the <HI>Truths</HI> of Chri&s;ts Kingdom (before generally received) began to be <HI>condemned,</HI> and to go un|der the odious name of <HI>Here&s;ie.</HI></P>
<P>Hence al&s;o we <HI>finde</HI> not in the <HI>Revelations</HI> any <HI>mention</HI> made of Chri&s;ts Kingdom, nor any noy&s;e of &s;uch a thing in the world all the time of the Bea&s;ts reign; but the great cry of the dwellers on the Earth is, <HI>The Bea&s;t, the Bea&s;t, who is like unto the Bea&s;t? yea the whole world wonde|reth after the Bea&s;t,</HI> Rev. 13.3, 4.</P>
<P>But now in the <HI>latter</HI> days, as the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> begins to go <HI>down,</HI> &s;o do the precious <HI>Truths</HI> of Chri&s;ts Kingdom a|gain begin to <HI>revive,</HI> and have a <HI>re&s;urrection.</HI></P>
<P>Hence we finde that as the <HI>world</HI> by degrees gets <HI>rid</HI> of the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> &s;o is the cry in it &s;till louder and louder of <HI>Chri&s;ts Kingdom.</HI></P>
<PB REF="49">
<P>Fir&s;t, Among&s;t the <HI>Saints</HI> in the <HI>world,</HI> who no &s;oo|ner have got &s;o much footing as to <HI>&s;tand</HI> and <HI>face</HI> the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> which before trod them down, and trampled upon them, but <HI>pre&s;ently</HI> they make the <HI>world ring</HI> again, with the <HI>noi&s;e of Chri&s;ts Kingdom.</HI> Rev. 15.2, 3, 4. <HI>And I &s;aw them that had gotten the victory over the Bea&s;t, and o|ver his Image, and over his Mark, and over the num|ber of his Name, &s;tand on the Sea of gla&s;s having the Harps of God, And they &s;ing the Song of</HI> Mo&s;es <HI>the &s;ervant of the Lord, and the Song of the Lamb, &s;aying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Al|mighty, ju&s;t and true are thy ways thou King of Saints; Who &s;hall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorifie thy name, for thou onely art holy? for all Nations &s;hall come and wor&s;hip before thee, for thy judgements are made manife&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, After this the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> having received a more <HI>fatal blow,</HI> the <HI>cry</HI> of <HI>Chri&s;ts Kingdom,</HI> that was be|fore among <HI>&s;ome Saints</HI> onely, is now more <HI>general,</HI> and runs among the <HI>multitudes,</HI> yea, the <HI>great ones</HI> too (of whom till this day we hear little) as <HI>Rev.</HI> 19.6. <HI>And I heard as it were the voyce of a great multitude, and as the voyce of many waters, and as the voyce of mighty Thunderings, &s;aying, Allelujah, for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.</HI></P>
<P>Thirdly and la&s;tly, Yet after this, upon the <HI>&s;ounding</HI> of the <HI>&s;eventh Angel</HI> (when Chri&s;t comes to take his Kingdom) it is then <HI>openly proclaimed</HI> with a <HI>great voyce,</HI> Rev. 11.15. <HI>The Kingdoms of this world are be|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ome the Kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Chri&s;t, and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e &s;hall reign for ever.</HI> And as an <HI>echo</HI> to this <HI>voyce,</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">he hearts of Gods faithful ones reply, v. 17. <HI>We give thee <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">hanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wert, and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">rt to come, becau&s;e thou ha&s;t taken to thee this great <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ower, and ha&s;t reigned.</HI></P>
<PB REF="50">
<P>Thus the <HI>noy&s;e</HI> and <HI>cry</HI> in the <HI>world</HI> towards the <HI>latter</HI> end of Antichri&s;ts reign, is very <HI>different</HI> to that which was in the <HI>time</HI> of his reign, then the <HI>cry</HI> was, <HI>The Bea&s;t, The Bea&s;t:</HI> now the <HI>old cry</HI> is up again, <HI>The Kingdom of Chri&s;t, The Kingdom of Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>Yet, <HI>notwith&s;tanding</HI> the <HI>cry</HI> of Chri&s;ts Kingdom &s;hall at this day be &s;o <HI>loud,</HI> &s;hall not the <HI>ears</HI> of all, no not of the <HI>Saints them&s;elves,</HI> be <HI>open</HI> to <HI>hear it;</HI> but <HI>&s;ome</HI> of them (as well as others) &s;hall be &s;o deeply wedded to the &s;weetne&s;s of <HI>Antichri&s;tian wordly intere&s;ts</HI> that (to main|tain the&s;e) they &s;hall rather choo&s;e to <HI>&s;it by the waters of Babylon,</HI> than with the lo&s;s of them to &s;tand with <HI>the Lamb upon Mount Sion;</HI> el&s;e what <HI>need</HI> would there be of any &s;uch <HI>Proclamation</HI> to be made, as we read, is im|mediately before <HI>Romes ruin?</HI> Rev. 18.4. <HI>Come out of her my people, that yee be not partakers of her &s;ins, and that yee receive not of her plagues.</HI></P>
<P>And <HI>the&s;e</HI> who <HI>thus &s;hall do,</HI> are not to be <HI>reckoned</HI> among tho&s;e who in this great bu&s;ine&s;s <HI>followed not the Lamb at all,</HI> but among <HI>tho&s;e</HI> who <HI>followed the Lamb &s;ome part of the way</HI> towards Mount Sion, but upon &s;ome <HI>turn,</HI> or <HI>falling in</HI> with &s;ome worldly plea&s;ing intere&s;t, by the way did quit his company, before they came thi|ther.</P>
<P>For this cau&s;e the <HI>hundred forty and four thou&s;and,</HI> which &s;tand with the Lamb upon Mount Sion, <HI>Rev.</HI> 14.1, 2, 3, 4. are <HI>differenced</HI> from others, not in <HI>this,</HI> that <HI>they were Saints,</HI> and others <HI>not;</HI> nor in <HI>this,</HI> that they <HI>fol|lowed the Lamb,</HI> which others <HI>did not;</HI> but the <HI>differ|ence</HI> is made to lye in the&s;e two things:</P>
<P N="1">1 They were <HI>Virgin-Saints,</HI> which had not <HI>defiled them&s;elves with women, i.e.</HI> were not e&s;pou&s;ed to any worldly intere&s;t, the de&s;ire of which is as natural to the hearts of men, as the de&s;ire of women; and particularly, they had never any thing to do with the intere&s;t of that
<PB REF="50">Whori&s;h woman, &s;poken of <HI>Chap.</HI> 17. And this to be the meaning of the phra&s;e the foregoing words do give it, which by a parallel phra&s;e, &s;etting forth the &s;ame thing, cals them the <HI>Redeemed from the earth, i. e.</HI> from earthly intere&s;ts, as outward glory, honor, riches, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2 They were &s;uch who <HI>follow the Lamb whether&s;o|ever he goes, Ver&s;.</HI> 4. If the Lamb will go in &s;trange untrodden paths, making his way over the necks of the Kings, and Princes of this world, they will follow him there. If in unplea&s;ing paths, turning about in a manner upon them&s;elves, and treading under feet their beloved in|tere&s;ts, dear, and near Relations, taking from them their outward glory and ornaments, yet they will make a turn with him, and follow him there: for they are &s;uch as will <HI>follow the Lamb whether&s;oever he goes.</HI> Now although there may be many be&s;ides the&s;e at this day, who may come under the more general Character of <HI>Saint-&s;hip,</HI> and <HI>fol|lowers of the Lamb, i.e.</HI> for &s;ome time, yet &s;hall they be found &s;hort of the&s;e particular Characters, <HI>viz.</HI> of being <HI>Virgin-Saints, un-e&s;pou&s;ed to worldly intere&s;ts, and followers of the Lamb not onely here, and there, but whi|ther&s;oever he goes.</HI></P>
<P>Hence we have it &s;pecially noted of the&s;e, that <HI>they &s;ing as it wert a new Song, before the Throne, which no man could learn, but onely the one hundred forty four thou|&s;and which were redeemed from the earth,</HI> ver&s;. 3. Why doth the Holy Gho&s;t &s;ay, <HI>As it were a new Song,</HI> and not rather a <HI>new Song?</HI> The rea&s;on I take to be this, be|cau&s;e the <HI>Song</HI> for the <HI>matter</HI> of it in <HI>general,</HI> is the <HI>old Song,</HI> i.e. the <HI>&s;ame Song &s;till,</HI> that all the children of <HI>Sion</HI> &s;ung together upon their fir&s;t coming out of <HI>Babylon.</HI> But now the <HI>Lamb</HI> their Leader, having upon his march to|wards Mount <HI>Sion,</HI> taken &s;ome &s;trange, rough, untroden, unexpected paths, which they upon their coming out did not &s;o much as dream of, many of tho&s;e who upon his
<PB REF="51">fir&s;t march &s;et forth with him, with as loud a cry as the re&s;t: begin now &s;ome to draw backwards again to <HI>Babylon,</HI> &s;ome to lag behind their Colours; and now <HI>they can &s;ing with the re&s;t no longer, i.e.</HI> they cannot now any longer own his Appearances and workings, prai&s;e him or magnifie his name for them; yet for all this, even at this time when many fall off offended, the <HI>One hundred forty four thou|&s;and redeemed from the Earth,</HI> they march on with the Lamb, <HI>&s;inging &s;till,</HI> owning, approving his works, re&s;ol|ving to keep him company whether&s;oever he goes. Now in this re&s;pect the Holy Gho&s;t doth not term it <HI>a new Song,</HI> but <HI>as it were a new Song,</HI> becau&s;e it puzzles mo&s;t of the <HI>old Singers,</HI> &s;eeming akogether new, and another to them, though yet indeed it is the <HI>&s;ame,</HI> the <HI>change</HI> being more in them, than in the <HI>Song,</HI> and the <HI>One hundred forty four thou&s;and can &s;ing it &s;till.</HI></P>
<P>Hence likewi&s;e this <HI>One hundred forty four thou&s;and</HI> are &s;poken of as being a <HI>&s;elect</HI> and <HI>picked party</HI> called therefore, ver&s;. 4. <HI>The redeemed from among men, be|ing the fir&s;t fruits unto God, and to the Lamb, i. e.</HI> they are (if I may &s;o &s;ay) for the choycene&s;s of their &s;pi|rits above others in adhering to the Lamb their Leader, the very cream of men, &s;uch as the Lamb accounts his fir&s;t fruits, <HI>i.e.</HI> makes more &s;tore of than of others, who yet may bee of his Corn, and a part of his Harve&s;t too.</P>
<P>And as that which is not here impertinent, we may ob&s;erve, that as the coming out of <HI>Egypt</HI> was in Old Te&s;tament times one eminent type of the <HI>Saints deli|verance</HI> from Spiritual <HI>Antichri&s;tian bondage,</HI> for which cau&s;e the <HI>Antichri&s;tian State</HI> is &s;piritually called <HI>Egypt,</HI> Revel. 11.8. and the <HI>comming</HI> out of <HI>Babylon</HI> after|wards, another; for which cau&s;e <HI>Rome</HI> in the <HI>Apoca|lyps</HI> takes denomination from <HI>Babylon:</HI> So is it a thing worthy to be noted, as touching both the&s;e Types, that
<PB REF="51">that <HI>Generation</HI> which by &s;tirring &s;et the <HI>work fir&s;t on foot,</HI> did afterwards prove the <HI>greate&s;t</HI> (I may &s;ay the onely) <HI>retarders</HI> of it. For as touching the fir&s;t, WHO <HI>hankered</HI> after the <HI>Fle&s;h pots</HI> of <HI>Egypt,</HI> but that <HI>Gene|ration?</HI> WHO though come out, yet had been brought up there: WHO <HI>moved</HI> the <HI>returning</HI> back again? but that <HI>Generation</HI> that came thence: WHO made light of the <HI>great things</HI> God did in the Wilderne&s;s? but that <HI>very Generation,</HI> who from the fir&s;t had <HI>&s;een his mighty Wonders</HI> in <HI>Egypt.</HI></P>
<P>As touching the <HI>Second,</HI> WHO are they that cry out, <HI>The time is not come, the time that the Lords hou&s;e &s;hould be built?</HI> Hag. 1.2. But that <HI>very Generation</HI> who came out of <HI>Babylon</HI> with great hearts at fir&s;t to do the work; but were afterwards engaged in particular concernments, and private intere&s;ts, <HI>building &s;eiled hou&s;es for them|&s;elves,</HI> ver&s;. 4. hereby letting the work of their <HI>Generation</HI> lie wa&s;te.</P>
<P>And truly it is that which I have verily thought with my &s;elf, and that &s;ome time, namely, <HI>That it would be|fall us in this Age, coming out of Antichri&s;tian Baby|lon, even as it did them coming out of Egypt and Ba|bylon of old, i.e.</HI> we &s;hould &s;ee tho&s;e <HI>very per&s;ons</HI> who leading us out of <HI>Babylon</HI> at fir&s;t, did cry, <HI>Chri&s;ts King|dom, Chri&s;ts Kingdom,</HI> either by hankering after the Egyptian Fle&s;h-pots of Honor, Profit, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> (which once having ta&s;ted they cannot lo&s;e the relli&s;h of) <HI>wholly to quit their fir&s;t principles and affections,</HI> and &s;o &s;et their faces back again to return into <HI>Egypt;</HI> or if not &s;o, yet at lea&s;twi&s;e (as the commers out of <HI>Babylon</HI> did, who were &s;omewhat the better of the two) finding difficulty in going on, <HI>make a &s;tand</HI> on the way, there <HI>building &s;eiled hou&s;es for them&s;elves, i.e.</HI> advancing their own particular intere&s;ts in&s;tead of helping forward the work of Chri&s;ts Kingdom.</P>
<PB REF="52">
<P>What &s;hall I any further enlarge upon this uncouth Theam, harp any longer upon this unplea&s;ing &s;tring? It was without doubt an ill <HI>Omen</HI> to <HI>Barnabas</HI> when he cho&s;e <HI>Marke</HI> to go with him to the work, who had before de&s;erted it, that <HI>he &s;hould do but little</HI> in it. And indeed the Event proved it; for as by that act he <HI>lo&s;t the hearts of the Church,</HI> who recommended <HI>Paul</HI> and <HI>Si|las</HI> to the Grace of God, but take no notice of <HI>Bar|nabas</HI> and <HI>Mark;</HI> So al&s;o is it ob&s;ervable, that from <HI>that very day, he who was &s;o active before, we hear no more of him.</HI> True, he had this to plead, <HI>Mark was a good man,</HI> but <HI>Paul</HI> who&s;e eyes were more <HI>open,</HI> &s;aw, that <HI>notwith&s;tanding his goodne&s;s,</HI> yet having once at <HI>a pinch</HI> de&s;erted Chri&s;ts Cau&s;e, he was not a man likely afterwards to <HI>thrive with,</HI> in carrying it on; and therefore <HI>wife, wary Paul,</HI> if there be no other way to clear his hands of him, for the works &s;ake, rather than he will run the hazzard, he will bid farewell, even to his old beloved preaching, &s;uffering Companion, <HI>Barnabas</HI> him|&s;elf.</P>
<P>And now as for you (dearly Beloved) to whom I dedicate the&s;e Lines; I onely &s;ay, The Book it &s;elf is yours, and what&s;oever of the mind of Chri&s;t is di&s;covered in it is yours. I &s;hall therefore clo&s;e up this my Epi&s;tle with the words of the Holy Gho&s;t, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 2.12, 13 &amp;c. <HI>For the day of the Lord of Ho&s;ts &s;hall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up, and he &s;hall be brought low. And upon all the Cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the Oakes of Ba&s;han. And upon all the high Mountains, and upon all the Hills that are lifted up. And upon every high Tower, and upon every fenced Wall. And upon all the &s;hips of Tar&s;hi&s;h, and up|on all plea&s;ant Pictures. And the loftine&s;s of man &s;hall be bowed down, and the herghtine&s;s of men &s;hall be
<PB REF="52">made low; and the Lord alone &s;hall be exalted in that day. And the Idols he &s;hall utterly aboli&s;h,</HI> Ezek. 17.24. <HI>Then all the Trees of the field &s;hall know that it is the Lord that hath brought down the high Tree, and hath exalted the low Tree, hath dried up the green Tree, and made the drie Tree to flouri&s;h.</HI> I&s;a. 9.3. <HI>The zeal of the Lord of Ho&s;ts will perform this.</HI></P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>So beleeves he, who is, <HI>A poor unprofitable Servant in his Masters Work,</HI> JOHN TILLINGHAST.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="to the reader">
<PB REF="53">
<HEAD>The Epi&s;tle to the Reader.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>Chri&s;tian Reader,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>_IT was not in my thoughts when I put forth my former peece, which I was moved to do, partly for the encourage|ment of &s;ome, who had ventured far in the work of their Generation, and part|ly for the provocation of others, that I &s;hould have appeared again upon the publick Stage, whence few that climb up, come down any better than lo&s;ers, if not from men, yet through that corruption that lodgeth in their own hearts: But being by more than one or two, upon the coming forth thereof, de&s;ired to &s;peak my thoughts more clearly and particularly as touching the <HI>De&s;ign</HI> or <HI>De&s;igns of God in the Age we live in:</HI> And to that end, &s;ome propo&s;ing this <HI>Prophecy</HI> of the <HI>Vials,</HI> as a &s;ubject mo&s;t &s;uitable for &s;uch a di&s;co|very, which opened, they conceived would further un|fold the Werk of this Generation; and being added as an <HI>Appendix</HI> to the other, might be of u&s;e: Although con&s;idering how great the Task was, how my&s;tical that <HI>Prophecy</HI> in particular, upon which the thoughts of good men were &s;o various, and how unskilful I my &s;elf was in the general knowledge of the Prophets, which was a thing mo&s;t nece&s;&s;ary to &s;uch an undertaking, I did for a while lay a&s;ide wholly the thoughts of &s;atisfying their de&s;ires; yet finding de&s;ires renewed, after I had given them over, I knew not but that it might be &s;ome call unto me, &s;eeing nothing but my own di&s;couragements lying in the way to hinder: Whereupon I re&s;olved to
<PB REF="53">make a trial, and as the Lord &s;hould come in with light, &s;o to proceed, or give over; being incouraged hereto from that of <HI>Daniel,</HI> Chap. <HI>12.4. That the Book was to be &s;ealed up but to the time of the end, when by the run|ning too and fro of many</HI> (which implies a kind of duty) <HI>knowledge &s;hall be increa&s;ed;</HI> And al&s;o con&s;idering that a <HI>&s;pecial ble&s;&s;ing</HI> (&s;urely to quicken our dull hearts to this Work) is annexed to the Book of the <HI>Revelations,</HI> both at the <HI>beginning</HI> and <HI>ending,</HI> whereas no Book be&s;ides it in Scripture hath the like, Chap. <HI>1.3. Ble&s;&s;ed is he that readeth and they that hear the words of this Prophecy, and keep tho&s;e things which are written therein,</HI> Chap. <HI>22.7. Ble&s;&s;ed is he that keepeth the &s;ayings of the Prophecy of this Book.</HI> The&s;e things were at fir&s;t &s;ome encourage|ment to me, and are &s;till refre&s;hment to my spirit, as touching what I have done; for though I will not &s;ay, I have in all things found the truth, (which yet I per|&s;wade my &s;elf is through Grace in &s;ome things here done) yet do I judge a liberty left for me, as well as others, to croud into the number of that many, <HI>who run too and fro</HI> to finde it; and al&s;o do beleeve it is a thing may be done without prejudice to a mans grace, comfort, or communion with God, yea, as a help to all the&s;e, &s;eeing that a <HI>&s;pecial ble&s;&s;ing</HI> from Heaven is pronounced to &s;uch as <HI>read, hear, and keep the&s;e things.</HI></P>
<P>And as to the Treati&s;e it &s;elf, I may give this account of it, That when I began, my thoughts were not upon a &s;econd Part, but onely to have added this, as a brief <HI>Appendix</HI> to my fir&s;t. But after I had taken a &s;erious view of the Prophets and the <HI>Revelations,</HI> comparing one with the other. I &s;aw &s;o many precious ears of Corn lye &s;cattered every where, that an eager de&s;ire of gleaning, made me forget my fir&s;t re&s;olutions, and this little Peece (which I had in my thoughts, laid out but for two
<PB REF="54">or three &s;heets at mo&s;t) upon the &s;udden to &s;well into a &s;econd Part, more large than the former. And truly in doing of it, I have been &s;o far from moulding things ac|cording to any pre-conceived opinion (which I find a thing mo&s;t apt to deceive) as that (&s;etting a&s;ide &s;ome general per&s;wa&s;ions, which I had before as touching <HI>Chri&s;ts coming</HI>) I have upon deliberate con&s;ideration, &s;een real cau&s;e to for&s;ake &s;ome things formerly taken up by me; and to alter tho&s;e general conceptions which be|fore I had of the <HI>Vials,</HI> almo&s;t in every thing.</P>
<P>And notwith&s;tanding I had &s;ome thoughts at fir&s;t po&s;itively to lay down my own opinion in things referring to the <HI>Vials,</HI> without mentioning the opinion of others, yet did I afterwards judge it convenient for the &s;atis|faction of &s;uch who delight to turn over Expo&s;itors, not only to lay down my own, but al&s;o briefly to in&s;ert tho&s;e rea&s;ons, which pondered in my thoughts, made me &s;ee a nece&s;&s;ity to for&s;ake the old beaten paths, and &s;eek a new; wherein I can &s;peak it truly, I have not de&s;ired to be&s;ingular (though oft nece&s;&s;itated &s;o to be) nor for|&s;aken any man, &s;o far as by right rea&s;on I have been able in my mo&s;t &s;erious thoughts, to bring his opinion, and the truth together; and where I could not, though I highly reverence the men, as ine&s;timable of more worth for grace and abilities both, then a hundred &s;uch as my &s;elf, yet have I not dur&s;t to follow them, becau&s;e I have taken it up as my re&s;olution in this day (which through the grace of God a&s;si&s;ting, I &s;hall hold unto) not to follow any man, or men living, though I honor their holine&s;s, and love their parts, any farther then I can &s;ee the truth, and them to follow that, nor for any re&s;pect what&s;oever to for&s;ake any man, &s;o far as he appears to me to go with that; And in this re&s;olution (as to the pre&s;ent work) I am confirmed, by con&s;idering that the knowledge of tho&s;e Prophecies which relate to the la&s;t
<PB REF="54">times, is to be attained, not &s;o much by &s;ettling upon old received Principles, as by <HI>running to and fro</HI> to &s;eek new Light and further Di&s;coveries.</P>
<P>If any inquire of me as touching the rea&s;ons, why I have forborn to mention the names of &s;uch Authors, as I have had occa&s;ion in this Di&s;cour&s;e to deal with; my an&s;wer is, becau&s;e I would not appear as an oppo&s;er of men, though for the love of truth I am an oppo&s;er of fal&s;e Principles, which may be in the be&s;t man; and al|&s;o becau&s;e I would not give ju&s;t cau&s;e, by bringing the names of good men upon the &s;tage, to any who yet are living, or the friends or lovers of &s;uch as are decea&s;ed to be offended. I might adde another rea&s;on (with wi&s;hes it were otherwi&s;e) becau&s;e many Profe&s;&s;ors in our dayes, are grown &s;o wanten, that the very naming a good man, and &s;hewing him to be in a mi&s;take, is enough to make his name of little e&s;teem, if not odious with &s;ome of them. And yet although I have &s;uppre&s;&s;ed names, have I alwayes laid the weight of their Rea&s;ons in the bal|lance; not willingly concealing, nor extenuating by my laying it down, the &s;trength of any one Argument, that whilst I was compo&s;ing this Di&s;cour&s;e, I could meet with making again&s;t me; which for any to do, I have alwayes judged a manife&s;t &s;ign of one, who rather &s;eeks to make others think him a Victor, than to finde the truth.</P>
<P>Having given thee (Chri&s;tian Reader) this brief ac|count of the ri&s;e of this enterpri&s;e, and my progre&s;s in it, I have only two or three things to adde.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, In ca&s;e thou art one who art a young beginner, who&s;e face is but newly &s;et towards Truth, to &s;eek it, let me commend to thee this one rule among&s;t many (which tho&s;e who wait for the Spirit &s;hall learn) it being that which the Author (being &s;uch a one as thy &s;elf) finding him&s;elf wearied, and quite tired out in &s;eeking
<PB REF="55">after truth, whil&s;t he hath addicted him&s;elf to follow now the opinion of this man, now of that; being able all this while to &s;ettle upon nothing, hath in the end been forced (as in other things, &s;o in this) to have recour&s;e unto; which is, to take the naked Scripture, and read it over, and by &s;ome di&s;tingui&s;hing mark made in the Bible to &s;ever tho&s;e Scriptures, which in the Prophets and el&s;ewhere treat of the la&s;t times, from other Scrip|tures who&s;e &s;ubjects are different; which done, thou &s;halt then be able, by the help of thy mark to turn thy Bible over, and in a few hours to con&s;ider all that from one end of the Scripture to another, hath &s;pecial relation to the la&s;t times (or by making a different mark to any &s;ubject into which thou de&s;ire&s;t light) whence having fir&s;t by comparing the whole together founded thy &s;elf upon &s;uch Principles as are contradictory to no part, thou &s;halt then be able to pa&s;s a right judgement upon the different minds and &s;ayings of Writers, knowing when and where to chu&s;e and refu&s;e, as they agree with, or differ from the &s;ub&s;tance of that truth which in Scripture hath &s;pecial relation, either to &s;uch a Time, or &s;uch a Sub|ject, and as where this is carefully and under&s;tandingly done, there will be little need of the multitude of Au|thors; &s;o where it is omitted, there will be little el&s;e &s;ave confu&s;ion to him that &s;hall turn them over. And this let me &s;ay further, in doing of it, thou maye&s;t pro|mi&s;e thy &s;elf (through the help of the good Spirit) more full &s;at is faction then I will promi&s;e thee, from what I have written, or from any Book extant that ever I met with be&s;ides the Bible, and willingly I would have been here at the pains to have pointed out to thee tho&s;e Scrip|tures who&s;e &s;ubject is the la&s;t times, but that I judge that to read over thy Bible diligently thy &s;elf, and mark them out, will do thee much more good.</P>
<P>Secondly, In ca&s;e thou art one who&s;e delight and
<PB REF="55">&s;tudy runs this way, to pry into the my&s;teries of the la&s;t times, if he might teach, who indeed hath more need to learn, I would &s;ay, make &s;tops &s;ometimes, and look round about thee, le&s;t while thou art running on, &s;uppo&s;ing thou &s;ee&s;t thy way before thee, thou do&s;t unawares out run thy Leader, which if thou do&s;t, thou wilt &s;treightway be woodded, and wildred, and go to work with thy rea&s;on only, (which will never make good work) to hew the way thou &s;hould&s;t go in; And further, never fear to make a turn out of the common road (though &s;tanders by cry, you are out of the way) if &s;o be thou perceive&s;t truth to have taken that path before thee.</P>
<P>Thirdly, If thou art one who art offended at the vi|&s;ible di&s;pen&s;ations of this age, and upon that account no friend to &s;tudies of this nature, I only &s;ay, perhaps thy readine&s;s, to be offended at what is done, and doing at this day in the world, ari&s;eth hence from <HI>a not ob&s;erving the &s;igns of the times;</HI> &s;tudy therefore the&s;e things a little; and more, take a wi&s;e mans coun&s;el, Act. <HI>5.36. Refrain from cen&s;uring and oppo&s;ing, for if the work now doing in the world be of men, it will a&s;&s;uredly come to nought; but if of God, happily whil&s;t ye oppo&s;e, ye &s;hall be found to fight again&s;t God.</HI></P>
<P>Fourthly, and la&s;tly, What&s;oever thou art, receive not what is written without triall, nor throw it away (upon a loo&s;e triall) with a Tu&s;h; the one is an enemy to thy comfort, for he that &s;wallows meat whole, ta&s;tes not the &s;weetne&s;s of it; the other may be to thy light, for he that's re&s;olved to open his eyes but half way, mu&s;t ex|pect to &s;ee men like trees. And as things are not writ|ten with a &s;pirit of infallibility, &s;o as that all mu&s;t be re|ceived; &s;o neither (I hope) is any thing put in with &s;o much levity as de&s;erves to be ca&s;t out with a Tu&s;h; but rather lay Scriptures together, w<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">igh things well, and then judge; Thus the <HI>Bereans</HI> did, and are called
<PB REF="56">noble for &s;o doing; whereas tho&s;e who take things upon meer tru&s;t, and tho&s;e who throw them away without any triall, are neither of them noble.</P>
<P>Only in ca&s;e of trial, do not for one &s;ingle Scripture, which may &s;eem to thee to contradict any part, reject the whole, but rather lay Scripture to Scripture, till the whole of Scriptures is brought to &s;ome harmony, by which time po&s;&s;ibly thou maye&s;t &s;ee rea&s;on to be of my mind; if not, a better harmony being found, I &s;hall (I &s;o hope at lea&s;t) with thanks for light, willingly relin|qui&s;h my own, and come to thine.</P>
<P>And further, In ca&s;e &s;ome things upon diligent fearch do evidently appear to be mi&s;takes, do not there|fore becau&s;e of &s;ome weeds, throw away all the corn; he that will eat no corn, but what grew up without weeds mu&s;t eat none at all; he that thinks to have truth from &s;uch imperfect creatures as we are, without error, erres him&s;elf whil&s;t he &s;o thinks.</P>
<P>And la&s;tly, In ca&s;e thou &s;eeing rea&s;on for it, do&s;t re|ceive things, receive them not as bare notions, which will be little benefit to thee, or comfort to me, that I have laboured only to fill mens heads; but now and then &s;uck upon them in thy Meditations, perhaps thou maye&s;t find &s;ome &s;weetne&s;s in them, they have not been all dry bones to the Author in compo&s;ing; who there fore in his com|po&s;ure hath &s;tudied plainene&s;s and brevity (&s;o far as will &s;tand with weak capacities) that things might be fitted the more (without being tire&s;ome or tedious) for thy meditations.</P>
<P>Let none wonder I have written out &s;o many Scrip|tures at large, they were &s;ent to me in writing, I thought they might be &s;o to thee in reading, and it hath been &s;ometimes a que&s;tion with me, whether a defect in this, and a bare quotation of Chapter and Ver&s;e, hath not made the Writings of &s;ome more dry to the
<PB REF="56">Reader, then otherwi&s;e they would have been?</P>
<P>I have no more (Chri&s;tian Reader) &s;ave to beg thy prayers for me, in doing which, let me obtain thus much; That in ca&s;e the Lord make any thing either in this, or my former part u&s;eful to thee, and affecting to thy heart, that in the mid&s;t of thy joyes, thou woulde&s;t not forget to &s;end a groan or two to Heaven in the behalf of the poor unworthy Author (who would not, had he not much need thereof, &s;o publickly make this reque&s;t, and having need, is glad he can do it) that the Lord would make, and keep him very humble, that the improvement of a talent of gifts, may not at all be prejudicial unto grace; Withall, that he may not at la&s;t, having pre&s;&s;ed others to the work of their Generation, be him&s;elf found negligent, and as an unprofit able in&s;trument be laid by therein, which he can never look down into his own heart, but he &s;eeth real cau&s;e to fear, from which yet he hopeth (Saints helping together with prayers for him) he &s;hall be kept, who is,</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED><HI>One that e&s;teems it a mo&s;t glorious Privi|ledge to be of the number of tho&s;e who follow the Lamb wither&s;oever he goes.</HI> J. T.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB REF="57">
<HEAD>GENERATION-VVORK; <HI>The Second Part.</HI></HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">Wherein is &s;hewed what the De&s;igns of God abroad in the World may in all like|lihood be, at this pre&s;ent day, and in the days approaching. Being an Expo&s;ition of the Seven Vials, <HI>Revelations</HI> 16.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">The Introduction.</HEAD>
<P>_AS the Holy Gho&s;t in the <HI>precedent Chap|ter,</HI> and the <HI>fir&s;t ver&s;e of this,</HI> hath laid down &s;everal things as <HI>preparatory</HI> to the following Vi&s;ion of <HI>Pouring forth the Vials:</HI> So do I judge it a thing mo&s;t meet and &s;afe in this our <HI>Expo&s;ition</HI> to walk by the &s;ame Rule; and <HI>fir&s;t</HI> of all, as an <HI>Introduction</HI> to the whole, to commend to the con&s;ideration of the Reader, the&s;e few Propo&s;itions.</P>
<P><LABEL>I. PROPOSITION.</LABEL> <HI>That the time of pouring forth the Vials, is then to be|gin when Antichri&s;t is going off the Stage, and true Reformation hath gotten &s;ome footing, and the Church of Chri&s;t which before lay hidden, and invi&s;ible begins to appear.</HI></P>
<PB N="1" REF="57">
<P>This is clear Chap. 15.2, 5. where as <HI>Antecedent</HI> to the powring forth of the <HI>Vials,</HI> we have,</P>
<P N="1">1 <HI>Victory gotten over the Bea&s;t, and over his Image&mdash;</HI> ver&s;. 2, which is not in &s;uch a &s;en&s;e to be under&s;tood, as though the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> his <HI>Image, Mark,</HI> &s;hould hereby be aboli&s;hed or de&s;troyed: For then what need would there be of any <HI>Vials</HI> to be poured forth upon the Bea&s;t after|ward, the work being done, and he de&s;troyed already; or why &s;hould his <HI>Mark,</HI> and <HI>Image,</HI> be mentioned again in the fir&s;t <HI>Vial?</HI> But the meaning is (as I conceive) that Saints immediately before the Vials begin to be poured forth, &s;hall &s;o far have gotten the victory over the Bea&s;t, as concerns either the &s;afety of their own per&s;ons, or the doing of the work; yet Antichri&s;t &s;hall not have power over them to make them &s;ubject them&s;elves to him, allow of his Image, Mark, the number of his Name; or el&s;e to per&s;ecute them, kill them with the &s;word, as in former times he hath done; nor &s;hall he have &s;uch a power as to hinder them in the work they are going about, of powring out the Vials.</P>
<P N="2">2 <HI>The Saints who have obtained this Victory, &s;tand on a Sea of gla&s;s mingled with fire,</HI> ver&s;. 2. noting, that the Saints at this time, &s;hall have attained to &s;ome degrees of purity in Doctrine and Wor&s;hip, &s;o far at lea&s;t, as to <HI>di&s;cern</HI> and <HI>renounce</HI> the gro&s;s Idolatries of Antichri&s;t, which are &s;et forth by his <HI>Image, Marke,</HI> the <HI>number of his Name;</HI> though yet they &s;hall not have attained to that purity the Church of Chri&s;t injoyed before the corrupti|ons of Antichri&s;t crept into it; For then there was a <HI>Sea of gla&s;s, clear as chry&s;tal,</HI> Rev. 4.6. here is a <HI>Sea of gla&s;s,</HI> but not yet &s;o clear as Chry&s;tal. Though this Reformation &s;hallbe pure, in re&s;pect of the impure and filthy puddle of Antichri&s;tiani&s;m, yet &s;hall it have &s;ome mud in it, in re&s;pect of the purity of the <HI>Primitive</HI> &s;treams. And where|as this <HI>Sea of gla&s;s</HI> is &s;aid to be <HI>mingled with fire,</HI> it de|notes,
<PB N="2" REF="58">that the Saints in &s;truggling with the Bea&s;t &s;hall not be without &s;ome &s;ufferings on their part, though the victo|ry fals to them, yet a mixture of &s;uffering &s;hall go with the victory: And al&s;o (as the wi&s;dom of God is mani|fold) it may denote, that the contenders again&s;t the Bea&s;t, &s;hall not as yet be &s;o one among&s;t them&s;elves, but that there &s;hall remain hot jars and contentions among&s;t them, one party again&s;t another.</P>
<P N="3">3 <HI>The Temple of the Tabernacle of the Te&s;timony in Heaven is opened,</HI> ver&s;. 5. That is, The true wor&s;hip of God in his Church, which before was hidden and private; Saints wor&s;hipping God by &s;tealth in corners, &s;hall now begin to be publick and vi&s;ible; though as yet this wor&s;hip &s;hall not be in &s;o perfect and <HI>fixed</HI> a way as afterwards, therefore &s;et forth by the Temple of the <HI>Tabernacle;</HI> for although the true wor&s;hip of God was in the <HI>Tabernacle Mo&s;es</HI> built upon the fir&s;t coming out of <HI>Egypt,</HI> yet was the Tabernacle <HI>moveable,</HI> and the Wor&s;hip therein not in all things &s;o compleat, as in <HI>Solomons</HI> Temple after|wards.</P>
<P>Now find out the time to which the&s;e three Characters do mo&s;t exactly agree, and then we have found the time <HI>where</HI> we are to begin the <HI>Vials;</HI> which not here to hint, I &s;hall hence onely ob&s;erve, That all tho&s;e Expo&s;itors which begin the Vials with the <HI>Primitive</HI> times of the Church, or tho&s;e who coming lower, do yet begin whil&s;t the Man of Sin was in his greate&s;t &s;tate and &s;trength, are not to be followed as guides in this thing; To all which Expo&s;iti|ons, though nothing el&s;e were to be oppo&s;ed, yet it is &s;uf|ficient that the <HI>Vials</HI> are called the <HI>&s;even la&s;t plagues,</HI> Chap. 15.1.</P>
<P><LABEL>II. PROPOSITION.</LABEL> <HI>That the Vials are to be poured forth by Angels onely coming out of the Temple, cloathed in pure and white linnen, having their brea&s;ts girded with gol|den girdles,</HI> Ver. 6.</P>
<PB N="3" REF="58">
<P>The meaning is, That the In&s;truments God will imploy in doing of the work (at lea&s;twi&s;e for the &s;waying and ruling party among&s;t them) &s;hall be &s;uch as have renoun|ced the fal&s;e Idolatrous wor&s;hip of Antichri&s;t, and imbra|ced &s;o far as their light goes, the true wor&s;hip of Chri&s;t, in which re&s;pect they are &s;aid to come <HI>out of the Temple;</HI> who&s;e conver&s;ations &s;hall be pure and un&s;potted, therefore cloathed in <HI>pure and white linnen,</HI> and their de&s;igns and actings for God in managing this great bu&s;ine&s;s (how ever judged or &s;candalized by others) &s;hall yet be carried on with much &s;incerity, uprightne&s;s, and integrity, which as a <HI>golden Girdle</HI> &s;hall be upon their <HI>Brea&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>Hence not the <HI>Turk,</HI> nor the <HI>Jews,</HI> nor any of the Antichri&s;tian Princes or party, nor any other who are un|converted Idolaters, fal&s;e Wor&s;hippers without the Tem|ple, can be looked upon, or interpreted, to be the <HI>Angels</HI> of any of the <HI>Vials.</HI></P>
<P><LABEL>III. PROPOSITION.</LABEL> <HI>That Gods call to the Angels of the Vials to pour out their Vials, is to be principally looked for out of the Temple.</HI></P>
<P>The <HI>matter of</HI> their work is to be looked for in the <HI>word,</HI> that what they do be agreeable to that Rule; but the <HI>Call</HI> to go about the work, that is, without delay to <HI>pour out this,</HI> or that <HI>Vial,</HI> is mainly to be looked for <HI>out of the Temple.</HI> Chap. 16.1. <HI>I heard a great voyce out of the Temple, &s;aying to the &s;even Angels, Go your ways; and pour out the Vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.</HI> The meaning of the word, is not as if by one general command from the Temple, all the Angels were authorized at once to pour out their <HI>Vials;</HI> no, but as the Angels were di&s;tinct, &s;o they had di&s;tinct <HI>calls;</HI> yet the <HI>Call</HI> of each came as a <HI>great voyce;</HI> that is, with much power out of the <HI>Temple;</HI> God fir&s;t &s;etting it &s;trongly upon the hearts of his people in his <HI>Temple,</HI>
<PB N="4" REF="59">that &s;uch a work is to be done (<HI>I Je&s;us have &s;ent my Angel to te&s;tifie the&s;e things in the Churches, Chap.</HI> 22 16.) who thereupon with a <HI>great voyce</HI> cry mightily to each Angel (<HI>i.e.</HI> &s;uch in&s;truments as they &s;ee God hath rai&s;ed up, and impowred) to do that work.</P>
<P>Yet under&s;tand this, I am now &s;peaking not &s;o much of the <HI>general Call,</HI> as a more <HI>particular</HI> and <HI>&s;pecial Call,</HI> peculiar to this time of the Vials. The general <HI>Call</HI> to <HI>Ge|neration-Work</HI> is (as hath been proved in my fir&s;t part) <HI>di&s;|pen&s;ation,</HI> but now at this time, be&s;ides the Call of Gods <HI>di&s;|pen&s;ations,</HI> the in&s;truments God &s;hall rai&s;e up to ruin the Whore, &s;hall have a more <HI>particular Call</HI> to this work, to the end they may neither flag nor draw back, namely the <HI>loud and unce&s;&s;ant cry of the Temple.</HI></P>
<P>Fir&s;t, <HI>Hence</HI> the general voyce or cry of Gods people out of the Temple, is much to be heeded in that age, in which the <HI>Vials</HI> are pouring forth.</P>
<P><HI>Hence</HI> &s;econdly, Extraordinary actings, or actings in a &s;trange and extraordinary way, are to be looked for, whil&s;t the <HI>Vials</HI> are pouring forth; for is it not a wonderful and an extraordinary thing to attempt things new, and in for|mer ages unheard of, and that upon this account chiefly, that it is the general voyce, and cry of Saints, that they have it upon their hearts, this work mu&s;t be done.</P>
<P><LABEL>IV. PROPOSITION.</LABEL> <HI>That the &s;ubject of each Vial, or the things or per&s;on<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> each Vial falls upon, are &s;uch onely as God hates, accounts his eneies, and chiefly things pertaining to Antichri&s;t.</HI> This is clear, for,</P>
<P N="1">1 The <HI>matter</HI> of each Vial is <HI>pure wrath,</HI> yea <HI>fu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> wrath,</HI> as Chap. 15.1.7. Chap. 16.1. and <HI>pure</HI> and <HI>fu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> wrath</HI> is proper onely to &s;uch.</P>
<P N="2">2 Each Vial is poured out upon the <HI>Earth,</HI> Chap. 16.1. <HI>i.e.</HI> things <HI>carnal</HI> and <HI>earthly,</HI> per&s;ons out of Church and aliens to the Commonwealth of <HI>I&s;rael; Earth</HI> her
<PB N="5" REF="59">being oppo&s;ed to <HI>Heaven,</HI> the true Church of God, or Spou&s;e of Chri&s;t.</P>
<P N="3">3 The Vials in particular will evidence this; For the fir&s;t Vial falls upon &s;uch as had the <HI>Mark</HI> of the Bea&s;t, and wor&s;hipped his Image, Chap. 16.2. The third upon &s;uch as had <HI>&s;hed the blood of Saints,</HI> and in requital had blood given them to drink, ver&s;. 6. the <HI>fourth, fifth,</HI> and <HI>&s;eventh,</HI> upon &s;uch as <HI>bla&s;phemed God under the&s;e plagues,</HI> yet <HI>repented not to give him glory,</HI> ver&s;. 9, 11, 21. And for the other two, that they likewi&s;e fall upon &s;uch, will better appear hereafter, when I &s;hall come to o|pen the &s;ubject of each Vial.</P>
<P>Hence, not Chri&s;t him&s;elf, not the Scriptures, not the Church or people of Chri&s;t, nor any &s;uch like thing, nor the inanimate creatures, as the <HI>Sun</HI> or <HI>Elements,</HI> may be accounted the &s;ubject of any of the Vials,</P>
<P><LABEL>V. PROPOSITION.</LABEL> <HI>That the effects of one Vial, do oft times run into another Vial.</HI></P>
<P>My meaning is, the immediate following Vial, or the Vial following that may &s;ometimes be poured out before the Effects of the foregoing Vial are wholly cea&s;ed; For although an order is &s;o to be ob&s;erved (the Holy Gho&s;t having laid it down) as that we mu&s;t not conceive all are to be poured out at once; yet it is unbecoming the Maje&s;ty of God, to tye him up &s;o &s;trictly to order, as to con|ceive the <HI>punctum</HI> of time ending one Vial, to be the be|ginning of the next. If man in his imployments be not &s;o to be tyed up, much le&s;s God.</P>
<P>Hence we are not to &s;traiten the <HI>work</HI> of the <HI>Generation</HI> to one Vial onely, that which for pre&s;ent we are under, becau&s;e &s;uch may the ca&s;e be, that before the Effects of one Vial are over, God may call upon his Servants (his Providence opening a door thereunto) to pour out ano|her.</P>
<PB N="6" REF="60">
<P><LABEL>VI. And la&s;t PROPOSITION.</LABEL> <HI>That the Terms and Phra&s;es relating to the Vials, are not to be under&s;tood in a litteral,</HI> (unle&s;s where either the Text it &s;elf, or con&s;ent of other Scriptures in|force it) <HI>but in a metaphorical &s;en&s;e.</HI></P>
<P>For if we take the <HI>Earth, Sea, Rivers, and Fountains</HI> of waters, <HI>Sun, Air, &amp;c.</HI> in a litteral &s;en&s;e, how &s;hould a Vial of wrath poured out on the&s;e, be any whit more pre|judicial (without a miracle) to Gods enemies, than his friends, who partake of the benefit of the&s;e in common with the other? Yea, how contrary to rea&s;on would it be, &s;o to interpret the <HI>third Vial?</HI> for (as one &s;aith) did ever Rivers and Fountains of waters litterally <HI>&s;hed the blood of Saints?</HI> or did God ever (in way of revenge) give them blood to drink?</P>
<P>Hence, Tho&s;e of the Popi&s;h party, and &s;uch of our own as would put a litteral interpretation upon the things here &s;poken of, are mi&s;taken.</P>
<P>The&s;e few things (from which in the general &s;ome light already hath been afforded us, and of which more particu|lar u&s;e will be found hereafter) being premi&s;ed; I now come to treat of the <HI>Vials them&s;elves,</HI> and of each in their order.</P>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="vial">
<PB N="7" REF="60">
<HEAD>VIAL I.</HEAD>
<DIV3 TYPE="subject">
<HEAD>1. <HI>The SUBJECT of it,</HI></HEAD>
<HEAD>The EARTH.</HEAD>
<P>Ver&s;. 2. <HI>AND the fir&s;t went and poured out his Vi|al upon the Earth.</HI></P>
<P>Of the whole Univer&s;e, <HI>Earth</HI> is the mo&s;t gro&s;s part; <HI>Air</HI> is of a &s;ubtle nature; <HI>Water</HI> of a more gro&s;s; Earth the gro&s;&s;e&s;t of all, as being the dregs and &s;ettlements of the whole. By <HI>Earth</HI> then, we are not here to under&s;tand, <HI>Earth</HI> as oppo&s;ed to <HI>Heaven,</HI> i.e. the true Church, as ver&s;. 1. but the <HI>Popi&s;h Earth,</HI> viz. the gro&s;&s;er part of Popery, or the Lees and Dregs of that Religion, oppo&s;ed to the finer parts of it. Now the&s;e Lees and Dregs are no other but that damnable <HI>Doctrine</HI> of the Papi&s;ts (by which Chri&s;ts Medi|ation and Prie&s;tly Office, and &s;o con&s;equently the very foun|dation of Faith and Salvation is de&s;troyed) which main|tains Ju&s;tification by works, upon which <HI>poy&s;onous deadly root</HI> do grow the filthy abominations of their Ma&s;s, their Cro&s;&s;es, Indulgences, Invocation of Saints, Purgatory, Pen|ance, Pilgrimages, Monki&s;h-life, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> which in re&s;pect of their <HI>Di&s;cipline,</HI> though that be impure, may yet well be called the Dregs, as being far more impure.</P>
<P>Upon the&s;e filthy <HI>Dregs of Romi&s;h Doctrine,</HI> began the fir&s;t Vial to be <HI>poured forth</HI> by <HI>Luther,</HI> and other Wor|thies of tho&s;e times, who by the light of truth made &s;uch a di&s;covery of the un&s;oundne&s;s, yea, perniciou&s;ne&s;s thereof, as that now the &s;ame began to be odious in the eies of all. And that here (and no where el&s;e, either
<PB N="8" REF="61">&s;ooner or later) we are to <HI>begin</HI> the Vials, is clear, be|cau&s;e no time doth &s;o exactly agree to what wee have &s;aid concerning the time in our <HI>fir&s;t Propo&s;ition,</HI> as this doth.</P>
<P>That di&s;covery of the filthine&s;s of the&s;e things, which was more ancient, in the times of <HI>Wickliff, Hus,</HI> the <HI>Waldene&s;es,</HI> and <HI>Albigen&s;es,</HI> could not be any part of this Vial, for the grounds of our <HI>fir&s;t Propo&s;ition;</HI> and al&s;o becau&s;e that di&s;covery &s;erved onely to deliver the faithful ones of tho&s;e times, from the <HI>poy&s;on</HI> of the&s;e abominable <HI>Errors,</HI> not having any &s;uch effect as to de&s;troy them in others, for they remained &s;till in credit with the genera|lity.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 TYPE="effect">
<HEAD>2. <HI>The EFFECT.</HI></HEAD>
<P><HI>A noy&s;om and grievous Sore. And there fell a noy&s;om and greievous Sore upon the men which had the Mark of the Bea&s;t, and upon them which wor&s;hipped his Image.</HI></P>
<P>Our Expo&s;itors do generally under&s;tand this <HI>Sore</HI> to be that inward vexation, envy, wrath, fury, madne&s;s (which as an inward <HI>Sore</HI> torments tho&s;e in whom it is) that befell the <HI>Prie&s;ts, Monks, Canoni&s;ts,</HI> with all that Rabble, who had the Mark of the Bea&s;t, and wor&s;hipped his Image, upon the pouring out of this <HI>fir&s;t Vial.</HI> But according to this Interpretation, the Effect of the Vial &s;hould be no o|ther, but a tormenting of the men who were the upholders of the evil, and not a de&s;truction of the evill it &s;elf; whereas indeed the proper and natural Effect of every <HI>Vial,</HI> is a de&s;truction of the thing it falls upon. It is not ami&s;s therefore to &s;eek yet &s;ome other interpretation of the&s;e words. And what if we &s;ay thus? That look as it is with a man, or men, that have noy&s;om grievous <HI>Sores</HI> upon them, others <HI>loath them, withdraw from them,</HI> cannot bear their pre|&s;ence or company; So did it now befall the men who
<PB N="9" REF="61">were the Authors and A&s;&s;ertors of the&s;e abominable Ido|latries.</P>
<P>The generality of the people who before adored them as Gods, not once calling their principles or practices into que&s;tion, did now by the pouring forth of this Vial, come &s;o palpably to di&s;cern the gro&s;s and horrible Idolatry of the&s;e their Forgeries, as that they began to <HI>loath</HI> and <HI>ab|hor,</HI> not only the things them&s;elves, but the very <HI>A&s;&s;ertors of them,</HI> and to <HI>withdraw</HI> from them as infectious per|&s;ons, full of <HI>grievous and noy&s;ome Sores;</HI> &s;o that now they can no longer delude the people, and draw them to a loving and liking of the&s;e things, as formerly they had done; no, but them&s;elves with their principles and in|vention are become odious, and a filthy &s;tinking Sore in the eyes and no&s;trils of the Commonalty. <HI>Which Effect,</HI> how evidently it did &s;hew it &s;elf in <HI>Germany,</HI> and here with us in <HI>England,</HI> and al&s;o in other Nations, about this time, upon the preaching and writing of the forenamed Worthies, with others their fellow-helpers, is by many &s;ufficiently recorded.</P>
<P><HI>Thus much as touching the fir&s;t</HI> VIAL.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="vial">
<HEAD>VIAL II.</HEAD>
<DIV3 TYPE="subject">
<HEAD>1 <HI>The S&V;BJECT,</HI></HEAD>
<HEAD><HI>The</HI> SEA.</HEAD>
<P>Ver&s;. 3. <HI>AND the &s;econd Angel poured out his Vial upon the Sea.</HI></P>
<P>By <HI>Sea</HI> here, we may <HI>not</HI> (as &s;ome) under&s;tand <HI>Na|tions,</HI> becau&s;e they are a part of the Subject of the next Vial.</P>
<P><HI>Nor</HI> yet (as others) the <HI>corrupt Doctrines</HI> of Anti|chri&s;t, concluded upon in the Council of <HI>Trent,</HI> which
<PB N="10" REF="62">(&s;ay they) the learned <HI>Chemnitius</HI> poured out this Vial upon, in his Book called, <HI>Examen Concilii Tridentini,</HI> becau&s;e (as hath been &s;aid) the former Vial fell on the&s;e, to which (the Subject being &s;till the &s;ame) it is more proper to refer the labours of tho&s;e godly men, who after <HI>Luther,</HI> &s;till continued to lay open the&s;e things in their colours, than to account the &s;ame, the pouring forth of another Vial.</P>
<P><HI>Nor</HI> yet as a later Writer, the <HI>Political &s;tate of the Roman Empire,</HI> which did &s;uffer detriment by the late <HI>German</HI> War. 1 Becau&s;e the Effect of that War fell as heavy upon Gods people there as his enemies; whereas the Vials are upon enemies only, as our fourth Propo&s;ition proves.</P>
<P N="2">2 Becau&s;e notwith&s;tanding tho&s;e &s;hakings, the Empire is yet &s;tanding, whereas the &s;haking of the Vials is &s;uch a &s;haking, as de&s;troyes and removes the thing &s;haken.</P>
<P N="3">3 Becau&s;e the <HI>German</HI> Empire is (as in its place &s;hall appear) the Subject of another Vial.</P>
<P>But by <HI>Sea</HI> we are to under&s;tand the <HI>Di&s;cipline</HI> of <HI>Rome,</HI> as under the former their <HI>Doctrine;</HI> or to &s;peak better, the <HI>Romi&s;h Hierarchy,</HI> in who&s;e hands the power of <HI>Di&s;cipline</HI> lyes, made up of a <HI>Pope, Cardinals, Arch|bi&s;hops, Bi&s;hops,</HI> together with the <HI>inferior Clergy,</HI> who receive their power and &s;tanding from the&s;e, which is by them&s;elves called, and to us known, by the name of the Sea of <HI>Rome,</HI> the <HI>Popes Sea,</HI> the <HI>Cardinals Sea,</HI> the <HI>Bi&s;hops Sea, &amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>And truly this mon&s;trous Bea&s;t, though his Ri&s;e is out of the <HI>Earth:</HI> Rev. 13.11. yet doth he exerci&s;e all the power of the <HI>fir&s;t Bea&s;t</HI> (ver&s;. 12.) who&s;e Ri&s;e was from the <HI>Sea,</HI> ver&s;. 1. and therefore is not ami&s;s called in this &s;econd Vial, where the downfall of his power is &s;poken of, by the name of the <HI>Sea,</HI> whence his power is primarily derived.</P>
<PB N="11" REF="62">
<P>And indeed, look what neer affinity there is betwixt the Sea and the Earth, they bordering <HI>one</HI> upon another, the &s;ame is betwixt <HI>Di&s;cipline</HI> and <HI>Doctrine.</HI> And as the <HI>Sea</HI> girts in the <HI>Earth</HI> on every &s;ide, &s;o that which is as it were the Girdle, holding together all the gro&s;s, earthly &s;uper&s;titions, and inventions of Antichri&s;t, is an ab&s;olute tyrannical power of Di&s;cipline, impo&s;ing principles, wayes, and forms upon the con&s;ciences of men where&s;over the &s;ame is &s;et up.</P>
<P>If you ask me, <HI>When was this Vial poured forth?</HI> I an&s;wer, In the yeer of our Lord, 1641. it had its be|ginning, (though the Effects of it are not wholly over as yet) when the Parliament of <HI>England</HI> did vote down <HI>Arch-bi&s;hops, Bi&s;hops, with all that crew, root and branch, declaring their office and &s;tanding to be Anti|chri&s;tian;</HI> for although &s;ome &s;prinklings of this Vial fell on them before, yet the pouring of it forth, which gave them their fatal and deadly blow, cannot more fitly be applyed to any time than to this, when by the Law of a Land, yea that Land too, which is by &s;ome reckoned the fir&s;t of the Horns of the Bea&s;t, the ju&s;t judgement and in|dignation of the mo&s;t High was poured out upon them, in &s;uch maner, as that not only they, but all other ever &s;ince, who have gone about to a&s;&s;ume to them&s;elves a Lordly power over Chri&s;ts little flock, have fallen through the powerful Effects of it.</P>
<P>And that which will not weaken this Interpretation in ca&s;e it be con&s;idered, is, that as the two great things of Je&s;us Chri&s;t that Antichri&s;t had invaded, were his Prie&s;tly office, and Kingly; The fir&s;t by his pernicious <HI>Doctrine;</HI> The &s;econd by his ab&s;olute tyrannical <HI>Di&s;cipline:</HI> So the fir&s;t remarkable blow that Antichri&s;t ever &s;uffered, was in detecting and de&s;troying his cur&s;ed <HI>Doctrine,</HI> and gro&s;s Idolatries by it maintained, with which he had made an inva&s;ion upon the mediation and <HI>Prie&s;thood</HI> of Chri&s;t;
<PB N="12" REF="63">which being done, becau&s;e yet Chri&s;ts <HI>Kingly</HI> office was invaded by an Antichri&s;tian Lording <HI>Di&s;cipline,</HI> Chri&s;t therefore (that he might fully recover his own, before he invades his enemy) makes it his next attempt to regain into his own hands his <HI>Kingly</HI> Power and Authority, which to do, the very next remarkable blow that befalls the Man of Sin (after the hot controver&s;ies about Chri&s;ts Mediator&s;hip, and our ju&s;tification by Chri&s;t alone began to cea&s;e, the Saints in this having obtained a compleat victory, and given their Adver&s;aries both the rout and ruine) is in his Lordly Tyrannical <HI>Di&s;cipline,</HI> which &s;traitwayes now begins to be que&s;tioned; yea not onely que&s;tioned, but finally is &s;haken, yea thrown down as Antichri&s;tian, and that by Law.</P>
<P>If it be &s;aid, That <HI>Arch-bi&s;hops, Bi&s;hops,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>are but an inferior and an incon&s;iderable part of the Romi&s;h Hierarchy, and therefore the downfal of the&s;e, &s;eems to have too much put upon it, whil&s;t the &s;ame is made a principal Effect of that Vial, which is poured out upon the Hierarchy it &s;elf.</HI></P>
<P>To that I <HI>an&s;wer,</HI> though incon&s;iderable and inferior, yet are they a part of the <HI>Hierarchy,</HI> who&s;e &s;tanding is by the &s;ame power, and upon the &s;ame bottome with the re&s;t: And had it not been for a Vial of wrath poured upon the <HI>Hierarchy</HI> it &s;elf, the&s;e as <HI>parts</HI> of it could not have fallen: Neither is it nece&s;&s;ary that the pouring out of the Vial, &s;hould &s;weep away the <HI>whole</HI> at once, for that were to de&s;troy Antichri&s;t with <HI>one</HI> Vial, and not with <HI>Seven.</HI></P>
<P>If it be further <HI>objected,</HI> that <HI>this hath been done but in our I&s;le of Great Britain, the Hierarchy even at this day in mo&s;t of the Kingdoms &s;ubjected to the Bea&s;t being in as full and ab&s;olute power as ever.</HI></P>
<P>My an&s;wer is, That &s;o long as the I&s;le of <HI>Brittain</HI> is reckoned among&s;t the Horns of the Bea&s;t, it is &s;ufficient,
<PB N="13" REF="63">though but in one Horn this be done; for neither did the former Vial extend it &s;elf to all the parts of the Papal King|dome (for the greater part lye rolling in the very Lees and Dregs of Popery unto this day) nor indeed &s;hall any of the Vials, the la&s;t excepted, be poured out upon the Kingdome of the Bea&s;t in general, but &s;ome fall upon one part of it, &s;ome another.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="2" TYPE="effects">
<HEAD>2 <HI>The</HI> EFFECTS.</HEAD>
<DIV4 N="1" TYPE="effect">
<HEAD>1 <HI>EFFECT.</HI></HEAD>
<P>The Sea becomes as the blood of a dead man.</P>
<P><HI>And it became as the blood of a dead man.</HI></P>
<P>That is, That Hierarchy which before went for pure and Apo&s;tolical, did now appear through the pouring out of this Vial upon it, to be a <HI>Sea of blood, i.e.</HI> a wretched Seat of cruelty; yea <HI>blood of a dead man, i.e.</HI> corrupt, filthy, &s;tinking.</P>
</DIV4>
<DIV4 N="2" TYPE="effect">
<HEAD>2 <HI>EFFECT.</HI></HEAD>
<P>Every living &s;oul in the Sea dyes.</P>
<P><HI>And every living &s;oul dyed in the Sea.</HI></P>
<P>That is, All tho&s;e who &s;tand by the power of, have their dependance upon, or livelihood from this <HI>Hierarchy,</HI> are by the Effects of this Vial, <HI>de&s;poyled</HI> of this their Anti|chri&s;tian &s;tanding, power, and livelihood, and &s;o <HI>dye</HI> a civil death.</P>
<P>How vi&s;ible the&s;e Effects, for a great mea&s;ure, have al|ready been with us in <HI>England,</HI> and will be more as yet, before the after-drops of this Vial are over (which if I mi&s;take not, the pre&s;ent National Mini&s;try in <HI>England,</HI> being but as twigs growing upon the former &s;tock, both mu&s;t, and &s;hall feel) it is in a manner &s;uperfluous here to adde. And although I conceive the Providence of God hath brought us at this day under the next Vial, yet
<PB N="14" REF="64">is there &s;till a relique of this behind; the Effects of one Vial ordinarily running into another (as in our fifth Pro|po&s;ition) and a generation of men that have long de&s;erved it, yet for the greater part of them hitherto &s;caped the blow, &s;hall feel it.</P>
<P><HI>Thus much as touching the &s;econd</HI> VIAL.</P>
</DIV4>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="vial">
<HEAD>VIAL III.</HEAD>
<DIV3 TYPE="subject">
<HEAD>1 <HI>The</HI> SUBJECT</HEAD>
<HEAD>The Rivers and Fountains of waters.</HEAD>
<P>Ver&s;. 4. <HI>AND the third Angel poured out his Vial upon the Rivers and Fountains of waters.</HI></P>
<P>By <HI>Rivers</HI> and <HI>Fountains</HI> of <HI>waters,</HI> we are not here (as mo&s;t) to under&s;tand the Bi&s;hops and Doctors of the Romi&s;h Synagogue, becau&s;e (as hath been proved) the foregoing Vial fell upon them.</P>
<P>And al&s;o &s;econdly, becau&s;e though they have been cau&s;ers and promoters of &s;hedding the blood of Saints, yet the act of blood-&s;hedding hath ever been by another power, to whom being condemned, they were turned over to be executed; and as the blood of Chri&s;t, though cau&s;ed by the <HI>Prie&s;ts,</HI> is yet &s;aid to be &s;hed by <HI>Pontius Pilate,</HI> becau&s;e by his power the thing was acted; So the continual blood-&s;hed of Saints in the Kingdome of <HI>Anti|chri&s;t,</HI> though cau&s;ed by the Bi&s;hops, may yet be &s;aid to have been done by the Civil power, becau&s;e by that power the thing hath been acted.</P>
<P>That by <HI>Rivers and Fountains of waters,</HI> the Je&s;uits &s;hould be here meant (as a late godly Writer judgeth) &s;eems not probable to me; 1 Becau&s;e they are no where in all this Book &s;et forth by any &s;uch name. 2 Becau&s;e had this Vial been poured out, and that (as is judged) &s;ome
<PB N="15" REF="64">yeers pa&s;t upon the&s;e, mo&s;t &s;urely this generation of men had not been &s;o ri&s;e and active, and that in all places, as at this day they are. 3 The Je&s;uits (&s;etting a&s;ide what they have done in a &s;ecret way by Treachery, and that of &s;ome few only) have not been actors any whit more in <HI>&s;hedding the blood of the Saints,</HI> than their Fellow-companions the Bi&s;hops and Doctors of the Romi&s;h Synagogue. 4 And la&s;tly, The time a&s;&s;igned for the doing of this, was many yeers before the &s;econd Vial was poured forth, and therefore a thing mo&s;t unlikely that this &s;hould be the meaning.</P>
<P>A late worthy Writer upon the Vials, in this (as in many things el&s;e) varies from the common-road of Expo&s;itors, under&s;tanding by <HI>Rivers, States, and Kingdomes, by Fountains of waters, the Heads of the&s;e,</HI> namely, <HI>Kings, Parliaments, Stat&s;men, &amp;c. upon whom this Vial is poured forth.</HI></P>
<P>To this I do the more readily a&s;&s;ent.</P>
<P N="1">1 Becau&s;e the former Expo&s;itions cannot &s;tand, for the rea&s;ons aforenamed.</P>
<P N="2">2 Becau&s;e the ordinary u&s;e of the words give this to be the meaning; For <HI>Rivers</HI> and <HI>Waters</HI> in Scripture-phra&s;e &s;ignifie <HI>People</HI> and <HI>Nations,</HI> Ezek. 32.2. <HI>Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh King of Egypt, and &s;ay unto him, Thou art like a young Lion of the Nations, thou came&s;t forth with thy Rivers, and troubled&s;t the waters with thy feet, and fouled&s;t their Rivers.</HI> I&s;a. 8.7. <HI>Now therefore behold, the Lord bringeth upon them the waters of the River &s;trong and many, even the King of A&s;&s;yria.</HI> Rev. 17.15. <HI>The waters which thou &s;awe&s;t, where the Whore &s;itteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and Nations, and Tongues.</HI> The Fountain in common lan|guage is as much as the <HI>Head</HI> of a River, whence it ari|&s;eth, and by which it is nouri&s;hed.</P>
<P N="3">3 Becau&s;e the rea&s;on of the Vial, ver&s;. 6. <HI>For they
<PB N="16" REF="65">have &s;hed the blood of thy Saints,</HI> doth (as but now was &s;hewed) more fitly agree to tho&s;e who have hitherto been the Actors in &s;hedding the blood of Saints, than to any other.</P>
<P N="4">4 Becau&s;e this Interpretation doth make a glorious concurrence and harmony, betwixt the order of Gods workings hitherto (&s;ince the Vials began to be poured out) and the order of the Vials: For the fir&s;t remarkable thing wherein the hand of God appeared again&s;t the Bea&s;t, was in the detection of, and de&s;troying his dam|nable <HI>doctrine,</HI> and abominable Idolatries. Next pouring contempt upon, and pulling down the <HI>Antichri&s;tian Hierarchy.</HI> And the very next thing remarkable &s;ince that, hath been the &s;haking of &s;ome <HI>Nations,</HI> and removing from their &s;eats their <HI>Kings</HI> and <HI>great ones,</HI> who were &s;ecret friends unto, and &s;upporters of this Throne of ini|quity; accordingly, the fir&s;t came under the <HI>fir&s;t Vial,</HI> the next the <HI>&s;econd;</HI> And why may not the <HI>third,</HI> being a thing remarkable, and di&s;tinct from the other, come under this <HI>third Vial,</HI> we are now &s;peaking of?</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 TYPE="effect">
<HEAD>2 <HI>The</HI> EFFECT.</HEAD>
<HEAD>The Rivers and Fountains of Waters become blood.</HEAD>
<P><HI>And they became blood.</HI> That is, Wars do ari&s;e in tho&s;e Nations &s;ubject to this third Vial, to the involving the people in blood, yea cau&s;ing the blood of chief Heads and great ones to be poured forth. How within the&s;e few yeers pa&s;t, our <HI>Rivers</HI> in <HI>England,</HI> and the places &s;ub|jected to it, have run blood, yea the <HI>Fountain</HI> head hath &s;prouted blood, is &s;ufficiently known to all men. Now the rea&s;on why I interpret <HI>blood</HI> here according to the <HI>Letter,</HI> is, becau&s;e a nece&s;&s;ity &s;o to do lyes upon me, and that from the very words, for <HI>&s;uch blood</HI> as hath been
<PB N="17" REF="65">&s;hed by the <HI>Rivers</HI> and <HI>Fountains</HI> of waters, <HI>&s;uch blood</HI> by way of retaliation is given them to drink, ver&s;. 6. but <HI>blood</HI> hath been &s;hed by them in a litteral &s;en&s;e, therefore God in their own kind, repays them again, and <HI>they be|come blood.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 TYPE="adjunct">
<HEAD>3 <HI>An</HI> ADJUNCT.</HEAD>
<P>(Which I &s;o call, rather than an Effect, becau&s;e properly it is not an Effect) and that is, <HI>A Ju&s;tification of God in the&s;e terrible executions of his wrath upon them.</HI></P>
<DIV4 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>1 By the Angel of the Waters.</HEAD>
<P>Ver&s;. 5, 6. <HI>And I heard the Angel of the waters &s;ay, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wa&s;t, and &s;halt be, becau&s;e thou ho&s;t judged thus:</HI></P>
<P><HI>For they have &s;hed the blood of Saints, and Pro|phets, and thou ha&s;t given them blood to drink, for they are worthy.</HI></P>
<P>The Angel of the <HI>Waters,</HI> is that Angel who &s;hall be u&s;ed to pour out the Vial of Gods wrath upon the <HI>Rivers and Fountains of waters,</HI> called <HI>Angel of the waters,</HI> be|cau&s;e he hath a power over the <HI>Waters,</HI> to pour out Gods wrath upon them; Which <HI>Angel</HI> &s;hall at this day ac|knowledge, that notwith&s;tanding the things them&s;elves done by <HI>this Vial,</HI> are &s;trange, and to be wondred at, things unthought of, unheard of; yet being done, that the hand of God in them is marvellou&s;ly <HI>ju&s;t,</HI> and to bee magnified of all his people, being the <HI>ju&s;t</HI> recompence of the injuries offered to, and the blood of Saints. How in the mid&s;t of tho&s;e great and wonderful changes, and revo|lutions that of late yeers have been in <HI>England,</HI> the hearts of all tho&s;e who have gone along with God in the&s;e his glorious di&s;pen&s;ations and mighty works of wonder, have been (notwith&s;tanding the continual offence of others, and of the greater part) carried out to <HI>ju&s;tifie</HI>
<PB N="18" REF="66">God, and &s;ay, <HI>Thou art righteous, O Lord, &amp;c.</HI> cannot by them be forgotten.</P>
</DIV4>
<DIV4 N="2" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>2 <HI>By another</HI> out of the Altar.</HEAD>
<P>Ver&s;. 7. <HI>And I heard another out of the Altar &s;ay, Even &s;o, O Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgements.</HI></P>
<P>The <HI>Altar</HI> was the place upon which Sacrifices being &s;lain, were laid to be con&s;umed. It &s;ignifies a &s;uffering condition, and &s;o is u&s;ed Rev. 6.9, 10, 11. <HI>I &s;aw under the Altar the &s;ouls of them which were &s;lain for the word of God, and for the te&s;timony which they held. And they cryed with a loud voyce &s;aying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, do&s;t thou not judge, and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?</HI> Only with this difference, the &s;ufferings there &s;poken of were unto death, and martyrdome, and therefore they are &s;aid to be <HI>under the Altar;</HI> but here, though their &s;ufferings are great, yet not to death, and therefore they cry out of the <HI>Altar,</HI> though they are upon the <HI>Altar,</HI> yet not &s;o, but that they can &s;till give te&s;timony to Gods work in the world. The <HI>&s;econd Te&s;timony</HI> therefore coming out of the <HI>Altar,</HI> or from the <HI>Altar,</HI> denotes the per&s;ons bearing this te&s;timony to be &s;uch as lye <HI>under great &s;ufferings,</HI> who out of the <HI>Altar, i.e.</HI> in the mid&s;t of all their per&s;ecutions, do yet give te&s;timony that the &s;trange a&s;toni&s;hing and unwonted Effects of this Vial, are no other but the true and righteous judgements of God, inflicted upon tho&s;e, upon whom this Vial is poured out.</P>
<P>How &s;utable hereunto is that <HI>Te&s;timony</HI> not long &s;ince &s;ent over, by &s;ome exiled <HI>Bohemians</HI> from <HI>Li&s;&s;a</HI> in <HI>Po|land,</HI> to us in <HI>England,</HI> written by one of the <HI>bani&s;hed</HI> in a little Book, intituled <HI>Clavis Apocalyptica,</HI> who in pages 1<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">3, 104. &s;peaking of the <HI>great Revolutions in the I&s;le of great britain,</HI> and particularly mentioning that of the <HI>Fountain Head becoming blood,</HI> he (though yet as one
<PB N="19" REF="66">amazed at the thing) &s;aith thus; <HI>We mu&s;t by vertue of that clear Text, &s;ay with the Angel, Lord, thou are righteous, becau&s;e thou ha&s;t judged thus.</HI></P>
</DIV4>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 TYPE="section">
<HEAD>Two things from what I have &s;aid, are worthy ob&s;ervation.</HEAD>
<P>Fir&s;t, That this Vial hath a <HI>do<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ble</HI> atte&s;tation going along with it, (which is not found in any other Vial) of the Righteou&s;ne&s;s, Ju&s;tice, and Equity of the things effected by it; Why &s;o? I take the <HI>rea&s;on</HI> to be this, becau&s;e the things done under this <HI>vial,</HI> &s;hall be &s;o &s;trange and amazing; &s;o be&s;ides the ordinary path and cour&s;e of Providence, and without former Pre&s;ident, as that the le|gality and ju&s;tice of them &s;hall be called in que&s;tion by mo&s;t; and therefore we have a <HI>double Te&s;timony</HI> (that out of the mouth of two Witne&s;&s;es, or two &s;o is of Wit|ne&s;&s;es, the righteou&s;ne&s;s of Gods wonderful works might be made manife&s;t) confe&s;&s;ing Gods hand here|in, and the &s;ame to be <HI>mo&s;t righteous</HI> in the doing of them.</P>
<DIV4 N="2" TYPE="subsection">
<HEAD>2 <HI>The per&s;ons bearing this te&s;timony are;</HI></HEAD>
<P N="1">1 The <HI>Angel of the waters;</HI> that is, the in&s;truments them&s;elves, that God will u&s;e to do the&s;e great things by, who &s;hall in their con&s;ciences be abundantly &s;atisfied, and bear publick te&s;timony that the things are righteous. 2 Another <HI>out of the Altar, i. e.</HI> Saints in a &s;uffering condition from &s;ome more remote place, who hearing the&s;e things &s;hall al&s;o cry, <HI>Lord thou art righteous.</HI> Why do the&s;e two bear witne&s;s only, and no other? The <HI>Rea&s;on</HI> may be this, To teach us that the effects of this Vial &s;hall be &s;uch, that hardly any but tho&s;e who are either deeply ingaged in pouring of it out, their hands, hearts, or prayers going with the work, or &s;uch who are under great per&s;ecutions for Chri&s;t, and thereby di&s;-inga|ged from all worldly intere&s;ts, &s;hall be able to &s;ay concern|ing
<PB N="20" REF="67">the things done, <HI>Lord thou art righteous, in the doing of them.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Object.</HI> If it be &s;aid, <HI>That there are Saints in Scot|land and Holland, who in the time this Vial is pouring forth do &s;uffer much why do not they with the&s;e other, come <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">n, and cry, Lord. True, and righteous are thy judgements? I An&s;wer,</HI></P>
<P N="1">1 Becau&s;e, though they &s;uffer, yet are not they upon the Altar, under &s;uffering for the cau&s;e of Chri&s;t, but ra|ther upon the Stage of this world, &s;uffering for love to a worldly intere&s;t which fain they would uphold, when God is throwing it down. 2 Becau&s;e they are mixed in the crowd with tho&s;e men, and have &s;haken hands with that intere&s;t upon which this Vial falls, and therefore it is no wonder that the righteou&s;ne&s;s and ju&s;tice of it &s;hould be hidden from their eyes.</P>
<P><HI>Que&s;t.</HI> If any now &s;hall ask me, <HI>What Nations I judge tho&s;e are, that are more immediately &s;ubject to the Vial?</HI></P>
<P><HI>I an&s;wer, England,</HI> with its Territories, the <HI>Low Countries</HI> and <HI>France;</HI> And my <HI>rea&s;on</HI> is, becau&s;e where the b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ood of Saints hath been in a more eminent manner poured out, there in all likelihood is this vial to fall, this being the rea&s;on of pouring it forth, <HI>they have &s;hed the blood of thy Saints,</HI> ver&s;. 6. but &s;etting <HI>Germany</HI> and <HI>Italy</HI> a&s;ide (which come under the two next <HI>Vials,</HI> and there|fore not to be brought in here) it is in <HI>England,</HI> the <HI>Low Countr<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">es</HI> and <HI>France,</HI> that the blood of <HI>Saints</HI> hath been mo&s;t eminentl<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> &s;hed, Witne&s;s the blood of <HI>Saints</HI> &s;pilt in <HI>England</HI> in the dayes of King <HI>Henry</HI> 8. Queen <HI>Mary:</HI> I need not &s;ay King <HI>Chartes</HI> his <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">gn too. In the <HI>Low Countries</HI> in the dayes of Duke <HI>d<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> Alva,</HI> who made it his boa&s;t, <HI>that he had there put to death</HI> 36000 <HI>Prote|&s;ta<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ts</HI> be&s;ides many that &s;uffered there likewi&s;e under other Princes. In <HI>France,</HI> the cruel barbarous &s;laughter (which
<PB N="21" REF="67">continued for many yeers) of the <HI>Walden&s;es, Albingen|&s;es,</HI> the late horrid ma&s;&s;acre at <HI>Paris,</HI> and in many other parts of that Kingdome; therefore though po&s;&s;ibly the droppings of this Vial may afflict &s;ome other Nations, &s;o far as the blood of <HI>Saints</HI> hath been &s;pilt in them, and by them, yet more immediately, and directly (in &s;uch manner as to break their whole frame, and alter their Civil con|&s;titution) this Vial falls upon <HI>England</HI> with its pre&s;ent <HI>Territories,</HI> the <HI>Low Countries,</HI> and <HI>France,</HI> whereof the fir&s;t hath already felt it; the &s;econd now feels it, and he who is coming to render recompences for the blood of Saints &s;hed in the other, &s;tands at the door.</P>
<P><HI>Object.</HI> If it be &s;aid, <HI>But &s;ince the time that blood hath been &s;hed in the&s;e lands, there have been</HI> (e&s;pecially in <HI>England,</HI> and the <HI>Low Countries) very great Al|terations, the ruling powers who then were Papi&s;ts being now Prote&s;tants; yea the generation of per&s;ecutors is now extinct, and in their graves: How then can it be ju&s;t with God to pour out the Vials of his wrath upon the&s;e Nations, and their pre&s;ent Heads, for what was done formerly, &s;eeing the&s;e powers cannot help what their forefathers did yea are reformed, and do di&s;claim what&s;oever in this way was done by them?</HI></P>
<P>To that <HI>I an&s;wer,</HI> out of the words of Chri&s;t to the hypocritical Scribes and Phari&s;ees, <HI>Matth.</HI> 23. who out of re&s;pect to the <HI>Prophets and righteous men that &s;uffer|ed by their forefathers did build the Tombs, and gar|ni&s;h the Sepulchres of the Martyrs,</HI> ver&s;. 29. &s;aying, <HI>If we had been in the dayes of our Fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the Prophets,</HI> ver&s;. 30. And not only &s;o, but al&s;o they were a mighty reformed generation, in re&s;pect of tho&s;e Idola|trous wayes their Forefathers walked in; yet becau&s;e they did &s;till retain that <HI>hatred</HI> to Chri&s;t, and true holine&s;s, in
<PB N="22" REF="68">their hearts, which was in their Forefathers, and the refor|mation they gloried in, was only outward and hypocriti|cal; therefore, &s;aith Chri&s;t, (ver&s;. 35, 36.) <HI>upon them, and that generation &s;hould come all the righteous blood&s;hed upon the earth.</HI> So may I &s;ay, though <HI>England</HI> of late yeers, reformed to what it was in Queen <HI>Maries</HI> dayes; and <HI>Holland</HI> at pre&s;ent is, to what it was in times of Popery; Yet becau&s;e the late <HI>Head</HI> and <HI>Heads</HI> of <HI>England</HI> had, and the pre&s;ent <HI>Rulers</HI> in <HI>Holland</HI> have the &s;ame <HI>malice</HI> and <HI>hatred</HI> in their hearts again&s;t the Truths and People of Chri&s;t, that was in the hearts of their Forefathers, and the Reformation that was in the one, and is in the other, only outward, and hypocritical; therefore it is <HI>ju&s;t,</HI> exceeding <HI>ju&s;t</HI> with God to recom|pence <HI>the blood of the Saints</HI> &s;hed in the times of their Forefathers, or former Rulers, upon the <HI>Heads</HI> of the <HI>Rulers</HI> and <HI>People</HI> of this <HI>Generation</HI> Yea God will the rather do it, becau&s;e it<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">s his way (as our in&s;tance proves) to puni&s;h the &s;ins of a prophane and Idolatrous Genera|tion, upon a formal and lukewarm Generation, who have a &s;hew of holine&s;s, but are enemies to the power.</P>
<P><HI>Thus much as touching the third</HI> VIAL.</P>
<P>Hitherto the Vials foretel things pa&s;t, and events an|&s;werable to the things foretold we have &s;een, &s;ave only that part of the third Vial, which doth more e&s;pecially relate to the <HI>Low Countries</HI> &amp; <HI>France,</HI> which is yet behind. The events whereof begin already to &s;hew them&s;elves but will in due time more fully appear. As for <HI>England</HI> it ha|ving drunk of this cup in the fir&s;t place, and that &s;o deeply, as that its old con&s;titution is thereby de&s;troyed, and withall the &s;ame being pa&s;&s;ed from us, it gives me &s;ome ground to <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ope (though not for our worthine&s;s) that the day of Gods w<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ath upon <HI>England</HI> is over; though yet for ought I know, &s;ome refining fire (being as the after-drops) to
<PB N="23" REF="68">purge out the remaining dro&s;s (if otherwi&s;e it bee not done) may notwith&s;tanding be kindled among&s;t us.</P>
<P>The following <HI>Vials</HI> &s;peak of things yet to come, and the events of them are <HI>Prophetical</HI> and therefore as we have great rea&s;on to be very jealous le&s;t through any contrived mould of Gods workings beforehand, &s;utable to &s;ome|what, which either our natural, or corrupt de&s;ires, or our conceived fancies incline us to, or le&s;t through a pinning our faith too much upon the authority of others; or on the contrary, a de&s;ire to be &s;ingular from all; or through pr<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">|ingagements to this or that particular party or intere&s;t; or &s;training &s;ome notion which hath a truth in it too far; or any other &s;uch like way or end, by which Saints lo&s;e their guide, we &s;hould unawares be drawn into mi&s;takes: So on the other &s;ide, to be very humble and &s;ober, much in waiting upon the Father of lights for light; as al&s;o, circum&s;pect in ob&s;erving, wary in judging tho&s;e &s;eve|ral hints which may be offered, or may offer them&s;elves for truth; to the end, if po&s;&s;ible, and &s;o fat as is the good plea&s;ure of the Father, that truth &s;hall be made known, mi&s;takes may be avoyded. Which that my &s;elf may not &s;werve from in the following work, let the merciful Lord be the light and &s;trength of his poor &s;ervant.</P>
</DIV4>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="4" TYPE="vial">
<HEAD>VIAL IV.</HEAD>
<DIV3 TYPE="subject">
<HEAD>1 <HI>The Subject of it.</HI></HEAD>
<HEAD><HI>The</HI> SUN.</HEAD>
<P>Ver&s;. 8. <HI>AND the fourth Angel poured out his Vial upon the Sun.</HI></P>
<P>By <HI>Sun</HI> here cannot be meant (as &s;ome) Chri&s;t the Son of Righteou&s;ne&s;s; nor (as others) the Scripture revealing Chri&s;t; for the manife&s;t truth of our fourth Propo&s;ition,
<PB N="24" REF="69">as al&s;o becau&s;e according to either of the&s;e opinions) the Subject of this Vial, is made &s;ingular from all the re&s;t, for the Subjects of every of the other Vials are things evill, and peeces of Antichri&s;ts and Satans Kingdome, and con|fe&s;&s;ed &s;o to be; but according to the&s;e interpretations, the Subject of this Vial &s;hould be good; either Chri&s;t him|&s;elf, or one of the principal things, and of greate&s;t value pertaining to his Kingdom.</P>
<P>A late worthy Writer, who interprets this <HI>Sun</HI> to be &s;ome high, eminent <HI>Head of State,</HI> who like a <HI>Sun</HI> in the Popi&s;h world upholds all; and by his &s;plendor and govern|ment giveth &s;trength and lu&s;tre to all; Like as the <HI>Sun</HI> in the created world, by its light and motion, guides and moves the forces of nature; he that hit the mark in ge|nearl, but not having pointed who, or what this Head is, hath yet left room for a more particular inquiry.</P>
<P>By <HI>Sun</HI> therefore (as &s;ome others more fitly and rightly judge) we are in this place to under&s;tand the <HI>Ger|man Empire,</HI> or <HI>Hou&s;e</HI> of <HI>Au&s;tria;</HI> but the&s;e al&s;o in the application fall under a mi&s;take, whil&s;t looking upon the late <HI>German</HI> War to be the Effect of this Vial, they bring us down to the fifth or &s;ixth Vials; which opinion for our two fir&s;t rea&s;ons laid down to di&s;prove the very &s;ame opinion (urged by another Author, and to another end) in opening the Subject of the &s;econd Vial, cannot &s;tand with truth.</P>
<P>And here, by the way, I cannot but give the Reader a hint, how ea&s;ie a thing it is to be deceived by likelihoods; The <HI>German</HI> War having in it the likelihood of a <HI>Vial,</HI> hath given occa&s;ion to &s;ome to bring it under the &s;econd, to others under the fourth, whereas indeed it pro|perly belongs to none. Spiritual prudence and direction from above, is wanting in nothing more than this, to judge aright of likelihoods.</P>
<P>Yet although in re&s;pect of the time they &s;tep a&s;ide,
<PB N="25" REF="69">that yet they have judged aright concerning the Subject, is clear; becau&s;e the <HI>Sun</HI> here being to be under&s;tood of no other <HI>Sun</HI> than that which &s;hines in the <HI>Antichri&s;tian</HI> world, or <HI>Popi&s;h Horizon</HI> (for it is upon that world, and that alone) all the Vials (the two la&s;t excepted) are to be poured forth) it cannot to any be &s;o properly and parly applyed, as to the <HI>German Empire,</HI> or the <HI>Hou&s;e</HI> of <HI>Au&s;tria;</HI> which although for pre&s;ent, through the late War, it hath &s;uffered an ecclip&s;e in re&s;pect of its former lu&s;tre and beauty; yet was it when <HI>Antichri&s;ts</HI> King|dome was in its highe&s;t altitude, and the top of its glory, the very <HI>Sun,</HI> and glory of that Kingdome.</P>
<P>And that which doth yet more &s;trongly confirm me in this conjecture, is, the con&s;ideration how exactly the &s;ame, according to this interpretation doth agree both to the time and place of the Witne&s;&s;es killing, and ri&s;ing; for that they about this time lye dead in that &s;treet of the Great City, (the very, and only place they are to be &s;lain in) and &s;hall &s;hortly there ari&s;e; &s;ome weighty grounds for proof hereof, are laid down by the worthy <HI>Author</HI> of <HI>Clavis Apocalyptica,</HI> of whom mention was made in the foregoing <HI>Vial,</HI> to which it were not im|po&s;&s;ible to adde &s;ome farther proof, though here to do it would be to make this word by the by, &s;well into a <HI>Tract</HI> of it &s;elf, and therefore I forbear, not without &s;ome hopes and expectations, that in&s;tead of <HI>verbal,</HI> the thing by <HI>real</HI> Arguments may prove it &s;elf ere long. Onely ad|ding, that it may more concern the higher powers of this Nation, than po&s;&s;ibly many are aware of, to ca&s;t an eye that way: And what the de&s;ign of God may be, or whe|ther or no tending to any &s;uch thing in the pre&s;ent War with <HI>Holland,</HI> we &s;hall know hereafter.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 TYPE="adjunct">
<PB N="26" REF="70">
<HEAD>2 <HI>The</HI> ADJUNCT. <HI>A power given to the Angel to &s;corch with fire.</HI></HEAD>
<P><HI>And power was given unto him to &s;corch men with fire.</HI> The Relative <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>to him,</HI> may be referred either to the <HI>Angel</HI> pouring out this Vial, or to the <HI>Sun,</HI> upon which the &s;ame i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> poured out; and I take it, it is to be referred to the fir&s;t, <HI>viz.</HI> the <HI>Angel,</HI> for this <HI>Rea&s;on,</HI> be|cau&s;e it it &s;aid to be a <HI>power given,</HI> to wit, by &s;pecial di&s;|pen&s;ation of God <HI>to &s;corch men with fire;</HI> Now God doth not in this manner give a power to Antichri&s;t to de|&s;troy him&s;elf, which mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arily follow, in ca&s;e the <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>to him,</HI> be referred to the latter, <HI>viz.</HI> the <HI>Sun.</HI> Neither may it be &s;aid, that by the pouring out of this Vial, the chief <HI>Head</HI> or <HI>Heads</HI> of the <HI>Au&s;trian</HI> Family &s;hall be converted, which done, that hou&s;e &s;hall de&s;troy the <HI>Roman</HI> Whote; for how can a <HI>Vial</HI> of <HI>pure</HI> and <HI>full wrath</HI> poured on for de&s;truction, prove the convertion of that thing it &s;hould de&s;troy?</P>
<P>The meaning therefore is (referring it to the Angel) That th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">s Ange<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> who pours out his Vial upon the <HI>Sun,</HI> &s;hall do &s;omewhat over and above the bare pouring out of his Vial, by which the hearts of the Antichri&s;tian faction &s;hall be extremely moved, and they filled with wrath, envy, vexation, the which as fire, and great heat &s;hall in|wardly &s;corch and torment them; and this being added to the pouring forth of his <HI>Vial,</HI> &s;hews it is a thing peculiar to this Angel, all the re&s;t do only pour out their Vials, this doth that, and be&s;ides (as a thing over and above) hath a power <HI>given</HI> unto him to <HI>&s;corch men with fire.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Ob<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">.</HI> You will ask me, But what is that which by &s;pe|cial di&s;pen&s;ation is given to this Angel to do be&s;ides the <HI>pouring out</HI> of his Vial, which &s;hall &s;o <HI>&s;corch</HI> the Popi&s;h party?</P>
<PB N="27" REF="70">
<P>To that I an&s;wer, I do humbly conceive it may be this; This <HI>Angel</HI> having poured out his Vial upon the <HI>Hou&s;e of Au&s;tria</HI> (or rather as he is doing of it) <HI>he &s;hall give a powerful call to the Witne&s;&s;es,</HI> that by the power of that Hou&s;e at this in&s;tant time &s;hall he dead, which is the <HI>voyce from Heaven</HI> (whence all the Angels of the Vials comes, Chap. 15.5.6.) &s;aying to them, <HI>Come up hither,</HI> Rev. 11.12. which <HI>voyce,</HI> no &s;ooner &s;hall they hear, but in the view and faces of their enemies, they &s;hall &s;traight|way in a Cloud (<HI>i.e.</HI> under the wings and protection of this Angel, who by his power &s;hall be unto them as a Cloud by day to &s;helter them from the burning heat of the now in&s;lamed Sun. <HI>i.e.</HI> the rage of this incen&s;ed Hou&s;e) a&s;cend to Heaven; <HI>They a&s;cended up to Heaven in a Cloud, and their enemies beheld them.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Object.</HI> If it be &s;aid, But there is &s;omewhat here which &s;eems directly to oppo&s;e &s;uch a thing as th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">s, <HI>viz. That the Witne&s;&s;es ri&s;ing can be aimed at in this place,</HI> becau&s;e in the following words it is expre&s;ly &s;aid. <HI>They bla&s;phemed the God of Heaven, and repented not to give him glory;</HI> but at the rifing of the Witne&s;&s;es we have the contra<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">y, chap. 11.13. <HI>The remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of Heaven.</HI></P>
<P>I An&s;wer, That the 16. Chapter &s;peaks of tho&s;e one|ly upon whom the <HI>Vial</HI> did directly fall, who being no other than incorrigible enemies devoted to <HI>de&s;truction</HI> (as our fourth Propo&s;ition proves,) they are by them &s;till more and more hardned to their fatal ruin; But that <HI>Remnant</HI> &s;poken of chap. 11. are &s;uch upon whom God doth not poure out the Vial, I mean, the wrath of it, (although as to common and outward calamities they may feel it with the re&s;t, but rather &s;uch, who though through igno|rance they &s;tand in the croud among&s;t tho&s;e the Vial fals upon) yet hath God &s;pecial grace and mercy in &s;tore for, which by pouring out this Vial upon the
<PB N="28" REF="71">re&s;t, they come to partake of, having their eyes hereby opened to &s;ee Gods hand, and their hearts in truth turned to acknowledge the &s;ame, and give him glory; or at lea&s;t|wi&s;e &s;uch they are, who &s;eeing Gods hand, do &s;o far ac|knowledge the &s;ame, as wholly to relinqui&s;h, and have nothing to do with that Antichri&s;tian party they formerly &s;ided with.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 TYPE="effects">
<HEAD><HI>The</HI> EFFECTS.</HEAD>
<DIV4 N="1" TYPE="effect">
<HEAD>1. <HI>EFFECT.</HI></HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">Scorching with great heat.</HEAD>
<P>Ver&s;. 9. <HI>And men were &s;corched with great heat.</HI> The <HI>Antichri&s;tian</HI> faction &s;eeing this that the Witne&s;&s;es whom they reckoned they had killed and made &s;ure of, are now in the very faces of them got upon <HI>their feet to torment them,</HI> and that under &s;uch Protection, as that, though &s;tand and look upon them they can, yet hurt them they are not able, they &s;hall hereat be &s;o inraged, as that they &s;hall &s;corch them&s;elves even with the fire of their own rage; for indeed nothing torments a man inwardly like this, to &s;ee his deadly enemy ri&s;ing to rule over him, and he no way able to hin|der or prevent it.</P>
</DIV4>
<DIV4 N="2" TYPE="effect">
<HEAD>2 <HI>EFFECT.</HI></HEAD>
<P>A bla&s;pheming the God of Heaven, who had power over the&s;e plagues, in&s;tead of repenting to give him glory.</P>
<P><HI>And bla&s;phemed the God of Heaven, who had power over the&s;e plagues, and repented not to give him glory.</HI></P>
<P>The <HI>Papals</HI> (<HI>i.e.</HI> that incorrigible Crue, upon whom this Vial falls) &s;hall now them&s;elves begin to &s;ee that the
<PB N="29" REF="71">hand of the God of Heaven is manife&s;tly again&s;t them in the&s;e <HI>Plagues,</HI> by who&s;e power and command alone they are ordered to fall upon them; yet &s;hall not this conviction bring them to <HI>repent,</HI> and give him the glory of, but ra|ther they &s;hall <HI>bla&s;pheme</HI> that hand they now behold lift up again&s;t them; and as it was with <HI>Pharoah</HI> when God plagued him, he hardened him&s;elf; &s;o &s;hall they by the&s;e <HI>Plagues</HI> become the more obdurate, and hardened to a wil|full per&s;i&s;ting in their iniquity.</P>
</DIV4>
</DIV3>
<TRAILER><HI>Thus much as touching the fourth</HI> VIAL.</TRAILER>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="5" TYPE="vial">
<HEAD>VIAL. V.</HEAD>
<DIV3 TYPE="subject">
<HEAD>1 <HI>The Subject of it.</HI></HEAD>
<HEAD>The Seat of the Bea&s;t.</HEAD>
<P><HI>AND the fifth Angel poured out his Vial upon the Seat of the Bea&s;t.</HI>
<MILESTONE N="10" UNIT="Ver&s;."></P>
<P>That by <HI>Seat of the Bea&s;t</HI> &s;hould here be meant <HI>An|tichri&s;ts Kingdom</HI> in general (as &s;ome conceive) &s;eems incon&s;i&s;tent with the very words them&s;elves, which &s;peak not of de&s;troying the <HI>whole,</HI> but rather a darkning of the <HI>whole,</HI> by ruining &s;ome eminent part, yea, according to this interpretation, no need would be (unle&s;s we &s;up|po&s;e this Vial alone too weak) of any more Vials to be poured forth upon the Kingdom of the Bea&s;t, which yet notwith&s;tanding after this hath a greater &s;torm falling up|on it, and that to its final ruin, than ever any before.</P>
<P>Tho&s;e who by <HI>Seat of the Bea&s;t</HI> under&s;tand the <HI>Popes Supremacy;</HI> The Angel pouring forth this Vial, to be King <HI>James</HI> in that Paraphra&s;e of his upon this Book, but chiefly his premonition, <HI>To all mo&s;t Mighty Mo|narches, Kings. Free-Princes, and States of Chri&s;ten|dom,</HI> James, <HI>by the Grace of God, &amp;c.</HI> are certainly
<PB N="30" REF="72">mi&s;taken, as appears by our <HI>&s;econd Propo&s;ition.</HI></P>
<P>A man whom Gods people in this age are much be|holding to, doth by <HI>Seat of the Bea&s;t under&s;tand Epi&s;co|pacy,</HI> his principal rea&s;on is, becau&s;e <GAP DESC="foreign"> is &s;ometimes in Scripture put for that form of Government and Autho|rity, which a per&s;on of State &s;itting upon the Throne may admini&s;ter; the pouring out this Vial to be about the year, 1639. when the Scots entred into Covenant to with&s;tand and aboli&s;h Epi&s;copacy; but though I highly honor the memory of the pious and grave Author of this opinion, yet canl not receive it.</P>
<P N="1">1 Becau&s;e this Vial &s;peaks wholly of things to come, not pa&s;t, as this is.</P>
<P N="2">2 Becau&s;e we have already &s;een the downfal of Epi&s;|copacy under another Vial.</P>
<P N="3">3 Becau&s;e although the downfal of Bi&s;hops in our I&s;le was a blow to be noted, yet not &s;uch a blow as filled the <HI>Kingdom of the Bea&s;t</HI> with darkne&s;s, making the <HI>Papals to gnaw their tongues for pain,</HI> as this doth.</P>
<P N="4">4 Becau&s;e not this but another thing is, yea mu&s;t be the &s;ubject of this Vial, namely.</P>
<DIV4 TYPE="section">
<HEAD>The City Rome.</HEAD>
<P>The very thing here intended, a is evident.</P>
<P N="1">1 Becau&s;e the original word <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>Seat,</HI> is but once more u&s;ed in all the <HI>Revelations,</HI> where the &s;ame is applied to the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> chap. 13.2. <HI>The Dragon gave him his Power and his Seat, and great Authority,</HI> and that there it cannot in the former &s;en&s;e, but mu&s;t in this lat|ter be under&s;tood, is manife&s;t; becau&s;e <HI>Seat</HI> is di&s;tingui&s;h|ed from <HI>Power</HI> and <HI>Authority,</HI> as being a thing di&s;tinct from them; therefore the <HI>Bea&s;ts</HI> form of Government, or Authority cannot be the thing intended thereby, but it mu&s;t be interpreted of his place of re&s;idence, namely, the <HI>City Rome.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2 Becau&s;e the order that the Holy Gho&s;t ob&s;erves af|terwards
<PB N="31" REF="72">in declaring more fully what under the Vials is but briefly hinted at, agrees mo&s;t exactly to this &s;en&s;e, but by the other is broken to pecces; for Chap. 18. relates to <HI>Romes</HI> ruin, and Chap 19. concludes with the battle of <HI>Armageedon,</HI> accordingly the City <HI>Rome</HI> is the Subject of this Vial, and &s;uddenly after Ver. 16. comes in the battle of <HI>Armageddon,</HI> whereas if the ruin of the City <HI>Rome</HI> (as judgeth the worthy Author) were not to be till the &s;eventh Vial, the order of the Holy Gho&s;t in Chap|ters the 18, 19. which relates the ruin of the City <HI>Rome</HI> before, yet preparation is made to that <HI>battle,</HI> would be manife&s;tly broken.</P>
<P N="3">3 Becau&s;e no interpretation can better-&s;ute the words them&s;elves; for what may more properly be called <HI>An|tichri&s;ts Soat,</HI> then <HI>Rome</HI> the place where the Chair he &s;its in &s;tands? or what thing can befall the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> which is more likely to fill his whole Kingdom with darkne&s;s, yea, make the Papals gnaw their tongues for pain, than the <HI>de|&s;truction of Rome,</HI> the Metropolis of that Kingdom?</P>
<P N="4">4 To the&s;e I may adde a fourth Argument, urged by a learned Writer to our purpo&s;e. Where the purpled Wo|man &s;its, there is Antichri&s;ts Seat, becau&s;e &s;he &s;its on the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> that is, Antichri&s;t the purpled <HI>Woman</HI> &s;its at <HI>Rome,</HI> becau&s;e &s;he &s;its on the <HI>&s;even Head; of the Bea&s;t.</HI> which are the <HI>&s;even Mountains of Rome,</HI> Chap. 17.9 <HI>The &s;e|ven Heads are &s;even Mountains, on which the Woman &s;itteth. Rome,</HI> therefore is, yea, mu&s;t be the <HI>Seat</HI> of Antichri&s;t.</P>
<P>Now as to the Objection, <HI>That this City Rome comes under the &s;eventh Vial,</HI> where mention is made of <HI>Great Babylon</HI> coming into remembrance before God, and that therefore it cannot be the Subject of this. I &s;hall to that &s;ay nothing here, onely refer the Reader to our opening of that place for his an&s;wer.</P>
<P>Neither let any &s;ay (as &s;ome object) that this interpre|tation
<PB N="32" REF="73">is <HI>literal,</HI> contrary to the &s;cope of the Vials, which carry things in a <HI>my&s;tery;</HI> for it is ea&s;ie to reply, That did we by <HI>Seat,</HI> under&s;tand the <HI>Seat or Chair</HI> it &s;elf that An|tichri&s;t fits in, it would &s;o be; but whil&s;t, (as here) <HI>Seat</HI> is put for the place in which his <HI>Seat or Chair</HI> doth &s;tand; it is manife&s;t enough, that there is a figure, and a my&s;te|ry in the words.</P>
</DIV4>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 TYPE="effects">
<HEAD>2. <HI>The EFFECTS.</HI></HEAD>
<DIV4 N="1" TYPE="effect">
<HEAD>1 EFFECT.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>The Kingdom of the Bea&s;t is full of Darkne&s;s.</HI></HEAD>
<P><HI>And his Kingdom was full of Darkne&s;s.</HI> By the fall of <HI>Rome,</HI> the <HI>head City,</HI> the whole Papal <HI>Kingdom</HI> &s;hall &s;uffer a great eclip&s;e of its former e&s;teem and glory, for now &s;hall the Kings of the Earth, who have been former|ly &s;upports to this Kingdom, and tho&s;e Merchants of the Earth who have formerly traded with the Bea&s;t, &s;tand afar off, as men afraid either to own, or traffick with the Bea&s;t any longer for fear of her torment, as is more fully &s;et forth in the de&s;cription of <HI>Romes</HI> ruin, which we have at large, Chap. 18. v. 9. to 20.</P>
</DIV4>
<DIV4 N="2" TYPE="effect">
<HEAD>2 EFFECT.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">Gnawing their tongues for pain.</HEAD>
<P><HI>And they gnawed their tongues for pain.</HI> Noting the extremity of <HI>rage</HI> the Papals &s;hall be in, when they &s;hall behold <HI>Rome,</HI> the glory of their Kingdom made a ruinous heap, and they no way able to revenge their own quarrel, they &s;hall act the parts of mad men, who gna&s;h their teeth, bite their lips, gnaw their tongues, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> which al&s;o in &s;uitable and emphatical expre&s;&s;ions we have, ch. 18. v. 15, 16, 17, 18, 19.</P>
</DIV4>
<DIV4 N="3" TYPE="effect">
<PB N="33" REF="73">
<HEAD>3 <HI>EFFECT.</HI></HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">Bla&s;pheming the God of Heaven, becau&s;e of their pains, and &s;ores.</HEAD>
<P>Ver&s;. 11. <HI>And bla&s;phemed the God of Heaven be|cau&s;e of their pains, and their &s;ores, and repented not of their deeds.</HI> The marked &s;ons of the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> &s;hall now yet more evidently &s;ee, that their pain, <HI>viz.</HI> their inward torments, and vexation of mind, by which they are in a manner di&s;tracted; and their <HI>&s;ores, viz.</HI> the ecclip&s;e of their outward glory, cau&s;ing their friends and ad|herents to de&s;ert their cau&s;e and intere&s;t, proceed only, and alone from the hand of the God of Heaven, who now is remembring their in quities, and judging of them, yet (as before) they &s;hall now again harden them&s;elves, and bla&s;pheme the God of Heaven to their own de&s;truction, in&s;tead of repenting of their deeds to give him glory.</P>
<P>Concerning the time when this Vial &s;hall be poured forth, my thoughts are the&s;e:</P>
<P>That the <HI>Jews</HI> delivery being to begin (as in my fir&s;t part hath been proved) in, or about the year 56, and that being the <HI>Effect</HI> of the &s;ixth, or following <HI>Vial;</HI> it there|fore nece&s;&s;arily follows, that the <HI>Vials</HI> upon the <HI>Sun,</HI> and the <HI>Seat of the Bea&s;t,</HI> mu&s;t be poured forth &s;ometime in the interim betwixt this, and the yeer of our Lord, 1656. or thereabouts, and therefore although for &s;o much as con|cerns the particular time, I &s;hall wave it, yet may I &s;afely conclude thus much in the general, that the time is at hand.</P>
<P>Now the Rea&s;ons why &s;o <HI>little</HI> time is allowed to the&s;e two <HI>Vials,</HI> when as every of the former hath taken up much more, are as I conceive:</P>
<P N="1">1 Becau&s;e God is &s;low in beginning to pour out his
<PB N="34" REF="74"><HI>wrath</HI> upon &s;inners, waiting their <HI>repentance;</HI> but when <HI>wrath</HI> hath been poured out upon them, and they by the &s;ame grow hardened, then his proceedings are more <HI>quick,</HI> Hence in the fir&s;t Vial, a <HI>long</HI> breathing time to con&s;ider their wayes, is allowed to the&s;e enemies of God, which they not regarding, but being more <HI>hardned</HI> under it, God in pouring out the &s;econd, <HI>cuts</HI> the time much <HI>&s;horter;</HI> yet becau&s;e under that they are <HI>hardned</HI> al&s;o, therefore in the third, time is <HI>cut &s;horter yet;</HI> and becau&s;e after God had &s;mitten them <HI>three times</HI> they &s;till are <HI>hardned,</HI> and per&s;i&s;t to oppo&s;e the Lord Je&s;us; in&s;tead of &s;ubmitting to give him glory, therefore in the fourth and fifth Vials, <HI>time</HI> is brought to a <HI>little &s;cantling,</HI> God doing that in a few dayes, which before took up many yeers.</P>
<P N="2">2 Becau&s;e with the pouring forth of this Vial, the <HI>&s;uffering</HI> of the Gentile-Churches (as I conceive) draws to an end (though after this the <HI>Jews</HI> in that interval of time betwixt the &s;ixt and &s;eventh Vials are to have a day of &s;uffering.) Now the <HI>nearer</HI> the end comes, the <HI>fa&s;ter</HI> will Chri&s;t go, the fini&s;hing of the work &s;hall be cut <HI>&s;hort in righteou&s;ne&s;s.</HI> And therefore ob&s;ervable it is con|cerning both the&s;e Vials, that the Scripture hath &s;et a mark upon each, to &s;hew that their continuance is not to be long. The fourth <HI>Vial</HI> under which the Witne&s;&s;es ri&s;e, hath this to note the &s;uddenne&s;s of it; <HI>The &s;ame hour there was a great Earthquake, and the tenth part of the City fell,</HI> Chap. 11.13. <HI>it is done in an hour, i.e.</HI> in a very &s;hort time; and of the fifth <HI>Vial</HI> poured out upon the <HI>City Rome,</HI> it is &s;aid, <HI>Her plagues &s;hall come upon her in one day,</HI> Chap. 18.8. and <HI>in one hour is her judgement come,</HI> ver&s;. 10. <HI>in one hour &s;o great riches is come to nought,</HI> ver&s;. 17. <HI>in one hour &s;he is made de&s;olate,</HI> ver&s;. 19. The oft repetition of &s;o &s;hort a time, plainly teaching thus much, That the work &s;hall bee done in an in&s;tant, ere the Papals them&s;elves, or, it may bee,
<PB N="35" REF="74">the in&s;truments God will imploy in doing it, are aware.</P>
</DIV4>
</DIV3>
<TRAILER><HI>Thus much as touching the fifth</HI> VIAL.</TRAILER>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="6" TYPE="vial">
<HEAD>VIAL VI.</HEAD>
<DIV3 TYPE="subject">
<HEAD>1 <HI>The</HI> SUBJECT <HI>of it,</HI></HEAD>
<HEAD>The great River Euphrates.</HEAD>
<P><HI>AND the &s;ixth Angel poured out his Vial upon the great River Eu|phrates.</HI>
<MILESTONE N="12" UNIT="Ver&s;."></P>
<P>Tho&s;e who under&s;tand the drying up of <HI>Euphrates</HI> in a <HI>litteral</HI> &s;en&s;e, to make way hereby for the <HI>Jews</HI> more &s;peedy return out of the Ea&s;tern Countries to <HI>Jeru&s;a|lem,</HI> their native Country, mi&s;take, for the grounds of our la&s;t Propo&s;ition, and al&s;o becau&s;e (as &s;aith a godly man in an&s;wer to this opinion) the &s;ixth <HI>Vial</HI> according to this &s;hould have no plague at all, for (&s;aith he) either in the&s;e words of drying up <HI>Euphrates</HI> the plague is pointed at, or in none; for the following words mention no plague, but only the endeavour of Gods enemies to defend them|&s;elves again&s;t it.</P>
<P>By the River <HI>Euphrates</HI> &s;ome others under&s;tand the <HI>Riches and Revenues</HI> of Antichri&s;tian <HI>Babylon,</HI> which <HI>Riches</HI> and <HI>Revenues</HI> of theirs, are the &s;trength of <HI>Ba|bylon</HI> my&s;tical, as <HI>Euphrates</HI> of old was of litteral <HI>Ba|bylon;</HI> the drying up of <HI>Euphrates,</HI> the taking of the&s;e their <HI>Revenues</HI> from them, which Rents and holy Tribute of theirs being denied, their Che&s;ts and Coffers will by degrees grow empty.</P>
<P>Now although the Patrons of this opinion are men of worth, and to be e&s;teemed, yet cannot I herein &s;ub|&s;eribe unto them.</P>
<PB N="36" REF="75">
<P N="1">1 Becau&s;e (as is by &s;ome of them confe&s;&s;ed) the dry|ing up of <HI>Euphrates</HI> in this &s;en&s;e, hath been begun this hundred years, nay, &s;ome &s;ay three hundred, where|as the pouring forth of this Vial, is a thing yet to come.</P>
<P N="2">2 Becau&s;e every of the <HI>Vials</HI> hitherto hath done this by degrees already, and the <HI>Vials</HI> yet to come will more; for ob&s;erve it throughout all the <HI>Vials,</HI> what&s;oever it is that <HI>Antichri&s;t</HI> lo&s;eth by any <HI>Vial,</HI> he, together with the lo&s;s of that, lo&s;eth a con&s;iderable part of his <HI>Revenues</HI> coming in thereby; and therefore every <HI>Vial</HI> clipping his Tribute, and cutting him &s;hort here, there needs not a par|ticular <HI>Vial</HI> to be poured out upon that which every of the <HI>Vials,</HI> till the &s;ame is wholly de&s;troyed, will have an in|fluence upon.</P>
<P>Neither thirdly, Can I &s;ee how this will further (at mo&s;t but very little) the <HI>Jews</HI> return, which is that great thing, to prepare a way for the doing whereof this <HI>Vial</HI> is poured forth.</P>
<P>An eminent late Writer interprets this River <HI>Euphrates</HI> to be the <HI>&s;treams</HI> of <HI>Popi&s;h corruption,</HI> namely, their <HI>I|dolatries,</HI> by their <HI>Ma&s;s, Invocation of Saints, &amp;c.</HI> their <HI>murders</HI> of the &s;ouls of men, as well as the bodies of Chri&s;ts &s;ervants; their <HI>Sorceries,</HI> of which many of the Popes them&s;elves were guilty; their <HI>Whoredomes,</HI> namely, in their <HI>Stews;</HI> their <HI>Thefts,</HI> by their <HI>Indulgen|ces and Pardons</HI> for money, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>But the&s;e things are no other but that Popi&s;h Earth, the fir&s;t <HI>Vial</HI> fell upon, by the fall whereof the&s;e (though not throughout Antichri&s;ts Kingdom, yet in &s;ome parts (which is enough to evidence a <HI>Vial</HI> to have been already poured out upon them) were de&s;troyed. And it is well known, that <HI>Luther</HI> who began to pour out the fir&s;t <HI>Vial,</HI> was the very hammer of the Papi&s;ts, as to the beating down, and knocking in peeces the&s;e things.</P>
<PB N="37" REF="75">
<P>And although the Popi&s;h party are &s;everely puni&s;hed for the&s;e things, upon the &s;ounding of the &s;ixth Trumpet, Chap. 9.18, 19, 20, 21. Yet as the&s;e gro&s;s enormities came not then in, upon the &s;ounding of that Trumpet, but were in before, though then they are puni&s;hed for them; &s;o (each <HI>Vial</HI> ca&s;ting out (as the &s;ame Author hath ob&s;erved) that very corruption which the &s;ame Trumpet brought in) it follows, the bringing of the&s;e things in being before, &s;o mu&s;t their ca&s;ting out al&s;o, and therefore it is more agreeable to the Authors own Po&s;ition, to place the ca&s;ting of the&s;e things out under the fir&s;t <HI>Vial</HI> (as I have done) they co<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">|ing in, in all likelihood, under the fir&s;t Trumpet) than that their ca&s;ting out &s;hould not be until this Sixth.</P>
<P>But more rightly (as &s;ome others) we are to under&s;tand the <HI>Ottoman Family,</HI> or <HI>Turki&s;h Empire,</HI> called the <HI>Great River,</HI> becau&s;e of the multitude of People and Nations therein, <HI>Rivers</HI> &s;ignifying People and Nations, as I have proved under the third <HI>Vial;</HI> and the <HI>Great Ri|ver Euphrates,</HI> either to &s;ignifie (as &s;ome think) that people to be here meant who inhabit about <HI>Euphrates,</HI> which are the <HI>Turks;</HI> or (as I conceive) to give us to un|der&s;tand that that very people are here intended, who &s;hall about this time be looked upon, and accounted the greate&s;t people of all others; for of all <HI>Rivers</HI> that we read of in the Old Te&s;tament, <HI>Euphrates</HI> is called the <HI>Great Ri|ver,</HI> Gen. 15.18. Deut. 1.7. Jo&s;h. 1.4. or <HI>the River,</HI> by way of empha&s;is, <HI>Deut.</HI> 11.24. Now the people who at this pre&s;ent time are of all others accounted the greate&s;t, are the <HI>Turks,</HI> who therefore, and no other, are here to be under&s;tood.</P>
<P>And which &s;erves us for a &s;trong confirmation hereof, the <HI>River Euphrates</HI> is but once more in all the <HI>Revelation</HI> mentioned, Chap. 9.14. and there, by the general con|&s;ent of Expo&s;itors, it hath reference to the <HI>Turki&s;h power.</HI></P>
<PB N="38" REF="76">
<P>To which let me further add, that it being a thing al&s;o granted, that in the la&s;t war (to which preparation is made under this <HI>Vial</HI>) as well the <HI>Turki&s;h Power</HI> &s;hall be en|gaged again&s;t the Saints, as the <HI>Power of the Bea&s;t,</HI> it therefore &s;eems a thing very probable, that the <HI>Turk</HI> &s;hall by the pouring out of this <HI>Vial,</HI> have &s;ome great provo|cation which &s;hall induce him to joyn hands with the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> in his &s;o de&s;perate a quarrel.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 TYPE="effect">
<HEAD>2 EFFECT.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>Drying up of the waters of</HI> Euphrates.</HEAD>
<P><HI>And the waters thereof were dryed up.</HI> The <HI>Turks power,</HI> and multitude, through the pouring out of this <HI>Vial</HI> &s;hall be wa&s;ted and de&s;troyed: for <HI>waters</HI> &s;et forth mul|titudes of people, (as before) the <HI>drying</HI> up of the waters, imports a <HI>wa&s;ting</HI> and con&s;uming of the&s;e multi|tude<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 TYPE="cause">
<HEAD>3 <HI>The moving Cau&s;e.</HI></HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">Preparing a way for the Kings of the Ea&s;t.</HEAD>
<P><HI>That the way of the Kings of the Ea&s;t might be prepared.</HI> The&s;e words render a rea&s;on of the <HI>drying up of Euphrates,</HI> which is to <HI>prepare a way for the Kings of the Ea&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>By <HI>Kings of the Ea&s;t,</HI> We are here to under&s;tand, the Jews, who upon the pouring forth of this <HI>Vial,</HI> &s;hall re|turn to their own Land, and be converted to Chri&s;t: And I take it that the pouring out of this <HI>Vial,</HI> prepares a way for both, viz. <HI>Their po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of their own land again, and their conver&s;ion to the Faith of the Go&s;pel;</HI> For as the latter &s;hall not go without the former, I mean <HI>conver|&s;ion to Chri&s;t, without po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of their land</HI> (The Scripture being full and clear in this, that when that Nati|on
<PB N="39" REF="76">&s;hall be converted, they &s;hall be in po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of their Land again, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 61.7. <HI>Jer.</HI> 31.17. and 32.41. <HI>Ezek.</HI> 37.21, 22, 25. <HI>Amos</HI> 9.14, 15. <HI>Zech.</HI> 2 12.) &s;o the for|mer alone without the latter, would be a thing indeed too low and carnal to be accounted the <HI>&s;ole moving cau&s;e</HI> of pouring out this <HI>Vial,</HI> which this preparing a way for the <HI>Kings of the Ea&s;t,</HI> is.</P>
<P>Now the Jewes are here called <HI>Kings,</HI> either for that abundance of <HI>riches</HI> they &s;hall bring along with them at their return, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 60.9.&mdash;<HI>To bring thy Sons from far, their &s;ilver and their gold with them.</HI> Or rather for that <HI>great honour</HI> and dignity that God will put upon his people, (&s;etting them uppermo&s;t in his Kingdom) upon it, <HI>Mich.</HI> 4.8. <HI>And thou O Tower of the flock, the &s;trong hold of the Daughters of</HI> Sion, <HI>unto thee &s;hall it come, even the fir&s;t Dominion, the Kingdom &s;hall come to the Daughter of</HI> Jeru&s;alem, I&s;a. 61.9. <HI>Their &s;eed &s;hall be known among the Gentiles, and their off-&s;pring among the people, all that &s;ee them, &s;hall acknowledge them, that they are the &s;eed which the Lord hath ble&s;&s;ed,</HI> Zech. 8.23. <HI>In tho&s;e daies ten men &s;hall take hold out of all the languages of the Nations, even &s;hall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, &s;aying, We will goe with you, for we have heard that God is with you.</HI></P>
<P>And they are called, <HI>Kings of the Ea&s;t</HI> (the Greek reads it, <HI>from the ri&s;ing of the Sun</HI>) becau&s;e (as &s;ome think) their coming &s;hall be from the <HI>Ea&s;tern</HI> Countries, which though I do not altogether deny, yet cannot I here &s;ub&s;cribe to it, as the rea&s;on why they are &s;o called, becau&s;e, as this interpretation adheres too much to the letter, &s;o it is evident, that the Scriptures which &s;peak of their return, do as well mention their <HI>coming</HI> from other quarters, as from the <HI>Ea&s;t,</HI> and not one Scripture &s;peaks of their com|ing from the <HI>Ea&s;t</HI> alone, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 43:5. <HI>I will bring thy &s;eed
<PB N="40" REF="77">from the East, and gather them from the We&s;t: I will &s;ay to the North give up, and to the South keep not back, bring my Sons from far, and my Daughters from the ends of the Earth,</HI> Chap. 49.12. <HI>Behold, the&s;e &s;hall come from far, and loe the&s;e from the North, and from the We&s;t, and the&s;e from the Land of</HI> Sinim. Jer. 31.8. <HI>Behold I will bring them from the North Country, &amp; gather them from the coa&s;ts of the earth,</HI>&mdash; Zech. 8.7. <HI>Thus &s;aith the Lord of Ho&s;ts, behold I will &s;ave my people from the Ea&s;t Country, and from the We&s;t Country, and I will bring them, and they &s;hall dwel in the mid&s;t of Jeru&s;alem.</HI> But rather following the Greek, <HI>Kings from the ri&s;ing of the Sun.</HI> I take it they may be &s;o called, becau&s;e then they &s;hall come to this great <HI>preferment, honor, and dignity,</HI> when <HI>Chri&s;t the Sun of righteou&s;ne&s;s &s;hall ari&s;e,</HI> who&s;e ri&s;ing, that it &s;hall be upon the pouring forth of this <HI>Vial</HI> (before the la&s;t is poured forth) &s;hall appear hereafter.</P>
<P>Now God in his wonderful and un&s;earchable Provi|dence will &s;o order it, as that at the appointed time of the Jews return, the power and multitude of the Grand Signeur (who is now the greate&s;t Monarch in the world, and holds their Land in po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion) &s;hall be much wa&s;ted and con&s;umed, and that in &s;uch a way, by &s;uch means and in&s;truments, that as the one, viz. <HI>The wa&s;ting of the Great Turks Power, &s;hall &s;et open a door for the Jews to po&s;&s;e&s;s their own Land,</HI> &s;o the other, viz. <HI>the way, means or in&s;truments by which this &s;hall be done, &s;hall be a special help and furtherance to their receiving of the Go&s;pel, and Chri&s;t for their true Me&s;&s;iah;</HI> and &s;o indeed the pouring out of this Vial upon the <HI>Great Ri|ver Euphrates</HI> &s;hall prepare a way (as hath been &s;aid) both for their po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of their own Land, and their con|ver&s;ion to Chri&s;t, both which to take in here is much better (I conceive) and more agreeable to the mind of the
<PB N="41" REF="77">Holy Gho&s;t, than to limit and &s;traiten the &s;ame to any one onely.</P>
<P>Now that the <HI>Jews</HI> are &s;poken of under this Vial, who&s;e conver&s;ion we are to expect before the pouring out of the &s;eventh, is clear.</P>
<P N="1">1 Becau&s;e the <HI>Jews</HI> conver&s;ion being a thing &s;o remark|able as nothing more, and this to be in the very la&s;t ages of the world, it cannot be thought that in the <HI>Vials,</HI> (which is a Prophetical Hi&s;tory in &s;hort, of things to be tran&s;acted in the la&s;t times) the &s;ame &s;hould be whol|ly omitted, which yet in ca&s;e it be not here &s;poken of, is,</P>
<P N="2">2 Becau&s;e in <HI>Rev.</HI> 19. (which Chapter is but a Com|mentary upon the two la&s;t Vials) the <HI>Marriage</HI> of the <HI>Lamb</HI> to his <HI>Bride</HI> (which Bride can be no other than the General A&s;&s;embly of the faithful ones, both of <HI>Jews</HI> and <HI>Gentiles</HI> converted to Chri&s;t, among which the <HI>Jews</HI> (as elder Si&s;ter) are chief, and therefore particularly &s;poken of, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 62.4 5. <HI>and</HI> 54.4.5, 6. <HI>Ho&s;.</HI> 2.19, 20.) is made an immediate <HI>forerunner</HI> of the <HI>battel of Armageddon,</HI> as compare ver. 7, 8, 9. with 19.20.21. with which bat|tel the &s;eventh Vial beginning, (for what is done before the pouring out of the &s;eventh, is onely a preparation to it) the <HI>Conver&s;ion</HI> of the <HI>Jews,</HI> or the <HI>Marriage</HI> of the <HI>Bride</HI> mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arily be before the &s;eventh Vial is poured forth. He who de&s;ireth further light as to this Argument, may at his lea&s;ure read over the 37 38, 39, Chapters of <HI>Ezekiel,</HI> the third of <HI>Joel,</HI> and the 12, 13, 14, th. Chap|ters of <HI>Zachary,</HI> and by comparing Chapter with Chapter, and the whole with this Prophecie, may finde it.</P>
<P N="3">3 Becau&s;e upon the pouring out of the <HI>&s;eventh Vial,</HI> a <HI>great voyce</HI> comes out of the <HI>Temple of Heaven</HI> from the Throne, &s;aying <HI>It is done.</HI> What is the meaning hereof? Why the phra&s;e is but once more u&s;ed in all the
<PB N="42" REF="78"><HI>Revelations,</HI> and that is chap 21.5, 6. <HI>He that &s;ate up|on the Throne &s;aid, Behold I make all things new. And he &s;aid unto me, it is done;</HI> here it is applied to the &s;et|ting up of the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem,</HI> noting the meaning of the phra&s;e to be this, <HI>Now is the New Jeru&s;alem e&s;ta|bli&s;hed,</HI> and how &s;hould this be, in ca&s;e the Jews the pri|mary and principal Inhabitants of this <HI>new City,</HI> were yet to be converted?</P>
<P><HI>Object.</HI> If it be &s;aid, the words &s;peak not of their <HI>Con|ver&s;ion,</HI> but onely <HI>preparing a way</HI> thereto.</P>
<P>I grant it, the pouring out of this Vial, doth onely <HI>pre|pare the way</HI> as to their <HI>Conver&s;ion to Chri&s;t,</HI> which <HI>Conver&s;ion</HI> of theirs is to be (for the fore-mentioned rea|&s;ons) in the <HI>Interval</HI> of time betwixt the &s;ixt and &s;eventh Vials.</P>
<P><HI>Object.</HI> Whereas it is further objected, That the <HI>Con|ver&s;ion</HI> of the Jews cannot be until &s;uch time as the <HI>&s;eventh Vial</HI> is poured forth, becau&s;e Chap 15.8. it is expre&s;ly &s;aid, <HI>No man could enter into the Temple, till the &s;even plagues of the &s;even Angels were fulfilled.</HI></P>
<P>To that I an&s;wer, That this doth as well exclude the <HI>Conver&s;ion of Gentiles</HI> and <HI>Pagans,</HI> all the time the Vi|als are pouring forth, as <HI>Jews,</HI> and who will affirm that? &s;o long as daily experience hath, and (ble&s;&s;ed be the Lord) doth prove the contrary.</P>
<P>Some other interpretation mu&s;t therefore be given of this Scripture, to free it from &s;uch an a&s;&s;ertion and whether doth not this &s;uite the place well, which al&s;o &s;erves to for|ward the work of pouring out the <HI>Vials,</HI> by putting life and courage into the Angels which are to do it? to wit, <HI>That the glorious and powerful pre&s;ence of God in his Temple, all the time the Vials &s;hould be in pouring forth</HI> (which is here &s;et forth by <HI>&s;moak,</HI> alluding to that cloud covering the <HI>Tabernacle</HI> of old, <HI>Exod.</HI> 40.34. and filling <HI>Solomons Temple,</HI> 1 King. 8.10. which was a &s;ign of Gods &s;pecial pre&s;ence then) <HI>&s;hould be &s;uch,
<PB N="43" REF="78">that [no man] that is, none of the Antichri&s;tian party, no nor any other</HI> (for he &s;peaks not here of men as <HI>wor&s;hip|pers,</HI> as 1 <HI>King.</HI> 8.11. but of men as <HI>enemies</HI> to the <HI>Tem|ple,</HI> and Gods <HI>work</HI> in it) <HI>[&s;hould be able]</HI> i.e. <HI>by force or power [to enter into the Temple]</HI> i. e. <HI>to de&s;troy the Templers, and thereby put a &s;top to the work, Gods power and pre&s;ence being in the Temple, to a&s;&s;i&s;t the An|gels in carrying it on [until the &s;even Plagues of the &s;even Angels &s;hould be fulfilled]</HI> i.e. <HI>never, for if they cannot hinder the work till it is wholly effected, they &s;hall never do it.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Object.</HI> Whereas it is further objected, that the whole 21, and 22 Chapters of this Book, which are the events of the <HI>&s;eventh Vial,</HI> do hold forth this of the <HI>Jews con|ver&s;ion,</HI> which therefore &s;eems rather to be an <HI>Effect</HI> of the <HI>&s;eventh Vial,</HI> than to go before it.</P>
<P>To that I an&s;wer, That the main thing &s;poken of in tho&s;e Chapters, is their <HI>glory,</HI> not their <HI>conver&s;ion.</HI> Now that I readily grant, that their <HI>glory</HI> (which is a fruit and con&s;equent of their <HI>Conver&s;ion</HI>) &s;hall have a <HI>cloud</HI> upon it, and not be <HI>con&s;picuous</HI> till the <HI>battle of Armageddon</HI> be over, and the <HI>&s;eventh Vial</HI> poured out; but their <HI>Con|ver&s;ion</HI> &s;hall be before, for Chap. 19.8. tells us that the <HI>Bride</HI> is in her <HI>fine linnen,</HI> whil&s;t yet preparation is but making to this <HI>battle,</HI> and the pouring out of the <HI>&s;eventh Vial.</HI></P>
<P>To conclude, The very Argument u&s;ed by the Reve|rend Author of the&s;e objections (in opening ver&s;. 16. of this Chapter) to prove the <HI>Jews conver&s;ion</HI> from the fing|ing <HI>Hallelujahs</HI> Chap. 19. which being an Hebrew word &s;eems to imply the <HI>Conver&s;ion</HI> of the Jews at this time (who together (&s;aith our Author) with the <HI>Gentile-Churches</HI> prai&s;e God for <HI>Romes</HI> de&s;truction) makes di|rectly again&s;t his own opinion, <HI>viz. That the Jews &s;hall not be called till all the Vials are poured out;</HI> for the
<PB N="44" REF="79">&s;inging <HI>Hallelujahs,</HI> Chap. 19. is before, yet preparation is made to the battel of <HI>Armageddon,</HI> as from the &s;equel of the Chapter is clear; and this precedency is not only in words, but a precedency in time, for the &s;inging <HI>Hallelujahs</HI> is in&s;tantly upon <HI>Romes</HI> ruine, whereas the battel of <HI>Armageddon</HI> (which yet is included within the <HI>Vials</HI>) is not to be till &s;ome yeers after.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 TYPE="angel">
<HEAD>4 <HI>The Angel of this Vial,</HI></HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">The Gentile-Churches.</HEAD>
<P>One great Que&s;tion yet remains, which if not re&s;olved, we are &s;till in the dark, notwith&s;tanding all that hath been hitherto &s;aid; which is, Seeing that this Vial &s;hall fall up|on the Great <HI>Turk,</HI> who &s;hall be the Angel that mu&s;t pour it out?</P>
<P>To &s;ay the <HI>Jews</HI> them&s;elves &s;hall do it, the Text it &s;elf will not allow, becau&s;e a way is prepared for them by doing of it.</P>
<P>I could incline to think, becau&s;e it &s;eems well to agree to the metaphor of drying up, that the power and multi|tude of the <HI>Great Turk</HI> &s;hould by little and little, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">hrough <HI>Inte&s;tive broyls,</HI> and <HI>Civil commotions,</HI> be <HI>wa&s;ted</HI> and <HI>con&s;umed;</HI> but that my thoughts are recalled, when I con|&s;ider that all the <HI>Vials</HI> are to be poured forth by &s;uch <HI>An|gels</HI> only as come out of the <HI>Temple.</HI></P>
<P>To &s;ay as doth a godly man) that the <HI>Turk</HI> &s;hall draw all his forces out of <HI>A&s;ia,</HI> and <HI>Africa</HI> into <HI>Italy,</HI> and this to be the drying up of the <HI>River Euphrates,</HI> would plea&s;e me very well, were it not but that according to this interpretation, there &s;hould be no <HI>plague</HI> at all attending this Vial, &s;eeing (as hath been &s;aid) the <HI>plague</HI> is expre&s;&s;ed in the&s;e words of <HI>drying up Euphrates,</HI> or in none, unle&s;s barely a <HI>plague</HI> in his will carrying him, or
<PB N="45" REF="79">his coun&s;el advi&s;ing to &s;uch a journy, and plagues of this &s;ort are more immediately from God, not mediately by <HI>Angels</HI> or in&s;truments, as is the pouring forth of this Vial.</P>
<P>Yea (which makes me more aver&s;e hereto) I yet can &s;ee no other, but that the very and only rea&s;on of this per|&s;wa&s;ion is grounded upon a mi&s;take, whil&s;t the <HI>trouble|&s;ome tydings out of the Ea&s;t and North,</HI> Dan. 11.44. (&s;uppo&s;ed to be an in&s;urrection of the <HI>Jews</HI> in the <HI>Turks</HI> ab&s;ence) is applied to the <HI>King of the South</HI> (that is, &s;aith our Author, the <HI>Turks</HI> at this time invading <HI>Italy,</HI> and pu&s;hing again&s;t the Pope) whereas it is clear to him that &s;eriou&s;ly peru&s;eth ver&s;e 40, 41, 42 43.44. that the &s;ame is to be applied to the <HI>King of the North.</HI></P>
<P>If it &s;hould enter into the thoughts of any to conceive the <HI>Angel</HI> here to be <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> him&s;elf, who either by &s;ome <HI>immediate</HI> hand from Heaven &s;hould <HI>dry</HI> up the <HI>Turki&s;h</HI> power, or by &s;ome <HI>&s;ecret</HI> judgement &s;hould cau&s;e a di|vi&s;ion among&s;t his &s;ubjects, or (as before) a diver&s;ion of his force &s;ome other way, thereby opening a door to the <HI>Jews</HI> to recover their own Land, I &s;hould to &s;uch re|ply, that this were to make the <HI>Angel</HI> of this Vial different from all the re&s;t, for every of the other Vials have &s;ome vi&s;ible <HI>Angel</HI> pouring of them out, but according hereunto the <HI>Angel</HI> of this Vial &s;hould be invi&s;ible only.</P>
<P>What therefore &s;hall wee &s;ay? &s;eeing neither of the&s;e can &s;tand, who may we next conceive unle&s;s &s;ome <HI>Chri|&s;tian power</HI> to be this <HI>Angel,</HI> which power mu&s;t be &s;uch only as <HI>comes out</HI> of the <HI>Temple,</HI> no other being here to be admitted.</P>
<P>With this la&s;t my thoughts accord, becau&s;e upon di|ligent &s;earch, I can find no opinion el&s;e that will either agree with the Text, or with it &s;elf.</P>
<PB N="46" REF="80">
<P>Give me leave therefore to expre&s;s my own con|jecture (for &s;o I call it) and let others judge thereof, thus,</P>
<P><HI>That the Saints having run through</HI> Germany, <HI>inva|ded</HI> Italy, <HI>de&s;troyed</HI> Rome, <HI>and being now with all their forces in</HI> Italy; <HI>the appointed time of the</HI> Jews <HI>delivery being come, the</HI> Jews <HI>in</HI> Italy, <HI>and thereabouts, together with tho&s;e in the&s;e parts, and the outca&s;ts al&s;o in the more remote corners of this world, &s;hall now (through &s;ome &s;trong impre&s;&s;ions upon the hearts of &s;ome among&s;t them, that this is the very time of their deliverance) begin to &s;tir, and to make towards their own land, whom the great</HI> Turk <HI>(having intelligence of their de|&s;ign) &s;hall gather together all his forces to re&s;i&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>Now the <HI>work</HI> in <HI>Italy</HI> being done, and the in&s;tru|ments doing it there, waiting upon God to &s;ee what fur|ther <HI>work</HI> he hath for them, and al&s;o being by this time brought into &s;uch a frame by beholding Gods glorious <HI>Appearances</HI> with them again&s;t the Bea&s;t, as that there is now nothing &s;o much in their hearts as a de&s;ire to do Gods <HI>work,</HI> and &s;erve his will, being re&s;olved (&s;etting all carnal re&s;pects, and outward intere&s;ts a&s;ide) to follow him whither&s;oever his <HI>providence</HI> &s;hall lead them; and al&s;o being above mea&s;ure taken and ravi&s;hed (&s;eeing here|in the glorious accompli&s;hment of all the Prophecies of old) with this great News, now ringing in tho&s;e parts, and over all the world, that the <HI>Jews</HI> are &s;tirring, as know|ing how great an advance their <HI>coming in,</HI> will bee to the <HI>Kingdome</HI> of the Lord Je&s;us, by which <HI>the whole world &s;hall be filled with the glory of the Lord;</HI> and al&s;o being loath, having gone thus far with Chri&s;t, now to &s;it &s;till, whil&s;t he hath any <HI>work</HI> to do, which they may be helpful in, yea counting it their high honour, and glorious privilege, in ca&s;e they may but any way be|come &s;erviceable in this matchle&s;s work and de&s;ign of
<PB N="47" REF="80">God; they &s;hall hereupon make tender of their a&s;|&s;i&s;tance to the ri&s;ing <HI>Jews</HI> in tho&s;e parts again&s;t the <HI>Turk,</HI> whereupon with this handful of <HI>Jews</HI> (being as yet but the <HI>fir&s;t fruits</HI> of tho&s;e who from all parts are coming up) they out of &s;ome parts of <HI>Italy,</HI> &s;hall invade the <HI>great Turks</HI> Dominions, by who&s;e <HI>power</HI> his waters &s;hall be <HI>dried,</HI> and his people become a <HI>&s;poyl</HI> unto them, which may be intimated in tho&s;e words, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 11.14. (which as they &s;peak of the time, &s;o al&s;o &s;et forth the manner of the <HI>Jews</HI> coming up to their Land) <HI>They &s;hall flye upon the &s;houlders of the Phili&s;tims toward the We&s;t, they &s;hall &s;poyl them of the Ea&s;t together;</HI> The meaning may be this, Some Potent people towards the <HI>We&s;t</HI> of the <HI>Turks</HI> Dominions (as <HI>Italy</HI> is North-we&s;t of his principal Dominions &s;hall take up the cau&s;e and quar|rel of the <HI>Jews,</HI> and march &s;wiftly with them into his Dominions, by whom tho&s;e of the <HI>Ea&s;t</HI> (an Argument their march &s;hall be Ea&s;t-ward, from towards the <HI>We&s;t</HI> quarter, to the <HI>Ea&s;t</HI>) that is, the <HI>Turks</HI> &s;hall be &s;poyled, and the <HI>Jews</HI> re-po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed of their own Land. To this agrees, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 49.22. <HI>Thus &s;aith the Lord God, Behold, I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles, and &s;et up my &s;tandard to the people; and they &s;hall bring thy Sons in their arms, and thy Daughters &s;hall be carried upon their &s;houlders.</HI></P>
<P>And not be&s;ides our purpo&s;e is <HI>Zacharies</HI> Vi&s;ion of the four <HI>Horns,</HI> and the four <HI>Carpenters,</HI> Chap. 1.18, 19, 20, 21. which Vi&s;ion, that it relates to the la&s;t times (and not tho&s;e times wherein <HI>Zachary</HI> lived) is clear by comparing the fir&s;t and &s;econd Chapters together, which both &s;peak of the &s;ame time, as appears, becau&s;e the <HI>mea&s;uring line,</HI> Chap. 1.16. is mentioned again, Chap. 2.1, 2. and it is evident though that the Prophecie of the <HI>Jews</HI> return, Chap. 2. could not have its com|pleat fulfilling (though &s;omething then was done in the
<PB N="48" REF="81">Type) in their return from the Babyloni&s;h Captivity, but mu&s;t have re&s;pect to their la&s;t Re&s;tauration, when many Nations (together with the <HI>Jews</HI>) &s;hall be joyned to the Lord, as ver&s;. 11. <HI>And many Nations &s;hall be joyned to the Lord in that day,</HI> agreeing to that (which more fully explains it) Chap. 8.20. <HI>Thus &s;aith the Lord, It &s;hall yet come to pa&s;s, that there &s;hall come people, and the Inhabitants of many Cities.</HI> 21. <HI>And the Inhabi|tants of o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e City &s;hall go to another, &s;aying, Let us go &s;peedily to pray before the Lord, and to &s;eek the Lord of Ho&s;ts; I will go al&s;o.</HI> 22. <HI>Yea many people and &s;trong Nations &s;hall come to &s;eek the Lord of Ho&s;ts in Jeru&s;alem, and to pray before the Lord.</HI> 23. <HI>Thus &s;aith the Lord of Ho&s;ts, in tho&s;e dayes ten men &s;hall take hold out of all the languages of the Nations, even &s;hall take hold of the skirt of him that is a</HI> Jew, <HI>&s;aying, We will go with you</HI> (intimating the willingne&s;s of the <HI>Gentiles</HI> to march with them, and carry them up to their land at this day) <HI>for we have heard that God is with you,</HI> agreeing al&s;o to that (expre&s;ly &s;po|ken of the la&s;t dayes) Mic 4.1.2, <HI>But in the la&s;t dayes, it &s;hall come to pa&s;s, that the Mountain of the Lords Hou&s;e &s;hall bee e&s;tabli&s;hed in the top of the moun|tains, and &s;hall be exalted above the Hills, and the people &s;hall flow unto it.</HI> 2. <HI>And many Nations &s;hall come, and &s;ay, Come, and let us go up to the Mountain of the Lord;</HI> which hath reference to the time of the <HI>Jews</HI> return, as is clear from ver&s;. 6, 7, 8. <HI>In that day, &s;aith the Lord, will I a&s;&s;emble her that halteth, and will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted.</HI></P>
<P>The words therefore (as is clear) relating to the la&s;t times; by the four <HI>Horns</HI> &s;cattering <HI>Judah, I&s;rael,</HI> and <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> Chap. 1.19. we are to under&s;tand the four <HI>Monarchies, Dan.</HI> 2.37, 38, 39, 40. under which, <HI>I&s;rael,</HI>
<PB N="49" REF="81">(or the ten Tribes) were <HI>&s;cattered,</HI> after that, <HI>Judah</HI> (or the two Tribes) and la&s;tly, <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> it &s;elf totally ruined, and the place po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed by &s;trangers; the two fir&s;t by the <HI>A&s;&s;yrian</HI> or <HI>Babylonian Monarchy,</HI> the la&s;t by the <HI>Roman,</HI> &s;ince Chri&s;ts time. By the four <HI>Car|penters</HI> which come to <HI>fray</HI> the&s;e <HI>Horns,</HI> and ca&s;t them out, that the &s;cattered might be gathered again, under|&s;tand <HI>the &s;tone cut out of the mountains without hands;</HI> by which the <HI>Image</HI> (repre&s;enting all the <HI>four Monarchies</HI>) being &s;mitten upon his <HI>feet</HI> (<HI>i.e.</HI> in the fourth or la&s;t <HI>Monarchy</HI>) the whole <HI>Image</HI> (<HI>i.e.</HI> all the four <HI>Monarchies</HI>) are broken in peeces together, and like chaff with the wind carried away, their place is no more found, <HI>Dan.</HI> 2.34, 35.44, 45.</P>
<P>Now compare <HI>Zacharies Vi&s;ion,</HI> and <HI>Nebuchadnez|zars Dream</HI> together, and we may out of both, make this conclu&s;ion <HI>viz. That the four Carpenters whih fray the Horns lift up over the land of Judah to &s;catter it, being the &s;ame with the &s;tone &s;miting the great Image upon the feet, which &s;tone being no other than the Gentile-Churches, who &s;hall &s;trike fir&s;t at the Ro|man Monarchy, and at the fect of it, which are &s;aid to be part of iron, and part of clay;</HI> (that is, at the &s;ame as it now is under the Bea&s;t, having a Civil and Spiri|tual power mixed together) <HI>it will nece&s;&s;arily follow that the four Carpenters, which are to fray the Horns of the Gentiles, and ca&s;t them out, that I&s;rael may be gathered again, are the Gentile-Churches.</HI> Now be|cau&s;e the power of the <HI>Turk</HI> e&s;pecially, is that <HI>Horn</HI> which at pre&s;ent is lift up over the land of <HI>Judah,</HI> and al|&s;o a part of the old <HI>Roman Monarchy,</HI> as he po&s;&s;e&s;&s;eth tho&s;e Countries, which did anciently belong to that <HI>Mo|narchy,</HI> therefore the <HI>Gentile Churches</HI> &s;hall <HI>fray</HI> his <HI>Horns</HI> al&s;o, <HI>i.e.</HI> dry up his power at the time when <HI>I&s;rael</HI> is to be gathered.</P>
<PB N="50" REF="82">
<P>And the Rea&s;on why they are called a <HI>Stone, Dan.</HI> 2. but four <HI>Carpenters,</HI> Zech. 1. is, becau&s;e <HI>Daniel</HI> &s;peaks of this power in the fir&s;t ri&s;e of it, which as it &s;hall be in an <HI>extraordinary</HI> way, by an <HI>immediate finger of God,</HI> who &s;hall take a handful of his people out of &s;ome of the <HI>Mountains</HI> of this world, and by his own power and provi|dence without the help or a&s;&s;i&s;tance (yea, again&s;t the &s;tream of wordly Rulers hearts, could they help it) <HI>form</HI> them to|gether as a <HI>&s;tone,</HI> to break the <HI>powers</HI> of the world by; &s;o &s;hall the in&s;truments at fir&s;t be but <HI>little, low, weak, unskil|ful,</HI> mo&s;t <HI>de&s;pi&s;ed,</HI> &amp; altogether <HI>unlikely</HI> to break in peeces the <HI>great Image:</HI> but now by the time that they come to <HI>fray</HI> the <HI>Horns</HI> lift up over the land of <HI>Judah,</HI> (<HI>i.e.</HI> to deal with the <HI>great Turk</HI>) they are four <HI>Carpenters,</HI> that is, they &s;hall by this time become very <HI>for midable,</HI> having by <HI>waging war</HI> with the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> and <HI>fraying</HI> his <HI>Horns,</HI> got not onely <HI>power</HI> into their hands, now, to cope and grap|ple with the greate&s;t, but al&s;o the very <HI>Art</HI> of <HI>hacking,</HI> and <HI>hewing</HI> down Gods <HI>enemies,</HI> they &s;hall be no longer young beginners, to whom time mu&s;t be allowed to rid work off hands: but they &s;hall now become perfect <HI>Ar|ti&s;ts,</HI> men that have driven a <HI>Trade</HI> a great while, of <HI>fraying</HI> of <HI>Horns, pulling down worldly powers,</HI> and therefore be <HI>skilled</HI> in the way, and know how to rid &s;uch work off hands apace; and hence (in the forequoted place <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 11.14.) its &s;aid, <HI>they &s;hall flie,</HI> to note, the quick di&s;patch they &s;hall make of their work.</P>
<P>Now the <HI>Gentile Churches</HI> by invading the Turks Dominions with &s;uch of the <HI>Jews</HI> as are neare&s;t (for be|ing zealous in Gods cau&s;e, and expert in their way, they will lo&s;e no time) and by <HI>fraying</HI> his <HI>Horns,</HI> they &s;hall thereby <HI>prepare a way,</HI> or make a <HI>high way</HI> for the re&s;t of the Jews, who come from more remote parts, and chiefly the <HI>ten Tr<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">es</HI> who were carried captive by the King of <HI>A&s;&s;yria</HI> (who therefore are called the <HI>remnant
<PB N="51" REF="82">of his people from A&s;&s;yria</HI>) to come up to their land and joyn with the re&s;t, as ver&s;. 16. <HI>And there &s;hall be a high way for the remnant of his people, which &s;hall be left from</HI> A&s;&s;yria (<HI>i.e.</HI> yet remaining of tho&s;e the <HI>A&s;&s;yrians</HI> carried captive) <HI>like as it was to</HI> I&s;rael, <HI>in the day that he came up out of the land of</HI> Egypt.</P>
<P>Yet becau&s;e &s;ome <HI>Jews</HI> there &s;hall be, who &s;hall be in &s;uch corners of the world, that they cannot any other way than by <HI>&s;hipping</HI> come at their <HI>Land;</HI> therefore tho&s;e <HI>Gentile Chri&s;tians</HI> who &s;hall have &s;et their Breth<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">en in po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of their Land (making it now their bu&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">re&s;s to &s;erve God in this <HI>work</HI>) &s;hall go forth with the multitude of their <HI>&s;hips,</HI> to fetch up the Jews from the more <HI>remote parts, and Creeks, and corners</HI> of the world, unto their own land, which is &s;poken of <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 60.9. <HI>Surely, the I&s;les &s;hall wait for me, and the &s;hips of</HI> Tar&s;hi&s;h <HI>fir&s;t, to bring thy Sons from far, their Silver and their Gold with them, unto the name of the Lord thy God, and to the holy one of</HI> I&s;rael, <HI>becau&s;e he hath glorified thee.</HI> And although at this day, the <HI>Gentiles</HI> &s;hall be in a manner <HI>Servants</HI> to the Jews, yet &s;hall their hearts be &s;o <HI>&s;piritual,</HI> that con&s;idering it to be their <HI>Fathers work</HI> &amp; will, they &s;hall be &s;o far from being offended to &s;ee the&s;e new-coming-in-Gue&s;ts&s;o enter|tained, and welcommed, as that they mu&s;t wait upon them, that they &s;hall exceedingly <HI>delight</HI> in the thing; As <HI>Angels</HI> of glory <HI>delight</HI> to &s;ee <HI>Saints</HI> dandled, and to <HI>&s;erve</HI> them.</P>
<P>Now as the <HI>Gentile</HI> Chri&s;tians by <HI>drying</HI> up the <HI>wa|ters of Euphrates</HI> &s;hall &s;et open a door for the <HI>Jews</HI> from all <HI>quarters</HI> to come up to their <HI>own Land:</HI> So &s;hall this kindne&s;s of theirs &s;hewed towards the <HI>Jews</HI> in undertaking freely &s;o great a work for their &s;akes, have a &s;trong influ|ence upon the hearts of that People, to bring them by little and little to a love and liking of Chri&s;tianity, and &s;o (as I &s;aid at fir&s;t) the pouring out of this Vial prepares a way both for their regaining their own Land, &amp; their conver&s;ion to Chri&s;t.</P>
<PB N="52" REF="83">
<P>Qu. <HI>If any further de&s;irous to know who among&s;t the Gentile Chri&s;tians are mo&s;t likely to be the In&s;truments in doing of this work.</HI> My thoughts concerning it are, (of which I may truely &s;ay, that not a private affection to any people above others, hath been the ri&s;e of them, but a diligent &s;earch of the Scripture, to find &s;atisfaction con|cerning the Angel of this Vial hath brought forth unawares both the que&s;tior, with my thoughts thereupon) which in the general (&s;o far onely as I have ground for conjecture) I &s;hall here lay down, and let the under&s;tanding and un|prejudiced Reader judge.</P>
<P N="1">1 It is mo&s;t likely, <HI>That the &s;ame Angel, or tho&s;e very In&s;truments which &s;hall ruin</HI> Rome, <HI>&s;hall al&s;o pour out this Vial upon the great River Euphrates,</HI> be|cau&s;e the <HI>&s;tone</HI> that &s;mites the feet of the Image (<HI>i.e.</HI> An|tichri&s;t) is the &s;ame with the <HI>four Carpenters,</HI> who are to fray the Horns (<HI>i.e.</HI> the Turki&s;h Power) lift up over the Land of <HI>Judah.</HI></P>
<P>Now becau&s;e it will be &s;aid, That it is as hard a thing for us, as yet, to find who this <HI>Angel</HI> &s;hall be, as the o|ther; for till we &s;ee <HI>Rome</HI> de&s;troyed, who knows who &s;hall do the thing? I an&s;wer, would you know the In|&s;truments before you &s;ee them at <HI>Romes</HI> Gates, ob&s;erve then the <HI>rolling &s;tone,</HI> and look for them there where you &s;ee that: For this is mo&s;t certain, that as the great I|mage is to be broken in peeces by no other force or power, but onely that of the <HI>&s;tone,</HI> &s;o there where the <HI>&s;tone</HI> is fir&s;t taken out of the mountains, and formed together by God, and begins to <HI>roll</HI> and &s;mite, out of that quarter, may we conclude the Tempe&s;t (though yet it be a great way off) which is to fall upon <HI>Rome</HI> &s;hall mo&s;t certainly come; for ob&s;erve it, though the <HI>&s;tone</HI> by <HI>rolling</HI> grows greater and greater, yet is it that <HI>&s;tone</HI> &s;till, and not another, which was formed together at fir&s;t; whereas if the &s;ame matter which formed together did make the <HI>&s;tone</HI> at fir&s;t,
<PB N="53" REF="83">were wholly to be laid a&s;ide, though matter of the &s;ame kind &s;hould &s;till be u&s;ed, yet would it be a new <HI>&s;tone,</HI> a <HI>&s;tone</HI> new formed; but the &s;ame <HI>&s;tone</HI> that &s;mites at fir&s;t, and not another, is that which breaks in peeces the great Image, though this <HI>&s;tone,</HI> whil&s;t it is in doing of it, is &s;till in a growing po&s;ture; by means whereof as it <HI>rolls</HI> further and further, &s;o may it have much more matter added daily to it, yet is it the &s;ame <HI>&s;tone</HI> &s;till, and the out|ward &s;trength of the &s;tone lies principally in that matter, which was formed together at fir&s;t, that being the Ba&s;is or foundation of the re&s;t.</P>
<P>And this confirmes our fir&s;t and main Propo&s;ition, viz. <HI>That the Gentile Chri&s;tians &s;hall pour out this Vial up|on the Turk,</HI> becau&s;e the very &s;ame &s;tone, which begins to &s;mite the Image on his feet, is to break the whole I|mage, <HI>i.e.</HI> all worldly Powers.</P>
<P>This likewi&s;e confirms, what but even now I &s;aid, viz. <HI>That the &s;tone,</HI> Dan. 2. <HI>and the four Carpenters,</HI> Zich. 1. <HI>are one and the &s;ame;</HI> for the <HI>four Carpenters</HI> are they which fray the Horns lift up in the la&s;t days over the Land of <HI>Judah.</HI> Now that which breaks all worldly Powers in the la&s;t days &s;tanding in the way of Chri&s;ts Kingdom, is no other but the <HI>&s;tone,</HI> which <HI>Daniel</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">peaks of.</P>
<P N="2">2 In an&s;wer yet further to the former Que&s;tion, I find in the fore-quoted places, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 60 9. <HI>and</HI> 11.14. four marks or characters to know that people by, who among the <HI>Gentile</HI> Chri&s;tians, &s;hall be the principal In&s;truments of making way for, and bringing the Jews unto their own Land.</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> They &s;hall be a people <HI>inhabiting in &s;ome I&s;les.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> They &s;hall have <HI>great hearts to the work,</HI> and <HI>a longing de&s;ire</HI> to &s;ee the day of <HI>I&s;raels redemption,</HI> which therefore they &s;hall wait upon God for: Both the&s;e are expre&s;&s;ed, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 60.9. <HI>Surely the I&s;les &s;hall wait for me.</HI></P>
<PB N="54" REF="84">
<P>Thirdly, They &s;hall be &s;uch who &s;hall be <HI>very con|&s;iderable, and &s;trong in &s;hipping,</HI> having multitudes of &s;hips at their command, as this in the following words, <HI>and the &s;hips of Tar&s;hi&s;h fir&s;t. Tar&s;hi&s;h</HI> was a place very con&s;iderable for <HI>Navigation</HI> and <HI>Shipping</HI> in time of old, for which rea&s;on the Scripture never &s;peaks of great &s;hips, &s;trong &s;hips, or multitude of &s;hips, but they are called by the name of the <HI>Ships of Tar&s;hi&s;h,</HI> 2 <HI>Chron.</HI> 9.21. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 48.7. <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 2.16. <HI>Ezek.</HI> 27.25. Now this people dwelling in the I&s;les, and &s;o <HI>&s;trong</HI> in <HI>&s;hipping,</HI> &s;hall be the fir&s;t that &s;hall put their hands to this work, <HI>The I&s;les &s;hall wait for me, and the &s;hips of Tar&s;hi&s;h fir&s;t, to bring thy Sons from far, and thy Daughters from the ends of the earth.</HI></P>
<P>Fourthly, What if I &s;ay, they &s;hall be a people <HI>under a State Government,</HI> for &s;uch a kind of <HI>Government</HI> of old had the <HI>Phili&s;tims,</HI> the power of <HI>Government</HI> among them re&s;iding not in <HI>one man,</HI> but in <HI>many,</HI> which in Scripture are called the <HI>Lords of the Phili&s;tims.</HI> Now this people who &s;hall a&s;&s;i&s;t the <HI>Jews</HI> at this day, are <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 11.14. likened to the <HI>Phili&s;tims</HI> of old <HI>(they &s;hall flye upon the &s;houlders of the Phili&s;tims)</HI> how? not in <HI>qualities</HI> or <HI>conditions,</HI> for the <HI>Phili&s;tims</HI> were ever <HI>enemies</HI> to <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> and the&s;e are <HI>friends,</HI> but rather in the <HI>form of their Government;</HI> the <HI>Phili&s;tims</HI> were <HI>go|verned</HI> by a <HI>State;</HI> &s;o &s;hall <HI>the&s;e.</HI> The&s;e are the cha|racters, let the Reader refu&s;e, or apply them as he plea|&s;eth.</P>
<P>Now becau&s;e the thing aimed at in pouring forth this <HI>Vial,</HI> concerns the <HI>Jews</HI> more e&s;pecially, and their <HI>Re|&s;tauration</HI> (as hath appeared in our Di&s;cour&s;e hitherto) and becau&s;e the thoughts of good men are various, and their notions and conceptions very different in the point of the <HI>Jews</HI> fir&s;t <HI>&s;tirring,</HI> &s;ome conceiving the &s;ame to be up|on a <HI>Civil</HI> account only, to recover their Country, and
<PB N="55" REF="84">their <HI>conver&s;ion</HI> to be &s;ome years after: Others judging that they &s;hall at the fir&s;t be converted to the <HI>faith</HI> of the <HI>Go&s;pel,</HI> and their <HI>&s;tirring</HI> to ari&s;e from that; the right under&s;tanding of which my&s;tery, is a thing of &s;uch im|portance (either opinion having &s;eemingly much footing in the Prophecies of the Old Te&s;tament) as that without &s;ome further light, then as yet I have &s;een, the Prophecies relating to this people, and the time of their return, cannot be brought to a joynt concurrence and har|mony one with another; I &s;hall therefore (not boa&s;ting of any light that I have above others, having rea&s;on enough to be otherwi&s;e minded; but as one willing, with others, to &s;eek after, and if it may be, to find the truth) offer here (in the clo&s;e of this Di&s;cour&s;e) and that in as few words as I can, my own pre&s;ent thoughts concerning the thing, which are,</P>
<P>That the fir&s;t <HI>&s;tirring</HI> or <HI>moving</HI> of this people &s;hall be (as I conceive) from &s;ome <HI>notable work</HI> of God up|on the <HI>hearts</HI> of &s;ome, who &s;hall at this day be <HI>Prin|cipal</HI> ones, or <HI>Leaders</HI> among&s;t them, working in them a &s;incere, earne&s;t, and longing de&s;ire to find the Lord their God: Hereupon ari&s;ing them&s;elves, and &s;tirring up others to ari&s;e with them, now to go unto <HI>Sion,</HI> unto the Lord their God, which we have, <HI>Jer.</HI> 31.6. <HI>For there &s;hall be a day, that the Watchmen upon the Mount of Ephraim</HI> (who was head of the ten Tribes, for which rea&s;on the Re&s;tauration here &s;poken of, mu&s;t be their la&s;t, which is yet to come) <HI>&s;hall &s;ay, Ari&s;e yee, and let us go up to Sion, unto the Lord our God,</HI> and ver&s;. 9. wee have the manner of their coming, <HI>They &s;hall come with weeping, and with &s;upplication will I lead them:</HI> Qualifications not proper to &s;uch per&s;ons who move only upon a Civil account, and for worldly ends. So Chap. 50.4, 5. (&s;peaking of the frame they &s;hall be in, whil&s;t as yet they are but upon the way) <HI>In tho&s;e dayes
<PB N="56" REF="85">and at that time, &s;aith the Lord, if the children of I&s;rael &s;hall come, they and the children of Judah to|gether, going and weeping; They &s;hall go and &s;eek the Lord their God. They &s;hall ask the way to Sion, with their faces thitherward, &s;aying, Come, and let us joyn our &s;elves to the Lord in a perpetual Covenant that &s;hall not be forgotten.</HI> Which Text was not fulfilled in the re|turn from <HI>Babylon,</HI> when <HI>Judah</HI> only, not <HI>I&s;rael</HI> and <HI>Judah</HI> together, did return, but manife&s;tly looks to their la&s;t Re&s;tauration, &s;o <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 51.11. we have a contrary af|fection, arguing the inward joy and delight they &s;hall have in this journey, from con&s;idering whither, and about what they are going, <HI>viz.</HI> to <HI>Sion</HI> to &s;eek their Lord, <HI>The redeemed of the Lord &s;hall return, and come with &s;inging unto Sion, and everla&s;ting joy &s;hall be upon their heads.</HI> So <HI>Ho&s;.</HI> 3.5. (they go &s;eeking the Lord) <HI>Afterwards &s;hall the children of I&s;rael return, and &s;eek the Lord their God, and David their King, and they &s;hall fear the Lord, and his goodne&s;s</HI> (When?) <HI>in the latter dayes.</HI> Chap. 1.10, 11. at their beginning to &s;tir, before yet they are come forth the place of their capti|vity, &s;hall be called the children of the living God. <HI>It &s;hall come to pa&s;s that in the place where it was &s;aid unto them, ye are not my people, there &s;hall it be &s;aid unto them, ye are the Sons of the living God. Then &s;hall the children of Judah, and the children of I&s;rael be gathered together, and appoint them&s;elves one head, and they &s;hall come up out of the land; for great &s;hall be the day of Jezreel.</HI></P>
<P>Now tho&s;e among&s;t them who from &s;uch an inward de|&s;ire and principle, &s;hall move them&s;elves, and put others upon it &s;hall be (as I conceive) per&s;ons under a &s;tate of <HI>true conver&s;ion</HI> to God, being now delivered from the <HI>cur&s;e</HI> before they lay under, and that <HI>hardne&s;s</HI> which be|fore was upon them, though the particular Revelation of
<PB N="57" REF="85">Chri&s;t, as come in the fie&s;h &s;hall not as yet be manife&s;ted to them; but with a &s;trong breathing after the Lord; and a general faith in the Me&s;&s;iah, whom they &s;hall truly beleeve in, look for, but as to come, they &s;hall now go <HI>&s;eeking after the Lord, and David</HI> (or Chri&s;t) their <HI>King;</HI> and this faith of theirs though for want of New-Te&s;tament light, it be not a New-Te&s;tament faith (<HI>i.e.</HI> a faith in Chri&s;t as come already) yet &s;hall the &s;ame be true faith, though running in the Old Te&s;tament way, (they having yet no higher light) for &s;uch was the faith of Gods people of old, before Chri&s;t came, a looking to the Me&s;&s;iah which was to come, acknowledging their &s;alva|tion to be only from him, and earne&s;tly breathing and longing after the day of his appearance.</P>
<P>And the&s;e per&s;ons who &s;hall have already this true <HI>&s;aving work</HI> begun in them &s;hall by <HI>conver&s;e with,</HI> and <HI>beholding</HI> the <HI>holine&s;s, grace,</HI> and <HI>love,</HI> of tho&s;e Gentile Chri&s;tians, who &s;hall be in&s;truments to help them in their land, have a <HI>farther work</HI> wrought in them, and upon them (and that before Chri&s;ts appearance to them) namely, they &s;hall be convinced that the Me&s;&s;ias is come, being that Je&s;us which was Crucified by their Na|tion, which &s;hall &s;o affect them, as that they &s;hall begin to own the crucified Je&s;us for Lord and Chri&s;t; and this I think the rather, becau&s;e I find the Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul</HI> &s;eeming to intimate, <HI>Rom.</HI> 11.11. that the Jews &s;hall be provoked (<HI>i.e.</HI> with a holy provocation) by the Gentiles; Yea ver&s;. 30, 31. (having before &s;poken of their Call, ver&s;. 26. <HI>And &s;o all I&s;rael &s;hall be &s;aved</HI>) he tells us plainly, that as the <HI>Jews</HI> by <HI>rejecting</HI> the Go|&s;pel at fir&s;t, did make way for the &s;ame to be brought to, and preached among the <HI>Gentiles;</HI> &s;o the <HI>Gentiles</HI> by having the mercy of the Go&s;pel among&s;t them, &s;hall (when the appointed time of <HI>I&s;raels</HI> conver&s;ion to Chri&s;t is come) be a <HI>means</HI> of the <HI>Jews</HI> obtaining this mercy
<PB N="58" REF="86">again, <HI>For as yee in times pa&s;t have not beleeved God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbeleef; even &s;o have the&s;e al&s;o now not beleeved, that through your mercy, they al&s;o may obtain mercy;</HI> And which &s;trengthens this per&s;wa&s;ion, I find <HI>Rev.</HI> 19. (as hath been before ob&s;erved) the Bride to be in her <HI>fine linnen</HI> made ready to receive, and meet her Bridegroom, and that before his appearance, or coming forth to battel upon the white Hor&s;e.</P>
<P>But now though there &s;hall be many among&s;t them, who &s;hall from &s;uch ends and principles move, as have been before declared, yet &s;hall there al&s;o with the&s;e march a great multitude, who moved from no work upon their heart, &s;hall yet go with the re&s;t, either led to it by per&s;wa&s;ion, example, or &s;ome carnal ends, or hopes of their own; as it was with <HI>I&s;rael</HI> of old, at their coming out of <HI>Egypt</HI> fir&s;t, and <HI>Babylon</HI> afterwards (both which were eminent Types of this deliverance) the&s;e being &s;till in their hardne&s;s, their former &s;tate of &s;in and bondage, &s;hall not be able to bear the glorious Go&s;pel Revelation of Chri&s;t crucified to be their Me&s;&s;iah, but &s;hall &s;tumble at it, kick again&s;t it, and again&s;t &s;uch of their brethren who receive it.</P>
<P>This we have <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 8.14. <HI>He &s;hall be for a &s;tone of &s;tumbling, and for a rock of offence to both the Hou&s;es of I&s;rael, for a gin, and for a &s;nare to the inhabitants of Jeru&s;alem;</HI> which, that it &s;peaks of this time is clear, not only for the rea&s;on, that it is about the time in which the <HI>A&s;&s;yrian</HI> (<HI>i.e.</HI> as &s;hall appear hereafter, the great <HI>Turk,</HI> who now po&s;&s;e&s;&s;eth what did anciently belong to the <HI>A&s;&s;yrian</HI> Monarchy) is to overflow the land of <HI>Ju|dah,</HI> yea and then too, when the &s;ame &s;hall be <HI>Immanuels</HI> land, that is, when Chri&s;t &s;hall begin of the <HI>Jews</HI> to bee known and wor&s;hipped there, as ver&s;. 7.8. but al&s;o becau&s;e it is &s;aid in the words, <HI>He &s;hall be a &s;tone of &s;tumbling
<PB N="59" REF="86">to both the Hou&s;es of I&s;rael, i.e.</HI> to &s;ome of the ten Tribes, and &s;ome of the two both, who &s;hall at this day be reunited, which never yet hath been. And the&s;e are the <HI>Rebels</HI> &s;poken of <HI>Ezek.</HI> 20.38. which &s;hall be among&s;t Gods people at this day, when they are to be ga|thered out of all Countries, as were <HI>Korah, Dathan</HI> and <HI>Abiram,</HI> in the dayes of old, upon the coming out of <HI>Egypt.</HI></P>
<P>Yea the&s;e &s;hall bee they who immediately before the time of Chri&s;ts appearance &s;hall <HI>hate</HI> their Brethren (<HI>i.e.</HI> &s;uch among them who tremble at the word of the Go|&s;pel, which by the <HI>Gentile-Saints,</HI> they &s;hall have had &s;ome light into, and ca&s;t them out for Chri&s;ts name &s;ake, whom now they own) who &s;hall at the coming of Chri&s;t bee a&s;hamed, when he &s;hall appear to the others joy, as <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> (&s;peaking of the time of the <HI>Jews</HI> Call, Chri&s;ts coming, and the &s;etting up of the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem</HI>) tells us, Chap. 66.5. <HI>Hear ye the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at his word, your Brethren that hated you, that ca&s;t you out for my names &s;ake, &s;aid, Let the Lord be glorified, but he &s;hall appear to your joy, and they &s;hall be a&s;hamed.</HI></P>
<P>Yea the&s;e are they who in the la&s;t and great day of the battel of <HI>Armageddon,</HI> which <HI>Zechary</HI> &s;peaks of, Chap. 14. &s;hall &s;ome of them <HI>even joyn hands,</HI> (they &s;hall bee &s;o horridly vile) again&s;t the re&s;t of their Fellow-brethren, and that with tho&s;e who from all parts of the World &s;hall bee gathered together again&s;t <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> as ver&s;. 14. <HI>And Judah al&s;o &s;hall fight at,</HI> (or again&s;t) <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> as did part of tho&s;e who in <HI>Nehemiahs</HI> time came out of <HI>Babylon,</HI> con&s;pire with <HI>Sanballat, Tobiah,</HI> and the re&s;t of the enemies of <HI>Je|ru&s;alem</HI> again&s;t godly <HI>Nehemiah,</HI> and their Fellow|brethren.</P>
<P>This mixture which &s;hall be at this Day, &s;ome
<PB N="60" REF="87">being <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> indeed, &s;ome in name onely I take it was typed by the mixed multitude marching up with <HI>I&s;rael</HI> out of <HI>Egypt;</HI> the Congregation of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> then, or tho&s;e who (in that day whil&s;t things were outward and typical) were the natural &s;eed of <HI>Abraham</HI> typing out tho&s;e who &s;hall at this day bee the Spiritual Seed, or true Sons of God; the multi|tude of <HI>Egyptians,</HI> and o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">hers, who were not <HI>I&s;|raelites</HI> by birth (though yet they went with the Congregation) typing out tho&s;e, who at this Day (although they &s;hall bee the Seed according to the fle&s;h, and march with the re&s;t) are yet notwith&s;tand|ing not accounted the <HI>Spiritual or Holy Seed,</HI> which <HI>Holy Seed,</HI> though but a <HI>Tenth</HI> (that is, a &s;ew in compari&s;on of the re&s;t) are yet called the <HI>&s;ub&s;tance, I&s;aiah</HI> 6.13. <HI>i.e.</HI> the &s;ub&s;tance of this people that God looks at, or will reckon for the Seed at this day.</P>
<P>And in regard of this <HI>mixt</HI> multitude which &s;hall bee among&s;t them when they <HI>&s;tir, Daniel</HI> &s;etting forth this their &s;tirring by a Re&s;utrection, Chap. 12.2. (which is the &s;ame with the Re&s;urrection of the dry bones, <HI>Ezek.</HI> 37. applyed there to the <HI>Jews</HI> &s;tirring) he &s;aith, <HI>&s;ome &s;hall ari&s;e to everla&s;ting life, &s;ome to &s;hame and everla&s;ting contempt;</HI> Which la&s;t words are an Argument, that the <HI>Re&s;urrection Daniel</HI> &s;peaks of, cannot bee the &s;ame with that fir&s;t <HI>Re&s;urrection,</HI> Rev. 20.6. becau&s;e none have part in that but &s;uch as are ble&s;&s;ed, and <HI>holy, and on whom the &s;econd death hath no power.</HI></P>
<P>Now becau&s;e (as I have &s;aid) among&s;t tho&s;e who come up to their Land, the greater part &s;hall be found not truly &s;eeking the Lord, but their own things; there|fore by that time they are &s;ettled in their Land, (and probably, the <HI>Gentile-Chri&s;tian</HI> removed from them,
<PB N="61" REF="87">or returned home) &s;hall a <HI>fearful &s;torm,</HI> &s;uch a day as never was from the <HI>foundation of the world,</HI> fall upon them (which <HI>Daniel</HI> mentions, Chap. 12.1. and <HI>Zech.</HI> Chap. 14.1.) by which as the better part &s;hall bee brought through the <HI>fire</HI> and <HI>purified,</HI> and their <HI>faith</HI> tryed; &s;o &s;hall the other <HI>fall off,</HI> (as before) to the Enemy, or be <HI>cut off</HI> by this day of trouble, &s;o that a remnant onely &s;hall bee left, which remnant &s;hall bee the Holy Seed, which wee have, <HI>Zecha.</HI> 13.8, 9. <HI>And it &s;hall come to pa&s;&s;e that in all the Land, &s;aith the Lord, two parts therein &s;hall be cut off, and dye, but the third &s;hall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as &s;ilver is refined, and will try them as gold is tryed, they &s;hall call on my Name, and I will hear them, I will &s;ay, It is my people, and they &s;hall &s;ay, The Lord is my God,</HI> I&s;a. 10.20, 21, 22. <HI>It &s;hall come to pa&s;s in that day, that the remnant of</HI> I&s;rael, <HI>and &s;uch as are e&s;caped of the hou&s;e of</HI> Jacob, <HI>&s;hall no more again &s;tay upon him that &s;mote them, but &s;hall &s;tay upon the Lord, the Holy One of</HI> I&s;rael <HI>in truth. The Remnant &s;hall re|turn, even the Remnant of</HI> Jacob <HI>unto the mighty God. For though thy people</HI> I&s;rael <HI>be as the &s;and of the Sea, yet a Remnant of them &s;hall return, the con|&s;umption decreed &s;hall overflow with righteou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> Chap. 4.2.3.4. <HI>In that day &s;hall the Branch of the lord be beautiful and glorious &mdash; for them that are e&s;caped of</HI> I&s;rael. <HI>And hee that is left in</HI> Sion, <HI>and he that remaineth in</HI> Jeru&s;alem <HI>&s;hall be called Holy, even every one that is written among the living in</HI> Jeru&s;alem. <HI>When the Lord &s;hall have wa&s;hed away the filth of the Daughter of</HI> Sion, <HI>and &s;hall have purged the blood of</HI> Jeru&s;alem <HI>from the mid&s;t there|of, by the Spirit of Judgement, and by the Spirit of
<PB N="62" REF="88">Burning,</HI> Zepha. 3.12, 13. <HI>I will al&s;o leave in the mid&s;t of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they &s;hall tru&s;t in the Name of the Lord. This is the day of purging out the Rebels:</HI> Ezek. 20.38. <HI>And I will purge out from among you the Rebels, and them that tran&s;gre&s;&s;e again&s;t mee. Of judging between Cattel and Cattel,</HI> Chap. 34.17. <HI>Thus &s;aith the Lord God, Behold I judge between Cattel and Ca<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">tel, between the Rams and the Hee Goats.</HI> All which pla|ces, as will be evident to him that &s;hall but under&s;tand|ingly peru&s;e them, and compare them with other Scriptures, &s;peak of the la&s;t times, when the <HI>Iews</HI> are to come in.</P>
<P>To this <HI>Remnant</HI> &s;hall Chri&s;t at the great day of the battel of <HI>Armageddon</HI> (which &s;hall put an end to this day of trouble) appear, who &s;hall from that day bee advanced to reign with him in his <HI>Kingdome.</HI> But of this more hereafter.</P>
</DIV3>
<TRAILER><HI>Thus much as touching the &s;ixth</HI> VIAL.</TRAILER>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<PB N="63" REF="88">
<HEAD>The Interval of time betwixt the pouring out of the Sixth and Seventh VIALS.</HEAD>
<P>Ver&s;e 13. <HI>AND I &s;aw three unclean &s;pirits like frogs, come out of the mouth of the Dragon, and out of the mouth of the Bea&s;t, and out of the mouth of the fal&s;e Prophet.</HI></P>
<P>Ver&s;. 14. <HI>For they are the spirits of Devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the Kings of the Earth, and of the whole world, to gather them to the battel of that great day of God Almighty.</HI></P>
<P>The&s;e words to ver&s;. 17. do not properly belong either to the Sixth or Seventh <HI>Vials,</HI> but contain an <HI>Interval</HI> of time betwixt both, in which &s;ome remarkable things in order to the pouring forth the &s;eventh and la&s;t <HI>Vial,</HI> are to be tran&s;acted, which are,</P>
<P N="1">1 <HI>The &s;ending forth of Amba&s;&s;adors or Agents from the Dragon, Bea&s;t, and fal&s;e Prophet, to the Kings of the Earth.</HI></P>
<DIV3 TYPE="section">
<HEAD>By Dragon,</HEAD>
<P>We are to under&s;tand, that <HI>Old Serpent</HI> the <HI>Devil</HI> and <HI>Satan</HI> (yet principally as acting in the Roman Monarchy; the &s;even Heads, and ten Horus of the <HI>Dragon,</HI> chap. 12.3. being the Armes of <HI>Rome</HI>) for &s;o the Holy Gho&s;t inter|prets it, chap. 12 9. <HI>And the Dragon was ca&s;t out, that Old Serpent, called the Devil and Satan,</HI> chap. 20.2.
<PB N="64" REF="89"><HI>And he laid hold on the Dragon that Old Serpent, which is the Devill and Satan.</HI> Now where the <HI>Holy Gho&s;t</HI> hath given a manife&s;t interpretation, it is certainly curio&s;ity to &s;eek another.</P>
<P>As for the other two, the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> and the <HI>fal&s;e Prophet</HI> (the two Companions of the <HI>Dragon</HI> or <HI>Devil</HI>) we &s;hall the better di&s;cern the&s;e two Mon&s;ters, if we con&s;ider how that,</P>
<P><HI>Bea&s;t</HI> in the <HI>Revelation</HI> is &s;ometimes &s;poken of with|out any <HI>di&s;tinction</HI> made, as being but one. Sometimes with <HI>di&s;tinction,</HI> as though he were <HI>two,</HI> as <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> and <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> Chap 13. <HI>Beast</HI> and <HI>Woman,</HI> Chap. 17. <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> and <HI>fal&s;e Prophet,</HI> as here.</P>
<P>When <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> is &s;poken of without <HI>di&s;tinction,</HI> it denotes the <HI>Political</HI> and <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tical</HI> State both of the Roman Empire, as the &s;ame now is Antichri&s;tian.</P>
<P>As in Vial 2. <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> there u&s;ed alone, denotes <HI>both</HI> States, as is clear, becau&s;e the <HI>Image</HI> of the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> was of the <HI>fir&s;t Bea&s;t, Rev</HI> 13.14 compared with ver. 3. The <HI>mark</HI> of the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> was of the &s;econd <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> &s;poken of chap. 13. the fir&s;t <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> having no <HI>mark,</HI> and the two <HI>Bea&s;ts,</HI> Chap. 13. (which both are comprehended in the word <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> Vial 2.) are (as &s;hall appear anon) the <HI>Civil</HI> and the <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tical</HI> State of the Roman Empire, as the &s;ame now is under Antichri&s;t.</P>
<P>So in Vial 5. <HI>Rome</HI> is called the <HI>Seat of the Bea&s;t;</HI> that is, the <HI>Seat of the Political State,</HI> for the <HI>Seat</HI> of the Ro|man Empire, as the &s;ame was <HI>Pagan,</HI> (which State was <HI>Political</HI> onely) is given to the <HI>fir&s;t Bea&s;t, Rev.</HI> 13.2. that is, the <HI>Civil,</HI> or <HI>Political</HI> State of Antichri&s;t. And al&s;o the <HI>Seat</HI> of the <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tical;</HI> for it is upon the &s;even <HI>Mountains</HI> of <HI>Rome,</HI> the Woman &s;its, <HI>Rev.</HI> 17 9. <HI>i.e.</HI> the <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tical State.</HI> So that <HI>Rome</HI> is the <HI>Seat</HI> both of the <HI>Political</HI> and <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tical State;</HI> and therefore the Bea&s;t Vial 2. who&s;e <HI>Seat</HI> is in <HI>Rome,</HI> mu&s;t be under|&s;tood
<PB N="65" REF="89">of <HI>both States, Civil</HI> and <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tical,</HI> both which make up but one Bea&s;t, or Antichri&s;t.</P>
<P>So <HI>Rev.</HI> 14.9 11. Chap. 15.2. Chap. 20.4. in all which places we have but one <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> &s;poken of, but the &s;ame as having a <HI>Mark,</HI> and an <HI>Image,</HI> which for what I &s;aid but now mu&s;t be interpreted of <HI>both States,</HI> the <HI>Civil</HI> and <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tical.</HI></P>
<P>The like we have Chap. 11.7. <HI>The Bea&s;t that a&s;cen|deth out of the bottomle&s;s pit &s;hall make war again&s;t them, i.e.</HI> again&s;t the two Witne&s;&s;es. Now this <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> a&s;cending out of the bottomle&s;s pit is meant of both <HI>States,</HI> not onely for this rea&s;on, that <HI>both</HI> joyn in &s;laying the Witne&s;&s;es, but becau&s;e Chap. 17.8. we have it &s;o inter|preted; for <HI>John</HI> being &s;hewn fir&s;t <HI>either</HI> State <HI>di&s;tinct</HI> ver&s;. 3, 4. 5, 6. the one repre&s;ented by a <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> the other by a <HI>Woman</HI> riding upon this <HI>Beast,</HI> in ver&s;. 7, 8. hath the my&s;tery of both together &s;hewed him and <HI>both</HI> together are the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> a&s;cending out of the bottomle&s;s Pit, which <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> there &s;poken of in &s;uch various and &s;eeming contra|ry phra&s;es, <HI>was, is not, yet is, &s;hall a&s;cend out of the bot|tomle&s;s Pit,</HI> can be under&s;tood of no other but <HI>Antichri&s;t</HI> in all, becau&s;e it is &s;aid, <HI>The dwellers on the Earth &s;hall wonder when they behold the Bea&s;t that was, is not, and yet is;</HI> noting thus much, that <HI>the dwellers on Earth,</HI> as yet &s;aw not this <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> for indeed his ri&s;e was not yet, <HI>John</HI> &s;eeing the ri&s;e of this Bea&s;t, Chap. 13.1.11. as a thing to be after his time. Yet is he called the Bea&s;t [<HI>that was</HI>] becau&s;e in re&s;pect of that <HI>Civil</HI> Power this <HI>Beast</HI> &s;hould exerci&s;e, and the <HI>Seat</HI> he &s;hould upon his ri&s;e &s;it in, he &s;hould not differ from the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire that then was, and had its beginning long before <HI>John</HI> wrote <HI>[is not]</HI> in re&s;pect of a power <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tical,</HI> as well as <HI>Civil,</HI> which <HI>Antichri&s;t</HI> was to have; &s;o he <HI>was not,</HI> the pre&s;ent Government when <HI>John</HI> wrote, neither knowing, nor al|lowing any &s;uch power; for which cau&s;e though <HI>Anti|chri&s;ts
<PB N="66" REF="90">Seat</HI> and <HI>Civil</HI> Power; was in the Roman Empire as Pagan, yet was not the Empire or Government then the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> here &s;poken of, or <HI>Antichri&s;t. [Yet is]</HI> in re|&s;pect of will and de&s;ire, and a &s;ecret a&s;piring which then was after &s;uch a thing or power, which once obtained, would Midwife this man of &s;in into the world, 2 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 2.7. <HI>The my&s;tery of iniquity doth already work,</HI> 1 Joh. 2.18. <HI>Even now there are many Antichri&s;ts [&s;hall a&s;cend out of the bottomle&s;s Pit]</HI> becau&s;e the <HI>ri&s;e</HI> of this <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> (which mu&s;t, as I have &s;aid, be one and the &s;ame in all the &s;everal expre&s;&s;ions) was to be afterwards, when the <HI>Ci|vil</HI> power that now was in the hands of Pagan Emperors &s;hould fall into the hands of the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> and withall an <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tical</HI> power &s;et up with it, <HI>both</HI> going together hand in hand, which &s;hould be a Government &s;o abomi|nable, that it is &s;aid to <HI>a&s;cend out of the bottomle&s;s Pit, i.e.</HI> the ri&s;e of it &s;hould be as from Hell it &s;elf.</P>
<P>And therefore of this very <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> that <HI>was</HI> and <HI>is not,</HI> it is &s;aid, <HI>he is the eight,</HI> ver&s;. 11. that is the eighth kind of Government which &s;hould be in the <HI>Roman Empire</HI> (a clear Argument that not the Empire in general, but the &s;ame as under Antichri&s;tian onely, is the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> that <HI>was</HI> and <HI>is not:</HI> for all the &s;everal Governments are compre|hended under the Empire in general, but the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> that <HI>was</HI> and <HI>is not,</HI> is &s;poken of particularly, as but one, and that too the <HI>eight</HI> and <HI>la&s;t,</HI> which can agree to none but Antichri&s;t) for five di&s;tinct kinds of Government had been before <HI>Johns</HI> time. Fir&s;t, <HI>Kings.</HI> Secondly, <HI>Con&s;uls.</HI> Thirdly, <HI>Dictators.</HI> Fourthly, <HI>Decem-viri.</HI> Fifthly, <HI>Tribunes,</HI> which all were fallen, therefore &s;aith he ver&s;. 10. <HI>five are fallen. One,</HI> that is the &s;ixth, then was, which was a Government by <HI>Ce&s;ars,</HI> who ruled the Empire in <HI>Johns</HI> time; therefore <HI>one is,</HI> another, the &s;eventh, was yet to come, that is, by Chri&s;tian Emperors; therefore &s;aith he, <HI>the other is yet to come;</HI> and of this &s;eventh, he
<PB N="67" REF="90">&s;aith, <HI>when he commeth he mu&s;t continue a &s;hort &s;pace;</HI> for indeed this continued but a little while, but the Empire growing corrupt, the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> that <HI>was</HI> and <HI>is not,</HI> i.e. <HI>An|tichri&s;t</HI> creeps in; who is called the <HI>eight, And the Bea&s;t that was and is not, even he is the eight</HI> &mdash; ver&s;. 11. be|cau&s;e he &s;ets up a new form of Government di&s;tinct from all the former, viz. an <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tical,</HI> and <HI>Civil</HI> State mixt together, which none of the former Governments had; and may therefore well then be called <HI>the eight,</HI> or another Government. <HI>And yet he is of the &s;even, and is of the &s;even &mdash; i.e.</HI> be&s;ides the new <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tical</HI> Power erected by this <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> this <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> doth al&s;o exerci&s;e that <HI>Civil</HI> Power which the <HI>&s;even,</HI> or the &s;everal Govern|ments, before him had, or did exerci&s;e. And for this rea|&s;on the <HI>&s;even Heads</HI> of the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> ver. 9. are interpre|ted of the &s;even kinds of Government, ver. 10. Not to &s;hew that by <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> is under&s;tood (as is generally concei|ved) the Empire at large, including all the &s;everal Go|vernments that were to be in it: But to &s;hew that the power of all the &s;even former Governments &s;hould center in this Bea&s;t, what&s;oever Civil power they had, he &s;hould have it all, who yet over and above &s;hould erect a new power, which none of the former had, in which &s;en&s;e he &s;hould be <HI>the eighth.</HI> And of this <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> it is &s;aid, <HI>he goeth into perdition,</HI> either becau&s;e de&s;truction will be his end, as chap. 19.20. or becau&s;e under this <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> the <HI>Fourth Monarchy</HI> is to be utterly de&s;troyed.</P>
<P>So that the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> here a&s;cending out of the bottom|le&s;s pit, (which is the &s;ame <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> with that which kils the Witne&s;&s;es, <HI>Revel.</HI> 11.1.) is to be under&s;tood of the <HI>Po|litical</HI> and <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tical State</HI> both, of the Roman Em|pire as now it is: though of the &s;even in re&s;pect of the <HI>Political State,</HI> and yet the <HI>eight</HI> in re&s;pect of the <HI>Ec|cle&s;ia&s;tical</HI> added to the other, yet but one and the &s;ame Bea&s;t, for the &s;ame Bea&s;t is the <HI>eight,</HI> and of the <HI>&s;even.</HI> I
<PB N="68" REF="91">therefore conclude, that Bea&s;t, when &s;poken of without di|&s;tinction, denotes Antichri&s;ts Civil and Eccle&s;ia&s;tical power both.</P>
<P>When <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> is &s;poken of <HI>with distinction,</HI> as <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> and <HI>Bea&s;t; Bea&s;t,</HI> and <HI>Woman; Bea&s;t,</HI> and <HI>fal&s;e Pro|phet:</HI> We are then by <HI>one</HI> to under&s;tand the Roman Ci|vil State onely, by the <HI>other,</HI> the <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tical.</HI></P>
<P>This is manife&s;t <HI>Rev.</HI> 13. where we have <HI>two Bea&s;ts</HI> &s;poken of, the <HI>one</HI> ari&s;ing out of the Sea, ver. 2. the <HI>other</HI> out of the Earth, ver&s;. 11. By the fir&s;t, we are to under|&s;tand the <HI>Civil State</HI> onely, for ver&s;. 2. The <HI>Dragon</HI> gives to this <HI>fir&s;t Bea&s;t</HI> his power, <HI>Seat, and great Au|thority,</HI> i.e. the <HI>Devil,</HI> who all the time the Roman Em|pire was <HI>Pagan,</HI> did <HI>rule</HI> in it, and was openly wor|&s;hipped there, &s;eeing him&s;elf by Chri&s;tian Emperors, now come to the Imperial Dignity, dethroned, &s;o as that he cannot under that form procure any more as he had done, to be openly wor&s;hipped, and to per&s;ecute the Saints; he therefore re&s;igns his <HI>Power, Seat, and great Autho|rity,</HI> (i.e. <HI>Rome</HI> the <HI>Seat</HI> of the Empire, and the <HI>Power</HI> and <HI>Authority</HI> of the former Emperors, which was Ci|vil onely) to this <HI>fir&s;t Bea&s;t,</HI> for which rea&s;on the <HI>&s;even heads of the Antichri&s;tian Beast,</HI> Chap. 17.9.10. are by the Holy Gho&s;t interpreted fir&s;t. Of the &s;even <HI>Moun|tains</HI> of <HI>Rome,</HI> the <HI>Seat</HI> of the <HI>Bea&s;t;</HI> And &s;econdly, of the <HI>&s;even di&s;tinct</HI> kinds of Government, namely, the Power and Authority of the Bea&s;t, becau&s;e both the&s;e, <HI>viz.</HI> the <HI>Seat</HI> and <HI>Civil power</HI> of the former Empire, are given into the hands of this <HI>fir&s;t Bea&s;t,</HI> (the principal limb of Antichri&s;t) &s;o that by <HI>fir&s;t Bea&s;t,</HI> the <HI>Civil State</HI> onely is to be under&s;tood, for the <HI>fir&s;t Bea&s;t</HI> hath one|ly what the <HI>Dragon re&s;igns,</HI> and the <HI>Dragon</HI> could re&s;ign no more; the <HI>power</HI> of the former Empire, in which the <HI>Dragon</HI> ruled, being <HI>Civil</HI> onely.</P>
<P>But &s;o &s;ubtle is this <HI>Dragon,</HI> the <HI>Devil,</HI> that by <HI>re&s;ign|ing</HI>
<PB N="69" REF="91">to the <HI>fir&s;t Bea&s;t,</HI> a <HI>&s;econd Bea&s;t</HI> doth ari&s;e, ver&s;. 11. by which Bea&s;t the Devil obtains to be wor&s;hipped again, though under a more &s;pecious form and devout way of I|dolatry, devi&s;ed by the <HI>&s;econd Bea&s;t;</HI> and &s;o what the Devil was before forced to let go, in one kind, he now by policy gets again in another. Now this <HI>&s;econd Beast</HI> is the <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tical State</HI> of the Roman Empire, the Pope his Hierarchy and Clergy, as appears:</P>
<P N="1">1 <HI>Becau&s;e his ri&s;e is out of the Earth,</HI> ver&s;. 11. that is, his beginning is <HI>ba&s;e, mean,</HI> and <HI>low,</HI> as the Popes at fir&s;t, (when the Bea&s;t fir&s;t began to ri&s;e) were poor Bi&s;hops, who in time by the favour of Princes got up to be Popes, and mo&s;t of their exalted Clergy-men ri&s;e out of the dung.</P>
<P N="2">2 <HI>He looks like a Lamb,</HI> as the Pope calls him&s;elf Chri&s;ts Vicar, the Servant of the Servants of Chri&s;t, and his retinue pretend humility, and their power to be from, and for Chri&s;t, and hold their &s;tation &s;ucce&s;&s;ively from the Apo&s;tles, as he doth his from <HI>Peter.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3 <HI>He &s;peaks like a Dragon.</HI> The Pope, and all they who derive their power from him, though he and they look ever &s;o like Saints, yet the ab&s;olutene&s;s of their De|crees, Injunctions and Impo&s;itions, enforcing and compel|ling the Con&s;ciences of all, declare them to be the <HI>Dragon,</HI> that is, the per&s;ecutor of the Woman, or Chri&s;ts flock, as the <HI>Dragon</HI> is, <HI>Rev.</HI> 12.</P>
<P N="4">4 <HI>He exerci&s;eth all the power of the fir&s;t Bea&s;t,</HI> Ver&s;. 12. As the Pope hath a double &s;word, a tempo|ral and a &s;piritual; and his inferior Clergy make u&s;e of a Civil Power to uphold their own cau&s;e, as well as a &s;pi|ritual.</P>
<P>Now whereas &s;ome conceive the <HI>fir&s;t Bea&s;t</HI> here to be the <HI>whole body</HI> of the Roman Empire, as the &s;ame is the fourth Monarchy, whereof the Antichri&s;t is but a part; and the &s;econd Bea&s;t to be the <HI>Antichri&s;t,</HI> and his King|dome
<PB N="70" REF="92">alone, it cannot &s;o be; partly for the Rea&s;ons be|fore given, and further, becau&s;e according to this, the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> &s;hould continue to make war again&s;t the Saints, and to kill them above two and forty months, for recko|ning the time of the ten Per&s;ecutions, and all the time &s;ince, in which war hath been made upon the Saints, and they killed, it amounts to much more than two and forty months, which yet is the limited time of this Bea&s;ts per|&s;ecution. Ver&s;. 5. <HI>And power was given unto him to continue two and forty months.</HI> Yea, then how comes it to pa&s;s that this <HI>fir&s;t Bea&s;t</HI> differs from the <HI>Dragon,</HI> who yet did repre&s;ent the former Empire, for whereas the <HI>Dra|gon</HI> (as one well ob&s;erves) hath but &s;even Crowns, and tho&s;e &s;even upon his Head, Chap. 12.3. this <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> hath ten Crowns, and tho&s;e upon his Horns, ver&s;. 1. which difference according to this Principle &s;hould not bee, for they &s;hould be one and the &s;ame: Therefore the <HI>fir&s;t Bea&s;t</HI> is the Empire only as under <HI>Antichri&s;t,</HI> and of that (as I have &s;aid) the <HI>Civil</HI> &s;tate onely, as the &s;econd the <HI>Eccele&s;ia&s;tical.</HI></P>
<P>Furthermore as concerning the&s;e <HI>two Bea&s;ts,</HI> we are not to conceive, as though they &s;prung up at a <HI>di&s;tance,</HI> one a good while after the other, for the continuance of the <HI>fir&s;t Bea&s;t</HI> (I have &s;aid already) is to be but two and forty months, and &s;o much time is allowed to <HI>both</HI> the Bea&s;ts, Chap. 11.12. <HI>the holy City &s;hall they</HI> (<HI>i e.</HI> both the Bea&s;ts) <HI>tread underfoot two and forty months.</HI> And indeed the treading the Holy City underfoot two and forty months can be no other act, but the act of the Bea&s;t, it agreeing &s;o punctually to be the preci&s;e time of his Reign. And of what Bea&s;t?</P>
<P>I an&s;wer, That very <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> mentioned, ver&s;. 7. which ari&s;eth out of the <HI>bottomle&s;s Pit,</HI> and towards the end of this time kills the Witne&s;&s;es; which Bea&s;t I have already &s;hewed to be &s;poken of <HI>both the Bea&s;ts,</HI> viz. the <HI>Civil</HI>
<PB N="71" REF="92">and <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tical</HI> &s;tate, who&s;e ri&s;e therefore mu&s;t be together, the time of eithers Reign being two and forty months. For indeed &s;o &s;oon as the <HI>Roman Empire,</HI> which before was <HI>Pagan,</HI> but now Chri&s;tian, began to be &s;o corrupt as to be the <HI>fir&s;t Bea&s;t, i. e.</HI> of Chri&s;tian an Antichri&s;tian &s;tate, per&s;ecuting the true members of Chri&s;t, in&s;tantly with this corrupted &s;tate did the <HI>&s;econd Bea&s;t</HI> ari&s;e; that is, the &s;word and power of the <HI>Civil</HI> Magi&s;trate which before was u&s;ed by none but him&s;elf, came now to be in the hands, or at the will and di&s;po&s;al of <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tical</HI> per&s;ons, Church-men (as they are called) that the&s;e thereby might become fit in&s;truments to &s;et up, and e&s;tabli&s;h their own Idolatries, and per&s;ecute the Saints; And by this aro&s;e a <HI>&s;econd Bea&s;t,</HI> exerci&s;ing by permi&s;&s;ion all the Power of the <HI>fir&s;t,</HI> and is therefore &s;aid to exerci&s;e it <HI>before him,</HI> ver&s;. 12. in his <HI>&s;ight,</HI> ver&s;. 14. <HI>i.e.</HI> by leave or permi&s;&s;ion of the <HI>fir&s;t Bea&s;t;</HI> for which cau&s;e, the making war with the Saints, ver&s;. 7. the compelling all Nations that dwell upon the earth to wor&s;hip the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> ver&s;. 8. is appropriated to the fir&s;t <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> as though it were his act, whereas indeed it is properly the <HI>&s;econd Bea&s;t</HI> doth this, as is clear, ver&s;. 15 16, 17. but hee doth it by exerci&s;ing the <HI>power</HI> of the <HI>fir&s;t,</HI> without which he could not do it; and therefore the &s;ame thing is recorded in de&s;cribing either <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> becau&s;e in this bu|&s;ine&s;s the <HI>&s;econd Bea&s;t</HI> is the fir&s;t mover, but the effecting of it, is done by the power of the <HI>fir&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>And indeed the <HI>&s;econd Bea&s;t</HI> may well be called another <HI>Beast,</HI> di&s;tinct from the fir&s;t, notwith&s;tanding the power he exerci&s;eth by the power of the fir&s;t, becau&s;e the hands this power is now put into, or is at the di&s;po&s;al of, are &s;uch as not only are without right to this power, but al&s;o never had until this day any &s;uch power intru&s;ted in them, or at their di&s;po&s;al.</P>
<P>Yet that the&s;e <HI>Bea&s;ts,</HI> though <HI>two,</HI> are indeed <HI>one,</HI> and
<PB N="72" REF="93">make up but <HI>one</HI> Antichri&s;t is clear, becau&s;e <HI>both</HI> the <HI>Bea&s;ts</HI> ri&s;e together, as before; <HI>both</HI> are alike in nature, actions, and conditions, for both are <HI>filthy Bea&s;ts,</HI> and cruel Tyrants, <HI>both</HI> Patrons of Idolatry, <HI>both</HI> bloody Per&s;ecutors of the Saints, <HI>both</HI> are helpful one to ano|ther; the <HI>fir&s;t Bea&s;t</HI> communicates of his <HI>power</HI> to the <HI>&s;econd Bea&s;t,</HI> ver&s;. 12. the <HI>&s;econd Bea&s;t</HI> gives <HI>life</HI> to the <HI>image</HI> of the <HI>fir&s;t Bea&s;t;</HI> ver&s;. 15. yea ver&s;. 18. <HI>one</HI> and the <HI>&s;ame</HI> number is a&s;&s;igned to <HI>both</HI> the <HI>Bea&s;ts,</HI> and the number of <HI>b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">th</HI> the Bea&s;ts in conclu&s;ion of the Vi&s;ion, is but the <HI>number</HI> of the Bea&s;t, <HI>i.e.</HI> of one Bea&s;t. <HI>Here is wi&s;dome, let him that hath under&s;tanding count the number of the</HI> Bea&s;t; Which al&s;o addes a beam of fur|ther light for the clearing of what I have &s;aid before; that Bea&s;t, when &s;poken of <HI>without</HI> di&s;tinction, is to be un|der&s;tood of the <HI>Civil</HI> and <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tical</HI> &s;tate both. So that in fine the re&s;ult is, <HI>They are two</HI> Bea&s;ts, <HI>as a Poli|tical, and an Eccle&s;ia&s;tical &s;tate, and yet but one</HI> Bea&s;t, <HI>as Antichri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>What I have &s;aid of the&s;e <HI>two</HI> Bea&s;ts, I may &s;ay the <HI>&s;ame</HI> of the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> and the <HI>Woman,</HI> Chap. 17. The <HI>Beast</HI> the <HI>Woman</HI> rides upon, is the <HI>Civil</HI> &s;tate, the <HI>Wo|man</HI> riding upon this <HI>Beast</HI> is the <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tical,</HI> only with this difference, the <HI>&s;econd Bea&s;t,</HI> Chap. 13. who upon his fir&s;t ri&s;e was a Bea&s;t, a&s;piring to no higher de|gree; and exerci&s;ing the power of the fir&s;t Bea&s;t, <HI>i. e.</HI> of the <HI>Civil</HI> &s;tate, by leave as it were, through permi&s;&s;ion of the fir&s;t Bea&s;t, is now through a long &s;tanding ri&s;en from a <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> to a <HI>Woman,</HI> as di&s;daining to be in &s;o low a degree as a Bea&s;t any longer. Yea, &s;uch a <HI>Woman</HI> as like a <HI>notorious</HI> Strumpet knows how to make the Kings of the Earth, yea the whole world follow her dance, and crouch to her, by which &s;he is grown rich and gallant, having by who|ring and jugling, got the riches, the gold, the precious &s;tones, and pearls of the <HI>first Bea&s;t</HI> to her &s;elf, and to
<PB N="73" REF="93">&s;hew what an a&s;piring &s;pirit &s;he is of, in&s;tead now of ex|erci&s;ing the power of the <HI>fir&s;t Bea&s;t, i. e.</HI> of the <HI>Civil State,</HI> by leave any longer, &s;he is now like Lord and King got upon the back of the fir&s;t <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> who dares not cro&s;s her humor, for &s;he rides him and rules him at plea|&s;ure.</P>
<P>And indeed the fir&s;t Bea&s;t is ju&s;tly recompenced for &s;et|ting up and countenancing &s;uch a Bea&s;t at fir&s;t, who (ac|cording to the Proverb) give an inch of power, he will take an ell; for whil&s;t the fir&s;t Bea&s;t remains a Bea&s;t &s;till, this &s;econd Bea&s;t is from a Bea&s;t advanced to be a <HI>Woman,</HI> which not onely had robbed and plundered the coffers of the Bea&s;t, and got all his riches from him, but al&s;o knows how to ride the Bea&s;t, ma&s;ter him, and rule him as &s;he li&s;t.</P>
<P>And certainly had not the fir&s;t Bea&s;t been a very Bea&s;t, I mean, had not the <HI>Civil State</HI> at fir&s;t &s;o far degenerated, as in&s;tead of acting rationally as a <HI>man,</HI> to act &s;en&s;ually and bruiti&s;hly as a <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> this great inconvenience would have been fore&s;een in the beginning, at lea&s;t reme|died in time, before the &s;econd Bea&s;t was grown to &s;uch a height, that he was now pa&s;t taming, and able to ride and ma&s;ter the fir&s;t Bea&s;t that &s;et him up.</P>
<P>Now whereas the <HI>Woman,</HI> ver&s;e la&s;t, is &s;aid to be the <HI>Great City,</HI> it is (as I &s;uppo&s;e) rather lain down as a <HI>Mark,</HI> or character to know the <HI>Woman</HI> by, and that from the place &s;he was to &s;it in, then a de&s;cription of the <HI>Woman,</HI> which ver&s;e 9. confirms me in, by giving us to under&s;tand that the woman &s;its upon the &s;even Mountains (<HI>i.e.</HI> the City <HI>Rome</HI> anciently built upon &s;even Mountains) therefore the &s;even Mountains, <HI>i. e.</HI> the City <HI>Rome,</HI> is not, to &s;peak properly, the <HI>Woman,</HI> but the <HI>Seat of the Wo|man.</HI></P>
<P>What I have &s;aid of the <HI>two Bea&s;ts,</HI> the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> and the <HI>Woman,</HI> I may al&s;o &s;ay of the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> and the <HI>fal&s;e Pro|phet,</HI> &s;poken of in the words I am opening. The Bea&s;t
<PB N="74" REF="94">here is the Civil State, or the fir&s;t Bea&s;t that ari&s;eth out of the <HI>Sea;</HI> the <HI>fal&s;e Prophet,</HI> the <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tical</HI> or &s;econd Bea&s;t, who&s;e ri&s;e is from the <HI>Earth.</HI> And indeed he that &s;hall but parallel the &s;econd Bea&s;t &s;poken of chap. 13. with what is &s;poken of the <HI>fal&s;e Prophet,</HI> chap. 19. will find them to be one and the &s;ame; The fal&s;e Prophet is a <HI>worker of Miracles,</HI> chap. 19.20. &s;o is the &s;econd Bea&s;t, chap. 13.17. The fal&s;e Prophet by his miracles de|ceives the Bea&s;ts followers, chap. 19.20. &s;o doth the &s;econd Bea&s;t, chap. 13.14. The Bea&s;t and the fal&s;e Prophet are helpful the one to the other, for the Bea&s;t defends the fal&s;e Prophet by his &s;trength (for chap. 19.19. no force at all is mentioned that this <HI>fal&s;e Prophet</HI> had at that great Randezvouze, who yet was pre&s;onally pre&s;ent with the Bea&s;t, for he is taken pri|&s;oner, ver&s;. 20. therefore the Bea&s;t defends him) and the fal&s;e Prophet by working miracles <HI>encourageth</HI> the Bea&s;t and his multitude, with hope of good &s;ucce&s;s, God is of their &s;ide. In like manner the two Bea&s;ts, chap. 13. are (as before hath been &s;hewed) <HI>helpful</HI> to each o|ther.</P>
<P>The conclu&s;ion is, that by fal&s;e Prophet we are to un|der&s;tand the &s;econd Bea&s;t &s;poken of chap. 13. and by Bea&s;t and fal&s;e Prophet to under&s;tand the &s;ame here, as of the two Bea&s;ts there, <HI>viz.</HI> the <HI>Civil</HI> and <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tical State;</HI> onely with this difference, that Bea&s;t, which in his fir&s;t ri&s;e, was but a Bea&s;t; afterwards (when more grown) a <HI>Woman,</HI> riding upon, and over-topping the <HI>Civil</HI> power, or fir&s;t Bea&s;t, which gave him his ri&s;e, is now in his decli|ning condition a <HI>fal&s;e Prophet.</HI></P>
<P>For the <HI>lo&s;s</HI> of <HI>Rome,</HI> where was his Magazine of Trea&s;ure, together with the &s;eizing and intercepting his <HI>Rents</HI> and <HI>Tributes</HI> by the Conqueror, hath &s;o pulled down the Bea&s;t, &s;o plucked the plumes of the Romi&s;h <HI>Ec|cle&s;ia&s;tical State, i.e.</HI> brought the Pope and his Clergy to &s;o
<PB N="75" REF="94">low an ebb, that it is now but little that they can contribute either to the a&s;&s;i&s;tance of the fir&s;t Bea&s;t, the Romi&s;h <HI>Ci|vil</HI> power, or towards the upholding of their own &s;inking Kingdom; yet becau&s;e having been a <HI>proud Whore,</HI> this Bea&s;t is loath to be of little repute, and to come back a|gain to his fir&s;t original of a poor earthly Bea&s;t yea would fain have the fir&s;t Bea&s;t, the Civil power &s;till to dote up|on him, and reckon him a con&s;iderable party, he will there|fore &s;eem now to make up by his fained piety and devotion what is wanting in his former outward &s;trength and glory; and now he can be nothing el&s;e, he will needs be a <HI>Prophet</HI> to foretell good to his cau&s;e and Kingdom, though none he can do it; But ob&s;erve, as when he was a Bea&s;t, he was an earthly Bea&s;t; as when a <HI>Woman,</HI> a <HI>Whore;</HI> &s;o now, when a <HI>Prophet,</HI> a <HI>fal&s;e Prophet.</HI> Though <HI>Anti|chri&s;t</HI> may change &s;hapes and formes, he can never make him&s;elf better than he is, but <HI>Antichri&s;t</HI> he will be, an <HI>Ene|my</HI> to <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> an <HI>Impo&s;ter,</HI> a <HI>Deceiver,</HI> a <HI>Lyar</HI> &s;till.</P>
<P>Having thus &s;een the meaning of the words and names (which I have purpo&s;ely in&s;i&s;ted the larger upon, becau&s;e the right under&s;tanding hereof, doth (if I mi&s;take not) o|pen the door into the very my&s;tery of this Book) I come to apply them to the bu&s;ine&s;s in hand, thus,</P>
<P>The <HI>Dragon, Bea&s;t,</HI> and <HI>fal&s;e Prophet,</HI> who from the beginning were Partners, going hand in hand and ventu|ring States together, &s;eeing by the <HI>fall</HI> of <HI>the City Rome</HI> &s;uch a terrible &s;haking blow giving to their <HI>Kingdom,</HI> as that the next blow, if not prevented, is like unavoidably to be fatal, and to prove their utter ruin; they therefore now all of them <HI>convene in &s;ome General Councel,</HI> where they lay their heads together what thing is be&s;t for them to do to prevent another blow, or, if po&s;&s;ible, to recover their own again. And upon debate <HI>two things</HI> being laid before them, as matter of deep and &s;erious con&s;ultation, <HI>viz. The late lo&s;s they have received by the fall of Rome,</HI> and
<PB N="76" REF="95">that by cau&s;ing &s;ome of the Kings of the Earth, who were friends to their cau&s;e before, now for fear of her tor|ment, le&s;t the like &s;hould befall them&s;elves, to with-draw, and &s;tand a loof off.</P>
<P N="2">2 <HI>The great provocation &s;ince given to the Turk, by tho&s;e very In&s;truments their Enemies,</HI> which is like to make him joyn in with the utmo&s;t &s;trength hee can make (out of de&s;ire to revenge him&s;elf, and recover his own again) to ruin (if it may bee) this growing par|ty.</P>
<P>The <HI>vote</HI> or <HI>re&s;ult</HI> of the meeting from the foregoing premi&s;es is, that (as the thing which doth mo&s;t conduce to the upholding of their cau&s;e) <HI>Agents</HI> and <HI>Amba&s;&s;a|dors,</HI> of the fitte&s;t they can find for &s;uch imployment, be &s;peeded away to &s;uch Kings of the earth, as for the pre|&s;ent &s;eem <HI>backward</HI> in the <HI>cau&s;e,</HI> to put life into them; and al&s;o to the <HI>Great Turk,</HI> to <HI>encourage</HI> and <HI>heart</HI> him on to <HI>engage</HI> with them, in a <HI>quarrel</HI> that is <HI>his,</HI> as well as <HI>theirs;</HI> together with <HI>all others,</HI> of whom they have either <HI>hope</HI> that they will, or may be drawn to joyn with them; that by one <HI>general Randezvouze</HI> of all their force together, they may <HI>venture the whole,</HI> &s;ink, or &s;wim, upon the <HI>event</HI> of one <HI>battel:</HI> Which battel is here called (for the remarkablene&s;s of it, both in regard of the multitude of enemies, and the glorious appearance of Chri&s;t with his Saints, who will fight this battel for them, in &s;uch a way as never before) <HI>the battel of that great day of God Almighty:</HI> which is (I conceive) the <HI>&s;ame battel</HI> with what is &s;poken, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 110. <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 63.1, <HI>to</HI> 7: <HI>chap.</HI> 6.15. to the end, <HI>Ezek.</HI> 38.39. <HI>Dan.</HI> 12.1. <HI>Joel</HI> 3. <HI>Zech.</HI> 14.1, 2, 3, 4, 5. <HI>Mal.</HI> 4.1, 2, 3. Of which <HI>terrible,</HI> yet <HI>glorious</HI> day, to mention all that in the foregoing Texts, and el&s;ewhere is recorded of it, would call for a Treati&s;e of it &s;elf; and therefore I think it meet rather to leave the &s;ame to the &s;ober and pious meditations of the Rea|der,
<PB N="77" REF="95">than here to add any thing further upon &s;o large a Subject.</P>
<P>Concerning the <HI>Agents</HI> and <HI>Amba&s;&s;adors</HI> of the <HI>Dra|gon, Bea&s;t,</HI> and <HI>fal&s;e Prophet</HI> (who are &s;aid to be <HI>three</HI> (though po&s;&s;ibly they may be multitudes) becau&s;e a <HI>three|fold</HI> number denotes perfection; and &s;aid to come out of the <HI>mouth</HI> of the <HI>Dragon,</HI> and <HI>out</HI> of the <HI>mouth</HI> of the <HI>Beast,</HI> and <HI>out</HI> of the <HI>mouth</HI> of the <HI>fal&s;e Prophet;</HI> not as if <HI>one</HI> came out of <HI>the mouth</HI> of the <HI>one,</HI> another <HI>out</HI> of the <HI>mouth</HI> of the <HI>other,</HI> and another <HI>out</HI> of the <HI>mouth</HI> of the <HI>third;</HI> but becau&s;e their &s;ending is by the <HI>common con|&s;ent</HI> of the afore&s;aid <HI>three parties</HI>) who, or what they &s;hall be, I look upon it as a part of curio&s;ity to enquire any further into, then what is here by the <HI>Holy Gho&s;t</HI> deter|mined of them.</P>
<P N="1">1 That they &s;hall be <HI>Spirits,</HI> viz. for their &s;ubtilty, nim|blene&s;s, and activity.</P>
<P N="2">2 <HI>Unclean Spirits,</HI> for the filthine&s;s and impurity of their principles and conver&s;ation.</P>
<P N="3">3 Like <HI>Frogs,</HI> for their bold impudency, and continu|al croaking in the ears of tho&s;e they are &s;ent to, giving them no re&s;t till they have drawn them forth to battel, withall creeping into every hole and corner of the world, to carry on their de&s;ign.</P>
<P N="4">4 <HI>Spirits of Devils,</HI> for their di&s;&s;embling, lying, and cunning craft in deceiving, above all that ever were im|ployed before them.</P>
<P N="5">5 <HI>Working Miracles,</HI> and that (as it were) in way of imitation of the great and wonderful things God either hath done, or is then doing for his people; by this not onely to gain credit to their <HI>Amba&s;&s;age,</HI> making the Kings <HI>of the Earth</HI> the more ready to receive it; but al&s;o to blind the eyes of tho&s;e they are &s;ent unto, and <HI>har|den</HI> their hearts again&s;t the apparent works of God at this day, when they &s;hall &s;ee things &s;omewhat
<PB N="78" REF="96">like to what God is doing in the world, done by the&s;e: as the <HI>Magicians</HI> of <HI>Egypt</HI> did blind <HI>Pharoah's</HI> eyes, harden his heart, by doing like things before him by Di|abolical art, as <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> did by the finger of God.</P>
<P>And here I cannot but in the way take notice of that which is the &s;piritual Engine of the old <HI>Serpent,</HI> and one of his mo&s;t politick Stratagems and Devi&s;es, to blind o|thers to the truths and di&s;pen&s;ations of God in the world, making them very odious and to be loathed of many, which is, when he perceiveth that God hath any great Truth to make known, or any great De&s;ign to drive on in the World, which he cannot hinder, <HI>he will now become an Angel of light, and be of the foremo&s;t (by &s;etting his own in|&s;truments about it) either in di&s;covering this truth, or putting forward this de&s;ign;</HI> that &s;o, from a ju&s;t cau&s;e of &s;u&s;pition being laid, a prejudice being begotten in peoples hearts again&s;t the&s;e things, the things though di&s;|covered ever &s;o clearly might find no acceptation, but ra|ther a general di&s;like from tho&s;e that &s;hould receive them; as at the time of Chri&s;ts coming, <HI>he rai&s;ed up fal&s;e Chri&s;ts</HI> as a blind, that the true might not be received. At the fir&s;t preaching of the Go&s;pel by the Apo&s;tles, <HI>he vai&s;ed up fal&s;e Apo&s;tles.</HI> that the true might not be be|leeved; which is a thing hath been worthily ob&s;erved by a godly man of late, and I here mention it onely by way of remembrance, that none of us may be taken in this crafty and hidden &s;nare.</P>
<P><HI>Thus much of the fir&s;t thing preparative to the pou|ring forth of the &s;eventh</HI> VIAL.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="2" TYPE="section">
<PB N="79" REF="96">
<HEAD>2 <HI>The Per&s;onal coming and appearing of the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI></HEAD>
<P>Ver&s;e 15. <HI>BEhold I come as a Theef.</HI> That Chri&s;t &s;hall <HI>per&s;onally appear</HI> before the la&s;t and General Judgement, is a thing that &s;eems to me to have much footing both throughout the <HI>Old</HI> and <HI>New-Te&s;ta|ment;</HI> without granting of which, I my &s;elf cannot as yet (po&s;&s;ibly others may) <HI>reconcile</HI> one Scripture with another.</P>
<P>And truly, to take notice of this Opinion here, I am nece&s;&s;arily put upon it, unle&s;s I &s;hould either wholly pa&s;s over the&s;e words, or be fal&s;e to my own per&s;wa&s;ions, and that which as yet I cannot think otherwi&s;e, is the main thing intended by the Holy Gho&s;t in them.</P>
<P>Though yet as the Argument it &s;elf in this place doth more concern <HI>the time</HI> of <HI>his coming</HI> (viz. that <HI>his com|ing</HI> &s;hall be betwixt the <HI>&s;ixt</HI> and <HI>&s;eventh Vials</HI>) than <HI>the coming</HI> it &s;elfe. So that I may keep to the Argument. I mu&s;t here let go &s;everal Rea&s;ons I might make u&s;e of to prove this <HI>per&s;onal coming,</HI> and confine my &s;elf to &s;uch onely as will clear up this; viz. <HI>That the time of his per|&s;onal coming is here &s;poken of, to be between the &s;ixt and &s;eventh Vials.</HI></P>
<P>Now that Chri&s;ts <HI>Per&s;onal coming,</HI> and not a <HI>com|ing</HI> by his <HI>Power</HI> and <HI>Spirit</HI> onely, is the thing here in|tended (which will fall out in <HI>this Interval</HI> or &s;pace of time betwixt the&s;e two <HI>Vials,</HI> though yet at the end of it, &s;o as that it may indifferently be referred, either to the con|clu&s;ion of this time, or the beginning of the <HI>&s;eventh Vial</HI>) is clear to me, for the&s;e Rea&s;ons.</P>
<P N="1">1 ARGUMENT, <HI>Chri&s;t &s;hall per&s;onally appear at the time in which the remarkable battel of</HI> Armageddon <HI>&s;hall be fought.</HI> But that &s;hall be about this time.</P>
<PB N="80" REF="97">
<P>That the <HI>battel</HI> of <HI>Armageddon</HI> &s;hall be about this time, is clear in the words, That Chri&s;t &s;hall then appear, I prove.</P>
<P>I&s;a. 66.16. <HI>For by fire, and by his &s;word will the Lord plead with all fle&s;h, and the &s;lain of the Lord &s;hall be many.</HI> That this is the &s;ame with the <HI>battel</HI> of <HI>Armageddon</HI> hinted in the Text, and more fully de&s;|cribed, <HI>Rev.</HI> 19. ver&s;. 17. to the end of the Chapter, appears,</P>
<P N="1">1 Becau&s;e the <HI>battel</HI> of <HI>Armageddon</HI> &s;hall bee about the <HI>time</HI> of the <HI>Jews</HI> coming in; This our Di&s;cour&s;e at large under the &s;ixth <HI>Vial</HI> proves; So &s;hall this; For ver&s;. 7.8. we have their <HI>conver&s;ion</HI> &s;poken of, <HI>Before &s;hee travelled, &s;hee brought forth, before her pain came, &s;hee was delivered of a Man-child; who hath heard &s;uch a thing? who hath &s;een &s;uch things? &s;hall the earth bee made to bring forth in one day, or &s;hall a Nation be born at once? for as &s;oon as Sion travelled &s;hee brought forth her children;</HI> And then pre&s;ently, ver&s;. 16. wee have this battel.</P>
<P N="2">2 Upon the <HI>battel</HI> of <HI>Armageddon,</HI> wee have a <HI>new Heaven,</HI> and a <HI>new Earth,</HI> as the con&s;equent of it. <HI>Rev.</HI> 21.1. <HI>I &s;aw a new Heaven, and a new Earth, for the fir&s;t Heaven and the fir&s;t Earth were pa&s;&s;ed away.</HI> So this ver&s;. 22. <HI>For as the new Heavens, and new Earth, which I will make &s;hall remain before me.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3 Wee read of <HI>a Lake of fire,</HI> after the battel of <HI>Armageddon,</HI> Rev. 19.20. So here, ver&s;e la&s;t.</P>
<P><HI>Object.</HI> But have we a <HI>coming</HI> here?</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> Yea ver&s;. 15. <HI>For behold the Lord will come with fire, and with his Chariots like a whirlewind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebukes with flames of fire;</HI> Which <HI>coming</HI> that it mu&s;t be <HI>Per&s;onal,</HI> I &s;hall &s;hew anon out of <HI>Rev.</HI> 19. which &s;peaks of the
<PB N="81" REF="97"><HI>&s;ame coming,</HI> as the <HI>battel</HI> there and here &s;poken of, are <HI>one</HI> and the <HI>&s;ame.</HI></P>
<P>The Prophet <HI>Daniel</HI> in his &s;eventh Chapter doth ex|cellently &s;et this forth, where having had the four <HI>Mo|narchies,</HI> which Chap. 2. were repre&s;ented to him in the form of a <HI>great Image,</HI> and Antichri&s;ts Kingdom, a part of the fourth or la&s;t Monarchy by the <HI>feet</HI> of that Image, <HI>part of Iron,</HI> and <HI>part of Clay;</HI> now repre&s;ented under another form of four Bea&s;ts; and Antichri&s;t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">s Kingdom by a <HI>little horn,</HI> ari&s;ing among&s;t the horns of the 4th. Bea&s;t, or <HI>Roman</HI> Monarchy, he &s;aith, ver. 11. <HI>That he beheld becau&s;e of the great words the Horn &s;pake</HI> (<HI>i.e.</HI> becau&s;e of the bla&s;phe|mies of Antichri&s;t) <HI>the Bea&s;t</HI> (that is, the fourth Monarchy now governed by Antichri&s;t, the little Horn) <HI>&s;lain, his body de&s;troyed, and given to the burning flame,</HI> agreeing punctually to what is recorded, <HI>Rev.</HI> 19.19 20. of ca&s;ting the Bea&s;t into the <HI>Lake of fire</HI> burning with brim&s;tone, which comes in there as an effect of the battel of <HI>Armageddon:</HI> And indeed that the&s;e two Texts mu&s;t agree in time, and be one and the &s;ame, is clear to me, becau&s;e the main thing held forth in either, is the final de&s;truction of the <HI>Roman</HI> Monarchy, and that as the &s;ame is under Antichri&s;t. Neither may it be doubted that by the <HI>little Horn</HI> the <HI>Kingdome</HI> of <HI>Antichri&s;t</HI> &s;hould bee <HI>meant,</HI> &s;eeing what is here &s;poken of the <HI>little Horn,</HI> agrees &s;o exactly to what in the <HI>Revel<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">tion</HI> is &s;poken of Antichri&s;t, yea (which makes the thing mo&s;t evident) the <HI>little Horn,</HI> and the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> or fourth Monarchy, are ver&s;. 11. made one, and the &s;ame.</P>
<P>Bu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> you will &s;ay, Where have we a <HI>coming</HI> here?</P>
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> Look ver&s;. 13, 14. <HI>I &s;aw in the night vi|&s;ions, and behold one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of Heaven, and came to the Ancien of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him Dominion, and Glory, and a Kingdome,
<PB N="82" REF="98">that all People, Nations, and Languages &s;hould &s;erve him; his Dominion is an everla&s;ting Dominion that &s;hall not pa&s;s away, and his Kingdome which &s;hall not be de&s;troyed.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Object.</HI> But how appears this coming to be Per|&s;onal?</P>
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> From the Text; for ob&s;erve fir&s;t, God as the <HI>Ancient of dayes</HI> by the manife&s;tation of his <HI>pre&s;ence</HI> and <HI>power,</HI> with and among&s;t his people, (which (I take it) an&s;wers to the <HI>&s;moak</HI> wherewith the Temple is filled, <HI>Rev.</HI> 15. la&s;t) fir&s;t begins to judge the <HI>little Horn,</HI> or fourth Bea&s;t, ca&s;ting down his Thrones (the work at this day in hand.) Now whil&s;t the <HI>Ancient</HI> of <HI>dayes</HI> is among&s;t his people &s;itting and judging the Bea&s;t, one comes to him <HI>like the Son of man with the clouds of Heaven to whom is given a Dominion, Glory, and King|dome.</HI> Ob&s;erve, fir&s;t, He comes not to receive a King|dome in a <HI>&s;piritual way</HI> as <HI>God,</HI> but as the <HI>Son of man.</HI> Secondly, He comes with the <HI>clouds of Heaven,</HI> the very phra&s;e u&s;ed to &s;et forth his <HI>per&s;onal coming,</HI> Mat. 24.30. <HI>They &s;hall &s;ee the Son of man coming in the clouds of Heaven, with power and great glory,</HI> Chap. 26.64. <HI>Hereafter &s;hall yee &s;ee the Son of man coming in the clouds of Heaven,</HI> Rev. 1.7. <HI>behold he cometh with clouds, and every eye &s;hall &s;ee him.</HI></P>
<P>Thirdly, He comes to the <HI>Ancient of dayes</HI> (who according to his God-head is the Ancient of dayes) that is, the <HI>Father,</HI> who now had &s;et up his Throne on earth, and (as the Great Judge) was in the mid&s;t of his people, manife&s;ting his Almighty power among&s;t them in judging the Bea&s;t, and there receives his Kingdome, where the <HI>Ancient of dayes</HI> had now &s;et up his Throne, was &s;itting and judging. And this is a manife&s;t Argument, that although his <HI>coming</HI> is mentioned after the ca&s;ting of the Bea&s;t into the burning flame, yet that indeed the &s;ame
<PB N="83" REF="98">mu&s;t be before, becau&s;e he comes to the <HI>Ancient of dayes, i.e.</HI> the Father, whil&s;t hee was &s;itting upon the Throne in the mid&s;t of his people, and pa&s;&s;ing &s;entence again&s;t the Bea&s;t, before the Bea&s;t is &s;lain, his body de|&s;troyed, and given to the burning flame, which is the con|cluding act, and the breaking up of the judgement, after which the <HI>Ancient of dayes</HI> &s;its no longer: Therefore, I &s;ay, his <HI>coming</HI> mu&s;t of nece&s;&s;ity be before the <HI>utter everthrow</HI> of the Bea&s;t or fourth Monarchy, and within the time that the Father by his pre&s;ence and power among&s;t his people is judging of the Bea&s;t.</P>
<P>And indeed, if we do but compare this &s;eventh of <HI>Da|niel,</HI> with the 110. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> (which is al&s;o a Prophecie of Chri&s;ts Kingdome) we &s;hall find them mo&s;t excellently an&s;wering one to another, and the one helping to open the other. In ver&s;. 1. the Father &s;aith to the Son, <HI>Sit thou at my right hand till I make thine enemies thy foot&s;tool.</HI> What then? Why, the <HI>Father</HI> as the <HI>Ancient of dayes,</HI> ha|ving judged Chri&s;ts enemies, and brought them well under, we have &s;treightway, ver&s;. 2 Chri&s;ts <HI>coming. The Lord &s;hall &s;end the Rod of thy &s;trength out of Sion.</HI> And what doth Chri&s;t do at his <HI>coming?</HI> Why, as upon his appear|ing, he finds the Bea&s;t, Antichri&s;t, here called the Head over many Countries (becau&s;e this Whore &s;its upon many waters) and the Kings of the earth with their Armies ga|thered together to oppo&s;e him; &s;o pre&s;ently he in his fury falls upon them, and de&s;troyes them. Ver&s;. 5. <HI>The Lord at thy right hand &s;hall &s;trike through Kings in the day of his wrath.</HI> The battel of <HI>Armageddon</HI> is called, <HI>That great day of God Almighty,</HI> Rev. 16.14. upon the founding of the &s;eyenth Angel, the time of wrath, <HI>Rev.</HI> 11.18. <HI>Thy wrath is come;</HI> here <HI>the day of wrath.</HI> Ver&s;. 6. <HI>He &s;hall judge among the heathen, he &s;hall fill the places with the dead bodies, he &s;hall wound the Head over many Countries;</HI> agreeing to that of <HI>Daniel,</HI>
<PB N="84" REF="99">of <HI>&s;laying</HI> the Bea&s;t, de&s;troying his body, ca&s;ting it into the <HI>burning flame;</HI> and that <HI>Rev.</HI> 19. (where the bat|tel of <HI>Armageddon</HI> is de&s;cribed) of de&s;troying Kings and Captains, Ver&s;. 18. ca&s;ting the Bea&s;t into the <HI>lake of fire &s;laying the</HI> remnant, Ver&s;. 20, 21.</P>
<P>This appears yet farther, <HI>Dan.</HI> 12.1. <HI>There &s;hall bee a time of trouble, &s;uch as never was &s;ince there was a Nation even to that &s;ame time, and at that time &s;hall thy people be delivered.</HI> The concurrence of this <HI>day of trouble,</HI> and the battel of <HI>Armageddon,</HI> both with the time of the delivery of <HI>Daniels</HI> people (or the <HI>Jews</HI>) proves them to be one and the &s;ame. Now that a <HI>coming</HI> there is here, is clear, <HI>At that time &s;hall Michael &s;tand up,</HI> which that it is <HI>Per&s;onal,</HI> will appear, by comparing with <HI>Matth.</HI> 24. where all acknowledge his <HI>Per&s;onal coming</HI> is &s;poken of, which yet is the &s;ame with this: for Chri&s;t &s;peaking of the time of it, quotes this of <HI>Daniel,</HI> ver&s;. 21, 22. <HI>Then &s;hall b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e great tribulation, &s;uch as never was from the beginning of the world to this time, no nor ever &s;hall <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e.</HI></P>
<P>Another evidence of this wee have <HI>Joel</HI> 3. which Chapter agrees exactly to the battel of <HI>Armageddon;</HI> 1 In that, the Kings of the <HI>earth,</HI> and the <HI>whole world</HI> gather together, <HI>Rev.</HI> 16.14. here all <HI>Nations</HI> ver&s;. 2. multitudes, multitudes, ver&s;. 14. 2 That, is about the time of the <HI>Jews return;</HI> for when the Kings of the <HI>Ea&s;t</HI> are upon coming in, the <HI>Kings</HI> of the <HI>Earth</HI> gather to|gether So this, ver&s;. 1, 2. <HI>For behold in tho&s;e dayes, when I &s;hall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jeru&s;alem, I will gather all Nations.</HI> 3 That is the <HI>great day of God Almighty,</HI> Rev. 16.14. <HI>the Supper of the great God,</HI> Chap. 19.17. this, <HI>the day of the Lord,</HI> &s;poken of by way of empha&s;is, ver&s;. 14. <HI>The Day of the Lord is neer.</HI> 4 That, &s;hall be in a place called <HI>Arma|geddon,</HI> Rev. 16.16. &s;ignifying a place of <HI>de&s;truction</HI>
<PB N="85" REF="99">his, in the valley of <HI>deci&s;ion,</HI> ver&s;. 14. <HI>i.e.</HI> the place of <HI>cutting off,</HI> where God will <HI>cut</HI> off his enemies. 5 That, is the <HI>treading of the Winepre&s;s,</HI> Rev. 19.15. So this, ver&s;. 13. <HI>the pre&s;s is full, the fats overflow.</HI> But is here a <HI>Per&s;onal coming?</HI> yea, ver&s;. 16. <HI>The Lord &s;hall roar out of Sion, and utter his voyce from Jeru&s;alem, and the heavens and the earth &s;hal &s;hake,</HI> agreeing to tha<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> <HI>Hag.</HI> 2.6, 7. (of which pre&s;ently) v. 17. <HI>So &s;hall ye know that I am the Lord your God, dwelling in Sion my holy Moun|tain;</HI> agreeing to that, <HI>Rev.</HI> 21.3. <HI>Behold the Ta|bernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them.</HI></P>
<P>So <HI>Hag</HI> 2.6, 7. <HI>I will &s;hake the heavens and the earth, and the Sea, and the dry land. And I will &s;hake all Nations, and the de&s;ire of all Nations &s;hall come.</HI> This being the &s;ame with the other of <HI>Joel,</HI> can relate to no other <HI>time,</HI> than the battel of <HI>Armageddon.</HI> Now the <HI>coming</HI> here &s;poken of is not <HI>&s;piritual,</HI> for the Pro|phets of the Old Te&s;tament having an eye upon Chri&s;t as yet <HI>to come,</HI> do mo&s;tly, if not ever when they &s;peak of his <HI>coming,</HI> intend &s;uch a <HI>coming</HI> of the Me&s;&s;iah, as they <HI>expected</HI> and waited for, which was <HI>Per&s;onal.</HI> Nei|ther can this <HI>coming</HI> be his <HI>fir&s;t coming,</HI> which was in a time of great <HI>peace,</HI> not of <HI>&s;haking</HI> Heaven, Earth, all Nations, as this is; then was Chri&s;t the de&s;ire of the <HI>Jews</HI> only, becau&s;e known only to them; but at this <HI>coming</HI> he is the <HI>de&s;ire of all Nations,</HI> to which let me adde, the Apo&s;tle &s;peaks of this as a thing to be fulfilled, <HI>Heb.</HI> 12.26, 27. Nor can the words look to the <HI>la&s;t</HI> and <HI>General Judgement,</HI> as if this <HI>coming</HI> were not till then, becau&s;e after this <HI>coming</HI> Gods <HI>Hou&s;e</HI> here <HI>below</HI> is to bee <HI>built,</HI> and <HI>God will give peace in this place, i.e.</HI> either largely taken for the <HI>Earth,</HI> or &s;trictly, for <HI>Jeru&s;alem;</HI> and hard it will be to prove either of the&s;e things, at, or after the General Judgement.</P>
<PB N="86" REF="100">
<P>This <HI>coming</HI> therefore mu&s;t be that in the Text, <HI>I come as a Theef,</HI> both agreeing in time; and this being <HI>per&s;o|nal,</HI> that mu&s;t al&s;o, The like to this we have with much clearne&s;s, ver&s;. 21, 22, 23.</P>
<P>Yet further, this is clear, <HI>Zech.</HI> 14.3 4, 5. which place by all circum&s;tances, the combination being general of <HI>all Nations,</HI> ver. 2. the <HI>time,</HI> about the time of the <HI>Jews di&s;covery,</HI> &amp;c. mu&s;t needs be <HI>the &s;ame</HI> with the <HI>battel of Armageddon.</HI> Now would you &s;ee a <HI>coming</HI> here, read ver. 3. <HI>Then &s;hall the Lord go forth and fight again&s;t tho&s;e Nations.</HI> Ver&s;. 4. <HI>And his feet &s;hall &s;tand in that day on the mount of Olives.</HI> Mount <HI>Olives</HI> was the place whence Chri&s;t rode as King into <HI>Jeru&s;alem, Mat.</HI> 21.1, 2, 3. The place where Chri&s;t preached the mo&s;t re|markable Sermon of his <HI>coming, Mat.</HI> 24.3. the place whence Chri&s;t a&s;cended, <HI>Act.</HI> 1.9.10.11, 12. and probably at his de|&s;cending &s;hall come thither again. But perhaps this <HI>coming</HI> is not <HI>per&s;onal.</HI> Yes, ver. 5, <HI>The Lord my God &s;hall come, and all the Saints with thee,</HI> agreeing to that, 1 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 3.13. <HI>At the coming of the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t with all his Saints,</HI> which <HI>coming</HI> none deny to be his <HI>per&s;onal coming.</HI></P>
<P>One place more, and I conclude this Argument, and that is, <HI>Rev.</HI> 19.19 20, 21. which that it is the &s;ame with the <HI>battel</HI> of <HI>Armageddon</HI> appears,</P>
<P N="1">1 In that the <HI>parties</HI> are the &s;ame, the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> the <HI>fal&s;e Prophet,</HI> and the <HI>Kings of the Earth</HI> being parties in both.</P>
<P N="2">2 The <HI>time</HI> is the <HI>&s;ame,</HI> for this in the <HI>Vials</HI> hath two no|table things going before it, 1 The <HI>ruin</HI> of the City <HI>Rome,</HI> under the <HI>fifth Vial.</HI> 2. The <HI>coming</HI> in of the Jews, who are &s;poken of in the <HI>&s;ixth Vial;</HI> Accordingly that in chap. 19, hath preceding, Fir&s;t, <HI>Romes ruin,</HI> chap. 18. Secondly, The <HI>Marriage of the Lamb to his Bride,</HI> including in it the Jews conver&s;ion, chap. 19.7, 8.</P>
<P N="3">3 The <HI>Expre&s;&s;ions</HI> argue them to be the &s;ame, for one
<PB N="87" REF="100">is called, <HI>That great day of God Almighty,</HI> ver&s;. 14. the other, <HI>The Supper of the Great God,</HI> chap. 19.17. In the one they are gathered to <HI>Armageddon,</HI> a place of <HI>de|&s;truction,</HI> ver&s;. 16. In the other the rout gathered together are <HI>&s;lain with the &s;word of him that &s;its upon the hor&s;e,</HI> that is, <HI>Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Object.</HI> But how doth it appear that here is a <HI>Per&s;onal coming</HI> &s;poken of?</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> 1. Chri&s;t <HI>comes</HI> as a <HI>Bridegroom,</HI> ver&s;. 7, 8 9. Now Chri&s;ts <HI>coming</HI> as a <HI>Bridegroom</HI> is <HI>his Per&s;onal coming,</HI> Mat. 25.6, 10. <HI>Behold the Bridegroom cometh, go yee forth to meet him.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2 He is called the <HI>Word of God,</HI> ver&s;. 13. The mo&s;t glorious Title of all, by which the <HI>per&s;on</HI> of Chri&s;t is ex|pre&s;&s;ed, <HI>John</HI> 1.1. <HI>In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God;</HI> yea, the <HI>per&s;on of Chri&s;t,</HI> as con&s;idered in <HI>both Natures,</HI> goes under this title, ver. 14. <HI>The Word was made fle&s;h, and dwelt among us,</HI> 1 Joh. 1.1. <HI>That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have &s;een with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the Word of Life.</HI> It is Chri&s;t as <HI>per&s;o|nally</HI> pre&s;ent, that is the object of the outward Sen&s;es, <HI>Hearing, Seeing, Handling,</HI> yet Chri&s;t as the <HI>Word</HI> was &s;een, heard, touched by <HI>John.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3 He is <HI>cloathed</HI> with a <HI>Ve&s;ture</HI> dipped in blood, v. 13. he <HI>treads</HI> the <HI>Wine-pre&s;s</HI> of the <HI>fiercene&s;s</HI> and <HI>wrath</HI> of <HI>Almighty God,</HI> ver. 15. the &s;ame with that <HI>I&s;a</HI> 63.2, 3. (of which anon.) By the&s;e, the other <HI>expre&s;&s;ions</HI> of <HI>fit|ting upon a white hor&s;e, judging and making War,</HI> ver&s;. 11. having <HI>eyes as a flame of fire,</HI> many <HI>Crowns on his head,</HI> ver. 12. (an&s;wering to that chap. 11.15. <HI>The Kingdoms of this world are become the Kingdoms of the Lord&mdash;) the Armies of Heaven following him,</HI> ver. 14. <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">uling the Nations with a rod of iron</HI> (an&s;wering to
<PB N="88" REF="101"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 2.9.) the <HI>&s;harp &s;word going out of his mouth,</HI> ver&s;. 15. the <HI>name</HI> on his Ve&s;ture and Thigh, <HI>King of Kings, and Lord of Lords,</HI> ver. 16. Which of them&s;elves look this way, will more clearly appear to be &s;poken of Chri&s;t, as <HI>per&s;onally coming;</HI> yet becau&s;e Chri&s;ts <HI>per|&s;onal coming</HI> at this time would hardly be received for a truth, it is (as I conceive) therefore added ver. 9 <HI>The&s;e are the true &s;ayings of God.</HI></P>
<P>The conclu&s;ion then of all is this, <HI>Chri&s;t &s;hall per&s;onal|ly appear at the battel of Armageddon. That battel for time exactly agrees with the Text, therefore the com|ing here spoken of, Behold I come as a Theef, is a per|&s;onal coming,</HI></P>
<P N="2">2 ARGUMENT, <HI>Chri&s;t &s;hall per&s;onally appear at the time of the Kingdoms re&s;toring to</HI> I&s;rael. But that &s;hall be about this time. The minor Propo&s;ition I have proved before, in &s;hewing that the <HI>coming</HI> in of the <HI>Jews</HI> mu&s;t of nece&s;&s;ity be betwixt the &s;ixt and &s;eventh Vials. The major, That Chri&s;t at this time &s;hall appear, I prove,</P>
<P N="1">1 From that of <HI>Paul, Rom.</HI> 11.26, 27. where the A|po&s;tle &s;peaking of the <HI>Jews conver&s;ion,</HI> mentions a coming of Chri&s;t, <HI>The deliverer &s;halcome out of Sion.</HI> Which words are to be taken in a <HI>litteral</HI> and <HI>&s;piritual</HI> &s;ence both, (as are many Scriptures el&s;e) as appears from <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 59.20. whence they are quoted, where to evidence the <HI>&s;piritual</HI> &s;ence of them, the Prophet &s;aith expre&s;ly in the next ver&s;e, <HI>My Spirit that is upon thee &s;hall not depart out of thy mouth, nor but of the mouth of thy &s;eed, &amp;c.</HI> noting, that as their <HI>&s;ins</HI> &s;hall be pardoned, &s;o al&s;o more of the <HI>Spirit</HI> &s;hall be given forth upon the <HI>Jews conver&s;ion</HI> than ever formerly (which more fully we have, <HI>Joel</HI> 2.28, 29. <HI>Zech.</HI> 12.10.) and this is the <HI>coming of the Deliverer</HI> to them in the <HI>spiritual</HI> &s;ence. Yet that be&s;ides this there is <HI>a litteral coming</HI> in the&s;e words, appears, if you compare the foregoing ver&s;es 16, 17, 18. (upon which the&s;e have a
<PB N="89" REF="101">dependance) with the very &s;ame expre&s;&s;ions almo&s;t, only a little more full, <HI>chap.</HI> 63.1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. where al&s;o (as here) mention is made of a <HI>coming.</HI> Ver. 1. <HI>Who is this that com|eth from Edom?</HI> which cannot be a <HI>spiritual coming, i.e.</HI> a de&s;troying of his Enemies by a glorious manife&s;tation of him&s;elf, and his power, with, and among&s;t his people, becau&s;e then the doing of the work &s;hould be by in&s;tru|ments; whereas Chri&s;ts arm alone, without any in&s;tru|ment doth this work, as ver&s;e 3. <HI>I have trodden the Wine-pre&s;s alone, and of the people there was none with me.</HI> Ver&s;. 5. <HI>I looked, and there was none to help, and I won|dered that there was none to uphold; therefore my own Arm brought &s;alvation to me, and my fury it upheld me.</HI> Neither could the litteral meaning of the words have their fulfilling in his <HI>fir&s;t coming,</HI> in which he was not <HI>glo|rious</HI> in his apparrel, but without <HI>form</HI> and <HI>comeline&s;s, Chap.</HI> 53.2. neither was that a day of <HI>vengeance</HI> to tread down the people in anger, as this is Ver&s;. 4, 6. This <HI>comming</HI> therefore mu&s;t be &s;ome other, and is in|deed that we &s;pake of but now, <HI>Rev.</HI> 19. where we have Chri&s;t coming forth upon a <HI>white hor&s;e,</HI> as will appear by comparing Ver&s;. 3. <HI>I have trodden the Wine-pre&s;s a|lone, and of the people there was none with me; for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fu|ry, and their blood &s;hall be sprinkled upon my Gar|ments, and I will &s;tain all my raiment;</HI> and that with <HI>Rev.</HI> 19.13. <HI>He was cloathed with a ve&s;ture dipped in blood.</HI> Ver&s;. 15. <HI>And he treadeth the Wine-pre&s;s of the fiercene&s;s and wrath of Almighty God.</HI> And this <HI>com|ing</HI> I proved but now by the circum&s;tances of the Text, is, and mu&s;t be the &s;ame with that I am opening, <HI>Behold I come as a Theef.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2 This appears <HI>Ezek.</HI> 37.24, 25. where &s;peaking of the <HI>Jews re&s;tauration,</HI> and the <HI>Kingdom</HI> they &s;hall have thereupon, and this too with a <HI>principal relation</HI> to the la&s;t
<PB N="90" REF="102">daies, (for the Chapter &s;peaks of that time in which the <HI>&s;ticks of Judah and Ephraim &s;hall be one &s;tick,</HI> Ver&s;. 19. (<HI>i.e.</HI> The two Tribes, and ten Tribes, one people) &s;hall have one King, and that too in their own Land, up|on the <HI>Mountains of I&s;rael,</HI> which never yet hath been &s;ince the rent in the daies of <HI>Rehoboam</HI>) it is &s;aid Ver&s;. 24. <HI>My &s;ervant David &s;hall be King over them.</HI> Now <HI>David</HI> was not a Type of Chri&s;t, as King, in a <HI>spiritual</HI> &s;en&s;e, &s;o much as in a <HI>vi&s;ible way,</HI> &s;itting upon an <HI>outward</HI> and <HI>vi&s;ible</HI> Throne; if therefore a <HI>spiritual</HI> reign onely were here intended, the <HI>Antitype</HI> &s;hould not an&s;wer the <HI>Type,</HI> Ver&s;. 27. <HI>My Tabernacle al&s;o &s;hall be with them; yea, I will be their God, and they &s;hall be my people,</HI> which is expounded, Rev. 21.3. <HI>Behold the Tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they &s;hall be his people, and God him&s;elf &s;hall be with them, and be their God;</HI> &s;hewing, that the&s;e words have a <HI>&s;pe|cial relation</HI> to the time of the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem,</HI> when Chri&s;t (as he hath already his Prophetical and Prie&s;t|ly Offices) &s;hall vi&s;ibly and <HI>Per&s;onally</HI> execute his Kingly Office.</P>
<P N="3">3 This appears farther <HI>Act.</HI> 1.6. from the Que&s;tion propounded to Chri&s;t by his Di&s;ciples, <HI>Wilt thou at this time re&s;tore again the Kingdom to I&s;rael?</HI> In which Que&s;tion three things are taken for granted by the Que|ri&s;ts; As, 1. That the <HI>Nation</HI> of the <HI>Jews</HI> &s;hould one day be re&s;tored, and have a <HI>Kingdom.</HI> 2 That this <HI>Re|&s;tauration</HI> &s;hould be <HI>wrought by Chri&s;t. Wilt thou?</HI> 3 That it &s;hould be <HI>wrought</HI> by him in an outward vi&s;ible way; for &s;uch a way is by them &s;uppo&s;ed as Chri&s;t did at that time appear to them in, which was an outward way, with his bodily pre&s;ence. The&s;e three things by them be|leeved, are ground for a fourth, which is the thing they que&s;tion, namely, the time when this &s;hould be, <HI>Wilt thou at this time?</HI> Now ob&s;erve it, the grounds of this
<PB N="91" REF="102">que&s;tion, which includes the &s;ub&s;tance of what is pleaded for, <HI>viz. That the Kingdom &s;hould be re&s;tored to I&s;rael, and that by Chri&s;ts per&s;onal appearance,</HI> are neither of them denied by Chri&s;t, who undoubtedly had their que|&s;tion been grounded upon a mi&s;take, would, yea, it had be|hoved him to have &s;hewn them their error, only their gree|dine&s;s of a Kingdom at pre&s;ent, whil&s;t he had other work for them to do fir&s;t, is the thing reproved. Nay let me &s;ay, Chri&s;t doth in a manner affirm, all their &s;uppo&s;itions, in &s;aying, <HI>It is not for you to know the times and &s;ea|&s;ons,</HI> as to &s;ay, <HI>true, I&s;rael</HI> &s;hall have a Kingdom re&s;to|red, I am to do it, and that as you now conceive <HI>per&s;o|nally</HI> appearing; onely it is <HI>not for you</HI> at pre&s;ent to <HI>know</HI> the time.</P>
<P>And this will more clearly appear if we carry the&s;e words to <HI>Act.</HI> 3.21. where we have that &s;et forth by the word <HI>Re&s;titution,</HI> which here is called a <HI>Re&s;toring. Whom the Heavens mu&s;t receive untill the times of re|&s;titution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy Prophets &s;ince the world began;</HI> yet with this difference, <HI>Act.</HI> 1. &s;peaks of the Kingdom in refer|ence to <HI>I&s;rael</HI> onely, who &s;hall be chief in it, Mich. 4.8. <HI>Thou, O Tower of the Flock, the &s;trong hold of the Daughter of Sion, unto thee &s;hall it come, even the fir&s;t Dominion, the Kingdom &s;hall come to the Daughter of Jeru&s;alem,</HI> but <HI>Acts</HI> 3. in reference to the <HI>whole Crea|tion,</HI> which in the day the Kingdom &s;hall be re&s;tored to <HI>I&s;|rael,</HI> &s;hall al&s;o have a <HI>Re&s;titution,</HI> which is expre&s;&s;ed, <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.19, 20, 21, 22.</P>
<P>Now in the&s;e words we have a <HI>coming</HI> clearly di&s;cove|red, <HI>he &s;hall &s;end Je&s;us which before was preached unto you, whom the Heavens mu&s;t receive;</HI> Which that it is <HI>Per&s;onal,</HI> and not <HI>Spiritual</HI> onely, is clear, becau&s;e &s;uch as the <HI>receiving</HI> of Chri&s;t in the Heavens at the time when the&s;e things were &s;pokrn, was, and hath been &s;ince, &s;uch
<PB N="92" REF="103">&s;hall his <HI>coming</HI> at this day be; but the <HI>receiving</HI> of Chri&s;t in the Heavens then, and &s;ince, cannot be under|&s;tood in a <HI>spiritual</HI> way, becau&s;e in that &s;en&s;e he had &s;aid before, <HI>Lo I am with you to the end of the world,</HI> Mat. 28.20. but mu&s;t be in re&s;pect of his <HI>Per&s;onal</HI> and <HI>Cor|poral</HI> pre&s;ence; therefore &s;uch &s;hall his <HI>pre&s;ence</HI> (Ver&s;e 19.) be with his people at this time, <HI>viz Per&s;onal</HI> and <HI>Corporal.</HI></P>
<P>Now that this <HI>time</HI> of <HI>the re&s;titution of all things</HI> &s;hould be the <HI>Day</HI> of the <HI>General Judgement</HI> (which hath been the common opinion) I cannot incline to, for the&s;e Rea&s;ons.</P>
<P N="1">1 Becau&s;e I find not the General Judgement &s;poken of in the plural number, as <HI>times, daies,</HI> as this is; <HI>the times of refre&s;hing,</HI> ver&s;. 19. <HI>times of re&s;titution,</HI> ver&s;. 21. <HI>the&s;e daies,</HI> ver&s;. 24.</P>
<P N="2">2 Becau&s;e this is &s;uch a time as all the Prophets have &s;poken of, <HI>Which God hath &s;poken of by the mouth of all bis holy Prophets.</HI> Now not <HI>all;</HI> Nay, hardly <HI>any</HI> have &s;poken <HI>expre&s;ly</HI> of the <HI>General Judgement;</HI> but of the <HI>time</HI> of Chri&s;ts <HI>Kingdom, all</HI> have &s;poken, as will ap|pear to him that &s;hall but take a view of the Prophets &s;e|verally; in doing which, though we might begin with <HI>E|noch,</HI> the &s;eventh from <HI>Adam,</HI> who according to <HI>Jude,</HI> Ver&s;. 14. prophe&s;ied of <HI>Chri&s;ts coming</HI> and Kingdom; and after him <HI>Jacob</HI> in his <HI>ble&s;&s;ing</HI> of <HI>Judah, Gen.</HI> 49.9, 10. and <HI>Balaam</HI> afterward (though a wicked man, yet a Prophet) <HI>Numb.</HI> 24.17, 18, 19. Yet I rather choo&s;e to begin after <HI>Samuels</HI> daies, for there the <HI>Holy Gho&s;t</HI> &s;eems to point out our beginning, Ver&s;. 24. yea, and all the Prophets from <HI>Samuel,</HI> have likewi&s;e foretold of the&s;e daies. Now beginning from <HI>Samuel</HI> (&s;etting <HI>Jonah</HI> a|&s;ide, which is but a Hi&s;tory) not one but have &s;poken of the&s;e times; as to give in&s;tance,</P>
<P><HI>David</HI> did it, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 62. The whole <HI>P&s;alm</HI> is a Prophe|cie
<PB N="93" REF="103">of <HI>Chri&s;ts Kingdom,</HI> and not <HI>Solomons</HI> any otherwi&s;e than in the Type, as is clear, 1. From the <HI>continuance</HI> of this <HI>Kingdom,</HI> ver&s;. 7. <HI>as long as the Moon indureth.</HI> 2. The <HI>extent</HI> of it, ver&s;. 8. <HI>From Sea to Sea, from the Rivers to the ends of the Earth.</HI> 3. The <HI>Subjects</HI> of it, <HI>all Kings,</HI> and <HI>all Nations,</HI> ver&s;. 11. neither of which ei|ther did, or could agree to <HI>Solomons</HI> Kingdom, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 102.16. <HI>When the Lord &s;hall build up Sion, he (i.e.</HI> Chri&s;t) <HI>&s;hall appear in his glory.</HI> And that the fulfilling of this relates to the la&s;t times is evident, Ver&s;. 18. <HI>This &s;hall be written for the Generation to come, when</HI> (as ver&s;e 22.) <HI>the people are gathered together, and the Kingdoms to &s;erve the Lord.</HI></P>
<P><HI>I&s;aiah</HI> likewi&s;e Chap. 2.2, 3, 4. <HI>It &s;hall come to pa&s;s in the la&s;t dayes, the mountain of the Lords hou&s;e &s;hall be e&s;tabli&s;hed in the top of the mountains, and &s;hall be exalted above the Hills, and all Nations &s;hall flow un|to it. And he</HI> (<HI>i.e.</HI> Chri&s;t) <HI>&s;hall judge among the Na|tions, and rebuke many people.</HI> Chap. 9.7. <HI>Of the in|crea&s;e of his Government and peace there &s;hall be no end, upon the Throne of</HI> David, <HI>and upon his Kingdom</HI> (who&s;e Throne and Kingdom was outward) <HI>to order it, and e&s;tabli&s;h it with Judgement and Ju&s;tice.</HI> Chap. 32.1, 2. <HI>Behold a King &s;hall reign in Righteou&s;ne&s;s, and Princes &s;hall rule in Judgement.</HI> (Chri&s;t and his Saints reigning together) <HI>And a man</HI> (noting a corporal pre&s;ence as well as &s;piritual at this day) <HI>&s;hall be a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempe&s;t.</HI> Chap. 35.4. <HI>Your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence, he will come and &s;ave you.</HI> The whole Chapter &s;peaks of Chri&s;ts Kingdom, and the coming here agrees to that, chap. 63.1, 2. <HI>&amp;c.</HI> which I have proved to be <HI>Per&s;onal.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Jeremiah</HI> al&s;o, who throughout chap. 30, 31, 32, 33. treats of <HI>Chri&s;ts Kingdom,</HI> and that too in the <HI>la&s;t days</HI>
<PB N="94" REF="104">(when <HI>Ephraim,</HI> Head of the Ten Tribes, never ga|thered as yet &s;ince their Captivity) &s;hall come in.</P>
<P><HI>Ezekiel</HI> Chap. 34 11. to the end. Chap. 37. through|out.</P>
<P>So <HI>Daniel,</HI> Chap. 2 44.45. <HI>In the dayes of the&s;e Kings &s;hall the God of Heaven &s;et up a Kingdome, which &s;hall never be de&s;troyed; and the Kingdome &s;hall not be left to other people, but it &s;hall break in peeces and con&s;ume all the&s;e Kingdomes, and it &s;hall &s;tand for ever.</HI> This Kingdome mu&s;t bee <HI>outward,</HI> becau&s;e it <HI>breaks in peeces</HI> the four Monarchies, which were <HI>out|ward,</HI> and takes the place of them, and it is improper to &s;ay a meer <HI>Spiritual</HI> Kingdome can take place of an <HI>outward,</HI> and why as the four former Monarchies, had alwayes &s;ome vi&s;ible Head, the &s;ame &s;hould not be in this fifth, I &s;ee no rea&s;on, Chap. 7.27. <HI>And the Kingdome and Dominion, and the greatne&s;s of the Kingdome un|der the whole Heaven, &s;hall be given to the people of the Saints of the mo&s;t High, who&s;e Kingdome is an ever|la&s;ting Kingdome, and all Dominions &s;hall &s;erve and obey him, i.e.</HI> Chri&s;t, who in this Kingdome &s;hall rule as Head, and the Saints under him. And this Kingdome mu&s;t be <HI>outward,</HI> for the Kingdome of the <HI>little Horn,</HI> which was an <HI>outward</HI> Kingdome, is the Kingdome here <HI>given</HI> to the Saints, that Chri&s;t and his Saints rule in.</P>
<P>So <HI>Ho&s;ea,</HI> Chap. 1.10, 11. Chap. 3, 4, 5. both places agreeing punctually to that of <HI>Ezek.</HI> 37. which I have opened. <HI>Joel,</HI> Chap. 2.28. to the end, Chap. 3. opened al&s;o before. <HI>Amos</HI> Chap. 9.11. to the end. <HI>Obadiah</HI> ver&s;. 21. <HI>And Saviours &s;hall come upon mount Sion, and &s;hall judge the mount of E&s;au, and the Kingdome &s;hall be the Lords.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Micha,</HI> Chap. 4.6, 7. <HI>In that day will I a&s;&s;emble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out,
<PB N="95" REF="104">and her that I have afflicted. And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was ca&s;t off a &s;trong Nation, and the Lord &s;hall reign over them in mount Sion, from henceforth even for ever.</HI> Chap. 5.4. <HI>And he</HI> (<HI>i.e.</HI> Chri&s;t, as ver&s;. 2.) <HI>&s;hall &s;tand and feed in the &s;trength of the Lord, in the Maje&s;ty of the Name of the Lord his God, and they &s;hall abide, for now &s;hall he be great unto the ends of the earth,</HI> ver&s;. 5. <HI>And this man &s;hall be the peace</HI> (it is proper to Chri&s;t alone to be called the Peace) <HI>when the A&s;&s;yrian &s;hall come into our land, and &s;hall tread in his Palaces. Nahum,</HI> Chap. 1.15. <HI>Behold upon the Mountain the feet of him that bringeth good tydings, that publi&s;heth peace. O Judah keep thy &s;olemn Fea&s;t, perform thy vows; for the wicked &s;hall no more pa&s;s through thee, he is utterly cut off,</HI> explained, <HI>Zech.</HI> 14.4. <HI>His feet &s;hall &s;tand in that day upon the mount of Olives,</HI> ver&s;. 21. <HI>And in that day there &s;hall be no more Canaanite,</HI> i.e. <HI>the hou&s;e of the Lord of Ho&s;ts. Habakkuk,</HI> Chap. 2.14. <HI>For the Earth &s;hall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the Sea.</HI> To what time this relates, &s;ee by comparing with <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 11.9. where wee have the &s;ame words. <HI>Zephaniah,</HI> Chap. 3.8. to the end. <HI>Haggai,</HI> Chap. 2.6, 7, 21, 22, 23. before opened. <HI>Zechariah,</HI> Chap. 6.12.13. <HI>Thus &s;peaketh the Lord of Ho&s;ts, &s;aying, Behold the Man who&s;e name is the Branch, and he &s;hall grow up out of his place, and he &s;hall build the Temple of the Lord, Even he &s;hall build the Temple of the Lord, and he &s;hall bear the glory, and &s;hall &s;it, and rule upon his Throne, and he &s;hall be a Prie&s;t upon his Throne.</HI> This Prophecie relates to <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> who is the <HI>Branch,</HI> who is to bear the <HI>glory,</HI> and not any creature, yea, who, and no other is <HI>King</HI> and <HI>Prie&s;t</HI> both, upon his <HI>Throne.</HI> Chap. 9.9. <HI>Rejoyce great|ly, O Daughter of Sion, &s;hout, O Daughter of Je|ru&s;alem;
<PB N="96" REF="105">Behold thy King cometh unto thee, he is ju&s;t, and having &s;alvation, lowly, and riding upon an A&s;&s;e, and upon a Colt the foal of an A&s;&s;e. And I will cut off the Chariot from Ephraim, and the hor&s;e from Jeru|&s;alem, and the battel bow &s;hall be cut off, and he &s;hall &s;peak peace unto the heathen, and his Dominion &s;hall bee from Sea even to Sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.</HI> Which latter words are an evidence the Pro|phecie is yet to be fulfilled; and this <HI>coming</HI> of Chri&s;t as a <HI>King,</HI> is the &s;ame, which (as under a type) was repre|&s;ented by Chri&s;ts riding into <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> Mat. 21.4, 5. and that was in a <HI>Per&s;onal</HI> way.</P>
<P>There is but one Prophet more, and that is <HI>Malachy,</HI> who al&s;o &s;peaks of this, Chap. 3.2. <HI>Who may abide the day of his coming? and who &s;hall &s;tand when he ap|peareth? for he is like a Refiners fire, and like Fullers &s;ope,</HI> Chap. 4.1, 2 3. <HI>Behold the day cometh that &s;hall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea and all that do wickedly &s;hall be as &s;tuble; and the day that cometh &s;hall burn them up, that it &s;hall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my Name, &s;hall the Sun of righteou&s;ne&s;s ari&s;e.</HI></P>
<P>Thus I have lead you through all the <HI>Prophets,</HI> na|ming but a few Texts out of each (more e&s;pecially the <HI>P&s;alms, I&s;aiah,</HI> and <HI>Zechary,</HI> which every where are full of this) in&s;tead of many that might be, &s;hewing you what a <HI>harmony</HI> there is among&s;t them all, as to the <HI>time</HI> of <HI>Chri&s;ts Kingdome;</HI> which if any one can &s;hew &s;o full a <HI>harmony</HI> as to that of the <HI>General Judgement,</HI> I &s;hall for time to come lay by this Scripture, as not of weight to prove the thing in hand; but till this is done, I &s;hall hold my own conclu&s;ion, <HI>viz. That the time of the Re&s;titution of all things, when Chri&s;t is Per&s;onally to appear, being that which all the Prophets have &s;poken of, is not the General Judgement,</HI> (which few or none
<PB N="97" REF="105">have &s;poken of) <HI>but the time of re&s;toring the King|dome of I&s;rael,</HI> that being the thing that all the Prophets are full of, having treated of no one Subject more, nay not half &s;o much.</P>
<P>And indeed the 20. ver&s;e &s;uits this Interpretation well, <HI>And he &s;hall &s;end Je&s;us which before was preached unto you;</HI> the latter words <HI>unto you,</HI> having reference as well to <HI>&s;ending</HI> as <HI>preaching,</HI> and the meaning is, <HI>That Chri&s;t &s;hall at this time as verily be &s;ent of the Father to the Jews, as then he was preached to them by Peter,</HI> and therefore <HI>Tremelius</HI> in his Tran&s;lation out of the <HI>Syriack,</HI> reads the <HI>(Vobis) to you,</HI> twice, after either Verb.</P>
<P>The Argument then lyes thus, <HI>If that Chri&s;t &s;hall per&s;o|nally appear at the time of the Kingdoms re&s;toring to I&s;|rael</HI> (as hath been at large proved) <HI>and if this &s;hal be in the Interval of time betwixt the &s;ixth and &s;eventh Vials,</HI> (as al&s;o hath been formerly proved) <HI>then doth it follow, that Chri&s;ts per&s;onal appearance or coming &s;hall be be|twixt the &s;ixth and &s;eventh Vials; and &s;o is the very coming here &s;poken of:</HI> Behold I come as a Thief.</P>
<P>Two Arguments more to prove our Po&s;ition, are in the words them&s;elves, which are,</P>
<P N="3">3 ARGUMENT. <HI>The phra&s;e of coming as a Thief, is mo&s;t frequently u&s;ed in Scripture to expre&s;s Chri&s;ts per&s;onal coming,</HI> which therefore is the <HI>coming</HI> here intended, 1 The&s;&s;. 5.2. <HI>For your &s;elves know per|fectly that the day of the Lord &s;o cometh as a Thief in the night.</HI> 2 Pet. 3.10. <HI>But the day of the Lord will come as a Thief in the night, in which the heavens &s;hall pa&s;s away with a great noy&s;e.</HI> So <HI>Mat.</HI> 24.42, 43, 44. <HI>Luk.</HI> 12 39, 40.</P>
<P N="4">4 ARGUMENT. <HI>The duty here &s;poken of, to which a &s;pecial ble&s;&s;ing is annexed, is that very duty which beleevers are with much earne&s;tne&s;s exhorted
<PB N="98" REF="106">unto, when&s;oever Chri&s;ts per&s;onal coming is &s;poken of,</HI> Mat. 24.42. <HI>Watch therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come,</HI> Chap. 25.13. So <HI>Mark.</HI> 13.32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37. 1 <HI>The&s;&s;.</HI> 5.2. compared with 6. all which places &s;peak of no other <HI>coming</HI> but his <HI>Per|&s;onal.</HI></P>
<P>Yea the <HI>ble&s;&s;ing</HI> annexed to this <HI>duty</HI> of <HI>watchful|ne&s;s</HI> we do not read of but thrice more in all the Scripture, and that is ever in &s;uch places where mention is made of his <HI>per&s;onal coming,</HI> Luke 12.37, 38. we have the ble&s;|&s;ing twice pronounced, <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed are tho&s;e &s;ervants, whom the Lord when he cometh, &s;hall find watching. And if he come in the &s;econd watch, or in the third watch, and find them &s;o, ble&s;&s;ed are tho&s;e &s;ervants,</HI> Mat. 14.46. <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed is that &s;ervant whom the Lord when hee cometh &s;hall finde &s;o doing;</HI> what <HI>doing?</HI> why, <HI>watching,</HI> and being <HI>ready again&s;t his coming,</HI> as ver&s;. 42.44.</P>
<P>The&s;e two la&s;t Arguments taken from the words, I mu&s;t confe&s;s, do not of them&s;elves conclude the thing, becau&s;e the &s;ame expre&s;&s;ion of <HI>coming as a Thief,</HI> with the duty of <HI>watching</HI> annexed thereto, I find once u&s;ed in a <HI>&s;piri|tual</HI> &s;en&s;e, and that in Chri&s;ts admonition to the Church of <HI>Sardis,</HI> Chap. 3.2, 3. Yet con&s;idering that is but once, and the other &s;en&s;e frequent, there is hardly room left (could nothing el&s;e be &s;aid) for an indifferency in the the thing, whether the coming here be <HI>&s;piritual</HI> or <HI>per&s;o|nal,</HI> &s;o as that we may take or leave; but now, when to|gether with the&s;e the weight of the foregoing Arguments and Scriptures &s;hall be put in the <HI>ballance,</HI> it will then appear that there is not only a <HI>probability,</HI> but a <HI>conclu|ding &s;trength</HI> in the&s;e al&s;o.</P>
<P>Before I leave the thing, I &s;hall adde yet further two <HI>Arguments</HI> more, tending not &s;o much to prove the <HI>Per|&s;onal ceming</HI> of Chri&s;t to be here meant, as in the <HI>general</HI> that the &s;ame is very neer, and therefore
<PB N="99" REF="106">mo&s;t likely to be the coming here &s;poken of.</P>
<P N="1">1 Becau&s;e the Apo&s;tle tells us, 2 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 2.8. <HI>That the man of &s;in is to be con&s;umed with the breath of his mouth, and de&s;troyed with the brightne&s;s of his com|ing,</HI> which <HI>coming,</HI> can be no other than his <HI>Per&s;onal coming;</HI> becau&s;e it was that <HI>coming</HI> the Apo&s;tle had been &s;peaking of Ver&s;. 1, 2. about which the <HI>The&s;&s;alonians</HI> were <HI>&s;haken in mind, and troubled,</HI> as conceiving it to be at hand (po&s;&s;ibly from what the Apo&s;tle had written in his fir&s;t Epi&s;tle, chap. 4.15, 16, 17. (whence it might be infer|red, as if that pre&s;ent Generation &s;hould live to &s;ee that day) and therefore he &s;aith, <HI>Not by word, nor letter as from us,</HI> Ver&s;e 1.) which <HI>trouble</HI> the Apo&s;tle endeavors to remove, by telling them that the <HI>man of Sin who was to be de&s;troyed with the brightne&s;s of this coming was not as yet revealed,</HI> and that therefore this <HI>coming,</HI> which they were in doubt about, could not be &s;udden.</P>
<P>Now ob&s;erve, do we already &s;ee the fir&s;t, <HI>viz.</HI> The Man of Sin in a con&s;umption, by the breath of Chri&s;ts mouth, <HI>i. e.</HI> the preaching of the Go&s;pel? then may we conclude the &s;econd, <HI>viz.</HI> his final de&s;truction, which &s;hall be by the brightne&s;s of Chri&s;ts coming, or appearing, can|not be far off; and therefore it is more con&s;onant to the A|po&s;tles meaning, to look for, and expect this coming here, betwixt the &s;ixt and &s;eventh Vials, (where a <HI>Per&s;onal coming</HI> is hinted) which time is near to us, than not to expect the &s;ame till the General Judgement, which (as &s;hall appear hereafter) is from us a thou&s;and years at lea&s;t, how much more I know not; and &s;urely, Antichri&s;ts con|tinuance &s;hall not be &s;o long.</P>
<P N="2">2 Becau&s;e <HI>Peter</HI> tells us expre&s;ly, that Chri&s;ts <HI>Per&s;o|nal coming</HI> &s;hall be before the New Heavens, and Earth, 2 Epi&s;t. 3.10, 11, 12. <HI>But the day of the Lord will come as a theef in the night, in the which the Heavens &s;hall pa&s;s away with a great noy&s;e, and the Elements &s;hall
<PB N="100" REF="107">melt with fervent heat, the Earth al&s;o, and the works that are therein &s;hall be burnt up.</HI> None that ever I mes with denies this to be his <HI>Per&s;onal coming;</HI> yet after|wards, and that too as a <HI>fruit</HI> of this <HI>coming,</HI> which therefore <HI>Peter</HI> brings in with a <HI>neverthele&s;s,</HI> as having reference to the <HI>Heavens</HI> and <HI>Earth</HI> before <HI>di&s;&s;olved,</HI> comes in the promi&s;e of the New Heavens and Earth, ver&s;e 13. <HI>Neverthele&s;s, we according to his promi&s;e</HI> (&s;eem|ing to have his eye upon tho&s;e very New Heavens and Earth promi&s;ed, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 65.66.) <HI>look for New Heavens and a New Earth wherein dwelleth righteou&s;ne&s;s.</HI> Now that the&s;e <HI>New Heavens</HI> and <HI>New Earth,</HI> mu&s;t be, and there|fore this <HI>coming</HI> which is to precede them, before the la&s;t and General Judgement, is clear, becau&s;e at the General Judgement, the <HI>Earth</HI> and the <HI>Heavens fly away, and their place is no more found,</HI> Rev. 20.11. therefore no <HI>New Heavens</HI> or <HI>Earth</HI> after that; yea, the places in <HI>I|&s;aiah</HI> which <HI>Peter</HI> hath his eye upon, cannot be applied to the General Judgement, or any time after it, there|fore the <HI>New Heavens,</HI> and <HI>New Earth</HI> (which this <HI>Per&s;onal coming</HI> is a fore-runner of) mu&s;t be before that day.</P>
<P><HI>Obj.</HI> But when then are they? or where are we to place them?</P>
<P>To that I An&s;wer, immediately after the <HI>battel</HI> of <HI>Ar|mageddon,</HI> or in&s;tantly upon the pouring forth of the &s;eventh Vial, when the voyce comes from the Throne, <HI>It is d<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ne,</HI> Rev. 16.17. that is, as appears, Chap. 21.5, 6. <HI>All things are made new. He that &s;ate upon the Throne &s;aid, Behold I make all things new;</HI> and then ver&s;e 6. <HI>He</HI> (<HI>i.e.</HI> He that &s;ate upon the Throne &s;till) <HI>&s;aid unto me, It is done,</HI> one Phra&s;e expounding the other. If therefore Chri&s;ts <HI>Per&s;onal coming,</HI> according to <HI>Peter,</HI> mu&s;t be be|fore the&s;e <HI>New Heavens</HI> and <HI>Earth,</HI> and if the&s;e New Heavens and Earth are the <HI>effect</HI> of the &s;eventh Vial, then
<PB N="101" REF="107">is it mo&s;t agreeable to <HI>Peters</HI> &s;en&s;e, as well as <HI>Pauls</HI> in our la&s;t words, and the Prophets of the Old Te&s;tament, yea, our Saviour him&s;elf in our former <HI>Arguments,</HI> to place the <HI>Per&s;onal coming</HI> of Chri&s;t here, betwixt the &s;ixt and &s;eventh Vials, where it is &s;aid, <HI>I come as a Theef;</HI> and indeed as <HI>Peter</HI> doth here mention a <HI>Per&s;onal coming,</HI> a little before the New Heavens and the New Earth; &s;o doth <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 66.15, 16. with ver&s;e 22. and <HI>John</HI> likewi&s;e, chap. 19.11. with chap. 21.1. (both which comings I have proved to be <HI>per&s;onal</HI>) &s;o that in this there is a glori|ous Harmony betwixt them, and therefore it is &s;afe&s;t to make the <HI>coming</HI> and time thereof, one and the &s;ame in all.</P>
<P>And truly to me it is a Riddle how any of tho&s;e worthy men (which are not a few) who yet &s;trongly affirm the pouring out of the &s;eventh Vial to be the la&s;t and General Judgement, can from their own Principle conclude any o|ther, than that the <HI>coming</HI> of our Text (which is the immediate antecedent of the &s;eventh Vial) is, yea, mu&s;t of nece&s;&s;ity be a <HI>Per&s;onal coming,</HI></P>
<P>Having hitherto been proving Chri&s;ts <HI>per&s;onal coming,</HI> to be the coming intended in the&s;e words, I &s;hall now na|kedly di&s;cover my own thoughts about it, which po&s;&s;ibly may prevent the ri&s;e of &s;ome Objections in the brea&s;ts of others, and withall be no weakening to my former Argu|ments, which are,</P>
<P>That I do not conceive this <HI>coming</HI> to be any <HI>other</HI> than that <HI>&s;econd coming,</HI> which is an Article of our Chri&s;tian Faith, and we all look for, though not to be at this time (and indeed what I &s;aid la&s;t out of <HI>Peter,</HI> though I &s;hould add nothing el&s;e, doth give it &s;o to be) for I can finde in Scripture but two <HI>per&s;onal comings of Chri&s;t;</HI> one in which he <HI>bare our &s;ins,</HI> and the other in which he &s;hall <HI>appear without &s;in to &s;alvation,</HI> Heb. 9.28. <HI>Chri&s;t was once offered to bear the &s;ins of many, and unto them
<PB N="102" REF="108">that look for him, &s;hall he appear the &s;econd time with|out &s;in to &s;alvation;</HI> and as all the Scriptures which &s;peak of his <HI>Humiliation, Death,</HI> and <HI>Sufferings,</HI> have relation to the <HI>fir&s;t;</HI> &s;o tho&s;e Scriptures which &s;peak of his <HI>coming, Kingdom,</HI> and <HI>glory,</HI> to the <HI>&s;econd.</HI> And in|deed that <HI>coming</HI> which good men look upon to be at the General Judgement, doth mo&s;t exactly agree to what is re|corded of this coming, for,</P>
<P N="1">1 That <HI>coming</HI> &s;hall be a <HI>Coming</HI> as a <HI>Bridegroom,</HI> Matth. 24.6. <HI>Behold the Bridegroom cometh;</HI> intimating, it &s;hall be comfortable and glorious to the Saints; &s;uch &s;hall this be, <HI>Rev.</HI> 19.7, 8, 9.</P>
<P N="2">2 That <HI>coming</HI> &s;hall be a black dreadful and terrible day to the Enemies of Chri&s;t, to whom therefore he is &s;aid to come <HI>in flaming fire, rendring vengeance,</HI> 2 The&s;. 1.8. <HI>to de&s;cend from Heaven with a &s;hout, with the voyce of the Arch-Angel, and the Trump of God.</HI> 1 The&s;. 4.16. &s;uch a coming as &s;hall make all the Tribes of the Earth to mourn, Matth. 24.30. <HI>Then &s;hall al<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> the Tribes of the Earth mourn,</HI> and mens fiearts fail for fear, Luk. 21.26. <HI>Mens hearts failing them for fear, and for look|ing after tho&s;e things which are coming on the Earth, for the powers of Heaven &s;hall be &s;haken, in which the Heavens being on fire &s;hall be di&s;&s;olved, and the Ele|ments &s;hall melt with fervent heat,</HI> 2 Pet. 3.12. &s;uch al&s;o &s;hall this be, as in many of the fore-quoted Scriptures appear, I&s;a 63.1. <HI>Who is this that cometh from Edom, with died garments from Bozrah?</HI> Ver&s;. 4. <HI>The day of vengeance is in mine heart.</HI> Ver&s;e 6. <HI>I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury.</HI> Chap. 65.15. <HI>For behold the Lord will come with fire, and with his Chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebukes with flames of fire.</HI> Ver&s;e 16. <HI>For by fire and by his &s;word, will the Lord plead with all fle&s;h, and the &s;lain of the Lord &s;hall be
<PB N="103" REF="108">many.</HI> Joel 3.16. <HI>The Lord al&s;o &s;hall roar out of Sion. and utter his voyce from Jeru&s;alem, and the Heavens and the Earth &s;hall &s;hake.</HI> Mal. 3.2. <HI>Who may abide the day of his coming? and who &s;hall &s;tand when he appeareth? for he is like a Refiners fire, and like Ful|lers &s;ope.</HI> Chap. 4.1. <HI>For behold the day commeth that &s;hall burn as an ov<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">n, and all the proud, yea and all that do wickedly &s;hall be as &s;tubble; and the day that com|eth &s;hall burn them up, that it &s;hall leave them neither root nor branch.</HI> The&s;e Scriptures (as hath been before &s;hewed) relate to this <HI>coming.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3 That <HI>coming</HI> &s;hall be upon men unawares, Luk. 21.34, 35. <HI>Take heed lest at any time your hearts be o|vercharged with &s;urfetting, and drunkenne&s;s, and cares of this life, and &s;o that day come upon you una|wares. For as a &s;nare &s;hall it come on all men that dwell upon the face of the earth.</HI> 1 The&s;&s;. 5.2. <HI>Your &s;elves know perfectly that the day of the Lord cometh as a Theef in the night.</HI> So &s;hal this; <HI>Behold I come as a Theef.</HI></P>
<P N="4">4 That <HI>coming</HI> &s;hall be at a time of great tribulation, &s;uch tribulation as makes Chri&s;t, out of love to his Elect, that they might not be &s;wallowed up with it, to &s;horten the daies of his coming, Matth. 24.21. <HI>For then &s;hall be great tribulation, &s;uch as was not &s;ince the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever &s;hall be.</HI> Ver&s;e 22. <HI>And except tho&s;e days &s;hould be &s;hortned, there &s;hould no fle&s;h be &s;aved; but for the Elects &s;ake tho&s;e days &s;hall be &s;hortned.</HI> So &s;hall this, Dan. 12.1. <HI>At that time &s;hall</HI> Michael <HI>&s;tand up, and there &s;hall be a time of trou|ble, &s;uch as never was &s;ince there was a Nation, even to the &s;ame time.</HI> Zech. 14.2. <HI>I will gather all Na|tions again&s;t</HI> Jeru&s;alem <HI>to battel, and the City &s;hall be taken, and the hou&s;es rifled, and the women ravi&s;hed; and half of the City &s;hall go forth into Captivity, and the re&s;idue of the people &s;hall not be cut off from the
<PB N="204" REF="109">City.</HI> Ver&s;e 3. <HI>Then &s;hall the Lord go forth, and fight again&s;t tho&s;e Nations.</HI> 4. <HI>And his feet &s;hall &s;tand in that day upon the Mount of Olives.</HI> Ver&s;e 5. <HI>And the Lord my God &s;hall come, and all the Saints with thee.</HI></P>
<P N="5">5 That <HI>coming</HI> &s;hall be about the time of the Bea&s;ts final overthrow. This hath been the opinion of all good men, till of late, that Chri&s;ts &s;econd coming &s;hould give the final overthrow to Antichri&s;t; and this they have founded up|on that of the Apo&s;tle, 2 <HI>The&s;&s;.</HI> 2.8. (which I made u&s;e of but even now) <HI>Whom the Lord &s;hall con&s;ume with the &s;pirit of his mouth</HI> (<HI>i.e.</HI> by the preaching of the Go&s;|pel, the Man of Sin &s;hall fir&s;t grow into a con&s;umption, which con&s;umption he hath been in the&s;e many years) <HI>and &s;hall destroy</HI> (<HI>viz.</HI> his final de&s;truction) <HI>with the bright|ne&s;s of his coming;</HI> and this Text &s;ome call an undenia|ble Oracle to prove this truth, accordingly the <HI>coming</HI> I am &s;peaking of, agrees exactly to this, for the effect of the <HI>battel</HI> of <HI>Armageddon,</HI> which battel is in&s;tantly up|on this coming, is the utter de&s;truction of Antichri&s;t, giv|ing the body of the Bea&s;t to the burning flame, <HI>Dan.</HI> 7.11. ca&s;ting the Bea&s;t and fal&s;e Prophet both, into the <HI>lake of fire burning with brimstone,</HI> Rev. 19.20. but in ca&s;e Chri&s;ts &s;econd coming &s;hould not be till the la&s;t Judge|ment, which cannot be le&s;s (as I &s;hall &s;hew anon) than a thou&s;and years after this battel, then could not the final de&s;truction of Antichri&s;t be at the time of Chri&s;ts &s;econd coming; for (according to this principle) his de&s;truction &s;hould be a thou&s;and years before it.</P>
<P N="6">6 That <HI>coming</HI> (called by good men, Chri&s;ts coming to Judgement) &s;hall be a coming with all the Saints, 1 The&s;&s;. 3.13. <HI>At the coming of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, with all his Saints.</HI> So &s;hall this, Zech. 14.5. <HI>The Lord my God &s;hall come, and all the Saints with thee.</HI></P>
<PB N="105" REF="109">
<P>And indeed that Chri&s;t &s;hall at this day bring all his Saints with him, and not tho&s;e only who have been Mar|tyrs or Sufferers (as &s;ome &s;uppo&s;e) is a thing that ne|ce&s;&s;arily follows, upon what hath been &s;aid before; for if this &s;hall be that very coming of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> which is by all looked upon as his la&s;t; after which Chri&s;t will return no more to Heaven, to come (in &s;uch manner) thence again, then mo&s;t certainly, not <HI>Martyrs</HI> only, but <HI>all</HI> his &s;hall come with him. And this, Scripture doth plenti|fully bear witne&s;s to, 1 The&s;&s;. 4.14. <HI>For if we beleeve that Je&s;us dyed and ro&s;e again, even &s;o them al&s;o which &s;leep in Je&s;us</HI> (as all Saints do) <HI>will God bring with him,</HI> ver&s;. 16. <HI>The dead in Chri&s;t</HI> (not &s;ome of them only, but all that are dead in Chri&s;t) <HI>&s;hall ri&s;e fir&s;t, i. e.</HI> &s;hall have part in that fir&s;t Re&s;urrection, <HI>Rev.</HI> 20.5, 6.</P>
<P N="1">1 Cor. 15.23. <HI>Chri&s;t the fir&s;t fruits, afterwards they that are Chri&s;ts</HI> (not &s;ome, but all that Chri&s;t hath a right unto, and is intere&s;t in) at his <HI>coming,</HI> and it is of the fir&s;t Re&s;urrection only (I take it) that this whole Chapter &s;peaks; for the following ver&s;es, from ver&s;. 35. to the end, &s;peak of the Re&s;urrection of &s;uch only, as &s;hall have glory put upon them in the <HI>Re&s;urrection, Though &s;own in di&s;honour, yet rai&s;ed in glory; Though &s;own in weakne&s;s, yet rai&s;ed in power,</HI> ver&s;. 42.43. Yea, &s;uch in whom <HI>death</HI> upon their Re&s;urrection <HI>&s;hall be &s;wallowed up in victory,</HI> ver&s;. 54. which are things, not appliable to the re&s;urrection of any but Saints.</P>
<P>Matth. 24.31. <HI>He &s;hall &s;end forth his Angels, and they &s;hall gather together his Elect from the four winds of heaven;</HI> that is, all that are his <HI>Elect,</HI> from all parts and quarters of the World; and we read not of two gather|ings together the <HI>Elect,</HI> but of one only; to which agrees 2 The&s;&s;. 2.1. <HI>I be&s;eech you by the coming of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and by our gathering together to him.</HI></P>
<PB N="106" REF="110">
<P N="2">2 Tim. 4.8. <HI>Henceforth is laid up for me a Crown of righteou&s;ne&s;s, which the Lord the righteous Judge &s;hall give me at that day; and not to me only, but to all them that love his appearing.</HI> A <HI>Crown</HI> of righteou&s;ne&s;s is to be given, in that very day that &s;uffering <HI>Paul</HI> &s;hould receive his <HI>Crown,</HI> to all that love Chri&s;ts appearing, which is a qualification common to Saints, not peculiar to Martyrs, or &s;ufferers only.</P>
<P>In <HI>Rev.</HI> Chap. 2.3. The Promi&s;es made to the &s;everal Churches (which for their accompli&s;hment have reference to the time of the New Jeru&s;alem) run to <HI>overcommers, He that overcommeth to him will I give power over the Nations: And he &s;hall rule them with a Rod of Iron, as the ve&s;&s;els of a Potter &s;hall they be broken to &s;hivers, even as I received of my Father,</HI> Chap. 2.26, 27. <HI>Him that overcometh will I make a Pillar in the Temple of my God, and he &s;hall go no more out; and I will write upon him the Name of my God, and the Name of the City of my God, which is New Jeru&s;alem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God; and I will write upon him my new name,</HI> Chap 3.12. <HI>To him that overcometh, will I grant to &s;it with me on my Throne, even as I al&s;o overcame, and am &s;et down with my Father in his Throne,</HI> ver&s;. 21. which Texts, as they clearly prove, that not <HI>Martyrs</HI> alone, but all Saints &s;hall have their &s;hare of glory in the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem,</HI> becau&s;e a man may be an <HI>overcomer,</HI> who notwith&s;tand|ing may not be a <HI>Martyr,</HI> or an actual &s;ufferer; &s;o al&s;o do they as &s;trongly prove that the Saints now dead &s;hall cer|tainly ri&s;e again, and be inhabitants in this <HI>New Jeru&s;a|lem,</HI> becau&s;e otherwi&s;e the&s;e Promi&s;es (made to that time) had been of no u&s;e, nor could have admini&s;tred any comfort to the Saints in tho&s;e Churches to whom the&s;e were fir&s;tly made, they being dead many hundreds of yeers ago, if &s;o be they were not ri&s;s at the beginning of
<PB N="107" REF="110">the thou&s;and yeers, <HI>Rev.</HI> 20. when the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem</HI> is to be &s;et up.</P>
<P><HI>Object.</HI> Whereas it is &s;aid. <HI>Rev.</HI> 20.4, 5. that the <HI>&s;ouls of tho&s;e who had been beheaded for the witne&s;s of Je&s;us, and for the word of God, and which had not wor&s;hipped the Bea&s;t, neither his Image, neither had received his mark upon their fore-heads, or in their hands, they lived and reigned with Chri&s;t a thou&s;and yeers; But as for the rest of the dead</HI> (<HI>i.e.</HI> &s;ay &s;ome, &s;uch as were not Martyrs) <HI>they lived not again, until the thou&s;and yeers were fini&s;hed.</HI></P>
<P>I an&s;wer, If <HI>[re&s;t of the dead]</HI> exclude any of the Saints from the fir&s;t Re&s;urrection, then doth it include them in the &s;econd Death, for the promi&s;e of being freed from the &s;econd Death runs to tho&s;e only who have part in the fir&s;t Re&s;urrection, ver&s;. 6. <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed and holy is hee that hath part in the fir&s;t Re&s;urrection, on &s;uch the &s;econd Death hath no power;</HI> therefore (I take it) that the <HI>Dead</HI> here oppo&s;ed to the <HI>Living,</HI> are the wicked <HI>dead</HI> to the godly <HI>living,</HI> who&s;e Re&s;urrection is not to be till the General Judgement, ver&s;. 13. who as they &s;hall then ari&s;e to be <HI>judged,</HI> &s;o being judged they are &s;treightway &s;ent to Hell; for as <HI>Death</HI> and <HI>Hell</HI> deliver up their dead, ver&s;. 13. &s;o <HI>Death</HI> and <HI>Hell</HI> (<HI>i.e.</HI> the per|&s;ons of tho&s;e Death and Hell delivers up) are ca&s;t into the <HI>lake of fire,</HI> ver&s;. 14. and as the fir&s;t Re&s;urrection hath this golden Note &s;et upon it, <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed and holy is hee that hath part in the fir&s;t Re&s;urrection, on &s;uch the &s;o|cond Death &s;hall have no power;</HI> So the &s;econd this black mark, <HI>This is the &s;econd Death,</HI> ver&s;. 14.</P>
<P>Now the rea&s;on why <HI>&s;uffering Saints</HI> are principally mentioned in the fir&s;t, I take to be this, becau&s;e this Book of the <HI>Revelations</HI> being a doleful Tragedy, in the greate&s;t part of which we have little acted, but the &s;uffer|ings
<PB N="108" REF="111">of the Saints; Chri&s;t therefore to &s;weeten this bit|ter cup at the bottome, and conclude this Tragedy (as I may &s;o &s;ay) with a glorious Comedy, &s;peaks of tho&s;e chiefly now (though not excluding others) as reigning with him, who throughout the book before, had been &s;poken of as &s;uffering for him.</P>
<P>As to tho&s;e Texts, <HI>Mat.</HI> 19.29. 2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 2.12. with other &s;uch like, which may &s;eem to favour this opinion, I onely &s;ay, that heither tho&s;e, nor any other that hitherto I have met with, do po&s;itively exclude any Saints from that glory the Martyrs &s;hall have in Chri&s;ts Kingdome, though true it is, &s;ome Texts (where the Argument in|&s;i&s;ted upon is <HI>&s;uffering</HI>) &s;pecifie (not to exclude others, but for the comfort of the Sufferers) Martyrs or Sufferers only.</P>
<P>Yet if the Que&s;tion be &s;tated thus, whether Martyrs or Sufferers, &s;hall not have a greater degree of glory in this Kingdome, than many others; I &s;hall not oppo&s;e it: For as I conceive the <HI>degrees of glory</HI> intimated, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 15.40, 41. (which place (as I have &s;hewed) &s;peaks of the fir&s;t Re&s;urrection) are more proper to be re|ferred to this time than to heaven hereafter, when God &s;hall be all in all: So do I conceive that the more any man here hath laid out him&s;elf, either in a way of doing, or &s;uffering for Chri&s;t, the greater glory and honour &s;hall be put upon him at this day; which as it is incouragement now to do for Chri&s;t, &s;o doth it give yet a farther an&s;wer, and that which I conceive may reconcile the difference) to &s;uch Scriptures, as &s;eem to intitle Martyrs only to the glory of this day.</P>
<P>Now taking this <HI>coming</HI> of Chri&s;t (as hath been laid down) for that <HI>&s;econd coming</HI> we all wait for, I &s;ee as yet no inconvenience following upon it, in ca&s;e we &s;ay, that Chri&s;ts <HI>&s;econd coming</HI> &s;hall be at this time, betwixt the pouring out of the &s;ixth and &s;eventh Vials; and what
<PB N="109" REF="111">things are to be done in the world afterwards, are &s;uch things only as Chri&s;t will di&s;patch betwixt his coming, and the time of the end. And thus to conceive of Chri&s;ts <HI>&s;econd coming,</HI> as it no wayes tends to loo&s;ne&s;s, but ra|ther the neerne&s;s of this day calls aloud upon all to <HI>watch;</HI> yea may cau&s;e all tho&s;e who have hope in a day of <HI>Re|demption</HI> to <HI>lift up their heads with joy,</HI> becau&s;e their <HI>Redemption draweth nigh;</HI> &s;o doth it &s;eem more agree|able to the current of Scriptures, and al&s;o to that which but a few years ago, was the faith of Gods people in general, to wit, that <HI>Chri&s;ts &s;econd coming</HI> could not bee far off, than the contrary opinion doth, which makes this coming, not to be till the General Judgement, which cannot be &s;o little as a thou&s;and yeers off.</P>
<P>And truly when I con&s;ider how godly Mini&s;ters and people not many years pa&s;t, did provoke one another from Chri&s;ts <HI>&s;econd coming,</HI> and harp upon it as near; and how at pre&s;ent few &s;peak of that, but look at <HI>comings</HI> of another kind, &s;etting the <HI>&s;econd coming</HI> a great way off; It is &s;o far from bringing me into a beleef with them, as that contrariwi&s;e it nouri&s;heth within me a per|&s;wa&s;ion more &s;trongly, that his <HI>&s;econd coming</HI> is at hand, and he will be upon us <HI>unawares,</HI> becau&s;e the Scripture tells us this day &s;hall come as a <HI>&s;nare</HI> upon all, <HI>Luke</HI> 21.35. <HI>And the Son of man at his coming &s;hall hardly find faith</HI> (to beleeve his <HI>coming</HI> is &s;o near) <HI>on the earth,</HI> Luke 18.8. Yea <HI>he comes at midnight,</HI> Matth. 25.6. an hour when but few are looking for their friend, and the calling upon beleevers &s;o frequently to <HI>watch</HI> when&s;oever Chri&s;ts <HI>&s;econd coming</HI> is &s;poken of, le&s;t that day come upon them unawares, and overtaken them as a Thief in the night, implies no le&s;s to me, than that which experience within the&s;e few years teacheth, that they (as well as others) will be apt to put the day of Chri&s;ts <HI>coming</HI> far from them. And by how much I read over
<PB N="110" REF="112">the&s;e Scriptures the oftner, by &s;o much have I the le&s;s hope (knowing that not one jot or tittle of the word &s;hall fall to the ground) of &s;eeing many of tho&s;e (&s;ome I have hopes we may) who have deeply drunk in the per&s;wa&s;ion of a <HI>&s;piritual coming</HI> and Kingdome only, to change their minds, and be of another per&s;wa&s;ion.</P>
<P>Only with &s;uch I leave to ponder upon, this caution, <HI>Take heed, le&s;t as the Jews by expecting a glorious out|ward coming at fir&s;t, when Chri&s;t was to come in a low and despi&s;ed way, did then mi&s;take his fir&s;t coming; So you, by cleaving to a Spiritual coming onely, with a denial of a Per&s;onal, &s;hould now mi&s;take his &s;econd.</HI></P>
<P>I will only adde, That the <HI>Security</HI> the Scripture holds forth, which will be, not upon the world only, but many of <HI>Gods people</HI> al&s;o, as touching the <HI>coming</HI> of Chri&s;t, about that time when he is to come, is to me an Argument that <HI>Chri&s;ts coming</HI> (I mean the coming com|monly called the coming to Judgement) is to be at the beginning of the Thou&s;and Years, <HI>Rev.</HI> 20. and not (as mo&s;t who acknowledge the Thou&s;and years to be yet to come) at the end of them; becau&s;e were the coming at the end, how could there be a <HI>&s;ecurity,</HI> e&s;pecially up|on <HI>Beleevers,</HI> who now could expect nothing el&s;e every day but his <HI>coming,</HI> who would not &s;ay when they &s;hould &s;ee God and Magog again gathering together, <HI>now is the Lord coming?</HI> how then would this day come <HI>unawares</HI> as a <HI>Thief</HI> upon them, when they could now neither look for, nor expect any thing el&s;e? but at the beginning of the Thou&s;and years, when as their thoughts and expectations &s;hall be high, and all running upon another <HI>coming,</HI> viz. <HI>a glorious &s;piritual appearance,</HI> but no thoughts of a <HI>Per&s;onal,</HI> then <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> comes upon them, and takes them <HI>unawares,</HI> whil&s;t they dreamed not of &s;uch a <HI>coming,</HI> but were gazing after another.</P>
<PB N="111" REF="112">
<P>What I have hitherto &s;aid as touching the <HI>Coming</HI> of <HI>Christ</HI> varies nothing from that common received Prin|ciple among good men, which holds and maintains a <HI>&s;econd comming</HI> of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> to Judgement, but only in this.</P>
<P>The common Principle is, that the <HI>General Judgment</HI> &s;hall begin immediately upon <HI>Chri&s;ts coming.</HI> On the contrary, I conceive the <HI>thou&s;and years</HI> mentioned, <HI>Rev.</HI> 20. are to <HI>&s;ucceed</HI> fir&s;t upon his <HI>coming,</HI> and after that the <HI>General Judgement,</HI> which is clear, becau&s;e as the coming of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> mu&s;t for the Rea&s;ons afore-mentioned precede the <HI>battel</HI> of <HI>Armageddon;</HI> &s;o is it as evident that the <HI>thou&s;and years</HI> mu&s;t follow it (taking their be|ginning from that <HI>battel</HI>) as an intervening time betwixt that, and the General Judgement.</P>
<P>Now that the <HI>Thou&s;and years</HI> (&s;ix times repeated in chap. 20.) is in all to be under&s;tood of <HI>one</HI> and the <HI>&s;ame period</HI> of time, and not (as &s;ome) of <HI>two di&s;tinct pe|riods</HI> of time, each containing a <HI>thou&s;and years,</HI> is clear,</P>
<P N="1">1 Becau&s;e &s;uch as reckon <HI>two periods</HI> of time, account the fir&s;t <HI>thou&s;and years</HI> to be wholly pa&s;&s;ed already; and 300 years and upwards of the &s;econd <HI>thou&s;and years;</HI> whereas it is manife&s;t (as pre&s;ently &s;hall be made appear) that the whole Prophecy of <HI>Satans binding,</HI> and the Saints <HI>reigning,</HI> is yet to come.</P>
<P N="2">2 Becau&s;e (as one, though no friend to the Millenary point, hath yet well ob&s;erved in an&s;wer to this opinion) we have the thou&s;and years twice u&s;ed without any Areicle, <GAP DESC="foreign">, a <HI>thou&s;and years,</HI> but four times with an Article, <GAP DESC="foreign">, the&s;e <HI>thou&s;and years,</HI> clearly proving that the Holy Gho&s;t &s;peaks &s;till of one and the &s;ame <HI>thou&s;and years,</HI> which is al&s;o a manife&s;t Argument that the <HI>thou|&s;and years</HI> here &s;poken of, cannot be meant of an <HI>inde|finite
<PB N="112" REF="113">time,</HI> i. e. a <HI>thou&s;and years</HI> put for a long time, though not preci&s;ely &s;o many, for they may be more or le&s;s, but mu&s;t be interpreted of a <HI>certain definite determinate time.</HI> As the time of the <HI>Bea&s;ts</HI> reign, the <HI>treading under foot</HI> of the Holy City, the <HI>Womans flight</HI> into the wilderne&s;s, <HI>the Witne&s;&s;es prophecying in &s;ackcloth,</HI> is a <HI>determined time,</HI> One thou&s;and two hundred and &s;ixty days, or years; So the time of <HI>Satans</HI> binding, the <HI>exal|tation</HI> of the Church, and the Saints reigning with Chri&s;t, is al&s;o a <HI>determined time,</HI> namely a <HI>thou&s;and years,</HI> though of the fir&s;t we have &s;o many years &s;et forth by &s;o many days, which is a Prophetical and my&s;terious way of &s;peaking, becau&s;e all the time of the One thou&s;and two hundred and &s;ixty daies the my&s;tery of God was not clearly and fulled revealed, therefore things are kept un|der a <HI>veil</HI> &s;till; but in the latter, we have a <HI>year</HI> put for a <HI>year,</HI> which is plain without any my&s;tery, becau&s;e now the my&s;tery of God being fulfilled, <HI>veils</HI> are taken off, things are <HI>nakedly</HI> to be beheld.</P>
<P>Now as to the main thing, <HI>that the thou&s;and years are yet to come, and indeed to take their beginning from the battel of Armageddon,</HI> appears, not onely from the order of the Vi&s;ion being placed after the <HI>battel</HI> of <HI>Armageddon,</HI> as the next remarkable thing; But al|&s;o,</P>
<P>Becau&s;e at the end of the <HI>thou&s;and years</HI> the Devil is ca&s;t into the <HI>lake of fire and brim&s;tone,</HI> where it is &s;aid the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> and <HI>fal&s;e Prophet</HI> are, <HI>i.e.</HI> had been before him all the time of the <HI>thou&s;and years,</HI> Ver&s;e 10. <HI>And the Devil that deceived them, was ca&s;t into the lake of fire and brim&s;tone, where the Bea&s;t, and the fal&s;e Prophet are;</HI> which words have a &s;pecial re&s;pect to tho&s;e chap. 19.20. of <HI>ca&s;ting</HI> the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> and the <HI>fal&s;e Prophet,</HI> into the <HI>lake of fire,</HI> and &s;hewing that this Vi&s;ion of the Devils being bound, and the Saints <HI>reigning a thou&s;and
<PB N="113" REF="113">years,</HI> is to take place &s;ucce&s;&s;ively from, or after the <HI>battel</HI> of <HI>Armageddon,</HI> when the Bea&s;t and <HI>fal&s;e Prophet</HI> were ca&s;t into <HI>the lake of fire.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2 Becau&s;e <HI>Dan.</HI> 7. (which Chapter doth contempori&s;e with this Prophecy of the <HI>Bea&s;ts</HI> final ruin, and the <HI>Saints</HI> reign a <HI>thou&s;and years</HI> afterwards) tells us, that the <HI>Son of man</HI> being come, and having received of the <HI>Antient of daies</HI> his Kingdom, Ver&s;. 13, 14. and the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> being <HI>&s;lain,</HI> his <HI>body de&s;troyed,</HI> and given to the <HI>burning flame,</HI> Ver&s;e 11. (the &s;ame (as I have &s;hewed) with <HI>ca&s;t|ing</HI> the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> and <HI>fal&s;e Prophets</HI> into the <HI>lake of fire,</HI> Rev. 19.20.) in&s;tantly upon this <HI>judging</HI> of the Bea&s;t (<HI>i.e.</HI> Antichri&s;t the little Horn) and taking <HI>his Dominion</HI> from him, to con&s;ume and de&s;troy it <HI>to the end</HI> noting thereby his final de&s;truction, the <HI>Kingdom</HI> and <HI>Dominion</HI> (and that as a fruit and con&s;equent of the other) is <HI>given</HI> to the <HI>Saints,</HI> Ver&s;e. 26, 27. <HI>But the judgement &s;hall &s;it, and they &s;hall take away his Dominion, to con&s;ume and de&s;troy it unto the end. And the Kingdom and Domini|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">n, and the greatne&s;s of the Kingdom under the whole Heaven, &s;hall be given to the people of the Saints of the mo&s;t High;</HI> agreeing punctually to this in the <HI>Revelati|on,</HI> where fir&s;t <HI>John</HI> &s;ees the final de&s;truction of the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> after that, <HI>Thrones</HI> &s;et, and the <HI>Saints &s;itting</HI> upon them, and <HI>reigning</HI> with Chri&s;t; and as in the one, things are &s;poken of &s;ucce&s;&s;ively, the one following after the o|ther; &s;o likewi&s;e in the other.</P>
<P N="3">3 Becau&s;e no time already pa&s;t can upon the mo&s;t &s;trict inquiry be found, in which Satan hath been bound and &s;hut up at all; much le&s;s for &s;o long a &s;pace as a <HI>thou|&s;and years.</HI> Two accounts there are of tho&s;e who con|ceive the <HI>thou&s;and years</HI> to be pa&s;t. Some reckon from the year of Chri&s;t 69. when <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> was overthrown by <HI>Titus,</HI> making up their <HI>Epocha</HI> of a <HI>thou&s;and years,</HI> in the year 1069. others reckon from the year of Chri&s;t 300.
<PB N="114" REF="114">concluding the time in the year 1300. The fir&s;t accoune takes in all the time of the ten mo&s;t bloody Primitive per|&s;ecutions under the Heathen Emperors, the mo&s;t cruel and barbarous <HI>Arian</HI> Per&s;ecution, which followed the other, together with a great part of the reign of Antichri&s;t, and &s;everal per&s;ecutions within this time under him. The Se|cond (leaving out the Primitive Per&s;ecutions) compre|hends within it the whole <HI>Arian</HI> Per&s;ecution, together with the greate&s;t part of Antichri&s;ts reign, under whom, and all within this time, was the horrible &s;laughter of the poor <HI>Walden&s;es,</HI> beginning in the Year 1160. between which, and the Year 1300. was made a mo&s;t mi&s;erable havock of the&s;e poor <HI>Saints,</HI> be&s;ides a cruel per&s;ecution which began (<HI>An D.</HI> 894.) in <HI>Bohemia,</HI> raging through|out all this time; &s;o that indeed if within any of the&s;e accounts the Devil were bound, we may certainly conclude, he was never loo&s;e in the world.</P>
<P N="4">4 Becau&s;e the very Ba&s;is, or Foundation of all tho&s;e Expo&s;itions which conclude the <HI>thou&s;and years</HI> to be pa&s;t, &s;tands upon three palpable mi&s;takes.</P>
<P N="1">1 MISTAKE, <HI>That the living and reigning with Chri&s;t, spoken of</HI> Ver. 4. <HI>is no other but a spiritual reign of the &s;ouls of tho&s;e who were &s;lain for the witne&s;s of Je&s;us, and that with Chri&s;t in Heaven.</HI></P>
<P>To this I an&s;wer, If the <HI>Reign</HI> here be meant of a <HI>Reign</HI> in <HI>Heaven</HI> onely, then how can the <HI>time</HI> of the <HI>thou&s;and years</HI> (which yet the Author of this interpretation acknow|ledgeth) be a <HI>definite time,</HI> &s;eeing (if this may be called a <HI>reigning</HI>) they have &s;ome already <HI>reigned</HI> above a <HI>thou|&s;and years;</HI> yea, all the Saints in this &s;ente &s;hall reign for ever.</P>
<P N="2">2 I ask, how Saints <HI>reign in Heaven?</HI> or who do they reign over? Reigning imp<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">es <HI>Subjects</HI> to be reigned over, who are their <HI>Subjects</HI> there?</P>
<P N="3">3 How then comes it about, the <HI>Devil</HI> at the end
<PB N="115" REF="114">of the <HI>thou&s;and years</HI> is let loo&s;e, and gathers the Nati|ons together, and with them encompa&s;&s;eth about the Camp of the <HI>Reigners,</HI> as Ver&s;e 7, 8, 9. <HI>They compa&s;&s;ed the Camp of the Saints about;</HI> and what Saints had been &s;poken of before, but onely the <HI>reigning</HI> Saints, who li|ved and reigned with Chri&s;t this <HI>thou&s;and years?</HI> &s;hall then the Devil a&s;&s;emble <HI>Gog</HI> and <HI>Magog,</HI> and with them go and compa&s;s about the Saints now re<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">going in Heaven? who can beleeve that?</P>
<P><HI>Object.</HI> If to help it any &s;hould &s;ay, the <HI>reign</HI> here &s;poken of is a <HI>Spiritual reign,</HI> but not in Heaven, but here on Earth; all the time of the Bea&s;ts per&s;ecution, the per&s;ecuted Saints did yet <HI>reign</HI> over &s;in, over the De|vil, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>I an&s;wer, This <HI>reign</HI> is no other but what is <HI>common</HI> to the Saints in all ages; but the <HI>reign</HI> here &s;poken of, is a <HI>reign peculiar</HI> to the time of the <HI>thou&s;and years.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2 The Text is again&s;t it, for the Text &s;peaks of the <HI>reign</HI> of &s;uch, as were <HI>beheaded,</HI> an Argument their <HI>beheading</HI> or <HI>martyrdom</HI> went before their <HI>reigning;</HI> but this &s;hould be a <HI>reign</HI> of &s;uch as were to be <HI>beheaded,</HI> noting their <HI>reigning</HI> to be fir&s;t, and their <HI>beheading</HI> after that, directly contrary to the Text.</P>
<P N="2">2 MISTAKE, <HI>That the binding of the Devil this thou&s;and years, is to be under&s;tood no otherwi&s;e, but as a laying a re&s;traint upon him, that he &s;hould not deceive the Nations by cau&s;ing them to oppo&s;e the faith of Christ, hinder the propagation of the Gospel among&s;t them, draw them to Pagani&s;m and Idolatry, as former|ly he had done, which accordingly,</HI> &s;ay the Authors of this opinion, <HI>all the time of the thou&s;and years was made good, the Go&s;pel being within this time more freely pro|pagated and received, the growth of Pa<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ani&s;m hin|dred more than ever before.</HI> This is the general Vote of Expo&s;itors (who look upon the <HI>thou&s;and years</HI> as pa&s;t)
<PB N="116" REF="115">all with one mouth crying up this; having indeed without it not &s;o much as the lea&s;t varni&s;h, or &s;hew of rea&s;on to colour over their opinion.</P>
<P>I &s;ay not, that I marvel, when I read and ob&s;erve &s;o ma|ny worthy, able, quick, and deep-&s;ighted men in other things, to build their interpretation of &s;o difficult and knocy a Scripture, as is this 20 Chapter of the <HI>Revela|tion,</HI> upon &s;uch ea&s;ie ground, and &s;uch a &s;andy, chaffie foun|dation as this is, which certainly, had not the ugly Dre&s;s of the Millenary point &s;et forth by its Adver&s;aries, and holpen by the ob&s;curity, and &s;ome raw indige&s;ted A&s;&s;erti|ons of &s;uch as were its friends, made them &s;hie of it to avoid it as a Bugbear, choo&s;ing rather to leap any where, than into it, they could hardly have &s;atisfied them&s;elves to have built any thing, till fir&s;t they had got bet|ter ground, and more &s;ure footing for a foundation; for,</P>
<P N="1">1 Take either of the&s;e reckonings, and, were not (within the time of the <HI>thou&s;and years</HI>) the <HI>Nations deceived,</HI> is it not expre&s;ly &s;aid of the &s;econd <HI>Bea&s;t, Rev.</HI> 13.14. (who is the very &s;ame, as I have formerly pro|ved) with that impudent <HI>Whore,</HI> chap. 17 which <HI>&s;i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">s up|on many waters,</HI> Ver&s;e 1. that is, <HI>Peoples, and Multi|tudis and Nations, and Tongues,</HI> V 15.) <HI>that he deceiveth them that dwell on the Earth?</HI> Nay, is it not expre&s;ly &s;aid of the followers of the Bea&s;t, <HI>Rev.</HI> 13.4. <HI>They wor&s;hipped the Dragon that gave power to the Bea&s;t, and they wor&s;hip|ped the bea&s;t, &s;aying, Who is like unto the Bea&s;t? Who is able to make War with him?</HI> And if to wor&s;hip the Devil be not Pagani&s;m, and to wor&s;hip Antichri&s;t Idolatry, what is? and yet all this within the <HI>time</HI> of the <HI>thou&s;and years,</HI> according to either reckoning: Nay, the Bea&s;ts followers (who were the Nations) wor&s;hipping the Dragon within this time, is a manife&s;t Argument he was not then <HI>bound,</HI> and <HI>&s;hut up in the bottomle&s;s Pit,</HI> but inde<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">d among
<PB N="117" REF="115">them (though in &s;uch a garb, as he &s;eems rather a <HI>Saint</HI> than a <HI>Devil</HI>) deceiving of them.</P>
<P N="2">2 As if the Lord hath &s;uffered it on purpo&s;e to bani&s;h from us all &s;uch thoughts; it is a thing mo&s;t ob&s;ervable, that the <HI>Pagani&s;h Mahumetan Religion</HI> (the like to which was hardly ever known in the world, of a Religion &s;pringing from &s;o incon&s;iderable a man, and upon the &s;ud|den over&s;preading &s;o many Countries) had both its ri&s;e, and a con&s;iderable part of its growth, within this <HI>thou&s;and yeers,</HI> follow which account ye will; <HI>Mahomet</HI> the fir&s;t founder of that Religion, living about the yeer of Chri&s;t, 600.</P>
<P N="3">3 Let it be &s;hewn &s;ince the expiring of this <HI>thou&s;and yeers</HI> (whether we make them to expire according to the fir&s;t account <HI>A.D.</HI> 1069. or according to the &s;econd 1300.) whether the <HI>Gospel</HI> have flouri&s;hed le&s;s, and the Nations been deceived more, than they were in the time of the <HI>thou&s;and yeers,</HI> both which according to the former interpretation &s;hould be, for all the <HI>thou&s;and yeers</HI> the Devil was bound, that he could not deceive the Nations, nor hinder the <HI>Propagation</HI> of the <HI>Go&s;pel;</HI> but now ac|cording to the la&s;t account of the <HI>thou&s;and yeers</HI> he is loo&s;e, and hath been three hundred yeers and upwards, and therefore may do it, and upon inquiry will it not appear, that <HI>Antichri&s;t</HI> hath more gone to <HI>ruine?</HI> the <HI>Go&s;pel</HI> hath &s;hined more bright, and flouri&s;hed more? the Nations have more freely (not tho&s;e called Chri&s;tians only, but of late &s;ome Pagans al&s;o) given entertainment to it, yea &s;tood up for it, than ever before all the time of the <HI>thou&s;and yeers?</HI> If &s;o, then certainly the <HI>Devil</HI> was not <HI>bound</HI> then, unle&s;s we &s;hall &s;ay, that it is a better day, when the <HI>Devil</HI> is loo&s;e, than when he is <HI>bound;</HI> and the way to de&s;troy <HI>Antichri&s;tiani&s;m, Pagani&s;m</HI> convert the Nations to Chri&s;t (which things have more appeared &s;ince the time according to the common opinion the <HI>De|vil</HI>
<PB N="118" REF="116">hath been let loo&s;e, than ever they did whil&s;t he was bound) is to let the Devil <HI>loo&s;e,</HI> &s;uffer him to <HI>deceive</HI> the Nations, and do what he<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">l<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;ts in the world.</P>
<P N="3">3 <HI>MISTAKE</HI> (which &s;ome who run upon the latter Account &s;eem to hint at) <HI>That the Dragons re|&s;igning up his Kingdome to the Bea&s;t</HI> (which we read of Chap. 13.2.) <HI>was for this rea&s;on, becau&s;e hee could keep it no longer, but was out of hand to be bound.</HI></P>
<P>I an&s;wer, not &s;o, The <HI>Dragon</HI> did not <HI>re&s;ign,</HI> be|cau&s;e he &s;aw he mu&s;t be <HI>bound a thou&s;and yeers,</HI> but ra|ther out of <HI>&s;ubtilty,</HI> &s;eeing by <HI>Christian Emperors</HI> his <HI>Heatheni&s;h Idolatry</HI> thrown down, and him&s;elf for a little time ca&s;t out of his Throne, that now he might in another way, and under another form of Idolatry (as formerly I have &s;aid) creep in again, therefore he re&s;igns to <HI>Anti|chri&s;t;</HI> and indeed his <HI>Policy</HI> doth not fail him, for by means of this <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> he gets in again; yet now &s;o &s;ubtil is he, that all the time of the <HI>Bea&s;ts Kingdome,</HI> till ju&s;t toward the end, when the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> and his party, are grown &s;o de&s;perate, as that now they will joyn with the Devil, or any to uphold their cau&s;e, he will not &s;hew him&s;elf what he is, and therefore appears but very rarely as the <HI>Dragon,</HI> from that day, till the time of the la&s;t <HI>battel,</HI> but rather &s;till as a Saint, with <HI>Antichri&s;ts</HI> mask on, le&s;t being di&s;|covered, his &s;ubjects &s;hould flinch from him, and he be ca&s;t out again.</P>
<P>Here is all the ground that ever I have met with for that opinion, which makes the <HI>thou&s;and years</HI> of <HI>Satans binding,</HI> and the <HI>Saints reign,</HI> to be already pa&s;t, which being nothing el&s;e but a very lump of <HI>Mi&s;takes,</HI> I do therefore for the foregoing Rea&s;ons conclude the <HI>thou&s;and yeers</HI> to be yet to <HI>come,</HI> and to follow <HI>&s;ucce&s;&s;ively</HI> (as they are in this Prophecie laid down) after the <HI>battel</HI> of <HI>Armageddon;</HI> and indeed to be the very &s;ame (only fir&s;t
<PB N="119" REF="116">here hinted in brief, afterwards more largely handled, which is the way and manner of laying down things in this Book) with that <HI>New Jeru&s;alem,</HI> a de&s;cription whereof we have Chap. 21. Chap 22.1. to the 6, which that it cannot be meant of <HI>Heavenly glory</HI> as mo&s;t have &s;uppo&s;ed, but mu&s;t &s;et forth a <HI>glorious &s;tate of the Church</HI> here on earth, &s;hall appear in our following Di&s;cour&s;e.</P>
<P>I have not hitherto &s;aid (which yet may be worth the weighing, to &s;ee what may follow upon it) That tho&s;e who make the <HI>thou&s;and yeers</HI> to be pa&s;t, do al&s;o make the <HI>one thou&s;and two hundred and &s;ixty yeers</HI> of the <HI>Bea&s;ts reign the treading underfoot the</HI> Holy City, <HI>and the Womans being in the Wilderne&s;s, and the Witne&s;&s;es pro|phe&s;ying in &s;ackcloath,</HI> the &s;ame in re&s;pect of <HI>time,</HI> with the <HI>Devils binding,</HI> and the <HI>Saints reigning,</HI> which two <HI>contraries</HI> how they will be made to agree, is a thing that lyes out of the reach of my apprehen|&s;ion.</P>
<P>From what hath been &s;aid, I &s;uppo&s;e it will &s;ufficiently appear, that the <HI>fir&s;t Scene</HI> that is like to be <HI>acted</HI> in the world upon the <HI>coming</HI> of Chri&s;t, will not be the <HI>la&s;t</HI> and <HI>General Judgement,</HI> but &s;omething el&s;e.</P>
<P>Yet do I not deny, but that in a <HI>large &s;en&s;e</HI> the whole time from Chri&s;ts <HI>coming,</HI> to the <HI>end</HI> of all things, may be called a <HI>Day of Judgement</HI> (which therefore (according to &s;ome) is looked upon as one <HI>great day,</HI> con&s;i&s;ting of two parts, as doth the natural day; Fir&s;t, the Evening, or <HI>thou&s;and yeers;</HI> And &s;econdly, the Morning, or <HI>General Judgement,</HI> admitting only the&s;e two <HI>differences</HI> be|twixt the <HI>judgement</HI> of the <HI>la&s;t day,</HI> and that which &s;hall be in the <HI>time</HI> of the <HI>thou&s;and yeers.</HI></P>
<P N="1">1 The <HI>judgement</HI> pa&s;&s;ed at the la&s;t day, &s;hall be the <HI>act</HI> of Chri&s;t alone; there being then but <HI>one</HI> Great white Throne, and <HI>one</HI> &s;itting upon it, Rev. 20.12. <HI>I &s;aw a
<PB N="120" REF="117">great white Throne, and him that &s;ate upon it,</HI> which agrees to <HI>Matth.</HI> 21.31. <HI>He &s;hall &s;it upon the Throne of his glory.</HI> Yea the whole bu&s;ine&s;s of the day is tran&s;|acted by <HI>Chri&s;t him&s;elf,</HI> the King <HI>alone</HI> acts; <HI>he &s;hall &s;ay to them on his right hand, Come,</HI> ver&s;. 34. <HI>to them on his left hand, Depart,</HI> ver&s;. 41. And when the righteous, to exalt his grace the more, profe&s;s their own unworthi|ne&s;s, the King only replies in way of ju&s;tification of them, ver&s; 40. and contrariwi&s;e, when the wicked ju&s;tifie them|&s;elves, the King <HI>only</HI> replies, &s;hewing the equity of the &s;entence pa&s;&s;ed upon them, ver&s;. 44, 45.</P>
<P>But now the <HI>judgement</HI> of &s;inners upon Chri&s;ts <HI>&s;e|cond coming</HI> in the time of the <HI>thou&s;and yeers</HI> untill the la&s;t day, &s;hall be by Chri&s;t and his Saints together, and therefore of this time it is &s;aid, Rev. 20.4. <HI>I &s;aw Thrones,</HI> (in the plural number) <HI>and they &s;ate upon them, and judge|ment was given unto them,</HI> I&s;a. 31.1. <HI>A King &s;hall rule in righteou&s;ne&s;s, and Princes &s;hall rule in judge|ment;</HI> and we may read, <HI>Luke</HI> 19.15, 16, 17, 18, 19. <HI>that at the time</HI> when Chri&s;t receives his Kingdome, the faithful &s;ervant who hath improved his ten Talents well, is then made ruler over ten Cities; hee that well im|proved five, over five Cities, expounding that, 1 Cor. 6.2. <HI>Do yee not know that the Saints &s;hall judge the world?</HI></P>
<P N="2">2 The <HI>&s;entence</HI> pa&s;&s;ed at the <HI>la&s;t</HI> day, &s;hall concern <HI>eternal life,</HI> or <HI>death,</HI> Mat. 25.46. the re&s;ult of the <HI>General Judgement</HI> is, the wicked go into <HI>everla&s;ting puni&s;hment,</HI> the righteous into <HI>life eternal;</HI> but now the <HI>judgement</HI> in the <HI>time</HI> of the <HI>one thou&s;and years</HI> &s;hal be a <HI>judging</HI> of the world; that is, tho&s;e <HI>wicked ones</HI> that &s;hall bee &s;uffered to live in this day, as to outward puni&s;hments and &s;ervility, in way of requital of what Chri&s;ts people in all Ages have &s;uffered from the world, which is expre&s;&s;ed, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 140.6. <HI>Let the high prai&s;es of God be in their mouths, and a
<PB N="121" REF="117">two-edged &s;word in their hands,</HI> ver&s;. 7. <HI>To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and puni&s;hments upon the people,</HI> ver&s;. 8. <HI>To bind their Kings with chains, and their Nobles with fetters of Iron,</HI> ver&s;. 9. <HI>To execute upon them the judgement written, This honour have all his Saints, Halelujah.</HI> So <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 61.5, 6. <HI>And &s;trangers &s;hall &s;tand and feed your flocks, and the &s;ons of the Alien &s;hall be your Plow-men, and your Vine-dre&s;&s;ers</HI> (expre&s;&s;ions which note a &s;ervility) <HI>But ye &s;hall be named the Prie&s;ts of the Lord, men &s;hall call you, the Mini&s;ters of our God,</HI> Chap. 14.2. <HI>They &s;hall take them captive, who&s;e captives they were, and they &s;hall rule over their oppre&s;&s;ors;</HI> All which places, as is mo&s;t clear to him that views the context, and compares them with other Scrip|tures, have re&s;pect to the <HI>glory</HI> of the <HI>la&s;t</HI> times, as the day where in they are to have their accompli&s;hment; and a type of this (I conceive) the <HI>Gibeonites</HI> might be, who as a remnant of tho&s;e <HI>Canaanites</HI> de&s;tined to de&s;truction, were yet &s;pared by <HI>Jo&s;hna</HI> (who in entring <HI>Canaan</HI> was a notable type of Chri&s;t, taking po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of his King|dome) to be hewers of wood, and drawers of water for the hou&s;e of God, and this is (as I al&s;o conceive) one rea&s;on of it, why <HI>Daniel,</HI> Chap. 7. after the de&s;truction of the fourth Bea&s;t (<HI>i. e.</HI> the <HI>Roman Monarchy,</HI> as under <HI>Antichri&s;t</HI>) and ca&s;ting him into the burning flame, ver&s;. 11. yet addeth (ver&s;. 12.) that <HI>the re&s;t of the Bea&s;ts,</HI> (<HI>i.e.</HI> tho&s;e powers of the world, who&s;e dependance was not upon <HI>Antichri&s;t</HI>) <HI>had their Dominion taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a &s;ea&s;on, and time.</HI> Why &s;o? namely, That <HI>Saints</HI> to whom now the King|dome was to be given (ver&s;. 27.) <HI>might rule over them.</HI> And here (as I judge) are to be brought in tho&s;e Scrip|tures which &s;peak of the Saints <HI>Ruling</HI> and <HI>Reigning,</HI> Rev. 5.10. <HI>And ha&s;t made us unto our God, Kings, and Prie&s;ts, and we &s;hall reign on the earth,</HI> Chap. 20.6.
<PB N="122" REF="118"><HI>they &s;hall be Prie&s;ts of God, and of Chri&s;t, and &s;hall reign with him a thou&s;and years,</HI> agreeing exactly to that of <HI>I&s;a.</HI> Chap. 61.5, 6. (which was named but now) <HI>&s;trangers &s;hall &s;tand and feed your flocks, but ye &s;hall be named Prie&s;ts of the Lord,</HI> 2 Tim. 2.12. <HI>If we &s;uffer with him we &s;hall al&s;o reign with him,</HI> which cannot bee meant of a <HI>Spiritual</HI> Reigning on earth, becau&s;e in that fen&s;e <HI>Timothy,</HI> and other Saints <HI>Reigned</HI> then, but this is a <HI>promi&s;e</HI> of a thing for <HI>future;</HI> nor can it be a <HI>Reigning</HI> with Chri&s;t in Heaven, becau&s;e where is no <HI>Rule</HI> nor <HI>Au|thority,</HI> there can be no <HI>Reigning;</HI> but the Apo&s;tle tells us plainly, &s;peaking of heavenly glory, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 15.24. that there <HI>all Rule and Authority, and Power &s;hall be put down,</HI> it mu&s;t be therefore at &s;ome other time, which is this I am &s;peaking of.</P>
<P>And what dangerous con&s;equences will follow hereup|on, in ca&s;e we &s;ay, that <HI>as Chri&s;t him&s;elf after his re|&s;urrection continued &s;ome time on earth, doing his fa|thers work, before he entred into his re&s;t; &s;o the Saints</HI> (that herein al&s;o they might be like him) <HI>&s;hall after their re&s;urrection continue here on earth, doing the work of their Redeemer,</HI> (and that &s;ome time) <HI>before they enter into their re&s;t,</HI> doth not as yet appear to me.</P>
<P>Object. In ca&s;e it be &s;aid, <HI>How can the&s;e things be? &s;eeing upon Chri&s;ts</HI> &s;econd coming <HI>the world that now is &s;hall peri&s;h by fire, as did the old by water; that yet, after this a &s;eed of wicked men &s;hould remain for Saints to rule over.</HI></P>
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> True, the Scriptures which &s;peak of this <HI>coming,</HI> mention a <HI>coming</HI> with <HI>fire,</HI> I&s;a. 66.15. <HI>The Lord &s;hall come with fire, to render his rebuke with flames of fire.</HI> Mal. 4.1. <HI>The day cometh that &s;hall burn as an Oven.</HI> 2 The&s;. 1.8. <HI>In flaming fire rendring venge|ance</HI>&mdash; and <HI>Rev.</HI> 19.20. (immediately upon the battel of <HI>Armageddon,</HI> before the <HI>thou&s;and years</HI> begin) we read of a <HI>Lake of fire,</HI> into which the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> and <HI>fal&s;e
<PB N="123" REF="118">Prophet</HI> are <HI>ca&s;t;</HI> which <HI>fire,</HI> that it &s;hall be <HI>mate|rial fire, Peter</HI> implys plainly, 2 Epi&s;t. 3. in &s;aying, that <HI>as the old world was drowned with water, viz.</HI> mate|rial water, <HI>&s;o is this re&s;erved to fire again&s;t the day of Chri&s;ts coming;</HI> Yet that this <HI>fire</HI> (which whether it &s;hall be general in all places at once, or onely in that place where Chri&s;t &s;hall appear, and his enemies be ga|thered together, whither the dro&s;s of the world &s;hall be gathered as into one <HI>Lake,</HI> is a que&s;tion too nice to di&s;|pute) &s;hall not de&s;troy the being of the World, is clear,</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, Becau&s;e it is a <HI>fire</HI> for another end, viz. <HI>refining,</HI> not de&s;troying, <HI>Mal.</HI> 3.2. <HI>Who may abide the day of his coming? for he &s;hall he as are finers fire.</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, The <HI>New Heavens</HI> and <HI>New Earth,</HI> that <HI>I&s;ay</HI> and <HI>John</HI> &s;peak of, wherein &s;hall <HI>dwel Righte|ou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> and in which the <HI>Saints</HI> &s;hall <HI>regin</HI> with Chri&s;t, <HI>Peter</HI> makes mention of as a thing to be after this <HI>fire,</HI> which (as I have &s;aid) he therefore brings in with a <HI>never|thele&s;s,</HI> 2 Pet. 3.13. Now what if we &s;hould &s;ay, that as when the old world was de&s;troyed by water, not onely righteous <HI>Noah,</HI> and godly <HI>Shem</HI> and <HI>Japhet,</HI> but al&s;o cur&s;ed <HI>Cham,</HI> yea, the kinds of all the creatures were &s;pa|red from that deluge to repleni&s;h the new world; &s;o at this day, not onely the Saints in the world &s;hall be pre|&s;erved, but even &s;ome of the wicked, yea of all the crea|tures, to &s;erve the glorious ends and de&s;igns of God, and that in the <HI>new Heavens</HI> and <HI>Earth?</HI> which &s;eems not with|out all ground, becau&s;e the Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul</HI> tels us plainly, <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.20, 21, 22. <HI>That the creatures earne&s;t expecta|tion waits for that day,</HI> in which the Sons of God &s;hall be manife&s;t; when the creature (Devils and wicked men, on whom the cur&s;e &s;hall &s;till remain, excepted) &s;hall be delivered from that bondage of corruption that now it groans under, and that not by a total di&s;&s;olution, or anni|hilation
<PB N="124" REF="119">of it, but by a glorious re&s;tauration, bringing it into <HI>the liberty of the Sons of God. For the earne&s;t expectation of the creature waiteth for the mani|fe&s;tation of the Sons of God; becau&s;e the creature it &s;elf al&s;o &s;hall be delivered from the bondage of corrup|tion, into the glorious liberty of the children of God.</HI> And al&s;o becau&s;e in tho&s;e very <HI>new Heavens</HI> and <HI>Earth</HI> that <HI>I&s;ay</HI> &s;peaks of, and <HI>Peter</HI> quotes from him, <HI>the Wolfe and the Lamb &s;hall feed together;</HI> that is, good and bad &s;hall be in the world together.</P>
<P>Neither let it be &s;aid that this will be any <HI>hinderance</HI> to the <HI>Saints glory</HI> and <HI>&s;pirituality,</HI> to bring them from Heaven, the place of glory, and that about a work &s;o mean, and low, to rule over men upon earth; for as <HI>An|gels</HI> lo&s;e not their <HI>glory</HI> by <HI>attending</HI> upon the work of God here on earth, nor their <HI>spirituliaty,</HI> becau&s;e the works they attend upon, of mini&s;tring to the Saints, de|&s;troying the Enemies of God, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> are in them&s;elves mean and low, yea, in a manner &s;ervile for &s;o glorious Creatures as <HI>Angels</HI> to attend upon; &s;o &s;hall not <HI>Saints</HI> at this day, by being occupied in the Affairs of this <HI>Fifth Mo|narchy</HI> (which &s;hall be their work for Chri&s;t, to act as Officers under him in his Kingdom) <HI>lo&s;e</HI> any thing of their <HI>glory,</HI> e&s;pecially con&s;idering Chri&s;t him&s;elf (who&s;e pre|&s;ence is their glory) &s;hall be with them all this time; nor of their <HI>Spirituality,</HI> which never &s;uffers decay in any, through a being occupied in the will and work of the Lord. And what if the Lord, who in the Legal Admini|&s;tration thought it good to have his peoples work a bur|den, in the Go&s;pel Admini&s;tration, work, but no bur|den; will in this admini&s;tration have work and glory go together, who will, or hath cau&s;e to find fault with it? Nay, let me &s;ay (what &s;ometimes hath been in my thought with refre&s;hing) that the <HI>&s;pirituality of Saints</HI> at this day &s;hall be &s;uch, as that from thence an awe &s;hall be upon the &s;ur|viving
<PB N="125" REF="119"><HI>Sinners</HI> of the world, who <HI>&s;hall tremblingly come, and how them&s;elves</HI> down at the &s;oles of their feet, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 60.14. and &s;ubject them&s;elves to them, for this day, (as the Apo&s;tle &s;aith) <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.20. &s;hall be the day <HI>of the mani|fe&s;tation of the Sons of God.</HI> Gods people are <HI>Sons</HI> now, therefore &s;aith <HI>John,</HI> 1 Epi&s;t. 3.2. <HI>Beloved, now are we the Sons of God,</HI> but (&s;aith he) though true, we are &s;o, yet <HI>the world knoweth us not,</HI> i.e. the tran&s;cendent glory and excellency of our &s;tate, is now a thing <HI>veiled</HI> from the world; but the day I am &s;peaking of &s;hal be the manife&s;tati|on of the <HI>Sons of God,</HI> wherein that <HI>noble</HI> and <HI>&s;uper-excel|lent</HI> Spirit, that now (under a veil) it in the <HI>Sons of God,</HI> &s;hall be <HI>manife&s;ted</HI> before all men; when all in general &s;hall come to &s;ee the difference that is betwixt the <HI>spiritu|al man,</HI> and the man that is meerly <HI>rational</HI> to be as <HI>va&s;t.</HI> yea far more <HI>va&s;t</HI> than that which now is betwixt the <HI>ra|tional</HI> creature and <HI>&s;en&s;itive:</HI> And as the <HI>&s;en&s;itive</HI> crea|ture now doth <HI>tremble</HI> before the <HI>rational,</HI> from be|holding (through a &s;ecret in&s;tinct of nature) a kind of <HI>Maje&s;ty,</HI> and a more <HI>noble</HI> &s;pirit in the <HI>rational</HI> crea|ture than is in <HI>him&s;elf;</HI> &s;o &s;hall at this <HI>day,</HI> the meer <HI>ra|tional</HI> man <HI>tremble</HI> before the <HI>&s;piritual,</HI> when the <HI>mani|fe&s;tation</HI> of that <HI>&s;uper-excellent</HI> Spirit, that is in the <HI>one</HI> above the <HI>other</HI> &s;hall be open, and naked before all, and therefore, <HI>Cant.</HI> 6.10. we have &s;everal degrees of the Churches light and glory; 1 <HI>Looking forth as the morning,</HI> with a little light; &s;o in the <HI>legal</HI> admini&s;tra|tion. 2 <HI>Fair as the Moon,</HI> more light: So in the <HI>Go|&s;pel.</HI> 3 <HI>Clear as the Sun,</HI> that is come up to a high de|gree of <HI>&s;piritual light</HI> and <HI>life</HI> both, (for both are from the Sun, which is giver of the one, maintainer of the other) &s;o in the admini&s;tration at this <HI>day:</HI> And what then? why, <HI>terrible as an Army with banners;</HI> the <HI>Saints</HI> and people of God through this high advance in <HI>&s;pirituality,</HI> grow <HI>terrible</HI> to the mean men of
<PB N="126" REF="120">the world, who now <HI>tremble</HI> before them.</P>
<P>By what hath been before &s;aid, it may appear, that notwith&s;tanding the <HI>thou&s;and years</HI> is a <HI>di&s;tinct</HI> time from the Day of <HI>Judgement,</HI> being that <HI>time,</HI> to &s;peak properly, in which <HI>Saints</HI> &s;hall <HI>judge</HI> the <HI>world,</HI> and <HI>reign</HI> on the earth; yet in a large &s;en&s;e the time of the <HI>thou|&s;and years,</HI> and the <HI>General Judgement</HI> both, may bee called <HI>one great Day</HI> of <HI>Judgement.</HI></P>
<P>And indeed that <HI>Saints</HI> &s;hall one day <HI>judge the world,</HI> is a thing &s;o clear in Scripture, that good men not making a <HI>di&s;tinction</HI> betwixt the <HI>judging</HI> in the time of the <HI>thou&s;and years,</HI> and the <HI>General Judgement,</HI> do bring the Saints at the la&s;t day, in&s;tead of &s;tanding upon Chri&s;ts right hand, even to fit with him upon the Bench, and then, and there to judge the world, which opinion is not only repugnant to tho&s;e other Scriptures wherein we have the manner of <HI>Saints reigning</HI> over, and <HI>judging</HI> the world, &s;et forth, which without a manife&s;t forcing of them cannot be applied to this time; but al&s;o hath not the lea&s;t countenance for it &s;elf from any one Scripture (that I know of) where expre&s;s mention is made of the <HI>la&s;t</HI> and <HI>General Judgement,</HI> but the contrary rather, as from that I have &s;aid before, may bee gathered) which is enough to put us upon a further &s;earch, and not to receive this principle upon tru&s;t any longer.</P>
<P>And truly to me it appears, that the Apo&s;tle him&s;elf, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 15.23, 24, 25. makes a manife&s;t <HI>difference</HI> be|twixt the&s;e two <HI>times</HI> of <HI>judging,</HI> calling one the <HI>time of Chri&s;ts Reign,</HI> to put his enemies under his feet; the other the <HI>time of the end,</HI> and both the&s;e after his <HI>coming; Chri&s;t the fir&s;t fruits, afterwards they that are Chri&s;ts at his coming. Then cometh the end</HI> (plainly intimating a <HI>di&s;tance</HI> of <HI>time</HI> betwixt his <HI>com|ing,</HI> and <HI>the end</HI>) <HI>when he &s;hall have delivered up the
<PB N="127" REF="120">Kingdome to God, even the Father, when he &s;hall have put down all Rule and Authority, and Bower: For hee, mu&s;t Reign</HI> (&s;hewing what his work &s;hall be betwixt the <HI>time</HI> of his <HI>coming,</HI> and the <HI>end</HI>) <HI>till he hath put all enemies under his feet.</HI></P>
<P>Why both the&s;e <HI>different judgings</HI> may not be ex|pre&s;&s;ed in that of the Apo&s;tle, 2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 4.1. <HI>Shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing, and his Kingdome;</HI> the <HI>quick</HI> fir&s;t in &s;uch manner as hath been &s;hewed, and then the <HI>dead</HI> at the <HI>la&s;t</HI> and <HI>General Judge|ment</HI> (which both are called his Appearing and King|dome, becau&s;e he is but once to appear to do both, and both taken together, do but make up this Kingdome of Chri&s;t, in which as King of Kings, Chri&s;t will glorifie him&s;elf in the eyes of all creatures) I &s;ee no convincing rea&s;on to the contrary.</P>
<P>Having thus &s;poken of the coming of our Lord, ac|cording to that light I have received from the word; I only now de&s;ire, that none of Gods people who &s;hall read this, may be of the number of tho&s;e who are troubled <HI>in mind, and &s;haken that the day of the Lord is at hand;</HI> but rather of tho&s;e who patiently wait for the <HI>coming</HI> of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and love his <HI>appearing,</HI> who&s;e hearts till the ri&s;e of this <HI>bright</HI> and <HI>morning &s;tar</HI> will not cea&s;e, but with the <HI>Spirit</HI> and <HI>Bride,</HI> &s;end forth their continual groans and eryes, <HI>Come, O come Lord Je&s;us, come quickly.</HI></P>
<P>I &s;hall now conclude <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ll with a Rule or two, which may bee &s;ome help to the Reader for the under|&s;tanding &s;uch Scripture, that &s;peak of this coming, namely,</P>
<P N="1">1 RULE, <HI>That the divers expre&s;sions in Scripture concerning the coming of Chri&s;t, which &s;et him forth as coming in various Dre&s;&s;es,</HI> &s;omtime as a <HI>Bridgroom,</HI> &s;ome|time in <HI>fire,</HI> &s;ometimes as a <HI>Warrior,</HI> as a <HI>Judge, are not
<PB N="128" REF="121">to be under&s;tood of divers comings, but one and the &s;ame coming in divers re&s;pects;</HI> as when his <HI>coming</HI> is &s;poken of in <HI>re&s;pect</HI> of his Saints, he comes as a <HI>Bridegroom;</HI> when in <HI>re&s;pect</HI> of the wicked, in <HI>flaming fire;</HI> when in re&s;pect of the <HI>de&s;truction</HI> he will make of tho&s;e enemies he finds ga|thered together at his <HI>coming,</HI> he appears as a <HI>Warrior,</HI> with a <HI>Sword, Armies</HI> following him, <HI>Garments rolled in blood;</HI> when in re&s;pect of that <HI>di&s;tinction,</HI> he will make at this day betwixt the clean and unclean, <HI>Saints</HI> and <HI>Hypocrites,</HI> true wor&s;hippers, and fal&s;e, or the <HI>puri|fication</HI> he would make even of his own people, he comes then as a <HI>Refiners fire,</HI> to refine and &s;eparate the true gold from the dro&s;s; when in <HI>re&s;pect</HI> of the <HI>principal work</HI> he comes about, namely to execute judgement, he comes then as a <HI>Judge:</HI> Thus ever appearing in va|rious Dre&s;&s;es, either as the per&s;ons he <HI>comes</HI> to, or the works he is to perform upon his <HI>coming,</HI> are diffe|rent.</P>
<P N="2">2 RULE, <HI>As there is a Spiritual coming of Chri&s;t, as well as a Per&s;onal; &s;o in &s;ome places which &s;peak of this coming, both the&s;e are included,</HI> as be|fore I have &s;hewed in opening <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 59.20.</P>
<P N="3">3 RULE, <HI>As the Per&s;onal coming of Chri&s;t is twofold,</HI> Fir&s;t, a <HI>coming</HI> to bear our &s;ins; Secondly, a <HI>coming</HI> without &s;in to &s;alvation: <HI>So in &s;ome places which &s;peaks of Chri&s;ts coming, both the&s;e are couched to|gether, or at lea&s;t wi&s;e joyned &s;o near one to another as that they &s;eem to be one and the &s;ame.</HI> So <HI>Gen</HI> 49.10. <HI>&V;ntil Shiloh (i.e.</HI> Chri&s;t the Me&s;&s;ias) <HI>come,</HI> which in re&s;pect of the former words, The <HI>Scepter departing from Judah,</HI> hath <HI>reference</HI> to his <HI>fir&s;t coming;</HI> but in re&s;pect of the latter, the <HI>gathering of the people</HI> to him, <HI>&V;nto him &s;hall the gathering of the people be (i.e. Jew</HI> and <HI>Gentile</HI> &s;hall be gathered together under him as Head or King over them) &s;o it <HI>refers</HI> to his <HI>&s;econd
<PB N="129" REF="121">coming.</HI> So <HI>Mal.</HI> 3.1.2. the <HI>coming</HI> ver&s;. 1. is his <HI>fir&s;t coming,</HI> when <HI>John Bapti&s;t</HI> as a Harbinger <HI>comes</HI> before him; but ver&s;. 2. (that we may take notice what my&s;tery is in Scripture) the Holy Gho&s;t glides from his <HI>fir&s;t coming,</HI> to his <HI>&s;econd,</HI> which in &s;o terrible, as that who now <HI>may abide the day of his coming?</HI> or &s;tand when he appeareth? So <HI>Zach.</HI> Chap. 13.7. &s;peaks of his <HI>fir&s;t coming, Awake, O Sword, again&s;t the man that is my fellow, &s;mite the Shepherd, and the &s;heep &s;hall be &s;cattered;</HI> but pre&s;ently, Chap. 14.3 4, 5. we have his <HI>&s;econd.</HI> So <HI>Mic.</HI> 5 1. we have his <HI>fir&s;t coming,</HI> in which the Judge of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> is &s;mitten upon the cheek; and the <HI>Jews</HI> thereupon being for this given up, and rejected for a time, as ver&s;. 3. we have pre&s;ently his <HI>&s;econd coming</HI> &s;poken of, ver&s; 4.5. both <HI>comings</HI> being brought in al|mo&s;t in one breath.</P>
<P>Thus much of the &s;econd thing, <HI>The Per&s;onal coming, and appearing of Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="3" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>3 <HI>Chri&s;ts Watchword to his people, to be in a readine&s;s to meet him.</HI></HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">Ble&s;&s;ed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his Garments, le&s;t he walk naked, and th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">y &s;ee his &s;hame.</HEAD>
<P><HI>WAtchfulne&s;s,</HI> and Chri&s;ts <HI>coming</HI> u&s;ually go to|gether, where <HI>Coming</HI> is the Doctrine, <HI>Watching</HI> is the U&s;e; reaching us, that although <HI>watching</HI> is a <HI>duty</HI> Saints are alwayes to be found in, yet more e&s;pecially will it lye upon them (as a principal work of that Age) who live in, or near upon the <HI>time</HI> of Chri&s;ts <HI>coming,</HI> to
<PB N="130" REF="122">be <HI>watchful;</HI> and as before I have &s;poken of the one, to wit, <HI>Chri&s;ts coming,</HI> &s;o may I not here leap over the other, <HI>viz.</HI> The <HI>duty of watching,</HI> The Holy Gho&s;t having joyned them together.</P>
<P>Yet for &s;o much as concerns the <HI>practical</HI> part of this duty, that being a thing more commonly known (though not practi&s;ed as known) and al&s;o not &s;o proper to the bu&s;ine&s;s I am now upon, being only expo&s;ition, I &s;hall wave it, chu&s;ing to in&s;i&s;t upon (as a thing more proper to our work, and which al&s;o may be of u&s;e to &s;tir up tho&s;e who al|ready know the duty, to &s;tand <HI>SHALL I? SHALL I?</HI> no longer, but in good earne&s;t to apply them&s;elves to it) the rea&s;ons why the Holy Gho&s;t hath &s;o con|joyned <HI>watching,</HI> and <HI>Chri&s;ts coming,</HI> as that it is a thing rare to read of the one, and not al&s;o to hear of the other.</P>
<P>Now in the 24. and 25. Chapters of <HI>Matthew</HI> (the mo&s;t full, and pathetical Sermon that ever our Lord preached of his coming) we have &s;everal things foretold by Chri&s;t him&s;elf, the which too evidently would appear about the time of his <HI>coming,</HI> which are the principal <HI>rea&s;ons</HI> why Chri&s;t &s;o calls upon his <HI>Di&s;ciples,</HI> and in them all <HI>Beleevers,</HI> as <HI>Mark.</HI> 13.37. <HI>What I &s;ay unto you, I &s;ay unto all, Watch;</HI> And therefore tho&s;e more e&s;pecially which &s;hould live <HI>in,</HI> or <HI>about the time</HI> wherein the&s;e things were to have their accompli&s;hment, to bee <HI>watchful,</HI> Chap. 24.42. Chap. 25.13. which things by how much we &s;ee them more appearing, by &s;o much may we conclude the <HI>&s;econd coming</HI> of Chri&s;t is nearer, and &s;till have &s;trength added to our foregoing Po&s;ition, that it is that <HI>coming,</HI> and no other, &s;poken of in the words, <HI>I come as a Thief.</HI></P>
<P>Now the&s;e are,</P>
<P N="1">1 <HI>A &s;trange &s;leep upon many Profe&s;&s;ors.</HI> This is held forth in the Parable of the Virgins, <HI>Mat.</HI> 25. ver&s;. 1.
<PB N="131" REF="122"><HI>Then &s;hall the Kingdome of Heaven be likened unto ten Virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the Bridegroom.</HI> 2. <HI>And five of them were wi&s;e, and five were fooli&s;h.</HI> Ver&s;. 5. <HI>While the Bridegroom tarried, they all &s;lumbred and &s;lept.</HI> Which <HI>&s;leep</HI> is not (as I conceive) a <HI>&s;leep</HI> in re&s;pect of outward Pro|fe&s;&s;ion, for the <HI>&s;leepers</HI> &s;hall have a kind of Profe&s;&s;ion up|on their backs &s;till, as is intimated in that of the fooli&s;h Virgins to the wi&s;e, ju&s;t upon the Bridegrooms ap|proach, <HI>Our lamps are gone out,</HI> ver&s;. 8. arguing, that the <HI>Lamps,</HI> that is, the outward Profe&s;&s;ion of wi&s;e and fooli&s;h, was held up, did not <HI>cea&s;e</HI> burning, till the very <HI>moment</HI> of the Bridegrooms <HI>coming,</HI> though yet at the time he tarried, they are &s;aid to be <HI>a&s;leep,</HI> ver&s;. 5. But it is a <HI>&s;leep</HI> in re&s;pect of the <HI>practice,</HI> and exerci&s;e of ho|line&s;s, which many at this day, who had formerly been as well Practitioners as Profe&s;&s;ors, &s;hould now lay a&s;ide, as a needle&s;s and &s;uperfluous thing, and &s;o become meer Pro|fe&s;&s;ors; vani&s;hing altogether into <HI>aery</HI> notions and opini|ons, with a kind of <HI>di&s;dain</HI> and contempt of Chri&s;tian fife and conver&s;ation. Men that have been formerly much for <HI>Prayer,</HI> much for <HI>reading, hearing, Chri&s;tian &s;o|ciety, &s;trict, and holy walking,</HI> &s;hall now look upon all the&s;e as <HI>low</HI> and <HI>childi&s;h</HI> things, &s;peaking after this man|ner, We are now expecting the Bridegroom, looking for the glorious appearance of the Morning-&s;tar, the Sun of Righteou&s;ne&s;s, great and high di&s;coveries of God, and therefore away with the&s;e low camal duties, and Or|dinances, what &s;hall we, who expect &s;uch glorious ap|pearances, exerci&s;e our &s;elves in the&s;e mean and childi&s;h things? which indeed were fit for tho&s;e who lived under former di&s;pen&s;ations, and more dark admini&s;trations, but do not become us upon whom the morning-&s;tar is ti&s;en.</P>
<P>And here (if I may &s;o &s;ay, though with &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion to
<PB N="132" REF="123">others) I conceive the thing I am &s;peaking of to bee the very <HI>&s;leep</HI> before mentioned of the <HI>Ten Virgins,</HI> for (as by the &s;cope of the Parable appears) the&s;e were in the <HI>Kingdome of Heaven, i. e.</HI> Members of the vi&s;ible Church. Now the <HI>coming</HI> of the <HI>Bridegroom</HI> being a thing expected and looked for (though &s;ome look for it in one way, &s;ome in another) in the <HI>Kingdome of Heaven, i. e.</HI> by the Members of the vi&s;ible Church, as near at hand; the&s;e <HI>Virgins</HI> will needs hereupon pre&s;ently in all ha&s;te be going forth, before the &s;et time, to meet him, <HI>They went forth to meet the Bridegroom,</HI> ver&s;. 1. that is, (as I conceive) they reject all communion, holy duties, and Ordinances, &amp;c. (things once they did exerci&s;e in) as things now no longer in u&s;e, but out of date, and bidding farewel to the&s;e, go forth with high expectations of great and glorious things, at the appearance of the Bridegroom now at hand, as if they &s;hould &s;ay, The <HI>Bridegroom</HI> is <HI>coming,</HI> he is <HI>coming,</HI> who&s;e appearance puts an end to all the&s;e things, and therefore why &s;hall we any longer exerci&s;e our &s;elves in them? away therefore with the&s;e Duties and Ordinances, it behoves us to go forth and meet the <HI>Bridegroom;</HI> we will walk no longer in this way, but come, let us go forth to that higher, and more glo|rious admini&s;tration, that the <HI>Bridegroom</HI> brings with him.</P>
<P>Now they going thus before the time, I &s;ay, and mark it well before the time, for afterwards, ver&s;. 6. we read of a <HI>command</HI> given at the <HI>Bridegrooms coming,</HI> to go <HI>forth</HI> and <HI>meet</HI> him; till which <HI>command</HI> had come had they &s;tayed, and continued in that &s;tation the <HI>Bride|groom</HI> left them in upon his departure, yeelding cheerful obedience to all tho&s;e his wayes and commands, which he bid them to mind, and be conver&s;ant in till his <HI>com|ing,</HI> they had done well; but going out before the time, leaving the Laws of Chri&s;t, before Chri&s;t the great Law|giver
<PB N="133" REF="123">had aboli&s;hed them, ca&s;ting off their former practice, and the <HI>Bridegroom</HI> not coming &s;o &s;oon as they expected, to direct them into a new, they <HI>&s;lumber and &s;leep, i.e.</HI> do even nothing at all; as a &s;leepy man &s;tirs not, acts not in any way or duty for Gods glory, or his Neighbours good; &s;o it now fares with them, which &s;o &s;ad an effect of their going forth to meet the <HI>Bridegroom</HI> hath made me to think, that although the thing it &s;elf were very good, had they but waited till the coming forth of the Royal Edict, for the abrogation of the old Law, and the e&s;tabli&s;h|ment of a new; yet for them to go forth to meet the <HI>Bride|groom</HI> before the time, to run before they were called, to abrogate Chri&s;ts Laws, before him&s;elf had done it, was &s;inful, and very evil, and that for which God, by way of correction of &s;o great arrogancy and pre&s;umption, gives them up to this <HI>spiritual &s;lumber</HI> and <HI>&s;leep</HI> here &s;poken of.</P>
<P>Now whereas I &s;aid at fir&s;t this <HI>&s;leep</HI> &s;hould be of <HI>ma|ny,</HI> I &s;pake it to this end, that none might imagine this <HI>&s;leep</HI> to be general upon all the <HI>V<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">rgins</HI> in the world at this <HI>time;</HI> for though it is &s;aid, v. 5. <HI>Whil&s;t the Bridegroom tar|ried they all &s;lumbered and &s;lept;</HI> yet is not the ALL &s;o to be under&s;tood, as if &s;o be <HI>all</HI> the Virgins and Profe&s;|&s;ors in the world &s;hould at this <HI>time</HI> be <HI>a&s;leep;</HI> for though I conceive <HI>all</HI> here is to be taken <HI>univer&s;ally, i.e.</HI> all, ex|cepting none; yet the <HI>univer&s;ality</HI> of the word doth not reach all Virgins and Profe&s;&s;ors but tho&s;e onely who <HI>went forth to meet the Bridegroom,</HI> for to them alone the &s;cope of the Parable runs; the meaning then is this, That all tho&s;e who ca&s;ting off <HI>Duties</HI> and <HI>Ordinances</HI> did go forth before the <HI>time,</HI> to <HI>meet</HI> the <HI>Bridegroom,</HI> did <HI>&s;lum|ber</HI> and <HI>&s;leep,</HI> not one of them was &s;o happy as to keep his eies open; but that <HI>all</HI> Virgins cannot be here meant is clear from the following Parable (which &s;eems to be as it were an exception from this former) where mention is made of
<PB N="134" REF="124">&s;ome Servants improving their <HI>Talents,</HI> therefore not all <HI>&s;leeping;</HI> and likewi&s;e, from ver&s;. 46. of the precedent Chapter, which tells us; that &s;ome at Chri&s;ts coming &s;hould be found doing their Ma&s;ters work; <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed is that &s;ervant whom his Lord when he cometh &s;hall finde &s;o doing,</HI> therefore not all a&s;leep; Yet (I &s;ay) <HI>all</HI> takes in <HI>every</HI> of tho&s;e Virgins who <HI>went</HI> forth before the time <HI>to meet</HI> the <HI>Bridegroom,</HI> the number of which &s;hall not be a few; for they are not &s;et forth by a &s;maller number, as two, but by a greater, as ten.</P>
<P>Two things here are very ob&s;ervable, which I cannot o|mit, &s;eeming to intimate the way or manner how this <HI>&s;leep</HI> &s;hall creep on upon the Virgins at this day.</P>
<P N="1">1 <HI>From a fal&s;e Principle commonly received among the Virgins, as touching the coming of Chri&s;t,</HI> namely, that the &s;ame &s;hall be <HI>&s;piritual</HI> onely, and not <HI>per&s;onal;</HI> this to me appears from the <HI>attempt</HI> they make, and that before his <HI>coming,</HI> to go forth and meet him; for taking this for granted (which is indeed a certain truth) that the Admini&s;tration that now is, is to be in force but <HI>till his coming,</HI> and they conceiving this <HI>coming</HI> of Chri&s;t to be no other, but a more <HI>glorious man fe&s;tation of him&s;elf</HI> in a <HI>spiritual way</HI> to the &s;ouls of his people, judging withall, <HI>&s;ome beginnings</HI> of this to be already both in them&s;elves and others; they hence conclude the <HI>time</HI> now to be <HI>come</HI> in which the&s;e things are to cea&s;e, the <HI>Day-&s;tar</HI> (which will &s;uddenly inlighten the whole world) beg<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">n|ning already to glimmer in their hearts. Hereupon they pluck up &s;takes, quit their old &s;tation, &s;ound a march, with a mighty cry, <HI>The Bridegroom is coming, the Bridegroom is coming, let us &s;peedily go forth to meet him;</HI> whereas had they in their <HI>judgement,</HI> as well as beleeved the <HI>coming</HI> to be near, &s;o retained in the love of it, that good <HI>old Principle,</HI> that it is onely Chri&s;ts <HI>Per&s;o|nal coming</HI> which puts an <HI>end</HI> to the&s;e things, they would
<PB N="135" REF="124">have had certain ground to have &s;tood upon, and have known the time when the&s;e things were to cea&s;e, and not before the time headily run forth, but rather patiently wai|ted for that day, &s;ubmitting them&s;elves in the mean time to the Laws, and commands of their Lord and Ma&s;ter Chri&s;t.</P>
<P N="2">2 <HI>From a loo&s;ene&s;s in practice, in compari&s;on of what they were formerly,</HI> for ob&s;erve,</P>
<P N="1">1 <HI>They &s;lumber, i.e.</HI> give a little way to <HI>pride, remi&s;|ne&s;s in duty, examining, and watching over their hearts, &amp;c.</HI> allow them&s;elves to be <HI>a little more worldly, &s;tretch Con&s;cience</HI> a little for <HI>gain,</HI> and <HI>reach after pla|ces, honors, preferments, the love of great men</HI> (though gained by unfaithfulne&s;s to God, and them too) <HI>more</HI> then, a <HI>time</HI> was, they <HI>dur&s;t</HI> do; and thus having <HI>fir&s;t</HI> by a <HI>&s;lumber</HI> benum'd their Con&s;ciences, which now are not &s;o tender, and apt to be pricked with the lea&s;t thorn, as in times pa&s;t they were; the next degree is a <HI>fast &s;leep,</HI> (<HI>they all &s;lumbered and &s;lept,</HI> ver&s;. 5.) <HI>i. e.</HI> what <HI>before</HI> they <HI>neglected</HI> through carele&s;ne&s;s, now they <HI>throw off</HI> from a principle, that they need not do any &s;uch things, whereupon they lay them&s;elves down, and as a man a&s;leep, <HI>&s;tir not, act not</HI> in any <HI>Duty,</HI> or <HI>Ordinance,</HI> or <HI>work</HI> of their Lord and Ma&s;ter <HI>Chri&s;t.</HI> I wi&s;h from my heart (were it the Lords will) that all tho&s;e who at this day a|mong&s;t us are <HI>a&s;leep,</HI> might from this word have &s;uch a <HI>jog</HI> as might cau&s;e them to <HI>rub</HI> up a little, and to bethink them|&s;elves how they fell a&s;leep.</P>
<P N="2">2 <HI>An extraordinary deluge, and over-&s;preading of errors,</HI> Chri&s;ts <HI>&s;econd coming</HI> herein agreeing to his <HI>fir&s;t,</HI> for never was the Church and Commonwealth of the <HI>Jews</HI> &s;o infe&s;ted with <HI>errors</HI> as about the time of his <HI>fir&s;t com|ing.</HI> And this we have plainly chap. 24. where Chri&s;t tels us;</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, That there &s;hall be many Seducers, ver&s;. 5. <HI>Many
<PB N="136" REF="125">&s;hall come in my name, &s;aying, I am Chri&s;t, and &s;hall deceive many,</HI> Ver&s;. 11. <HI>And many fal&s;e Prophets &s;hall ari&s;e and &s;hall deceive many.</HI> Ver&s;. 24 <HI>There &s;hall ari&s;e fal&s;e Chri&s;ts, and fal&s;e Prophets.</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, The&s;e Seducers &s;hall pretend Commi&s;&s;ion from Chri&s;t, therefore &s;aid ver 5. to <HI>come</HI> in his <HI>name, i.e.</HI> pleading his Commi&s;&s;ion.</P>
<P>Thirdly, They &s;hall profe&s;s them&s;elves to be extraor|dinarily gifted; per&s;ons in&s;pired by Chri&s;t, endued with the gift of Prophecy, called therefore <HI>Prophets,</HI> Ver&s;. 11 24.</P>
<P>Fourthly, They &s;hall do &s;trange and wonderful things, things not common, or of ordinary ob&s;ervation, Ver&s;. 24. <HI>There &s;hall ari&s;e fal&s;e Prophets, and &s;hall &s;hew great &s;igns and wonders.</HI></P>
<P>Fifthly, They &s;hall have many followers and Di&s;ciples, ver. 5. <HI>Shall deceive many;</HI> yea ver 24. &s;o cunning &s;hall the&s;e be in deceiving, <HI>that if it were po&s;&s;ible they &s;hould deceive the very Elect.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3 <HI>A &s;ad and &s;earfull Apo&s;tacy of divers who for|merly were eminent and glorious Lights in the Church,</HI> Ver&s;. 12. <HI>The love of many &s;hall wax cold;</HI> which words are to be under&s;tood of a <HI>final Apo&s;tacy,</HI> becau&s;e in the next ver&s;e <HI>per&s;everance to the end</HI> is &s;et in <HI>oppo&s;ition</HI> to their <HI>Apo&s;tacy; but he that &s;hall indure to the end the &s;ame &s;hall be &s;aved.</HI> Ver. 29. <HI>The &s;tars &s;hall fall from Heaven;</HI> By HEAVEN we are to under&s;tand the <HI>vi&s;ible</HI> Church, &s;o called in Scripture, <HI>I heard a great voyce of much people in Heaven, &s;aying, Haleluyah,</HI> Revel. 191. that is, in the <HI>vi&s;ible</HI> Church. By STARS <HI>emi|nent men in the Church,</HI> Revel. 1.20. <HI>The &s;even Stars are the Angels</HI> (or Officers) <HI>of the &s;even Churches;</HI> The meaning is. <HI>eminent men,</HI> men that were formerly of no &s;mall note in the Church, for their &s;eeming zeal and piety, &s;hall now &s;hew them&s;elves what they are, and become <HI>A|po&s;tates.</HI></P>
<PB N="137" REF="125">
<P N="4">4 <HI>An aptne&s;s to be offended at the things that &s;hall be done in the world in the&s;e times,</HI> Ver&s;. 10. <HI>Then &s;hall many be offended.</HI> They &s;hall not be able to brook what God in an active way will do, in a permi&s;&s;ive way will &s;uffer; but every thing they &s;hall at this day ca&s;t their eies upon will <HI>&s;tumble</HI> them, and <HI>offend</HI> them, make them kick and &s;ling; &s;o that the very world will be a torment to them, and they to them&s;elves.</P>
<P N="5">5 <HI>A hating of fellow-brethren, with a notable per|&s;ecuting &s;pirit lying at the bottom,</HI> Ver&s;. 10. <HI>&s;hall betray one another, and &s;hall hate one another,</HI> Ver&s;e 48. <HI>If that evil &s;ervant &s;hall &s;ay in his heart, my Lord de|layeth his coming,</HI> Ver&s;. 49. <HI>And &s;hall begin to &s;mite his fellow-&s;crvants, and to eat and drink with the drun|ken.</HI> What is the meaning hereof? Why, eating and drinking denote friend&s;hip, and civil &s;ociety; the mean|ing then is this, many men in the&s;e times, who &s;hall yet go under the name of Chri&s;ts &s;ervants, &s;hall &s;o far degene|rate, as that they &s;hall not onely di&s;-own tho&s;e that were formerly their fellow-&s;ervants but &s;hall &s;mite them with re|proaches, yea, with the Civil &s;word, if the Lord prevent not; and in&s;tead of making their <HI>fellow-&s;ervants</HI> their Companions and A&s;&s;ociates any longer, they &s;hall choo&s;e the <HI>Drunken, i.e.</HI> &s;uch as their very walking doth declare them to all men to be per&s;ons void of grace, and &s;trangers to Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and yet the&s;e now &s;hall be their familiars, and intimates, rather than the other.</P>
<P><HI>The&s;e things</HI> our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t hath foretold to be in the world a <HI>little</HI> before his <HI>coming,</HI> to e&s;cape which, as he there calls upon his Di&s;ciples to <HI>Watch, watch, watch;</HI> &s;o do I conceive for the very &s;ame <HI>rea&s;ons,</HI> in the words I am upon, are we <HI>exhorted</HI> to this <HI>duty,</HI> becau&s;e, as by all the&s;e, &s;anctification grows into decay, and they are made naked in the eyes of others to their &s;hame, (as <HI>Aaron</HI> made <HI>I&s;rael</HI> by that &s;in of the Calf, and that a|mong&s;t
<PB N="138" REF="126">their enemies, <HI>Exod.</HI> 32.25.) &s;o the very motive to this duty of <HI>watching,</HI> in the words, is the <HI>keeping their Garments,</HI> that is, of Sanctification (the Garment of Ju&s;tification being but one Garment, re&s;embled by the Robe Chri&s;t wore in the daies of his fle&s;h, which was one intire peece, without &s;eam throughout, and that rather Chri&s;ts put upon us, than ours, and not at all tru&s;t|ed in our hands to keep, but kept in Chri&s;ts for us, and therefore not that here &s;poken of) le&s;t by lo&s;ing of them they become <HI>naked,</HI> and are in the eyes of others, yea, their enemies (who can &s;ee the&s;e Garments, though a Saints Ju&s;tification is a thing hidden from them) <HI>expo|&s;ed to &s;hame,</HI> which in a few words comprehends all tho&s;e rea&s;ons Chri&s;t had laid down and pre&s;&s;ed, <HI>Mat.</HI> 24. and 25. why beleevers living in times immediately preceding his coming, &s;hould be watchful.</P>
<P>And let not any, in ca&s;e what I have &s;aid &s;it too clo&s;e, be for that offended at the Author (who is a friend to all that love the Lord Je&s;us) or &s;leight the things them&s;elves, but rather con&s;idering what Chri&s;t hath plainly foretold &s;hall be a little before his coming, let them learn this, to con&s;ider their own ways, and lay &s;eriou&s;ly their practices to heart, le&s;t otherwi&s;e he come upon them as a Theef, before they &s;hall have time to get oyl into their Lamps, or to put on again their Garments, which now they have put off.</P>
<P>Thus much of the third thing, <HI>Chri&s;ts Watchword to his people.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="4" TYPE="section">
<PB N="139" REF="126">
<HEAD>4 <HI>Chri&s;ts wonderful providential di&s;po&s;ing hand in cau&s;ing his Enemies to randezvouze in the place of their own de&s;truction.</HI></HEAD>
<P>Ver&s;e 16. <HI>ANd he</HI> (<HI>i.e.</HI> Chri&s;t) <HI>gathered them to|gether into a place called in the Hebrew Tongue, Armageddon.</HI></P>
<P>The&s;e words have relation to the 14. Ver&s;e, where we have the Kings of the Earth, and the whole world gather|ing together to <HI>the battel of the great day of God Al|mighty;</HI> onely becau&s;e whil&s;t they are gathering together from all parts, and now in a manner their whole body u|nited and ready to &s;wallow up his people, Chri&s;t appears, and interpo&s;eth him&s;elf betwixt his people, and their bloody raging enemies, therefore we have the <HI>coming of Chri&s;t,</HI> Ver&s;e 15. brought in between their gathering together, and their full and compleat Randezvouze; and &s;o the&s;e words come to be di&s;-joyned from the former.</P>
<P>As touching the <HI>place</HI> here called <HI>Armageddon,</HI> the opinions of Writers are various, which (being not a thing &s;o material) I &s;hall not recite; my own thoughts incline to their opinion, who read it <HI>the place of de&s;truction of an Army;</HI> And po&s;&s;ibly there may be an allu&s;ion in the name, to that great de&s;truction of the <HI>Canaanites,</HI> at the waters of <HI>Megiddo, Judg.</HI> 5.19. when <HI>Si&s;era</HI> the chief Captain of <HI>Jabin,</HI> with all his Ho&s;t, fell by the hand of <HI>De|borah</HI> and <HI>Barak,</HI> where was made &s;uch a total <HI>de&s;tructi|on,</HI> that it is &s;aid, <HI>Judg.</HI> 4.16. <HI>And the Host of Si&s;era fell upon the edge of the &s;word, and there was not a man left.</HI> And indeed, I the rather incline to this interpretati|on, for the agreeablene&s;s of it, to tho&s;e other Scriptures, where (as before I have &s;hewed) this battel is &s;poken of, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 63.6. <HI>I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury,</HI> Chap. 66.16. <HI>The
<PB N="140" REF="127">&s;lain of the Lord &s;hall be many, Joel chap.</HI> 3.14. calls it <HI>the valley of Deci&s;ion,</HI> or cutting off; and <HI>Rev.</HI> 19.21. <HI>The remnant were &s;lain with the &s;word of him that &s;ate on the Hor&s;e.</HI> All implying a great and marvellous de&s;truction of enemies.</P>
<P>The meaning of the whole is, <HI>That Chri&s;t him&s;elf, as well as the spirits before mentioned,</HI> Ver&s; 13, 14. <HI>hath a special hand in the gathering together this cur|&s;ed Troop;</HI> they to de&s;troy the Saints and people of Chri&s;t, but he to manife&s;t his love to his children, and his own glory the more upon his appearing, and to revenge upon them with his own hand the blood of his people; and although their coming up, and gathering to a head is through their in&s;tigation, yet the di&s;po&s;ing of their Quar|ters and place of Randezvouze is his, who gathers them together into the appointed place of their de&s;truction, where for his peoples &s;ake, he intends to render upon them his anger with fury, and his rebukes with flames of fire, as <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> expre&s;&s;eth it.</P>
<P>And methinks, when my thoughts are fixed upon this day, I cannot but &s;ometimes &s;tand and admire, not &s;o much at the <HI>ruin</HI> of the enemies, as at that <HI>matchle&s;s love</HI> of Chri&s;t towards his, which will appear in doing of it, who &s;eems at this day to act the holy pa&s;&s;ions of a provoked Father and Husband, who having &s;een his children oft murdered before his face, and his beloved Spou&s;e now in the hands of the Murderers, can no longer forbear, but in the heat and vehemency of affection, with unexpre&s;&s;ible indignation, he him&s;elf with his drawn &s;word ru&s;heth forth upon the Murderers, (as not contented to have their blood, if his own hands be not dipped in it) fighting with <HI>fury through</HI> and <HI>through,</HI> and from the <HI>rage</HI> of his mightily provoked &s;pirit, being become deaf to all cryes, kils and &s;lays without pity or mercy; and is &s;o far from &s;adly re&s;enting what he hath done after|wards,
<PB N="141" REF="127">as that he is marvellou&s;ly delighted, yea glories in it, that for the &s;ake of his Children and Spou&s;e (who&s;e quarrel he hath been now revenging) he hath ingaged &s;o far, as to come off the field with <HI>Garments dyed red</HI> in the blood of their enemies, which excellently we have &s;et forth, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 63. where we have Chri&s;t after this wonderful &s;laughter made of his peoples enemies, and that with his own hand (who therefore is &s;aid to <HI>come from Edom, Edom</HI> being ever a cruel enemy to <HI>I&s;rael</HI>) turning him|&s;elf, and in a way of triumph pre&s;enting him&s;elf to his Spou&s;e, who &s;eeing one coming, <HI>glorious in his apparrel</HI> (<HI>i.e.</HI> mo&s;t delightful to behold) and yet withall having <HI>Garments dyed in blood, and travelling as a mighty Gyant in the greatne&s;s of his &s;trength,</HI> &s;he is a&s;toni&s;h|ed, and (as in an ex a&s;ie, through wonderment, fear, and joy) &s;he cryes out, Who? <HI>Who is this that cometh from Edom in &s;uch</HI> a manner, <HI>with dyed Garments? yet glo|rious in his apparrel, travelling in the greatne&s;s of his &s;trength:</HI> To whom Chri&s;t pre&s;ently replies, <HI>It is I,</HI> O my Spou&s;e, <HI>It is I,</HI> who am <HI>mighty to &s;ave thee,</HI> who for thy &s;ake have been <HI>treading the Winepre&s;s alone,</HI> trampling the <HI>people in mine anger,</HI> making them <HI>drunk in my fury,</HI> bringing down their &s;trength to the Earth; and it is &s;o far from repenting me of any thing that for thee I have done, that were there, or &s;hall there be any more to gather together again&s;t thee, I can yet do no le&s;s (for my heart is filled with vengeance) than tread them in mine anger, yea trample them in my fury, and their blood &s;hall be &s;prinkled upon my Garments, and I will &s;lain all my Rayment.</P>
<P>Wonderful un&s;peakable love! a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ming a mo&s;t dear and ble&s;&s;ed Saviour with burning affections and fury, clad|ding him with zeal, and vengeance as a cloak, that hee might plead their cau&s;e, and avenge their quarrel, pour abroad the blood of their enemies, who by their &s;ins have
<PB N="142" REF="128">thru&s;t a &s;pear in his &s;ide, and wickedly poured out his. What heart without melting into tears can con&s;ider of this?</P>
<P>Thus much as touching the fourth and la&s;t thing, namely, <HI>Chri&s;ts wonderful di&s;po&s;ing of his enemies to their own ruine;</HI> with which concludes the <HI>Interval,</HI> or &s;pace of time betwixt the &s;ixth and &s;eventh <HI>VIALS.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="7" TYPE="vial">
<HEAD>VIAL VII.</HEAD>
<DIV3 N="1" TYPE="part">
<HEAD>1 <HI>The Angel pouring it out.</HI></HEAD>
<P>Ver&s;. 17. <HI>AND the &s;eventh Angel poured out his Vial.</HI> The <HI>Angel</HI> of this Vial is doubt|le&s;s <HI>Chri&s;t him&s;elf,</HI> who&s;e <HI>coming</HI> we &s;pake of but now, and who in&s;tantly upon his <HI>coming</HI> pours out this <HI>Vial,</HI> called the <HI>Archangel,</HI> 1 The&s;&s;. 4.16. who is there &s;aid to come with a <HI>&s;hout,</HI> or <HI>voyce, The Lord him&s;elf &s;hall de&s;cend from heaven with a &s;hout, and with the voyce of the Archangel.</HI> And accordingly as an Adjunct ac|companying this <HI>Vial</HI> we have a <HI>great voyce. The &s;e|venth Angel poured out his Vial, and there came a great voyce out of the Temple of Heaven;</HI> which <HI>voyce</HI> is no other but the <HI>voyce of Chri&s;t</HI> him&s;elf, as I &s;hall &s;hew anon.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 TYPE="subject">
<HEAD>2 <HI>The Subject of it,</HI></HEAD>
<HEAD>The Air.</HEAD>
<P><HI>Into the Air:</HI> No &s;ubject can be more general than the <HI>Air,</HI> which containeth all things, fills all places, in which all Creatures breath. The <HI>univer&s;ality</HI> of the &s;ubject notes the pouring out of this <HI>Vial</HI> to be <HI>univer&s;al,</HI>
<PB N="143" REF="128">the fore-going <HI>Vials</HI> have fallen upon particular &s;ub|jects, The fir&s;t, upon the <HI>gro&s;&s;er</HI> parts of Popery; The &s;econd, upon the <HI>Antichri&s;tian Hierarchy;</HI> The third, upon &s;ome particular <HI>States</HI> and <HI>Kingdomes,</HI> with their <HI>Heads</HI> and <HI>Rulers;</HI> The fourth, upon the <HI>German Empire,</HI> or <HI>Hou&s;e</HI> of <HI>Au&s;tria;</HI> The fifth, upon the City <HI>Rome;</HI> The &s;ixth, upon the <HI>Turk,</HI> or <HI>Ottoman</HI> Family. But this &s;eventh and la&s;t is <HI>general,</HI> reaching all things what&s;oever that &s;tand in the way of Chri&s;ts <HI>Kingdome.</HI></P>
<P>And this the change of &s;peech u&s;ed in this <HI>Vial,</HI> diffe|rent from all the other, noteth al&s;o, as it &s;eems to me; for whereas the other <HI>Vials</HI> are poured out upon &s;uch and &s;uch things, the fir&s;t upon the <HI>Earth,</HI> the &s;econd upon the <HI>Sea,</HI> the third upon the <HI>Rivers</HI> and <HI>Fountains of wa|ters,</HI> &amp;c. This &s;eventh and la&s;t is &s;aid to be poured out <HI>into</HI> the <HI>Air,</HI> noting hereby the <HI>&s;preading and dilating</HI> of it &s;elf, as far as the <HI>Air</HI> &s;preads, in &s;uch manner, as that thereby all, and every part is filled with the effects of it. Now a <HI>Vial</HI> might be poured out upon the <HI>Air,</HI> yet not <HI>d<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">late</HI> it &s;elf into every part to fill the whole with it, as the fir&s;t <HI>Vial</HI> poured out upon the <HI>earth,</HI> did not &s;o <HI>dilate</HI> it &s;elf as to de&s;troy tho&s;e earthly dregs of Popery in every part of the <HI>Papal</HI> Kingdome; neither did the &s;e|cond upon the <HI>Sea,</HI> de&s;troy the <HI>Antichri&s;tian Hierar|chy,</HI> but in &s;ome Kingdoms only; the third upon the <HI>Rivers</HI> and <HI>Fountains of waters,</HI> not the ten <HI>Horns</HI> in general, but &s;ome of them only did, as to the over|turning of their pre&s;ent Government and Con&s;titution, feel it; yet each of the&s;e <HI>Vials</HI> are truly &s;aid to be poured out upon the&s;e &s;ubjects, becau&s;e they had effects to de|&s;troy &s;ome part, that which they fell upon, though they did not <HI>dilate</HI> them&s;elves into every part; but now this &s;eventh is poured out <HI>INTO THE AIR,</HI> noting a <HI>di|lating</HI> and <HI>diffu&s;ing</HI> of it &s;elf as far as the <HI>Air goes,</HI>
<PB N="144" REF="129">which (I have &s;aid before) is general, filling all things and places; accordingly this <HI>Vial</HI> reacheth,</P>
<P N="1">1 The whole <HI>Kingdome</HI> of the <HI>Dragon,</HI> or <HI>Devil,</HI> who is called <HI>the Prince of the power of the Air,</HI> Eph. 2.2. who, upon the pouring out of this <HI>Vial,</HI> with all his Ho&s;t, &s;hall be bound, and &s;hut up in the bottomle&s;s pit for a <HI>thou&s;and years,</HI> as <HI>Rev.</HI> 20.1, 2, 3. And here indeed it had been more orderly to have placed our fore-going Di&s;cour&s;e of the <HI>thou&s;and years,</HI> but becau&s;e truth is to be preferred before order (which when it tends to the ob&s;curing of the truth, is but curio&s;ity, and to be &s;hunned) I have therefore, becau&s;e in my judgement it &s;tands more for the advantage of truth where it is, than it would do here, cho&s;en to be a tre&s;pa&s;&s;er in points of nicety.</P>
<P N="2">2 The whole <HI>Kingdome</HI> of <HI>Antichri&s;t,</HI> or the <HI>Papacy.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3 The <HI>remaining Powers</HI> of the <HI>Great Turk,</HI> which were not de&s;troyed by the &s;ixth <HI>Vial.</HI></P>
<P N="4">4 The <HI>Kingdomes</HI> of this world, <HI>i.e.</HI> &s;uch as neither have dependance upon the <HI>Papacy,</HI> nor the <HI>Great Turk,</HI> all &s;hall come under this <HI>Vial,</HI> and be utterly ruined, and broken in peeces by it.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 TYPE="adjunct">
<HEAD>3 <HI>The Adjunct,</HI></HEAD>
<HEAD>A great Voyce.</HEAD>
<P><HI>And there came a great voyce out of the Temple of Heaven from the Throne, &s;aying, It is done.</HI></P>
<P>This <HI>Voyce</HI> is Chri&s;ts, <HI>Rev.</HI> 21.5, 6. <HI>Hee</HI> (that is, Chri&s;t) <HI>that &s;ate upon the Throne, &s;aid unto mee, It is done.</HI></P>
<P>The meaning of the words, <HI>It is done,</HI> I have formerly &s;hewed to be only this, NOW <HI>is the New Jeru&s;alem
<PB N="145" REF="129">e&s;tabli&s;hed,</HI> now is my Kingdome &s;et up, the work now is done and compleated; for this work had its beginning before under the former <HI>Vials,</HI> and that from the fir&s;t day that the <HI>little &s;tone</HI> began to <HI>&s;mite the great Image,</HI> and therefore <HI>Daniel,</HI> Chap. 2.44. &s;peaking of this Kingdome of Chri&s;t, &s;aith, <HI>In the dayes of the&s;e Kings &s;hall the God of Heaven &s;et up a Kingdom,</HI> i.e. <HI>Chri&s;ts Kingdome</HI> &s;hall have its beginning, as the &s;ame is a <HI>&s;tone,</HI> in the dayes of the <HI>Fourth Monarchy,</HI> before yet the &s;ame is de&s;troyed; and it &s;hall grow up by little and little, <HI>&s;mi|ting the great Image,</HI> and &s;till as it <HI>&s;mites</HI> be increa&s;ing in &s;trength and greatne&s;s; but yet the &s;ame is not a <HI>Moun|tain</HI> filling the whole Earth, till it hath <HI>broken</HI> in peeces the <HI>Great Image,</HI> in &s;uch &s;ort as that the place thereof is no more found, ver&s;. 34, 35. <HI>i.e.</HI> this Kingdome of Chri&s;t &s;hall not be compleatly &s;et up, it &s;hall not be the <HI>Fifth Monarchy</HI> (though yet it &s;hall be in a ri&s;ing way) until the &s;eventh <HI>Vial</HI> be poured out, which breaks in peeces, and wholly removes the <HI>Fourth Monarchy</HI> and all worldly powers.</P>
<P>And this is clear, <HI>Dan.</HI> 7.12. who there tells us, that <HI>the re&s;t of the Bea&s;ts had not their Dominion taken away,</HI> (<HI>i.e.</HI> the Kingdoms of this world, are not compleatly the Lords, and his Chri&s;ts, as <HI>Rev.</HI> 11.15.) <HI>until &s;uch time as the Thrones of the Fourth Bea&s;t</HI> (<HI>i.e.</HI> the <HI>Roman Monarchy</HI> as under <HI>Antichri&s;t</HI>) <HI>are ca&s;t down,</HI> ver&s;. 9. the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> him&s;elf <HI>&s;lain,</HI> his <HI>body de&s;troyed, and given to the burning flame,</HI> ver&s;. 11. Then &s;hall it be &s;aid, (as here) with a great voyce, <HI>It is done;</HI> Then &s;hall be verified what is &s;aid, <HI>Rev.</HI> 10.7. <HI>The my&s;tery of God is fini&s;hed, as he hath declared to his &s;ervants the Prophets,</HI> that is, now all things &s;poken of by the Prophets, as touching my <HI>Kingdome,</HI> and the &s;etting of it up, are fini&s;hed, for <HI>it is done,</HI> the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem is e&s;tabli&s;hed.</HI></P>
<P>And truly here let me adde, that although &s;ome godly
<PB N="146" REF="130">men (who&s;e thoughts I have an e&s;teem of) look every day for the &s;etting up of this <HI>Fifth Monarchy,</HI> and that by having the Powers of the world laid down, and let fall out of the pre&s;ent hands they are in, who hold them (as they judge, by right of the <HI>Fourth Monarchy,</HI> and left free for Saints to come, take up and execute; yet mu&s;t I needs &s;ay, (being convinced of the contrary) in this I am not of their mind, conceiving their mi&s;take to lye in this, <HI>viz.</HI> a not con&s;idering (which too comes from a non-acknowledgement of Chri&s;ts Per&s;onal coming before it) by whom, how, and when this <HI>Fifth Monarchy</HI> is to be &s;et up. And for my own part, as I greatly rejoyce to &s;ee &s;o much power in <HI>Saints hands</HI> already, and beleeve more will be every day, as the <HI>Stone</HI> by <HI>rolling</HI> grows greater; &s;o do I al&s;o wait for that (which &s;ome pre&s;ently expect) till that day wherein our Lord &s;hall appear, who him&s;elf will do this work, viz. <HI>De&s;troy the Bea&s;t, ca&s;t him into the burning flame, and then give the Kingdome, and Dominion, and greatne&s;s of the Kingdome under the whole heaven, unto the people of the Saints of the mo&s;t High:</HI> When that which but now is ri&s;ing, and &s;hall ri&s;e every day, growing &s;till greater and greater, as an augmen|ting <HI>&s;tone,</HI> &s;hall become a <HI>huge and great Mountain,</HI> fil|ling the whole Earth.</P>
<P>And of this <HI>Kingdome</HI> as to <HI>the fir&s;t ri&s;e of it,</HI> which is little, in an unlikely way, in the mid&s;t of many difficul|ties, I take it, <HI>Davids</HI> Kingdome was a <HI>Type:</HI> But as to the <HI>glory</HI> of it, when the &s;ame &s;hall be a <HI>Mountain</HI> filling the earth, the <HI>Kingdome</HI> of <HI>Solomon</HI> was rather a <HI>Type;</HI> for which rea&s;on, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 62. (which is a clear Pro|phe&s;ie of the glory, riches, duration, va&s;t extent of this Kingdome, agreeing in many things with that glorious Prophe&s;ie, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 60.) is intituled, <HI>A P&s;alm for Solomon;</HI> yet in <HI>re&s;pect</HI> of Chri&s;t, the King, or Monarch, in this Kingdome, <HI>David</HI> in Scripture is ever the <HI>Type,</HI> and
<PB N="147" REF="130">not <HI>Solomon,</HI> becau&s;e <HI>Solomon</HI> after he was &s;ate upon the Throne, did foulely back-&s;lide to <HI>Idolatry,</HI> but <HI>David</HI> did that which was <HI>right</HI> in the &s;ight of the Lord.</P>
<P>This <HI>voyce</HI> coming from the <HI>Throne,</HI> intimates (what I have been &s;peaking) that <HI>now Chri&s;ts Throne</HI> &s;hall be <HI>&s;et up,</HI> and him&s;elf <HI>&s;it</HI> upon it, as Chap. 21.5. which al|&s;o we have, Chap. 3.21. <HI>To him that overcommeth will I grant to &s;it with me in my Throne, even as I al&s;o overcame, and am &s;et down with my Father in his Throne.</HI> The <HI>Throne</HI> Chri&s;t here &s;peaks of, is a <HI>di&s;tinct Throne</HI> from his <HI>Fathers Throne,</HI> &s;uch a <HI>Throne</HI> as he <HI>was not</HI> to <HI>&s;it</HI> on, till he &s;hould come from his <HI>Fathers Throne;</HI> for (&s;aith he) <HI>the Throne</HI> I am upon at pre|&s;ent is <HI>my Fathers Throne,</HI> which I, <HI>overcoming,</HI> am priviledged to <HI>&s;it</HI> upon; but I have a <HI>Throne</HI> of my <HI>own,</HI> which I &s;hall <HI>one day &s;it</HI> upon, when he that <HI>overcom|eth</HI> &s;hall <HI>&s;it</HI> down with me on this my <HI>Throne,</HI> as I now by <HI>overcoming</HI> am <HI>&s;et</HI> down with my Father on his <HI>Throne;</HI> which as it proves Chri&s;t &s;hall have a <HI>Throne di|&s;tinct</HI> from that on which he now <HI>&s;its,</HI> &s;o al&s;o, it con|firms what I &s;aid even now, that the <HI>Dominion,</HI> or the <HI>Throne,</HI> is <HI>not</HI> to be <HI>given</HI> to <HI>the Saints,</HI> untill &s;uch time as Chri&s;t him&s;elf <HI>comes</HI> and <HI>&s;its</HI> him down upon his <HI>Throne,</HI> according to that <HI>Matth.</HI> 19.28. <HI>Verily, I &s;ay unto you, that ye which have followed me in the re|generation, when the Son of man &s;hall &s;it in the Throne of his glory, ye al&s;o &s;hall &s;it upon twelve Thrones judg|ing the twelve Tribes of I&s;rael;</HI> and it is for this rea&s;on, becau&s;e the Apo&s;tles &s;hall be advanced as <HI>chief</HI> in this <HI>New Jeru&s;alem,</HI> that Chap. 21.14. tells us that the foun|dations of this City &s;hall have in it, <HI>the names of the twelve Apo&s;tles of the Lamb.</HI></P>
<P>And this <HI>Throne,</HI> becau&s;e not <HI>onely</HI> Chri&s;t him&s;elf <HI>&s;its</HI> upon it, but al&s;o <HI>his Saints</HI> with him, is therefore cal|led
<PB N="148" REF="131"><HI>Thrones</HI> in the plural number, <HI>Rev.</HI> 20.4. <HI>And I &s;aw Thrones, and they &s;ate upon them, and judgement was given unto them;</HI> which words exactly agree for time (as before I have &s;hewed) with this of the &s;eventh <HI>Vial.</HI></P>
<P>Now whereas this <HI>Throne</HI> upon which <HI>Chri&s;t &s;its</HI> and utters his <HI>voyce,</HI> is &s;aid to be in the <HI>Temple</HI> of Heaven, it clearly denotes (Heaven in the <HI>Revelation</HI> being always under&s;tood of the Church on Earth) the erecting of this <HI>Throne</HI> here below.</P>
<P>And indeed if we compare with Chap. 21. where we have the <HI>&s;ame Throne</HI> &s;poken of, together with the <HI>voyce</HI> from it, <HI>It is done,</HI> Ver&s;e 5, 6. it will evidently appear that the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem</HI> there de&s;cribed, is to be under|&s;tood of a glorious &s;tate of the Church here on earth, and not (as &s;ome) of Heaven hereafter.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, Becau&s;e <HI>John</HI> &s;ees a <HI>New Earth</HI> as well as a <HI>New Heaven.</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, Becau&s;e the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem</HI> is &s;aid to come <HI>down from God out of Heaven,</HI> Ver&s;e 2. therefore not a de&s;cription of the <HI>Church</HI> in <HI>Heaven,</HI> which coming down out of <HI>Heaven,</HI> left we &s;hould imagine it (as &s;ome) to be <HI>Vi&s;ional</HI> onely; namely, that <HI>John</HI> in way of <HI>Vi&s;ion</HI> &s;aw it come down, but really it is above; we have there|fore (to free us from &s;uch a mi&s;take) a <HI>great voyce</HI> added, Ver&s;e 3. <HI>Behold the Tabernacle of God is with men, i.e.</HI> on earth, the place of mens habitation, whereas were the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem</HI> to be under&s;tood of <HI>Heavenly glo|ry,</HI> the contrary &s;hould be, <HI>viz. The Tabernacle of men with God.</HI></P>
<P>Thirdly, Becau&s;e the <HI>glory</HI> of the Kings of the Earth (which glory is outward) and of the Nations, &s;hall be brought into it, Ver&s;e 24. <HI>The Kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it,</HI> Ver&s;e 26. <HI>And they &s;hall bring the glory and honor of the Nations, into it,</HI>
<PB N="149" REF="131">Neither of which can agree to <HI>Heaven hereafter,</HI> but do mo&s;t excellently agree to what is &s;poken at large in the Prophets of the <HI>glorious &s;tate</HI> of the Church on <HI>Earth</HI> in <HI>the la&s;t daies.</HI> To &s;ay (as is commonly) &s;uch of the Kings of the Earth, and tho&s;e of the Nations who &s;hall be converted here, &s;hall be there glorified; and this to be the bringing of the glory of the Kings and Nations thither.</P>
<P>To that I an&s;wer, 1. How can this be &s;aid to be <HI>their glory,</HI> which is rather <HI>Gods</HI> put upon them, than theirs?</P>
<P N="2">2 How is this brought <HI>thither?</HI> is the glory of Heaven fetched thither from Earth?</P>
<P N="3">3 How can they be &s;aid to <HI>bring it thither,</HI> who never receive this glory till they come there?</P>
<P>Fourthly, Becau&s;e it is evident from the 12. and 14. Ver&s;es, that the <HI>twelve Tribes</HI> of the Children of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> and the <HI>twelve Apo&s;tles</HI> of the Lamb, &s;hall be fir&s;t or <HI>chief</HI> in this <HI>New Jeru&s;alem;</HI> but let it be proved from any other Scripture, that they &s;hall be &s;o in Heaven here|after.</P>
<P>Fifthly, Becau&s;e Chap. 22. (which to Ver&s;e 6. is a con|tinued de&s;cription of the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem</HI>) tells us, ver. 2. of a <HI>Tree</HI> in this <HI>New Jeru&s;alem, who&s;e leaves are for the healing of the Nations.</HI> Now let it be &s;hewn how the <HI>Nations</HI> &s;hall bee <HI>healed</HI> in <HI>Heaven</HI> here|after.</P>
<P>Sixthly, Becau&s;e in this <HI>New Jeru&s;alem</HI> we have ex|pre&s;s mention made, as of the <HI>Throne of God,</HI> &s;o al&s;o of <HI>the Lamb,</HI> Chap. 22.1. <HI>proceeding out of the Throne of God, and of the Lamb,</HI> Ver&s;e 3. <HI>There &s;hall be no more cur&s;e, but the Throne of God, and of the Lamb &s;hall be in it.</HI> But now in <HI>Heaven hereafter,</HI> though Chri&s;t as God coequal and coeternal with the Father &s;hall <HI>reign for ever,</HI> yet not as the <HI>Lamb,</HI> which is clear, 1 Cor. 15.28. <HI>And when all things &s;hall be &s;ubdued un|to
<PB N="150" REF="132">him, then &s;hall the Son al&s;o him&s;elf be &s;ubject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all, i.e.</HI> the humane nature of Chri&s;t which dyed for our &s;ins, ro&s;e again (as the Apo&s;tle in the foregoing ver&s;es &s;peaketh) was <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> above all the Creatures, all the time of the <HI>thou&s;and years,</HI> and the <HI>General Judgement</HI> (according to which nature, Chri&s;t is &s;aid to be the Lamb &s;lain) &s;hall now be &s;ubjected, after the end, to the God|head, or Divine nature, which in Heaven &s;hall be all in all; &s;o that Chri&s;t as the <HI>Lamb</HI> &s;hall not have a <HI>Throne</HI> there. And this Interpretation is not &s;o much mine, as <HI>Augu&s;tines</HI> long ago, and <HI>Calvins</HI> &s;ince, who both &s;peak the &s;ame thing, confe&s;&s;ing a &s;ubjection of the humanity of Chri&s;t to be here intimated, whom I think good here to name, not that their Authority, nor my &s;aying &s;o, proves the thing to be truth; but that I might hereby &s;top the mouths of &s;uch, who otherwi&s;e po&s;&s;ibly, would be ready to con|demn the truth it &s;elf for error.</P>
<P>Yet let none hence conclude (as &s;ome now adays fan|cy) a <HI>ce&s;&s;ation</HI> of the <HI>Humane Nature,</HI> by being <HI>tur|ned</HI> into the <HI>Divinity,</HI> &s;o as that Chri&s;t &s;hall be God|man no longer; for the Apo&s;tle in &s;aying the <HI>Humane Nature</HI> &s;hall be &s;ubject, denotes plainly, that the &s;ame &s;hall even in <HI>Heaven hereafter</HI> have a <HI>being;</HI> for how can that be &s;ubject, which hath no being?</P>
<P>And as the <HI>Lambs</HI> having a <HI>Throne</HI> in the <HI>New Jeru|&s;alem</HI> proves clearly that it cannot be meant of <HI>Heaven|ly glory</HI> after the day of Judgement; &s;o doth it as &s;trongly prove (what before I have laid down) that not a <HI>Spiritual</HI> onely, buth a <HI>Per&s;onal pre&s;ence</HI> of Chri&s;t &s;hall be with his people in the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem,</HI> all the time of the <HI>thou&s;and years;</HI> for Chri&s;t as the <HI>Lamb</HI> hath his <HI>Throne</HI> in it; but Chri&s;t <HI>Spiritually onely,</HI> is not the <HI>Lamb,</HI> nor was he <HI>&s;acrifi&s;ed</HI> in that &s;en&s;e.</P>
<P>Seventhly, and la&s;tly, Becau&s;e <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 60. (which Chap|ter,
<PB N="151" REF="132">as is mo&s;t evident, &s;peaks not of <HI>heavenly glory,</HI> but of a glorious &s;tate of the Church here on Earth) is for <HI>time</HI> one and the <HI>&s;ame</HI> with this, as plainly will appear by comparing one with the other.</P>
<Q><TABLE>
<ROW>
<CELL ROLE="label">I&s;a.</CELL>
<CELL ROLE="label">Rev.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><P><BIBL><HI>60.11.</HI></BIBL> the Gates &s;hal be open continually, they &s;hall not be &s;hut day nor night.</P></CELL>
<CELL><P><BIBL><HI>21.25.</HI></BIBL> And the Gates of it &s;hall not be &s;hut at all by day.</P></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><P><BIBL><HI>Ver&s;e 3.</HI></BIBL> The Gentiles &s;hall come to thy light, and Kings to the brightne&s;s of thy ri&s;ing.</P></CELL>
<CELL><P><BIBL><HI>Ver&s;e 24.</HI></BIBL> The Kings of the Earth do bring their glory and honor into it.</P></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><P><BIBL><HI>Ver&s;e 10.</HI></BIBL> Their Kings &s;hall mini&s;ter unto thee.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver&s;e 11.</HI></BIBL> That men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their Kings may bee brought.</P></CELL>
<CELL><P><BIBL><HI>Ver&s;e 26.</HI></BIBL> And they &s;hall bring the glory and honor of the Nations into it.</P></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><P><BIBL><HI>Ver&s;e 1.</HI></BIBL> Violence &s;hall no more be heard in thy Land.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver&s;e 20.</HI></BIBL> The dayes of thy mourning &s;hall be ended</P></CELL>
<CELL><P><BIBL><HI>Ver&s;e 4.</HI></BIBL> God &s;hall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there &s;hall be no more death, nor &s;orrow, nor cry<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="3 letters">, neither &s;hall there be any more pain.</P></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><P><BIBL><HI>Ver&s;e 19.</HI></BIBL> The Sun &s;hall be no more thy light by day, nei|ther for brightne&s;s &s;hall the Moon give light un|to thee; but the Lord &s;hall be unto thee an everla&s;t|ing light, and thy God thy glory.</P></CELL>
<CELL><P><BIBL><HI>Ver&s;e 23.</HI></BIBL> And the City had no need neither of the Sun nor of the Moon to &s;hine in it, for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb was the light thereof.</P></CELL>
</ROW>
<PB N="152" REF="133">
<ROW>
<CELL><P><BIBL><HI>Ver&s;e 21.</HI></BIBL> Thy people al&s;o &s;hall be all righteous.</P></CELL>
<CELL><P><BIBL><HI>Ver&s;e 27.</HI></BIBL> And there &s;hall in no wi&s;e enter into it, any thing that defileth, neither what|&s;oever worketh abominati|on, or maketh a lye, but they which are written in the Lambs Book of life.</P></CELL>
</ROW>
</TABLE></Q>
<P>Yet becau&s;e it would be a thing hard to be beleeved, that the <HI>New Jeru&s;alems glory</HI> &s;hould be here on Earth; therefore it is &s;aid, chap. 21.5. <HI>The&s;e words are true and faithful;</HI> and again, chap. 22.6. <HI>The&s;e &s;ayings are faith|ful and true.</HI></P>
<P>One thing here is of &s;pecial concernment to be opened, to the end the words of the &s;eventh Vial may be brought to a reconciliation with the de&s;cription of the <HI>New Jeru|&s;alem,</HI> chap. 21. (both as I have &s;hewed being to be re|ferred to one and the &s;ame time) which is this, Seeing <HI>John</HI> in de&s;cribing the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem,</HI> &s;aith, <HI>I &s;aw no Temple therein,</HI> Chap. 21.22. and the contrary is here intimated, <HI>There came a great voyce out of the Tem|ple of Heaven;</HI> how can the&s;e things agree? or the one be made Expo&s;itory of the other, when they &s;peak things contradictory.</P>
<P>I an&s;wer, <HI>John</HI> &s;aw no <HI>material Temple,</HI> &s;uch as was in <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> of old, to which here <HI>new Jeru&s;alem</HI> is oppo&s;ed.</P>
<P>Or &s;econdly, (which I rather incline to) <HI>John</HI> &s;aw no &s;uch Temple as was the former Temple, or <HI>Church-&s;tate</HI> under the Go&s;pel. But that a Temple there &s;hall be, is manife&s;t; for, &s;aith he, in the next words (which are given as a rea&s;on why no &s;uch Temple as formerly had been, &s;hould be in this <HI>New &s;tate,</HI> becau&s;e indeed they
<PB N="153" REF="133">&s;hould now have a better Temple) The <HI>Lord God Al|mighty</HI> and the <HI>Lamb is the</HI> Temple <HI>of it.</HI></P>
<P>So that a Temple there is, but this &s;hall not be &s;uch a Temple in which Chri&s;t through <HI>outward Ordinances</HI> as a <HI>medium</HI> is conveyed to his, and they by faith enjoy him, as now; for what need of the&s;e things when Chri&s;t is with his people, and to be enjoyed in another way of <HI>Vi&s;ion<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"></HI> yea, the duration of the&s;e things is but untill his coming, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 11.26. <HI>For as oft as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, yee &s;hew the Lords death till he come.</HI> And the Apo&s;tle is clear in this, that all injoyments of God by faith cea&s;e, when &s;ight takes place, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5.7. 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 13.8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13. And indeed what <HI>u&s;e</HI> will there be of 2 <HI>Gla&s;s</HI> to &s;ee Chri&s;t in, when he &s;hall pre&s;ent him&s;elf <HI>face to face,</HI> which he will do at the day of his appearing, 1 <HI>John.</HI> 3.2. <HI>It doth not yet appear what we &s;hall be, but we know that when he &s;hall appear, we &s;hall be like him, for we &s;hall &s;ee him as he is;</HI> yea, to behold <HI>the Lamb</HI> thus, &s;hall be a principall part of <HI>the New Jeru|&s;alems glory,</HI> Rev. 22.3, 4. <HI>They &s;hall &s;ee his face, and his name &s;hall be in their fore-heads.</HI> So that this <HI>Temple,</HI> &s;hall not be a wor&s;hipping of <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> and an injoyment of him through outward ordinances, but rather a more imme|diate wor&s;hipping, and injoyment of <HI>him</HI> in <HI>him&s;elf,</HI> who therefore in <HI>this New Jeru&s;alem,</HI> is not onely the per&s;on wor&s;hipped, but the very <HI>Temple</HI> we wor&s;hip in.</P>
<P>And this which now I am &s;peaking of, is (I ta<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word">) clearly held forth in tho&s;e words of the Apo&s;tle, <HI>Heb.</HI> 12.26. <HI>Yet once more I &s;hake not the earth onely, but al&s;o Heaven;</HI> which place he quotes from <HI>Haggai, chap.</HI> 2.6, 7. which before I have proved relates to this time. Now as <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> at his fir&s;t coming <HI>&s;hook</HI> the <HI>legal</HI> wor&s;hip, which the Apo&s;tle tels us; <HI>&s;tood in meats and drinks and carnal Ordi|nances, impo&s;ed on them until the time of Reformations,</HI> Heb. 9.10. for which rea&s;on the &s;haking hereof is called <HI>a&s;ha|king</HI>
<PB N="154" REF="134">of the earth, and did at his re&s;urrection <HI>e&s;tabli&s;h another way</HI> of wor&s;hip, far more &s;piritual than the former, yee having al&s;o &s;ome outward Ordinances and In&s;titutions, as the former had, which in Scripture is frequently called (as oppo&s;ed to the other) <HI>Heaven,</HI> and the <HI>Kingdom of Heaven;</HI> &s;o at his <HI>&s;econd coming</HI> will he <HI>&s;hake</HI> this wor&s;hip, <HI>cast this Temple</HI> (though more &s;piritual than the former) to the <HI>ground</HI> al&s;o; for (&s;aith he) <HI>yet once more, I &s;hake not earth onely, but Heaven al&s;o;</HI> i.e. all the wor&s;hip that now is (I mean outward) is upon <HI>Chri&s;ts &s;econd coming</HI> to be removed, and &s;uch a King|dom and Wor&s;hip, in&s;tead thereof, is to be &s;et up, as can <HI>never be &s;haken,</HI> i.e. &s;hall never be broken in peeces any more, as the former wor&s;hips have been, but &s;hall be the &s;ame for kind (being as I have &s;aid, a more imme|diate wor&s;hip) with that which &s;hall be in Heaven here|after.</P>
<P>And not darkly is this hinted, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 60.19, 20. <HI>The Sun</HI> (that is tho&s;e outward things which before were as a <HI>Sun,</HI> under which are comprehended outward Ordinances) <HI>&s;hall be no more thy light by day, neither for brightne&s;s &s;hall the Moon give light unto thee;</HI> and ver&s;e 21. <HI>Thy Sun</HI> (<HI>i. e.</HI> the Lord <HI>Christ,</HI> who is the light of <HI>this New Jeru&s;alem</HI>) <HI>&s;hall no more go down, neither &s;hall thy Moon</HI> (thy outward glory and felicity) <HI>with-draw it &s;elf,</HI> making a clear <HI>di&s;tinction</HI> betwixt <HI>the Sun</HI> that before was, which is called <HI>the Sun,</HI> and the <HI>Sun</HI> that at this time &s;hall be, which is called <HI>thy Sun,</HI> as being <HI>another Sun</HI> peculiar to the&s;e times, and not the &s;ame <HI>Sun</HI> as was in former times; and this <HI>Sun</HI> that we may not be mi&s;taken in it, is interpreted twice over to be <HI>the Lord,</HI> Ver&s;e 19. <HI>The Lord &s;hall be unto thee an ever|lasting light,</HI> Ver&s;. 19. as oppo&s;ed to the former <HI>Sun.</HI> And again, <HI>For the Lord &s;hall be thine everla&s;ting light,</HI> ver&s;. 20. being there added as a rea&s;on why this <HI>Sun</HI>
<PB N="155" REF="134">&s;hould never go down, no not in Heaven hereafter, be|cau&s;e the <HI>Lord</HI> &s;hould be this <HI>Sun;</HI> And who is this <HI>Lord?</HI> why <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t the Lamb,</HI> who is &s;aid to be the <HI>Temple</HI> and <HI>Light</HI> of this <HI>New Jeru&s;alem,</HI> and that in oppo&s;ition to the <HI>Temple, Sun, Moon, i. e.</HI> all outward Lights and Ordinances that before had been, <HI>Rev.</HI> 21.22, 23. <HI>And I &s;aw no Temple therein, for the Lord God Almighty, and the Lamb, are the Temple of it. And the City had no need of the Sun, neither of the Moon to &s;hine in it, for the Lord God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.</HI></P>
<P>And to this day (as I conceive) have tho&s;e Scriptures reference, <HI>Jerem.</HI> 31.34. <HI>And they &s;hall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brether, &s;aying, Know the Lord, for the &s;hall all know me, from the lea&s;t of them unto the greate&s;t of them,</HI> I&s;a. 54.31. <HI>And all thy children &s;hall be taught of the Lord,</HI> ar|guing an immediate feeding and teaching, not &s;o much by in&s;truments means, and Ordinances, as the Lord him&s;elf.</P>
<P>And though it is not denied the&s;e Scriptures had a ful|filling in the beginnings, when the Spirit was poured down, teaching then (Chri&s;t promi&s;ing, and &s;ending his Spirit for that end) being more abundant and &s;piritual than in former times, for which cau&s;e they are by Chri&s;t him&s;elf, and <HI>Paul</HI> after him, interpreted as then fulfilled; yet it is evident from the &s;cope of tho&s;e places whence the&s;e Texts are quoted, that the Prophets had in their eye another time, namely, the time of the <HI>Jews</HI> delivery, when not <HI>Judah</HI> only, but <HI>Ephraim,</HI> Head of the ten Tribes al&s;o, &s;poken of expre&s;ly by <HI>Je|remy,</HI> &s;hould return; yea the very time of the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem,</HI> who&s;e &s;tones are therefore by <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> &s;aid to be <HI>laid with fair colours, her foundations with Sa|phires, her windows of Agates, her gates with Car|buncles, and all her borders with plea&s;ant &s;tones;</HI> not
<PB N="156" REF="135">unlike that de&s;cription of the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem John</HI> gives us (but more full) <HI>Rev.</HI> 21. of that, although in part the&s;e Scriptures had a fulfilling before (in which &s;en&s;e <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> and <HI>Paul</HI> mention them) yet the fulne&s;s, or the com|pleat fulfilling of them, re&s;pects the time we are &s;peaking of.</P>
<P>And doth not the phra&s;e of <HI>New Heavens,</HI> and <HI>New Earth,</HI> &s;poken of by <HI>I&s;aiah, Peter, John,</HI> and ever with reference to this time, imply as much? for the very phra&s;e of making a <HI>new,</HI> implies the aboli&s;hing of the <HI>old;</HI> which new made, that it cannot con&s;i&s;t of any &s;uch outward things as did the old, is clear, becau&s;e upon the aboli&s;hing of the old, &s;uch things, only are left &s;tanding in this new, as can never be &s;haken, or removed, which all outward things are &s;ubject to.</P>
<P>Thus although in the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem,</HI> a <HI>Temple</HI> there &s;hall be, yet not &s;uch a <HI>Temple</HI> as was the <HI>Temple</HI> of <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> of old, or is the <HI>Temple</HI> of <HI>Jeru&s;a|lem</HI> that now is; but as the whole &s;tate of things &s;hall be <HI>new,</HI> &s;o &s;hall the <HI>Temple</HI> be <HI>new.</HI> In the <HI>new Heaven</HI> the <HI>L<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">mb</HI> who &s;its upon the <HI>Throne</HI> &s;hall be the <HI>Temple,</HI> and the great <HI>Voyce</HI> out of the <HI>Temple</HI> of <HI>Heaven</HI> from the <HI>Throne,</HI> is the <HI>Voyce</HI> of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> him|&s;elf (who at this day will &s;it upon his own <HI>Throne</HI> in the mid&s;t of his Church and People) which is clear (as before I have &s;aid) Chap. 21.5, 6.</P>
<P>And what I have formerly hinted, I &s;hall here remem|ber again, that the very rea&s;on (as I conceive) why many in the&s;e dayes ca&s;t off the holy Ordinances, and In&s;titu|tions of the Lord Je&s;us, is this; They find it clear in Scripture that the continuance of the&s;e things are but <HI>un|til his coming,</HI> which <HI>coming</HI> (puts an end to Ordinan|ces) they judging to be <HI>Spiritual</HI> only, and not <HI>Per&s;o|nal,</HI> and per&s;wading them&s;elves withall that in this &s;en&s;e Chri&s;t is <HI>come</HI> to them already, they conceive it high time for them to quit and &s;hake off all outward forms.</P>
<PB N="157" REF="135">
<P><HI>Object.</HI> If again&s;t what I have &s;aid it be objected, that <HI>Zechary,</HI> Chap. 14.16. &s;peaking of this time, tells us, <HI>They &s;hall go up from year to year to wor&s;hip the Lord, and to keep the Fea&s;t of Tabernacles;</HI> therefore Ordinances &s;hall be at this day.</P>
<P>I an&s;wer; If by <HI>wor&s;hipping</HI> the Lord, and <HI>keeping the Fea&s;t of Tabernacles</HI> we under&s;tand <HI>a walking in Ordinances,</HI> then &s;hall the <HI>Ordinances</HI> at this day bee common to all, even the wor&s;t of &s;inners, for that &s;uch at this day &s;hall be in the world, hath been before proved; and ob&s;erve, the <HI>comand</HI> to <HI>come</HI> up to <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> to <HI>wor&s;hip</HI> the Lord, and to <HI>keep</HI> the <HI>Fea&s;t of Tabernacles</HI> is <HI>general,</HI> upon all that are left of tho&s;e who came up again&s;t <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> ver&s;. 16. <HI>All the Families of the earth,</HI> ver&s;. 17. yea the very <HI>Heathen,</HI> ver&s;. 18. and if <HI>Ordi|nances</HI> &s;hall be &s;o common at this day, then will the pu|rity of wor&s;hip in re&s;pect of the Wor&s;hippers be le&s;s then, than now it is; and if &s;o, where then will be the <HI>holine&s;s</HI> of this day, which in this re&s;pect is to excel all dayes before it?</P>
<P>The meaning therefore (I conceive) is this, That all people in remembrance of the terrible de&s;truction Chri&s;t made of his enemies, gathered together at <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> upon his appearing, &s;hall from that day, year after year, <HI>i.e.</HI> often come and wor&s;hip before the Lord, <HI>i. e.</HI> fall down before this Chri&s;t &s;itting on the Throne, ac|knowledging him to be the great <HI>King</HI> of the <HI>world,</HI> and Je&s;us Chri&s;t the Lord, to the glory of God the Father, fulfilling that of <HI>I&s;a.</HI> Chap. 45.23. <HI>&V;nto me every knee &s;hall bow;</HI> And that of the Apo&s;tle, <HI>Phil.</HI> 2.20. <HI>At the name of Je&s;us every knee &s;hall bow.</HI></P>
<P>And this, the phra&s;e u&s;ed by the Holy Gho&s;t, of keep|ing the <HI>Fea&s;t of Tabernacles</HI> doth notably &s;et forth, for in <HI>Levit.</HI> 23.34. where we have the in&s;titution of this <HI>Fea&s;t,</HI> we have ver&s;, 43. this added as the rea&s;on of the In&s;titution, namely, the <HI>memorial</HI> of Gods &s;trange and
<PB N="158" REF="136">wonderful Providence towards, and in pre&s;ervation of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> when they came out of <HI>Egypt;</HI> which Delive|rance as it was but a <HI>Type</HI> of this, &s;o the <HI>Memorial</HI> thereof, by keeping the <HI>Fea&s;t of Tabernacles,</HI> was a <HI>Type</HI> of the <HI>Memorial</HI> that &s;hould be kept, by all Nati|ons coming up to <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> to fall down and wor&s;hip before the Lord, of Chri&s;ts wonderful Deliverance of his people, and terrible de&s;truction of his enemies at this day: And indeed that the main thing intended in this <HI>Fea&s;t,</HI> was the <HI>Memorial</HI> of Gods delivering mercy, ap|pears to me from hence, that this <HI>Fea&s;t,</HI> which from <HI>Jo|&s;hua's</HI> time untill <HI>Nehemiahs</HI> had not been ob&s;erved, was again kept upon their coming out of <HI>Babylon, Nehem:</HI> 8.17. This al&s;o may be an an&s;wer to &s;uch other places in the Prophets, where mention is made of wor&s;hip at this day.</P>
<P>Having thus brought the words I am opening, to a <HI>re|conciliation</HI> with tho&s;e, Chap. 21. ver&s;. 22. It would neither be ami&s;s, unprofitable, nor improper to the &s;ubject we are upon, to have given here a de&s;cription of the <HI>New Jeru&s;alems</HI> glory, which is the very thing briefly hinted in the&s;e words more fully explicated, Chap. 21. through|out, Chap. 22. ver&s;. 1. to 6. and in many places in the Prophets of the Old Te&s;tament; but that I have re|&s;traint laid upon my &s;pirits as to this inquiry, &s;uppo&s;ing the time of full di&s;covery hereof not yet come, for I finde that the <HI>de&s;truction</HI> of the <HI>great Whore,</HI> together with a <HI>general view</HI> of the <HI>Bride;</HI> the <HI>Lambs</HI> wife, and the <HI>time</HI> of her <HI>Reign</HI> with Chri&s;t, is di&s;covered to <HI>John</HI> in the wilderne&s;s, that is, whil&s;t the Church as yet remains in her warfare, conte&s;ting and &s;trugling with her enemies, Chap. 17.1. <HI>And there came unto me one of the &s;even Angels, which had the &s;even Vials, and talked with me, &s;aying unto me, Come hither, I will &s;hew unto thee the judgement of the great Whore, that &s;i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">eth upon many waters,</HI> ver&s;. 3. <HI>&s;o he carried me away in the &s;pi|rit
<PB N="159" REF="136">into the Wilderne&s;s: John</HI> is now in the Wilder|ne&s;s, and we read not a word of his removing his &s;tation, till we come to Chap. 21.9, 10. therefore I conclude the whole of the Prophe&s;ie from Chap. 17.1. to Chap. 21.9. (which di&s;covers the great <HI>Whore,</HI> and her ruine, Chap. 17.18. gives us a general view of the Bride, the <HI>Lambs</HI> wife, and her attire, and Chri&s;t her Husbands coming, and appearing to de&s;troy her enemies, and marry his Spou&s;e to him&s;elf, Chap. 19. makes di&s;covery, that before the <HI>General Judgement</HI> &s;hall be a <HI>thou&s;and years,</HI> in which Satan &s;hall be bound, and the Saints &s;hall reign with Chri&s;t, Cha. 20. gives us al&s;o a general hint of the glory of this <HI>thou&s;and years,</HI> Ch. 21. v. 1. to 9.) was all of it revea|led to <HI>John</HI> in the Wilderne&s;s, teaching us hereby, that be|fore yet the Woman is got clear out of the Wilderne&s;s there &s;hall be a full di&s;covery of the&s;e things. But now the <HI>full</HI> and <HI>particular glory</HI> of the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem,</HI> the di&s;covery of the <HI>Bride</HI> in all her <HI>glory, John that</HI> he might &s;ee that, hath his <HI>&s;tation removed</HI> from the <HI>Wilderne&s;s</HI> to a <HI>great</HI> and <HI>high Mountain,</HI> Chap. 21.9, 10. <HI>And there came unto me one of the &s;even Angels, which had the &s;even Vials, full of the &s;even la&s;t Plagues, and talked with me, &s;aying, Come hither, I will &s;hew thee the Bride, the Lambs wife; and he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high Mountain, and &s;hewed me that great City the holy Jeru&s;alem, de&s;cending out of Heaven from God,</HI> ver&s;. 11. <HI>Having the glory of God, &amp;c.</HI> in|timating thus much to me, that the time of <HI>di&s;covery</HI> of this <HI>glory</HI> in the <HI>brightne&s;s</HI> of it, is not to be <HI>expected,</HI> till the Church is gotten <HI>out of the Wilderne&s;s,</HI> and be|come a <HI>great Mountain</HI> in the world. And &s;ometimes I have thought, that as the Lord doth, and will more and more every day, make di&s;covery of tho&s;e things <HI>John</HI> had revealed to him in the Wilderne&s;s (the <HI>Gentile</HI> Churches being the Woman in the Wilderne&s;s) &s;o that which <HI>John</HI>
<PB N="160" REF="137">had revealed to him in the great and high mountain, he may have re&s;erved in &s;tore for the Jews upon their coming in, who converted &s;hall become a Great Mountain in the world.</P>
<P>The&s;e con&s;iderations have laid a re&s;traint upon me as to this inquiry; yet this I &s;hall do; leave with the Reader a Rule or two, which may be a help to him &s;o far as to prevent many mi&s;takes that otherwi&s;e will bee very apt to ari&s;e, whil&s;t hee reads what very fre|quently is &s;poken in the Prophets, with a relation to this time.</P>
<P N="1">1 <HI>R&V;LE,</HI> That <HI>the Prophets of the Old Te&s;ta|ment,</HI> prophecying to a people that lived under a dark Legal Admini&s;tration, in which, things were veiled that &s;tood under an outward temporal Covenant, I mean a Covenant for temporal things, as riches, long life, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> as well as for &s;piritual, that were as yet children under age, trained up under a Schoolma&s;ter, Tutor, Governor, who though they were in a way of learning (looking at a time to come wherein they &s;hould be more perfect Schollars) had as yet (for the bulk of them) attained but very lit|tle &s;piritual under&s;tanding in any thing; their &s;en&s;es being as yet exerci&s;ed onely about the fir&s;t rudements of Religi|on, and the fir&s;t Principles of the Oracles of God; I &s;ay, <HI>The Prophets &s;peaking to &s;uch a people, are in their ex|pre&s;&s;ions to be looked upon, as rather accommodating them&s;elves to the &s;tate of Gods people under the Admi|ni&s;tration and Covenant that then was, then &s;peaking of things as they are in them&s;elves, or were to be in the ac|compli&s;hment.</HI></P>
<P>This &s;peaking, by way of <HI>allu&s;ion,</HI> is clear, <HI>Zach.</HI> 14. (before quoted) <HI>They &s;hall go up from year to year,</HI> ver&s;e 16. <HI>alluding</HI> to the going up of the twelve Tribes once every year to wor&s;hip at <HI>Jeru&s;alem, to keep the Fea&s;t of Tabernacles,</HI> alluding to that <HI>Fea&s;t</HI> in time of
<PB N="161" REF="137">old. So ver&s;e 20. we read of the <HI>Pots in the Lords hou&s;e, the Bowls before the Altar.</HI> ver&s;e 21. of <HI>&s;acri|ficing and &s;eething,</HI> the expre&s;&s;ions clearly alluding to the way and manner of wor&s;hip that then was.</P>
<P>So likewi&s;e <HI>Ezekiel</HI> in the la&s;t eight Chapters of his Prophe&s;ie &s;peaks altogether by way of <HI>allu&s;ion</HI> to the &s;tate of things in <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> and the way of their wor&s;hip under the Old Te&s;tament.</P>
<P>That the main thing intended in tho&s;e eight Chap|ters, is the de&s;cription of the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem,</HI> ap|pears,</P>
<P N="1">1 From the <HI>order</HI> ob&s;erved by the Holy Gho&s;t, in laying it down, the things &s;poken concerning it, being brought in as an immediate con&s;equent of the Jews conver&s;ion, and the <HI>battel</HI> of <HI>Armageddon,</HI> both which things had been fully treat of in the three foregoing Chapters, <HI>Chap.</HI> 37, 38, 39.</P>
<P N="2">2 By comparing with the de&s;cription we have of the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem, Rev.</HI> 21.22.</P>
<Q><TABLE>
<ROW>
<CELL ROLE="label"><HI>Ezekiel.</HI></CELL>
<CELL ROLE="label"><HI>Revelation.</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><P><BIBL><HI>Chap 40 2.</HI></BIBL> In the vi|&s;ions of God brought he me into the Land of I&s;rael, and &s;et me upon a very high mountain, by which was as the frame of a City on the South.</P></CELL>
<CELL><P><BIBL><HI>Chap. 21.10.</HI></BIBL> And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and &s;hewed me that great City, the Holy Jeru&s;alem, de&s;cending out of Heaven from God.</P></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><P><BIBL><HI>Chap. 47.1, 2, 3,</HI></BIBL> &amp;c. Be|hold waters i&s;&s;ued out from under the thre&s;hold of the hou&s;e.</P></CELL>
<CELL><P><BIBL><HI>Chap. 22.1.</HI></BIBL> And he &s;hewed me a pure River of water of life, proceeding out of the Throne of God, and of the Lamb,</P></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><P><BIBL><HI>Ver&s;e 12.</HI></BIBL> And by the River upon the bank there|of, on this &s;ide, and on that &s;ide, &s;hall grow all Trees for meat who&s;e leaf &s;hall not fade, neither &s;hall the fruit thereof be con&s;umed; it &s;hall bring forth new fruit according to his months, becau&s;e their wa|ters they i&s;&s;ued out of the Sanctuary, and the fruit thereof &s;hall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for me|dicine.</P></CELL>
<CELL><P><BIBL><HI>Ver&s;e 2.</HI></BIBL> In the mid&s;t of the &s;treet of it, and of ei|ther &s;ide of the River, was there the Tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yeelded her fruit every month; and the leaves of the Tree were for the healing of the Na|tions.</P></CELL>
</ROW>
<PB N="162" REF="138">
<ROW>
<CELL><P><BIBL><HI>Chap. 48.35.</HI></BIBL> The name of the City from that day &s;hall be, the Lord is there.</P></CELL>
<CELL><P><BIBL><HI>Ver&s;e 3.</HI></BIBL> And there &s;hall be no more cur&s;e, but the Throne of God and of the Lamb &s;hall be in it.</P></CELL>
</ROW>
</TABLE></Q>
<P>Now <HI>Ezekiel</HI> in <HI>de&s;cribing the New Jeru&s;alem,</HI> doth all along &s;ure his expre&s;&s;ions to that <HI>Admini&s;tration,</HI> and the <HI>capacities</HI> of Gods people in tho&s;e times, <HI>not speak|ing</HI> of things as they are in them&s;elves, or were to be in the accompli&s;hment, of which the whole of his Di&s;cour&s;e is an in&s;tance. But to in&s;tance more e&s;pecially in one thing, we have Chap. 41. a large <HI>de&s;cription</HI> of a <HI>Temple,</HI> which he that reads, will hardly imagine to be the &s;ame <HI>Temple John</HI> &s;peaks of, <HI>Rev.</HI> 21. ver&s;. 22. <HI>The Lord God Al|mighty, and the Lamb is the Temple of it;</HI> and yet it is the very &s;ame, and no other, for <HI>Ezekiel</HI> Chap. 47. tells us of <HI>waters</HI> coming out of this hou&s;e, ver&s;e 1. cau|&s;ing a <HI>River,</HI> ver&s;e 5. which <HI>River</HI> had on each &s;ide of it, <HI>Trees for meat,</HI> bearing <HI>fruit</HI> according to the Months, who&s;e leaf was for <HI>medicine,</HI> ver&s;e 12. which very <HI>River</HI> is &s;aid, <HI>Rev.</HI> 22.1, 2. to proceed from <HI>the Throne</HI> of God and the <HI>Lamb,</HI> interpreting clearly what we are to under|&s;tand
<PB N="163" REF="138">by <HI>Ezekiels Temple,</HI> notwith&s;tanding all the mea|&s;uring, the height, length, breadth, Chambers, Orna|ments, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> that we there read of (things &s;uting their ca|pacities to whom the Prophet &s;pake) yet the <HI>Temple</HI> is indeed no other but the <HI>pre&s;ence of the Lamb,</HI> the <HI>Throne of God</HI> and the <HI>Lamb,</HI> which is the very <HI>Temple</HI> of the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem,</HI> Rev. 21.22.</P>
<P>And as in the&s;e, &s;o in many other places, where the <HI>New Jeru&s;alems glory</HI> is de&s;cribed by the Prophets, we have &s;ometimes long life intimated, <HI>The childe &s;hall die an hundred years old; as the daies of a tree, are the daies of my people.</HI> Sometimes <HI>building hou&s;es, plant|ing Vineyards</HI> &amp;c. as if the great <HI>glory</HI> were to lye in &s;uch things, which is not &s;o; but as <HI>Ezekiels Temple</HI> hath in <HI>his de&s;cription</HI> a great deal of outward bravery, &s;uitable to &s;uch a <HI>Temple,</HI> as their thoughts to whom he &s;pake were mo&s;t taken up with, yet is in a <HI>word interpreted</HI> in the <HI>Re|velations</HI> to be <HI>another</HI> manner of thing, viz. <HI>the Lamb,</HI> and <HI>his Throne,</HI> &s;o the&s;e things are &s;poken rather by way of <HI>con|de&s;cention</HI> to their weakne&s;s, who &s;tanding under an out|ward Covenant, in which &s;uch things were promi&s;ed, were exceedingly plea&s;ed with things of this nature, look|ing much at them, making a greater account of them, than as the things in them&s;elves are, or will appear to be; when this day &s;hall come.</P>
<P N="2">2 RULE, That the coming of Gods people out of <HI>Babylon,</HI> building the &s;econd Temple, and <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> being all an eminent Type of the thing I am &s;peaking of, therefore <HI>in &s;ome Scriptures</HI> where we read of <HI>this glory,</HI> under that deliverance as a Type, <HI>we are to look upon &s;ome things to have their fulfilling then in the Type, &s;ome others to be fulfilled for time to come in the Anti|type.</HI></P>
<P>To <HI>this Rule</HI> appertain not a few places in the Pro|phets, e&s;pecially in <HI>Haggai,</HI> and <HI>Zechary,</HI> who <HI>prophe|&s;ied</HI>
<PB N="164" REF="139">upon <HI>the coming</HI> out of <HI>Babylon,</HI> and at <HI>the time the &s;econd Temple was building,</HI> as <HI>Hag.</HI> 2.6, 7, 8, 9. the Prophet hath <HI>reference</HI> to <HI>the &s;econd Temple</HI> as a <HI>Type,</HI> which he calls <HI>the latter hou&s;e,</HI> v. 9. but whil&s;t he &s;peaks of <HI>&s;haking Heaven &amp; Earth, the de&s;ire of all Nations coming,</HI> and thereupon the glory of the <HI>latter hou&s;e</HI> to &s;urpa&s;s <HI>the glory of the former</HI> built by <HI>Solomon,</HI> in all the&s;e things it hath <HI>relation</HI> (as in our former Di&s;cour&s;e hath been proved) to the time of <HI>Chri&s;ts &s;econd coming,</HI> and <HI>the &s;tate</HI> of <HI>the new Jeru&s;alem.</HI></P>
<P>So al&s;o in <HI>Zechary,</HI> where we have &s;everal Prophe&s;ies concerning <HI>Jeru&s;alems</HI> being built, <HI>Chap.</HI> 1. <HI>chap.</HI> 2. <HI>chap.</HI> 8. &s;ome things had their <HI>fulfilling</HI> then, in that <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> which was afterwards built by <HI>Nehemiah;</HI> as when it is &s;aid; <HI>Jeru&s;alem &s;hould again be inhabited as a Town without wals, for the multitude of men and cattel therein,</HI> Chap. 2.4. <HI>There &s;hould be yet old men, and old women dwel in the &s;treets of</HI> Jeru&s;alem, <HI>and the &s;treets of the City &s;hould be full of Boyes, and Girles, playing in the &s;treets thereof,</HI> chap. 8.4.5. which things were afterwards fulfilled. <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> betwixt <HI>Nehemiahs</HI> time, and the time of <HI>Chri&s;ts coming</HI> being inhabited a|gain, and grown <HI>populous,</HI> which when <HI>Zechary</HI> Prophe|&s;ied was but a <HI>ruinous heap;</HI> or in ca&s;e the&s;e things are to be <HI>extended</HI> further, to the <HI>time</HI> of <HI>the New Ieru&s;alem,</HI> we are to interpret them according to our <HI>fir&s;t Rule;</HI> but now there are other things, as <HI>many Nations being joy|ned to the Lord in that day, becoming his people, and the Lord him&s;elf dwelling in the mid&s;t of them,</HI> chap. 2.11. <HI>The coming of many people, and the inhabitants of many Cities,</HI> and the <HI>Inhabitants of one City &s;aying to another, Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord, and to &s;eek the Lord of Ho&s;ts;</HI> yea, <HI>many people, and &s;trong nations coming to &s;eek the Lord of Ho&s;ts in</HI> Je|ru&s;alem, <HI>and to pray before the Lord,</HI> chap. 8.20, 21, 22.
<PB N="165" REF="139">The&s;e things <HI>relate</HI> to <HI>the time</HI> of the <HI>New Ieru&s;alem,</HI> yet &s;o as we mu&s;t al&s;o interpret the Prophets manner of &s;peaking, and &s;etting forth the&s;e things according to our <HI>fir&s;t Rule.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3 RULE, That as the Go&s;pel Admini&s;tration (which was when the Prophets wrote to come) was to be a very con&s;iderable &s;tep towards <HI>the glory</HI> of <HI>the new Ieru&s;a|lem,</HI> things being under it to make a great advance in Spi|rituals, in compari&s;on of what then they were; by rea|&s;on whereof a beginning, or a peeping forth of <HI>new Ieru|&s;alems glory,</HI> &s;hould be held forth in that Admini&s;trati|on; <HI>Hence we are to look upon &s;ome places in the Pro|phets where this glory is &s;poken of, as relating in part, and in &s;ome things to the &s;tate of the Church under the Go&s;pel Admini&s;tration that now is, but to have a more &s;pecial relation in regard of the Prophets &s;cope, to the &s;tate of the New Ieru&s;alem, which is yet to come.</HI></P>
<P>This is clear from the Scriptures before mentioned, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 54.13. <HI>All thy children &s;hall be taught of the Lord,</HI> Jer. 31.34. <HI>They &s;hall no more teach every man his neigh|bor, and every man his brother, &s;aying, Know the Lord;</HI> which places (as I have &s;aid) have an accompli&s;hment in part at pre&s;ent, but for their fulne&s;s, they look to the time of the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem,</HI> which is yet to come.</P>
<P>So <HI>Ezek.</HI> 43.10, 11. <HI>Tho&s;e that are a&s;hamed of their abominations &s;hall have the form and fa&s;hion of Gods hou&s;e &s;hewed to them;</HI> and chap 44.10, 11. <HI>The Le|vites</HI> that <HI>went a&s;tray</HI> when <HI>I&s;rael went a&s;tray,</HI> are <HI>laid by</HI> in the &s;pecial acts of <HI>Gods wor&s;hip;</HI> but v. 15, 16. they that <HI>kept</HI> their <HI>charge</HI> when the re&s;t went <HI>a&s;tray,</HI> are <HI>im|ployed</HI> in the <HI>&s;ervice</HI> of Gods Sanctuary and Table; which things (in a &s;piritual way) God hath fulfilled, and is daily fulfilling to his people, under the pre&s;ent Admi|ni&s;tration, though yet the general &s;cope of this Propliecy (as before) looks to the time of the <HI>New Ieru&s;alem.</HI></P>
<PB N="166" REF="140">
<P>By the&s;e few examples under each rule, we may be able to judge of many others of a like nature, which will in reading offer them&s;elves to us.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 TYPE="effects">
<HEAD>4 <HI>The Effects.</HI></HEAD>
<DIV4 N="1" TYPE="effect">
<HEAD>1 <HI>Effect.</HI></HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">Terror.</HEAD>
<P>Ver&s;. 18. <HI>And there were voyces, and Thunders and Lightnings, and there was a great Earthquake, &s;uch as was not &s;ince men were upon the Earth, &s;o migh|ty an Earthquake, and &s;o great.</HI></P>
<P>The <HI>great voyce</HI> from the <HI>Throne</HI> upon the <HI>&s;eventh Angel</HI> pouring his Vial forth fills the whole world with <HI>terror.</HI> In the Air are heard mo&s;t dreadful a&s;toni&s;hing thundrings and lightnings, fearful affrighting voyces, through the &s;ound of the Trumpet, (<HI>Mat.</HI> 24.31. 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 15.52.) houlings, &s;creechings, lamentings of Devils, who&s;e tor|ments now begin; the time being come. The Earth is terribly moved, and ready to be rent in peeces, with a horrible &s;haking, upon the appearing of the Lord, as Mount <HI>Sinai</HI> &s;hook and quaked greatly, when the Lord de&s;cended upon it, <HI>Exod.</HI> 19.16, 17, 18. hereby the whole world is filled with trembling; now do the Tribes of the earth mourn, mens hearts failing them for fear, and for look|ing after tho&s;e things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of Heaven are &s;haken.</P>
</DIV4>
<DIV4 N="2" TYPE="effect">
<HEAD>2 <HI>Effect.</HI></HEAD>
<DIV5 TYPE="section">
<HEAD>Ruin.</HEAD>
<P>Wherein we have,</P>
<P N="1">1 <HI>A particular Li&s;t of the things ruined,</HI> which are;
<PB N="167" REF="140">
<LIST>
<ITEM>1 The <HI>Great City.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>2 The <HI>Cities of the Nations.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>3 <HI>Great Babylon.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>Ver&s;. 19. <HI>And the Great City was divided into three parts, and the Cities of the Nations fell; and great</HI> Babylon <HI>came in remembrance before God, to give un|to her the cup of the Wine of the fiercene&s;s of his wrath.</HI></P>
<P>Setting a&s;ide the Dragon, who was the principal &s;tickler in encouraging and gathering together that Rout and Mul|titude, who from all parts of the world come up to the bat|tel of the great day of God Almighty, who&s;e puni&s;hment is pa&s;&s;ed over here, but particular mention is made there|of, Chapter 20. there &s;eems to be three &s;orts of enemies, who &s;hall gather together at this day.</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>1 The <HI>Popi&s;h Crew.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>Mahumetans.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>3 Some <HI>Kings of the Earth,</HI> neither <HI>Pa|pi&s;ts,</HI> nor <HI>Mahumetans.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>The fir&s;t &s;tand under the Banner of the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> The two la&s;t being one in this, that neither pretends to &s;tand up for Chri&s;t, as doth the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> (who &s;hall at this day by the &s;ubtlety, Miracles and counterfeit holine&s;s of the fal&s;e Prophet, be marvellou&s;ly blinded, being made to be|leeve his cau&s;e to be quite contrary to what indeed it is) but coming forth upon the account of &s;ome carnal re|&s;pects, or worldly intere&s;ts, yet mixed with malice (which is natural to all that are of the Serpentine &s;eed) again&s;t the Saints, are both comprehended under that of the Kings of the earth, <HI>Rev.</HI> 19.19. <HI>I &s;aw the Bea&s;t, and the Kings of the earth.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Daniel,</HI> Chap. 7. de&s;cribes them otherwi&s;e (though not much differing) calling the fir&s;t (as here) the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI>
<PB N="168" REF="141">which I have &s;hewed to be the <HI>Roman Monarchy,</HI> as governed by <HI>Antichri&s;t,</HI> the <HI>little Horn;</HI> the other, the re&s;t of the <HI>Bea&s;ts,</HI> ver&s; 12. noting other worldly powers, who &s;hall joyn hands at this day with <HI>Antichri&s;t,</HI> or the <HI>fourth Bea&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>Now that <HI>Antichri&s;t,</HI> with other Kings of the earth, as his adherents, &s;hall at this day make one Head, to op|po&s;e the Saints, is without que&s;tion, but yet perhaps it may be thought &s;ufficient proof hath not (from what hath been &s;aid) appeared to evidence that the <HI>great Turk,</HI> or the <HI>Mahumetan party</HI> &s;hall joyn with the re&s;t, or &s;hould be comprehended under that of the Kings of the earth.</P>
<P>Now although no le&s;s can be thought, when the Holy Gho&s;t &s;peaks in &s;uch general termes, ver&s;. 14. <HI>The Kings of the earth, and of the whole world,</HI> then that the <HI>Turk,</HI> who po&s;&s;e&s;&s;eth a <HI>great part of the world,</HI> &s;hould be included, yet (that the &s;en&s;e of the words may be more clear) I &s;hall from other Scriptures prove that the <HI>great Turk</HI> &s;hall have a hand, yea a deep one too, in this de&s;pe|rate ingagement.</P>
<P>Not much to in&s;i&s;t upon (becau&s;e I would not bee prolix) the gathering together of <HI>Gog</HI> and <HI>Magog,</HI> &s;poken of in <HI>Ezek.</HI> 38.39. which divers worthy men, and not without giving good rea&s;ons for it) interpret the <HI>Pope</HI> and the <HI>Turk</HI> which gathering together that it is the &s;ame with that at this day, the &s;everal circum&s;tances of the place do evidence, as will appear to him who &s;hall compare the battel of <HI>Gog</HI> and <HI>Magog,</HI> with this of <HI>Armageddon;</HI> and not (as &s;ome) that &s;poken of, <HI>Rev.</HI> 20.8, 9. which mentions no battel, as doth <HI>Ezekiel;</HI> nor will that agree to the time of the <HI>Jews</HI> delivery (which <HI>Ezekiel</HI> is clear in) but rather &s;hould be a <HI>thou&s;and years</HI> after; neither can there (the <HI>General Judgement</HI> immediately in&s;uing thereupon) be any allowance of time, either to bury <HI>Gog's</HI>
<PB N="169" REF="141">dead, or for a <HI>glorious &s;tate of the Church</HI> here on earth; both which <HI>Ezekiel</HI> &s;peaks punctually unto; yet well may tho&s;e, <HI>Rev.</HI> 20. being &s;uch of the &s;eed of old <HI>Gog</HI> and <HI>Magog</HI> as &s;hall &s;urvive the <HI>thou&s;and years,</HI> and &s;hall at the end thereof (upon the Devils letting loo&s;e) act again&s;t the Saints, as their Fore-fathers did, retain the names of their Ance&s;tors <HI>Gog</HI> and <HI>Magog</HI> &s;till. But to pa&s;s this, I take it, tho&s;e places (which are not a few) in the Old Te|&s;tament, where mention is made of the <HI>rage of the A&s;&s;y|rian</HI> again&s;t <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> have a &s;pecial <HI>reference</HI> to the thing I am now in proving, for whereas the <HI>Turk</HI> doth at this day po&s;&s;e&s;s <HI>Chaldea, Me&s;opotamia,</HI> with &s;uch other Countries, as did anciently belong to the <HI>A&s;&s;yrian Mo|narchy;</HI> &s;o do I conceive what the Prophets oft hint at, as touching the <HI>A&s;&s;yrians</HI> invading <HI>I&s;rael</HI> with his Ar|mies, to be rather <HI>Typical</HI> of what &s;hould be in the la&s;t dayes, acted by his <HI>Succe&s;&s;or</HI> the <HI>Turk,</HI> than a plenary <HI>fulfilling</HI> of tho&s;e <HI>Prophe&s;ies</HI> by any <HI>Inva&s;ions</HI> of the <HI>A&s;&s;yrian,</HI> in, or about tho&s;e times, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 30.31. <HI>For through the voyce of the Lord &s;hall the A&s;&s;yrian be bea|ten down;</HI> Which Text, although I deny not, but it had a <HI>typical</HI> accompli&s;hment in the dayes of <HI>Senacherib,</HI> yet doth not that an&s;wer the &s;cope of the Chapter, which it is manife&s;t looks to the la&s;t dayes, and how the 30, 31, 32, 33 ver&s;es agrees to what we have formerly &s;poken, as touching <HI>Chri&s;ts coming</HI> at the battel of <HI>Armageddon,</HI> will be clear to him who &s;hall but compare &s;undry places which upon that occa&s;ion I have opened before with this.</P>
<P>As for that of <HI>Micha, Chap.</HI> 5.5. <HI>This man &s;hall bee the peace when the A&s;&s;yrian &s;hall come into our Land;</HI> It cannot be interpreted as having <HI>reference</HI> to any other but <HI>Go&s;pel-times,</HI> long before which the ancient <HI>A&s;&s;yrian Monarchy</HI> was ruined. And would you know what <HI>time</HI> of the <HI>Go&s;pel</HI> it hath <HI>reference</HI> unto? why the <HI>la&s;t time</HI> of all, <HI>viz. The time of Chri&s;ts coming,</HI> and &s;econd appearing, ver&s;. 4, 5, 6.</P>
<PB N="170" REF="142">
<P>The like we have, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 7.8. <HI>Zach.</HI> 10.10, 11. with many other places, which would be too tedious to in&s;i&s;t upon.</P>
<P>Having thus found the <HI>parties</HI> who &s;hall at this day bee gather together to oppo&s;e the <HI>Saints</HI> which march under <HI>three di&s;tinct Banners.</HI> 1 The <HI>Banner</HI> of <HI>the Bea&s;t,</HI> or <HI>Roman power</HI> governed by <HI>Antichri&s;t.</HI> 2 The <HI>Banner</HI> of <HI>the Turk,</HI> or tho&s;e of <HI>the Mahumetan Religion.</HI> 3 The <HI>Banner</HI> of &s;ome <HI>earthly Kings</HI> and <HI>Potentates,</HI> Adherents to the other two, yet neither <HI>Papi&s;ts,</HI> nor <HI>Ma|humetans.</HI></P>
<P>I come now to make application hereof to the words, which notably &s;et forth, and that di&s;tinctly the ruine of either party.</P>
<P N="1">1 <HI>The great City is divided into three parts.</HI> By <HI>Great City,</HI> we are not to under&s;tand <HI>the City Rome,</HI> which fell before under <HI>Vial</HI> 5. But <HI>the whole power of the Bea&s;t,</HI> or <HI>Antichri&s;ts Kingdome,</HI> for &s;o is the word u&s;ed, <HI>Rev.</HI> 11.13. <HI>The &s;ame hour there was a great Earthquake, and the tenth part of the City fell,</HI> i.e. <HI>One of the ten Horns, or the tenth part of Antichri&s;ts Kingdome</HI> fell upon <HI>the Witne&s;&s;es</HI> ri&s;e. Now the <HI>divi|ding</HI> of <HI>the Great City,</HI> notes the downfall and ruin of <HI>his whole Kingdome;</HI> for a <HI>City divided,</HI> or <HI>rent</HI> peece from peece, by &s;ome terrible &s;haking, or earthquake <HI>can|not &s;tand;</HI> And <HI>this divi&s;ion</HI> being into <HI>three parts,</HI> notes a <HI>full</HI> and <HI>perfect ruine, three</HI> being a number of perfection. Now is <HI>the Bea&s;t &s;lain, his body de&s;troyed,</HI> and given to <HI>the burning flame,</HI> Dan. 7. <HI>Now the Bea&s;t and fal&s;e Prophet, both are ca&s;t into the Lake of fire burning with brim&s;tone,</HI> Rev. 19. <HI>Now tho&s;e who wor&s;hip the Bea&s;t, and his Image, and receive his mark in their fore-heads, or in their hands, drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mix|ture into the cup of his indignation, and are tormented
<PB N="171" REF="142">with fire and brim&s;tone in the pre&s;ence of the holy Angels, and in the pre&s;ence of the Lamb. And the &s;moak of their torment a&s;cendeth up for ever; and they have no re&s;t day nor night, who wor&s;hip the Bea&s;t and his Image, and who&s;oever receiveth the mark of his name,</HI> Rev. 14.</P>
<P N="2">2 The <HI>Cities of the Nations fall, i.e.</HI> &s;uch Nations as come in to the <HI>help</HI> of the <HI>Pope</HI> and <HI>Turk</HI> at this day, their Royal Cities, Regal Seats, Fortre&s;&s;es and places of &s;trength are overthrown. Now are the Thrones of Kingdoms overturned, and the &s;trength of Kingdoms of the Heathen de&s;troyed, <HI>Hag.</HI> 2.22. <HI>This is the day of Gods controver&s;ie with all Nations, when the &s;lain of the Lord &s;hall be from one end of the earth, unto the other,</HI> Jer. 25.30, 31, 32, 33.</P>
<P N="3">3 <HI>Great Babylon comes up in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierce|ne&s;s of his wrath.</HI> Now by <HI>Great Babylon</HI> we may not under&s;tand the <HI>City Rome,</HI> which fell under the <HI>Fifth Vial;</HI> nor is it weight enough again&s;t our Rea&s;ons there laid down, to &s;ay that the <HI>City Rome</HI> is <HI>&s;piritually called</HI> by the <HI>name</HI> of <HI>Great Babylon,</HI> in this Book, unle&s;s it could be proved that the name in a &s;piritual &s;en&s;e is ap|pliable to no other City, or thing, but <HI>Rome</HI> only.</P>
<P>Nor may we &s;econdly, under&s;tand <HI>Antichri&s;ts King|dome in general,</HI> for that is &s;et forth by the <HI>Great City;</HI> and it is not a thing probable, having once expre&s;&s;ed it, and being gone to another Head namely, <HI>The Cities of the Nations,</HI> that the Holy Gho&s;t &s;hould yet afterwards come over with it again. Yea how improper would it be to &s;ay of the Kingdom of the Bea&s;t, that it came now in re|membrance before God, which peece by peece had been pulling down, and de&s;troying throughout all the <HI>Vials.</HI></P>
<P>As therefore <HI>three &s;orts</HI> of Enemies combine together at this day, the doom and downfall of <HI>two</HI> of which, we
<PB N="172" REF="143">have &s;een already; &s;o is the <HI>ruine</HI> of the <HI>third,</HI> namely, the <HI>Great Turk,</HI> with <HI>Con&s;tantinople</HI> his Royal City, or Seat of Re&s;idence here &s;et forth by <HI>Great Babylons</HI> coming up in remembrance before God: And in this opinion I am not alone, <HI>(Brightman)</HI> a man of no little worth and e&s;teem, having a&s;&s;erted it before me.</P>
<P>And truly the <HI>Turk,</HI> being, as hath been made ap|pear, &s;o <HI>con&s;iderable</HI> an Enemy in this la&s;t ingagement, it is not probable that his <HI>puni&s;hment</HI> &s;hould either be pa&s;&s;ed over in <HI>&s;ilence,</HI> or named in the <HI>general</HI> only, which if it be not contained in the&s;e words, is &s;o.</P>
<P>Withall there will be the &s;ame rea&s;on at this day, when the <HI>Turki&s;h</HI> Seat &s;hall be as <HI>infamou&s;ly</HI> famous for <HI>oppo|&s;ing,</HI> and <HI>oppre&s;sing</HI> the <HI>Jews,</HI> as <HI>Antichri&s;ts</HI> hath been, or now is, for per&s;ecuting the <HI>Chri&s;tians,</HI> that in a figu|rative &s;en&s;e the name of <HI>Babylon</HI> (the oppre&s;&s;ing City of Gods people of old) &s;hould be applied to it, as now it is to the Seat of the Bea&s;t; yea if of the two one may claim a greater title to the name than the other, the claim of this day will fall to the <HI>Turk,</HI> who by po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ing the cruel and per&s;ecuting qualities of <HI>Babylon</HI> of old, towards Gods people &s;hall make his claim equal with Antichri&s;t; and by how much he hath not the qualities only, but the Lands and Territories of the <HI>Babylonian Monarchy</HI> that was now in his clutches, his claim will be the grea|ter.</P>
<P>And indeed to me it is evident that <HI>tho&s;e things</HI> that concern the <HI>de&s;truction</HI> of <HI>Babylon,</HI> mentioned &s;o oft in the Prophets, which in the ruine of <HI>Babylon</HI> of old (the Type) neither had, nor could have their accompli&s;h|ment, though they have a re&s;pect to the <HI>Turk</HI> and <HI>Anti|chri&s;t</HI> both, yet more <HI>e&s;pecially</HI> to the <HI>Turk,</HI> as the <HI>princi|pal Antitype</HI> of that <HI>Type,</HI> as is clear, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 14. for the <HI>Baby|lon</HI> there &s;poken of, is that <HI>Babylon</HI> which &s;hall be an op|pre&s;&s;ing City to the <HI>Jews</HI> (for which rea&s;on they triumph
<PB N="173" REF="143">over it in its de&s;truction, ver&s;. 4, 5, &amp;c. and this at the time of their la&s;t re&s;tauration, which is yet to come, as is ma|nife&s;t in the three fir&s;t ver&s;es, which can be meant of none &s;o properly, as the <HI>Great Turk</HI> &s;itting in <HI>Con&s;tanti|nople.</HI></P>
<P>And as a <HI>further Re&s;tauration</HI> &s;eems to be promi&s;ed, and foretold, <HI>Jer.</HI> 50.4 5. then meerly the coming out of <HI>Babylon</HI> of Old, when <HI>Judah</HI> only, and not (as here) <HI>I&s;rael</HI> and <HI>Judah</HI> together, came up to &s;eek the Lord; &s;o by the &s;ame rea&s;on we are to look after the ruine of &s;ome other <HI>Babylon,</HI> then meerly <HI>Babylon</HI> in the Letter, which <HI>Babylo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"></HI> mu&s;t be &s;uch too, as &s;hall at this day &s;tand in the way of the <HI>Jews</HI> return, and be an enemy to them; and this can be more fitly applied to none than to the <HI>Turk.</HI></P>
<P>And notwith&s;tanding the <HI>Turk</HI> received a notable blow under the former <HI>Vial,</HI> by means of which a door was &s;et open to the <HI>Jews</HI> to recover their own land; yet becau&s;e <HI>Con&s;tantinople,</HI> his chief City was not thereby de&s;troyed, therefore in re&s;pect of the wrath of God, poured out up|on that at this day, it is here &s;aid, <HI>Great Babylon came now in remembrance before God;</HI> which words very fitly agree to the <HI>ruine</HI> of <HI>Con&s;tantinople,</HI> but are not <HI>appli|able</HI> either to the <HI>ruine</HI> of <HI>Rome,</HI> or the <HI>Kingdome</HI> of the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> in <HI>general,</HI> both which came up into <HI>re|membrance,</HI> and had been <HI>actually puni&s;hed</HI> before this day.</P>
</DIV5>
<DIV5 N="2" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>2 <HI>The Inevitablene&s;s of this Ruine.</HI></HEAD>
<P>Ver&s;. 20. <HI>And every I&s;land fled away, and the Mountains were not found.</HI></P>
<P><HI>I&s;lands</HI> and <HI>Mountains</HI> are places of <HI>refuge.</HI> Men in times of commotion, flye to the&s;e for &s;helter, as being &s;afer in them than they can be el&s;where. Now that which
<PB N="174" REF="144">tome is a notable confirmation that the words are in this &s;en&s;e to be under&s;tood; I find the Prophets in other places (which relating to this very time, &s;erve as a Comment upon the Text) intimating that men &s;hould at <HI>this day</HI> either be <HI>&s;ecure</HI> by rea&s;on of &s;uch <HI>&s;helters,</HI> or flye to &s;uch places for <HI>&s;helter,</HI> Ezek. 39.6. &s;peaking of the <HI>Effects</HI> of the <HI>Battel</HI> of <HI>Gog</HI> and <HI>Magog</HI> &s;aith, <HI>I will &s;end a fire in Magog, and among them that dwell carele&s;ly in the I&s;les,</HI> as noting, that &s;ome &s;hould at this day think them|&s;elves <HI>&s;ecure</HI> by being in <HI>I&s;les,</HI> places of <HI>refuge</HI> and <HI>&s;helter.</HI> The Prophet <HI>I&s;aiah,</HI> Chap. 2.21. &s;peaking of the day wherein <HI>God will ari&s;e to &s;hake terribly the earth</HI> (the &s;ame with that &s;haking, <HI>Joel</HI> 3.16. <HI>Hag.</HI> 2.6, 7. 21, 22. tells us that &s;ome <HI>at that day for fear of the Lord, &s;hall flye to the clefts of the Rocks, and to the tops of the ragged Rocks;</HI> noting men &s;hall &s;eek <HI>&s;helter</HI> from &s;uch places of <HI>refuge</HI> as the <HI>Rocks</HI> of <HI>Mountains</HI> are. But &s;o <HI>inevitable</HI> &s;hall their <HI>ruine</HI> be, that notwith|&s;tanding men may flye for <HI>&s;helter</HI> to their outward <HI>Re|fuges,</HI> thinking them&s;elves &s;ecure by rea&s;on of them, yet &s;hall all their <HI>refuges</HI> and <HI>&s;helters</HI> prove no <HI>&s;helter</HI> again&s;t this <HI>&s;torm,</HI> for <HI>every I&s;land &s;hall flye away, and the Mountains &s;hall not be found.</HI></P>
</DIV5>
<DIV5 N="3" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>3 <HI>The Greatne&s;s of it.</HI></HEAD>
<P>Ver&s;. 21. <HI>And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every &s;tone about the weight of a Ta|lent.</HI></P>
<P>The <HI>Hail</HI> from <HI>Heaven</HI> denotes the more <HI>imme|diate</HI> judgements of God, which &s;hall fall on his enemies at this day; and there may be an <HI>allu&s;ion</HI> to the <HI>de|&s;truction</HI> of the <HI>Canaanites</HI> by <HI>great Hail&s;tones</HI> from Heaven, <HI>Jo&s;h.</HI> 10.11. The greatne&s;s of the Hail&s;tones, <HI>each being about the weight of a Talent,</HI> notes the
<PB N="175" REF="144">judgements God will inflict at this day, to be the <HI>heavie&s;t</HI> and mo&s;t dreadful that can be, a <HI>Talent</HI> of all <HI>weights</HI> being the <HI>greate&s;t.</HI></P>
</DIV5>
</DIV4>
<DIV4 TYPE="effect">
<HEAD>3 <HI>Effect.</HI></HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">Bla&s;pheming of God.</HEAD>
<P><HI>And men bla&s;phemed God, becau&s;e of the plague of the Hail, for the plague thereof was exceeding great.</HI></P>
<P>The <HI>Eea&s;t</HI> lived a <HI>Bla&s;phemer,</HI> now he <HI>dyes</HI> a <HI>Bla&s;|phemer,</HI> and goes <HI>bla&s;pheming</HI> to the <HI>Lake of fire burn|ing with brim&s;tone,</HI> whither the ju&s;t <HI>judgements</HI> of God (which when they cannot reform &s;inners on earth, ca&s;t them to Hell) have now brought him.</P>
<P>And this is the conclu&s;ion of this great day, as it re|&s;pects Gods <HI>Enemies,</HI> which to their woe they &s;hall find and feel to be a <HI>black, di&s;mal,</HI> and <HI>fatal day,</HI> though but the beginning of it, as it re&s;pects the Saints and people of God, to whom it &s;hall be the mo&s;t <HI>glo|rious, joyful,</HI> and <HI>light&s;ome day</HI> that ever they beheld; When God <HI>&s;hall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there &s;hall be no more cur&s;e, but the Throne of God, and the Lamb, and his Servants &s;hall &s;erve him. And they &s;hall &s;ee his face, and his name &s;hall be in their foreheads.</HI> And this is that <HI>New Jeru&s;alem</HI> com|ing down from God out of Heaven; the hope of which, let it <HI>purifie our hearts even as he is pure.</HI> Let us al|wayes have our <HI>loyns girded about,</HI> our <HI>lamps burning,</HI> and we our &s;elves like unto men that wait for the Lord, looking earne&s;tly unto, and breathing after that ble&s;&s;ed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God, and our Saviour Je&s;us Chri&s;t, who <HI>once was offered to bear
<PB N="176" REF="145">the &s;ins of many, and unto them that look for him will he appear the &s;econd time without &s;in to &s;alva|tion.</HI> When <HI>be that now overcometh &s;hall be made a Pil|lar in the Temple of his God, and he &s;hall go no more out;</HI> And Chri&s;t will <HI>write upon him the Name of his God, and the Name of the City of his God, which is</HI> New Jeru&s;alem, <HI>which cometh down out of Hea|ven from his God, and he will write upon him his new name. And tho&s;e that do his Commandements &s;hall have right to the Tree of Life, and enter in through the Gates into the City, when without &s;hall be Dogs, and Sorcerers, and Whoremongers, and Murderers, and Idolaters, and who&s;oever loveth, and maketh a lie.</HI> Which things he hath &s;ent his <HI>Angel to te&s;tifie in the Churches, who is the Root and Off-&s;pring of</HI> David, <HI>and the bright and morning Star;</HI> Who al&s;o him|&s;elf &s;aith, <HI>Surely I come quickly.</HI> Amen. Even &s;o, <HI>Come Lord Je&s;us.</HI></P>
</DIV4>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<HEAD>The Rea&s;on of the Order ob&s;erved in pouring forth the VIALS.</HEAD>
<P>_THe <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> having now for a long time <HI>trampled under foot</HI> the holy City, <HI>bla&s;phemed God,</HI> his <HI>Name,</HI> and <HI>Tabernacle,</HI> and them that <HI>dwell in Heaven;</HI> and exerci&s;ed his utmo&s;t <HI>rage</HI> and <HI>cruelties,</HI> again&s;t all <HI>tho&s;e</HI> who holding the <HI>te&s;timony</HI> of Je&s;us, could not be brought to <HI>wor&s;hip him,</HI> his <HI>Image,</HI> or receive his <HI>Mark</HI> in their <HI>fore-heads,</HI> or in their <HI>hands;</HI> and being in all the&s;e his in&s;olent and outragious practces <HI>animated,</HI> yea <HI>a&s;&s;i&s;ted</HI> by the <HI>Kings</HI> of the earth, &s;ub|jecting them&s;elves to him, and giving their &s;trength, power, and Kingdome to the Bea&s;t, Chri&s;t (as able no
<PB N="177" REF="145">longer to <HI>hear</HI> the <HI>Bla&s;phemies,</HI> and <HI>behold</HI> the <HI>rage</HI> and <HI>cruelties</HI> of the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> with all the <HI>determined time</HI> of <HI>redeeming Sion, avenging</HI> the blood of his Elect on tho&s;e that dwell on the earth, <HI>judging</HI> the <HI>Bea&s;t, ca&s;ting</HI> down his <HI>Thrones,</HI> and <HI>taking</HI> the <HI>Kingdome</HI> to him&s;elf, being come) without delay now <HI>rou&s;eth</HI> up him&s;elf, and in his wondrous <HI>zeal,</HI> his <HI>power,</HI> and <HI>greatne&s;s</HI> marcheth forth, to <HI>judge</HI> the great <HI>Whore, de&s;troy</HI> the <HI>Thrones</HI> of Kingdoms, take <HI>po&s;&s;e&s;sion</HI> of the Kingdoms of this world, and &s;ubject them to his own righteous Scepter.</P>
<P>But finding upon his fir&s;t Ri&s;e, that <HI>two</HI> of his ancient and principal Rights had been <HI>long invaded,</HI> and laid wa&s;te by the Enemy, namely, <HI>The glory of his Prie&s;thood up|on earth, and the exerci&s;e of his Kingly Power and Prerogative in his Churches;</HI> the <HI>fir&s;t</HI> by the <HI>putrified</HI> and filthy &s;tinking <HI>puddle</HI> of <HI>Romi&s;h Doctrine,</HI> which in|&s;tead of exalting that Righteou&s;ne&s;s alone in Ju&s;tification, which is pure, perfect, heavenly, did e&s;tabli&s;h a righ|teou&s;ne&s;s which was earthly, impure, full of filthy dregs, out of which one poy&s;onous root, were grown up innu|merable Idolatries, <HI>viz.</HI> the <HI>Ma&s;s, Purgatory, Indul|gences, Invocation</HI> of <HI>Saints, Penance, Pilgrimages, Monki&s;h life, &amp;c.</HI> by which the <HI>glory</HI> of Chri&s;ts <HI>Prie&s;tly Office</HI> was veyled, the precious <HI>truth</HI> of the <HI>Go&s;pel</HI> per|verted, and Souls in&s;tead of bread of Life, fed continu|ally with nothing but <HI>poy&s;on.</HI> The <HI>&s;econd,</HI> by that <HI>Ty|rannical power of Antichri&s;tian Di&s;cipline,</HI> which to &s;atisf<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters"> the pride, and accompli&s;h the de&s;igns of an am|bitious a&s;piring Hierarchy and Clergy, is e&s;tabli&s;hed in &s;uch a way, that all, both &s;mall and great, mu&s;t &s;ubmit to <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">t, its Decrees, and Impo&s;itions, and in token of <HI>&s;ubjection</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">eceive &s;ome <HI>mark in their right hand,</HI> or in their <HI>fore|heads,</HI> which in ca&s;e of <HI>refu&s;al,</HI> they are thereupon <HI>Ex|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ommunicates,</HI> who mu&s;t neither buy nor &s;ell, hereby <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">rampling under foot</HI> the Kingly power of Chri&s;t,
<PB N="178" REF="146">&s;natching his Scepter of love and meekne&s;s out of his hands, and in&s;tead thereof lifting up a rod of Iron.</P>
<P>Chri&s;t <HI>&s;eeing</HI> this, that through the <HI>rage</HI> and <HI>in&s;olency</HI> of the Enemy, the <HI>ancient bounds were broken down, and Sion lay plowed as a field,</HI> he makes it his <HI>fir&s;t at|tempt,</HI> being ri&s;en, to <HI>recover</HI> his <HI>own</HI> again; and be|cau&s;e it was of greate&s;t concernment (being that Salvation depended upon) to pluck off the <HI>veil</HI> from his <HI>Prie&s;tly Office,</HI> and to <HI>confound</HI> that <HI>Doctrine</HI> which had &s;et up an <HI>Idol-god</HI> for a <HI>Saviour,</HI> and an <HI>Idol-wor&s;hip</HI> in&s;tead of the <HI>wor&s;hip</HI> of the <HI>true God;</HI> Chri&s;t therefore as his <HI>fir&s;t</HI> work, <HI>&s;hakes</HI> to peeces that <HI>rotten earthly Doctrine,</HI> with the &s;everal <HI>Idolatries</HI> growing upon it, which had ju&s;ted him out of his <HI>Prie&s;tly Office,</HI> openly hereupon proclaiming him&s;elf to be only High Prie&s;t and Media|tor, and &s;alvation to be had in him alone; and this is done by the <HI>fir&s;t Vial,</HI> which is poured out upon the <HI>Antichri&s;tian earth, i.e.</HI> the groffer parts of Po|pery.</P>
<P>Yet becau&s;e the <HI>Kingly Office</HI> of Chri&s;t was <HI>&s;till in|vaded</HI> by an Antichri&s;tian <HI>Lording Di&s;cipline,</HI> who un|der pretence of <HI>ruling</HI> for Chri&s;t, and exerci&s;ing his <HI>Kingly</HI> power, did in all places make <HI>havock</HI> of the <HI>Saints, per&s;ecuting</HI> them as <HI>evil doers;</HI> Chri&s;t therefore makes it his next work <HI>to recover</HI> his abu&s;ed <HI>Scepter</HI> into his own hands again, which to do, the <HI>&s;econd Vial</HI> is poured out upon <HI>the Sea,</HI> namely, the Antichri&s;tian Di&s;cipline.</P>
<P>Chri&s;t having now <HI>regained</HI> his own (as a pui&s;&s;ant and noble Conqueror, who being fir&s;t unju&s;tly invaded, contents not him&s;elf to recover his Rights, but takes this opportunity to invade his enemies) makes an <HI>inva&s;ion</HI> upon the Dominions of his enemies; and becau&s;e the Kings of the earth had lent their aid and a&s;&s;i&s;tance to the Fea&s;t, by who&s;e power and &s;trength given up to the
<PB N="179" REF="146">Bea&s;t, the <HI>blood of his Saints</HI> had been &s;pilt in every place, therefore to <HI>avenge</HI> the <HI>blood of his Saints,</HI> he be|gins the Quarrel with them; and &s;o the <HI>third Vial</HI> is poured out upon <HI>the Rivers and Fountains of Waters,</HI> that is, upon &s;ome particular States and Kingdomes, and upon the Heads of the&s;e, namely, Kings and States|men.</P>
<P>And here, with the pouring forth of this <HI>third Vial,</HI> the <HI>Stone cut out of the Mountain</HI> &s;poken of, <HI>Dan.</HI> 2. (which breaks in peeces the Great Image) begins <HI>to &s;mite,</HI> the de&s;ign of Chri&s;t in the two fir&s;t Vials, being not &s;o much to break the great Image, as fir&s;t to recover his own in order thereunto.</P>
<P>Here al&s;o the <HI>Ancient of dayes,</HI> Dan. 7. begins to <HI>&s;it,</HI> and to <HI>ca&s;t down the Thrones</HI> of the fourth Bea&s;t.</P>
<P>Chri&s;t having now won the <HI>Out-&s;hifts</HI> and <HI>Suburbs</HI> of his grand Enemy, he next (that the blow might come clo&s;er, and fall yet heavier) <HI>invades</HI> him in his <HI>principal &s;treet,</HI> which for many Ages together was the <HI>&s;trength</HI> and <HI>glory</HI> of the <HI>Bea&s;ts</HI> Kingdom; this is the <HI>work</HI> of the <HI>fourth Vial,</HI> which therefore is poured out upon the <HI>Sun,</HI> that is, the <HI>German</HI> Empire, or Hou&s;e of <HI>Au&s;tria.</HI></P>
<P>The <HI>Thrones</HI> of the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> being <HI>ca&s;t down,</HI> his <HI>Sun darkned,</HI> and Chri&s;t <HI>going onward</HI> upon his march, his heart filled with <HI>Vengeance</HI> for the &s;ake of his people; the remembrance of the <HI>blood</HI> of his <HI>Saints</HI> poured out like water in every place, through the continual In&s;tiga|tions, Commi&s;&s;ions, and authority of the <HI>Roman Bea&s;t</HI> comes now &s;o fre&s;h into his mind; and the cry thereof is &s;o loud in his ears, that he can no longer forbear, giving her in requital, <HI>blood</HI> to <HI>drink,</HI> who hath made it her de|light to <HI>drink</HI> her &s;elf <HI>drunken</HI> with the <HI>blood</HI> of his <HI>Saints</HI> and <HI>Martyrs;</HI> he therefore next with a <HI>&s;wift</HI> and <HI>high hand</HI> bends his march to the <HI>Seat</HI> of the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> the City <HI>Rome,</HI> upon which the <HI>Fifth Vial</HI> is poured out.</P>
<PB N="180" REF="147">
<P><HI>Rome</HI> being <HI>de&s;troyed,</HI> and made a <HI>ruinous heap,</HI> and the <HI>appointed</HI> time being <HI>now come,</HI> in which Gods <HI>ancient</HI> people the <HI>Jews</HI> are to come up to their own Land; which being at the pre&s;ent in the hands of the <HI>Great Turk,</HI> who with all his power will oppo&s;e their claim, and endeavour to keep them out of po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion, that therefore a <HI>door</HI> might be &s;et <HI>open</HI> for them, the <HI>Sixth Vial</HI> is poured out upon the <HI>great River Euphrates, i.e.</HI> the power and mul|titude of the <HI>Turk.</HI></P>
<P>Chri&s;t having hitherto been <HI>breaking his enemies</HI> by <HI>parts,</HI> and <HI>nothing</HI> being <HI>wanting</HI> but the <HI>crowning vi|ctory,</HI> to make him <HI>ab&s;olute King</HI> and <HI>Monarch</HI> of the <HI>world;</HI> in <HI>order</HI> therefore unto the <HI>pouring forth</HI> of the <HI>Seventh and la&s;t Vial</HI> (when Chri&s;t is to take po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of the Kingdome given to him by his Father, and to bee exalted as the great and only Potentate, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords) we have <HI>two things</HI> as principal.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, A <HI>General Rendezvouz</HI> of all the enemies of Chri&s;t into one Body, fit to be cut off.</P>
<P>Secondly, The <HI>Per&s;onal coming and appearing of the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> to make di&s;patch of his enemies, and to &s;et up his own Kingdome.</P>
<P>Things being thus in <HI>a readine&s;s,</HI> we have the <HI>pouring forth</HI> of the <HI>Seventh and la&s;t Vial</HI> into <HI>the Air,</HI> a uni|ver&s;al &s;ubject, which <HI>u&s;hers</HI> in with it the <HI>&s;ubver&s;ion</HI> of <HI>all</HI> Chri&s;ts enemies; the <HI>Bea&s;t (Antichri&s;t)</HI> being here|upon <HI>&s;lain,</HI> his <HI>body de&s;troyed,</HI> and <HI>given to the burning flame; The re&s;t of the Bea&s;t,</HI> i.e. all other worldly powers, <HI>have their Dominion taken away,</HI> and the <HI>Great Dragon the Devil,</HI> is <HI>bound,</HI> and <HI>ca&s;t into the bottomle&s;s Pit,</HI> and there <HI>&s;hut up</HI> for <HI>a thou&s;and years; And now are the Kingdoms of this world become the Kingdome of the Lord, and of his Chri&s;t, who &s;hall reign for ever and ever.</HI> Amen.</P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
<BACK>
<DIV1 TYPE="table of contents">
<PB REF="147">
<HEAD>A Table of the chief things contained in this TREATISE.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">The Fir&s;t Part.</HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>THe Coherence of the words, with the explication of the Text,</HI> P. 1. to 4</ITEM>
<ITEM>Doct. <HI>It is an e&s;pecial duty lying upon the Saints to attend unto, and be ac|tive in the</HI> work <HI>or</HI> works <HI>of their</HI> Generation. Page 4</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Shewed,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>1 <HI>What</HI> Generation-work <HI>is, and how the &s;ame is different from tho&s;e com|mon duties which lye upon Saints as Saints, and the &s;pecial duties of a Saints calling, &s;tation relati|on, or pre&s;ent condition,</HI> p. 5, 6, 7, 8</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>That Saints in their &s;everal Generations have e|ver had their peculiar works, as is proved by a line drawn through the &s;everal</HI> generations <HI>from the begin|ning downwards unto our times,</HI> p. 9, to 14</ITEM>
<ITEM>3 <HI>That it is a matter of great concernment for a Saint to attend to the</HI> work <HI>of his</HI> Generation, <HI>as ap|pears.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>1 <HI>God by his di&s;pen&s;ati|ons calls aloud for it,</HI> p. 14</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>Generation work is of all others the greate&s;t work, and a neglect herein the greate&s;t &s;in,</HI> p. 15. to 20</ITEM>
<ITEM>3 <HI>In doing the work of our Generation, we are mo&s;t &s;erviceable to the de|&s;ign of God that is on foot in the age we live in,</HI> p. 20</ITEM>
<ITEM>4 <HI>God hath choyce di|stingui&s;hing mercy for that man that follows him in the work of his Generation, as,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>1. <HI>God will overlook ma|ny failings in that man,</HI> p. 21</ITEM>
<PB REF="148">
<ITEM>2. <HI>God will &s;tand by that man and never leave him,</HI> ibid.</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. <HI>God will own that man in ca&s;e he live thereto in the work of the next Generati|on,</HI> ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM>4. <HI>God will provide a hi|ding place for that man a|gain&s;t tho&s;e &s;torms which may fall upon the Genera|tion he lives in, that is ac|tive in the work of his Ge|neration,</HI> p. 22</ITEM>
<ITEM>5. <HI>God will reveal his &s;e|crets to &s;uch,</HI> ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM>6. <HI>God hath peculiar ho|nor wherewith he will crown &s;uch,</HI> p. 23</ITEM>
<ITEM>5. <HI>Neglect of Generation work expo&s;eth a man to ma|ny danger, as,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>1. <HI>Danger of lo&s;ing Gifts and Talents,</HI> ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. <HI>Danger of lo&s;ing com|munion with God</HI> p. 24</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. <HI>Of being laid a&s;ide by God.</HI> p. 25</ITEM>
<ITEM>4. <HI>Of &s;tumbling at the work of the Generation, and all the di&s;pen&s;ations of God about it,</HI> p. 27</ITEM>
<ITEM>5. <HI>Of being blinded in or &s;hut out of the work of the next generation in ca&s;e he &s;hould live to &s;ee it.</HI> ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM>6. <HI>Of becoming an Apo|&s;tate, and an open enemy to the truths of God,</HI> p. 29</ITEM>
<ITEM>4 <HI>Wherein lies the work of the pre&s;ent Generation? which is re&s;olved</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>1 <HI>By laying down of &s;ome general Rule, &s;erving to di&s;cover what the work of the Generation is, in what|&s;oever age or generation a Saint may be &s;uppo&s;ed to live in; which Rules are the&s;e,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>1. <HI>Be inqui&s;itive to find out (according to Scripture account) the particular age or generation it &s;elf, that it is fallen to thy lot to live in,</HI> p. 30</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. <HI>Add to this, a narrow and impartial &s;earch for di&s;covery of tho&s;e glorious and remarkable things, the accompli&s;hment of which God in his word hath pro|mi&s;ed and foretold, in and about this age.</HI> ibid,</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. <HI>ob&s;erve Gods vi&s;ible di&s;pen&s;ations towards the age, and the various tran&s;|actions of things therein, how they an&s;wer to what is foretold and promi&s;ed,</HI> p. 31</ITEM>
<PB REF="148">
<ITEM>4. <HI>Ob&s;erve what work that is which is mo&s;t oppo|&s;ed and raged again&s;t by Satan and wicked men in the Generation.</HI> ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM>5. <HI>Ob&s;erve what the mo&s;t &s;piritual enlightned Saints have upon their hearts, as the work of the Generation,</HI> ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM>6. <HI>And la&s;tly, Be much in prayer to God for light here|in,</HI> p. 32</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>By application of the&s;e general Rules unto the pre|&s;ent age</HI> p. ib. to 48</ITEM>
<ITEM>5 <HI>How may each one find out that part of the work which is properly his work, and God calls upon him to be active in.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>1 <HI>Ob&s;erve what part of Generation-work that is, that thou art in a capacity to do.</HI> p. 51</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. <HI>Ob&s;erve what work that is among&s;t tho&s;e things thou art in a capacity to do in thy Generation, which the di&s;pen&s;ations of God without, and the bent or in|clination of thy spirit with|in, at &s;uch time as the &s;ame is mo&s;t spiritual, or thou ha&s;t mo&s;t intimate commu|nion with God, calls for the pre&s;ent doing thereof,</HI> p. 52</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. <HI>Ob&s;erve what peece of Generation-work that is, which when thou ha&s;t ven|tured on it, thou ha&s;t found God mo&s;t eminently appea|ring to thee for thy encou|ragement; and al&s;o with thee for a&s;&s;i&s;tance in doing of it.</HI> p. 53</ITEM>
<ITEM>4. <HI>Ob&s;erve what peece of Generation-work that is, which thou being in a capa|city to do, in doing of art likely to meet with greate&s;t oppo&s;ition, and that from all hands.</HI> p. 54</ITEM>
<ITEM>5. <HI>Ob&s;erve what peece of Generation-work that is, which when thou ha&s;t had a Call, an opportunity, and an inclination to do it, and ha&s;t not &s;et about the &s;ame, God hath pre&s;ently with|drawn him&s;elf,</HI> ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM>6. <HI>Ob&s;erve what peece of Generation-work that is, which put ca&s;e thou wert to die, would make mo&s;t for thy comfort if done, and mo&s;t for thy di&s;comfort if neglected,</HI> p. 55</ITEM>
<ITEM>6 <HI>And la&s;tly, How may Generation-work be &s;o car|ried
<PB REF="149">on, &s;o as that God may be &s;erved in the Generati|on?</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>1. <HI>Labor to find out what the work of thy Generation is, and in what things chiefly it con&s;i&s;ts,</HI> ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. <HI>Be humbled for it in ca&s;e thou ha&s;t failed in the work of the former Genera|tion,</HI> p. 56</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. <HI>Convert private cares which onely concern thine own particular condition, into cares for the publick, and the cau&s;e of Chri&s;t on foot,</HI> p. 57</ITEM>
<ITEM>4. <HI>Stand loo&s;e and di&s;|ingaged from private inte|re&s;ts,</HI> p. 58</ITEM>
<ITEM>5. <HI>Favour and own the Saints of the Generation,</HI> p. 59</ITEM>
<ITEM>6. <HI>Keep Ju&s;tice alive again&s;t wilfull offenders in the work,</HI> p. 60</ITEM>
<ITEM>7. <HI>Commit the managing of publique Affairs into the hands of faithful and holy men,</HI> ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM>8. <HI>Take heed of &s;uch things as will ob&s;truct and hinder the work of the Ge|neration. as,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>1. <HI>Take heed of being offen|ded,</HI> p. 61</ITEM>
<ITEM>1. <HI>At the new light of the Generation,</HI> p 62</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. <HI>At tho&s;e &s;tumbling blocks which are u&s;ually laid in the work of the Ge|neration,</HI> p. 63</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. <HI>At the declared di&s;&s;ents the private di&s;contents or murmurings of a religious party again&s;t the work of the Generation.</HI> p. 65</ITEM>
<ITEM>4. <HI>At the after mi&s;car|riages and errors of tho&s;e who have been the onely active In&s;truments and lights at fir&s;t in the work of the Generation,</HI> p. 66</ITEM>
<ITEM>5 <HI>At the ga&s;tly looks, and untrodden foot&s;teps of &s;ome particular di&s;pen&s;ati|ons &amp; actings attending the work of the Generation,</HI> p 67</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>Take heed of being di&s;couraged</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>1. <HI>At the littlene&s;s and lowne&s;s of beginnings,</HI> p. 68</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. <HI>At the powerfulne&s;s and &s;ucce&s;sfulne&s;s of oppo|&s;ition again&s;t the work,</HI> p. 70</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. <HI>At great ones hold|ing off, and withdrawing their hands from the work,</HI> p. 71</ITEM>
<ITEM>4. <HI>At the perfidious and
<PB REF="149">treacherous dealing of &s;ome particular per&s;on im|ployed in the work,</HI> p 72</ITEM>
<ITEM>5. <HI>At the meeting with di&s;appointments,</HI> ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM>6. <HI>At unkindne&s;&s;es received from tho&s;e who&s;e good and welfare we have ever clo&s;e|ly pur&s;ued in the work,</HI> ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM>7. <HI>At multiplied &s;en|tences of death put upon the work,</HI> p. 73</ITEM>
<ITEM>3 <HI>Take heed of envy a|gain&s;t &s;uch whom God im|ployeth in the work,</HI> p. 74</ITEM>
<ITEM>4 <HI>Take heed of procra&s;ti|nating that work which is the bu&s;ine&s;s of the pre&s;ent Generation, under a pre|tence that the time of do|ing it, is not yet come, nei|ther are things ripe for it,</HI> p. 75</ITEM>
<ITEM>5. <HI>Take heed of limiting God to Ordinaries,</HI> ibid.</ITEM>
<ITEM>6. <HI>Take heed of neglect|ing the nick of opportunity that God puts into thy hands to do the work of thy Gene|ration in,</HI> p. 76</ITEM>
<ITEM>7 <HI>Take heed of fore|ca&s;ting events,</HI> ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM>8 <HI>Take heed of &s;etling thy &s;elf upon &s;eeming god|ly and righteous principles when the&s;e cla&s;h with the work of the Generation,</HI> ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM>9 <HI>Take heed of lending an ear unto &s;uch friendly re&s;pectful offers, which car|ry in the bowels of them (though gilded over with outward re&s;pect and friend|&s;hip) a crafty de&s;ign again&s;t the work of the Generation,</HI> p. 77</ITEM>
<ITEM>10 <HI>Take heed of making rea&s;on of State the rule of publick actings,</HI> p. 79</ITEM>
<ITEM>11 <HI>Take heed of &s;etting up humane Laws above the work of the generation,</HI> ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM>12 <HI>And la&s;tly, Take heed of conjunction with &s;uch who are not real-hearted to the cau&s;e of God, and the work of the generation,</HI> p. 89</ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="table of contents">
<PB REF="150">
<HEAD>The Table of the Second Part.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">The Introduction containing &s;ix gene|ral Propo&s;itions in order to the whole.</HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM>Propo&s;ition 1. <HI>THat we are there to begin the pouring forth of the Vials, where Anti|chri&s;t fir&s;t began to go off the Stage,</HI> p. 1, 2</ITEM>
<ITEM>Prop. 2. <HI>That the Vials are all to be poured forth by &s;uch Angels only as come out of the Temple,</HI> p. 2</ITEM>
<ITEM>Prop. 3. <HI>That Gods call to the Angels to pour out their Vials is to be looked for out of the Temple,</HI> p. 3</ITEM>
<ITEM>Prop. 4. <HI>That the &s;ub|jects of each Vial, are things &s;tanding in pp|&s;ition to Chri&s;ts King|dome, chiefly things per|taining to Antichrist,</HI> p. 4</ITEM>
<ITEM>Prop. 5. <HI>That the effects of one Vial do oft-times run into another Vial,</HI> p. 5</ITEM>
<ITEM>Prop. 6. <HI>That the Terms and Phra&s;es relating to the Vials are to be under|&s;tood not in a litteral, but a metaphorical &s;en&s;e,</HI> p. 6</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>VIAL 1.</HEAD>
<ITEM>1 <HI>The &s;ubject of it, the Popi&s;h earth, or the corrupt Doctrine of Anti|chri&s;t,</HI> p. 7</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>The effect; An in|fectious &s;tinking &s;ore, (cau&s;ing in others a loath|ing, and withdrawing) upon the A&s;&s;ertors of Po|pi&s;h principles,</HI> p. 8</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>It began to be poured
<PB REF="150">out about</HI> Luthers <HI>time,</HI> ib.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>VIAL 2.</HEAD>
<ITEM>1. <HI>The &s;ubject of it, the Sea;</HI> 1. <HI>Not meant of Na|tions in general,</HI> p. 9</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>Nor of the corrupt Doctrines of Antichri&s;t concluded upon in the Council of</HI> Trent ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM>3 <HI>Nor of the Political State of the</HI> Roman <HI>Em|pire,</HI> p. 10</ITEM>
<ITEM>But,</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>The</HI> Romi&s;h <HI>Di&s;cipline, or the Hierarchy and Cler|gy of</HI> Rome, <HI>upon whom this Vial was poured out in</HI> England, <HI>Anno Dom.</HI> 1641. p. 10, 11, 12</ITEM>
<ITEM>Two Objections an&s;wered,</ITEM>
<ITEM>1 Obj. <HI>The Hierarchy and Clergy of</HI> England, <HI>but an inferior part of the</HI> Ro|mi&s;h <HI>Hierarchy and Cler|gy, an&s;wered,</HI> ibid.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 Obj England <HI>but one of the ten Horus an&s;wered,</HI> ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 The Effects.</ITEM>
<ITEM>1 <HI>Effect; The Antichri|&s;tian Di&s;cipline appears cru|el, corrupt, and becomes loath&s;om,</HI> p. 13.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>Effect; All tho&s;e that live and breath in this corrupted &s;ea, die a civil death.</HI> ibid.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Some remaining drops of this Vial yet to come,</HI> p. 14</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>VIAL 3.</HEAD>
<ITEM>1. <HI>The Subject of it; the Rivers and Fountains of waters.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>1. <HI>Not to be under&s;tood of the</HI> Romi&s;h <HI>Bi&s;hops and Doctors,</HI> p. 14</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>Nor particularly of the Je&s;uits,</HI> ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM>But of</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Some particular States and Kingdoms &s;ubjected to the Bea&s;t, with their heads and Rulers,</HI> p. 15, 16</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>The Effect; Bloody Wars ari&s;e in tho&s;e Na|tions, by which their Heads and chief Rulers are cut off,</HI> ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM>3 <HI>An Adjunct; A ju|&s;tification of God in the ex|ecution of his wrath upon tho&s;e Nations and their Heads,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>1 <HI>By the in&s;truments u|&s;ed to do the work,</HI> p. 17</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>By &s;uffering Saints from &s;ome more remote
<PB REF="151">place,</HI> p. 18</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>A rea&s;on given why this Vial hath a double te|&s;timony of the righteou&s;|ne&s;s of it, which none of the other Vials have,</HI> p. 19</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>A rea&s;on al&s;o given why only the In&s;truments Chri&s;t u&s;eth, and &s;uffering Saints give this te&s;timony,</HI> ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Two rea&s;ons given why Saints that have &s;uffered in</HI> Scotland, <HI>do at pre&s;ent in</HI> Holland, <HI>do not with their fellow Brethren joyn in this te&s;timony,</HI> p. 20</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>The particular Nations this Vial falls upon, are</HI> England, <HI>the</HI> Low-Coun|tries, <HI>and</HI> France, <HI>and the rea&s;on why,</HI> ibid.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>An Objection an&s;wered; How it can be ju&s;t with God to puni&s;h the&s;e Nati|ons, and their pre&s;ent Heads, for what was done formerly, &s;eeing they can|not help what their Fore|fathers did, yea, are refor|med and do di&s;claim it?</HI> p. 21</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>This third Vial is the Vial we &s;tand under, it hath for the greate&s;t part pa&s;&s;ed over</HI> England <HI>alrea|dy, is now pa&s;&s;ing upon</HI> Holland, <HI>and will &s;hortly up|on</HI> France, p. 22, 23</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>VIAL 4.</HEAD>
<ITEM>1. <HI>The Subject of it the Sun;</HI> 1. <HI>Not Chri&s;t,</HI> 2 <HI>Nor the Scriptures,</HI> p. 23</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>But the</HI> German <HI>Empire, yet not the war pa&s;t, wrath &s;uddenly to come,</HI> p. 24, 25</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. <HI>An Adjunct, A power given to the Angels to &s;corch with fire, interpre|ted of the Call the Angels of this Vial &s;hall give to the Witne&s;&s;es now lying dead in</HI> Germany, <HI>to ari&s;e,</HI> p. 26, 27, 28</ITEM>
<ITEM>3 <HI>The Effects;</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>1. <HI>Rage and vexation up|on the Popi&s;h party,</HI> ibid.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. <HI>Bla&s;pheming God,</HI> ib.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>VIAL 5.</HEAD>
<ITEM>1 <HI>The &s;ubject, the &s;eat of the Bea&s;t;</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>1 <HI>Not Antichri&s;ts King|dom in general,</HI> p. 29</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. <HI>Not the Popes Supre|macy,</HI> ibid.</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. <HI>Not Epi&s;copacy,</HI> p. 30</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>But the City of</HI> Rome, p. 30, 31</ITEM>
<PB REF="151">
<ITEM><HI>Two Objections an&s;we|red,</HI> ibid.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>The Effects;</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>1. <HI>Effect, An eclip&s;e of the glory of the Papal King|dom,</HI> p. 32</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>Effect, Rage and mad|ne&s;s upon the Papals,</HI> ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. <HI>Effect, Bla&s;pheming God,</HI> p. 33</ITEM>
<ITEM>3 <HI>The time when this Vial &s;hall be poured forth, about the year</HI> 1656, ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Two Rea&s;ons given why the Fourth and Fifth Vi|als have &s;o little time al|lowed them for pouring forth, when the former have taken up much more,</HI> p. ib. 34</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>VIAL 6.</HEAD>
<ITEM>1 <HI>The Subject; The great River</HI> Euphrates; <HI>fir&s;t not litterally to be un|der&s;tood,</HI> p. 35</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>Not meant of the riches and revenues of An|tichri&s;t,</HI> ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM>3 <HI>Not of the &s;treams of Popi&s;h corruption,</HI> p. 36</ITEM>
<ITEM>But,</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>The</HI> Turki&s;h <HI>Empire,</HI> p. 37</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Here is &s;hewed why the</HI> Turki&s;h <HI>Empire is called the Great River, and why the Great River</HI> Euphra|tes.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>The effect, a wa&s;ting the</HI> Turks <HI>power and mul|titude.</HI> p. 38</ITEM>
<ITEM>3 <HI>The moving cau&s;e; To prepare a way for the</HI> Jews, <HI>both to their po&s;&s;e&s;&s;i|on of their Land again, and al&s;o their receiving of Chri&s;t,</HI> p. 38, 39, <HI>Here is &s;hewed why the</HI> Jews <HI>are called Kings, why Kings of the Ea&s;t,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>That the</HI> Jews <HI>con ver&s;ion &s;hall be before the pouring out of the &s;eventh Vial, proved</HI> p. 40, 41</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Three Objections an&s;we|red.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Obj. 1. <HI>The words &s;peak not of conver&s;ion, but pre|paring a way thereto, an|&s;wered.</HI> p. 42</ITEM>
<ITEM>Obj. 2. <HI>The</HI> Jews <HI>cannot be converted till after all the Vials, becau&s;e no man could enter into the Tem|ple till all the Vials were poured forth an&s;wered</HI> ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Obj 3. <HI>The</HI> 21 <HI>and</HI> 22 <HI>Chapters of the Revela|tion
<PB REF="152">(which follow upon the &s;eventh Vial) hold forth the Jews conver&s;ion, an&s;wered,</HI> p. 43</ITEM>
<ITEM>4 <HI>The Angel of this Vial.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>1 <HI>Not the Jews them|&s;elves</HI> p 44</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>Not the Turk perfor|ming it</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>1. <HI>Either by civil broyles,</HI> ibid.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. <HI>Nor by a diver&s;ion of his forces to &s;ome other place, making way thereby for the Jews to ri&s;e,</HI> p. 45</ITEM>
<ITEM>3 <HI>Not Chri&s;t by any im|mediate hand from hea|ven,</HI> ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM>But</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>The Gentile Churches.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Proved,</HI> p. 45. <HI>to</HI> 52. <HI>where al&s;o is &s;hewed, the cau&s;e of this attempt made by the Gentile Saints upon the</HI> Turk, <HI>and the man|ner how they &s;hall carry it on. Here al&s;o the Prophe|cies of the Stone,</HI> Dan. 2. <HI>and of the four Carpenters,</HI> Zach. 1. <HI>are opened; in do|ing which, both are &s;hew|ed to be one, both are ap|plyed to the Gentile-Saints; the Rea&s;on given why the Gentile-Saints are by</HI> Da|niel <HI>called a Stone, by</HI> Zacharie, <HI>four Carpen|ters.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Que&s;t, <HI>Who among the Gentile-Saints &s;hall under|take this enterpri&s;e.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>An&s;w. 1. <HI>The &s;ame In|&s;truments that &s;hall ruin</HI> Rome, p. 52, 53. <HI>Here is &s;hewed who they are that in all likelihood &s;hall ruin</HI> Rome.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>Four Characters ta|ken out of the Prophets, and applyed to that people who &s;hall have the princi|pal hand in this great work</HI> p. 53, 54</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>The Que&s;tion propoun|ded, Whether the Jewes fir&s;t &s;tirring &s;hall be upon a bare Civil account, or not? Re&s;olved at large,</HI> p. 54. <HI>to</HI> 62</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>The Interval betwixt the &s;ixth and &s;eventh VIALS.</HEAD>
<ITEM><HI>Four remarkable things falling within this Inter|val.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>1 <HI>Agents and Amba&s;|&s;adors are &s;ent forth from
<PB REF="152">the Dragon, Bea&s;t and fal&s;e Prophet unto the Kings of the earth,</HI> p. 63</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Here,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>1 <HI>The terms are opened, and it is &s;hewed</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>1. <HI>Who meant by Dragon</HI> ibid.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. <HI>What we are to under|&s;tand by Bea&s;t, and fal&s;e Prophet, Explained.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>1 <HI>Beast in the</HI> Revela|tion <HI>is &s;ometimes spoken of without di&s;tinction, as though he were but one; When &s;o, Bea&s;t denotes An|tichri&s;ts twofold power, Civil and Eccle&s;ia&s;tical,</HI> p. 64. <HI>to</HI> 68. <HI>Here is &s;hew|ed, what is meant by Bea&s;t a&s;cending out of the bot|tomle&s;s pit, Chap.</HI> 11.7. <HI>why called, Chap.</HI> 17.8. <HI>the Bea&s;t that was, is not, yet is, &s;hall a&s;cend out of the bottomle&s;s pit. What meant by the &s;even Heads of the Bea&s;t. In what &s;en&s;e this Bea&s;t is called the Eighth, yet &s;aid to be of the Se|ven.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>Beast is &s;ometimes spoken of with di&s;tinction, as though he were two; when &s;o, one part denotes Antichri&s;ts Civil power, the other his Eccle&s;ia&s;ti|cal,</HI> p. 68 <HI>to</HI> 69. 1 <HI>In this &s;en&s;e we read of two Bea&s;ts, Chap.</HI> 13. <HI>One Bea&s;t ari&s;ing out of the Sea; this &s;hewed to be An|tichri&s;t in his pure Civil State, why the &s;even Heads of the Bea&s;t are interpre|ted, fir&s;t of the &s;even Mountains of</HI> Rome, <HI>and &s;econdly, of the &s;even di|&s;tinct Governments in the</HI> Roman <HI>Empire. Another Bea&s;t ari&s;ing out of the Earth, this &s;hewed to be Antichri&s;t in his Eccle|&s;ia&s;tical State.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>That the fir&s;t Bea&s;t can|not be the whole body of the</HI> Roman <HI>Empire,</HI> p. 69</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>The&s;e two Bea&s;ts did both ri&s;e together,</HI> p. 72</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>And how</HI> ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>The&s;e Bea&s;ts, though two, are really one, and make up but one Antichri&s;t</HI> ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>In this &s;en&s;e, we al|&s;o read of a Bea&s;t and a Woman,</HI> Chap. 17. <HI>What meant by Bea&s;t, and Wo|man.
<PB REF="153">Why the &s;econd Bea&s;t is here called a Wo|man? In what &s;en&s;e the Woman is interpreted the Great City,</HI> p. 72</ITEM>
<ITEM>3 <HI>In this &s;en&s;e we have in the Text a Bea&s;t, and a fal&s;e Prophet mentioned. The fal&s;e Prophets &s;hewed to be the &s;ame with the &s;e|cond Bea&s;t,</HI> p. 110</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Why the &s;econd Bea&s;t in his third e&s;tate is called a fal&s;e Prophet,</HI> p. 73, 74</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>The manner of the Dragon, Bea&s;t, and fal&s;e Prophets &s;ending forth their Agents; namely by a ge|neral Convention of the Popi&s;h party. Two things debated in this General A&s;&s;embly; from whence this re&s;ult of &s;ending forth Agents and Amba&s;&s;adors all over the world doth a|ri&s;e,</HI> p. 75</ITEM>
<ITEM>3 <HI>Their grand de&s;ign in this Amba&s;&s;y,</HI> p. 76</ITEM>
<ITEM>4 <HI>The Agents imployed in this Amba&s;&s;y, why &s;aid to be three.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Why &s;aid to come out of the mouth of the Dragon, Bea&s;t, and fal&s;e Prophet.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Five Characters given of them,</HI> p. 77, 78</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>The &s;econd thing with|in this Interval,</HI> viz. <HI>The Per&s;onal coming of Chri&s;t.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>1 <HI>Proved to be within the Interval betwixt the &s;ixth and and &s;eventh Vi|als.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>1 <HI>Argument, Christ &s;hall Per&s;onally come at the battle of</HI> Armageddon, <HI>grounded upon eight Pro|phecies, which are opened,</HI> p. 79 to 88</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>Argument, Chri&s;ts Per&s;onal coming &s;hall be at the time of the Kingdoms re&s;toring to</HI> I&s;rael, <HI>proved from &s;undry Scriptures, Here is &s;hewed that the time of re&s;titution of all things,</HI> Act. 3.21. <HI>cannot be the General Judgement,</HI> p. 88, to 97</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Two Arguments to prove the former Po&s;ition urged from the words them&s;elves,</HI> p. 97 98</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Two Arguments more laid down in the General, tending to prove Chri&s;ts
<PB REF="153">Per&s;onal coming cannot be far off,</HI> ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>This coming we &s;peak of is &s;hewed to be the &s;ame <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">th that coming common|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters"> called a coming to Judge|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ent,</HI> p. 101 to 111. <HI>Where <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> &s;hewed that there are but <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">o Per&s;onal comings; <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ut not Martyrs onely, but <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">l the Saints &s;hall come <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ith Chri&s;t at this day. The <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ace</HI> Rev. 20.4, 5. <HI>an&s;we|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">d.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>The difference of this <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">inciple from the common <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ceived opinion, is &s;hewed <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> be onely this; that af|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ms the General Judge|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ent to be in&s;tantly upon <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">hri&s;ts coming: this main|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ins that the thou&s;and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ars,</HI> Revel. 20. <HI>are to <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;ue fir&s;t, and after that <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e General Judgement.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Here is di&s;cu&s;&s;ed the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ou&s;and years, concern|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">g which it is a&s;&s;ert|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>1 <HI>That the thou&s;and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ars, &s;ix times repeated</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ap. 20. <HI>are one and the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ins thou&s;and years in all,</HI> p. 111</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>That the thou&s;and years are a definite time,</HI> p. 111, 112</ITEM>
<ITEM>3 <HI>That they are yet to come, and to take their beginning from the Bat|tel of</HI> Armageddon, p. 112, 113, 114
<LIST>
<ITEM>1 <HI>Proved by three Ar|guments.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>An&s;wer is given to their Arguments, who reckon them pa&s;t, and the grounds of them &s;hewed to be mi&s;takes</HI> p. 114, to 119</ITEM>
</LIST></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>The whole time from Chri&s;ts appearing to the end of the world may be called in a large &s;en&s;e a day of Judgement,</HI> p. 119</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Two &s;pecial differences betwixt the Judgement pa&s;&s;ed in the time of the thou&s;and years, and that which &s;hall be at the la&s;t day,</HI> p. 119, to 122. <HI>Where the manner of Saints ru|ling, and reigning, and judging the world is open|ed.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Two Objections an&s;we|red.</HI>
<LIST>
<ITEM>1 <HI>Objection, How can
<PB REF="154">this be, &s;eeing the world is to be de&s;troy|ed by fire at Chri&s;ts coming, An&s;wered,</HI> p. 122, to 124</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>Objection, How can this agree to the state of glorified &s;ouls, or how will it &s;tand with Saints glory and &s;pi|rituality, an&s;wered,</HI> p. 124, to 127</ITEM>
</LIST></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>The whole concluded, with three Rules laid down to judge of &s;uch Scrip|tures as &s;peak of Chri&s;ts Second coming,</HI> p. 127 to 129</ITEM>
<ITEM>3 <HI>Chri&s;ts Watel word to his people. Five Rea&s;ons given of it, why the duty of watchfulne&s;s is by Chri&s;t annexed to the Dictrine of his &s;econd coming,</HI> p. 129, to 138. <HI>Inhandling the&s;e the &s;teep of the ten Virgins &s;po|ken of</HI> Mat 25. <HI>is opened.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>4 <HI>Chri&s;ts providential di&s;po&s;ing of his enemies,</HI> p. 139, <HI>to</HI> 142. <HI>Here is &s;hew|ed what is meant by</HI> Arma|geddon.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>VIAL 7.</HEAD>
<ITEM>1 <HI>The Angel pouring it forth, Chri&s;t him&s;elf,</HI> p, 142</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>The Subject of it, the Air, nothing the pouring forth of this Vial to be univer&s;al, upon</HI> 1 <HI>The whole Kingdom of the Dragon.</HI> 2 <HI>The whole Kingdom of Antichri&s;t.</HI> 3 <HI>The King|dom of the Great Turk.</HI> 4 <HI>The Kingdoms of this world,</HI> p. 142, 143, 144. <HI>Here is &s;hewed why a change of &s;peech is u&s;ed in this Vial, different from all the re&s;t.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>3 <HI>The Adjunct. A great voyce &s;hewed,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>1 <HI>Who&s;e voyce this is,</HI> p. 144</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>The meaning of the voyce,</HI> p. 145</ITEM>
<ITEM>3 <HI>Why &s;aid to come from the Throne,</HI> p. 146</ITEM>
<ITEM>4 <HI>Why the Throne the voyce comes from, is &s;aid to be in the Temple of Heaven,</HI> p. 148</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Here is &s;hewed that the New</HI> Jeru&s;alem <HI>&s;poken of</HI> Rev. 21. Chap. 22. <HI>can|not
<PB REF="154">be meant of Heavenly glory, but mu&s;t be a glo|rious &s;tate of the Church on Earth proved by &s;even Arguments,</HI> p. 148, to 152</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>No outward Ordinances to be in the New</HI> Jeru&s;alem p. 152, to 157</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>An Objection an&s;wered, where is &s;hewed what is meant by the going up to</HI> Jeru&s;alem Zach. 14. <HI>to keep the Fea&s;t of Tabernacles,</HI> p. 157</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>The rea&s;on given why a particular de&s;cription of New</HI> Jeru&s;alems <HI>glory is forborn,</HI> p. 158</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Three Rules laid down to judge of &s;uch Prophe|cies as concern the New</HI> Jeru&s;alem, p. 160, to 166. <HI>Here is &s;hewed under our fir&s;t Rule, That</HI> Ezekiel <HI>in his eight la&s;t Chapters treats of the &s;ame thing that</HI> John <HI>doth in his two la&s;t and that</HI> Ezekiels <HI>Tem|ple is no other but that Throne of God, and of the Lamb spoken of by</HI> John.</ITEM>
<ITEM>4 <HI>The Effects.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>1 <HI>Effect, Terror,</HI> p. 166</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>Effect, Ruin, where|in we have</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>1 <HI>A particular Li&s;t of the things ruined, which are,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>1 <HI>The Great City which cannot be meant of the Ci|ty</HI> Rome, <HI>but of the whole power of the Bea&s;t</HI> p. 170</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>The Cities of the Nati|ons, &s;hewed what meant by them,</HI> p. 171</ITEM>
<ITEM>3 <HI>Great</HI> Babylon, ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM>1 <HI>Not the City</HI> Rome, ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>Not Antichri&s;ts King|dom in general,</HI> ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM>But,</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>The Turki&s;h power, or</HI> Con&s;tantinople <HI>his Royal Seat</HI> p. 172</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>A rea&s;on given for this Interpretation,</HI> ibid.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>A rea&s;on al&s;o given why at this time the</HI> Fur|ki&s;h Seat <HI>&s;hould be called</HI> Great Babylon, <HI>together with &s;ome Scriptures that carry in them a probability of the thing e&s;&s;erted,</HI> p. 173</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>In order to the di&s;cu&s;&s;ing the things &s;poken of, in opening this &s;econd Effect, it is premi&s;ed and proved, That the</HI> Turk <HI>&s;hall be one principal Enemy in the bat|tel
<PB REF="155">of</HI> Armageddon, p. 167, <HI>to</HI> 169. <HI>Here</HI> Gog <HI>and</HI> Magog <HI>is treated of, and the gathering together of</HI> Gog <HI>and</HI> Magog, <HI>mentioned</HI> Rev. 20. <HI>&s;hewed to be not that gathering together of</HI> Gog <HI>and</HI> Magog <HI>spoken of by</HI> Ezekiel, <HI>but another. Here al&s;o is &s;hewed that many of tho&s;e places in the Prophets where mention is made of the</HI> A&s;&s;yrians <HI>rage, have reference to the Great</HI> Turk, <HI>and are to be under|&s;tood of him.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>The inevitablene&s;s of this ruin,</HI> p. 173</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>What meant by Moun|tains and I&s;lands, and by their flying away.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>3 <HI>The greatne&s;s of this ruin,</HI> p. 174</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Why hail&s;tones &s;aid to weigh a talent,</HI> ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM>3 <HI>Effect, Bla&s;pheming God,</HI> p. 175</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>The Conclu&s;ion of the whole,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>The Rea&s;on added of the Order ob&s;erved in pouring forth the</HI> VIALS. p. 176</ITEM>
</LIST>
<TRAILER>The end of the &s;econd Table.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BACK>
</TEXT>
<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="table of contents">
<PB REF="155">
<HEAD>THE CONTENTS OF The Third Part.</HEAD>
<LIST>
<HEAD>CHAP. I. <HI>WHerein is &s;et forth the &s;tate or condition of the two Witne&s;&s;es within their Prophecying time, and the time of their being killed, from</HI> Rev. 11.</HEAD>
<ITEM><HI>Divided into ten Sections.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>SECT. 1. <HI>That the two Witne&s;&s;es are the Magi&s;tracy and the Mini&s;try. Where is &s;hewed why</HI> Zachery <HI>&s;ees two Olive|trees, and but one Candle&s;tick,</HI> John <HI>two Olive-trees, and two Candle&s;ticks,</HI> Page 1, 2</ITEM>
<ITEM>SECT. 2.
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>Why they are called Witne&s;&s;es,</HI> p. 3</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>A di&s;tinction made betwixt that general witne&s;s bearing, common to Saints in all ages; and that &s;pe|cial witne&s;s-bearing peculiar to the&s;e two Witne&s;&s;es, and this time of</HI> 1260 <HI>years.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Here is al&s;o &s;hewed that the peculiar work of the&s;e
<PB REF="156">two Witne&s;&s;es is to bear witne&s;s again&s;t the Bea&s;t: in clearing whereof, the</HI> 42 <HI>months of the Bea&s;t, and the</HI> 1260 <HI>days of the Witne&s;&s;es, are proved to be one and the &s;ame,</HI> p. 3, 4, 5, 6</ITEM>
</LIST></ITEM>
<ITEM>SECT. 3. <HI>Why the&s;e Witne&s;&s;es are &s;aid to be two? why clothed in &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ckcloth? what is meant by their de&s;troying their enemies by fire, &s;hutting Heaven that it rain not, turning waters into blood, &s;mitting the earth with plagues</HI> p. 6, 7</ITEM>
<ITEM>SECT. 4. <HI>That the three daies and a half of the Witne&s;&s;es ly|ing <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ead are to be under&s;tood, not of</HI> 1260 <HI>years, but of three years and a half onely: and the&s;e to be the la&s;t three years and a half, of the</HI> 1260, p. 8, 9, 10, 11</ITEM>
<ITEM>SECT. 5.
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>The time of the Witne&s;&s;es &s;laughter di&s;cu&s;&s;ed in the general onely.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Three Conclu&s;ions concerning it laid down.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>1 <HI>Concl. That the killing of the Witne&s;&s;es &s;hall be within that very three years and a half, which &s;hall pre|cede the Jews fir&s;t &s;tirring, proved,</HI> p. 12</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>Concl: That the killing of the Witne&s;&s;es &s;hall be but a little before the downfal of</HI> Rome, <HI>proved,</HI> p. 13</ITEM>
<ITEM>3 <HI>Concl: That the killing of the Witne&s;&s;es &s;hall be at the latter end of the third Vial. In order to the prov|ing whereof is &s;hewed,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>That &s;ome Vials are poured forth before the &s;laugh|ter of the Witne&s;&s;es,</HI> p. 15, 16</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Here is &s;hewed that the Angel,</HI> Chap. 17 1. <HI>that &s;hews</HI> John <HI>the judgement of the great Whore, was the Angel of the third Vial, Al&s;o, why the Holy Gho&s;t
<PB REF="156">in the explication of the Vials, begins with the thirds leaving out the two fir&s;t. A ground to expect great di&s;coveries under the third Vial; and a rea&s;on given why God makes &s;uch di&s;coveries under that Vial.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>The thing it &s;elf, that the killing of the Witne&s;&s;es is to be under the third Vial, at the latter and thereof, pro|ved by three Arguments,</HI> p. 16 <HI>to</HI> 20. <HI>Here is opened the war between the Lamb and the Kings of the earth,</HI> Rev. 17.14. <HI>which is proved to be a Civil War, or a war by a civil &s;word: and for the time of it to fall within the Vials, and in particular under the third Vial, at the be|ginning of it, immediately before the &s;laughter of the Witne&s;&s;es.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Object. <HI>All the Vials come under the &s;eventh Trum|pet, an&s;wered,</HI> p. 20, 21. <HI>where is &s;hewed that the &s;eventh Trumpet is contemporary with the &s;eventh Vial onely.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>A Conclu&s;ion from the whole, That the day of the Witne&s;&s;es killing is in all likelihood already begun, and not much more than begun,</HI> ib.</ITEM>
</LIST></ITEM>
<ITEM>SECT. 6. <HI>The Bea&s;t killing the Witne&s;&s;es, is the Antichri&s;tian Magi&s;tracy and Mini&s;try,</HI> p. 32. <HI>Why the Antichri|&s;tian Magi&s;tracy and Mini&s;tery are &s;poken of as but one Bea&s;t, when the Witne&s;&s;es,</HI> viz. <HI>Chri&s;ts Magi&s;tracy and Mini&s;try, are ever &s;poken of as two,</HI> p. 23</ITEM>
<ITEM>SECT. 7.
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>The nature of the witne&s;&s;es death proved,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>1 <HI>Not to be a corporal death,</HI> ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>But a death partly civil, partly spiritual,</HI> p. 24 25</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Here is &s;hewed wherein the blackne&s;s of this day will lye.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST></ITEM>
<PB REF="157">
<ITEM>SECT. 8.
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>The place in which the witne&s;&s;es lye dead.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>1 <HI>Not the whole Papal Kingdom, but onely one of the ten Horns.</HI> p. 25</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>Particularly, to be</HI> Germany, p. 26, 27, 28</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Yet Chri&s;ts Witne&s;&s;es in other places mu&s;t expect a cloud in &s;ome mea&s;ure upon them, and Gods work with|in this day,</HI> ibid.</ITEM>
</LIST></ITEM>
<ITEM>SECT. 9.
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>How things &s;hall be agitated in the world in the time the Witne&s;&s;es lye dead,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>1 <HI>They of the People, Kindreds, Nations and Tongues &s;hall &s;ee their dead bodies, and not &s;uffer them to be put into graves. Here is &s;hewed,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>1 <HI>What this putting their dead bodies into graves, notes,</HI> p. 29</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>Who are meant by tho&s;e of the People, and Kindreds and Nations and Tongues,</HI> ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>The dwellers on earth &s;hall rejoyce, make merry. Here is &s;hewed al&s;o who the&s;e are</HI> p. 31</ITEM>
<ITEM>3 <HI>There &s;hall be in all likelihood within this time a general peace, betwixt tho&s;e Nations which are the horns of the Beast, yet &s;o, as that this peace &s;hall not be wholly effected till towards the end of this time,</HI> p. 34</ITEM>
</LIST></ITEM>
<ITEM>SECT. 10.
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>The Witne&s;&s;es ri&s;e after three dayes and a half; The thing &s;etting them upon their feet, is a &s;pirit of bold|ne&s;s, courage, and noble re&s;olution put into them by God.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Que&s;t. <HI>VVhether this &s;pirit &s;hall be mediate, or im|mediate?</HI> p. 34</ITEM>
<PB REF="157">
<ITEM>An&s;. <HI>Partly mediate, partly immediate; The me|diate cau&s;e of this work &s;hall be a loud Call given to the dead Witne&s;&s;es from Saints out of another place,</HI> p. 35</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>This noted in the voyce from Heaven,</HI> Come up hi|ther. <HI>Two Rea&s;ons given why this voyce is mentioned after their &s;tanding upon their feet, not before,</HI> p ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Who &s;hall give them this Call,</HI> p. 36</ITEM>
</LIST></ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>CHAP. II. <HI>VVHerein is farther &s;et forth the &s;tate of the two Witne&s;&s;es, within their Prophe&s;ying time, and the time of their being killed, from</HI> Rev. 12.</HEAD>
<ITEM>Divided into &s;even Sections.</ITEM>
<ITEM>SECT. 1. <HI>Examining the common Opinion, which makes ap|plication of the things foretold,</HI> Chap. 12. <HI>to the fir&s;t Period, or the time of the Dragons Rule, before yet the Bea&s;t aro&s;e; which upon examination is found too light. Here the general method of the</HI> 11, 12, 13, 14 Chapters <HI>of the</HI> Revelations <HI>is laid down,</HI> page 37, <HI>to</HI> 43</ITEM>
<ITEM>SECT. 2. <HI>Confirming the truth of the former, by proving that the time, times, and a half, cannot &s;ignifie</HI> 1260 <HI>years, but three yeers and a half only,</HI> p. 43, <HI>to</HI> 45</ITEM>
<ITEM>SECT. 3.
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>An Objection an&s;wered,</HI> viz. <HI>That the War made by the Dragon,</HI> Chap. 12. <HI>is different from that made by the Bea&s;t,</HI> Chap. 11.7. p. 45</ITEM>
<PB REF="158">
<ITEM><HI>Here inquiry is made into the War of</HI> Michael <HI>and the Dragon, and its proved to be the late</HI> German <HI>War,</HI> p. 46, <HI>to</HI> 49</ITEM>
<ITEM>Object. <HI>It may be the</HI> Engli&s;h <HI>War, an&s;wered, and the Rea&s;ons given of the contrary,</HI> p. ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Here al&s;o is &s;hewed that a two-fold vi&s;ible Dragon is &s;poken of in this</HI> 12. Chap.
<LIST>
<ITEM>1 <HI>The Old Dragon,</HI> viz. <HI>the ancient</HI> Roman Em|pire.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>The New Dragon,</HI> viz. <HI>the pre&s;ent</HI> German Em|pire, p. ib.</ITEM>
</LIST></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Two Rea&s;ons given why the Dragon who governs the whole Papal Kingdome, doth at this day choo&s;e</HI> Germany <HI>as his &s;eat,</HI> p. 50</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>A Rea&s;on al&s;o given why the Holy Gho&s;t,</HI> Chap. 12. <HI>glides &s;o quick over all the</HI> 1260 <HI>dayes, de&s;cending pre&s;ently to the latter end of them,</HI> p. ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>What of the Prophe&s;ie of this</HI> 12 Chap. <HI>is yet to be fulfilled,</HI> p. ib.</ITEM>
</LIST></ITEM>
<ITEM>SECT. 4. <HI>Another Objection, That our opinion nece&s;&s;arily &s;up|po&s;eth the Woman to be come out of the Wilderne&s;s, and yet afterwards to go in again, an&s;wered,</HI> p. 52</ITEM>
<ITEM>SECT. 5: <HI>A third Objection, That this opinion is repugnant to</HI> Daniels <HI>time, times, and a half, an&s;wered,</HI> p 53, <HI>to</HI> 55. <HI>Here</HI> Daniels <HI>time, times, and a half, are opened at large, and proved from the Texts them&s;elves in</HI> Da|niel, Chap. 7.25. Chap. 12.7. <HI>to &s;ignifie only three years and a half.</HI></ITEM>
<PB REF="158">
<ITEM>SECT. 6. <HI>What u&s;eful truths ari&s;e from this method; and what a harmony of truth (following it) we have in the</HI> 11 <HI>and</HI> 12 Chapters, p. 62</ITEM>
<ITEM>SECT. 7.
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>Making inquiry after that remnant of the Wo|mans Seed, that the Dragon within the time, times, and a half (the term of the Witne&s;&s;es lying dead) makes War upon.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Que&s;t. 1. <HI>What people are meant by this Remnant? An&s;wer is given in opening two notable Characters of them lying in the words,</HI> p. 63</ITEM>
<ITEM>Que&s;t. 2. <HI>What War that is, which is, or &s;hall be rai&s;ed again&s;t them?</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Five things propounded in order to an An&s;wer,</HI> p. 64, 65</ITEM>
<ITEM>An&s;. <HI>A two-fold War,</HI> 1 <HI>A War rai&s;ed again&s;t them by the invi&s;ible Dragon. How that &s;hall be, and why &s;uch a War mu&s;t be,</HI> p. 66</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>A War rai&s;ed again&s;t them by the vi&s;ible Dra|gon; How, and why &s;uch a War &s;hall be,</HI> p. ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Yet notwith&s;tanding this two-fold War, the rem|nant of the Womans Seed &s;hall not &s;uffer much,</HI> p. 67</ITEM>
</LIST></ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>CHAP. III. <HI>VVHerein is &s;hewed the &s;tate of the Witne&s;&s;es about, and in the time of their</HI> Ri&s;e, <HI>from</HI> Rev. 14. <HI>opened.</HI></HEAD>
<ITEM>Divided into &s;ix Sections.</ITEM>
<PB REF="159">
<ITEM>SECT. 1. <HI>The common Opinion which applies the Prophe&s;ie of the</HI> 144000 <HI>to the time of the Bea&s;ts reign di&s;proved, and the time &s;tated, where this Prophe&s;ie takes begin|ning,</HI> p. 68, <HI>to</HI> 73</ITEM>
<ITEM>SECT. 2.
<LIST>
<ITEM>Proving two things.</ITEM>
<ITEM>1 <HI>That the Head of this Prophe&s;ie is to be placed lower than the Head of the Vials,</HI> p. 73, <HI>to</HI> 76</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Here is &s;hewed why the Head of the Vials is placed &s;omewhat upwards in the Bea&s;ts Kingdome, and the Head of this Chapter about the end of it.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>That this</HI> 144000 <HI>differ from the &s;ealed</HI> 144000, Chap. 7. p. ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>The &s;caled company &s;caled before any of the Trum|pets &s;ounded.</HI> ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>To &s;ay, becau&s;e the one are &s;caled in their foreheads. the other bear the Fathers name in the forehead, there|fore they are one, can be no Argument,</HI> p. 78</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Two Rea&s;ons given why the&s;e are &s;et frth by the &s;ame number with the Scaled ones.</HI> ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>No My&s;tery in the number it &s;elf,</HI> ib.</ITEM>
</LIST></ITEM>
<ITEM>SECT. 3. <HI>Proving, This</HI> 144000 <HI>to be the Gentile Saints,</HI> p. 79, <HI>to</HI> 83</ITEM>
<ITEM>SECT. 4.
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>Handling three things.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>1 <HI>The Cau&s;e of this glorious Rendezvouz,</HI> p. 83</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>The manner of it,</HI> p. 84</ITEM>
<ITEM>3 <HI>The &s;tate and condition they &s;hall be in hereupon, &s;et forth in two things.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>1 <HI>They &s;hall be owned by &s;ome eminent Head rai&s;ed
<PB REF="159">up by Chri&s;t,</HI> p. ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>They &s;hall &s;et forth with prai&s;es,</HI> p. 85</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Here is al&s;o &s;hewed where the beginning of this ble&s;&s;ed company will be,</HI> p. 86</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Occa&s;ionally al&s;o here is di&s;cour&s;ed of</HI> Daniels <HI>&s;tone, and it is &s;hewed,</HI> 1 <HI>What time we are to pitch upon for the fir&s;t Ri&s;e of that &s;tone.</HI> 2 <HI>What &s;hall befal the &s;tone &s;uddenly after it begins to &s;mite,</HI> ib. 87</ITEM>
</LIST></ITEM>
<ITEM>SECT. 5. <HI>The Characters of this</HI> 144000. <HI>Eight choice Characters of this ble&s;&s;ed company ob&s;erved from the text,</HI> p. 89, <HI>to</HI> 92</ITEM>
<ITEM>SECT. 6.
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>How the work &s;hall go from the time of their &s;tand|ing up, until the beginning of the thou&s;and years?</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>What Prophe&s;ies tho&s;e are in the</HI> Revelations <HI>that afford us light to this Que&s;tion,</HI> p. 92</ITEM>
<ITEM>For an&s;wer, 1 <HI>More generally, the work &s;hall go on with a more &s;wift and irre&s;i&s;tible hand than ever for|merly,</HI> p. ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>More particularly,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>1 <HI>The Everla&s;ting Go&s;pel is preached,</HI> p. 93</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Five things very ob&s;ervable concerning the preaching of the Go&s;pel at this day,</HI> p. 93, 94, 95</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 Romes <HI>ruin comes unavoidably upon her,</HI> p. ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM>3 <HI>A &s;erious warning to the Papals. Why are they warned at this day,</HI> p. ib. 96</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Here the Angel &s;tanding in the Sun,</HI> Rev. 19.17, 18. is interpreted, p. 139, 140</ITEM>
<ITEM>4 <HI>A &s;weet word from Chri&s;t of Heavenly Con&s;o|lation to his people, the day of their Redemption being now come,</HI> p. 97</ITEM>
<ITEM>5 <HI>Chri&s;ts Per&s;onal coming, this the thing noted,</HI> v. 14. <HI>proved by four Rea&s;ons,</HI> p. 98, 99, 100</ITEM>
<PB REF="160">
<ITEM><HI>The Re&s;urrection of the dead intimated in tho&s;e words,</HI> Ble&s;&s;ed are the dead that dye in the Lord, <HI>ver&s;</HI> 13. p 99</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Why the Re&s;urrection of the dead is mentioned be|fore Chri&s;ts coming,</HI> p. ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Not Martyrs only, but all Saints &s;hall come with Chri&s;t,</HI> p. 102</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>What the Harve&s;t and Vintage &s;ignifie,</HI> p. ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Chri&s;t him&s;elf the Angel of the Vintage,</HI> p. 103</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>A Conjecture as touching the two Angels that cry with a loud voyce to have the work of the Harve&s;t and Vintage performed,</HI> p 104</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Why one of the&s;e two is &s;aid to come out of the Tem|ple the other from the Altar,</HI> p. ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>VVhy the Angel coming from the Altar is &s;aid to have power over flee,</HI> p. 105</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>The &s;ignification of the one thou&s;and &s;ix hundred furlongs,</HI> ib.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>The Conclu&s;ion of all.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST></ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="160">
<P>Generation-work: OR, ANEXPOSITION Of the Prophecies of the Two Witne&s;&s;es, From the 11, 12, and 14 Chapters of the <HI>Revelations.</HI></P>
<P>Shewing yet farther, what the de&s;igns of God abroad in the world, may in all likelihood be at this pre|&s;ent day, and in the dayes near approaching.</P>
<P>To which is added, <HI>A Key to unlock the My&s;tical Num|bers of</HI> Daniel <HI>and the</HI> Revelations; <HI>tending to re&s;olve this Great Que&s;tion,</HI> How long &s;hall it be to the end of Wonders?</P>
<P>The Third and la&s;t Part.</P>
<P><HI>By</HI> John Tillingha&s;t, <HI>Mini&s;ter of the Go&s;pel.</HI></P>
<Q><P><BIBL>I&s;a. <HI>26.20.</HI></BIBL> <HI>Come my people, enter thou into thy Chambers, and &s;hut thy doors about thee; hide thy &s;elf as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be over-pa&s;t.</HI></P></Q>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>21.</HI></BIBL> <HI>For behold the Lord cometh out of his place to puni&s;h the In|habitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth al&s;o &s;hall di&s;clo&s;e her blood, and &s;hall no more cover her &s;lain.</HI></P></Q>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed for <HI>Livewell Chapman,</HI> at the Crown in Pope<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">-head-Alley, 1655.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<PB REF="161">
<PB REF="161">
<HEAD>To his Highne&s;s the Lord Pro|tector of the Commonwealth of <HI>England, Scotland,</HI> and <HI>Ireland.</HI></HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>MY LORD,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>_IT is an Apocryphal &s;aying, but yet a true one, <HI>Truth is greate&s;t of all:</HI> tho&s;e who have others in Subjection unto them, are them|&s;elves to become Subject to it. We yeeld up our outward man to men, and they can command no more, but Truth commands our inwards.</P>
<P>This <HI>glorious Truth</HI> dwels not in the <HI>wi&s;dom of the wi&s;e,</HI> nor in the <HI>godline&s;s of the godly,</HI> nor in any <HI>creature-impul&s;ions,</HI> though ever &s;o forc<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ble, which have no rule but their own; but in the <HI>ble&s;&s;ed word alone;</HI> where truth hath pitched its Tabernacle; and the way to be acquainted with it, is through the help of the Spirit of Truth, un&s;ealing the Book, opening our under&s;tandings to under&s;tand the Scriptures.</P>
<P>The <HI>knowledge</HI> of this Truth, The great Revealer of &s;ecrets hath thought good to impart to his people, not <HI>all at once,</HI> but by <HI>degrees:</HI> and &s;o the &s;everal ages of the Church have had their &s;everal manife&s;tations of truth; a peece of truth coming forth in one age, a peece more in the age following, a peece more in the age following that: God thus by degrees enlightning his people, as they are able to bear it; who, &s;hould the Sun ri&s;e upon them all at once, would be dazled, not enlightned.</P>
<P>As the <HI>workings of the my&s;tery of iniquity</HI> on the one
<PB REF="162">hand, or <HI>Gods, di&s;pen&s;ations of providence</HI> on the other, have ri&s;en higher in any age, &s;o have al&s;o <HI>Gods di&s;pen&s;a|tions of truth,</HI> to the end, his in every age might from principles of truth, be led up to <HI>renounce</HI> the one, and <HI>own</HI>) and imbrace the other.</P>
<P>Hence, tho&s;e things which later ages look upon as low and <HI>poor things,</HI> not worth contending for, were <HI>great things</HI> in former ages, becau&s;e the Truths of <HI>that age:</HI> And contrariwi&s;e, tho&s;e things which former ages could not have born with, had they been revealed, may be the nece&s;&s;ary di&s;coveries of ages &s;ince, becau&s;e the Truths of <HI>the&s;e times,</HI></P>
<P>Hence likewi&s;e it is a marife&s;t <HI>with holding the truth in unrighteou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> and a declaration to the world of a compliance with Antichri&s;t, to confine, either by penal Laws, threats, or practices, the people of God in <HI>this age,</HI> to the Truth or Truths of the <HI>former age.</HI> Yea tho&s;e that love the Truth ought not to &s;uffer them&s;elves f<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">r love or fear of men in this ca&s;e to be confined. Had the people of God in the age before us contented them&s;elves to have preached the precious truths of <HI>Chri&s;ts Prie&s;tly Office,</HI> and out of obedience to the Wills and Commands of the then Ruling Powers &s;urcea&s;ed any farther enquiry, how had the ble&s;&s;ed Truths of Chri&s;t, as <HI>King in his Chur|ches,</HI> been di&s;covered? If Chri&s;t hath yet <HI>farther</HI> and <HI>higher Truths</HI> to make known, and the di&s;pen&s;ers of truth &s;hall &s;uffer Bonds to be laid upon them, how &s;hall <HI>the will of God</HI> at this day in the revelation of truth be perfor|med?</P>
<P>The wi&s;dom of a Chri&s;tian man who would &s;erve God in his Generation is to enquire into the particular <HI>Truth of the age</HI> he lives in; for it is a thing much more accep|table to a Friend, when he ha<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">h &s;ome great de&s;ign in hand, to &s;erve him in that, than to &s;erve him in another thing; but he that neither knows his friends mind, nor his de&s;ign, cannot &s;erve him in it.</P>
<PB REF="162">
<P>The <HI>Truth of the age,</HI> although the matter of it is to, be looked for in <HI>the Word,</HI> and no new thing contrary thereunto to be admitted, (the word without any addi|tions being compleat in all knowledge, able to make the man of God perfect, throughly furni&s;hed unto all good works; and if there appear to us to be a defect in this thing or that, the defect is in our under&s;tandings, not in the word) yet in regard the word hath no where told us that the revelation of this truth, belongs to this age, the revelation of that, to that; We are therefore by &s;ome <HI>other Rules</HI> to make up a judgement, which among&s;t the manifold truths of the word, is the <HI>Truth of the age</HI> we live in. Now among many I could name, tho&s;e which I judge the &s;afe&s;t are,</P>
<P N="1">1 <HI>An ob&s;ervation of the time,</HI> and a comparing there|with the Prophecies relating to that time.</P>
<P N="2">2 The <HI>di&s;pen&s;ations of the age,</HI> Gods truth, and his workings going together.</P>
<P N="3">3 The <HI>general oppo&s;ition that is made by men of the world,</HI> carnal Profe&s;&s;ors, yea Saints them&s;elves (&s;o far as they have e&s;pou&s;ed a &s;inful or worldly intere&s;t) again&s;t this or that truth: for it is a thing of univer&s;al ob&s;ervation, that the mo&s;t oppo&s;ed truth in any age, hath ever been the truth of that age.</P>
<P>Neglect of looking into this Truth of the Generation, is that <HI>fatal Rock</HI> upon which many worthy In&s;truments in all ages have &s;plit them&s;elves; and &s;hould &s;earch be made after in&s;tances of this kind, the names of not a few might be produced, who did run well at fir&s;t, and were lights and helps to others; yet after all, have concluded, like the bright Sun &s;etting in a cloud.</P>
<P>That the great truth of <HI>Chri&s;ts Kingdom over the world, judging the Bea&s;t, &amp;c.</HI> is the truth of this Gene|ration, is &s;o manife&s;tly clear, (the former Rules, with o|thers of a like nature being &s;eriou&s;ly con&s;idered) as that it
<PB REF="163">would be but an adding light to the Sun, here to give de|mon&s;tration of it.</P>
<P>It being &s;o; I &s;hall take the boldne&s;s (craving leave a while not to know your power or greatne&s;s, nor any pri|vate or per&s;onal engagements, (which yet I remember with thankfulne&s;s) having begged it of the Lord, and it is &s;till my reque&s;t, that neither fear nor favor might make me unfaithful in the di&s;pen&s;ation of truth according to my talent) to be plain with your Highne&s;s, not in mine own behalf, nor in the behalf of any party at this day in <HI>Eng|land,</HI> whom to gratifie in a ca&s;e of this nature, is a thing my &s;oul de&s;ires to abhor, for he that plea&s;eth men, cannot be the &s;ervant of Chri&s;t; but in the behalf of that cau&s;e, which my heart is inwardly per&s;waded is Je&s;us Chri&s;ts, to whom I could not be faithful, &s;hould I now be &s;ilent; ha|ving this hope, <HI>that that heart which once had in it &s;uch a flame of love to the cau&s;e of Chri&s;t, and was &s;o zealous of the work of God in the world, and again&s;t the Bea&s;t, as that thereby many were provoked, cannot but yet have &s;ome &s;parks of this holy fire alive in it; and that there is yet in your Highne&s;s an ear to hear what the Holy Spirit &s;aith in the word,</HI> if &s;o be the &s;ound be certain and di&s;tinct, tho but a Child blow the Trumpet Or if not, yet that herein I &s;hall di&s;charge a du|ty, in my own apprehen&s;ion incumbent upon me, and e|very of Gods people, &s;o far as they have light, namely, to inform your Highne&s;s what Chri&s;t at this day expects from you, according to which he will account with you: and if what is written be truth it is you duty to hear it; yea, where is but an appearance of truth, if you &s;hall without diligent trial either neglect or reject it, though the grounds upon which you may perhaps &s;o do, may &s;erve to an&s;wer Con&s;cience a while, yet will they not an&s;wer the Lord another day; who will account with you, not as with others, but according to that Talent of light you have
<PB REF="163">had, and is held forth unto you; the profe&s;&s;ions you have made before many of his people, and the opportunities you have. And therefore, my Lord, as it is now no time for tho&s;e, who either love the Lord Je&s;us, or your Highne&s;s, to flatter you, or &s;peak their fears mincingly; So let me here &s;ay, what not long fince I told your Highne&s;s in a more private way, That I do verily beleeve the thing is already manife&s;t to the Lord, and the day is not far off, in which it &s;hall be to your Highne&s;s al&s;o, who are your mo&s;t faithful Friends, whether tho&s;e that now hang up their Harps, (though they may be but as one <HI>Micaiah</HI> to 400 fal&s;e Prophets) or tho&s;e that are &s;inging their Songs, of which latter &s;ort (I mean, for the greater part of them) I may for the truth of the thing, I am &s;ure, without of|fence &s;ay, in the Apo&s;tles phra&s;e, onely adding a word. <HI>They</HI> (who never yet loved you truly, now) <HI>zealou&s;ly af|fect you, but not well, yea they would exclude you that you might affect them, and &s;erve their de&s;igns.</HI> I would to God I could &s;peak otherwi&s;e, and that private cryes might have prevented this publick bearing witne&s;s, which though I had no other motive, yet ingenuity, did I not con&s;ider that when it tends to hinder in the Lords work, it is no longer a vertue, but a vice to be mortified, would have di&s;&s;waded me from. The love of the meane&s;t Saint is precious to me, the favor of your Highne&s;s much more; but in the&s;e divided times, offering many temp|tations of this nature, I have often remembred the ca&s;e as it &s;tood betwixt Chri&s;t and <HI>Peter, Mat<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">h.</HI> 16.21, 22, 23. who, when <HI>Peter</HI> by his love and affection would have put him by his Fathers work, Chri&s;t grew offended even at <HI>Peters</HI> love, and did abandon it.</P>
<P>My Lord, if ever the My&s;tery of Iniquity wrought <HI>&s;piritually,</HI> it doth at this day; And no wonder, for a fear and dread of the Witne&s;&s;es is fallen upon the Bea&s;t, who&s;e blow that he may e&s;cape, he would now (if that will do
<PB REF="164">it) enter into a <HI>high form of Saint&s;hip;</HI> and indeed who looks for Antichri&s;t (take him either as he is the whole Body, or as he is this o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> that part) in his la&s;t &s;tate in any other Garbe, than the form of <HI>a gloribus <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">aint,</HI> though he may have read the Book of the <HI>Revelations,</HI> yet is he &s;till to learn the My&s;tery of the Bea&s;t there revea|led. Now is the man of &s;in &s;truggling for his Kingdom, which he will uphold as long as he can; but though the <HI>Dragon, Bea&s;t,</HI> and <HI>Fal&s;e Prophet</HI> joyn heads and hands together, yet &s;hall they not bee able to keep it up long, no, not half &s;o many years, as &s;ome dream of Ages; for God hath numbered <HI>Babylons</HI> Kingdom, and in a manner fini&s;hed it; the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> and the <HI>Whore<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">s</HI> or the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> and the <HI>Fal&s;e Prophet,</HI> are already weighed in the <HI>Ballances,</HI> and found wanting; the <HI>Kingdom</HI> &s;hall (as mo&s;t certainly, &s;o) &s;uddenly be divided, broken, and given to another.</P>
<P>And as a clear ev<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">dence hereof, we have the <HI>&s;igns of the times</HI> grounded upon the wo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">d, which Chri&s;t did refer the Generation of the Phari&s;ees and Sadduces to, when they would know of him a &s;ign, <HI>Matth.</HI> 16.3. <HI>O yee Hypo|crites, can yee not di&s;cern the &s;igns of the times?</HI> What &s;igns of the times had they? <HI>An&s;w.</HI> Two evident &s;igns founded upon Scripture. 1. The <HI>departure of the Scep|ter from Judah,</HI> in <HI>Herods</HI> then &s;waying it, who was an <HI>Idumean.</HI> 2. The <HI>expirations of Daniels &s;eventy weeks,</HI> the limited time of the Me&s;&s;iahs appearance; By either of the&s;e they might have concluded that truth they oppo&s;ed, and received him for their Me&s;&s;iah, whom they rejected: but this they did not, but mu&s;t have farther <HI>&s;ign<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"></HI> yet, for which cau&s;e Chri&s;t calls them <HI>Hypocrites, a wick|ed and an adulterous Generation.</HI></P>
<P><HI>My Lord,</HI> Let me here &s;ay, The Lord in his Word hath left <HI>&s;igns of this time.</HI> I am now &s;peaking of, no le&s;s clear and demon&s;trative than were the <HI>&s;igns</HI> of tha<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">;
<PB REF="164">and although I am of all the mo&s;t unworthy to be acquain|ted with them, or any thing of the mind of the Lord, yet is it my per&s;wa&s;ion, that &s;ome of them are di&s;covered in the following di&s;cour&s;e; and he that &s;hall without preju|dice read what in the clo&s;e is written of the time, and com|pare it with the things them&s;elves &s;pecified throughout the Book, may po&s;&s;ibly be of my mind, at lea&s;t not cen&s;ure me for thinking &s;o. And if now <HI>(My Lord)</HI> as per&s;ons wil|ling to be blinded, we &s;hall &s;hut our eyes to <HI>tho&s;e &s;igns of the times</HI> God hath left us in the word and ask for <HI>o|ther &s;igns</HI> to know his work by, and when we are called to do it, it is an evident token, even from our Saviors own words, of <HI>an Adulterous and Apo&s;tatizing gene|ration;</HI> I had almo&s;t &s;aid, and if I had, his words would have born me out, of <HI>an hypocritical heart.</HI></P>
<P><HI>My Lord,</HI> Let me not be made an offender for this plain dealing; if I am, &s;o long as the Lord &s;hall keep my feet in the way of my duty, it &s;hall not trouble me, and I have hope that in this I have had his merciful guidance, and have not as yet &s;tepped out of that way: For if in the day when Chri&s;t is going up to his Kingdom, the &s;tones would not hold their peace, &s;hould not the Children cry <HI>Ho&s;anna,</HI> then &s;urely it is a duty very incumbent upon the Saints at this day (there being nothing more obvious than that Chri&s;t is well onwards upon his march to his King|dom) not to be &s;ilent, but although they may be rebuked, yea, dealt wor&s;e by, for &s;o doing, yet to follow their King with acclamations, which is all that &s;uch poor creatures as we are can do for him. Nay, if it be a duty to expect from God returns of our prayers, then it is al&s;o a duty to have in&s;pection even into publick affairs &s;o far as the managing of the&s;e may have a tendency to the furtherance or hinde|rance of tho&s;e good things, which we hope we have been graciou&s;ly holpen by the Lord, and al&s;o had &s;ome favorable &s;miles of his acceptance in &s;eeking his face for. Nay, if it be a
<PB REF="165">duty to ob&s;erve and follow God in the way of his vi&s;ible di&s;pen&s;ations; or on the contrary, a &s;in to be of a &s;luggi&s;h temper, not regarding the works of the Lord, nor con&s;i|dering the operation of his hands, then of nece&s;&s;ity mu&s;t there be a reflection upon the publick actings of in&s;tru|ments, either in a way of owning or di&s;owning, without which no ob&s;ervation can be made of Gods di&s;pen&s;ations, or our duty in this re&s;pect. Nay la&s;tly; If it be a duty to mourn for the &s;ins of Rulers, to mourn when Chri&s;ts cau&s;e lies bleeding, then certainly it cannot be evill to have in|&s;pection into the one, and the other.</P>
<P>And notwith&s;tanding it is a more precious thing in a Chri|&s;tian to be found <HI>watching in his own heart and ways, than to be prying into the waies and actings of others,</HI> for which cau&s;e &s;o far as this is neglected, the <HI>common ac|cu&s;ation</HI> laid to the charge of tho&s;e who contend for the Kingdom of Chri&s;t without, as if they did neglect the Kingdom of Chri&s;t within, is a thing mo&s;t ju&s;t: Yet let it withall be con&s;idered, that the doing of the one, layes no nece&s;&s;ity upon a man of a neglect of the other; for if there be but any thing of truth in that opinion, it will be hard to &s;ay, <HI>God hath laid a nece&s;&s;ity upon us to neglect our hearts, whil&s;t</HI> (which yet is a thing he wills us to do) <HI>we are &s;eeking after his truth:</HI> And if through that cor|ruption that is within, any man &s;hould &s;o do, doth not this evill attend him, as well in other &s;tudies as this? by con&s;equence therefore from this principle, <HI>no truth mu&s;t be inquired into.</HI> But I have ob&s;erved in this day a <HI>clo&s;e de&s;ign</HI> of the Devil, driven on under this vizard, and no wonder, for Satan him&s;elf is now transformed into an An|gel of light; and I can the better &s;peak it, having felt, when time was, this temptation, and thereby learned the&s;e who Le&s;&s;ons.</P>
<P N="1">1 To <HI>di&s;cern &s;omewhat of the depths of Satan, viz.</HI> That he perceiving the <HI>work</HI> that God is about to do in
<PB REF="165">the world, and knowing full well how acceptable a thing i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> is to God (as well as advantagious to the work it &s;elf) to have his Children following him in his great de&s;igns; and how provoking the thing will be if by any &s;leight he can but make them like <HI>Peter,</HI> cro&s;s the Lord in his way, and thwart God in his work; (God (as a man in like ca&s;e would do) re&s;enting one error of this nature <HI>wor&s;e</HI> than forty of another kind) and knowing al&s;o that to &s;ay to them in plain language, neglect this, or oppo&s;e that, without &s;ome very &s;pecious and glorious pretence, would be no boot; he therefore now comes forth as the mo&s;t glorious Saint that ever came into the world, and tels them, that they mu&s;t look to their own hearts, for this is a ble&s;&s;ed thing; and therefore they mu&s;t beware of &s;uch and &s;uch things, for if they <HI>once</HI> meddle with them, then farewel their hearts; and to &s;et a better face upon the bu&s;ine&s;s, whil&s;t he di&s;&s;wades the&s;e, he &s;ets on <HI>work</HI> &s;ome that are marked in their fore-heads for his children, giddily and furiou&s;ly to broach, and &s;et on foot tho&s;e very things and de&s;igns, he di&s;&s;wades the other from, and then &s;aith he, now &s;ee whe|ther this generation of men go, and where you had been had you followed them.</P>
<P N="2">2 I have learned likewi&s;e to <HI>di&s;cern &s;omewhat of the depths of the heart, which would exerci&s;e the highe&s;t pride, under a pretext of great holine&s;s and humility:</HI> for it being indeed a mo&s;t ble&s;&s;ed thing to attend to inward purity and mortification, wherein lies the glory of a Chri|&s;tian, now &s;aith the heart, how &s;trangely do &s;uch and &s;uch contend for this outward thing and the other? well, I will follow none of them, but I will attend to the mortification of the inward man, I am &s;ure in that I &s;hall be right. Now with this conceit the man goeth on &s;ecretly, ble&s;&s;ing, and lift|ing up him&s;elf, and he turns him and looks him round, and loe all are out of the way but he. Pride, as it quickly grows upon &s;uch a root, &s;o is it more abominable to God,
<PB REF="166">by how much it is more &s;piritual, then that which may yee di&s;cover it &s;elf more outwardly. Yet let me &s;ay thus doth the Devil, and mans heart at this day marvellou&s;ly deceive many precious Saints in this thing, who are apt to think, that they cannot mind the&s;e things and as they &s;hould &s;tudy and look to their hearts too. Whereas indeed, it argues a Childi&s;h temper in a man, to think that he cannot learn the things of his heart, or keep the &s;ame up for God, any longer then it is exerci&s;ed in tho&s;e truths which more im|mediately concern the heart and life, and have their foun|dation in Chri&s;tian experience; as if tho&s;e truths which lie out of the reach of my experience as a Chri&s;tian, and more imediately concern Gods Cau&s;e and Glory without, had not in them as natural a tendency to give a &s;oul a &s;ight of God, and as great an efficacy to cau&s;e the heart to cleave to God, and walk humbly with him, as truths that lye within the r<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ach of my experience. Nay, I will here be bold to &s;ay, that that &s;oul who faithfully followeth God in tho&s;e things wherein his glory is more immediately concerned, &s;hall learn more of his heart as it were by the by, and have the &s;ame better ordered, then &s;hall that man, who neglecting this, makes that his continual &s;tudy; for it is not by our poring that we come to know our hearts, nor by our &s;trug|gling to mend them, &s;o much, as indeed by laying them in that path, where Chri&s;t in this or that day more common|ly goes, and waiting there to receive life and &s;trength from him.</P>
<P>And farther <HI>(My Lord)</HI> as for <HI>contenting them&s;elves with their own liberty,</HI> (which is the great thing objected to us, our injoyment whereof as yet, is indeed a mercy beyond what the people of God far more de&s;erving in former ages have had) the people of God could at this day do it, were it not but that <HI>the &s;ufferings of Chri&s;ts cau&s;e</HI> (their prayers having been long going forth, and their hopes rai&s;ed) <HI>are now more unto them than
<PB REF="166">any &s;ufferings of their own.</HI> And as <HI>Daniel fir&s;t,</HI> and <HI>Nehemiah</HI> afterwards, though they for their own parti|culars were well in the Court of the King of <HI>Per&s;ia,</HI> yet could not be well becau&s;e it went not well with <HI>Gods cau&s;e at that day;</HI> &s;o notwith&s;tanding Gods people have <HI>their li<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">erty,</HI> and in that re&s;pect, as to their particulars are well, yet if they &s;ee the work of the time <HI>at a &s;tand,</HI> let it not be grievous, or be imputed to di&s;content, in ca&s;e they <HI>mourn</HI> as did <HI>Daniel look &s;ad,</HI> as did <HI>Nehemiah, groan and complain</HI> they are &s;ick. And &s;ometimes I have thought, that when <HI>Daniel</HI> did mourn and afflict him&s;elf before God the &s;econd time, three full weeks, Chap. 10.2. upon the account that the work of God in that age was put to a &s;tand, by the power (as is by good men judged) of <HI>Camby|&s;es, Cyrus</HI> Son, reigning while his Father was abroad in the wars, that had <HI>Camby&s;es</HI> been a good man, or a man like|ly to have been prevailed with, <HI>Daniel</HI> undoubtedty would (as did the Prophets before him, frequently to the good Kings of <HI>I&s;rael</HI>) have made other applications in that ca&s;e, (and accounted the doing thereof his duty) than barely to the Lord alone. Nay, it is a mercy to Gover|nours them&s;elves to have applications in things of this na|ture made unto them; for, <HI>Woe be to tho&s;e Governors,</HI> to <HI>whom</HI> Gods people <HI>fearing,</HI> or being <HI>without hopes</HI> in making addre&s;s, when they &s;o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e&s;ee &s;ufferings coming up|on his cau&s;e, retire them&s;elves and &s;pread the affliction of their &s;ouls before the Lord alone.</P>
<P>Yet let me al&s;o &s;ay, it is a thing mo&s;t certain, and that which is a prejudice to the very cau&s;e in the hearts of many, and ought to be matter of grief to all, that Saints in mo&s;t places at this day, whil&s;t they are crying that their Fa|thers work might go on, do act too much like men, and &s;hew too much of their own &s;pirits; yea, are very con&s;u&s;ed as to the making out the things them&s;elves would have; and moreover, have many falling into their party, that <HI>injure</HI> the
<PB REF="167">very <HI>cau&s;e</HI> they &s;tand up in: But I earne&s;tly wi&s;h it might be con&s;idered, that although the child when it cries, cannot alwayes give a rational account of the cau&s;e of its &s;o doing, yea po&s;&s;ibly may oftentimes di&s;cover much peevi&s;hne&s;s and pa&s;&s;ion in crying, yet doth it not ever cry without a cau&s;e; and the wi&s;dome of the Father is not &s;o intent upon the weakne&s;&s;es of the child in crying, as to find out the cau&s;e why it cries.</P>
<P>And farther, &s;hould not many and great weakne&s;&s;es appear in tho&s;e who &s;tand up for Chri&s;ts Kingdome, how &s;hould his Kingdome come without ob&s;ervation? no grea|ter ob&s;ervation than of holine&s;s, if &s;o be the appearance of that in them were to be eminently vi&s;ible. <HI>John</HI> came with much outward Holine&s;&s;e, and hee came with great ob&s;ervation. Yea whether when the &s;trife ro&s;e fir&s;t betwixt the Brethren of the <HI>Presbyterian</HI> and <HI>Congre|gational way in England,</HI> did not many who yet had truth, and Chri&s;t did afterwards own before the world, <HI>&s;trive</HI> in many things like fooli&s;h peevi&s;h Children? and whether in the times of the Apo&s;tles, throughout the Primi|tive ages, and almo&s;t ever &s;ince, have not the croud of errors alwayes run into that &s;ide where truth hath been? the rea|&s;on is, becau&s;e the grand enemies de&s;ign is <HI>to &s;ow his tares in his enemies filed,</HI> his own, where as yet his title is not que&s;tioned, nor &s;haken, he will not meddle with.</P>
<P>The&s;e things therefore (with others of a like nature) are not to be made definitive Conclu&s;ions as to a cau&s;e, which oftentimes God permits for the trial of Rulers pa|tience, his peoples faith, and the carrying on of his own cau&s;e in a cloud, which is the way he goes in, in mo&s;t of his works of wonder. Governors becau&s;e of the&s;e mi&s;car|riages may inflict civil penalties if they will, yet let it bee con&s;idered, that the great King is now coming to his Throne, and there is not a Ruler in the world, but hath his &s;tanding only <HI>protempore,</HI> to whom as all mu&s;t give an account, &s;o
<PB REF="167">mu&s;t they &s;hortly <HI>&s;urrender</HI> their <HI>Crowns,</HI> or they &s;hall be taken from them; and if any of the &s;ubjects of this mighty King, whil&s;t they &s;ee their King upon his march, and are followed with hourly intelligence that he is neer, and &s;uch and &s;uch things mu&s;t be done in order to his <HI>en|tertainment,</HI> by &s;peaking &s;ome words for their King, that <HI>things</HI> may be in a readine&s;s, and by giving abroad what intelligence they have to that end, &s;hall offend, and &s;uffer any thing for it, let it be remembred, that when the righ|teous King is &s;ate upon his Throne, the&s;e things will not be hu&s;ht up, but it &s;hall then be known, whether &s;uch as &s;hall &s;o do, exceeded their Commi&s;&s;ion, or not, did their own, or the Lord Chri&s;ts will.</P>
<P><HI>My Lord,</HI> That through multitude of words, I may neither tire your patience, nor incur the cen&s;ure of being one that loves to <HI>hear</HI> him&s;elf &s;peak, I &s;hall wave &s;ome things, which otherwi&s;e I would yet have added, and draw to a Conclu&s;ion, only leaving with your Highne&s;s three or four plain, &s;ober, and in my opinion nece&s;&s;ary words.</P>
<P N="1">1 <HI>Let your Highne&s;s oft remember, and &s;et before you the example of that good man A&s;a,</HI> who though he were a man of <HI>much zeal</HI> for God, and his Wor&s;hip, de|&s;troying the Altars of the &s;trange gods, and the High pla|ces, breaking down the Images, cutting down the Groves, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> a man of a <HI>tender con&s;cience,</HI> therefore re|moved his Mother from being Queen, becau&s;e &s;he made an Idol in a Grove; a man of <HI>much faith</HI> in the field, by which faith of his, he vanqui&s;hed the huge ho&s;t of <HI>Zerah</HI> the <HI>Ethiopian;</HI> yet having made <HI>one eminent turn</HI> from God (as one turn from God makes way for another) he is afterwards in <HI>a rage at reproof,</HI> and ca&s;ts the Prophet into pri&s;on that reproved him, and at the very &s;ame time <HI>op|pre&s;&s;eth the people of the LAND;</HI> and after all (what will Sin bring even a good man to?) When Gods hand is upon him for this, he &s;eems as <HI>a man &s;tubborn,</HI> and &s;eeks not to
<PB REF="168">the Lord, but to the Phy&s;icians; which that it may never be your Highne&s;s ca&s;e, is my prayer.</P>
<P N="2">2 <HI>Let your hand be no way lifted up again&s;t any of the Saints in this Nation</HI> It was a good Po&s;ition laid down by Dr. <HI>Goodwin</HI> (in a Sermon preached upon <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 105 14, 15. before the Parliament that was, at the time when the Brethren of the <HI>Presbyterian</HI> way had the turning of the Wheel) and as well proved, <HI>viz.</HI> That the dealing well or ill with the Saints, is, and hath ever been, the great intere&s;t of States and Kingdoms, that on which their wel|fare, or ruine depends. All <HI>Sodome</HI> made not the hands of tho&s;e four Kings <HI>Abraham</HI> routed, <HI>Gen.</HI> 14. &s;o weak, as <HI>their fingring one</HI> Lot.</P>
<P N="3">3 <HI>Pur&s;ue not too hotly every righteous principle.</HI> It is an Ob&s;ervation of Dr. <HI>Owens,</HI> worthy never to be for|gotten (preached (when time was) in a Sermon of his up|on <HI>Ezek.</HI> 17.24. to the afore&s;aid powers) concerning prin|ciples that men take up, his words are the&s;e <HI>page</HI> 21.22. The mo&s;t tremendous judgement of God in this world is the hardning the hearts of men. Now, &s;aith he, fir&s;t, Look on <HI>Pharaoh,</HI> of whom it is mo&s;t &s;ignally &s;poken, that God hardned his heart: How did the Lord accompli&s;h this? <HI>Pharaoh</HI> &s;ettles him&s;elf upon as righteous principles as ever any of the Sons of men could do: One is, that it be|longs to the chief Ruler of a Nation to &s;ee to the profit and glory of that Nation. What more righteous principle is there in the world? Hence he concludes, that if i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> be in|cumbent on him to &s;ee that the Realm receive no detri|ment, he mu&s;t not let the people go by whom they re|ceived &s;o many great advantages: God confirms his heart in the&s;e principles, which are good in them&s;elves but (&s;aith the Doctor) abominable when taken up again&s;t the mind and providence of God; Hence he, and his, peri&s;hed in their principles, acting again&s;t the appearance of God. Secondly, It is al&s;o &s;aid of <HI>Sihon</HI> the King of the <HI>Amo|rites,</HI>
<PB REF="168">that his heart was hardned, that he would not let the people go through his Land. How I pray? even by ad|hering to that wi&s;e principle. That it is not meet to let a potent Enemy into the bowels of a people; and this made way for his ruine: Thus (&s;aith he) it is with many; they fix on principles, good in general, and in their &s;ea&s;on. Old bounds mu&s;t not be broken up; Order mu&s;t not be di|&s;turbed: Let God appear never &s;o eminently, &s;o mightily, they will keep to their principle, what is this, but judicial hardne&s;s? And this is one rea&s;on why the actings of God in &s;uch a day as this, are &s;o un&s;uited to the expectations of men; they &s;quare his works to the intere&s;ts and principles, which it will not an&s;wer. Hitherto Dr. <HI>Owen.</HI></P>
<P N="4">4 <HI>Take heed of that ungodly principle &s;prung up of late</HI> (the contrary to which &s;ome call a State-Herene, though I am &s;ure the principle is a Scripture-Herefie) <HI>viz. That godline&s;s in a Magi&s;trate or Civil Officer, is but a &s;e|condary qualification; natural accompli&s;hments and en|dowments being the primary, for which therefore a man is to be intru&s;ted with this power, rather than the other.</HI> I cannot but wonder how any who profe&s;s the Name of Chri&s;t, much more who profe&s;s them&s;elves to have been faithful to his cau&s;e, &s;hould together therewith profe&s;s &s;uch an unchri&s;t an, yea Machiavilian principle, which,</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, Lies <HI>point-blank again&s;t the promi&s;es made to the la&s;t dayes,</HI> which a&s;&s;ure, 1 That God will re&s;tore his peoples Judges as at the fir&s;t, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 1.26. But were Judges at the fir&s;t, <HI>Mo&s;es, Jo&s;hua,</HI> &amp;c. &s;uch? 2 That their Go|vernors &s;hould be of them&s;elves, <HI>Jer.</HI> 30.21. But may we call &s;uch of <HI>them&s;elves?</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, Leaves <HI>out</HI> (as of little worth comparatively) <HI>the main qualifications of that divine pattern, by which the fir&s;t Rulers that ever were &s;o made by men among&s;h Gods own people were made,</HI> Exod. 18.21.</P>
<P>Thirdly, Makes <HI>null that Divine Maxime,</HI> 2 Sam.
<PB REF="169">23.3. <HI>He that ruleth over men mu&s;t be ju&s;t, ruling in the fear of God;</HI> for how can &s;uch rule in the fear of God, who have no fear of God before their eyes? which is one character of every natural man, <HI>Rom.</HI> 3.18.</P>
<P>Fourthly, Layes <HI>an unavoidable nece&s;sity of a conti|nued judgement upon a people:</HI> For if it be a judge|ment to have Rulers that know not God, becau&s;e &s;uch make the people to <HI>erre, I&s;a.</HI> 3.12. chap. 9.16. then if &s;uch for their natural endowments are to be cho&s;en, of ne|ce&s;&s;ity mu&s;t a judgement lye upon that <HI>people,</HI> over, or among&s;t whom they are &s;et.</P>
<P>Fifthly, Opens a <HI>door to all per&s;ecution,</HI> by putting the Civil Sword into the hands of the Seed of the Serpent (for better cannot be &s;aid of a meer moral man) which from the beginning hath had a natural enmity to the Seed of the Woman. <HI>My Lord,</HI> Bear with the boldne&s;s of it, if I &s;ay, <HI>That in ca&s;e your Highne&s;s be found &s;teering your cour&s;e, and laying out your power by this crooked rule, know a&s;&s;uredly, that Chri&s;t will &s;uddenly take</HI> (though how I know not) <HI>your power from you, and give it to one that &s;hall lay it out otherwi&s;e.</HI></P>
<P>I &s;hall not multiply many more words, &s;ave to add, that in ca&s;e any expre&s;&s;ion, either in this, or the following Di&s;|cour&s;e, &s;avour of the &s;pirit of man (which my &s;elf allows not, have kept a watch again&s;t, yet may be <HI>guilty</HI> of) I do in that humbly crave your Highne&s;s pardon; but as for the matter and &s;ub&s;tance of tho&s;e things I have written, I ask none, my Con&s;cience bearing me witne&s;s that I have afferted nothing, but what according to my pre&s;ent per|&s;wa&s;ions (not grounded upon this or that <HI>particular</HI> Text (which is a deceiving way) but by comparing the whole of Prophecies together) is the truth of Chri&s;t, yea the truth of the time; though yet (through mercy) I have drunk in no &s;uch conceit of my own knowledge, as though it were more than in part; not do I impo&s;e upon your
<PB REF="169">Highne&s;s con&s;cience, or the con&s;ciences of any, a belief of my principles, any farther then Scripture and right rea&s;on doth approve them; yet would have none on the other &s;ide condemn them (as this age is apt to do) upon the account of this, or that &s;ingle Text, till he hath compared the whole of Prophecies together, in doing which, he may perhaps &s;ee my rea&s;on of &s;tating things as I have done, which upon every occa&s;ion I could not bring forth, and therewith a full an&s;wer to his own doubt. And farther, I have not in this work <HI>knowingly</HI> &s;tretched any one Text, beyond what I have judged its due bounds, or forced an interpretation to reach any Party a blow: Nor have I on the other &s;ide with-held any peece of the truth (&s;o judged by me) lying in any Text; nor minced any Interpretation to &s;pare any party a blow: As I would be loath to &s;trike any my &s;elf, for my blows can do me no good, and them little hurt; &s;o would I not have a hand in keeping off that blow that truth will &s;trike, who&s;oever it fall upon.</P>
<P>And although a Di&s;cour&s;e of this nature would bet|ter have become a graver Pen than mine, and po&s;&s;ibly from &s;uch a one been &s;ooner hearkned to (pride, ra&s;h|ne&s;s, and headine&s;s, having been the coutinual accu|&s;ation laid again&s;t <HI>young</HI> men, and not alwayes ground|le&s;s) yet &s;eeing the Aged &s;ilent, and perceiving through the light the Lord of his grace hath larely given me to &s;ee, by a cleer opening &s;undry Prophecies, which not long &s;ince were my&s;teries to me, the cau&s;e of Chri&s;t in &s;ore travel, either through an ignorance of what Gods De|&s;igns are at this day, or &s;omewhat wor&s;e in tho&s;e that &s;hould manage it; I conceived my &s;elf (though others might better do it, yet at this time) called to &s;peak, and to &s;peak plainly. <HI>Elihu,</HI> though a young man, went, and that with &s;ucce&s;s, over the head of &s;uch a temptation, in a le&s;s ca&s;e. That a like &s;ucce&s;s and
<PB REF="170">ble&s;&s;ing from above may accompany this, is his Prayer who is,</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED><HI>Your Highne&s;s humble Servant, Mournful for You, hold with You, for</HI> Sions <HI>&s;ake,</HI> JOHN TILLINGHAST.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="to churches">
<HEAD>To the &s;everal <HI>Churches</HI> of Chri&s;t within this <HI>Commonwealth;</HI> Together with all tho&s;e that have fellow&s;hip with the Father, and his Son Je&s;us Chri&s;t;</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">The Church of Chri&s;t at <HI>Northwal&s;ham</HI> in <HI>Norfolk,</HI> walking in fellow&s;hip with the Churches of Chri&s;t in this Country, &s;endeth Greeting.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>Dearly beloved in the Lord:</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>_AS the Lord, the mighty God, hath done great things and un&s;earchable, marve|lous things without number, for his great Name, and peoples &s;ake, within the &s;pace of a few years, &s;o certainly there &s;hall not be an end of Wonders, until his peoples full Redemption be accompli&s;hed. And although the wicked of the earth regard not the works of the Lord, neither con&s;ider what he hath already done, or &s;hall do here|after, yet they are ob&s;erved, and diligently &s;ought out of the Saints that have plea&s;ure therein.</P>
<PB REF="170">
<P>And they &s;hall &s;peak of the might of his terrible Acts, and &s;hall declare his greatne&s;s, they &s;hall abun|dantly utter the memory of his goodne&s;s, and &s;ing of his righteou&s;ne&s;s, they &s;hall &s;peak of the glory of his Kingdom, and talk of his Power, and make known to the &s;ons of men, his mighty Acts, and the glorious Ma|je&s;ty of his Kingdom.</P>
<P>When we con&s;ider what a company of poor, weak, and unprofitable creatures we are, having &s;uch dead, dark, and un&s;uitable hearts and &s;pirits to the extraordinary ap|pearances and di&s;pen&s;ations of God towards us, we might think it mo&s;t meet, that we (above all others) &s;hould &s;it down in &s;ilence and &s;hame, at &s;uch a time as this; but while we are mu&s;ing of the former wayes and dealings of God with his people, and of tho&s;e glorious things which mu&s;t &s;hortly come to pa&s;s, our hearts do <HI>burn within us,</HI> and having this opportunity, we cannot but &s;peak, and declare a few things which are upon our spirits.</P>
<P>As touching our dear, and worthy Brother (the Au|thor) it may be expected &s;omething by us &s;hould be &s;po|ken, but his de&s;ire as concerning him&s;elf, hath laid &s;ilence upon us; Yet this we &s;hall &s;ay, As we conceive him to be one who hath received much light from the Lord, and e&s;teems it a choice and &s;pecial mercy to be taught of God the things of Chri&s;ts Kingdom &s;o we are his witne&s;&s;es, how holily, and ju&s;tly, and unblameably he hath, and doth behave him&s;elf among&s;t us (and many others) that beleeve.</P>
<P>As for the Treati&s;e it &s;elf, it needs not mans com|mendation, becau&s;e Truth commends it &s;elf: Yet this we &s;ay, It hath been a great refre&s;hment to our &s;pirits, and we hope will be to the &s;pirits of Gods people el&s;|where.</P>
<P>It is the Authors de&s;ire that things may not be re|ceived
<PB REF="171">on your parts without trial, yet in ca&s;e any who fear the Lord, be in this matter otherwi&s;e minded, it is our de&s;ire they would not ra&s;hly condemn that, which was neither ra&s;hly undertaken, nor publi&s;hed. But to come to what we have further to &s;ay.</P>
<P>It is an undeniable truth, confirmed by long expe|rience, that the Devil hath ever had a great de&s;ign again&s;t the Kingdom of Chri&s;t, that holy City, and hath &s;o far prevailed, as by his in&s;truments to tread it underfoot for a long time, though not able to de&s;troy it. So that tho&s;e that have appeared, and witne&s;&s;ed for Chri&s;t, have been forced to do it in &s;ackcleath, in a very mean and low condition, yet however they do it, they will do it, though in &s;ackcloath. And this hath been &s;uch a trouble, and torment to the Bea&s;t, and the dwellers on the earth, that like men, or rather Devils, full of rage and fury again&s;t them, they make War again&s;t them, overcome them, pull off even their &s;ackcloath, &s;trip them, kill them. And whether this hath been already done, or is yet to do, is the great Que&s;tion, which this Treati&s;e will give &s;ome light into, and a little time will more fully determine.</P>
<P>And that tho&s;e that dwell upon the earth, Chri&s;ts enemies, &s;hould rejoyce, and make merry when they &s;ee Chri&s;ts Witne&s;&s;es (who tormented them by witne&s;&s;ing) lye dead, is not to be thought &s;trange. But that the Lord &s;hould be &s;o tender, and mindful of tho&s;e that appear and witne&s;s for him, as after a little while to give life unto them, and not only to &s;et them upon their feet, but to rai&s;e them up to an high, and glorious con|dition, and that in the &s;ight of their enemies (greatly fearing, and trembling to behold it) is very affecting, and comfortable to our hearts to con&s;ider.</P>
<P>And, Dear Brethren, having had &s;ome &s;erious thoughts both of the &s;pirits and wayes of Gods pro|fe&s;&s;ing
<PB REF="171">people, at this time, we cannot apprehend that the LORD hath yet performed his <HI>whole work upon Mount Sion,</HI> but that he hath yet much to do, yea, though the Lord hath been a long time purging his people, and hath cut off <HI>two parts,</HI> and left onely a <HI>third,</HI> yet there is &s;o much filth and dro&s;s in that, that &s;urely he will bring the third part <HI>through the fire,</HI> and will refine them, as <HI>Silver is refined,</HI> and will try them as <HI>Gold is tried.</HI> And what condition the Lord hath yet to bring his people into (to take away their dro&s;s in) is be&s;t known to him&s;elf. And may not the people of the Lord, even after he hath done much for them, &amp; in them (yet polluted with &s;everal abominations) expect &s;ome hour of tempta|tion, to be tried, and purged in, which may al&s;o be at hand?</P>
<P>And &s;eeing we are &s;peaking, and &s;peaking to Bre|thren that know how to bear with our weakne&s;&s;es, though we be poor &s;tammering creatures, we &s;hall take liberty and boldne&s;s to &s;peak a few things to you as plainly as we can, it being now high time to deal faithfully and plainly with one another, and to tell you more particularly what we fear.</P>
<P>And indeed, Brethren, we <HI>are afraid,</HI> from a &s;ad ex|perience of the coldne&s;s and remi&s;ne&s;s of our own hearts, that the charge of Chri&s;t again&s;t <HI>Ephe&s;us</HI> will not fall upon us onely, but upon other of the Churches, and Saints of Chri&s;t, that they have <HI>left their fir&s;t Love.</HI></P>
<P>We <HI>are afraid,</HI> becau&s;e we are &s;o earthly minded our &s;elves, that &s;ome of you <HI>may be tempted al&s;o to &s;eek other things before the Kingdom of God,</HI> and to take too much thought what you &s;hall eat, and what you &s;hall put on, what profits, preferments, and incouragements you &s;hall have in the world (which are the things the men of the world &s;eek after) for the obtaining of which you may be prone to &s;eek to plea&s;e and &s;erve men, rather than Chri&s;t.</P>
<PB REF="172">
<P>We <HI>are afraid,</HI> becau&s;e we have &s;o little our &s;elves, that <HI>a &s;pirit of &s;elf-denial &s;hould be wanting among you,</HI> and that you &s;hould not have hearts to rejoyce when Chri&s;t doth increa&s;e, if you &s;hould decrea&s;e, and &s;o lie open to that great, (and common evill) of neglect|ing, at lea&s;t, Chri&s;ts intere&s;t, to uphold and maintain your own.</P>
<P>We <HI>are afraid</HI> becau&s;e of the drow&s;ine&s;s of our own bearts, <HI>le&s;t a &s;pirit of &s;lumber &s;hould fall upon you,</HI> and you become mindle&s;s, and regardle&s;s (in compari&s;on of what you formerly were, and now ought to be) of the voyce, and works, and coming of Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>We <HI>are afraid,</HI> becau&s;e we our &s;elves are not Virgins, cha&s;t, and faithful to the per&s;on and intere&s;t of the Lord Chri&s;t, le&s;t <HI>your hearts &s;hould be en&s;nared, and polluted by any, through the lea&s;t compliance with, or liking of the great Whore,</HI> that hath deceived and defiled &s;o many with her abeminations.</P>
<P>We <HI>are afraid,</HI> becau&s;e we have neglected it &s;o much, and &s;o long, le&s;t <HI>you &s;hould forget to &s;tudy, and enquire into the great and marvellous things that God is doing, for exaltation of his own name and Son.</HI> And what the Saints ought to do for God at &s;uch a time as this. &V;nlike to the Children of <HI>I&s;&s;achar,</HI> which were men that had un|der&s;tanding of the times, to know what <HI>I&s;rael</HI> ought to do.</P>
<P>We <HI>are afraid,</HI> becau&s;e we are &s;o carnal, and walk &s;o much by &s;en&s;e our &s;elves, <HI>that there &s;hould not be &s;uch a living by faith among&s;t you, as the word and di&s;pen&s;ati|ons of God require,</HI> e&s;pecially when we hear &s;o many of tho&s;e, who formerly hoped, and quietly waited for the Redemption of Gods cho&s;en, now (being fearful, and unbeleeving) &s;peak like <HI>Mary, How &s;hall this thing be,</HI> &s;eeing we know not how it &s;hould be brought to pa&s;s?</P>
<PB REF="172">
<P>We <HI>are afraid</HI> likewi&s;e, becau&s;e our own hands are &s;o heavy, and we unable, of our &s;elves, to keep them &s;teady, le&s;t your <HI>hands of prayer &s;hould be let down at this time, and</HI> Amaleck <HI>&s;hould prevail again&s;t</HI> I&s;rael.</P>
<P>And if the&s;e things &s;hould be found amongst you (of which we mu&s;t confe&s;s our &s;elves to be very guilty) how ought you, and we to fear and tremble, and lye low be|fore the Lord, being very unworthy of, and unthank|ful for all tho&s;e great and terrible things which his hand hath wrought for us?</P>
<P>And if we have not had, nor yet have hearts, holy, and heavenly, and spiritual enough to walk before him with, under his former, and pre&s;ent di&s;pen&s;ations towards us, how &s;hall we be able to &s;tand before the Son of Man, when he &s;hall appear in far greater power, and glory? And to follow him in tho&s;e &s;trange, and untrodden Paths that he hath yet to lead his people in, and thorow?</P>
<P>Surely it is <HI>now time</HI> for us (having been hitherto &s;o much wanting in it) to <HI>con&s;ider our hearts and ways,</HI> and tho&s;e wayes that the Lord calls us to wait upon him in.</P>
<P>Surely it is <HI>now time</HI> for us, who have left our fir&s;t Iove to the Lord Je&s;us (for which we have cau&s;e to be a&s;hamed before the Lord) not onely to <HI>remember from whence we are fallen, and to do our fir&s;t works,</HI> to love him as much we have done formerly, but having ta&s;ted more of his goodne&s;s, and &s;een more of his glory (and hoping to behold much more of it) <HI>to love him more than ever we did;</HI> and oh that we had hearts to do it at this time.</P>
<P>Surely it is <HI>now time</HI> for tho&s;e Saints, that have had, and have their hearts e&s;pou&s;ed to carnal and worldly in|tere&s;ts, as outward glory, honor, riches, &amp;c. <HI>to look up to the Lord, and to get their hearts di&s;-ingaged, and &s;et loo&s;e from the world, and the things of the world,</HI> and to
<PB REF="173">be for ever hereafter without &s;o much as a thought of &s;eeking great things for them&s;elves, as becommeth Saints.</P>
<P>Surely it is <HI>now time</HI> for the Spou&s;e, and all the pro|fe&s;&s;ed friends of Chri&s;t, <HI>to ca&s;t off, and abandon all ac|quaintance, and compliance with Antichri&s;t,</HI> and to keep them&s;elves &s;o pure, and to approve them&s;elves &s;o true to Chri&s;t, that if the Devil &s;hould tempt them (as he did their Lord) by profering them all the Kingdoms of the World, and the glory of them, yet never to fall down, and any way wor&s;hip that Bea&s;t. It argued a very <HI>cha&s;te and faithful heart,</HI> in that worthy Man, Ma&s;ter <HI>John Knox,</HI> unto Je&s;us Chri&s;t, that when <HI>Edward</HI> the Sixth, King of <HI>England,</HI> offered him a Bi&s;hopricke, he refu&s;ed it, as having <HI>Aliquid com|mune cum Antichri&s;to,</HI> &s;omething of Antichri&s;tiani&s;m in it.</P>
<P>Surely it is <HI>now time</HI> for us, not onely to <HI>beleeve in Chri&s;t</HI> (which many think is all they need to do) but al&s;o <HI>to own him in this hour of his patience</HI> (wherein he looks to beowned by his Saints) <HI>le&s;t he frown upon us in the day of his great power, and glory, which draweth near.</HI> And Brethren, let us make it our chief, even our onely De&s;ign, and count it our greate&s;t Priviledge (though we &s;hall be men wondered at for it) to follow, and &s;erve the Lord Chri&s;t in faithfulne&s;s, and like <HI>Luther,</HI> in the cau&s;e of Chri&s;t, be content (though our low and carnal hearts may tremble at the very thoughts of it) to undergo the hatred, and violence of the whole world.</P>
<P>Neither let us be <HI>too much troubled, nor offended at tho&s;e changes, alterations, and de&s;olations, which do, and may, and as Chri&s;t hath &s;aid, will attend the going on, and advancement of his Kingdom in the world;</HI> which was that which &s;ome, may be, wel-meaning people objected to <HI>Luther,</HI> That that doctrin could not be of God, that was
<PB REF="173">attended with &s;uch troubles, and de&s;olations; who replyed thus, <HI>Ego ni&s;rtumultus i&s;tos viderem, Chri&s;tum in mundo e&s;&s;e non crederem,</HI> &V;nle&s;s I &s;hould &s;ee tho&s;e troubles and tumults, I &s;hould not beleeve Chri&s;t to be in the world. So Brethren, if we &s;hould hear of Wars, and Commo|tions, and upon the earth di&s;tre&s;s of Nations, with per|plexity, mens hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after tho&s;e things which are coming on the earth, let us not be terrified, nor offended, but (as our Savior hath bidden us) look up, and lift up our heads, for our redemption draweth nigh.</P>
<P>And becau&s;e it is <HI>high time,</HI> awake, <HI>Awake oh Saints, lift up your hearts, and cry mightily unto the Lord, and never hold your peace day nor night, and give him no re&s;t</HI> (for it will not be long) <HI>till he e&s;tabli&s;h and make</HI> Jeru|&s;alem <HI>a prai&s;e in the Earth.</HI> Stand therefore with your loyns girded about, and your lights burning; And ye your &s;elves like men that wait for their Lord, who com|eth (as he hath &s;aid) as a Thief in the night, who may be upon you before you are aware, in an hour that you think not of. And however you may be hardly u&s;ed, and beaten of your Fellow-&s;ervants, and Brethren too, who &s;ay their Lord delayeth his coming: Yet be not wearied, nor faint in your minds becau&s;e of the&s;e things, but be ye patient, Brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold the Husband-man waiteth for the pre|cious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, untill he receive the early, and latter rain: Be ye al&s;o patient, &s;tabli&s;h your hearts, for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.</P>
<P>Grudge not one again&s;t another, Brethren, le&s;t ye be condemned, behold the Judge &s;tandeth before the door. For he cometh, he cometh to judge the earth, He &s;hall judge the world with righteou&s;ne&s;s, and the people with his truth.</P>
<PB REF="174">
<P>And you that are of a fearful heart, be &s;trong, and fear not, behold your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence, he will come, and &s;ave you, and will perform all his good word towards you, and give you an expected end.</P>
<P>Ca&s;t not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. <HI>For yee have need of pa|tience, that after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promi&s;e. For yet a little while, and he that &s;hall come, will come, and will not tarry. Now the ju&s;t &s;hall live by faith, but if any man draw back, my &s;oul &s;hall have no plea&s;ure in him.</HI></P>
<P>That you, and we, continuing in all well-doing, and &s;uffering, may be found unto prai&s;e, and honor, and glory at the appearing of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, is the prayer of</P>
<P><HI>Your poor, unprofitable Brethren, and Com|panions, in the tribulation, and Kingdom, and patience of Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<CLOSER><SALUTE>Signed in the name, and by the appointment of the Church,</SALUTE>
<SIGNED><HI>RICHARD BREVITER,</HI> Pa&s;tor,</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB REF="174">
<HEAD><HI>Generation-Work.</HI> The Third and la&s;t part.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">Wherein is yet further &s;hewed what the de&s;igns of God abroad in the World may in all likelihood be at this pre&s;ent day, and in the days near approach|ing: Being an Expo&s;ition of the Prophecies of the <HI>Two Witne&s;&s;es.</HI></HEAD>
<DIV2 TYPE="preface">
<HEAD>THE PREFACE.</HEAD>
<P>_TWo <HI>Prophecies</HI> there are which above all others do ca&s;t a <HI>look</HI> upon <HI>our times:</HI> Fir&s;t, the <HI>Pro|phecie</HI> of the <HI>Vials;</HI> Secondly, The <HI>Prophecie</HI> of the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es.</HI> The fir&s;t of the&s;e, according to that mea&s;ure of light given me, I have lately written my thoughts upon. The <HI>plea&s;ure</HI> I found in that journey, and the <HI>refre&s;hment</HI> I had from the matter of tho&s;e di&s;co|veries, together with a <HI>leading Providence</HI> to &s;uch a work, attending my fini&s;hing that part, did put me pre&s;ently up|on another enquiry, <HI>viz. Concerning the time when tho&s;e things &s;hould be?</HI> or, <HI>How long it &s;hould be unto the end of tho&s;e wonders?</HI> Being upon this <HI>enquiry,</HI> and called by it to make a more <HI>thorow &s;earch</HI> than ever before I had done into the Prophecies of <HI>Daniel,</HI> and the <HI>Revelations,</HI> fir&s;t to find <HI>undoubted Principles for a foundation,</HI> and then <HI>fit matter to build upon them;</HI> I had upon the way many hints of truth in reference to the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es</HI> pre&s;ented to my
<PB REF="175">thoughts; which after a while, &s;eeing truth daily to come in at that door, I turning to view, &s;aw (as I thought) a me|thod laid before me, which did &s;eem to me to take off, and that in a great mea&s;ure, the veil from many of the principal Apocalyptical vi&s;ions. Which <HI>ob&s;erving</HI> and <HI>perceiving</HI> the &s;ame would be very <HI>conducible</HI> (could the thing it &s;elf be made out) to the <HI>clearing</HI> up of many <HI>my&s;teries,</HI> chiefly relating to the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es;</HI> and al&s;o be a good <HI>foundation</HI> for many other <HI>Truths;</HI> which where a <HI>right order</HI> is not found, mu&s;t needs lye <HI>buried;</HI> &s;eeing there can be no <HI>&s;ound interpretation</HI> of the Apocalyps, nor any <HI>certain conclu&s;ion</HI> drawn from the <HI>whole</HI> or any <HI>part</HI> of it, till fir&s;t the <HI>true order</HI> and <HI>proper place</HI> of each <HI>Vi&s;ion</HI> is found out; <HI>Crder</HI> being the <HI>foundation</HI> of all <HI>Inter|pretation,</HI> and not Interpretation of it; I did therefore <HI>ex|amine</HI> the thing it &s;elf, <HI>comparing</HI> &s;uch <HI>grounds</HI> as I had in my eye, for my <HI>own,</HI> with the <HI>grounds</HI> of others laid down in their writings, for <HI>theirs.</HI> Having <HI>done this</HI> (I &s;peak it not in the lea&s;t to my own commendation, nor the di&s;paragement of &s;uch good and worthy men, who&s;e la|bors are extant on this Prophecy, of who&s;e grace and abi|lities I have a far greater e&s;teem, than either I have, or would have of my own) I found my &s;elf much <HI>more con|firmed</HI> in my conceptions, than when I <HI>began,</HI> finding in <HI>mo&s;t</HI> no other <HI>Argument,</HI> be&s;ides what lay in their <HI>bare</HI> Interpretations, which (as I have &s;aid before) being them|&s;elves to be <HI>founded</HI> upon <HI>Order,</HI> can be no <HI>Argument</HI> of <HI>Order.</HI> And as for the <HI>Arguments</HI> of others, which &s;ee|med at fir&s;t to carry weight, I found them upon <HI>exami|nation,</HI> either too <HI>weak</HI> to conclude the <HI>thing,</HI> or el&s;e to be <HI>mi&s;applied:</HI> And indeed <HI>&s;uch,</HI> as that the <HI>method</HI> and <HI>or|der</HI> rightly &s;tated, there would be <HI>little</HI> need of giving par|ticular <HI>an&s;wers</HI> to them, for they would fall of <HI>them&s;elves.</HI> Hereupon I began to put my thoughts into &s;uch an <HI>order,</HI> as &s;eemed to me mo&s;t to <HI>conduce</HI> to the making clear &s;ome|thing
<PB REF="175">appertaining to this <HI>great my&s;tery</HI> of the <HI>witne&s;&s;es</HI> which I have done in three Chapters: Whereof, the fir&s;t Chapter repre&s;ents <HI>the &s;tate and condition of the Witne&s;&s;es, chiefly as to their prophecying and killing time;</HI> and that from part of the Eleventh Chapter of the <HI>Revelations,</HI> the undoubted (and as is generally conceived, the onely) Prophecy of the Witne&s;&s;es. The &s;econd Chapter <HI>con|firms many of the Pofitions laid down in the former,</HI> by opening of the Twelfth Chapter, and proving it to run parallel with &s;o much of the eleventh, as relates to the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es prophecying, and killing time.</HI> The third Chapter is a <HI>repre&s;entation of the happy condition the Church of Chri&s;t &s;hall be in, about the time of the Wit|ne&s;&s;es re&s;urrection; &s;hewing al&s;o how the work &s;hall go on from that time untill the Day of Chri&s;ts Appea|rance;</HI> and this from opening the fourteenth Chapter, which is proved to be <HI>a Prophecy of the &s;tate of the Church,</HI> and that from about the <HI>time of the Witne&s;&s;es ri&s;e, untill the Second coming of Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>Now although the <HI>&s;ubject</HI> it &s;elf leads me to <HI>treat</HI> of <HI>many things</HI> in a <HI>prophetical</HI> manner, the <HI>accompli&s;hment</HI> of which I <HI>conceive</HI> to be <HI>near</HI> at <HI>hand;</HI> yet do I not in the <HI>lea&s;t a&s;&s;ume</HI> to my &s;elf the <HI>title</HI> or <HI>thought</HI> of &s;uch a thing as being a <HI>Prophet;</HI> onely by <HI>weighing Scriptures,</HI> and comparing one place with another, I draw up <HI>con|jectural grounds</HI> that in all likelihood &s;uch and &s;uch things will &s;hortly be done. And although I judge my &s;elf, that I may be deceived, &s;o far as it is a thing po&s;&s;ible that the <HI>di&s;covering time</HI> may not be come, or that there may be after the mo&s;t diligent and impartial inquiry, yet a mi&s;&s;ing of the time to which a Prophecy relates, which if mi&s;&s;ed, the mi&s;take mu&s;t needs be totall, and all Interpretations fal&s;e; Or if not a nu&s;&s;ing of the time (which it is hoped in this little peece is not, my care having been above all to attain a right principle herein, it being the onely foundation
<PB REF="176">&s;tone) yet an ignorance of the time, or a falling &s;hort of the true mind of the Holy Gho&s;t, in &s;uch or &s;uch a par|ticular phra&s;e, or in &s;uch or &s;uch terms it u&s;eth, which though it cau&s;e not a total, yet may occa&s;ion a partial mi|&s;take; Or if neither of the&s;e, yet an adding, or mixing even in the <HI>Interpretation</HI> &s;omewhat of mans with the mind of God, which kind of deception attends as well the in|terpretation of other Scriptures, as tho&s;e which are Pro|phetical; yet have I publi&s;hed nothing without &s;uch grounds as I &s;uppo&s;e will, even in the eye of an Adver&s;ary (if throughly weighed) be judged &s;ufficient to build a conjecture upon: And po&s;&s;ibly, another upon the like grounds, might be as incident to a mi&s;take of this nature, &s;hould the event &s;o prove it, as my &s;elf.</P>
<P>Yet that I may not any way for the &s;ake of my own name, di&s;own, or <HI>expo&s;e</HI> to <HI>di&s;advantage the ble&s;&s;ed Truth</HI> of <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> which mu&s;t and &s;hall live, when the names of men &s;hall rot; I &s;hall be bold concerning this Di&s;cour&s;e humbly to &s;ay, <HI>That I am verily per&s;waded, that as to the &s;ub&s;tance hereof, there is more in it than barely my private conjecture:</HI> And although this <HI>bui<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">|ding</HI> may have in it much <HI>Wood, Hay,</HI> and <HI>Stubble,</HI> which &s;hall be <HI>burnt up;</HI> yet is there al&s;o in it &s;ome <HI>Mines of Gold and precious Stones</HI> (not hitherto found out) which <HI>will abide the fire,</HI> and the <HI>day</HI> is not <HI>far off</HI> which will make <HI>experiment</HI> of both: And if in <HI>that day</HI> it &s;hall appear that to a <HI>pound of dro&s;s</HI> but a <HI>grain of truth</HI> (which before lay hid and buryed) is here <HI>dug up,</HI> and brought to <HI>light;</HI> I &s;hall <HI>judge</HI> (Truth is of &s;o great worth) the Lord in this <HI>Di&s;pen&s;ation</HI> to have been <HI>gracious</HI> to me, and my labour, notwith&s;tanding ma|ny mi&s;-apprehen&s;ions, to be well be&s;towed. Gold at fir&s;t digging never comes forth without its dro&s;s.</P>
<P>And truly &s;ince I compo&s;ed the &s;ame, and &s;aw that <HI>a ve|ry little time waiting</HI> would either <HI>prove the things a&s;|&s;erted
<PB REF="176">to be fal&s;e;</HI> Or <HI>if true,</HI> bring them forth with a <HI>more general acceptation, and conviction of the Truth</HI> thereof, than I either now do, or can expect it &s;hould meet with, I judged it a point of prudence to forbear a while this enterprize: But two con&s;iderations at pre&s;ent are upon me, which over-ballance my re&s;olutions the con|trary way.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, <HI>A per&s;wa&s;ion</HI> (&s;ome part of my grounds for which are offered in the Di&s;cour&s;e it &s;elf) <HI>that a very cloudy day is to befall the Church of Chri&s;t under the Vial we at this day &s;tand under;</HI> &s;ome <HI>&s;hadowings</HI> of which <HI>cloud</HI> (though not the di&s;mal &s;torm it &s;ends forth) will even reach us here in <HI>England,</HI> either in one way, or another: to which <HI>per&s;wa&s;ion</HI> I have likewi&s;e, and that from &s;ome ground, this <HI>con&s;ideration added,</HI> That God hath a &s;pecial de&s;ign (to the end the faith of his people might not wholly fail them in this day) upon the brink or be|ginning of it, to let out &s;uch a light, as to the great things he is doing in the world, as &s;hall wonderfully &s;upport the hearts of a remnant of his people, and that quite through it.</P>
<P>Secondly, <HI>That the very thing which &s;hall &s;et on foot that glorious work of Chri&s;t again&s;t Antichri&s;t</HI> (which is the principal part or the &s;ubject of this di&s;cour&s;e) <HI>&s;hall be a letting out of light into the world, a little before the time comes that the work is to be &s;et on foot.</HI> Hence <HI>Revel.</HI> 18.1. immediately before the ruin of <HI>Rome,</HI> as the principal leading cau&s;e thereto, the <HI>Earth</HI> which be|fore was <HI>covered</HI> with <HI>darkne&s;s</HI> as to the glorious de&s;igns of God, as touching his work in the world, is upon <HI>the &s;udden enlightned,</HI> and what is the i&s;&s;ue hereof? why, <HI>a &s;peedy and irre&s;i&s;table judgement upon</HI> Babylon, as the whole Chapter &s;hews us.</P>
<P>The&s;e <HI>Con&s;iderations</HI> have made me think, that as the
<PB REF="177">people of God cannot in any way perform <HI>a more ac|ceptable</HI> peece of &s;ervice to the Lord Je&s;us in this day, than by giving forth <HI>that light,</HI> the Lord either doth or &s;hall give them; &s;o likewi&s;e can they not in <HI>any work</HI> they &s;hall put their hand unto, do Antichri&s;t <HI>a greater mi&s;chief</HI> (next to his de&s;truction it &s;elf) than they may in this.</P>
<P>The Author acknowledgeth him&s;elf altogether un|worthy of the fir&s;t, unfit and unable every way in him|&s;elf to the &s;econd; yet willingly would, to the mea&s;ure of his Talent, be found in both. He confe&s;&s;eth, that nei|ther in this, nor any thing el&s;e that he doth, hath he, or can he attain thereto, to have his heart and aimes &s;o pure and &s;piritual a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> it is fit they &s;hould, and as he would they were; yet re&s;olveth, that through grace a&s;&s;i&s;ting him, neither the Devil, no no<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> his &s;in &s;hall make him throw a&s;ide that work, in which he may do Chri&s;ts cau&s;e or people any &s;ervice, Antichri&s;t any mi&s;chief: Which that it may be the fruit of this little peece, is, and &s;hall be his prayer.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="1" REF="177">
<HEAD>CHAP. I. <HI>Wherein is &s;et forth the &s;tate or condition of the Two Witne&s;&s;es within their Prophecying time, and the time of their being killed, and that from</HI> Rev. 11. ver. 3. to 13.</HEAD>
<DIV3 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD><HI>SECT.</HI> 1.</HEAD>
<P>_HAving in the fore-going <HI>Preface</HI> delivered &s;o much, as I judged meet by way of Pre|amble unto this our Di&s;cour&s;e: I &s;hall here, without &s;pinning out the time, or tiring the Readers patience, whil&s;t I detain him upon the way, a|bout things of le&s;&s;er concernment, enter &s;trait way upon the thing it &s;elf.</P>
<P>That the <HI>Two Witne&s;&s;es</HI> are the <HI>Magi&s;tracy</HI> and the <HI>Mini&s;try,</HI> appears to me a thing <HI>without di&s;pute,</HI> the <HI>allu&s;ion</HI> is &s;o clear to <HI>Zerubbabel</HI> and <HI>Jo&s;hua,</HI> compare <HI>Rev.</HI> 11 4. with <HI>Zech.</HI> 4 11, 14. of which <HI>two,</HI> one was <HI>chief Magi&s;trate,</HI> the other <HI>chief Prie&s;t:</HI> and <HI>both</HI> the&s;e, <HI>Prince</HI> and <HI>Prie&s;t,</HI> were <HI>Sons of Oyl,</HI> i.e. anoin|ted in times of old, therefore by <HI>Zechary</HI> and <HI>John both,</HI> called <HI>two Olive trees:</HI> Onely there is (as Mr. <HI>Woodcock</HI> in his Treati&s;e of the Two Witne&s;&s;es hath ob&s;erved) this <HI>twofold</HI> difference betwixt the <HI>Type</HI> and the <HI>Anti|tipe.</HI></P>
<P N="1">1 <HI>Ze<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">hary</HI> &s;ees <HI>two Olive Trees,</HI> but <HI>no Temple;</HI> But <HI>John</HI> &s;ees fir&s;t <HI>a Temple,</HI> ver 1. and then <HI>two Olive trees.</HI> The rea&s;on is, <HI>they</HI> in <HI>Zecharies</HI> time had as yet <HI>no Tem|ple built,</HI> but were to begin the world <HI>anew;</HI> But now
<PB N="2" REF="178">the work of <HI>Johns two Witne&s;&s;es,</HI> is not to <HI>build a Tem|ple anew,</HI> &s;o much as to <HI>pre&s;erve and keep</HI> that they had.</P>
<P N="2">2 <HI>Zechary</HI> &s;eeth <HI>two Olive trees,</HI> and but <HI>one Candle|&s;tick: John two Olive Trees</HI> and <HI>two Candle&s;ticks;</HI> the rea&s;on is this <HI>Zechary wrote</HI> in the <HI>time</HI> of the <HI>Law,</HI> whil&s;t the <HI>Church</HI> was <HI>National,</HI> and &s;o the <HI>two</HI> did belong to <HI>one Church, John</HI> in <HI>Go&s;pel-times</HI> when <HI>Chur|ches</HI> were <HI>Congregational,</HI> and &s;o the <HI>two</HI> might be of <HI>&s;everal Churches.</HI></P>
<P>Now the thing which doth yet further per&s;wade me to hold to this Expo&s;ition, is, <HI>That excellent Ana|logie it carries with it to that of the two Bea&s;ts,</HI> Chap. 13. which <HI>two Bea&s;ts</HI> (as I have made appear upon the <HI>Vials,</HI> p. 101, to 108.) are <HI>no other,</HI> but <HI>Antichri&s;t</HI> in his <HI>Civil</HI> and <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tical State,</HI> or the <HI>Magi&s;tracy</HI> and <HI>Mini|&s;try</HI> of <HI>Antichri&s;t.</HI> Now ob&s;erve it, as <HI>Antichri&s;t</HI> by a <HI>twofold</HI> power, a power <HI>Magi&s;terial</HI> and <HI>Mini&s;terial,</HI> doth all the time of the Two and forty moneths <HI>oppre&s;s</HI> the Woman, <HI>drive</HI> her into the Wilderne&s;s, <HI>tread</HI> under foot the Holy City, <HI>i.e.</HI> the People, Truths, and Wor&s;hip of Chri&s;t: &s;o doth <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> all this time, by the very <HI>&s;ame two|fold</HI> power, <HI>comfort</HI> and <HI>nouri&s;h</HI> the woman, <HI>bear witne&s;s</HI> unto, and <HI>maintain</HI> his own <HI>truth</HI> and <HI>wor&s;hip</HI> alive in the world. So that in &s;hort, <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> rai&s;eth up his <HI>Two Wit|ne&s;&s;es</HI> in oppo&s;ition to <HI>Antichri&s;ts two Bea&s;ts: Antichri&s;t</HI> for Forty two moneths, or One thou&s;and two hundred and &s;ixty days, <HI>&s;tands up with two Bea&s;ts</HI> to bla&s;pheme God, per&s;ecute the Saints, tread under foot the Holy City; <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> again&s;t him <HI>&s;tands up with Two Witne&s;&s;es</HI> to main|tain his name and honor, cheri&s;h his people, uphold his cau&s;e and wor&s;hip in the world. And as <HI>Antichri&s;ts two Bea&s;ts</HI> are no other but the <HI>fal&s;e Magi&s;tracy,</HI> and <HI>Mini&s;try:</HI> &s;o contrariwi&s;e <HI>Chri&s;ts two Witne&s;&s;es,</HI> are his <HI>true Magi|&s;tracy,</HI> and <HI>Mini&s;try.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="2" TYPE="section">
<PB N="3" REF="178" MS="y">
<HEAD><HI>SECT.</HI> II.</HEAD>
<P>THey are called <HI>Witne&s;&s;es,</HI> their name being given them from <HI>their work,</HI> becau&s;e their <HI>work</HI> is to <HI>bear witne&s;s</HI> for Chri&s;t again&s;t the Bea&s;t; and that each in his place all the Forty two months that the Bea&s;t doth Tyrannize, and the Holy City is trodden underfoot.</P>
<P>The <HI>Magi&s;trate,</HI> as a Magi&s;trate <HI>bearing</HI> publick <HI>witne&s;s</HI> again&s;t the <HI>unju&s;t oppre&s;&s;ions</HI> of the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> and his lawle&s;s Tyranny over the E&s;tates and bodies of men, yea and con&s;ciences too. The <HI>Mini&s;ter,</HI> as a Mini&s;ter again&s;t the <HI>cur&s;ed in&s;titutions</HI> of <HI>Antichri&s;t,</HI> either in Doctrine or Di&s;cipline.</P>
<P>Here its nece&s;&s;ary we <HI>di&s;tingui&s;h</HI> betwixt that <HI>general witne&s;s-bearing</HI> that is <HI>common</HI> to all ages; and that <HI>&s;pe|cial witne&s;s-bearing</HI> which is <HI>peculiar</HI> to the&s;e <HI>Witne&s;&s;es,</HI> and to this time, <HI>viz.</HI> of the one thou&s;and two hundred and &s;ixty days.</P>
<P>There is a general <HI>Te&s;timony</HI> which the people of God <HI>in all ages</HI> give for Chri&s;t again&s;t the World, Sin, Satan, Op|pre&s;&s;ion, Error, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> But that <HI>te&s;timony</HI> barely doth not <HI>bring him</HI> who bears it within the <HI>number</HI> of the&s;e <HI>two Witne&s;&s;es.</HI> A <HI>Magi&s;trate</HI> in his place, may <HI>oppo&s;e</HI> Tyran|ny, Oppre&s;&s;ion, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> a <HI>Mini&s;ter</HI> in his, error, and fal&s;e Doct|rine, and yet <HI>neither</HI> of them <HI>Chri&s;ts two Witne&s;&s;es,</HI> if there be <HI>not</HI> in <HI>both</HI> an <HI>oppo&s;ing them&s;elves</HI> to that <HI>&s;pecial evill,</HI> whether it be in things <HI>Civill</HI> or <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tical</HI> that was at <HI>fir&s;t</HI> brought in, or being brought in is upheld by the <HI>Bea&s;t;</HI> for the <HI>peculiar work</HI> of the&s;e <HI>witne&s;&s;es,</HI> and the thing wherein lies the <HI>&s;pecifical</HI> difference betwixt the&s;e <HI>witne&s;&s;es</HI> and <HI>others,</HI> is, <HI>That the&s;e bear witne&s;s for Christ again&s;t the Beast.</HI> Which is mo&s;t evident,</P>
<P N="1">1 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> Chri&s;t hath paired his Witne&s;&s;es in the &s;ame manner as the Bea&s;t hath his. The <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> (as but now I
<PB N="4" REF="179">ob&s;erved) &s;tands up with <HI>two witne&s;&s;es,</HI> viz, an Antichri|&s;tian Magi&s;tracy and Mini&s;try, to maintain his cau&s;e. On the contrary, <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> &s;tands up with <HI>two witne&s;&s;e,</HI> (or a pair of Witne&s;&s;es) <HI>viz.</HI> a true Magi&s;tracy and Mini&s;try, to oppo&s;e the Bea&s;t, and maintain his cau&s;e.</P>
<P N="2">2 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> Its for this Rea&s;on Chri&s;t entitles them <HI>my</HI> Witne&s;&s;es&mdash;becau&s;e in <HI>Chri&s;ts behalf</HI> they &s;hall <HI>&s;tand up</HI> again&s;t <HI>Antichri&s;t;</HI> as tho&s;e are &s;aid to be &s;uch a mans witne&s;&s;es, that bear witne&s;s for him again&s;t his Adver&s;a|ry. All that time the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> &s;tands up, and would per|&s;wade the world that he is in the truth, and his cau&s;e the right; the&s;e <HI>two Witne&s;&s;es</HI> on the contrary &s;tand up, and profe&s;s before the world, that he is the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> and his cau&s;e the cau&s;e of <HI>Antichri&s;t,</HI> and not of <HI>Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3 Which is the principal Rea&s;on, <HI>becau&s;e</HI> the time that the&s;e Witne&s;&s;es bear their witne&s;s, is the very time of the <HI>Bea&s;ts</HI> reign. The time of the <HI>Bea&s;ts</HI> reign, and treading under foot the Holy City, is Forty two months, <HI>Rev.</HI> 13.5, Chap. 11.2. The time of the&s;e <HI>two Witne&s;&s;es</HI> is One thou|&s;and two hundred and &s;ixty days, <HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 3. <HI>And I will give power to my two Witne&s;&s;es, and they &s;hall Prophecy one thou&s;and two hundred and &s;ixty days</HI>&mdash;</P>
<P>Now that the Forty two <HI>months,</HI> and the One thou&s;and two hundred and &s;ixty <HI>days</HI> are <HI>one</HI> and the <HI>&s;ame,</HI> I <HI>prove,</HI> not onely from the <HI>general con&s;ent of Expo&s;itors,</HI> who ac|knowledge the thing, giving this <HI>rea&s;on</HI> for it, <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> (&s;ay they) <HI>forty two mouths reduced into days, and reck|oning thirty days to each month, which is the Grecian account, which</HI> John <HI>writing to the Church of GOD then re&s;ident among the Greeks did ob&s;erve, make up the full &s;um of One thou&s;and two hundred and &s;ixty days, not a day over or under.</HI> But I prove it hence, that indeed this thing mu&s;t needs be &s;o; for let it be <HI>con&s;idered</HI> what is the <HI>very cau&s;e</HI> that the&s;e <HI>two Witne&s;&s;es</HI> wear <HI>&s;ackcloth</HI> this long term of one thou&s;and two hundred and &s;ixty <HI>years,</HI>
<PB N="5" REF="179">the <HI>cau&s;e</HI> is, not the <HI>&s;ufferings</HI> of the <HI>Saints</HI> thoughout this time, for had that been the <HI>cau&s;e,</HI> then <HI>&s;hould</HI> the&s;e <HI>Wit|ne&s;&s;es</HI> have <HI>put on</HI> their <HI>&s;ackeloth</HI> more <HI>early, viz.</HI> with the time of the ten fir&s;t Per&s;ecutions, which was a day of as &s;ore &s;ufferings as ever any hath been &s;ince, but then the&s;e <HI>two Witne&s;&s;es</HI> here mentioned were <HI>not</HI> in their <HI>&s;ackcloth;</HI> but contrariwi&s;e, the <HI>Woman</HI> all that time was <HI>cloathed with the Sun,</HI> Chap. 12.1. the <HI>two Witne&s;&s;es</HI> in <HI>Sackcloth</HI> therefore were not then up: But the <HI>cau&s;e,</HI> yea, the very cau&s;e <HI>why</HI> the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es</HI> wear <HI>mourning attire,</HI> is, <HI>becau&s;e they hear the continual Bla&s;phemies of the Bea&s;t again&s;t God, his name and Tabernacle, and them that dwel in Heaven:</HI> They &s;ee the <HI>Holy City,</HI> the <HI>Truths</HI> and <HI>Wor|&s;hip of Chri&s;t trodden under foot</HI> by the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> and they not able to <HI>re&s;cue</HI> them out of his hands, <HI>this</HI> makes them <HI>put on &s;ackcloth,</HI> and mourn before the Lord. Now con|&s;ider, the <HI>term of time</HI> that is <HI>given</HI> to the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> to con|tinue to do the&s;e things, is forty two <HI>months;</HI> this being &s;o, it will follow, that in ca&s;e this forty two <HI>months</HI> were a time either longer or &s;horter than the one thou&s;and two hundred and &s;ixty <HI>days;</HI> then mu&s;t al&s;o the <HI>witne&s;&s;es</HI> wear|ing <HI>&s;ackcloth</HI> be by &s;o much <HI>longer</HI> or <HI>&s;horter</HI> then 1260 <HI>days:</HI> for continue the <HI>cau&s;e,</HI> and we continue the <HI>effect</HI> al&s;o; and contrariwi&s;e, take away the cau&s;e, and the effect cea&s;eth.</P>
<P>Upon this <HI>Principle,</HI> it being a thing manife&s;tly clear that the 42 <HI>months,</HI> the 1260 <HI>days,</HI> make up but one and the &s;ame number of years, which al&s;o mu&s;t of nece&s;&s;ity be|gin and end together; Hence it is evident, that <HI>that very act,</HI> which I may call the <HI>con&s;titutive act,</HI> i. e. the act which makes the&s;e Witne&s;&s;es to be &s;uch, is <HI>bearing witne&s;s against the Bea&s;t;</HI> take this away, though they may &s;tand up again&s;t all the evill that is in the world be&s;ides, yet are they not <HI>Chri&s;ts Witne&s;&s;es,</HI> if they do not in <HI>particular</HI> ap|pear again&s;t the <HI>evil</HI> of the <HI>Bea&s;t;</HI> for if this be not the meaning, what rea&s;on is or can be given, why their <HI>witne&s;s-Bearing</HI>
<PB N="6" REF="180">&s;hould be thus re&s;trained onely to the time of the <HI>Bea&s;t;</HI> &s;eeing in the other &s;en&s;e its a duty in all ages to bear witne&s;s, and tho&s;e In&s;truments the Lord hath rai&s;ed up in all ages have done it.</P>
<P N="1">1 Hence a man may be a <HI>godly man,</HI> and in a more <HI>ge|neral way</HI> bear witne&s;s for Chri&s;t, and yet <HI>none</HI> of Chri&s;ts <HI>Two Witne&s;&s;es.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2 Hence its of more <HI>concernment</HI> than many are aware of, to be <HI>inquiring into,</HI> and publickly <HI>appearing again&s;t</HI> what&s;oever is of the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> though the thing be never &s;o &s;mall. A man in publick place may cea&s;e to be a witne&s;s of Chri&s;t, if publickly he do not bear witne&s;s again&s;t the&s;e things.</P>
<P N="3">3 Hence, &s;uch <HI>Laws, Principles,</HI> and <HI>Practices</HI> as tend to <HI>&s;uppre&s;s</HI> this witne&s;s-bearing again&s;t the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> are them&s;elves expre&s;&s;ely <HI>Antichri&s;tian,</HI> and of the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI></P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="3" TYPE="section">
<HEAD><HI>SECT.</HI> III.</HEAD>
<P>THe&s;e <HI>Witne&s;&s;es</HI> are called <HI>two,</HI> becau&s;e of the <HI>few|ne&s;s</HI> of them, &s;ay &s;ome; Becau&s;e <HI>two</HI> is a number <HI>&s;ufficient</HI> to bear a witne&s;s, and without <HI>two</HI> a witne&s;s is invalid, &s;ay others. I no way di&s;approve the&s;e conjectures, but I mu&s;t confe&s;s, I judge it mo&s;t <HI>agreeable</HI> to the Text to &s;ay, they are therefore called <HI>two,</HI> becau&s;e they con&s;i&s;t of <HI>two &s;orts,</HI> or two ranks of <HI>men,</HI> viz. <HI>Chri&s;ts Magi|&s;tates</HI> and <HI>Mini&s;ters</HI> that he hath rai&s;ed up to main|tain his cau&s;e again&s;t <HI>Antichri&s;ts Magi&s;trates</HI> and <HI>Mi|ni&s;ters.</HI></P>
<P>They are &s;aid to be <HI>clothed in &s;ackcloth,</HI> to note thus much, <HI>That all the time of the</HI> 1260 <HI>days their condition &s;hall be outwardly low, they being trampled upon, and tr<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">|den under foot by the Bea&s;t:</HI> But more e&s;pecially to fig|nifie how that <HI>the&s;e Two Witne&s;&s;es &s;hould all this time be inwardly law, wearing &s;ackcloth</HI> (the mourning attite
<PB N="7" REF="180">in times of old) <HI>mourning before God, becau&s;e</HI> (as I have &s;aid) <HI>they hear his glorious Name bla&s;phemed, behold the Holy City trodden under foot, and the whole world deceived by the Bea&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>They are &s;aid <HI>by fire to de&s;troy their Enemies,</HI> ver. 5. <HI>To &s;hut Heaven that it rain not in the days of their Pro|phecy,</HI> ver. 6. both which things are taken out of the Hi&s;to|ry of <HI>Elijah,</HI> 1 King. 1.10. 1 King. 17.1. Farther, they are &s;aid to <HI>have power over waters to turn them into blood, and to &s;mite the earth with plagues as often as they will,</HI> ver. 6. which is taken out of the Story of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and <HI>Aaron</HI> in Aegypt.</P>
<P>The whole (as I conceive) &s;ets forth this, the <HI>great damage</HI> that the <HI>Antichri&s;tian party</HI> &s;hall &s;u&s;tain all the time of the 1260 days, by means of the&s;e <HI>two Witne&s;&s;es:</HI> who &s;hall have &s;uch power with God, as oftentimes to bring down his heavy wrath upon the <HI>per&s;ons</HI> of their per|&s;ecutors, which is the thing noted ver. 5. by their devouring and killing their enemies by fire: and al&s;o upon their prin|cipal <HI>intere&s;ts,</HI> which I take to be the thing &s;pecially <HI>in|tended,</HI> ver. 7. by their &s;hutting Heaven, turning waters into blood, &s;miting the earth with plagues, <HI>i.e.</HI> The Popi&s;h Heaven, waters, earth, &s;hall all &s;uffer by means of the&s;e <HI>two Witne&s;&s;es</HI> in the time of their prophecy.</P>
<P>By the whole <HI>de&s;cription</HI> of the <HI>two Witne&s;&s;es</HI> (as &s;aith our German Author in his <HI>Cl.</HI> p. 66, 67.) God doth declare that what mercies in times of old he hath &s;hewed unto his people, the Children of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> the &s;ame he will al&s;o &s;hew in the New Te&s;tament unto them that beleeve. He will give them <HI>Jo&s;huahs</HI> and <HI>Zerubbabels,</HI> &s;aithful Teachers, and religious Rulers and Governors, who &s;hall fit and edifie them unto the Temple of God, and as Candle&s;ticks give light unto them with their pure doctrine, and as Olive trees a&s;&s;i&s;t them with powerful con&s;olation. He will give them zealous <HI>Elija's,</HI> and <HI>Eli&s;ha's,</HI> who &s;hall fight a|gain&s;t
<PB N="8" REF="181">the whore <HI>Jezabel,</HI> the Prie&s;ts of <HI>Baal</HI> and other per&s;ecutors.</P>
<P>He will al&s;o at length &s;end them his <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s and <HI>Aarons,</HI> who &s;hall deliver them, and bring them forth out of Anti|chri&s;tian bondage.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="4" TYPE="section">
<HEAD><HI>SECT.</HI> IV.</HEAD>
<P>THe <HI>Witne&s;&s;es,</HI> their te&s;timony fini&s;hed, are to be <HI>kil|led,</HI> v. 7. <HI>And when they &s;hall have fini&s;hed their te|&s;timony, the Bea&s;t that a&s;cendeth out of the bottomle&s;s p<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">t &s;hall make war again&s;t them, and &s;hall overcome them and kill them.</HI> In this &s;tate they are to continue <HI>three days and a half,</HI> ver. 9, 11. Though our <HI>di&s;cour&s;e</HI> of the <HI>three days</HI> and a <HI>half</HI> according to the <HI>&s;trictne&s;s of order</HI> &s;hould come in <HI>afterwards,</HI> yet in regard the opening hereof will afford us light into &s;ome things that follow, I have cho&s;en to place it before.</P>
<P>That the&s;e <HI>three days and a half</HI> cannot be (as is the opinion of many worthy men, who look upon the death of the Witne&s;&s;es to be a corporal death) a <HI>time equiva|lent</HI> to the 1260 is evident;</P>
<P N="1">1 <HI>Bec.</HI> then there &s;hould be <HI>no di&s;tinction</HI> at all betwixt the <HI>time</HI> of their <HI>Prophecying</HI> and their <HI>being killed,</HI> if through all the 1 260 <HI>daies,</HI> which is the time of their <HI>Pro|phecy,</HI> we &s;hould &s;uppo&s;e them to be <HI>killed,</HI> Now the <HI>Text</HI> hath made a <HI>manife&s;t di&s;tinction</HI> betwixt the&s;e two times.</P>
<P N="2">2 <HI>Becan&s;e</HI> its improper to &s;ay that <HI>Chri&s;ts witne&s;&s;es</HI> a|gain&s;t Antichri&s;t &s;hould <HI>prophecy all the</HI> 1260 <HI>days</HI> and yet be <HI>killed too;</HI> For put ca&s;e the Bea&s;t all this time did put <HI>&s;ome to death,</HI> yet &s;o long as Chri&s;t at the <HI>&s;ame time,</HI> and in the <HI>&s;ame place</HI> had <HI>always</HI> others in <HI>their room,</HI> his <HI>witne&s;|&s;es</HI> were not <HI>killed.</HI> A <HI>man</HI> is not without <HI>witne&s;s,</HI> though &s;ome <HI>witne&s;&s;es</HI> are <HI>taken away,</HI> in ca&s;e others <HI>&s;tand up</HI> and appear in <HI>their room.</HI> Nay tho&s;e <HI>witne&s;&s;es</HI> which all the 1260 <HI>dayes</HI> were put to <HI>death</HI> by the Bea&s;t, did <HI>mo&s;t o|minently</HI> in dying <HI>bear witne&s;s</HI> for Chri&s;t, for to <HI>dis</HI> for
<PB N="9" REF="181">the <HI>truth,</HI> is a <HI>living</HI> &s;tanding <HI>te&s;timony</HI> to it. That <HI>kil|ling</HI> therefore <HI>could not</HI> be a killing as <HI>witne&s;&s;es,</HI> he who for truths &s;ake <HI>loves not his life</HI> to the <HI>death,</HI> is even in dying <HI>a mo&s;t glorious witne&s;s</HI> of the truth.</P>
<P N="3">3 Its &s;aid ver. 10. that when the <HI>two witne&s;&s;es</HI> lie <HI>dead, the dwellers on the earth rejoyce,</HI> for this rea&s;on, becau&s;e they are dead who <HI>tormented</HI> them. Now did the <HI>dwel|lers on the earth thus rejoyce</HI> all the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">260 <HI>days?</HI> when were they then <HI>tormented?</HI> Will the Text bear it to &s;ay, they were <HI>tormented</HI> all this <HI>time,</HI> and yet <HI>rejoyced</HI> too? This the Authors or upholders of this opinion mu&s;t nece&s;|&s;arily a&s;&s;ert. Nay why do they <HI>rejoyce</HI> at their <HI>death?</HI> why, becau&s;e being <HI>dead</HI> they fear no <HI>hurt</HI> from them, which whil&s;t they <HI>prophecyed</HI> they did, for they felt of them, as ver. 5 6. therefore their prophecying and killing mu&s;t be as two <HI>di&s;tinct</HI> things, and &s;o at two <HI>di&s;tinct</HI> times.</P>
<P N="4">4 <HI>Becau&s;e,</HI> How could they be <HI>witne&s;&s;es</HI> all this time if <HI>dead?</HI> Doth a man when he hath a cau&s;e to be tried go to <HI>dead</HI> men that they would &s;tand <HI>witne&s;&s;es</HI> for him, or to <HI>living?</HI> Or how did they <HI>Prophecy</HI> if <HI>dead?</HI> Can <HI>dead</HI> men <HI>prophecy,</HI> or are <HI>prophecying</HI> men <HI>dead?</HI></P>
<P N="5">5 <HI>Why</HI> are they &s;aid to be <HI>killed</HI> onely in the <HI>&s;treet</HI> (or one &s;treet) <HI>of the great City,</HI> ver. 8. and not in the <HI>whole City?</HI> &s;eeing in this <HI>&s;en&s;e</HI> they have been within the 1260 <HI>days</HI> more or le&s;s <HI>killed</HI> all over the <HI>great City,</HI> i.e. through|out the whole Papal Juri&s;diction?</P>
<P N="6">6 <HI>What difference</HI> will there be (according to this opi|nion) <HI>betwixt</HI> their being <HI>killed</HI> and put into <HI>graves,</HI> if we take both for a <HI>bodily death,</HI> which this opinion doth?</P>
<P N="7">7 And la&s;tly, <HI>How</HI> (according to this opinion) are they all the <HI>three days and a half</HI> kept <HI>unbu|ried?</HI> or <HI>how</HI> at the end of the&s;e <HI>three days and a half</HI> &s;hall tho&s;e <HI>Witne&s;&s;es</HI> which were killed <HI>ri&s;e again?</HI> for &s;hall we think thus, that the bodies of Saints martyred by divers means, and in &s;undry places, for the &s;pace of 1260
<PB N="10" REF="182"><HI>years</HI> together, &s;hall all that time lie <HI>unburied,</HI> be <HI>kept</HI> out of <HI>graves?</HI> And then 2. This time expired, <HI>life</HI> enters into the&s;e <HI>bodies,</HI> and they <HI>ri&s;e</HI> again. The Text according to this interpretation doth &s;trongly inforce both, for if we conceive their <HI>killing</HI> to be <HI>corporal,</HI> by the &s;ame rea&s;on mu&s;t their <HI>burial</HI> and their <HI>re&s;urrection</HI> al&s;o.</P>
<P>We are nece&s;&s;itated therefore from the clear Text, and rea&s;on it &s;elf, to reject this opinion, and &s;eek another. <HI>That</HI> therefore which is more <HI>con&s;onant</HI> to the words, and doth not wrap us up in &s;uch a labyrinth of Intricacies, is to in|terpret the <HI>three dayes and a half</HI> (which is the time of their being killed) of ordinary <HI>Prophetical</HI> days, noting <HI>three years and a half,</HI> which <HI>three years and a half</HI> are not to be added to the 1260. as a le&s;&s;er period, which takes beginning where the greater ends, becau&s;e then (as one &s;aith well) the Bea&s;t &s;hould Tyrannize above 42. <HI>months,</HI> the woman be in the Wilderne&s;s above 1260 <HI>days,</HI> namely 1263 and a half, whereas the utmo&s;t tyranny of the Bea&s;t is but 42 <HI>months,</HI> the utmo&s;t period of the womans being in the wilderne&s;s but 1260 <HI>days;</HI> but we are to look upon them as a &s;maller period comprehended within the greater; or to &s;peak plainly, we are to under&s;tand them of the very <HI>la&s;t three days and a half</HI> of the 1260. and therefore M. <HI>Mede</HI> in his <HI>Cl</HI> and our German Author in his, both tran&s;|late tho&s;e words, <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>when they &s;hall have fini&s;hed their testimony,</HI> Chap. 11. thus, <HI>Cum finituri &s;int te&s;timonium &s;uum, When they are about to fini&s;h their te&s;timony, the</HI> 1260 <HI>days</HI> now drawing to an end, then &s;hall the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> make war again&s;t them, overcome them, and kill them.</P>
<P>As for that urged by a late Author, who calls in <HI>rea&s;on</HI> to be Umpire or Judge in this bu&s;ine&s;s, how the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> now ready to <HI>die</HI> (as our Author &s;uppo&s;eth he will at the end of the 1260 days) &s;hould be &s;o magnanimous and warlike as to kill the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es?</HI> how (the <HI>Sea</HI> being at this time
<PB N="11" REF="182"><HI>tempe&s;tnous,</HI> the <HI>earth</HI> terribly <HI>&s;haken</HI>) can it be imagined that the <HI>Sont</HI> of the <HI>Sea</HI> and <HI>Earth,</HI> i. e. <HI>wordly men,</HI> &s;hould be &s;o <HI>jocund,</HI> and to <HI>banquet</HI> it, <HI>&s;port</HI> it, make <HI>mer|ry,</HI> &s;end <HI>gifts</HI> one to another, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> as they &s;hall do in the day the <HI>witne&s;&s;es</HI> lye dead. I &s;ay no more but this, that all time upon a mi&s;take, <HI>viz. That the ri&s;e of the Witne&s;&s;es &s;hall not be till the Empire of the ten-horned Bea&s;t</HI> (<HI>i.e.</HI> Civil power of Antichri&s;t) <HI>is in a manner de&s;troyed:</HI> and this upon another, <HI>that the &s;ubject of the fifth Vial is the poli|tical &s;tate</HI> of the <HI>pre&s;ent Roman Empire</HI> (or Antichri&s;ts Civil State.) But as I have in my di&s;cour&s;e upon the Vials proved the Subject of that Vial to be another thing: &s;o let me &s;ay here to the fir&s;t, it cannot be, becau&s;e the <HI>Whore</HI> but a little before <HI>Romes fall</HI> is &s;o <HI>high</HI> and <HI>proud,</HI> as that &s;he fears no <HI>danger,</HI> but &s;aith, <HI>I &s;it as a Queen, and am no widow, and &s;hall &s;ee no &s;orrow,</HI> which were her <HI>political State</HI> (where lyes her outward &s;trength, and as for inward &s;he hath none) <HI>de&s;troyed,</HI> &s;he &s;hould have little <HI>cau&s;e</HI> thus to brag and <HI>brave.</HI> Nay what do the <HI>wit|ne&s;&s;es</HI> after their <HI>ri&s;e,</HI> if the Bea&s;ts power were <HI>de&s;troyed</HI> before? onely <HI>kill</HI> him, who&s;e &s;word was taken <HI>away</HI> be|fore they came at him? Or how falls the <HI>tenth part of the City,</HI> upon their <HI>ri&s;e,</HI> if it were <HI>fallen before?</HI></P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="5" TYPE="section">
<HEAD><HI>SECT.</HI> V.</HEAD>
<P>AS for the <HI>particular time</HI> of the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es</HI> &s;laughter, the mo&s;t certain and convincing <HI>demon&s;tration</HI> that can be given thereof, is, <HI>that</HI> which mu&s;t be <HI>fetched</HI> from a right &s;upputation of the 1260 <HI>days,</HI> which is the <HI>term</HI> of their <HI>Prophecy,</HI> their <HI>killing time</HI> being (as hath been faid) the very la&s;t <HI>three days and a half</HI> of the 1260. But be|cau&s;e the <HI>doing</HI> hereof, to <HI>free</HI> the truth from the <HI>mi&s;ts</HI> men have <HI>rai&s;ed</HI> about it, will <HI>require</HI> in a manner a <HI>Treati&s;e</HI> of it &s;elf; and al&s;o becau&s;e <HI>no My&s;tical number,</HI> by rea|&s;on
<PB N="12" REF="183">of that <HI>glorious harmony</HI> that is in all, can <HI>carry</HI> with it that forcible <HI>demon&s;tration</HI> going <HI>alone,</HI> as will <HI>appear</HI> to be in it, when accompanied with <HI>others;</HI> I &s;hall there|fore (that I may not make this &s;ingle Section to become a Book) <HI>wave this enquiry</HI> in this place, contenting my &s;elf to lay down <HI>two</HI> or <HI>three</HI> more general <HI>Conclu&s;ions,</HI> con|cerning this Grand Que&s;tion, <HI>What time we are to pitch upon as the killing time of the Witne&s;&s;es?</HI></P>
<P>The <HI>Conclu&s;ions</HI> them&s;elves are the&s;e:</P>
<P N="1">1 <HI>CONCLUSION, That the killing of the Witne&s;&s;es &s;hall be in that very three years and a half, which &s;hall immediately precede the Jews fir&s;t &s;tirring,</HI> which is manife&s;tly clear hence, becau&s;e <HI>Daniels</HI> 1290 <HI>dayes</HI> which point us to the time of the <HI>Jews fir&s;t &s;tirring,</HI> are con|current in their <HI>end,</HI> with the <HI>end</HI> of he <HI>time, times,</HI> and a <HI>half,</HI> which is the <HI>time</HI> of the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es ri&s;ing,</HI> as &s;hall be made appear in our following Di&s;cour&s;e.</P>
<P N="2">2 To this agrees what I have formerly written upon the Vials. The <HI>ri&s;e</HI> of the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es</HI> I have there &s;tated under the <HI>fourth Vial.</HI> The <HI>drying</HI> up of the Turki&s;h <HI>Powers,</HI> thereby to <HI>in&s;tate</HI> the Jews in their <HI>own Land</HI> under the <HI>Sixth.</HI> Now as the <HI>first &s;tirring</HI> of the Jews mu&s;t needs be &s;ome <HI>little time</HI> before the <HI>&s;ixth Vial</HI> is poured out, becau&s;e their <HI>&s;tirring</HI> is (as I have &s;hewed) the <HI>chief moving cau&s;e</HI> to the <HI>Gentile Saints</HI> to <HI>engage</HI> in this <HI>War</HI> again&s;t the Turk: So al&s;o it is ob&s;ervable, that the <HI>time</HI> from the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es ri&s;e</HI> until the <HI>pouring out</HI> of the <HI>&s;ixth Vial,</HI> &s;hall be but a very <HI>little time,</HI> the <HI>fourth</HI> and <HI>fifth Vials</HI> being both to be poured out in an <HI>in&s;tant</HI> upon the <HI>re&s;urrection</HI> of the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es,</HI> as may be &s;een with the rea&s;ons thereof in our Di&s;cour&s;e upon the <HI>fifth Vial.</HI> Hence, in regard the <HI>fir&s;t &s;tirring</HI> of the <HI>Jews</HI> mu&s;t of nece&s;&s;ity be <HI>before</HI> the <HI>pouring</HI> out of the <HI>&s;ixth Vial,</HI> as the <HI>cau&s;e</HI> is before the <HI>effect,</HI> and the <HI>time</HI> betwixt the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es ri&s;e,</HI> and the <HI>&s;ixth Vial</HI> is &s;o <HI>&s;hort,</HI> we may very
<PB N="13" REF="183">well conclude, that the <HI>fir&s;t</HI> workings among the <HI>Jews them&s;elves</HI> in a way of <HI>&s;tirring,</HI> will be <HI>upwards,</HI> even as <HI>high</HI> as the time of the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es re&s;urrection.</HI></P>
<P>And for this rea&s;on, becau&s;e the <HI>Jews</HI> &s;hall about the <HI>time</HI> of <HI>Romes ruine</HI> (which falls in the middle time be|twixt the fourth and &s;ixth Vials) be <HI>&s;tirring,</HI> are the <HI>prai&s;es</HI> rendred for <HI>Romes fall</HI> (as is Mr. <HI>Cottons</HI> conjecture) expre&s;&s;ed by an Hebrew word, <HI>Hallelujah,</HI> Revel. 19.1, 2, 3, 4.</P>
<P N="2">2 <HI>CONCL&V;SION, That the killing of the Wit|ne&s;&s;es &s;hall be but a little before the downfal of</HI> Rome, which therefore pre&s;ently <HI>falls</HI> upon their <HI>ri&s;e.</HI></P>
<P>Fir&s;t, The <HI>Order of the Vials</HI> proves this, for under the <HI>fourth Vial</HI> the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es ri&s;e,</HI> as upon the Vials I have &s;hewed. This <HI>Vial</HI> is poured out in an <HI>in&s;tant,</HI> and therefore &s;aid to be <HI>in an hour; In the &s;ame hour the tenth part of the City fell,</HI> Rev. 11.13. that is, <HI>Germany,</HI> one of the <HI>ten Horns,</HI> and the <HI>very place</HI> (as &s;hall appear by and by) where the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es lye dead,</HI> is upon their <HI>re|&s;urrection,</HI> in an <HI>in&s;tant broken off,</HI> from being any longer a <HI>Horn</HI> in Antichri&s;ts Kingdome; and then as the <HI>next</HI> thing, and that in an <HI>in&s;tant</HI> too, is <HI>Rome ruined,</HI> by the pouring out of the <HI>fifth Vial.</HI> So that <HI>Romes ruine</HI> &s;uc|ceeding <HI>pre&s;ently</HI> upon the <HI>ri&s;e</HI> of the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es,</HI> their <HI>killing</HI> mu&s;t be but a <HI>little</HI> before it.</P>
<P>Secondly, This is further clear, <HI>Rev.</HI> 18.7. where wee have the <HI>proud Whore</HI> in&s;tantly before her downfal glory|ing, <HI>I &s;it as a Queen, and am no widow, and &s;hall &s;ee no &s;orrow.</HI> What is the <HI>cau&s;e</HI> hereof? <HI>An&s;.</HI> Undoubtedly the very <HI>&s;ame</HI> with the <HI>cau&s;e</HI> of that <HI>joy</HI> and triumph of the <HI>Papals,</HI> which is expre&s;&s;ed by making <HI>merry,</HI> &s;ending <HI>gifts</HI> one to another, <HI>Rev.</HI> 11.10. And what was that, but the <HI>death of the Witne&s;&s;es?</HI> as the Text tells us. Upon this <HI>Victory</HI> over the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es,</HI> that had been but a <HI>little</HI> be|fore &s;truggling with her, and like to have ruined her, the
<PB N="14" REF="184"><HI>Whore</HI> is now &s;o <HI>imperiou&s;ly proud,</HI> that as <HI>Nebuchad|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ezzar</HI> of old, a <HI>little</HI> before his <HI>fall</HI> &s;peaks out, <HI>Is not this great</HI> Babel <HI>that I have built;</HI> &s;o &s;he al&s;o in her pride cries out, <HI>I &s;it as a Queen, am no widow, and &s;hall &s;ee no &s;orrow;</HI> as to &s;ay, I was lately afraid I &s;hould have been &s;poyled of my glory, been made a widow, and &s;een for|row, but now it is otherwi&s;e, my enemies are under my feet, I am Mi&s;tre&s;s and Ruler, therefore <HI>I &s;it as a Queen, &amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>And that the <HI>killing</HI> of the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es</HI> &s;hould be here <HI>noted,</HI> is yet more clear, if we con&s;ider, how that as tho&s;e <HI>words</HI> are &s;poken in the <HI>pre&s;ent ten&s;e,</HI> and therefore <HI>cannot</HI> relate to former <HI>pa&s;t boa&s;tings,</HI> &s;o do they admirably <HI>agree</HI> in point of <HI>time</HI> to the <HI>killing</HI> of the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es;</HI> for that (as I have &s;aid) is to be in the very la&s;t <HI>three days and a half</HI> of the <HI>Bea&s;ts</HI> Tyranny, and the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es</HI> wearing Sackcloth, which <HI>time</HI> is no &s;ooner <HI>expired,</HI> but, as one of the fir&s;t things, <HI>Rome</HI> is <HI>ruined;</HI> accordingly this boa&s;t is <HI>immediately</HI> before <HI>Romes ruine.</HI> And therefore ob&s;erve the <HI>words</HI> them&s;elves, and you &s;hall find, that even whil&s;t the Whore is in this jolly fit, in&s;tantly and unex|pectedly comes her ruine upon her, and the downfal of <HI>Rome</HI> her chief City, Rev. 18.8. <HI>Therefore &s;hal her plagues come upon her in one day, death, and mourning, and fa|mine, and &s;he &s;hall be utterly burnt with fire, for &s;trong is the Lord God who judgeth her;</HI> Ver&s;. 10. <HI>For in one hour is thy judgement come.</HI> So Ver&s;. 17.19. <HI>One day, one hour,</HI> that is from the <HI>time</HI> of her <HI>glorying,</HI> whil&s;t &s;he is thus <HI>glorying</HI> over the <HI>dead Wine&s;&s;es,</HI> up &s;tart the <HI>Wit|ne&s;&s;es,</HI> down <HI>falls Rome.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3 <HI>CONCL&V;SION, That the killing of the Witne&s;&s;es &s;hall be in the latter end of the third Vial.</HI></P>
<P>Two things proved make this Conclu&s;ion firm.</P>
<P N="1">1 That &s;ome Vials &s;hall be poured out before the &s;laughter of the Witne&s;&s;es.</P>
<P N="2">2 That the Vials poured out, &s;hall be only the three fir&s;t.</P>
<PB N="15" REF="184">
<P>The fir&s;t of the&s;e is <HI>&s;ufficiently proved</HI> by Mr. <HI>Woodcock</HI> in his <HI>Treati&s;e of the two Witne&s;&s;es,</HI> p. 20 21, 22, 23. I &s;hal not here repeat his Arguments, but refer the Roader to the Author him&s;elf, with adding this farther word, that <HI>John</HI> being, by <HI>one</HI> of the <HI>&s;even Angels</HI> which had the 7 <HI>Vials,</HI> carried away into the <HI>Wilderne&s;s,</HI> there to have the <HI>inter|pretation</HI> of the <HI>Vials,</HI> is to me a manife&s;t <HI>Argument,</HI> that <HI>&s;ome</HI> of the <HI>Vials</HI> are <HI>poured out</HI> whil&s;t yet the <HI>Woman</HI> remains in the <HI>wilderne&s;s;</HI> why el&s;e &s;hould the <HI>Angel</HI> of one of the <HI>Vials</HI> carry <HI>John</HI> into the <HI>wilderne&s;s,</HI> there to <HI>learn</HI> the <HI>meaning</HI> of this <HI>my&s;tery,</HI> if the true <HI>Spou&s;e</HI> of Chri&s;t, to whom he <HI>reveals</HI> the&s;e <HI>&s;ecrets,</HI> were not, and that even in the <HI>time</HI> of &s;ome of the <HI>Vials,</HI> abiding there? Yea let me adde (which will &s;omething more help us) that I conceive this <HI>Angel</HI> to be <HI>no other</HI> but the <HI>Angel</HI> of the <HI>third Vial;</HI> my rea&s;on is, becau&s;e the <HI>interpretation</HI> of the <HI>Vials,</HI> which is the thing <HI>revealed</HI> to <HI>John,</HI> Chap. 17. Chap. 18. <HI>&amp;c.</HI> begins with the <HI>third Vial,</HI> for the <HI>fir&s;t</HI> thing after the <HI>de&s;cription</HI> of the <HI>Whore</HI> her &s;elf, which is to be judged, that relates to her judgement, is the <HI>Lambs overcoming</HI> &s;ome of the <HI>Horns,</HI> ver&s;. 14. which act is to be referred to the <HI>third Vial,</HI> as I &s;hall &s;hew pre&s;ently. And indeed the rea&s;on why in the <HI>explication</HI> of the Vials, the <HI>two fir&s;t</HI> are left out, and the <HI>Angel</HI> begins with the <HI>third,</HI> is, becau&s;e (as I have ob&s;erved upon the <HI>Viols,</HI> p. 260, 261, 262.) Chri&s;t in the <HI>two fir&s;t Vials</HI> is but <HI>re|gaining</HI> his own, not yet <HI>invading</HI> his Enemies Domi|nions, till the <HI>third:</HI> Now becau&s;e all that <HI>John</HI> in the <HI>ex|plication</HI> hath &s;hewed him, is <HI>only</HI> the <HI>judgement</HI> of the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> and <HI>Whore,</HI> which (as I have &s;aid) are fir&s;t de&s;cribed, then their judgement peece by peece declared; therefore the <HI>two fir&s;t Vials</HI> are omitted, as being another thing, ra|ther (I &s;ay) Chri&s;ts getting his own, then as yet judging his Enemy, and he <HI>begins</HI> with the third, where the <HI>judge|mens</HI> of the <HI>Where,</HI> the work of breaking the <HI>Great
<PB N="16" REF="185">Image,</HI> ca&s;ting down the <HI>Thrones</HI> of the <HI>Fourth Bea&s;t</HI> begins.</P>
<P>This being &s;o, as it teacheth us that the di&s;covering-time of the <HI>Great Whore</HI> in her true Colours, and the judgements o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> God to be executed on her, and the glori|ous Kingdom of Chri&s;t to follow thereupon, is to be looked for under the <HI>third Vial,</HI> the <HI>Angel</HI> of that <HI>Vial</HI> &s;hewing <HI>John</HI> the&s;e things; So al&s;o it teacheth us, that under the <HI>third Vial,</HI> the Church is to be in the <HI>wilder|ne&s;s,</HI> therefore <HI>John</HI> is carried <HI>thither</HI> to learn the&s;e things: But beyond this <HI>Vial</HI> &s;he is <HI>not</HI> to be <HI>there,</HI> as al&s;o I &s;hall &s;hew by and by: The <HI>term</HI> therefore of the <HI>Womans</HI> being in the <HI>wilderne&s;s</HI> expiring under the <HI>third Vial,</HI> it hence follows, That the death of the <HI>witne&s;&s;es,</HI> which is the <HI>concluding time</HI> of that long <HI>term,</HI> &s;hould likewi&s;e <HI>fall</HI> under the <HI>third Vial.</HI></P>
<P>And indeed, becau&s;e the <HI>blacke&s;t day,</HI> one of them that ever the Church of Chri&s;t met with, is to <HI>befal</HI> her under the <HI>third Vial,</HI> in the <HI>latter part</HI> of it, therefore (as I conceive) are the <HI>glorious di&s;coveries</HI> of the <HI>judgement</HI> of the <HI>Great Whore,</HI> and the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> her Enemy, and of the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t,</HI> following thereupon, made <HI>known</HI> to the <HI>Saints</HI> under the <HI>third Vial,</HI> to <HI>bear</HI> up their <HI>&s;pirits</HI> in this <HI>day;</HI> it being the way of God with his people, wh<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">n he brings any fore &s;ufferings on them to forelay them with &s;omewhat which may make them able to bear it. This I adde in the general only.</P>
<P>I come now more particularly to prove the thing, viz. <HI>That the killing of the Witne&s;&s;es is to be under the</HI> third Vial, <HI>at the latter end thereof.</HI></P>
<P>My Rea&s;ons are the&s;e;</P>
<P N="1">1 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> the <HI>Angel</HI> of the <HI>fourth Vial</HI> hath this <HI>work</HI> committed to him by <HI>&s;pecial di&s;pen&s;ation,</HI> over and be&s;ides the pouring forth of his <HI>Vial</HI> (though he performs it together with that) viz. <HI>To give call to, and a&s;&s;i&s;t
<PB N="17" REF="185">the Witne&s;&s;es ri&s;ing.</HI> (See my Di&s;cour&s;e upon the fourth <HI>Vial.</HI>) By <HI>con&s;equence</HI> therefore, the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es</HI> mu&s;t <HI>lye dead</HI> in the <HI>latter end</HI> of the <HI>third,</HI> becau&s;e the <HI>Angel</HI> of the <HI>fourth Vial,</HI> no &s;ooner <HI>begins</HI> to pour out his <HI>Vial,</HI> but <HI>immediatel,</HI> they are <HI>ri&s;ing.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> the <HI>particular acts</HI> of the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es</HI> imme|diately <HI>preceding</HI> their <HI>killing</HI> (which killing therefore is recorded in the next ver&s;e after the&s;e acts, <HI>Rev.</HI> 11.6, 7.) &s;eem to me to have a <HI>peculiar look</HI> unto the <HI>three fir&s;t Vials,</HI> agreeing with them mo&s;t exactly (according to that interpretation I gave of them, whil&s;t yet I had no &s;uch thing in mine eye) both in their &s;ubjects and effects al&s;o. As let us compare each with other.</P>
<P N="1">1 The <HI>&s;ubject</HI> of the <HI>fir&s;t Vial</HI> is the <HI>Popi&s;h Earth;</HI> the <HI>effect,</HI> an <HI>infectious &s;ore;</HI> accordingly the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es</HI> are &s;aid to <HI>&s;mite the Earth,</HI> and that with <HI>plagues,</HI> or <HI>infecti|ous &s;ores,</HI> as often as they will.</P>
<P N="2">2 The <HI>&s;ubject</HI> of the <HI>&s;econd Vial</HI> is the <HI>Popi&s;h Sea, i.e.</HI> the Romi&s;h Eccle&s;ia&s;tical, or Church-State: The <HI>effect</HI> of it, a <HI>di&s;covery</HI> of the <HI>&s;ame</HI> to be <HI>corrupt and mortal;</HI> accordingly the <HI>witne&s;&s;es have a power to &s;hut Heaven that it rain not,</HI> that is, they &s;hall make it appear, that the Antichri&s;tian Heaven, or Church-State (&s;o much boa&s;ted of as being the only Church) is a dry barren Hea|ven, affording no rain, to give life or nouri&s;hment to tho&s;e that live under it.</P>
<P N="3">3 The <HI>&s;ubject</HI> of the <HI>third Vial</HI> is the <HI>Rivers and fountains of waters;</HI> the <HI>effect,</HI> they become <HI>blood;</HI> ac|cordingly, the <HI>witne&s;&s;es have a power to turn waters into blood.</HI> Now the&s;e <HI>acts</HI> performed by the <HI>witne&s;&s;es</HI> im|mediately before their <HI>killing,</HI> agreeing &s;o <HI>fully</HI> to the <HI>three fir&s;t Vials</HI> in their <HI>&s;ubjects</HI> and <HI>effects</HI> both; undoubtedly we are not to look upon this admirable <HI>Harmony,</HI> to be a thing falling by <HI>accident</HI> (e&s;pecially con&s;idering too, that by the&s;e acts the <HI>witne&s;&s;es</HI> are &s;aid to torment the Papals,
<PB N="18" REF="186"><HI>ver.</HI> 10. which to do by Saints and Witne&s;&s;es, is the pro|per work of the Vials,) but rather to have its ri&s;e in the <HI>all|wi&s;e Coun&s;el</HI> of God, who hereby would give his to under|&s;tand, that the <HI>three fir&s;t Vials</HI> are to be poured out before the <HI>fourth,</HI> then the <HI>death</HI> of the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es</HI> to be expected.</P>
<P>This Ob&s;ervation confirms me in two things.</P>
<P N="1">1 That in <HI>&s;tating our &s;elves</HI> (in my di&s;cour&s;e on the Vials) <HI>to be at this per&s;ent time under the third Vial, I was led to &s;tate the thing aright.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2 That <HI>the judgement there made of the &s;ubjects and effects of the three fir&s;t Vials is truth,</HI> by rea&s;on of the an|&s;werablene&s;s of the <HI>Vials,</HI> according to that interpretation, to the <HI>acts</HI> of the witne&s;&s;es immediately preceding the time of their &s;laughter.</P>
<P N="3">3 <HI>Rea&s;on,</HI> Becau&s;e the <HI>&s;laughter</HI> of the <HI>witne&s;&s;es</HI> is to <HI>fall</HI> in the <HI>interval</HI> betwixt the <HI>War of the Lamb with the Kings of the Earth,</HI> Rev. 17.14. and the <HI>ruin of Rome.</HI> This <HI>war</HI> of the <HI>Lamb</HI> is a <HI>Civil war,</HI> a <HI>war</HI> made by a <HI>Civil &s;word,</HI> becau&s;e it is a <HI>war</HI> made with the <HI>Bea&s;ts ci|vil Power,</HI> namely, <HI>his horns;</HI> And &s;econdly, It is a <HI>Civil Power,</HI> namely, &s;ome of the <HI>ten Kings,</HI> that are <HI>vanqui&s;hed</HI> by this war, <HI>He &s;hall overcome them</HI>&mdash; that is, <HI>&s;uch</HI> of the <HI>ten horns,</HI> or Kings, as &s;hall <HI>war</HI> again&s;t him, (the whole, or all the ten horns being here put for a part) and for this rea&s;on. I conceive, doth the <HI>Lamb</HI> at this day go under that Title, <HI>King of Kings,</HI> and <HI>Lord of Lords,</HI> becau&s;e in this <HI>war</HI> he &s;hall <HI>vanqui&s;h</HI> and tread under foot <HI>Kings, Lords,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>Now this <HI>war</HI> mu&s;t by all circum&s;tances be a war <HI>with|in the Vials.</HI></P>
<P N="1">1 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> Its the <HI>Angel</HI> of one of the <HI>Vials</HI> that <HI>&s;hews</HI> it unto <HI>John,</HI> ver. 1.</P>
<P N="2">2 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> Chri&s;t hath &s;o many <HI>cho&s;en ones</HI> accompany|ing him in this <HI>war,</HI> which is an <HI>Argument</HI> that Chri&s;t had <HI>many</HI> in the world at this day who had got the <HI>victory</HI>
<PB N="19" REF="186">over the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> and could &s;tand and face him in a war|like way, which was not till the <HI>work</HI> of the <HI>Vials</HI> was <HI>begun.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> Its the <HI>immediate forerunner of</HI> Romes <HI>ruin,</HI> the &s;tory of which therefore comes in, in the next Chapter.</P>
<P>It being &s;o, this <HI>war</HI> can belong to no other but the <HI>Third Vial,</HI> the <HI>&s;ubject</HI> of which, I have &s;hewed upon the <HI>Vials</HI> is &s;ome <HI>particular States and Kingdoms &s;ubject|ed to the Bea&s;t,</HI> i.e. &s;ome of the <HI>ten horns,</HI> who&s;e <HI>Heads, Rulers, &amp;c,</HI> fall by the pouring forth of that <HI>Vial.</HI> Nay it mu&s;t be &s;o, becau&s;e (as I have &s;aid before) this is the <HI>fir&s;t thing</HI> revealed to <HI>John</HI> as touching the <HI>judgement</HI> of the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> who&s;e <HI>judgement</HI> (in the <HI>explication</HI> of the <HI>Vials</HI>) begins with the <HI>Third Vial.</HI></P>
<P>Now ob&s;erve in the <HI>interval</HI> betwixt this <HI>war</HI> and <HI>Romes de&s;truction,</HI> we have the <HI>proud Whore</HI> brought in glorying Chap. 18.7. <HI>I &s;it as a Queen,</HI> &amp;c. and what's the <HI>cau&s;e</HI> hereof, but onely the <HI>Victory</HI> obtained now, in the <HI>concluding time</HI> of her Kingdom, over the <HI>witne&s;&s;es,</HI> as we have already noted. I therefore conclude, <HI>the &s;laughter of the witne&s;&s;es mu&s;t fall in this interval.</HI> If in this <HI>in|terval,</HI> then mu&s;t it be in the latter end of the <HI>Third Vial;</HI> for upon the pouring out of the <HI>Fourth</HI> they <HI>ri&s;e;</HI> yea, the <HI>Fourth Vial</HI> being to fall upon <HI>Germany</HI> (as in open|ing the Vials I have &s;hewed) and <HI>Germany</HI> being (as &s;hall appear) the <HI>place</HI> in which the <HI>witne&s;&s;es lie dead,</HI> it cannot be thought that the <HI>death</HI> of the <HI>witne&s;&s;es</HI> &s;hould or can come under the <HI>fourth Vial;</HI> for how improper, yea ab&s;urd would it be to &s;ay, Chri&s;ts <HI>witne&s;&s;es</HI> by the power of the <HI>Bea&s;t lye dead in Germany,</HI> even whil&s;t Chri&s;t by his people is pouring out a <HI>Vial</HI> of wrath upon it? It mu&s;t therefore of nece&s;&s;ity be, &s;eeing we are to place their <HI>killing</HI> betwivt the <HI>war</HI> of the Lamb with the Kings of the Earth, and <HI>Romes ruin,</HI> that we &s;hould place it
<PB N="20" REF="187">towards the end of the <HI>third Vial.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Obj.</HI> But it may be &s;aid, That the Vials are all to come under the &s;eventh Trumpet; for upon the &s;ounding of the &s;eventh Trumpet, it is &s;aid, <HI>Thy wrath is come,</HI> Rev. 11.18. and what wrath &s;hould this be, but the <HI>Vials of wrath?</HI> if &s;o, then mu&s;t the killing of the Witne&s;&s;es, which ap|pertains to the woe of the &s;ixth Trumpet, be pa&s;t and over, and that before any one of the Vials are poured forth.</P>
<P>An&s;. 1. For the <HI>matter</HI> of the Objection, it cannot be, <HI>that all the V<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">als &s;hould come under the &s;eventh Trumpet,</HI></P>
<P N="1">1 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> Its expe&s;ly &s;aid of the <HI>&s;eventh Trumpet,</HI> that <HI>in the days when the &s;eventh Angel &s;hould begin to &s;ound, time &s;hould be no longer,</HI> Chap. 10.7. But if af|ter his &s;ounding <HI>all the Vials</HI> were to be poured forth, which already in pouring forth have taken up above 100 <HI>years, time</HI> (even after his &s;ounding) &s;hould be a great <HI>while.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> Its al&s;o &s;aid in the &s;ame ver&s;e, That <HI>when the &s;eventh Angel &s;hould begin to &s;ound, the my&s;tery of God &s;hould be fini&s;hed:</HI> but if all <HI>the Vialls,</HI> which compre|hend within them the whole <HI>my&s;tery</HI> of judging the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> conver&s;ion of the <HI>Jews,</HI> &amp;c. were to be poured out after|wards, then could not the time of the &s;eventh Angels &s;ounding be the <HI>fini&s;hing time</HI> of <HI>my&s;teries,</HI> but rather the <HI>beginning time.</HI> It cannot therefore be that the <HI>&s;eventh Trumpet</HI> &s;hould comprehend within it all <HI>the Vials;</HI> it is therefore better to &s;ay that the <HI>&s;eventh Trumpet</HI> is contem|porary with the <HI>&s;eventh</HI> and <HI>la&s;t Vial</HI> only; and indeed they very patly an&s;wer the one to the other, for</P>
<P N="1">1 Upon the <HI>&s;eventh Trumpets</HI> &s;ounding, its &s;aid, <HI>The my&s;tery of God is fini&s;hed.</HI> So upon the <HI>&s;eventh Angels</HI> pouring out his Vial, <HI>It is done,</HI> What is that? but the <HI>&s;ame</HI> with the <HI>other,</HI> it is <HI>fini&s;hed.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2 Upon the <HI>&s;eventh Angels</HI> &s;ounding, <HI>the Kingdome of this world are all &s;ubject to Chri&s;t,</HI> Rev. 11.15. now the
<PB N="21" REF="187">doing of this is the <HI>proper and peculiar work</HI> of the <HI>&s;eventh Vial,</HI> as our di&s;cour&s;e on that Vial proveth.</P>
<P N="3">3 The <HI>&s;eventh Angels</HI> &s;ounding, is the <HI>time of reward|ing Saints,</HI> not <HI>&s;ome</HI> onely, but <HI>all</HI> of them, &s;mall and great, <HI>ver:</HI> 18. this comes under none of the Vials but the <HI>&s;eventh onely,</HI> which comprehends within it the <HI>time</HI> of the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem,</HI> the <HI>time</HI> of rewarding the <HI>dead</HI> and <HI>li|ving</HI> Saints.</P>
<P N="4">4 Upon the <HI>&s;eventh Angels</HI> &s;ounding there <HI>are light|nings, and voyces, and thundrings, and an earthquake, and great hail,</HI> ver. 19. This is <HI>peculiar</HI> to the <HI>&s;eventh and la&s;t Vial,</HI> and an&s;wers to the <HI>plague</HI> of it almo&s;t ver|batim, <HI>Revel.</HI> 16.18, 21. Therefore I &s;ay the <HI>&s;eventh Trumpet</HI> is <HI>contemporary</HI> with the <HI>&s;eventh Vial,</HI> and no other. The matter of the Objection is therefore a mi&s;|take.</P>
<P N="2">2 For the <HI>ground</HI> of it, which lyes in the&s;e words, <HI>Thy wrath is come.</HI></P>
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> This <HI>wrath</HI> is not to be under&s;tood of the <HI>wrath</HI> of <HI>all the Vials,</HI> but onely of the <HI>la&s;t,</HI> which becau&s;e it &s;hall be the <HI>greate&s;t wrath,</HI> hath an <HI>empha&s;is</HI> put upon it, <HI>Thy wrath,</HI> as if Chri&s;t had never been angry till now, that is, comparatively the former wrath was but a Flea-bite to this. Hence (which confirms our &s;en&s;e) the day of the <HI>&s;eventh Vial</HI> (which is all one with the Battel of <HI>Arma|geddon</HI>) is called the <HI>day of Chri&s;ts wrath,</HI> P&s;al. 110.5. <HI>The fiercene&s;s of the wrath of Almighty God,</HI> Revel. 19.15. <HI>The day of vengeance,</HI> I&s;a. 63.4. <HI>Of indignati|on,</HI> chap. 66.14. <HI>The great and terrible day of the Lord,</HI> Joel. 2.31. Mal. 4.5. all confirming this, that this <HI>dread|ful time</HI> of the <HI>Lambs wrath</HI> doth more properly re|late to the <HI>la&s;t Vial</HI> onely, than to <HI>all the Vials</HI> in ge|neral.</P>
<P>From all the three former <HI>Conclu&s;ions</HI> put together, I make up this, <HI>viz. That the day of the Witne&s;&s;es killing
<PB N="22" REF="188">mu&s;t in all likelihood be already begun, and not much more than begun.</HI> For &s;ith from our fir&s;t Conclu&s;ion, their <HI>ri&s;e</HI> mu&s;t be <HI>concurrent</HI> with the end of <HI>Daniels</HI> 1290 <HI>days,</HI> which beginning from <HI>Julians</HI> time, expire <HI>A.D.</HI> 1656. as &s;ee <HI>Generation work,</HI> part 1. p. 51, 52, 53, 54. And &s;ith from our &s;econd Conclu&s;ion, their <HI>killing</HI> mu&s;t be a little before <HI>Romes ruin,</HI> which (for what I have &s;aid under our fir&s;t) doth in a manner <HI>contempori&s;e</HI> with the <HI>other.</HI> And &s;ith from our third Conclu&s;ion, their <HI>killing</HI> mu&s;t be under the <HI>Third Vial,</HI> which is manife&s;t from our di&s;cour&s;e upon the Vials, to be the Vial we &s;tand under at <HI>pre&s;ent.</HI> I therefore from the whole conclude, That this black day is in all probability begun, and the Witne&s;&s;es do at this pre&s;ent time lye dead.</P>
<P>Hence it is a thing we mu&s;t expect, that yet a <HI>little while,</HI> until this <HI>cloud</HI> is toward blowing over, the <HI>work of Chri&s;t</HI> in the world wil go on but <HI>heavily,</HI> for there is rea&s;on for it (as I &s;hall &s;hew anon) that within the <HI>day</HI> the <HI>Wit|ne&s;&s;es</HI> lye <HI>dead,</HI> though their <HI>killing</HI> be a <HI>particular act,</HI> an act re&s;trained to one place onely, yet that the <HI>work</HI> and cau&s;e of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> in general, &s;hould the greate&s;t part of that day labour under a Cloud.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="6" TYPE="section">
<HEAD><HI>SECT.</HI> VI.</HEAD>
<P>THe <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> killing the Witne&s;&s;es, the Text tells us is <HI>the Bea&s;t a&s;cending out of the bottomle&s;s pit,</HI> ver. 7. of which <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> I have di&s;cour&s;ed upon the Vials, p. 97, 98, 99, 100. where this <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> is proved to be the <HI>Roman Ci|vil and Eccle&s;ia&s;tical State,</HI> or <HI>the Antichri&s;tian Magi|&s;tracy and Mini&s;try,</HI> both laying <HI>heads</HI> together, and joyn|ing hands to <HI>kill</HI> the two <HI>Witne&s;&s;es</HI> of Chri&s;t, <HI>viz. The true Magi&s;tracy and Mini&s;try.</HI></P>
<P>And here it is ob&s;ervable, that <HI>Antichri&s;ts Magi&s;tracy and Mini&s;try,</HI> though <HI>two,</HI> yet are called but <HI>one Bea&s;t,</HI>
<PB N="23" REF="188">as al&s;o <HI>Rev.</HI> 13. la&s;t. <HI>One</HI> number is a&s;&s;igned to <HI>both</HI> the <HI>Bea&s;ts;</HI> whereas the <HI>Magi&s;tracy</HI> and <HI>Mini&s;try</HI> of Chri&s;t, take them in the <HI>time</HI> of their <HI>Prophecie,</HI> when they are <HI>killed,</HI> or when they <HI>ri&s;e,</HI> they are &s;till <HI>two,</HI> and &s;poken of in the <HI>plural</HI> number. What may be the rea&s;on hereof? <HI>An&s;.</HI> Chri&s;ts <HI>Magi&s;tracy</HI> and <HI>Mini&s;try</HI> keep their <HI>powers di&s;tinct</HI> and therefore they are <HI>two;</HI> Antichri&s;ts <HI>mix</HI> their powers, and therefore they are <HI>one.</HI> That <HI>Magi&s;tracy</HI> and <HI>Mini&s;try</HI> therefore, which <HI>weave</HI> and <HI>intermixe</HI> their powers, making and u&s;ing in a manner but <HI>one</HI> &s;word, whereas they &s;hould do <HI>two,</HI> are neither of them <HI>Chri&s;ts,</HI> but both the <HI>Limbs</HI> of <HI>Antichri&s;t;</HI> nor are they in the ac|count of the Holy Gho&s;t <HI>witne&s;&s;es,</HI> but <HI>bea&s;ts,</HI> who calls them &s;o, <HI>Rev.</HI> 13. yea layes down this as the principal <HI>character</HI> of the <HI>two Bea&s;ts,</HI> that notwith&s;tanding they were <HI>two,</HI> yet did the <HI>one</HI> exerci&s;e the <HI>others power,</HI> for <HI>the &s;econd Bea&s;t exerci&s;eth all the power of the fir&s;t,</HI> ver&s;. 12. Now though the <HI>power</HI> of a <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> is ordinarily &s;tronger then the power of a <HI>rational witne&s;s,</HI> yet by how much the <HI>rational creature</HI> is more <HI>honorable</HI> then the <HI>&s;en&s;itive,</HI> by &s;o much are <HI>tho&s;e</HI> in whom the <HI>witne&s;&s;ing power</HI> remains, more <HI>honorable</HI> then tho&s;e, who&s;e <HI>power</HI> is only the <HI>power</HI> of <HI>Bea&s;ts.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="7" TYPE="section">
<HEAD><HI>SECT.</HI> VII.</HEAD>
<P>AS touching the <HI>Nature</HI> of the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es death;</HI> we are not to conceive thereof as though the &s;ame were to be a <HI>corporal killing,</HI> which no way agrees with this <HI>Prophecy,</HI> for,</P>
<P N="1">1 Such as is their <HI>re&s;urrection</HI> and <HI>a&s;cen&s;ion,</HI> &s;uch their <HI>death;</HI> but their <HI>re&s;urrection</HI> and <HI>a&s;cen&s;ion</HI> is not <HI>corporal,</HI> therefore not their <HI>death.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2 This Killing mu&s;t be &s;uch a Killing as that they may in the <HI>time</HI> of their being Killed, <HI>lye dead</HI> as <HI>witne&s;&s;es;</HI> for
<PB N="24" REF="189">otherwi&s;e we cannot di&s;tingui&s;h their <HI>killing,</HI> from their <HI>Prophecying,</HI> if we &s;uppo&s;e them in both to give <HI>te&s;ti|mony,</HI> and bear <HI>witne&s;s</HI> for Chri&s;t again&s;t the <HI>Bea&s;t;</HI> But a <HI>corporal killing</HI> of <HI>witne&s;&s;es</HI> doth not make them <HI>cea&s;e</HI> to bear <HI>witne&s;s,</HI> but rather to bear <HI>witne&s;s</HI> in a more eminent manner, as hath been before ob&s;er|ved. It is not a <HI>corporal killing</HI> therefore which is here meant.</P>
<P><HI>Que&s;t.</HI> What manner of Death then is it?</P>
<P>An&s;w. <HI>A Death</HI> (as I conceive) <HI>partly Civil,</HI> and <HI>partly Spiritual.</HI></P>
<P N="1">1 <HI>Partly Civil,</HI> which &s;hall be a <HI>deprival</HI> of the <HI>witne&s;&s;es,</HI> in a very <HI>great</HI> mea&s;ure, if not <HI>totally,</HI> of their <HI>Civil Liberties,</HI> and the <HI>free exerci&s;e</HI> of their <HI>Religion.</HI> The godly <HI>Magi&s;tracy</HI> &s;hall be put out of office, and &s;o be in no capacity as <HI>Magi&s;trates</HI> to <HI>bear witne&s;s;</HI> the godly <HI>Mini&s;try,</HI> by penal Laws have their mouths &s;topped, and not &s;uffered as <HI>Mini&s;ters</HI> of Chri&s;t to <HI>bear witne&s;s.</HI> This &s;hall be their death, as to the Civil part of it.</P>
<P N="2">2 This <HI>death</HI> &s;hall be <HI>partly &s;piritual,</HI> and herein (as I conceive) the <HI>blackne&s;s of the day</HI> &s;hall principally lye, and not in Blood&s;hedding; for ob&s;erve, though the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> hath a <HI>will</HI> to this latter, <HI>viz.</HI> to <HI>kill</HI> the <HI>witne&s;&s;es out|right,</HI> yet is he not <HI>permitted</HI> to do it, ver&s;. 9. Now this <HI>&s;piritual death</HI> &s;hall con&s;i&s;t chiefly in this, <HI>viz. That the witne&s;&s;es &s;hall all this three yeers and a half be &s;o left of God, as that they &s;hall not have that courage that was in the people of God, al the time of the witne&s;&s;es Prophecie; who then did not love their lives to the death, but mantained the truth, and oppo&s;ed the Bea&s;t with their blood:</HI> But I &s;ay, now they &s;hall want this <HI>courage,</HI> choo&s;ing rather coward|ly to lye down (though &s;tript of Liberty and Religion both) as men quite bereaved of &s;pirit and life, then bold|ly, as did their famous Predece&s;&s;ors, &s;tand up for <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> and prote&s;t again&s;t the <HI>Bea&s;t.</HI> And &s;uch a <HI>day</HI> as this, is by
<PB N="25" REF="189">far a <HI>wor&s;e day,</HI> then to &s;ee <HI>Saints killed</HI> with the &s;word, for whil&s;t it is thus with them, they are <HI>honouring</HI> their Lord and Ma&s;ter, by <HI>bearing te&s;timony,</HI> though with their bloods, but now they are <HI>&s;haming</HI> of him, yea Religion it &s;elf, by de&s;erting their Colours.</P>
<P>And the Rea&s;ons why I conceive of the thing after this manner, are,</P>
<P N="1">1 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> they cannot in <HI>any other way</HI> be &s;aid to <HI>lye dead as witne&s;&s;es,</HI> which mu&s;t be, becau&s;e otherwi&s;e (as I have &s;aid) there is no <HI>di&s;tinction</HI> at all betwixt their <HI>Pro|phecying</HI> and their <HI>Killing.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> their <HI>re&s;urrection</HI> at the end of the <HI>three dayes and a half,</HI> is by a <HI>&s;pirit of life from God</HI> entring into them, ver&s;. 11. <HI>i.e.</HI> a <HI>&s;pirit of courage and boldne&s;s</HI> now to &s;tand up for Chri&s;t, and Prote&s;t again&s;t the Bea&s;t, put into them by God, which before was wanting. There|fore, I &s;ay, the <HI>death</HI> here &s;poken of is not a <HI>corporal,</HI> but <HI>another</HI> manner of <HI>death,</HI> and the <HI>wee</HI> of the <HI>day</HI> &s;hall lye more in being <HI>for&s;aken</HI> of God within this time, then in being <HI>tormented</HI> or martyred by man.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="8" TYPE="section">
<HEAD><HI>SECT.</HI> VIII.</HEAD>
<P>THe place in which the Witne&s;&s;es lye dead, is not the whole Papal Kingdom, but &s;ome particular Nation, or &s;ome one of the ten Horns.</P>
<P>The Rea&s;ons are,</P>
<P N="1">1 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> (as our German Author in his <HI>Cl.</HI> p. 73. hath well ob&s;erved) they are &s;aid to <HI>lye dead,</HI> not in the <HI>&s;treets of the Great City,</HI> in the plural number, but in <HI>the &s;treet,</HI> in the &s;ingular, <HI>Rev.</HI> 11.8. <HI>And their dead bodies &s;hall lye in the &s;treet</HI> (<GAP DESC="foreign">) <HI>of the Great City.</HI> Noting, that their <HI>killing</HI> &s;hall be in <HI>one &s;treet,</HI> not in <HI>all</HI> the <HI>Papal Kingdom.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> upon their <HI>re&s;urrection,</HI> the <HI>whole</HI> City, <HI>i.e.</HI>
<PB N="26" REF="190">all the Papal Kingdom is not <HI>overthrown,</HI> but only a <HI>tenth part,</HI> ver&s;. 13 <HI>And the &s;ame hour&mdash;the tenth part of the City fell.</HI> Now ob&s;erve. <HI>There</HI> where the <HI>witne&s;&s;es lye dead three dayes and a half, there</HI> this time expired <HI>they ari&s;e; where</HI> they <HI>ri&s;e,</HI> in that <HI>place</HI> doth the <HI>Papal power</HI> fall before them, upon their <HI>ri&s;e,</HI> or otherwi&s;e they could not <HI>ri&s;e,</HI> for that power would keep them down; &s;o that look <HI>how far</HI> we extend the <HI>killing</HI> and <HI>ri&s;ing</HI> again of the <HI>witne&s;&s;es,</HI> &s;o <HI>far</HI> mu&s;t we extend the <HI>ruine</HI> of the <HI>Pa|pal power,</HI> and that in the <HI>very &s;ame</HI> hour they <HI>ri&s;e.</HI> But now the <HI>Great City</HI> or Papal power is not <HI>wholly</HI> de&s;troy|ed upon the <HI>witne&s;&s;es ri&s;e,</HI> but a <HI>tenth part</HI> only falls; therefore the <HI>ri&s;e</HI> of the <HI>witne&s;&s;es,</HI> and &s;o <HI>con&s;equently</HI> their <HI>lying dead,</HI> which goeth before it, is not to be looked for <HI>all over the Papal Kingdom,</HI> but in a <HI>tenth part</HI> only. Or thus, we are not to conceive that <HI>all the witne&s;&s;es</HI> Chri&s;t hath within <HI>any</HI> of the <HI>ten Horns,</HI> &s;hall at this time <HI>lye dead;</HI> But Chri&s;ts <HI>witne&s;&s;es</HI> only in <HI>one</HI> of the <HI>ten Horns,</HI> the <HI>death</HI> of a <HI>part,</HI> being here put for the <HI>death</HI> of the <HI>whole,</HI> and well may it, con&s;idering how <HI>remark|able</HI> this <HI>death</HI> &s;hall be for the <HI>nature</HI> of it.</P>
<P>It would therefore be inquired into, &s;eeing that this is to be but in one tenth part, what part or place that is.</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> I have in my Di&s;cour&s;e upon the <HI>Vials, Vial</HI> 4. affirmed the place to be <HI>Germany;</HI> and I may truly &s;ay, that what I then affirmed more <HI>doubtfully,</HI> I am by looking more <HI>intently</HI> upon this &s;ubject of the <HI>witne&s;&s;es,</HI> much <HI>per&s;waded</HI> of, and <HI>confirmed</HI> in. One rea&s;on which &s;wayes with me is, becau&s;e the Holy Gho&s;t &s;eems to &s;peak of the <HI>place</HI> by way of <HI>eminency,</HI> as being the mo&s;t <HI>noted place</HI> of the whole Papal Kingdom, ver&s;. 8. <HI>The &s;treet of the great City, i.e.</HI> the <HI>noted</HI> &s;treet, the Market-&s;treet, or (as I may &s;ay) the Thorow-fare, &s;o ver&s;. 10. <HI>The tenth part of the City fell,</HI> the Original reads the words with an Article, <GAP DESC="foreign">
<PB N="27" REF="190"><HI>That tenth part of the City, i.e. the most eminent,</HI> no|ted part of all the Ten.</P>
<P>Now the place being &s;poken of by way of <HI>eminency,</HI> it mu&s;t be under&s;tood either in relation to the <HI>witne&s;&s;es,</HI> or the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> that kills them, that is, it mu&s;t be either the mo&s;t <HI>eminent</HI> place for <HI>witne&s;&s;es,</HI> or the mo&s;t <HI>eminent</HI> King|dom belonging to the <HI>bea&s;t,</HI> one of the two. Now take <HI>either</HI> of the&s;e, and it doth not &s;o <HI>properly agree</HI> to <HI>any</HI> place in all <HI>Europe,</HI> as <HI>Germany;</HI> for,</P>
<P N="1">1 In re&s;pect of <HI>Witne&s;&s;es:</HI> Our Que&s;tion now is not, where at this pre&s;ent day are mo&s;t <HI>Witne&s;&s;es;</HI> but the thing we mu&s;t look after is, what place that is, which through <HI>all the time</HI> of the <HI>Bea&s;ts reign,</HI> hath been the <HI>mo&s;t noted</HI> place for <HI>Witne&s;&s;es,</HI> and there mu&s;t we fix our Standard. Now that is <HI>Germany,</HI> which in this re&s;pect (until at this pre&s;ent day) hath ever <HI>excelled</HI> all the <HI>Nations</HI> in <HI>Europe.</HI> The <HI>Witne&s;&s;es</HI> there <HI>began</HI> to appear for <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> openly again&s;t the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> before the year 900, again&s;t whom &s;ud|denly after was rai&s;ed a mo&s;t bloody <HI>per&s;ecution</HI> by the <HI>Bea&s;t;</HI> which <HI>per &s;ecution</HI> is the highe&s;t I can find in any Hi&s;tory, that was made (to &s;peak properly) by the <HI>Bea&s;t.</HI> Notwith&s;tanding this <HI>per&s;ecution,</HI> the <HI>witne&s;&s;es</HI> (as Eccle&s;i|a&s;tical Writers affirm) grew and increa&s;ed, and, like fire in a thatch, &s;pread them&s;elves over <HI>Germany,</HI> and neighbour|ing Countries. Yea from that day to this, there ever have been more or le&s;s <HI>witne&s;&s;es</HI> &s;tanding up, and &s;acrificing their lives for the cau&s;e of <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> again&s;t the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> in <HI>Germany,</HI> &s;o that <HI>Germany</HI> it hath been in a manner the <HI>Seed-plot</HI> of truth, and the very <HI>Nur&s;ery</HI> of <HI>witne&s;&s;es,</HI> throughout all ages.</P>
<P N="2">2 Look upon it in re&s;pect of the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> and it is al&s;o the <HI>mo&s;t noted</HI> place, and above all, de&s;erves to be called <HI>the &s;treet, that tenth part</HI> by way of <HI>eminency,</HI> being indeed the <HI>principal &s;treet</HI> of the great City, the <HI>fir&s;t horn</HI> of the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> the chief Kingdom of the <HI>fourth Monarchy,</HI> as under <HI>Antichri&s;t,</HI> as &s;aith my worthy German Author, in his <HI>Cl.</HI> p. 78. giving the&s;e three Rea&s;ons for it.</P>
<PB N="28" REF="191">
<P N="1">1 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> It is called the <HI>Roman Empire.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> It is, as it were, <HI>a figure and Image of the old Roman Empire,</HI> having &s;even Heads, in regard of the &s;even Princes Electors, and ten Provinces, in re&s;pect of the ten Circles into which it is di&s;tributed.</P>
<P N="3">3 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> The <HI>Head of the German Empire hath &s;till the name of a Roman Emperor,</HI> and hath the <HI>pre|eminence</HI> above all other Kings adhering to the Papal State.</P>
<P>And truly, when I ca&s;t mine eie upon what hath about half a year, or three quarters of a year ago been done in <HI>Ger|many;</HI> and al&s;o how the <HI>Saints</HI> there &s;eem, at pre&s;ent, <HI>be|reaved</HI> of life, lying down and couching under their burden, it appears to me, the time, place, and thing compared together, to be more than an ordinary di&s;pen&s;a|tion.</P>
<P>And farther let me &s;ay, Though the <HI>Saints</HI> there at this day &s;eem to have <HI>lo&s;t</HI> that <HI>noble &s;pirit</HI> that was in their <HI>Ance&s;tors,</HI> who for Chri&s;ts &s;ake loved not their lives unto death; yet &s;urely, this con&s;ideration, That they are the Children and Off-&s;pring of tho&s;e famous ble&s;&s;ed <HI>Wit|ne&s;&s;es,</HI> who with undaunted re&s;olution appeared for Chri&s;t, when our Fore-fathers, yea, and the whole world wondered after the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> &s;hould not a little draw out the Bowels of our compa&s;&s;ion towards them.</P>
<P>Notwith&s;tanding what I have &s;aid of <HI>Germany</HI> as the place, yet let me add this in the conclu&s;ion, that I conceive withall, that <HI>the condition of the people of God in other places, will not be &s;o pro&s;perous, but a cloud will be up|on them, their comforts and expectations, a great part, if not the greate&s;t of this time;</HI> for though the <HI>thick|ne&s;s</HI> and <HI>blackne&s;s</HI> of this <HI>cloud</HI> is to hang over <HI>Germany,</HI> yet may it not be thought, but that &s;o <HI>great a cloud</HI> will ca&s;t a <HI>&s;hadow</HI> further, and thereby <HI>afflict,</HI> at the &s;ame <HI>time,</HI> though not in the &s;ame <HI>mea&s;ure,</HI> the people of God el&s;e|where.</P>
<PB N="29" REF="191">
<P>And indeed, it is very rea&s;onable to think it &s;hould be &s;o; for if when but a member &s;uffers in the natural body, all the members &s;uffer with it; then &s;urely, when not a member onely but a principal part of the my&s;tical Body lies under &s;o fore a pre&s;&s;ure as the body of Chri&s;t never before lay under, cannot we think the other members &s;hould at that time have &s;uch cau&s;e of rejoycing, as tho&s;e who feel no &s;mart at all. How could there then be a &s;ym|pathy in the my&s;tical body?</P>
<P>Nay, it is not onely rea&s;onable, but a thing of great concernment, and &s;pecial u&s;e it &s;hould be &s;o; to the end, the other members by feeling &s;mart and angui&s;h, from a few onely of the &s;cattered drops lighting upon them, might hereby be made the more &s;en&s;ible of the condition of their fellow brethren, who lie under the furious rage of the tempe&s;t; and al&s;o might from hence be &s;tirred up to cry aloud to the Father of Mercies, for their poor Brethren, who now being thunder-&s;truck, have for the pre&s;ent neither &s;en&s;e, nor life in a manner, and &s;o cannot cry for them&s;elves.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="9" TYPE="section">
<HEAD><HI>SECT.</HI> IX.</HEAD>
<P>TWo things we have in an <HI>e&s;peciall manner</HI> noted by the Holy Gho&s;t, both which concern the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es,</HI> and are to have their fulfilling within the <HI>three days and a half</HI> of their <HI>lying dead.</HI></P>
<P>Fir&s;t, <HI>They of the People, Kindreds, Nations and Tongues, &s;ee their dead bodies three days and a half, and will not &s;uffer their dead bodies to be put into graves,</HI> ver&s;. 9. The <HI>putting</HI> of the <HI>dead bodies</HI> of the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es</HI> into <HI>graves,</HI> notes a <HI>corporal death,</HI> it being Scripture phra&s;e to put the <HI>grave</HI> for <HI>bodily death,</HI> 1 Cor. 15.55. 1 <HI>King.</HI> 14.13. 2 <HI>King.</HI> 22.20. This would the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> do, but he is <HI>hindred.</HI></P>
<P>Here <HI>a Controver&s;ie</HI> ari&s;eth, <HI>Who tho&s;e People, Kin|dreds,
<PB N="30" REF="192">Nations and Tongues &s;hould be.</HI> Some will have them to be the <HI>Popi&s;h party,</HI> &s;ome, <HI>a reformed people;</HI> if the <HI>one,</HI> the <HI>act</HI> is an <HI>act</HI> of <HI>di&s;-favor,</HI> if the <HI>other,</HI> of <HI>favor.</HI></P>
<P>Both the&s;e opinions you may &s;ee, with the rea|&s;ons of either, laid down by Mr. <HI>Woodcock</HI> in his Treati&s;e of <HI>the Two Witne&s;&s;es;</HI> who him&s;elf is for the fir&s;t, that they are the <HI>Popi&s;h party.</HI> To bring here the Argu|ments on both hands to the Touch&s;tone, would be more tedious than profitable, in regard the thing it &s;elf is not a matter of &s;o great moment, but that without any preju|dice to all my other Principles, there may be an allowance of different conjectures; and therefore, to make a great contention for a little gain, I &s;hall not do it, for it will not quit time and co&s;t.</P>
<P>I &s;hall therefore onely offer to con&s;ideration my own thoughts hereof, <HI>viz. That neither the Popi&s;h party, nor a reformed people, properly &s;o called, or &s;o e&s;teemed by Chri&s;t, are here meant;</HI> but indeed, a <HI>third party;</HI> a <HI>party</HI> that cannot properly be &s;aid to <HI>wor&s;hip the Bea&s;t,</HI> becau&s;e him they di&s;own; Nor a <HI>party</HI> that may properly be called a <HI>reformed people,</HI> becau&s;e Reformation is a thing they have little regard unto: But if you would &s;ee them in their <HI>proper Character,</HI> They &s;hall be per&s;ons of a <HI>worldly intere&s;t,</HI> or to &s;peak plainly, <HI>pure Stati&s;ts,</HI> who walking by the <HI>rules of State-policy,</HI> &s;hall neither profe&s;|&s;edly own the <HI>Cau&s;e</HI> of <HI>Antichri&s;t,</HI> nor <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> beyond the&s;e principles. And therefore very emphatically hath the Scripture (as &s;eems to me) &s;et them forth by <HI>people, and Kindreds, and Nations, and Tongues,</HI> which as it is a mid|dle name, neither &s;o <HI>odious</HI> as the name of the <HI>wor&s;hippers of the Bea&s;t,</HI> nor &s;o <HI>honorable,</HI> as that of <HI>the Witne&s;&s;es;</HI> &s;o doth it excellently agree to &s;uch per&s;ons, who&s;e main de|&s;ign is a meer <HI>worldly intere&s;t;</HI> for of &s;uch, the great thing in their eye is the <HI>good of Common-wealths,</HI> the
<PB N="31" REF="192"><HI>regulating and ordering the affairs</HI> of People, and Na|tions, and Kindreds, and Tongues, and though they may own and favor the cau&s;e of Chri&s;t, yet will they not appear for it a &s;tep farther than will &s;tand with <HI>National intere&s;ts,</HI> the <HI>good of People,</HI> and <HI>Nations,</HI> and <HI>Kindreds,</HI> and <HI>Tongues.</HI> Now &s;uch there &s;hall bee in the world, in the <HI>time</HI> the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es lie dead,</HI> who &s;hall take notice of the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es</HI> &s;laughter, and have a ca&s;t of their eye that way, and by their power &s;o far awe the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> as that he &s;hall not &s;atisfie his lu&s;ts upon the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es.</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, Be&s;ides the&s;e, <HI>we have another &s;ort of peo|ple &s;poken of,</HI> who formerly being &s;uch as were <HI>tormented</HI> by the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es</HI> in the <HI>time</HI> of their <HI>prophecy,</HI> &s;hall now upon their death be <HI>jovial,</HI> make <HI>merry,</HI> &s;end <HI>gifts</HI> one to another, as hoping they are now <HI>delivered</HI> from that <HI>danger</HI> they feared they &s;hould &s;u&s;tain by the&s;e Witne&s;&s;es. The&s;e are called <HI>the dwellers on the Earth,</HI> ver. 10. <HI>And they that dwell on the earth &s;hall rejoyce over them, and make merry, and &s;hall &s;end gifts one to another, be|cau&s;e the&s;e two Prophets tormented them that dwelt on the Earth.</HI> The phra&s;e needs no other <HI>interpretation</HI> than what we have, <HI>Chap.</HI> 13.8. <HI>And all that dwel upon the Earth &s;hall wor&s;hip him,</HI> i.e. <HI>the Bea&s;t.</HI> Ver. 14. <HI>And deceiveth them that dwel on the Earth;</HI> clearly &s;hewing, <HI>that the dwellers on the Earth,</HI> are <HI>the Popi&s;h par|ty,</HI> &s;uch as wor&s;hip the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> and are deceived by him.</P>
<P>The&s;e, as well as the other, &s;ee the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es lie dead;</HI> The difference is the other &s;ee them with an <HI>eie of care,</HI> and &s;ome kind of <HI>pitty;</HI> the&s;e, with an <HI>eie of &s;corn,</HI> and <HI>tri|umph.</HI> Hence it is &s;aid, that at the Witne&s;&s;es ri&s;e <HI>great fear fell on them that &s;aw them,</HI> ver&s;. 11. which words relate to the&s;e <HI>latter &s;ort</HI> of <HI>beholders,</HI> who therefore ver&s;. 12. are called <HI>enemies;</HI> the&s;e at the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es ri&s;e</HI> &s;hall <HI>fear,</HI> Why? Becau&s;e having been <HI>tormented</HI> by them before, they &s;hall now expect the &s;ame again.</P>
<PB N="32" REF="193">
<P>The demeanor and carriage of this latter &s;ort of behol|ders, &s;et forth by their <HI>rejoycing,</HI> making <HI>merry,</HI> &s;end|ing <HI>gifts</HI> one to another. <HI>&amp;c.</HI> hath &s;ometimes made me conceive that there &s;hould be within the&s;e <HI>three days and a half,</HI> a <HI>great calm</HI> upon the Nations, <HI>i.e.</HI> they &s;hould lay a&s;ide war and &s;trife, at lea&s;t, in a great mea&s;ure, in compari&s;on of what was in the days immediately before; For a time of <HI>tempe&s;t and war,</HI> when every man &s;ees his <HI>intere&s;t</HI> going to wrack, is not a time of <HI>rejoycing and fea&s;ting,</HI> e&s;pecially with <HI>the dwellers on the Earth,</HI> who &s;erve no other God, nor mind nothing el&s;e, but their lu&s;ts and intere&s;ts, but a time of <HI>howling and mourning.</HI> With|all, the <HI>boa&s;t</HI> of <HI>the proud Whore,</HI> Revel. 18.7. (Of which I have &s;poken before) &s;eems &s;omewhat to counte|nance this, for grant her to have <HI>killed the Witne&s;&s;es,</HI> yet if when this is done, her followers were <HI>killing</HI> one another, and her outward &s;trength <HI>tearing</HI> it &s;elf it peeces, &s;he &s;hould have but <HI>little cau&s;e to boa&s;t.</HI> But &s;he boa&s;ts and that in &s;uch manner, as &s;eems to me to argue, that &s;he hath her <HI>enemies,</HI> that before &s;he <HI>feared,</HI> under her <HI>feet;</HI> and her own <HI>&s;trength</HI> al&s;o, which before was <HI>broken</HI> and di|vided, <HI>united:</HI> which two things do wonderou&s;ly lift her up, and make her conceit her &s;elf (as indeed &s;he is in an outward way) &s;tronger, and more fa&s;t in her &s;eat than ever. And as her boa&s;ting &s;eems to argue, this general peace &s;hould not be till towards the end of the <HI>three days and a half,</HI> for this boa&s;ting of hers is the <HI>immediate fore-runner</HI> of her ruin, which comes in upon her inevita|bly, upon the <HI>witne&s;&s;es ri&s;e.</HI></P>
<P>And to this its not improper to add the opinion of that eminent Servant of Chri&s;t, Mr. <HI>Archer,</HI> in <HI>his Per&s;onal Reign,</HI> Printed <HI>A.D.</HI> 1642. who &s;peaking of the ten horns giving up their power to the Bea&s;t, <HI>Rev.</HI> 17.12, 13, 17. &s;aith thus, <Q><HI>Here is a double giving up of their power to the Bea&s;t spoken of, though yet they may &s;eem both
<PB N="33" REF="193">one, but will be found of him who ponders them, at two diver&s;e and &s;everal times. For in the former its onely &s;aid they had one mind to give their power to the Bea&s;t;</HI> i.e. (&s;aith he) <HI>they were at that time, all alike ignorant and &s;uper&s;titious, and &s;o the Papacy ea&s;ily devoured them: But in the latter place its &s;aid, God put it in|to their minds to agree, and do it,</HI> i.e. <HI>at this time they were not all alike, &s;ome of the Kingdoms had light and reformation, and had withdrawn from</HI> Rome; <HI>yet by &s;ome special over-ruling Providence (in re&s;pect of which its &s;aid, God put it into their hearts, they who had depar|ted from Popery, &s;hall revolt and by &s;ome agreement or Covenant with the re&s;t, all joyntly &s;hal again give up their power to the Bea&s;t. So that</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>this act differs much from the former, and &s;eems to be a &s;econd act of the ten Kings that is, of &s;o many of them as were re|volted from the Papacy; and it al&s;o appears to be &s;o, becau&s;e it is made the fore-runner, and the immediate fore-goer of</HI> Romes <HI>ruin, but the former giving up was at the beginning of the Papacy.</HI></Q> Hitherto the very words of Mr. <HI>Archer</HI> that eminent Witne&s;s of Chri&s;t, who for the te&s;timony of Je&s;us, dyed in Exile fourteen or fifteen years ago, <HI>Per&s;. Reign,</HI> p. 50, 51.</P>
<P>Now this te&s;timony is the more remarkable, as to us at this day, by how much the <HI>giving-up,</HI> ver&s;. 17. (which he comments upon) followes that <HI>remarkable war</HI> betwixt the <HI>Lamb</HI> and the <HI>Kings of the Earth,</HI> which our eies have &s;een, but the worthy Author lived not to &s;ee it. Yet let me add this, that I do not conceive with the Author, that this <HI>giving up of power</HI> to the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> &s;hall be a <HI>revolting of all the ten Horns</HI> to Popi&s;h Religion, for the <HI>power</HI> here &s;poken of, that is <HI>given up</HI> to the Bea&s;t, is <HI>civil power</HI> only (that being properly the power of the horns) which by way of League or Covenant with the Bea&s;t, or tho&s;e who are con&s;ederate with him, may be given up to him, and
<PB N="34" REF="194">yet no receiving nor embracing Romi&s;h Religion.</P>
<P>From the&s;e grounds it is a thing conjectural, that a <HI>general peace &s;hall be in that part of the world, common|ly called Chri&s;tendom, within the time of the three days and an half.</HI></P>
<P>My fir&s;t thoughts hereof were, whil&s;t I con&s;idered this 11 Chapter onely, that this peace &s;hould be &s;o general, as to take in all tho&s;e Nations that were formerly under the power of the <HI>Bea&s;t;</HI> but &s;ince the time I weighed, and compared with the truth of this Chapter, the truth laid down in the 12, and 14 Chapt. it hath been a Que&s;tion with me, whether that people whom the Holy Gho&s;t &s;ets forth by that Title of the <HI>remnant of the womans &s;eed,</HI> Revel. 12.17. &s;hall not be excluded from this agreement. One of the&s;e two (I &s;uppo&s;e) we may conclude upon, that either they <HI>&s;hall be excluded,</HI> or &s;hall <HI>renounce</HI> this Co|venant with Hell, before the <HI>three days and a half</HI> are com|pleatly <HI>expired;</HI> for the Dragon at the end of the three days and a half makes war upon them. Which of the&s;e two will be, time will determine; but being more and more per&s;waded every day, that Chri&s;t is coming on upon his people apace, I &s;hall not cau&s;e this little Book to wait to &s;ee the i&s;&s;ue.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="10" TYPE="section">
<HEAD><HI>SECT.</HI> X.</HEAD>
<P>THe <HI>three days and a half</HI> fully expired, <HI>the dead Witne&s;&s;es ri&s;e again.</HI> The thing that &s;ets them upon their feet, is &s;aid to be a <HI>Spirit of Life</HI> from God entering into them, ver&s;. 11. <HI>And after three days and an half, the Spirit of Life from God entred into them, and they &s;tood upon their feet,</HI> i.e. a <HI>Spirit</HI> of <HI>boldne&s;s,</HI> and <HI>courage, zeal,</HI> and <HI>undaunted re&s;olution</HI> to appear for Chri&s;t again&s;t Antichri&s;t, what&s;oever it co&s;t them &s;hall now fall upon them, &s;o that live or dye, having &s;o good a
<PB N="35" REF="194">Cau&s;e, they will no longer be Cowards, and lurch their Cou|lours; but in the name of the Lord into the field they will go, and &s;ee whether the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> dare appear again&s;t them.</P>
<P><HI>Que&s;t.</HI> It will be here worth our inquiry, Whether this Noble Heroick Spirit &s;hall come upon them from God immediately, or whether it &s;hall be wrought in them me|diately by &s;ome means.</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> I conceive, that look as the <HI>killing</HI> of the <HI>Wit|ne&s;&s;es</HI> is partly <HI>mediate,</HI> being cau&s;ed by the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> partly <HI>immediate,</HI> being de&s;erted by God: &s;o &s;hall their <HI>re&s;ur|rection</HI> al&s;o, that it may <HI>an&s;wer</HI> to their <HI>death,</HI> be; <HI>i.e.</HI> this <HI>Spirit of Life</HI> which &s;ets them upon their feet &s;hall be wrought in them, <HI>partly mediately,</HI> by &s;ome means that &s;hall be u&s;ed to that end, and <HI>partly immediately,</HI> by Gods accompanying tho&s;e means with a more than ordinary power and efficacy, for the effecting this glorious work. So that Gods hand &s;hall be much more vi&s;ible in the thing, than the means it &s;elf, though yet means &s;hall be u&s;ed.</P>
<P>Now as for the means, I apprehend it &s;hall be &s;ome <HI>loud call</HI> that &s;hall be given to the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es</HI> from <HI>&s;ome Saints,</HI> from out of &s;ome other place, who &s;hal be very <HI>&s;en|&s;ible</HI> of their condition, and &s;hall have it &s;trongly &s;et home upon their hearts, that the <HI>time</HI> is comein which they are to <HI>ari&s;e.</HI> This Call &s;eems to me, to be that <HI>great voyce from Heaven,</HI> which bids the <HI>witne&s;&s;es come up hither,</HI> ver. 12.</P>
<P>Now the rea&s;ons why this <HI>voyce from Heaven</HI> is brought in <HI>after</HI> their &s;tanding upon their feet, and not <HI>be|fore,</HI> may be the&s;e.</P>
<P N="1">1 Becau&s;e the <HI>immediate hand of God</HI> in putting life and courage into the <HI>witne&s;&s;es</HI> to an&s;wer their <HI>Call,</HI> &s;hall be a thing (as I have &s;aid) <HI>much more</HI> remarkable and vi|&s;ible than the <HI>Call;</HI> and therefore is that named <HI>fir&s;t,</HI> and the <HI>whole</HI> of their <HI>re&s;urrection</HI> &s;eemingly <HI>attributed</HI> therunto.</P>
<P>Or 2 Becau&s;e (which I rather judge) it is very likely that the <HI>call given them</HI> &s;hall be a <HI>continued call,</HI> not a
<PB N="36" REF="195"><HI>call</HI> to ri&s;e onely, but <HI>a call</HI> to &s;ome <HI>higher work,</HI> which <HI>work</HI> is here &s;et forth by the <HI>phra&s;e</HI> of <HI>a&s;cending up to Heaven;</HI> which notes thus much to me, that the <HI>in&s;tru|ments</HI> who &s;hall give the Witne&s;&s;es this <HI>call,</HI> being them|&s;elves a more <HI>refined</HI> people, in which re&s;pect their <HI>voyce</HI> is called a <HI>voyce from Heaven,</HI> they &s;hall not onely <HI>call</HI> upon the Witne&s;&s;es to ari&s;e, but when they are up, follow them &s;till with their <HI>call</HI> to come up <HI>higher,</HI> into that &s;tate they them&s;elves are in, therefore they &s;ay, <HI>Come up higher,</HI> i.e. &s;hake off all Antichri&s;tian defilements, worldly intere&s;ts, as you have &s;een us do: and now let us be no longer <HI>two,</HI> but joyn as <HI>one</HI> to ruin <HI>the Where,</HI> and carry on the work of Chri&s;t in the world. Now be|cau&s;e this <HI>Call</HI> &s;hall be a continued Call, therefore menti|on is made of it, onely in the la&s;t and more glorious act, which indeed follows the witne&s;&s;es &s;tanding upon their feet, and the fir&s;t is omitted.</P>
<P>If you ask me, Who the&s;e In&s;truments &s;hall be? I an&s;wer, The &s;ame with the Angel of the <HI>fourth Vi|al,</HI> for what I have &s;aid in opening that Vial. And far|ther, they &s;hall be that Remnant of the Womans Seed, that the Holy Gho&s;t hath characterized, <HI>chap.</HI> 12.17. Of whom I &s;hall di&s;cour&s;e more fully in the two following Chapters.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="37" REF="195">
<HEAD>CHAP. II. <HI>Setting forth yet further the &s;tate of the</HI> Two Witne&s;|&s;es, <HI>within their Prophecying time, and the time of their being Killed, from</HI> Rev. 12.</HEAD>
<DIV3 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD><HI>SECT.</HI> I.</HEAD>
<P>_HAving in the fore-going Chapter treated briefly of the <HI>Two Witne&s;&s;es,</HI> by way of opening part of the 11 Chap. of the <HI>Revelations,</HI> it will not be impertinent in this, for the farther clearing up of this great truth, to add my own thoughts concerning the 12. Chapter likewi&s;e.</P>
<P>This 12. Chapter is on all hands interpreted to be a <HI>Prophecy of the &s;tate of the Church, within the time of the Dragons rule,</HI> or <HI>the time before the ri&s;e of the Bea&s;t,</HI> and accordingly the things here fore-told, are judged to have their compleat accompli&s;hment within the fir&s;t 400 <HI>years</HI> after Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>I mu&s;t confe&s;s, when I con&s;ider how hand&s;omely, follow|ing this <HI>opinion,</HI> we have the whole <HI>Prophecy</HI> of the <HI>Re|velations,</HI> from the time <HI>John</HI> wrote, even unto the time of Chri&s;ts &s;econd coming, con&s;i&s;ting of three di&s;tinct pe|riods, comprized within three Chapters, <HI>viz.</HI></P>
<P N="1">1 The <HI>&s;tate</HI> of the Church within the <HI>fir&s;t period,</HI> un|der the <HI>Dragons</HI> rule, Chap. 12.</P>
<P N="2">2 The <HI>&s;tate</HI> of the Church within the <HI>&s;econd period,</HI> under the Government of the <HI>Bea&s;t, Chap.</HI> 13.</P>
<P N="3">3 The <HI>&s;tate</HI> of the Church, under the <HI>witne&s;&s;es ri&s;en,</HI> from the <HI>end</HI> of the <HI>Bea&s;ts</HI> reign, untill the time of Chri&s;ts
<PB N="38" REF="196">Second coming (where begins a fourth Period, <HI>viz.</HI> of the 1000 years) <HI>Chap.</HI> 14.</P>
<P>I am by this &s;ingle con&s;ideration more inclined to be of the common opinion, as to this 12 Chapter, then by any thing that hitherto I have found laid down for the &s;ame, by the Authors and A&s;&s;ertors of it, who urge not this as an Ar|gument, not indeed can they, becau&s;e (as I &s;hall hereafter &s;hew) they make application of the 14 Chapter, not to the <HI>third Period,</HI> but another <HI>time;</HI> and as for what is commonly urged, there is nothing in it that I can ob&s;erve, that has the force of an Argument, but what is founded up|on begged principles.</P>
<P>Yet mu&s;t I al&s;o acknowledge, that although this <HI>con|&s;ideration</HI> I have now <HI>hinted,</HI> could I make it out to my &s;elf, would <HI>&s;way</HI> very much with me, yet hath it the le&s;s <HI>weight,</HI> by how much I cannot &s;atisfie my &s;elf, that &s;uch a <HI>Tripartite dovi&s;ion</HI> of this <HI>Prophecy</HI> &s;hould be here in|tended. And my rea&s;on is, becau&s;e I find &s;omething in this 12 <HI>Chapter</HI> (which is the <HI>Prophecy</HI> of the <HI>Dragon</HI>) run|ning down even into the <HI>time of the Bea&s;t;</HI> for the <HI>time of the Bea&s;t</HI> doth, yea mu&s;t begin with the <HI>beginning</HI> of the 1260 <HI>dayes,</HI> as hath been before proved, <HI>Cha.</HI> 1. <HI>Sect.</HI> 2. Now &s;uppo&s;ing the <HI>time times, and a half,</HI> to be <HI>equiva|lent</HI> to the 1260 <HI>dayes,</HI> yet it is <HI>clear</HI> from the <HI>Prophecie</HI> it &s;elf, that &s;ome <HI>attempts</HI> are made by the <HI>Dragon,</HI> after <HI>the time, times, and a half</HI> are begun; As,</P>
<P N="1">1 The <HI>ca&s;ting water</HI> out of his mouth as a flood after the Woman, ver&s;. 15.</P>
<P N="2">2 The <HI>attempting a war</HI> after this upon the remnant of her &s;eed, ver&s;. 17.</P>
<P>Both the&s;e things (I &s;ay) are done after the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> was come into the world, and therefore may not be applied to the <HI>time</HI> of the <HI>Dragons</HI> rule, which cea&s;ed upon the <HI>Bea&s;ts</HI> coming in, he then re&s;igning his power, &s;eat, and great Au|thority to the Bea&s;t, Chap. 13.2. If therefore we may <HI>ex|tend</HI>
<PB N="39" REF="196">this <HI>Prophecy</HI> a little <HI>time</HI> downwards into the <HI>Bea&s;ts</HI> Kingdom, after the <HI>Dragon</HI> had &s;urrendred to him, I &s;ee no rea&s;on why we may not as well <HI>extend</HI> it quite through the <HI>Bea&s;ts</HI> Kingdome, for the former order, yea and the common method too, is as much broken by the one, as by the other. Nor indeed can I &s;ee, unle&s;s we come down|wards to the <HI>expiring</HI> time of the <HI>Bea&s;ts</HI> Kingdom, where a people, after the 1260 <HI>dayes</HI> were begun, will be found, that had (rightly interpreted) the&s;e two Characters upon them, that the <HI>remnant of the Womans &s;eed,</HI> which the <HI>Dragon</HI> makes war upon, are de&s;cribed by.</P>
<P>And as the&s;e <HI>Con&s;iderations</HI> have gravelled me as to that <HI>opinion</HI> which makes <HI>application</HI> of the things here foretold to the <HI>time</HI> of the <HI>Dragons</HI> rule: So by other <HI>Con&s;iderations</HI> I am induced to think that the <HI>Prophecy</HI> of this Chapter doth bring us down to the <HI>very end</HI> of the <HI>Bea&s;ts</HI> Kingdom, the <HI>expiring</HI> time of the 42 <HI>months;</HI> and that indeed the la&s;t ver&s;e of this Chapter, being joyned to the fir&s;t of the fourteeenth, and &s;o de&s;cending, we have in the&s;e two Chapters alone (the thirteenth being cut off) all the afore&s;aid <HI>three Periods.</HI> 1 That of the <HI>Dragon</HI> and the <HI>&s;tate</HI> of the Church within that Period, &s;et forth in the five fir&s;t ver&s;es of this 12 Chap. 2 That of the <HI>Bea&s;ts</HI> 42 <HI>months,</HI> or 1260 dayes, and the <HI>&s;tate</HI> of the Church within that time, from ver&s;. 6. to the end. 3 That of the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es ri&s;en,</HI> or the <HI>&s;tate</HI> of the Gentile Churches from about the time of the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es</HI> ri&s;e, until Chri&s;ts &s;econd coming, Chap. 14.</P>
<P>And according to this method, as this 12 Chapter, and the 14 linked together, do run <HI>parallel</HI> with the whole of the 11, which treats of the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es;</HI> &s;o this 12 Chapter alone runs <HI>parallel</HI> with &s;o much of the 11, as brings us to the end of the 1260 <HI>dayes,</HI> only &s;ome things handled there, are omitted here; and &s;ome things omit|ted there are handled here; both together making the <HI>Pro|phecy</HI>
<PB N="40" REF="197">of the <HI>Wine&s;&s;es</HI> Prophecying and Killing-time coun|pleat.</P>
<P>And farther, as &s;o much of the <HI>Prophecy</HI> of the 11 Chapter, as refers to the 1260 <HI>dayes,</HI> joyned to, and com|pared with this 12, makes the <HI>Prophecy</HI> of the 1260 <HI>dayes,</HI> or &s;econd period, &s;o far as the &s;ame re&s;pects the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es,</HI> compleat; &s;o that which follows in the 11 Chap. after the 1260 <HI>dayes</HI> are expired, joyned to, and com|pared with Chap. 14. makes the <HI>Prophecy</HI> of the third Period, or the <HI>time</HI> from the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es ri&s;e</HI> till Chri&s;ts coming, full and compleat al&s;o. But now becau&s;e the things done throughout the &s;econd Period, have a &s;pecial <HI>relation</HI> as well to the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> as the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es;</HI> which <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> though named, Chap. 11.7. and his time of con|tinuance al&s;o &s;poken of, ver&s;. 2. had not been as yet particu|larly de&s;cribed (the Holy Gho&s;t hitherto having been chiefly intent to &s;et forth the condition of the Witne&s;&s;es and Woman) that therefore the things concerning this <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> might neither be pa&s;&s;ed over in &s;ilence, nor brought in promi&s;cuou&s;ly with the other, which would have bred confu&s;ion, the Holy Gho&s;t pa&s;&s;ing over this ground again, and being come to the end of the 1260 <HI>dayes,</HI> makes a breach, by di&s;-joyning the 12 and 14 Chapters, to make way hereby for a de&s;cription of that <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> which in a more &s;ecret manner acted by the <HI>Dragon,</HI> &s;hould rage and make war again&s;t the Saints, cau&s;ing them hereby to con|tinue in the Wilderne&s;s all the 1260 <HI>dayes;</HI> telling us what manner of <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> this <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> &s;hould be, whence he &s;hould receive his power at fir&s;t, what he &s;hould do with it, and how long. That the <HI>Dragon</HI> who was openly wor&s;hipped before, &s;hould in a more &s;ecret way be wor&s;hipped &s;till under him, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> The&s;e things, with many other particulars relating to this <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> being handled, as it were, in the na|ture of a digre&s;&s;ion, <HI>Chap.</HI> 13. there is a returning again <HI>Chap.</HI> 14.1. to that point where the di&s;cour&s;e was bro|ken
<PB N="41" REF="197">off, which now is carried on without interruption, to the end, and the time of Chri&s;ts coming.</P>
<P>The re&s;ult of all in brief is this; <HI>That the</HI> 12 <HI>and the</HI> 14 <HI>Chapters, are but a more full repetition of the</HI> 11, <HI>and that in the&s;e two Chapters joyned together</HI> (leaving out the 13.) <HI>we have all the three Periods from Johns time until Christs &s;econd coming,</HI> viz. <HI>The Pe|riod</HI> of the <HI>Dragons</HI> rule; the <HI>Period</HI> of the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es</HI> in fackcloth, or the <HI>Woman</HI> in the Wilderne&s;s; the <HI>Period</HI> of the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es ri&s;en,</HI> compleatly and orderly handled. And that the 13 <HI>Chapter</HI> is no other, but a going <HI>over again</HI> (for the clearing up another &s;ubject referring to this time) the <HI>&s;econd Period,</HI> beinging us down the third time to that point, which twice before, once <HI>Chap.</HI> 11. and again in the repetition <HI>Ch.</HI> 12. we are come unto. In a word, that the <HI>la&s;t ver&s;e</HI> of the 12 <HI>Chapter,</HI> and the <HI>fir&s;t</HI> of the 14, are in <HI>time</HI> and <HI>order</HI> immediately to <HI>follow</HI> each other; and therefore the <HI>appearing</HI> of the <HI>Lamb</HI> upon <HI>Mount Sion</HI> with the 144000 to be the <HI>immediate con&s;e|quent</HI> of, and indeed a thing cau&s;ed by the <HI>Dragons</HI> at|tempting a <HI>war,</HI> at the very end of the 42 <HI>months,</HI> or 1260 <HI>dayes</HI> upon that <HI>holy remiant</HI> of the Womans &s;eed.</P>
<P>And indeed, according to this method (leaving out the 13 <HI>Chapter,</HI> which is a Prophecy more relating to the Bea&s;t, than the Woman) we have in the 12 and 14 <HI>Chapters</HI> excellently &s;et forth the <HI>threefold &s;tate</HI> of the Woman, or true Church, according to that <HI>threefold Period</HI> &s;he pa&s;&s;eth through, from the time <HI>John</HI> wrote this Prophecy, until Chri&s;ts &s;econd coming. 1 We have the Woman <HI>walking in her Primitive purity,</HI> dothed with the Sun, having the Moon underfoot, on her head a Crown of twelve Stars, <HI>Chap.</HI> 12.1. This was the <HI>&s;tate</HI> of the Church within the <HI>fir&s;t Period</HI> before Antichri&s;t crept in. In this e&s;tate, &s;he is per&s;ecuted by a <HI>Great Rod Dragon,</HI> ver&s;. 3. <HI>i.e.</HI> by the Pagan power of the Roman Empire.
<PB N="42" REF="198">2 We have the <HI>Woman in the Wilderne&s;s,</HI> ver&s;. 6. to the end. This is her <HI>&s;econd &s;tate,</HI> after Antichri&s;t was come forth, and had placed him&s;elf in the Temple of God, then the Woman, the true Church withdraws, retires her &s;elf into a corner. In this <HI>e&s;tate</HI> &s;he &s;uffers by the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> and to|wards the <HI>end</HI> of it is per&s;ecuted again by the <HI>Dragon.</HI> What this <HI>Dragon</HI> is, and how different from the former, I may &s;hew hereafter. 3 We have the Woman <HI>come out of the Wilderne&s;s again,</HI> and triumphing, being now delive|red from the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> and <HI>Dragon</HI> both, treading the&s;e her enemies under feet: This is her <HI>third &s;tate,</HI> and is &s;et forth <HI>Chap.</HI> 14. which (as I have &s;aid) is but a continua|tion of the Womans Hi&s;tory, from the point of time where the 12 <HI>Chapter</HI> ends, until Chri&s;ts coming.</P>
<P>This Method, as it doth not, &s;o far as I am able to di&s;cern, infer any ab&s;urdity; &s;o doth it not a little conduce to the clearing up the whole of the&s;e four Chapters (which ap|pear to me to be the mo&s;t knotty peece to carry a right Method through in this Book) yea, and many other Apo|calyptical My&s;teries depending upon the&s;e; and farther doth help us to the knowledge of &s;ome u&s;eful truths, which lye ob&s;cured and buried through a mi&s;taken order.</P>
<P>And indeed when I con&s;ider, That as <HI>Chap.</HI> 11. pre&s;ents us with two my&s;tical numbers, one of 1260 <HI>dayes,</HI> the other of <HI>three dayes and a half;</HI> &s;o al&s;o doth <HI>Chap.</HI> 12. with 1260 <HI>dayes,</HI> ver&s;. 6. and a <HI>time, times, and a half,</HI> ver&s;. 14. how that in either Chapters betwixt the&s;e two <HI>times,</HI> mention is made of a <HI>War;</HI> and farther, how that as the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es, Chap.</HI> 11.9. within <HI>the three dayes and a half,</HI> have the People, Kindreds, Nations, and Tongues be|friending them; &s;o likewi&s;e the <HI>Woman, Chap.</HI> 12.16. within the <HI>time, times, and a half,</HI> hath the earth befriend|ing her; I &s;ay, when I have con&s;idered this, I have &s;ome|times wondred that none &s;hould attempt a way, to make the&s;e two, which carry &s;o great a likelihood, to run parallel,
<PB N="43" REF="198">but &s;hould without any farther inquiry, conclude the 11 <HI>Chapter</HI> to bring us down to the <HI>end</HI> of <HI>the Bea&s;ts</HI> reign, yea lower, and yet the 12 <HI>Chap.</HI> to bring us but to the <HI>beginning.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="2" TYPE="section">
<HEAD><HI>SECT.</HI> II.</HEAD>
<P>BE&s;ides our grounds laid down in the former Section, that which yet further prevails with me to decline the common-road, is, <HI>that I cannot upon a rational account &s;atisfie my &s;elf, that the time, times, and a half, &s;hould be the &s;ame with the</HI> 1260 <HI>days;</HI> and in ca&s;e a flaw be found here, all that is or can be &s;aid for the general Tenent will amount to nothing; for if the <HI>time, times, and a half,</HI> be a <HI>di&s;tinct number,</HI> and not to be interpreted of the 1260 <HI>days;</HI> then of nece&s;&s;ity cannot the things &s;poken of in this Chapter, be <HI>appliable</HI> to <HI>the time</HI> of <HI>the Dragons rule,</HI> or any <HI>time</HI> before <HI>the Bea&s;t</HI> aro&s;e; but mu&s;t be brought down much lower, into <HI>the time</HI> of <HI>the Bea&s;ts</HI> Kingdom.</P>
<P>Now that the <HI>time, times, and a half,</HI> &s;hould be a num|ber <HI>di&s;tinct</HI> from the 1260 <HI>days,</HI> appears to me upon the&s;e Rea&s;ons.</P>
<P N="1">1 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> the <HI>different expre&s;&s;ions</HI> u&s;ed of <HI>the womans abode</HI> in the <HI>wilderne&s;s</HI> the fir&s;t and the &s;econd time, ar|gue them not to be <HI>one</HI> and <HI>the &s;ame,</HI> but two <HI>di&s;tinct</HI> numbers; for,</P>
<P N="1">1 Of her <HI>fir&s;t</HI> going into <HI>the wilderne&s;s, the</HI> 1260 <HI>days,</HI> it is &s;aid, v. 6. <HI>The woman fled into the wilderne&s;s where &s;he hath a place prepared of God.</HI> Of <HI>the &s;econd, the time, times, and a half,</HI> it is &s;aid, <HI>She fled into her place,</HI> v. 14. as &s;eeming to intimate her having been there <HI>be|fore.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2 Of the <HI>fir&s;t,</HI> it is &s;aid, <HI>They &s;hould feed her,</HI> ver. 6. noting a feeding by <HI>in&s;truments and means;</HI> &s;he &s;hould
<PB N="44" REF="199">have the enjoyment of In&s;truments, Means, and Ordi|nances, though in a low and <HI>mournful</HI> condition all this time. Of the <HI>&s;econd,</HI> it is &s;aid, <HI>She is nouri&s;hed,</HI> ver. 14. noting that God by &s;ome <HI>immediate way</HI> of working would all this time keep a principle of grace alive in his, though they &s;hould lye as dead, taking little or no food outwardly, by In&s;truments, Means, or Ordinances.</P>
<P N="2">2 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> the <HI>Dragon</HI> by the <HI>war in Heaven</HI> being ca&s;t down to the <HI>earth,</HI> is &s;aid to have <HI>great rage,</HI> ver. 12. becau&s;e he knoweth he hath but a <HI>&s;hort time:</HI> But if this <HI>war in Heaven</HI> were at the <HI>beginning</HI> of the 1260 <HI>days,</HI> as holds the common opinion, which makes application of this to <HI>Con&s;tantines war,</HI> he &s;hould then have a <HI>long time:</HI> if after they were begun, then mu&s;t the <HI>time, times, and a half</HI> which are the con&s;equent of this <HI>war,</HI> be a di|&s;tinct number from the 1260 <HI>days,</HI> which is the thing I am proving.</P>
<P>And certainly the calling of <HI>the time, times and an half,</HI> a &s;hort time, mu&s;t be with re&s;pect to the fore-mentioned <HI>time</HI> of 1260 <HI>years,</HI> which was a <HI>long time;</HI> and if &s;o, then will it follow, they cannot be <HI>one</HI> and the <HI>&s;ame</HI> num|ber.</P>
<P N="3">3 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> the <HI>fir&s;t going</HI> into the <HI>Wilderne&s;s,</HI> is lei|&s;urely, by <HI>degrees,</HI> as the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> by little and little crept in, being not &s;o much a forced act, by outward violence offered to her, as a voluntary act, the woman retiring her &s;elf into a corner, that &s;o by a &s;eparation &s;he might be kept pure, and free from the defilements of that <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> &s;he &s;aw now ri&s;ing. But the <HI>&s;econd</HI> is on the <HI>&s;udden,</HI> and &s;he is for|ced to it by the exa&s;perated rage of the <HI>Dragon;</HI> and there|fore &s;he hath given to her <HI>two wings of a great Eagle,</HI> v. 14. to note her <HI>quick</HI> and <HI>&s;peedy</HI> &s;light, le&s;t &s;he &s;hould be de&s;troyed by the <HI>&s;erpent.</HI></P>
<P N="4">4 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> upon the womans <HI>fir&s;t going</HI> into the <HI>wil|derne&s;s</HI> the earth was <HI>no friend</HI> to the woman; but ra|ther
<PB N="45" REF="199">the Barbarous Nations, invading <HI>the Roman Empire,</HI> did prove her Enemy, by aiding the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> and giving their &s;trength to him. But now upon this <HI>&s;econd going</HI> into the <HI>wilderne&s;s,</HI> the turth is the <HI>womans</HI> friend, and &s;wallows up the flood the Serpent ca&s;ts out of his mouth, to cau&s;e the woman to be carried away therewith, <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 15.16. agreeing to that <HI>chap.</HI> 11.9.</P>
<P>The&s;e things added to the former grounds and method, per&s;wade me to think, that the <HI>time, times, and an half,</HI> ver. 14. are <HI>not</HI> the <HI>&s;ame</HI> with the 1260 <HI>days,</HI> ver 6. but a <HI>di&s;tinct number,</HI> and in a word, <HI>the very &s;ame</HI> with <HI>the three days and a half, Chap.</HI> 11.9. &s;ignifying <HI>three years and a half,</HI> a time notes one year, times, in the plural num|ber, two years, half a time, half a year; in all three years and a half; and to put a time for a year, is as well Scripture phra&s;e as a day for a year, as <HI>Dan.</HI> 4.25. it is &s;aid of <HI>Nebuchad|nezzar,</HI> he &s;hould eat gra&s;s like Oxen till &s;even times &s;hould pa&s;s over him, <HI>i.e.</HI> &s;even years.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="3" TYPE="section">
<HEAD><HI>SECT</HI> III.</HEAD>
<P>AGain&s;t this it may be objected. This cannot be, be|cau&s;e, the <HI>war</HI> &s;poken of here which <HI>precedes the time, times and a half;</HI> and that <HI>war Chap.</HI> 11. which <HI>precedes the three days and a half,</HI> are <HI>va&s;tly diffe|rent.</HI></P>
<P N="1">1 That <HI>war</HI> again&s;t <HI>the Saints</HI> is headed by <HI>the Bea&s;t,</HI> but this by <HI>the Dragon.</HI></P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> This <HI>difference</HI> will be <HI>none</HI> at all, let but this be con&s;idered, that <HI>Chap.</HI> 11. &s;peaks of <HI>the &s;tate</HI> or <HI>power</HI> acted by <HI>the Devil,</HI> but <HI>Chap.</HI> 12. of the <HI>Devil</HI> as <HI>acting</HI> that <HI>&s;tate</HI> or power. If this An&s;wer be not &s;ufficient, he that &s;hall ob&s;erve our future di&s;cour&s;e, may find a farther, and more full.</P>
<P N="2">2 I<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> that <HI>war, chap.</HI> 11. the <HI>Bea&s;t evercomes,</HI> but in
<PB N="46" REF="200">this, is <HI>overcome,</HI> and <HI>the Dragon</HI> ca&s;t down.</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> True, the <HI>immediate &s;ucce&s;s</HI> and i&s;&s;ue of <HI>the war, chap.</HI> 12. is the vanqui&s;hing of the <HI>Dragon,</HI> and ca&s;t|ing of him out; but yet the <HI>conclu&s;ion</HI> of the day is, the &s;ubtil <HI>Dragon,</HI> though ca&s;t out to <HI>the Earth,</HI> finds a way and means to per&s;ecute <HI>the Woman,</HI> and to drive her into <HI>the wilderne&s;s,</HI> notwith&s;tanding immediately before &s;he had vanqui&s;hed him, and ca&s;t him out, ver&s;. 13, <HI>And when the Dragon &s;aw that he was ca&s;t unto the Earth, he per&s;ecuted the woman which brought forth the man|child.</HI> Ver&s;. 14. <HI>And to the woman were given two wings of a great Eagle, that &s;he might flee into the wil|derne&s;s</HI>&mdash; In <HI>conclu&s;ion</HI> therefore, <HI>the Dragon</HI> (or <HI>the Bea&s;t</HI> acted by <HI>the Dragon</HI>) <HI>overcomes,</HI> and &s;o, as to drive the woman upon this <HI>War</HI> into <HI>the wilderne&s;s,</HI> and that for a <HI>time, times, and a half;</HI> which is no contradicti|on at all: but rather a more full opening of that <HI>war,</HI> which is hinted <HI>chap.</HI> 11.7. as the immediate <HI>forerunner</HI> of the <HI>three days and a half.</HI> Onely <HI>the Witne&s;&s;es</HI> victory at fir&s;t over <HI>the Bea&s;t,</HI> is pa&s;&s;ed over in &s;ilence, <HI>chap.</HI> 11. and <HI>the Bea&s;ts</HI> overcoming and killing them, the thing expre&s;|&s;ed; but <HI>chap.</HI> 12. their victory over <HI>the Bea&s;t</HI> is recorded fir&s;t, and yet afterwards his per&s;ecuting of them, and dri|ving them into the wilderne&s;s, for a <HI>time, times, and a half,</HI> or <HI>three days and a half.</HI></P>
<P>If now the Que&s;tion be put, What war I conceive this to be?</P>
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> I judge it to be the <HI>war</HI> made by <HI>Gu&s;tavus A|dolphus</HI> in <HI>Germany,</HI> which <HI>war</HI> for the remarkablene&s;s of it, hath been by many accounted the pouring forth of a <HI>Vial;</HI> but though (for &s;ome Rea&s;ons I have given in opening the Subject of the Second Vial) it could not be &s;o: yet was it as remarkable under another <HI>con&s;ideration,</HI> name|ly, as it was a <HI>forerunner</HI> of the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es</HI> being <HI>killed.</HI> The Rea&s;ons of this my conjecture are,</P>
<PB N="47" REF="200">
<P N="1">1 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> the <HI>time</HI> of this <HI>War</HI> agrees exactly to the <HI>time</HI> of that <HI>War,</HI> which is the <HI>forerunner</HI> of the <HI>death</HI> of the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es;</HI> that <HI>War</HI> is a war in the <HI>fini&s;hing</HI> time of their <HI>te&s;timony,</HI> that is in the la&s;t 60 <HI>dayes</HI> or years of the 1260. which properly is the <HI>concluding</HI> time of their <HI>te&s;timony;</HI> Accordingly this <HI>War</HI> made by <HI>Gu&s;tavus Adolphus</HI> fell out <HI>within</HI> that time.</P>
<P N="2">2 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> this <HI>War</HI> mu&s;t be &s;uppo&s;ed to be <HI>&s;uch</HI> a <HI>War</HI> as &s;hall be <HI>headed</HI> by &s;ome <HI>eminent</HI> Chri&s;tian Head on the one &s;ide, rai&s;ed up, and acted by Chri&s;t; which <HI>Head</HI> is therefore repre&s;ented by <HI>Michael,</HI> i. e. Chri&s;t him&s;elf who acts him; and the principal <HI>Head</HI> of the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> on the other, &s;et on, and acted by the <HI>Devil,</HI> and therefore re|pre&s;ented by the <HI>Dragon.</HI> Now this can be applied to <HI>no other</HI> War, &s;o aptly as to the <HI>German</HI> War; for where hath there ever been, &s;ince the fir&s;t ri&s;e of the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> the like, <HI>viz.</HI> of a <HI>War</HI> betwixt him, and the Profe&s;&s;ors of the true Religion, headed by the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> him&s;elf of the one &s;ide, and a religious godly Prince of the other?</P>
<P N="3">3 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> this <HI>War</HI> which precedes the <HI>killing</HI> of the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es,</HI> mu&s;t be &s;uch a <HI>War,</HI> as &s;hall have great <HI>accla|mations of Saints</HI> going along with it, and great expecta|tions founded upon it, and that both as touching their de|liverance from Antichri&s;tian bondage, and al&s;o concerning the &s;etting up of Chri&s;ts Kingdom by it: Therefore they cry, ver&s;. 10. <HI>Now is come &s;alvation and &s;trength, and the Kingdom of our God, and the power of Chri&s;t,</HI> i.e. Now the day of our deliverance, of <HI>Babylons</HI> downfal, is come. Now the Kingdom of the Lord Je&s;us &s;hall bee exalted in the world. O now is the power of Chri&s;t manife&s;ted indeed. Such was the <HI>Swedi&s;h War</HI> in <HI>Germany.</HI> It is not yet out of the memory of many of Gods people, what <HI>high expectations</HI> were rai&s;ed upon that War, in all the Prote&s;tant Churches; How did every eye almo&s;t then look for the downfal of <HI>Rome</HI> pre&s;ently,
<PB N="48" REF="201">conceiving no other than that that mo&s;t worthy Prince would be the ruine of the Antichri&s;tian Where? What wonderful triumphs and rejoycings were, there upon the re|ports of his Victories, by all the godly party within our Gates? And how heavy a load did the news of his being cut off, lay upon the hearts of Gods people every where? Though the Author cannot te&s;tifie the&s;e things of his own knowledge, his age not &s;erving him to remember things of this nature beyond the &s;adding news of his death; yet from what he hath read of this good Prince, and the reports he hath had from per&s;ons aged and faithful, he &s;uppo&s;eth he may a&s;&s;ert the thing, and doubts not but many this day alive will witne&s;s it.</P>
<P N="4">4 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> the <HI>effect</HI> and <HI>i&s;&s;ue</HI> of this <HI>War in Heaven,</HI> is, <HI>the ca&s;ting down</HI> of the <HI>Dragon</HI> from <HI>Heaven</HI> to <HI>Earth,</HI> who yet by <HI>this,</HI> and partly for <HI>rage</HI> to &s;ee him&s;elf ca&s;t down, finds out a <HI>way</HI> to per&s;ecute the Woman anew. Accordingly the <HI>i&s;&s;ue</HI> of the <HI>Swedi&s;h War</HI> was this, The proud <HI>German Emperor,</HI> who before in his pride was lifted <HI>up to Heaven,</HI> would &s;toop and buckle to none, is now glad by means of this War, to come <HI>down</HI> from his greatne&s;s, to <HI>conde&s;cend</HI> and &s;toop to &s;uch terms as he can for him&s;elf make with the <HI>Swede;</HI> by which agreement notwith&s;tanding, and partly for madne&s;s to &s;ee him&s;elf made to <HI>creep</HI> on the earth, <HI>i.e.</HI> conde&s;cend to terms, who thought ever to have <HI>&s;ate</HI> in Heaven, <HI>i. e.</HI> rule as ab&s;olute Lord over Chri&s;ts heritage, doing to them what he li&s;t, he finds out a way to per&s;ecute the Woman, drive her into the Wilder|ne&s;s for a <HI>time, times, and a half,</HI> i.e. kill the Witne&s;&s;es for <HI>three dayes and a half.</HI> So that the <HI>Swedi&s;h War</HI> agrees exactly and fully to this <HI>War</HI> here mentioned, as the <HI>forerunner</HI> of the killing of the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es.</HI></P>
<P>And becau&s;e the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es</HI> were by this <HI>War</HI> to be kil|led, and every death hath &s;ome &s;truglings and girdings that attend it, an&s;werable to that life and &s;trength in the
<PB N="49" REF="201">thing killed, that therefore the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> might feel what life and &s;trength is in the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es,</HI> he him&s;elf is almo&s;t broken to peeces, at fir&s;t by this <HI>War, i.e.</HI> by the very &s;truglings and girdings of the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es,</HI> whil&s;t he is going about to kil them</P>
<P><HI>Object.</HI> But it may be &s;aid, more likely our late War in <HI>England</HI> &s;hould be this War.</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> I have &s;ometimes thought that this <HI>War in Heaven</HI> might comprehend the <HI>whole War</HI> within the la&s;t 60 <HI>years</HI> of the <HI>Bea&s;t;</HI> and &s;o take in <HI>the Swedi&s;h War,</HI> and our <HI>Engli&s;h War</HI> too; And this I confe&s;s, that in mo&s;t things this <HI>War</HI> doth carry a likelihood as well to the <HI>Eng|li&s;h,</HI> as the <HI>Swedi&s;h War:</HI> And farther, I find my &s;elf much inclining to make this <HI>War,</HI> and the <HI>War</HI> betwixt the <HI>Lamb</HI> and the <HI>Kings</HI> of the Earth, <HI>Chap.</HI> 17.14. (which <HI>War</HI> (as I conceive) points at our <HI>Engli&s;h War,</HI> and no other) one and the &s;ame; but this I mu&s;t al&s;o &s;ay, that I am more &s;atisfied to look upon them as <HI>two Wars,</HI> both within the 60 <HI>years,</HI> and the one following the other; And &s;o this <HI>War</HI> to be the <HI>German War</HI> only, and the other betwixt the <HI>Lamb</HI> and the <HI>Kings</HI> of the Earth to be the <HI>Engli&s;h War,</HI> yet both to fall within the la&s;t 60 <HI>years,</HI> and to be forerunners of <HI>the killing</HI> of <HI>the Witne&s;&s;es.</HI></P>
<P>And the Rea&s;ons why I conceive this War to be the <HI>German War</HI> only, and not the <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> al&s;o, are,</P>
<P N="1">1 Becau&s;e the <HI>Engli&s;h War</HI> hath been betwixt Pro|te&s;tants only, but this <HI>War</HI> is a <HI>War</HI> betwixt &s;ome eminent <HI>Prote&s;tant Head</HI> on the one &s;ide, and &s;ome <HI>eminent</HI> and profe&s;&s;ed <HI>Popi&s;h Head</HI> on the other, as hath been before ob&s;erved.</P>
<P N="2">2 Becau&s;e this <HI>War</HI> being made by the Dragon, is not &s;o fitly appliable to any one Nation under Heaven, as the <HI>German Empire,</HI> which is (as I may &s;ay) the very <HI>Picture</HI> of <HI>the Old Dragon,</HI> for <HI>the Dragon</HI> is &s;et forth as having <HI>&s;even heads</HI> &amp; <HI>ten horns,</HI> v. 3. <HI>And there appeared another wonder in heaven, and behold a great red Dragon, ha|ving
<PB N="50" REF="202">&s;even heads, and ten horns.</HI> Accordingly <HI>the German Empire</HI> (as upon another occa&s;ion hath been be|fore ob&s;erved) con&s;i&s;ts of <HI>&s;even Electoral heads, and ten horns, i.e.</HI> &s;o many Provinces. The <HI>Prophecy</HI> therefore of this <HI>Chapter,</HI> may without any forcing be applied in part to <HI>the Old Roman Empire,</HI> and al&s;o in part to the pre&s;ent <HI>German Empire,</HI> both of them bearing and giving the arms of the <HI>Dragon.</HI> So that by the <HI>ruine</HI> of the old <HI>Ro|man Empire,</HI> the <HI>Dragon</HI> only changed his <HI>Seat,</HI> for|&s;ook <HI>Rome his old Seat,</HI> leaving that to <HI>the Bea&s;t,</HI> and be|takes him&s;elf to <HI>Germany,</HI> where <HI>the Bea&s;t,</HI> for his wil|lingne&s;s to &s;urrender <HI>his old Seat</HI> to him, provides him a new. And indeed there may be the&s;e <HI>two Rea&s;ons</HI> given of it, why the <HI>Dragon,</HI> who <HI>governs</HI> the whole <HI>Papal Kingdom,</HI> doth yet betake him&s;elf to <HI>Germany,</HI> rather then any <HI>other place,</HI> choo&s;ing that for <HI>his Seat;</HI> 1 <HI>Be|cau&s;e</HI> of all the Nations &s;ubjected to the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> none was found &s;o like <HI>his old Seat, the Pagan Empire,</HI> as the new erected <HI>German Empire.</HI> 2 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> the Woman had in a manner for many ages together, taken up her dwelling there, bringing forth children, and &s;ending them abroad from thence into other parts, therefore this old Per&s;ecutor of the Woman, that he might the more trouble her peace, placeth his Throne there.</P>
<P>What I have &s;aid, is a good confirmation of our me|thod before laid down, that this <HI>Chapter</HI> brings us to <HI>the end</HI> of <HI>the Bea&s;ts Kingdom,</HI> and is not to be limited within the fir&s;t <HI>four hundred yeers</HI> after Chri&s;t; for having &s;poken of <HI>the Old Dragon</HI> (or <HI>Roman Empire</HI>) in the be|ginning of the <HI>Chapter,</HI> and the attempts that he made again&s;t the Woman, ver&s;. 3.4. and then gliding over almo&s;t all the time of <HI>the one thou&s;and two hundred and &s;ixty dayes,</HI> becau&s;e that <HI>time,</HI> as in reference to the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es</HI> or Woman had been &s;poken to already, <HI>Ch.</HI> 11. in reference to the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> was to be &s;poken to <HI>Chap.</HI> 13. the Holy Gho&s;t
<PB N="51" REF="202">comes to &s;peak of the <HI>new Dragon</HI> (or German Empire) and the <HI>attempts</HI> that he in the <HI>end</HI> of this <HI>time</HI> &s;hould make again&s;t the Woman, and al&s;o what &s;hould follow thereupon, and &s;o indeed this <HI>&s;econd</HI> attempt again&s;t the Woman, &s;pecially relates to <HI>him,</HI> as the fir&s;t did to the <HI>old Dragon.</HI> And further ob&s;erve, as the <HI>old Dragon</HI> about the beginning of the 1260 <HI>days</HI> is vanqui&s;hed by the Woman, and yet afterwards politickly &s;urrendring to the Bea&s;t is too hard for the Woman, and makes her <HI>flie</HI> for the <HI>Wilderne&s;s,</HI> for 1260 <HI>days;</HI> So in like manner, the <HI>New Dragon</HI> about the <HI>end</HI> of the 1260 <HI>daies</HI> is vanqui&s;h|ed by the Woman, and yet afterwards by policy (like the <HI>old Dragon</HI>) finds a way to get the ma&s;tery of the Woman, and make her <HI>flie</HI> for the <HI>Wilderne&s;s</HI> for a <HI>time, times, and a half;</HI> or three <HI>years and a half.</HI></P>
<P>Now according to this interpretation of this Prophecy, referring this &s;econd attempt of <HI>the Dragon</HI> to the <HI>German Empire,</HI> we &s;ee already the whole of this <HI>Prophecy</HI> fulfilled to two things.</P>
<P N="1">1 The <HI>Dragons attempt</HI> to &s;wallow up the Woman, by ca&s;ting a flood out of his mouth, and the earth prevent|ing him, <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 15, 16. being the &s;ame with that endeavor, <HI>Chap.</HI> 11.9. to put the dead bodies of the Witne&s;&s;es into graves, and the Peoples, Kindreds, Nations and Tongues, preventing him. This attempt is clear from each place, to be within <HI>the three years and a half.</HI> Whether &s;ome attempts that have been made again&s;t the Prote&s;tants in <HI>Germany</HI> not long &s;ince to extirpate them; and the appli|cations that in their behalf have been made by &s;ome to the ruling powers of <HI>Germany,</HI> be a fulfilling of this Prophecy, or whether we are yet to expect &s;ome more eminent, and noted action than any we have hitherto &s;een, I cannot de|termine.</P>
<P N="2">2 Another <HI>attempt</HI> which &s;hall be after this, and mo&s;t probably towards the end of the <HI>three days and a half,</HI>
<PB N="52" REF="203">viz. to make <HI>war</HI> with a <HI>remnant</HI> of the Womans &s;eed, that &s;hall within this <HI>time</HI> &s;tand up for Chri&s;t in &s;ome other cor|ner of the world: But of this more anon.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="4" TYPE="section">
<HEAD><HI>SECT.</HI> IV.</HEAD>
<P><HI>OBjection</HI> 2. Again&s;t our former method it may be objected. That this our <HI>opinion</HI> &s;uppo&s;eth the Wo|man to be <HI>come out</HI> of the Wilderne&s;s, and afterwards to <HI>go in again;</HI> and if &s;o, then mu&s;t the Womans <HI>continu|ance</HI> in the Wilderne&s;s the <HI>fir&s;t,</HI> and the <HI>&s;econd time,</HI> be <HI>upwards</HI> of <HI>one thou&s;and two hundred and &s;ixty dayes,</HI> for &s;o long &s;he was the fir&s;t time onely, ver&s;. 6. and if &s;o, then mu&s;t the <HI>time</HI> of the <HI>Bea&s;ts reign,</HI> his treading under|foot the Holy City, the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es</HI> wearing &s;ackcloth, (which for time are the &s;ame with this) be likewi&s;e <HI>upwards of One thou&s;and two hundred and &s;ixty dayes.</HI></P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> The <HI>fir&s;t Suppo&s;ition</HI> granted, the other indeed will nece&s;&s;arily follow; but that we deny, affirming, that the <HI>Woman</HI> is here &s;poken of, as if <HI>come out</HI> of the Wilderne&s;s at this time of the War in Heaven (though indeed in it) and that for one, or both the&s;e rea&s;ons, ei|ther,</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, Becau&s;e by her <HI>great victories,</HI> and &s;ucce&s;&s;es a|gain&s;t her enemy, the <HI>Dragon,</HI> under the noble <HI>Swedi&s;h King,</HI> &s;he &s;eemed in a manner to be <HI>got out</HI> of the Wil|derne&s;s, and to have put off her &s;ackcloth, and therefore is &s;poken of, as if come out, becau&s;e in appearance for a while &s;he was &s;o, giving check to the proud Dra|gon.</P>
<P>Secondly, Becau&s;e the time of her being in the <HI>Wilder|ne&s;s</HI> after this (though &s;hort) yet was to be a more <HI>black and di&s;mal time,</HI> than all the time before, and &s;he was to meet with &s;ufferings of another kind than ever yet &s;he
<PB N="53" REF="203">had; and therefore it is &s;poken of, as though it were an|other, and a new time; though yet indeed but a part of the other.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="5" TYPE="section">
<HEAD><HI>SECT.</HI> V.</HEAD>
<P><HI>OBjection</HI> 3. But it may be further objected, That the <HI>former Po&s;ition</HI> and method makes the Apocalyptical <HI>time, times, and a half,</HI> repugnant to, and irreconcilable with <HI>Daniels time, times, and a half.</HI></P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> 1. It is a <HI>known maxim,</HI> that Scriptures more <HI>dark,</HI> are to be interpreted by Scriptures more <HI>clear.</HI> Now it being confe&s;&s;ed on all hands, that <HI>Johns</HI> light is the more clear, we are therefore to make <HI>John</HI> interpretative of <HI>Daniel,</HI> and not <HI>Daniel</HI> of <HI>John.</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, Compare <HI>Daniel</HI> with <HI>Daniel,</HI> and follow this rule, to <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">nterpret that which is more <HI>dark,</HI> by that which is more <HI>clear,</HI> and <HI>Daniel</HI> him&s;elf &s;peaks po&s;itively to our A&s;&s;ertion. Thrice in <HI>Daniel</HI> we have the word <HI>time or times</HI> u&s;ed in a <HI>my&s;tical &s;en&s;e,</HI> Dan. 4.32. <HI>Seven times &s;hall pa&s;s over thee.</HI> Chap. 7.25. <HI>&V;ntill a time, times, and the dividing of time.</HI> Chap. 12.7. <HI>It &s;hall be for a time, times, and a half.</HI> In the fir&s;t of the&s;e we have little <HI>my&s;tery,</HI> but the two la&s;t have in them much <HI>my&s;tery.</HI> Now con&s;ider, whether it is mo&s;t likely that we &s;hould interpret the <HI>two la&s;t places</HI> in a &s;en&s;e different from the <HI>fir&s;t;</HI> or whether are we to interpret them by the <HI>fir&s;t;</HI> &s;urely, it is mo&s;t &s;afe to &s;ay that we are to interpret them by the <HI>fir&s;t,</HI> not only becau&s;e the <HI>fir&s;t</HI> is the more <HI>clear,</HI> but al&s;o becau&s;e the <HI>fir&s;t</HI> &s;eems to me to be therefore laid down before the other, that it might be a <HI>Standard</HI> of light to guide us in|to the mind of the Holy Gho&s;t in the other. If &s;o, then the <HI>&s;even times</HI> that were to pa&s;s over <HI>Nebuchadnezzar,</HI> whil&s;t he was to eat gra&s;s like Oxen, being no other but <HI>&s;even years,</HI> mu&s;t we al&s;o under&s;tand the <HI>time, times,
<PB N="54" REF="204">and a half,</HI> or the <HI>time, times, and dividing of time,</HI> of <HI>three years and a half,</HI> onely, as I have formerly noted,</P>
<P>But thirdly, To come to the places them&s;elves, where the bottom of this &s;cruple lies, which are <HI>Dan.</HI> 7.25. <HI>chap.</HI> 12.7. I &s;uppo&s;e, let them be throughly weighed, and it will appear, that the <HI>time, times, and a half,</HI> will as well, if not better, bear our &s;en&s;e of <HI>three years and a half,</HI> then the other which interprets them <HI>one thou&s;and two hun|dred and &s;ixty years.</HI></P>
<P>I &s;hall begin with <HI>Chap.</HI> 12.7. and the rather, becau&s;e the words there opened will help us to the mind of the Holy Gho&s;t in the other.</P>
<P>Now the Que&s;tion is, Whether are we to under&s;tand the <HI>time, times, and a half</HI> in that place, <HI>of one thou&s;and two hundred and &s;ixty years,</HI> or onely of <HI>three years and a half?</HI></P>
<P>I an&s;wer, of <HI>three years and a half,</HI> and that appears upon this account. In ver&s;. 6. we have a Que&s;tion put in <HI>Daniels</HI> hearing, <HI>How long it &s;hould be unto the end of Wonders?</HI> To this Que&s;tion we have a two-fold an&s;wer given; Fir&s;t, A more <HI>dark</HI> An&s;wer, ver&s;. 7. Secondly, A more <HI>clear</HI> An&s;wer, ver&s;. 11, 12. And ob&s;erve, either An&s;wer con&s;i&s;ts of two branches, &s;uitable to the Wonders them&s;elves &s;poken of, which were to have a <HI>double end,</HI> or fulfilling time. Fir&s;t, <HI>A partial.</HI> Secondly, <HI>A total,</HI> accordingly either an&s;wer hath (I &s;ay) two Branches. The fir&s;t An&s;wer, ver&s;. 7. hath fir&s;t, The <HI>time, times, and a half,</HI> as one Branch. Secondly, The <HI>&s;cattering the power</HI> of the holy people, as another. The &s;econd, ver&s;. 11, 12. hath, Fir&s;t, 1290 <HI>days,</HI> as one Branch. Secondly, 1335 <HI>days,</HI> as another.</P>
<P>Now that the <HI>&s;ame thing,</HI> and not things of a <HI>diver&s;e</HI> nature is pointed at in both the&s;e An&s;wers, is clear.</P>
<PB N="55" REF="204">
<P N="1">1 Becau&s;e each An&s;wer con&s;i&s;ts (as I have &s;aid) of <HI>two di&s;tinct Branches.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2 Becau&s;e <HI>Daniel</HI> (as is clear) puts the Que&s;tion <HI>the &s;econd time,</HI> concerning that very thing that <HI>the fir&s;t Que|&s;tion</HI> was moved about, and the very rea&s;on of his putting <HI>the Que&s;tion</HI> the <HI>&s;econd time,</HI> is for more light into that an|&s;wer, which he heard given, but did not under&s;tand, there|fore &s;aith he, ver&s;. 8. <HI>And I heard, but I under&s;tood not;</HI> and therefore puts the Que&s;tion again. The <HI>intent</HI> of the Que&s;tion therefore in both being the &s;ame, the An|&s;wer is to be looked upon as the &s;ame al&s;o.</P>
<P N="3">3 Becau&s;e the very <HI>words</HI> of the Lord to <HI>Daniel</HI> be|fore he gives him a &s;econd an&s;wer, import as much, for &s;aith he, ver&s;. 9. <HI>The words are clo&s;ed and &s;ealed up till the time of the end.</HI> What <HI>words?</HI> why, tho&s;e <HI>words Daniel</HI> asked after, the words of the former an&s;wer more e&s;pecially, for the &s;ealing the <HI>words</HI> of the <HI>Prophecy</HI> in general, we had before, ver&s;. 4. &s;hewing plainly, that as the Queri&s;t, &s;o the re&s;pondent was &s;till upon one and the &s;ame thing, as to &s;ay, The <HI>thing, O Daniel,</HI> thou in|quire&s;t after is not to be revealed <HI>untill</HI> the time of the <HI>end;</HI> yet becau&s;e thou art &s;o de&s;irous to know, thou &s;halt have it in a <HI>plainer,</HI> and more <HI>familiar</HI> Dialect, and what that is, the &s;econd an&s;wer tells us, Ver&s;. 11. <HI>And from the time that the daily &s;acrifice &s;hall be taken away, &s;hall be</HI> 1290 <HI>days,</HI> ver&s;. 12. <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the</HI> 1335 <HI>days.</HI></P>
<P>The an&s;wer then being <HI>one</HI> and the <HI>&s;ame</HI> in both, the thing now to be inquired into is, How or in what &s;en&s;e can we make the <HI>time, times, and a half,</HI> to be one and the &s;ame with the 1290 <HI>days?</HI></P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> We cannot make them <HI>one</HI> and the &s;ame in <HI>dura|tion,</HI> for the <HI>time, times, and a half,</HI> &s;tretched out at that length Expo&s;itors would have them, make but 1260 <HI>days,</HI> which falls &s;hort by thirty days or years of 1290; they
<PB N="56" REF="205">mu&s;t therefore be one and the &s;ame in <HI>termination,</HI> either terminating and ending at one and the &s;ame point; If &s;o, then &s;uppo&s;e we take the <HI>time, times, and a half,</HI> for <HI>three years and a half</HI> onely, namely, the <HI>la&s;t three years and a half,</HI> of <HI>Daniels</HI> 1290, will the <HI>time, times, and a half</HI> concur with the 1290 in their <HI>end,</HI> as well as if by <HI>time, times, and a half,</HI> we &s;hould under&s;tand 1260 years; for reckon three years and a half onely, or 1260 years compleat, and make either but to end at the &s;ame point, with <HI>Da|niels</HI> 1290, it amounts all to one, and the one is as good, and as firm as the other.</P>
<P>Nay, that the <HI>time, times, and a half,</HI> is rather to be under&s;tood in our <HI>&s;en&s;e,</HI> viz. for <HI>three years and a half</HI> onely, than in the other, for 1260 years, &s;eems to me up|on this account; becau&s;e the <HI>intent</HI> of the Holy Gho&s;t in the fir&s;t an&s;wer is, not to mea&s;ure the <HI>length</HI> of the time, how long it &s;hould be <HI>until</HI> the performance of tho&s;e things en|quiry was made after, which is done in the &s;econd an&s;wer; but rather to give &s;ome knowledge of the thing, by hint|ing <HI>two</HI> wonderful remarkable actions, as marks, of which <HI>two,</HI> the <HI>first</HI> &s;hould fall out at the <HI>beginning</HI> time, the <HI>la&s;t</HI> at the <HI>compleating time</HI> of the work. The <HI>fir&s;t mark</HI> is the <HI>time, times, and a half,</HI> i.e. The black day of killing the Witne&s;&s;es, which God in his all-wi&s;e Provi|dence had &s;o ordered, and would in his time &s;o bring about, as that, that black day, and the 1290 days &s;hould expire together; Or thus, That the ri&s;e of the Witne&s;&s;es at the end of the time, times, and a half, and the fir&s;t &s;tirring of the <HI>Jews</HI> at the end of 1290 years, &s;hould both concur, as it were, in the &s;ame point, fall out much about one and the &s;ame time.</P>
<P>The <HI>&s;econd mark</HI> (which relates to the latter number, <HI>viz.</HI> of 1335. days) is the <HI>accompli&s;hing</HI> to &s;catter the power of the holy people; <HI>And when he &s;hall have ac|compli&s;hed to &s;catter the power of the Holy people, all
<PB N="57" REF="205">the&s;e things &s;hall be fulfilled.</HI> Two things ere we can make application of this mark to the number it relates to, are nece&s;&s;ary to be cleared up; 1. <HI>Who are meant by this holy people?</HI> 2. <HI>What that &s;cattering is</HI> which is here &s;poken of, <HI>and by whom?</HI></P>
<P>To the fir&s;t, By the <HI>holy people,</HI> we are undoubtedly to under&s;tand the <HI>Jews,</HI> and no other in this place, for the people who&s;e deliverance <HI>Daniel</HI> is here &s;o inqui&s;itive after, are that people of who&s;e deliverance <HI>Daniel</HI> had had a promi&s;e made to him, ver&s;. 1. <HI>At that time &s;hall thy people be delivered</HI>&mdash; but they were the <HI>Jews,</HI> there|fore called <HI>thy people,</HI> i.e. <HI>Daniels</HI> people, the people of <HI>Daniels</HI> Nation.</P>
<P>To the &s;econd, <HI>This &s;cattering</HI> is not to be under&s;tood of their <HI>pre&s;ent di&s;per&s;ed condition,</HI> in which they are a people di&s;per&s;ed and &s;cattered by the Lord him&s;elf into all the corners of the earth, for in this &s;tate they are not the <HI>holy people,</HI> but a people for the pre&s;ent <HI>rejected</HI> of God, therefore called by God him&s;elf in this &s;tate <HI>Loammi, Not my people, Ho&s;.</HI> 1.9. but in the &s;cattering here &s;poken of, they are con&s;idered as the <HI>holy people,</HI> and therefore the &s;cattering of them is called <HI>the &s;cattering of the holy peo|ple;</HI> intimating, that this &s;cattering is not their &s;cattering by God, whil&s;t they continue in their rejected &s;tate; but a &s;cattering by &s;ome other, after they come out of that &s;tate, and are again the cho&s;en people of God; and indeed, were we to interpret this &s;cattering to be the act of God, then &s;urely (con&s;idering the per&s;on here &s;peaking, is the Lord him&s;elf, as compare ver. 7. with <HI>Rev.</HI> 10.5, 6.) he would rather have &s;poken in the fir&s;t per&s;on, when <HI>I &s;hall</HI> have accompli&s;hed to &s;catter the power of the holy people, than in the third, when <HI>he &s;hall.</HI></P>
<P>Que&s;t. <HI>But who then is this he?</HI></P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> That <HI>proud raging He,</HI> viz. <HI>the King of the North,</HI> &s;poken of <HI>Chap,</HI> 11, 40, 41, 42. who at the time
<PB N="58" REF="206">of <HI>Michaels</HI> &s;tanding up, which is the time called in the words, the fulfilling time, or rather the concluding time, when he &s;hall have accompli&s;hed to &s;catter the power of the holy people, all the&s;e things &s;hall be fulfilled, &s;hall come raging mad into the Land of <HI>Judea,</HI> where the new|ly come in <HI>Jews</HI> &s;hall have &s;eated them&s;elves again, <HI>Chap.</HI> 11.45. which day &s;hall be a time of &s;uch trouble (to that people more e&s;pecially) as never was upon earth, <HI>Chap.</HI> 1<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">.1. <HI>At that time</HI> (that is, when this raging King of the North, &s;poken of in the clo&s;e of the former <HI>Chapter</HI> &s;hall have &s;o di&s;tre&s;&s;ed the <HI>Jews</HI>) <HI>&s;hall</HI> Michael <HI>&s;tand up, and there &s;hall be a time of trouble, &s;uch as never was &s;ince there was a Nation;</HI> by which trouble they &s;hall be &s;cattered, and in a manner broken to peeces, as appears by <HI>Zacharies</HI> de&s;cription of this day, <HI>Zach.</HI> 14.1, 2, 3.</P>
<P>In a word therefore, as the <HI>time, times, and a half,</HI> which &s;ets forth the mo&s;t <HI>black day of the Gentiles</HI> is or|dered by God &s;o to fall out, as that it is here laid down in the more <HI>dark</HI> an&s;wer, as a mark of the <HI>fir&s;t, viz.</HI> 1290 dayes, which notes the <HI>beginning time;</HI> &s;o the <HI>&s;cattering the power of the holy people,</HI> or the <HI>Jews black day,</HI> is laid down as a mark of the <HI>&s;econd,</HI> viz. the 1335 dayes, or the <HI>compleating time</HI> of Wonders, when (as &s;aith the Text) <HI>all the&s;e things &s;hall be fulfilled.</HI></P>
<P>Now be&s;ides that rea&s;on that the thing it &s;elf carries with it as I have opened it, that what hath been &s;aid, <HI>viz.</HI> That the intent of the Holy Gho&s;t in the fir&s;t an&s;wer, is not to lay down any way, or rule for us to calculate the times by, but rather to give us evident marks, and &s;igns of either time, appears to me for the&s;e Rea&s;ons.</P>
<P N="1">1 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> as to the <HI>fir&s;t branch</HI> of the An&s;wer, name|ly, <HI>the time, times, and a half,</HI> we have no <HI>head of ac|count</HI> laid down where to begin them, if we begin them with the beginning of <HI>Johns</HI> 1260, they fall (as we have &s;aid) thirty years too &s;hort; if from the time <HI>Daniel</HI> &s;aw
<PB N="59" REF="206">the Vi&s;ion, above a thou&s;and years too &s;hort; where there|fore &s;hall we begin them, or how &s;hall we account if we cannot find a Head to begin our account upon? The Holy Gho&s;t where&s;oever he intends an account of times &s;hould be made up by us, doth either lay down &s;ome expre&s;s <HI>Head</HI> for us to begin upon, as in the following ver&s;es. And al&s;o <HI>Dan.</HI> 9.24, 25. or el&s;e leaves us to begin from the <HI>time</HI> of the Vi&s;ion, but here we have not the one, nor may we do the other.</P>
<P N="2">2 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> the <HI>&s;econd branch,</HI> viz. the &s;cattering of the power of the holy people, is <HI>no number,</HI> and therefore can be no other thing but a mark, <HI>ergo,</HI> mu&s;t the fir&s;t like|wi&s;e.</P>
<P N="3">3 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> if the <HI>intent of the fir&s;t an&s;wer</HI> be to give us any <HI>account</HI> of the time how long; then con&s;idering that this is the main drift of the <HI>&s;econd</HI> an&s;wer, it will follow, that either we have <HI>two diver&s;e</HI> accounts laid down in the two &s;everal an&s;wers, or but <HI>one;</HI> if <HI>two diver&s;e,</HI> how then are the an&s;wers the <HI>&s;ame,</HI> which we have before pro|ved; if <HI>one</HI> and the <HI>&s;ame,</HI> then is there <HI>Tautologie</HI> in the Text.</P>
<P N="4">4 And la&s;tly, This &s;eems to me to be the very rea&s;on why the an&s;wer was &s;o dark to <HI>Daniel,</HI> that he heard, but under&s;tood not, becau&s;e <HI>the force of the an&s;wer lay in &s;igns,</HI> which being not as then things vi&s;ible, or in being, <HI>Daniel</HI> is confounded within him&s;elf, and knows not what to make of the an&s;wer.</P>
<P>This being &s;o, that the <HI>time, times, and a half,</HI> are here laid down only by way of <HI>mark,</HI> it will much better agree to our &s;en&s;e, to take the <HI>time, times, and a half,</HI> for <HI>three years and a half,</HI> than to the other which interprets them, 1260 <HI>years;</HI> for that which is laid down purely as a <HI>mark,</HI> mu&s;t not be drawn out at <HI>length,</HI> for then it cea&s;eth to be a <HI>mark,</HI> and becomes a <HI>rule</HI> to mea&s;ure by, but mu&s;t ever be held and accounted for &s;ome noted point,
<PB N="60" REF="207">&s;ome remarkable action, by ob&s;erving which we may learn &s;omething el&s;e.</P>
<P>This Text being opened, there needs not much to be &s;aid to that other, Chap. 7.25. &s;ave only, that as the <HI>time, times, and a half,</HI> are here laid down by way of <HI>mark;</HI> &s;o likewi&s;e are the <HI>time, times, and dividing of time</HI> there. The thing they point at is not the <HI>duration</HI> of the little Horns Kingdom, how long it &s;hould continue from the time of its fir&s;t ri&s;e, but rather to &s;hew (which who ob|&s;erves it &s;hall find to be the very &s;cope of the place) <HI>when</HI> this bla&s;phemous, raging little Horn, who for a long time together had worn out the Saints, changed times and Laws, &s;hould have a period put to his boundle&s;s rage and ty|ranny, which (I &s;ay) is &s;et forth, not by mea&s;uring the time of his Kingdom, but by hinting (as a mark) a mo&s;t re|markable action which &s;hould be in the very concluding time of it, and indeed prove the break-neck of his King|dom, and that is the <HI>black day of the witne&s;&s;es killing,</HI> the end of which day &s;hould put a period to his Kingdom, the time of his rage and tyranny; which thing, though a great my&s;tery in <HI>Daniel,</HI> therefore when <HI>Daniel</HI> heard this the &s;econd time, <HI>Chap.</HI> 12. he confe&s;&s;eth that he <HI>under&s;tood</HI> it not, yet it is a thing cleerly revealed in <HI>John</HI> (as we have formerly noted) <HI>viz.</HI> that the end of Antichri&s;ts Kingdom, and the end of the three dayes and a half (the limited time of the Witne&s;&s;es lying dead) &s;hall fall at one and the <HI>&s;ame point;</HI> and therefore well may the <HI>time, time, and dividing of time,</HI> he laid down as a <HI>mark</HI> to &s;hew when a <HI>Period</HI> &s;hould be put to the <HI>Kingdom</HI> of the <HI>little Horn.</HI></P>
<P>Thus we &s;ee that <HI>Daniels time, times, and a half,</HI> is &s;o far from being <HI>repugnant</HI> to that <HI>Expo&s;ition</HI> I have given of <HI>Johns time, times, and a half,</HI> that indeed rightly ope|ned, we have hence a &s;trong <HI>confirmation</HI> of it, yea of our <HI>whole</HI> meth<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">d; for (as I &s;aid at fir&s;t) if <HI>Johns time, times, and a half,</HI> be not to be under&s;tood of 1260 years,
<PB N="61" REF="207">but of <HI>three years and a half</HI> only, then of nece&s;&s;ity mu&s;t the <HI>method</HI> of this 12 <HI>Chapter</HI> be, as <HI>I have</HI> &s;tated it.</P>
<P>If notwith&s;tanding all, any &s;hould yet &s;ay, That &s;urely it cannot be without &s;omething of the <HI>mind of God,</HI> that a <HI>time, times, and a half,</HI> that is, <HI>three years and a half</HI> re|duced into <HI>dayes,</HI> and the&s;e <HI>dayes</HI> into <HI>years</HI> again, &s;hould make the very &s;um of 1260 <HI>dayes,</HI> or <HI>years.</HI></P>
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> Yes, I am verily per&s;waded that there is much of the <HI>mind and wi&s;dome of God in it;</HI> but if I may nakedly &s;peak what I think is the <HI>mind of God</HI> herein, I take it to be this, That men when they will be curious (which is a thing the be&s;t are prone unto, and as &s;oon taken with as any one &s;nare I know) &s;hall even in the word it &s;elf find &s;omething to feed their curio&s;ity, whereby the &s;im|plicity of truth &s;hall be hidden to them. And indeed whether to go from a certain Prophetical &s;tile, a time for a year, to a new &s;tile, no where clearly found in all the Word, namely, a time or year put for a year of years, only upon this account, becau&s;e a time, times, and a half, <HI>i. e.</HI> three years and a half, will by this reduction amount to 1260 years; I &s;ay, whether it &s;eem not to &s;avour more of curio&s;ity than truth, and might not po&s;&s;ibly be by the wonderful wi&s;dome of God &s;o left in the Word on purpo&s;e, that truth till the di&s;covering time &s;hould come, might be the more veiled; I leave to the Spiritual and under&s;tanding Reader to judge.</P>
<P>The re&s;ult of the whole is, that the Prophecie of the twefth Chapter is not to be limited to the fir&s;t period; but brings us down even to the end of the &s;econd period, namely of the 1260 years, and con&s;equently the <HI>time, times, and a half;</HI> mentioned ver&s;. 14. is the &s;ame with the <HI>three dayes and a half,</HI> Chap. 11.9.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="6" TYPE="section">
<PB N="62" REF="208">
<HEAD><HI>SECT.</HI> VI.</HEAD>
<P>FRom what hath been &s;aid, many <HI>u&s;eful truths</HI> ari&s;e, which confirm us in the things before a&s;&s;erted, upon <HI>Chap.</HI> 11. and al&s;o are a good <HI>confirmation</HI> by rea&s;on of that &s;weet harmony of truth it carries with it, of the <HI>method</HI> laid down in this Chapter; as,</P>
<P N="1">1 That the <HI>three days and a half, Chap.</HI> 11.9. are not the <HI>&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">me</HI> with the <HI>one thou&s;and two hundred and &s;ixty days,</HI> becau&s;e we have a manife&s;t <HI>difference</HI> here made <HI>betwixt</HI> the <HI>time, times, and a half</HI> (which an&s;wers to the three days and a half) and the 1260 <HI>days.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2 That the <HI>killing of the Witne&s;&s;es</HI> &s;hall not be a <HI>ge|neral act,</HI> an act in all places at once, becau&s;e within the <HI>time, times, and a half,</HI> which is the term of the Witne&s;&s;es lying dead, there is el&s;ewhere a <HI>remnant</HI> of the Womans Seed &s;tanding up for Chri&s;t, <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 17.</P>
<P N="3">3 That the <HI>particular place in which the Witne&s;&s;es are to lye dead, is Germany,</HI> becau&s;e the War leading to their killing, is in that Land.</P>
<P N="4">4 That the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es in their killing time</HI> &s;hall be de|prived (if not totally, yet in a great mea&s;ure) of &s;uch outward Means and Ordinances as they enjoyed, though in a mournful and &s;uffering condition all the time of their Prophecy, yet notwith&s;tanding &s;hall have a principle of life kept alive in them, by the way of Chri&s;ts more &s;ecret working; therefore it is &s;aid of the Woman the 1260 days <HI>they fed her,</HI> v. 6. but in the time, times, and a half <HI>&s;he is non-ri&s;hed,</HI> ver&s;. 14.</P>
<P N="5">5 That the <HI>People, and Kindreds, and Nations, and Tongues, Chap.</HI> 11.9. are &s;uch per&s;ons who drive on a worldly and earthly intere&s;t, for they are here called the earth, ver&s;. 16. <HI>And the earth helped the woman.</HI></P>
<P N="6">6 And la&s;t, That <HI>the people of God</HI> el&s;ewhere, within
<PB N="63" REF="208">the time that the Witne&s;&s;es lie dead, &s;hall have a cloud upon them, and be brought into &s;ome &s;traits, for a War is attempted within the <HI>time, times, and a half,</HI> by the <HI>Dragon,</HI> upon the <HI>remnant</HI> of the Womans &s;eed, ver&s;. 17.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="7" TYPE="section">
<HEAD><HI>SECT.</HI> VII.</HEAD>
<P>I Shall conclude this Chapter with a word or two of en|quiry, as touching this <HI>remnant</HI> of the Womans &s;eed. Two things concerning them are worthy a &s;earch after.</P>
<P N="1">1 What people are here meant by this <HI>remnant of the Womans &s;eed,</HI> that the Dragon within the three days and a half makes war upon.</P>
<P N="2">2 How, or in what fen&s;e we are to conceive of <HI>this War made upon this remnant</HI> of the Womans &s;eed by the Dragon.</P>
<P>Concerning the fir&s;t, I &s;hall not pre&s;ume to determine any thing of this people, any further than the Holy Gho&s;t hath, who de&s;cribes them by two notable <HI>di&s;tingui&s;hing Characters,</HI> as willing thereby to mark them out from all the people, that within the time of the three days and a half, &s;hould be found in the world be&s;ides.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, <HI>They are &s;uch who keep the Commandements of God.</HI> By <HI>Commandements</HI> we are to under&s;tand tho&s;e <HI>Go&s;pel-In&s;titutions</HI> Chri&s;t gave to his people in command upon his Re&s;urrection, &s;o called, <HI>Act.</HI> 1.2. <HI>After that he through the Holy Gho&s;t had given Commandements unto the Apo&s;tles whom he had cho&s;en.</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, <HI>They &s;hall be &s;uch who have the re&s;timony of Chri&s;t.</HI> What is that?</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> A <HI>Spirit of Prophecy</HI> among&s;t them, <HI>Revel.</HI> 19.10. the te&s;timony of Je&s;us is the &s;pirit of <HI>Prophecy,</HI> i.e. they &s;hall be a people much looking into the <HI>Prophe|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ies</HI> of the la&s;t times, having a great in-&s;ight into what
<PB N="64" REF="209">God is about to do in the world, and abundance of faith in behalf of the cau&s;e of Chri&s;t, &s;o as not to fear it, though the &s;ame be oppo&s;ed by all the world, yea, and all the De|vils in Hell.</P>
<P>Such a <HI>People,</HI> who &s;hall be <HI>eminent</HI> above all others for the&s;e <HI>Characters,</HI> &s;hall be found in the world, at the time the Witne&s;&s;es lye dead; the&s;e &s;hall be as an eye-&s;ore to the <HI>Dragon,</HI> who &s;hall dread &s;ome <HI>mi&s;chief</HI> to ari&s;e to his Kingdom from them; and therefore he &s;hall <HI>wonderou&s;ly d<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;ire,</HI> and lay about him, if it may be to rid the&s;e out of the way, as fearing he &s;hall not be &s;ecure in his &s;eat whil&s;t they are in the world, and therefore having killed the Wit|ne&s;&s;es, his next attempt is upon the&s;e.</P>
<P>But now as to the &s;econd, How doth he attempt them, or what manner of wat is it that he makes upon them?</P>
<P>In order to my an&s;wer I premi&s;e;</P>
<P N="1">1 That <HI>that Dragon which is the grand Per&s;ecutor of the Woman</HI> throughout this Chapter, from whom all her &s;ufferings originally ari&s;e, <HI>is</HI> (according to the Holy Gho&s;ts interpretation, ver&s;. 9.) <HI>that old Serpent, the De|vil, and Satan;</HI> He &s;tands <HI>ready to devoure the Childe</HI> as &s;oon as born, ver&s;. 4. He <HI>wars with Michael,</HI> ver&s;. 7. He <HI>drives the Woman</HI> into the Wilderne&s;s, ver&s;. 13, 14. He <HI>ca&s;ts a floud</HI> after her to drown her, ver&s;. 15. He <HI>makes war</HI> after this with the remnant of her &s;eed, ver&s;. 17.</P>
<P N="2">2 That <HI>this Dragon, Satan, being a spiritual and an invi&s;ible enemy, and all the &s;ufferings of the Woman un|til this day, having been ever cau&s;ed by &s;ome outward and vi&s;ible means;</HI> Wee may not therefore conclude that it is by any immediate hand or act of the <HI>Dragon</HI> that the Woman &s;uffers, but by &s;ome mediate hand; that is, &s;ome thing or power acted by this <HI>Dragon,</HI> and made an in&s;trument to &s;erve his de&s;ign again&s;t the Woman; therefore is the <HI>Dragon</HI> &s;aid in his fighting to make u&s;e of Angels, or In&s;truments, ver&s;. 7. and al&s;o in his fal
<PB N="65" REF="209">hath Angels, or In&s;truments, falling with him, ver&s;. 9.</P>
<P N="3">3 This <HI>thing, or power acted by the Dragon to afflict the Woman, is &s;ometimes one thing, &s;ometimes another;</HI> &s;ometimes one thing onely, &s;ometimes more than one; accordingly as he hath permi&s;&s;ion to act this or that thing, and finds that by the acting of one thing, or of diver&s;e, he may be&s;t effect his own de&s;ign of di&s;tre&s;&s;ing, and if it might be, de&s;troying the Woman, therefore before <HI>the Bea&s;t</HI> comes in, he acts the power of the <HI>Pagan Empire;</HI> after the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> is come in, the power of the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> more in general, but more particularly, the power of the <HI>German Empire.</HI></P>
<P N="4">4 That <HI>thing or power which is mo&s;t commonly or pro|perly governed by him, is in a di&s;tinct con&s;ideration from all other things, or Powers, called by the name of the Dragon.</HI> So of all the Powers in the world, the <HI>Roman</HI> Power in the Primitive Ages goes under the name of <HI>the Dragon,</HI> ver&s;. 3. of all the Powers &s;ubjected to <HI>the Bea&s;t,</HI> the Power of <HI>the German Empire,</HI> is called the <HI>Dragon,</HI> ver&s;. 7.13.</P>
<P N="5">5 Hence it follows, <HI>That tho&s;e attempts made again&s;t the Woman, or any of her &s;eed, by that power which the Dragon properly governs and rules, and which in the phra&s;e of the Holy Gho&s;t, u&s;ed in this Chapter, takes denomination from him, are to be called the at|tempt or war of the vi&s;ible Dragon again&s;t the Woman;</HI> but tho&s;e attempts which through the &s;ubtilty of the <HI>old Serpent,</HI> &s;ecretly creeping into, and acting other powers than tho&s;e, which he properly and commonly rules and governs, and which do not take denomination from him, are made again&s;t the Woman, or any of her &s;eed, it is more proper to call them the War of the invi&s;ible <HI>Dragon.</HI></P>
<P>This ground gained from the manife&s;t truth of the Text, I come now to give in my an&s;wer, which is;</P>
<P>That I conceive, That as the <HI>Dragon</HI> throughout his Chapter goes under a <HI>two-fold Notion,</HI> or conndera|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">on.</P>
<PB N="66" REF="210">
<P N="1">1 The <HI>invi&s;ible Dragon, Satan,</HI> which is the <HI>Dragon</HI> governing.</P>
<P N="2">2 The <HI>vi&s;ible Dragon</HI> (in ancient times the <HI>Roman Empire,</HI> in latter times the <HI>German</HI>) which is the <HI>Dragon</HI> governed; &s;o &s;hall there be a <HI>double War</HI> rai&s;ed again&s;t this <HI>remnant</HI> of the Womans &s;eed.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, The <HI>invi&s;ible Dragon,</HI> who acts the <HI>vi&s;ible,</HI> and therefore is before him, &s;hall in the fir&s;t place attempt a <HI>War</HI> upon this <HI>remnant.</HI></P>
<P>Que&s;t. <HI>But how &s;hall he do it?</HI></P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> Look how the <HI>invi&s;ible Dragon</HI> acts in <HI>killing</HI> of the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es,</HI> &s;o &s;hall he act in this. The <HI>in|vi&s;ible Dragon</HI> kills the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es,</HI> by acting the power of the <HI>vi&s;ible Dragon,</HI> or the <HI>German Empire,</HI> to do it; accordingly the <HI>invi&s;ible Dragon</HI> &s;hall attempt a <HI>War</HI> upon this <HI>remnant</HI> of the Womans &s;eed, by acting in an <HI>in|vi&s;ible</HI> way tho&s;e <HI>powers</HI> under whom this <HI>remnant</HI> of the Womans &s;eed &s;hall be.</P>
<P>Now that <HI>&s;uch</HI> a War within this <HI>time</HI> &s;hall be made upon this <HI>remnant</HI> by the <HI>invi&s;ible Dragon,</HI> is clear, be|cau&s;e (as I have formerly &s;aid) it is a thing both rational and of great u&s;e, <HI>That the whole my&s;tical body &s;hould come under &s;ome mea&s;ure of &s;ufferings in that time wherein the Witne&s;&s;es lye dead.</HI> Now becau&s;e this <HI>rem|nant</HI> &s;hall not come into the <HI>mouth</HI> of the <HI>vi&s;ible Dra|gon,</HI> for therefore (as I conceive) are they called a <HI>remnant,</HI> becau&s;e kept and re&s;erved by God from the <HI>mouth of the vi&s;ible Dragon,</HI> at the time their Fellow-Brethren are in it; it is therefore nece&s;&s;ary, to the end there might bee in this <HI>remnant</HI> a &s;ympathie with their Brethren in their afflictions, that they &s;hould within this time have &s;ome attempt made upon them by the <HI>invi&s;ible Dragon.</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, The <HI>vi&s;ible Dragon</HI> &s;hall al&s;o towards the end of this time make an <HI>attempt</HI> upon this
<PB N="67" REF="210"><HI>remnant,</HI> which is clear, becau&s;e that <HI>Dragen</HI> that kills the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es,</HI> doth afterwards make an <HI>attempt</HI> upon this <HI>remnant;</HI> but the <HI>Dragon killing</HI> the Witne&s;&s;es, was not the <HI>invi&s;ible</HI> only, but the <HI>vi&s;ible</HI> al&s;o; therefore the <HI>vi|&s;ible Dragon,</HI> as well as the <HI>invi&s;ible,</HI> &s;hall <HI>attempt</HI> a War upon this <HI>remnant.</HI></P>
<P>Que&s;t. <HI>But how &s;hall he do it?</HI></P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> By <HI>drawing together the whole, or a prin|cipal part of the Papal power, whereof the vi&s;ible Dragon, or German Empire, &s;hall bee chief, to in|gage in an open War again&s;t this remnant, if it may bee, to cut them off;</HI> but what the i&s;&s;ue of this at|tempt &s;hall be, we &s;hall &s;ee pre&s;ently, in opening the fourteenth Chapter, which (as I have &s;aid) follows as the next thing in order after this. I onely &s;ay here, <HI>That this remnant of the Womans Seed,</HI> &s;hall not &s;uffer greatly, either by the attempt of the <HI>invi&s;ible Dragon,</HI> or the <HI>vi&s;ible;</HI> for ob&s;erve, it is not &s;aid, <HI>He made War, but went to make War (<GAP DESC="foreign">) i.e.</HI> endeavoured the thing, but ere the <HI>invi&s;ible Dragon,</HI> or the <HI>vi&s;ible</HI> can do this remnant much hurt, Chri&s;t &s;teps in, and prevents.</P>
<P>Thus much concerning the twelfth Chapter.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="68" REF="211">
<HEAD>CHAP. III. <HI>Wherein is &s;hewed the &s;tate of the</HI> Witne&s;&s;es <HI>about, and in the time of their ri&s;e, from</HI> Rev. 14. opened.</HEAD>
<DIV3 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD><HI>SECT.</HI> I.</HEAD>
<P>_THE &s;tream of Expo&s;itors, as they make application of the things Prophe&s;ied of in the 12 Chapter to the fir&s;t <HI>period,</HI> or the time before the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> aro&s;e; &s;o al&s;o do they of this Prophecy that concerns the 144000 to the &s;econd <HI>period,</HI> or the 42 months of the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> judging the&s;e 144000 to be tho&s;e <HI>Saints</HI> that &s;hould in &s;everal places within this time bear <HI>witne&s;s</HI> again&s;t the Bea&s;t; and accordingly they look upon the fulfilling of this Prophecy to be a thing pa&s;t.</P>
<P>For my own part, as I &s;aw my &s;elf con&s;trained (not out of any de&s;ire of &s;ingularity, but for truths &s;ake) to baulk the <HI>common road,</HI> and &s;eek a new way upon the 12 Chap|ter: So have I the &s;ame con&s;traint lying upon me here, to di&s;&s;ent from the <HI>common opinion,</HI> and &s;eek another. My Rea&s;ons are,</P>
<P N="1">1 <HI>Rea&s;on,</HI> becau&s;e this 144000 have their &s;tation upon <HI>Mount Sion,</HI> which noteth a <HI>fixed &s;tate,</HI> P&s;al. 125.1. <HI>Tho&s;e which tru&s;t in the Lord &s;hall be as Mount Sion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever.</HI> But the abode of the Church all the 1260 dayes is in the <HI>Wilder|ne&s;s,</HI> noting a <HI>moveable</HI> uncertain condition, which at that <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> in.</P>
<P><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> the Church and people of God in time of old
<PB N="69" REF="211">(to who&s;e &s;tate doubtle&s;s we have here an Allu&s;ion) could not be &s;aid to be footed upon <HI>Mount Sion,</HI> whil&s;t they were wandring in the <HI>Wilderne&s;s;</HI> no more is it proper to &s;ay, that the&s;e 144000 in the <HI>Churches Wilderne&s;s-&s;tate,</HI> &s;hould yet &s;tand upon <HI>Mount Sion,</HI> yea it &s;eems to me, that this Character is given the 144000, and that in op|po&s;ition to the Womans former &s;tate, which was, and for a long time together had been in the <HI>Wilderne&s;s.</HI></P>
<P>In a word, it notes thus much to me, that this 144000 are a <HI>People</HI> who&s;e condition, after once they are gotten upon their legs, &s;hall be <HI>fixed</HI> and <HI>&s;table,</HI> and not &s;ubject to &s;uch <HI>motions</HI> and <HI>mutations,</HI> as was the Womans <HI>former</HI> &s;tate in the <HI>time</HI> of her <HI>Wilderne&s;s-condition.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2 <HI>Rea&s;on,</HI> becau&s;e all the <HI>time</HI> of the 42 months, the <HI>waters were &s;ubjected</HI> to the Whore, who &s;its upon them, Rev. 17.1. <HI>Come hither, I will &s;hew thee the judge|ment of the great Whore, that &s;itteth upon many waters;</HI> but at this time there is a voyce of many waters crying again&s;t her, ver&s;. 2. <HI>And I heard a voyce from Heaven, as the voyce of many waters.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3 Becau&s;e the <HI>condition</HI> of the Church all the 42 months, the 1260 dayes, is a &s;ad <HI>mournful condition,</HI> they wear <HI>Sackcloth,</HI> they are under the power of <HI>Babylon,</HI> and therefore hang up their harps, as did <HI>I&s;rael</HI> of old, whil&s;t in <HI>Babylon,</HI> P&s;al. 137.1, 2. But the <HI>condition</HI> of the Church at this time is <HI>wonderou&s;ly joyful,</HI> they play with their Harps, <HI>Sing a new Song,</HI> ver&s;. 2, 3.</P>
<P N="4">4 Becau&s;e all the <HI>time</HI> of the 42 months, <HI>Chri&s;t hath no Throne vi&s;ible</HI> in the world, but the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> hath the <HI>Throne.</HI> But at this day Chri&s;t hath a <HI>Throne,</HI> ver&s;. 3. <HI>They &s;ung as it were a new Song before the Throne,</HI> ver&s;. 5. <HI>They are without fault before the Throne of God.</HI></P>
<P N="5">5 Becau&s;e the <HI>Characteri&s;ing</HI> this 144000 by this, <HI>the&s;e follow the Lamb whither &s;oever he goes,</HI> is to me
<PB N="70" REF="212">a cleer <HI>intimation</HI> that the <HI>Lamb</HI> was now upon his <HI>march</HI> to his <HI>Kingdom</HI> in the time of their &s;tanding up, yea had gone a <HI>good &s;tep,</HI> &s;o far as <HI>many</HI> of his <HI>fir&s;t</HI> followers had <HI>left</HI> him, and the&s;e only <HI>clave</HI> to him, which is not <HI>appli|able</HI> to the &s;tate of the Church in the <HI>Wilderne&s;s,</HI> and that many hundreds of yeers ago.</P>
<P N="6">6 Becau&s;e that <HI>preaching of the Go&s;pel,</HI> which immedi|ately &s;ucceeds their &s;tanding up, <HI>cannot</HI> without a manife&s;t forcing of the Text, <HI>be applied</HI> to the <HI>time</HI> of <HI>Waldus, Wickliffe,</HI> or any time already pa&s;t, as will plainly appear when I come to open tho&s;e words.</P>
<P N="7">7 Becau&s;e their <HI>&s;tanding</HI> up is not until the <HI>very hour</HI> of Gods judgement upon <HI>Babylon</HI> is come, ver&s;. 7. <HI>Fear God, and give glory to him, for the hour of his judge|ment is come;</HI> What hour is this?</P>
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> The <HI>hour</HI> of <HI>Babylons</HI> downfal, who&s;e judge|ment comes upon her in an hour, <HI>Rev.</HI> 18.10. <HI>For in one hour is thy judgement come;</HI> and therefore to &s;hew this to be the meaning, we have a Herauld in the next ver&s;e proclaiming the news of it, ver&s;. 8. <HI>And there followed another Angel, &s;aying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen.</HI></P>
<P>For the&s;e <HI>Rea&s;ons,</HI> and &s;ome others, I could urge, I cannot look upon this <HI>Prophecie</HI> as <HI>contempori&s;ing</HI> with the 42 <HI>months</HI> of the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> the 1260 <HI>dayes</HI> of the <HI>Wit|ne&s;&s;es</HI> and <HI>Woman,</HI> but rather as a <HI>Prophecie</HI> there to <HI>take beginning,</HI> where the 12 Chapter <HI>leaves</HI> us, which is about the <HI>end</HI> of the <HI>time, times, and a half,</HI> with the <HI>attempt</HI> of the <HI>Dragon</HI> again&s;t the <HI>remnant</HI> of the <HI>Womans</HI> Seed.</P>
<P>And &s;o in an orderly manner things &s;ucceed thus. The <HI>Dragon</HI> having killed the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es,</HI> endeavours to <HI>rid</HI> the world of that <HI>remnant</HI> of the Womans &s;eed, that <HI>&s;tand up</HI> for Chri&s;t in &s;ome other place.</P>
<P>Now the Lord Je&s;us &s;eeing this, that the <HI>Dragons</HI> rage is &s;uch, that he cannot content him&s;elf with that <HI>unpara<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">eld
<PB N="71" REF="212">injury</HI> offered to him, namely to <HI>kill</HI> his <HI>Witne&s;&s;es,</HI> hereby indeavouring to leave him without <HI>witne&s;s</HI> in the world; but becau&s;e there is yet a <HI>little remnant</HI> in a corner of the world that <HI>&s;tand up</HI> for him to bear forth his name and glory in the world, therefore the malicious raging <HI>Dragon</HI> mu&s;t de&s;ign upon them, and labour to root them out: <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> hereupon is &s;o mightily <HI>provoked,</HI> and full of <HI>wrath</HI> and <HI>fury,</HI> and &s;o <HI>jealous</HI> for his name, and his bowels do &s;o <HI>work</HI> for his <HI>remnant,</HI> that he cannot now any longer for|bear to behold the cruel rage and in&s;olency of the enemy, but in&s;tantly appears (by a more glorious manife&s;tation of him&s;elf than ever before) upon <HI>Mount Sion, i. e.</HI> in the mid&s;t of his people now come thither, calling together his <HI>remnant</HI> about him, by his pre&s;ence incouraging them not to <HI>fear</HI> this great and di&s;mal <HI>attempt,</HI> and a&s;&s;u|ring them that the <HI>Dragon,</HI> ere he &s;hall have his will upon them, &s;hall beat him out of the field. And here will be the fir&s;t glorious Rendezvouz in <HI>Canaan,</HI> all done before this day is to be reckoned but the <HI>War</HI> on the other &s;ide <HI>Jordan;</HI> that War was with a <HI>part,</HI> the <HI>Lamb</HI> with his followers encountring <HI>&s;uch</HI> only as &s;tood in his <HI>way,</HI> and hindred his <HI>march</HI> towards the <HI>borders</HI> of the <HI>Promi&s;ed Land,</HI> but this will be with the <HI>whole</HI> body of the <HI>Canaanites</HI> under con|duct of the <HI>Dragon,</HI> who &s;hall <HI>fall</HI> before the <HI>Lamb,</HI> and his 144000.</P>
<P>So that I &s;ay, we are to <HI>begin</HI> the <HI>Prophecie</HI> of the 14 Chapter, with the <HI>Dragons attempt</HI> again&s;t the <HI>remnant</HI> of the Womans &s;eed, in the very <HI>concluding</HI> time of the 1260 <HI>dayes.</HI></P>
<P>Should I &s;ay, That we we are to begin this <HI>Prophecy</HI> of the 14 Chapter from about the <HI>end</HI> of the <HI>Bea&s;ts</HI> 42 <HI>months,</HI> Chap. 13. and that <HI>John</HI> after he had &s;een the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> acting his part upon the Stage, and now going off, beheld pre&s;ently the <HI>Lamb</HI> coming up with his 14400, it amounts to the &s;ame with the other; &s;o that whether
<PB N="72" REF="213">we <HI>begin</HI> from the end of the 12 Chapter, or of the 13. the beginning is &s;tated <HI>aright,</HI> either falling to be in the very <HI>concluding time</HI> of the 42 <HI>months,</HI> the 1260 <HI>dayes.</HI> But I rather choo&s;e to begin from the <HI>Dragons at|tempt.</HI></P>
<P N="1">1 Becau&s;e by that <HI>beginning</HI> we have (as before wee have &s;hewed) in the 12 and 14 Chapters, the <HI>Prophecie</HI> of the Woman <HI>compleat.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2 Becau&s;e that <HI>attempt</HI> &s;eems to be the rea&s;on of the <HI>Lambs appearance.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3 Becau&s;e (as I have al&s;o &s;aid) the 13 Chapter comes in by way of <HI>digre&s;&s;ion,</HI> and the <HI>Prophecie</HI> as to the point of <HI>time</HI> and order, is <HI>compleat</HI> without it.</P>
<P><HI>Object.</HI> Babylons <HI>downfal</HI> is &s;poken of after this Rendezvouz, ver&s;. 8. And the <HI>Bea&s;ts followers</HI> are after|wards threatned for <HI>wor&s;hipping</HI> the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> his <HI>Image, receiving his Marks,</HI> ver&s;. 9, 10, 11. Therefore this <HI>Prophecie</HI> mu&s;t <HI>contempori&s;e</HI> with the <HI>time</HI> of the <HI>Bea&s;t.</HI></P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> This &s;tands upon a &s;uppo&s;ition, which I deny, <HI>viz.</HI> That 42 <HI>months, is the utmo&s;t term of the Bea&s;ts continuance, and therefore Romes downfal mu&s;t bee within that time;</HI> whereas I affirm (but &s;hall here wave the proof of it) that <HI>the</HI> 42 <HI>months is only the time allot|ted the Bea&s;t to continue a Tyrant, raging and tyran|nizing over the holy City, the Saints, and the Nations, and not the time of his continuance, which &s;hall be for &s;ome time after this term is run out,</HI> within which time <HI>Rome</HI> &s;hall be <HI>ruined,</HI> and therefore is its <HI>de&s;truction</HI> mentioned after this <HI>Rendezvouz</HI> of the 144000, and al|&s;o the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> &s;till, even within this <HI>time</HI> to his la&s;t, &s;hall have many cleaving and adhering to him, who are the per|&s;ons here warned.</P>
<P>I know not any other Objection again&s;t this our me|thod, that de&s;erves a particular An&s;wer. Something el&s;e
<PB N="73" REF="213">there is by &s;ome &s;aid for the common method, but he that &s;hall ob&s;erve our following Di&s;cour&s;e, will find, that either it falls of it &s;elf, as I have &s;tated the thing; or if not, may if he plea&s;e, gather up that which will be a particular An&s;wer to the thing (po&s;&s;ibly) where his &s;cruple lyes.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="2" TYPE="section">
<HEAD><HI>SECT</HI> II.</HEAD>
<P>TWo things from our Di&s;cour&s;e in the former Section are <HI>evident,</HI></P>
<P>Fir&s;t, <HI>That the Head of this Propheey, is to be pla|ced above a hundred years lower than the Head of the Vials;</HI> And indeed were there nothing el&s;e to be urged, yet he that &s;hall but compare the per&s;ons and time when the Vials began to be poured forth, with the per&s;ons here &s;poken of, and this time, will find that to be the more early, this the latter; for,</P>
<P N="1">1 Tho&s;e that pour out the Vials have a <HI>mixture of fire</HI> with their Sea of gla&s;s, ver&s;. 3. <HI>And I &s;aw as it were a Sea of gla&s;s mingled with fire,</HI> noting (as Mr. <HI>Bright|man</HI> ob&s;erves) that though they had attained &s;ome <HI>de|grees of purity,</HI> yet was it not &s;uch, but &s;till there was a <HI>mixture of fire,</HI> hot jars, contentions, divi&s;ions, making of parties even among&s;t the Reformers them&s;elves. But the&s;e here have all their <HI>Fathers name written in their foreheads,</HI> ver&s;. 1. &s;ignifying (as I &s;hall &s;hew anon) a high pitch of union.</P>
<P N="2">2 Tho&s;e that begin the work of the Vials, their chief eminency lies in this, that they were got <HI>clear of the more gro&s;s defilements, and idolatries of Antichri&s;t,</HI> &s;et forth under the expre&s;&s;ions of <HI>the Bea&s;t, his Image, Mark, the number of his name. I &s;aw them that had gotten the victory over the Bea&s;t, and over his Image, and o|ver his Mark, and over the number of his name.</HI>
<PB N="74" REF="214">But the&s;e have attained a <HI>higher pitch</HI> to renounce as well the more <HI>&s;ecret defilements</HI> by worldly &s;elfi&s;h intere&s;ts, as the more gro&s;s pollutions of Antichri&s;t, which is the thing noted (as I have el&s;e-where ob&s;erved) by their being <HI>redee|med from the earth,</HI> ver&s;. 3.</P>
<P N="3">3 Tho&s;e that begin the work of the Vials, were a party <HI>redeemed and picked from among the Idolatrous rabble of the Bea&s;ts wor&s;hippers;</HI> But the&s;e are a party picked and redeemed from <HI>among&s;t men,</HI> ver&s;. 4. that is, from a|mong&s;t the Reformers them&s;elves. Hence the Song the&s;e &s;ing is <HI>a new Song,</HI> that none el&s;e can learn, ver&s;. 3. <HI>i.e.</HI> it is a Song that goes in a higher, and more &s;elf-denying note, than the Song that was &s;ung when the Vials began to be poured forth; and if we may &s;ay there is an alteration in the matter, I conceive it lies in this, the Song &s;ung at this day &s;hall be more <HI>purely Evangelical</HI> than that was; the <HI>Song</HI> of the Vials is a <HI>mixed</HI> Song, partly of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> part|ly of the <HI>Lamb,</HI> &s;omething was in that, as well of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> more <HI>dark</HI> admini&s;tration, as of the <HI>Lambs</HI> more <HI>clear;</HI> But this &s;hall be <HI>purely of the Lamb,</HI> nothing of <HI>Mo|&s;es,</HI> no <HI>legality</HI> in this <HI>Song;</HI> but all is of the <HI>Lamb.</HI></P>
<P N="4">4 That Character of the&s;e, ver&s;. 4. <HI>The&s;e are they that follow the Lamb whither&s;oever he goes,</HI> doth (as I have &s;aid before) clearly <HI>intimate to me,</HI> that this <HI>time</HI> is not the Lambs fir&s;t &s;etting forth, he had been marching before, <HI>viz.</HI> from the fir&s;t day the <HI>Vials</HI> began to be pou|red forth, yea <HI>fighting</HI> before, for the <HI>fight</HI> between <HI>Michael</HI> and the <HI>Dragon, chap.</HI> 12. and that betwixt the <HI>Lamb</HI> and the Kings of the <HI>Earth, Chap.</HI> 17. do both <HI>pre|cede</HI> this time; by con&s;equence therefore this mu&s;t be <HI>be|low</HI> the <HI>Head</HI> of the Vials, for the <HI>Lamb</HI> began not his <HI>march</HI> till <HI>the Vials</HI> began to be poured forth.</P>
<P N="5">5 <HI>John</HI> &s;ees <HI>no Throne</HI> as yet when <HI>the Vials</HI> began to be poured out, becau&s;e <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> as then, was but breaking in upon the world; but now (as we ob&s;erved before) <HI>John</HI>
<PB N="75" REF="214">&s;ees a <HI>Throne,</HI> noting, that at this day <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> hath gotten &s;ome footing in the world, &s;o much, as in de&s;pight of them he can, and doth erect a <HI>Throne.</HI> And this con&s;ideration will &s;ave us an an&s;wer to that which &s;eems to he as an Ob|jection in the words, again&s;t the thing we are &s;peaking; <HI>viz. That this one hundred &s;orty four thou&s;and, at their fir&s;t Rendezvouz, have no Temple, but tho&s;e who pour out the Vials had, it &s;eems therefore that they &s;hould be the lower, and the&s;e the higher.</HI></P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> Though true, no particular mention is made of a <HI>Temple,</HI> but the&s;e are onely &s;aid to &s;tand upon <HI>Mount Sion,</HI> yet have they that which is more, namely, a <HI>Throne,</HI> and this tho&s;e who began the work of the Vials had not, nor indeed could they then, becau&s;e Chri&s;t erects him&s;elf a <HI>Throne,</HI> by ca&s;ting down the <HI>Thrones</HI> of <HI>the Bea&s;t;</HI> but this work is done by the Vials, and therefore there could not be a <HI>Throne</HI> before.</P>
<P>From the whole it is clear, That the <HI>Head</HI> of the <HI>Vials</HI> is to be placed <HI>higher</HI> than the <HI>Head</HI> of this <HI>Pro|phecie.</HI></P>
<P N="1">1 Hence we have done well to <HI>place the beginning of the Vials,</HI> as we have done in our Di&s;cour&s;e upon the <HI>Vials.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2 Hence that <HI>opinion</HI> which makes this Prophecie to <HI>contempori&s;e</HI> with the <HI>time</HI> of the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es,</HI> and the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> is di&s;proved, and our former method <HI>con|firmed.</HI></P>
<P>Should any here ask me a rea&s;on why the <HI>Head of the Vials is placed &s;omewhat upwards in the Bea&s;ts Kingdom, and the head of this Chapter about the end of it.</HI></P>
<P><HI>I An&s;wer,</HI> Becau&s;e the <HI>principal</HI> work of this Chap|ter, to do which, this 144000 are rai&s;ed up, is to <HI>&s;mite Antichri&s;t</HI> in his Civil <HI>Inonarchical</HI> power, thereby to take his Kingdom from him, and to bring the Kingdoms
<PB N="76" REF="215">of this world under the <HI>Scepter</HI> of Chri&s;t; but now be|fore <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> comes to deal with the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> in his <HI>Civil Power,</HI> he deals with him upon another account, namely, of his <HI>encroachments</HI> upon Chri&s;ts <HI>&s;piritual</HI> rights, to re|cover them out of his hands, as I have ob&s;erved upon the <HI>Vials,</HI> p. 260, 261, 262.</P>
<P>Now becau&s;e the <HI>Vials</HI> &s;et forth the whole of Chri&s;ts dealing with Antichri&s;t in a way of wrath; as well his dealing with him upon a Spiritual account, as a Civil, therefore is the head of the <HI>Vials</HI> &s;eated more upwards in Antichri&s;ts Kingdom, than the Head of this Chapter which is placed at the end of it. This further confirmes me, that in my Di&s;cour&s;e upon the <HI>Vials,</HI> I have been guided to place the beginning of the Vials aright, and in its proper place.</P>
<P>Secondly, Another thing following from our Di&s;cour&s;e in the fore-going Section, is, <HI>That this</HI> 144000 <HI>which &s;tand with the Lamb upon Mount Sion, are not the &s;ame with the &s;ealed</HI> 144000, <HI>Chap.</HI> 7. which al&s;o farther ap|pears.</P>
<P N="1">1 <HI>Rea&s;on,</HI> Becau&s;e <HI>the &s;ealed one hundred forty four thou&s;and,</HI> are &s;ealed by way of <HI>pre&s;ervation</HI> again&s;t &s;ome evill approaching; but this <HI>one hundred forty four thou&s;and</HI> are <HI>gathered together</HI> to do &s;ome work for Chri&s;t.</P>
<P N="2">2 The <HI>&s;ealed</HI> 144000. are &s;ealed before any of the <HI>Trum|pets &s;ound;</HI> but this <HI>one hundred forty four thou&s;and</HI> are not <HI>congregated</HI> till about the time of the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es ri&s;e,</HI> which is not till the latter end of the <HI>&s;ixth Trumpet, Rev.</HI> 11.13, 14, 15. That the &s;ealed One hundred forty four thou&s;and are &s;ealed before any of the Trumpets &s;ound, is clear;</P>
<P N="1">1 Becau&s;e the very plagues that they are &s;ealed for pre&s;ervation again&s;t, are no other but the plagues of the <HI>Trumpets;</HI> The plagues them&s;elves are mentioned Chap.
<PB N="77" REF="215">7.3. <HI>Hurt not the Earth, neither the Sea, nor the Trees, till we have &s;ealed the Servants of our God in the fore head.</HI> Three &s;orts of plagues here are: 1 A <HI>plague upon the earth;</HI> this is expre&s;ly the plague of the <HI>fir&s;t Trumpet,</HI> Chap. 8.7. <HI>The fir&s;t Angel &s;ounded, and there followed hail, and fire mingled with blood, and they were ca&s;t upon the earth.</HI> 2. <HI>A plague upon the Sea;</HI> this is the plague of the <HI>&s;econd Trumpet,</HI> v. 8. <HI>And the &s;econd Angel &s;ounded, and as it were a great Mountain burning with fire was ca&s;t into the Sea, and the third part of the Sea became blood,</HI> ver&s;. 9. <HI>And the third part of the creatures that were in the Sea, and had life, dyed, and the third part of &s;hips were de&s;troyed.</HI> 3. <HI>A plague upon the Trees;</HI> this is a part of the plague of the <HI>fir&s;t Trumpet,</HI> ver&s;. 7. <HI>The third part of Trees were burnt up, and all green gra&s;s was burnt up.</HI> Now the <HI>plagues</HI> being the <HI>very plagues</HI> of the <HI>two fir&s;t Trumpets,</HI> it nece&s;&s;arily follows, that this <HI>&s;ealing</HI> is, in time and order, before any of the <HI>Trum|pets.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2 Becau&s;e an expre&s;s command is given to the Locu&s;ts under the fifth Trumpet, that <HI>they &s;hould hurt none but tho&s;e onely, which had not the &s;eal of God in their fore|heads,</HI> Chap. 9.4. A clear Argument the <HI>&s;ealing</HI> was higher, for the <HI>&s;eal</HI> was then &s;et upon Gods Servants, and not a thing to be &s;et for future, and undoubtedly the words point us back to that very <HI>&s;ealing,</HI> Chap. 7. which was before; yet the &s;eventh Seal, which u&s;hers in all the Trum|pets, was opened.</P>
<P>The re&s;ult is, <HI>That the One hundred forty four thou|&s;and, which &s;tand with the Lamb upon Mount</HI> Sion, <HI>are not the &s;ame per&s;ons, neither do they belong to the &s;ame time, with the One hundred forty four thou&s;and &s;ealed ones,</HI> the one belong to the <HI>fir&s;t times of the Bea&s;t,</HI> the other to his <HI>la&s;t;</HI> the one are a company &s;ealed at the time of the <HI>Bea&s;ts</HI> coming in the other are a company
<PB N="78" REF="216">congregated at the time of his going out.</P>
<P>To &s;ay, becau&s;e the one are &s;aid to be <HI>&s;ealed in their foreheads,</HI> Chap. 7.3. the other to have the <HI>Fathers name written in their foreheads,</HI> Chap. 14.1. therefore they mu&s;t be the <HI>&s;ame per&s;ons,</HI> and either Prophecy relate to the <HI>&s;ame time,</HI> would have &s;ome colour of rea&s;on, in ca&s;e the thing it &s;elf, by other &s;ub&s;tantial Arguments, were fir&s;t proved, but till that is done, to urge this alone, is to begge the Que&s;tion.</P>
<P>Nay, could the thing be proved, it would yet be a que|&s;tion, Whether the <HI>Seal,</HI> and the <HI>Fathers Name,</HI> are <HI>one</HI> and the <HI>&s;ame</HI> thing? and put ca&s;e they are, another que|&s;tion will ari&s;e, Whether the <HI>end</HI> of &s;ealing be not one thing, and the <HI>end</HI> of writing the Fathers name another? and if the ends be di&s;tinct, then may the times al&s;o. All this mu&s;t be throughly cleared, before any Argument can be drawn hence.</P>
<P>Now the <HI>Rea&s;ons</HI> why the <HI>Congregated</HI> ones are &s;et forth by the number of 144000 which is the number of the &s;ealed ones, I take to be,</P>
<P N="1">1 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> the <HI>number of</HI> 144000. were the <HI>Lambs cho&s;en number</HI> formerly, and therefore they are the <HI>cho|&s;en number</HI> &s;till.</P>
<P N="2">2 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> One hundred forty four thou&s;and were the <HI>number he went off the &s;tage with,</HI> when for a time he gave way to the <HI>Bea&s;t;</HI> and therefore they are the <HI>number</HI> which now (the Bea&s;ts time being out) he comes on with again.</P>
<P>As for any <HI>My&s;tery</HI> in the <HI>Number it &s;elf,</HI> it doth not appear to me that there is <HI>any,</HI> the u&s;e of this number, Chap. 14. being with allu&s;ion to the &s;ame Number, Chap. 7. and as for any My&s;tery there, I cann &s;ee none, &s;ave onely that <HI>Twelve times twelve</HI> (that being the way of numbering there, twelve, which is a definite num|ber being put for an indefinite) makes up One hundred
<PB N="79" REF="216">forty four, and therefore &s;o many <HI>twelve thou&s;ands</HI> are called one hundred forty four thou&s;and.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="3" TYPE="section">
<HEAD><HI>SECT.</HI> III.</HEAD>
<P>THe former things premi&s;ed, to the end wee may know where we are, I now come to the <HI>matter of this Prophecy,</HI> which &s;ets forth the <HI>&s;tate</HI> of the Church, within the <HI>third period;</HI> i. e. from the <HI>ending</HI> of the Forty two Moneths, the One thou&s;and two hundred and &s;ixty days, until the <HI>beginning</HI> of the One thou&s;and years.</P>
<P>My intent as touching it, is not to carry an expo&s;ition through the whole, examining as I go each particular pa&s;|&s;age, with the minds of Writers upon it, that being a work which would prove tedious to my &s;elf, and po&s;&s;i|bly to the Reader, but onely to give my own thoughts, as touching &s;ome things that are of more general concernment, and will be of more &s;pecial u&s;e.</P>
<P>I &s;hall &s;um up all within the compa&s;s of the&s;e four things;</P>
<P N="1">1 Who <HI>the&s;e one hundred forty four thou&s;and &s;hall be.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2 The <HI>cau&s;e and manner of this glorious Rendezvouz,</HI> and the &s;tate or condition this 144000 upon their fir&s;t congregating &s;hall be in.</P>
<P N="3">3 The <HI>excellent di&s;tingui&s;hing Characters</HI> of them.</P>
<P N="4">4 How <HI>the work &s;hall go on, after once</HI> it is put into their hands.</P>
<P>As touching the fir&s;t, <HI>Who this one hundred forty four thou&s;and &s;hall be;</HI> I an&s;wer, They &s;hall be <HI>the Gentile-Saints;</HI> My Rea&s;ons are,</P>
<P N="1">1 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> they are <HI>the renmnant of that Womans &s;eed,</HI>
<PB N="80" REF="217">that within the <HI>fir&s;t period</HI> was <HI>per&s;ecuted</HI> by the <HI>Pagan Roman Dragon,</HI> and afterwards in the <HI>&s;econd period</HI> by the <HI>Antichri&s;tian Dragon;</HI> but the&s;e are no other but the <HI>Gentile Saints.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> they are &s;uch as the <HI>Antichri&s;tian German Dragon</HI> in the <HI>expiring time of the</HI> 1260 <HI>dayes &s;hall rai&s;e a war again&s;t;</HI> but they are the Gentile Saints.</P>
<P N="3">3 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> they are &s;uch, who within the time that the Witne&s;&s;es lye dead, before the 1260 years are fully expired, <HI>are eminent for keeping the Commandements of God, and having among&s;t them the te&s;timony of Chri&s;t:</HI> But this cannot agree to the <HI>Jews,</HI> who&s;e com|ing in is not till afterwards; therefore mu&s;t be the Gentile Saints.</P>
<P N="4">4 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> they are <HI>gathered to a Rendezvouz, and have glorious Characters upon them,</HI> and that before the downful of <HI>Rome,</HI> as will appear, compare ver&s;. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. with ver&s;. 8. therefore cannot be the <HI>Jews,</HI> who&s;e re|ceiving Chri&s;t is not till afterwards, but mu&s;t be the Gen|tile Saints.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, I &s;ay no more, there is nothing in all this Chapter, &s;ave a &s;ingle clau&s;e towards the end, that relates to the <HI>Jews,</HI> but the whole hath <HI>relation to the ri&s;en Witne&s;&s;es,</HI> or Genti<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e Saints, declaring how it &s;hall be with them, and what &s;hall be done by them again&s;t Antichri&s;t, from the time of their ri&s;e, untill Chri&s;ts appearance.</P>
<P>As for the 144000 <HI>&s;ealed ones, Chap.</HI> 7. I &s;pake my thoughts of them but now, which cannot be applied to any conver&s;ion of the natural <HI>Jews,</HI> unle&s;s we &s;hould &s;uppo&s;e &s;ome conver&s;ion pa&s;t many ages &s;ince; indeed the Text affords &s;ome probabilities for this Opinion, the <HI>Angel</HI> that hath the Seal coming from the Ea&s;t, ver&s;. 2. the men|tioning the <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Tribe, by name, together with the fol|lowing de&s;cription of the <HI>new Jeru&s;alem.</HI> As for that Ar|gument urged by &s;ome, from the <HI>multitude of all Nations,
<PB N="81" REF="217">Kindreds, People, and Tongues,</HI> ver. 9. whom they con|ceive are &s;poken of by way of di&s;tinction from the &s;ealed company, it proves not; becau&s;e, &s;hould we &s;uppo&s;e the <HI>Sealed company</HI> to be <HI>Jews,</HI> yet it is clear to me, that <HI>the Sealed company</HI> relate to one time, the great <HI>multitude of all Nations, Kindreds, People, and Tongues</HI> to another, and thereby the ground of di&s;tinction as to per&s;ons is taken away; for if the&s;e two relate to two times, then may we by the one under&s;tand <HI>the Jews,</HI> by the other, <HI>the Gen|tiles</HI> onely, or <HI>Jews</HI> and <HI>Gentiles</HI> both. But to pa&s;s this, as for the probabilities the Text doth afford us, though I could as much as another incline to the opinion, yet mu&s;t I &s;ay, I am convinced of it, they are but weak, and will in no wi&s;e counterpoi&s;e our former Arguments laid down to the contrary; yet if a way might be found out to reconcile both, that is, to make this <HI>&s;ealing</HI> to have a re&s;pect to <HI>Natural</HI> and <HI>Spiritual Jews</HI> too, to the <HI>Spiritual Jews,</HI> about the time that <HI>Antichri&s;t</HI> came into the World, to the <HI>Natural,</HI> upon the time of his going out; which latter, though their coming in unto Chri&s;t be long after the other, yet becau&s;e they are the elder Si&s;ter, are chiefly &s;poken of, and their Tribes mentioned by name, and the other com|prehended under them, it would be a thing very de&s;irable. The doing of this may &s;eem a thing impo&s;&s;ible, but yet po&s;&s;ibly it is not &s;o, Something looking this way I have very lately had in mine eye, that it will do the thing I can|not &s;ay, if it would, I conceive it not meet here to in|&s;ert it.</P>
<P>Yet for truths &s;ake, to the end the thing in hand may be the more clear, and free from all exception, let us not|with&s;tanding our former Arguments, &s;uppo&s;e at pre&s;ent the one hundred forty four thou&s;and &s;ealed ones to be one|ly the <HI>Jewes,</HI> the &s;ealing to note a <HI>conver&s;ion</HI> of that people yet to <HI>come;</HI> yet will it not therefore follow, that the <HI>one hundred forty four thou&s;and &s;tanding</HI> with
<PB N="82" REF="218">the <HI>Lamb</HI> upon <HI>Mount Sion,</HI> &s;hould be the <HI>Jews</HI> al&s;o; for there &s;eems to be good rea&s;on for it, why in ca&s;e the other &s;hould be the <HI>Jews,</HI> yet that the <HI>Gentiles</HI> here &s;hould be &s;et forth by the very &s;ame number.</P>
<P N="1">1 The 144000 of the <HI>Jews</HI> are &s;o called, becau&s;e <HI>the picked and &s;ealed ones of that people;</HI> but the&s;e being the <HI>picked and &s;ealed ones of the Gentiles,</HI> may well be &s;et forth by the very &s;ame number of 144000.</P>
<P N="2">2 The <HI>day</HI> in which the 144000 <HI>of the &s;ealed Jews</HI> are &s;o <HI>numbred,</HI> is the <HI>fir&s;t day</HI> that that People, as a Nation, &s;hall be <HI>delivered</HI> from their bondage, and enter into Chri&s;ts re&s;t. This Rendezvouz, we read of Chap. 11. is the very <HI>fir&s;t day</HI> of the <HI>Gentile Saints deliverance</HI> from Antichri&s;tian bondage, and entring the Spiritual <HI>Ca|naan</HI> of re&s;t, after that long Wilderne&s;s-condition, and therefore well may the&s;e be &s;et forth by the &s;ame number of 144000, with the other.</P>
<P N="3">3 The <HI>Jews</HI> in the day of that Nations coming in unto Chri&s;t, &s;hall <HI>come in a great multitude,</HI> in which re&s;pect it is &s;aid of them, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 66.8. <HI>Shall a Nation be born at once?</HI> therefore &s;et forth by a <HI>greas number</HI> of &s;ealed ones, <HI>viz.</HI> 144000; &s;o likewi&s;e the <HI>Gentiles</HI> at the <HI>time</HI> of the Witne&s;&s;es ri&s;e &s;hall &s;tand up a <HI>great multitude,</HI> &s;et forth therefore ver&s;. 2. by the <HI>voyce of many waters,</HI> and at the time of <HI>Romes</HI> ruine, which &s;hall be &s;uddenly upon their ri&s;e; <HI>John</HI> heats a <HI>voyce of much people,</HI> Rev. 19, 1. <HI>Of a great multitude, of many waters, and mighty thun|drings</HI> (arguing abundance of <HI>Gentiles</HI> now come in) <HI>&s;inging Hallelujah, prai&s;es for</HI> Romes <HI>ruine,</HI> ver&s;. 6. therefore well may the&s;e al&s;o be &s;et forth by a great number, yea the &s;ame of 144000.</P>
<P N="4">4 The <HI>Jews</HI> and <HI>Gentiles,</HI> two Nations, whereof one only had the priviledge to be Gods people under the Law, the other hath this priviledge under the Go&s;pel, being now both by this great confluence of either to Chri&s;t to bee
<PB N="83" REF="218">united under him as Head and King, and thence forward to have equal Priviledges, may therefore (either of them, being but as two &s;everal Bands marching to Chri&s;t) one from one corner of the world, the other from the other) be both &s;et forth by the very &s;ame number of 144000.</P>
<P>To &s;ay no more, the &s;um of all is, That the 144000, here &s;poken of, are the <HI>Gentile</HI> Saints.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="4" TYPE="section">
<HEAD><HI>SECT.</HI> IV.</HEAD>
<P>OUr &s;econd Particular is to inquire into the <HI>cau&s;e</HI> and <HI>manner</HI> of this <HI>Rendezvouz,</HI> and the <HI>condition</HI> this 144000 &s;hall be in thereupon.</P>
<P N="1">1 For the <HI>Cau&s;e,</HI> the <HI>accidental cau&s;e</HI> &s;hall be the <HI>Dragons attempt upon the remnant of the Womans &s;eed,</HI> who by making war upon them to do them a mi&s;chief, &s;hall do them the greate&s;t good, and him&s;elf the greate&s;t mi&s;|chief that can be.</P>
<P>But the <HI>efficient cau&s;e</HI> &s;hall be <HI>the Lambs &s;tanding upon Mount Sion,</HI> ver&s;. 1. <HI>And I looked, and lo a Lamb &s;tood upon the Mount Sion, and with him</HI> 144000&mdash; This &s;tanding upon <HI>Mount Sion,</HI> we are to under&s;tand of <HI>Chri&s;ts more glorious manife&s;tation</HI> of him&s;elf, in his meekne&s;s, grace, and love, the precious vertue of his Death and Sacrifice (in which re&s;pect he is called a Lamb) to his <HI>Churches</HI> and <HI>People,</HI> where this <HI>remn<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">nt</HI> &s;hall be, and that more generally at this time. He &s;hall make his people generally and wondrou&s;ly &s;en&s;ible of the greatne&s;s of his pardoning love, and how he hath ingaged &s;o far as to become him&s;elf a Sacrifice for them; withal a&s;&s;uring their hearts, <HI>That the day is come, that he is to take his King|dom,</HI> and now all they can do for him in way of requital, is to gather about him and help him, to &s;tand by him in his great work of taking vengeance on the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> overturning the <HI>Thrones of Kingdomes;</HI> and therefore he calls upon
<PB N="84" REF="219">them now to quit all earthly re&s;pects, and intere&s;ts, and &s;traight-way to ari&s;e, li&s;t under his Banner, and if they will but &s;tand to him, though they may have their failings and haltings, yet will not he u&s;e martial Law, but lead them, and march before them, with meekne&s;s, gentlene&s;s, and love. Here is the principal efficient cau&s;e.</P>
<P N="2">2 The <HI>manner of their Rendezvouz,</HI> we have ver&s;. 2. <HI>And I heard a voyce from Heaven, as the voyce of many waters</HI>&mdash; the phra&s;e &s;eems to intimate, as if the thing &s;hould be by &s;ome <HI>general tumult,</HI> a mighty ru&s;h|ing of waters, a voyce and cry among&s;t the waters. Now <HI>Waters</HI> in Apocalyptical phra&s;e, and el&s;ewhere, (as I have ob&s;erved in opening the &s;ubject of the third Vial) denote the <HI>common people,</HI> and in this place it is nece&s;&s;ary we &s;o interpret it, becau&s;e the <HI>voyce of Waters</HI> is <HI>di&s;tingui&s;hed</HI> from the <HI>voyce of Thunder,</HI> which <HI>John</HI> hears after|wards.</P>
<P>And further ob&s;erve, the&s;e <HI>waters</HI> are not the <HI>common waters,</HI> but they are the <HI>waters</HI> of <HI>Heaven,</HI> i.e. of the true Church, and its members, therefore the <HI>voyce of waters</HI> is heard from <HI>Heaven.</HI></P>
<P>Yea further ob&s;erve, the voice of waters from Heaven is a <HI>great voyce,</HI> for it is a voyce not of a <HI>few,</HI> but <HI>many waters,</HI> noting, that the Spirit now acting &s;hall be general, the cry to ari&s;e, general.</P>
<P>There had been a <HI>little ru&s;hing of waters</HI> before, a cry of one here, another there; but now, what was before &s;et home upon &s;ome particular hearts, is upon the hearts of Gods people in general, and the <HI>voyce of waters</HI> is a great and <HI>general voyce,</HI> the cry runs on the &s;udden throughout the Churches and Saints, and all are in&s;tantly upon their legs.</P>
<P N="3">3 The <HI>&s;tate</HI> and <HI>condition</HI> they &s;hall be in upon this their Rendezvouz, is &s;et forth in two things.</P>
<P N="1">1 They &s;hall be <HI>owned by &s;ome eminent Head whom
<PB N="85" REF="219">God will either rai&s;e up among them, or make to appear for them.</HI> This <HI>Head</HI> is noted by the <HI>voyce</HI> of the <HI>great Thunder,</HI> it being the phra&s;e of the Holy Gho&s;t in this Book to call the common people <HI>Waters,</HI> the Heads and great ones <HI>Thundrings,</HI> Rev. 19.6. <HI>I heard the voyce of many Waters, and the voyce of mighty Thundrings, &s;aying, Hallelujah.</HI> It teacheth us thus much, That Chri&s;t will rai&s;e up &s;ome &s;uch faithful In&s;trument to bee his Lieutenant General to lead on this his 144000, who&s;e name &s;hall be as a great <HI>Thunder</HI> in the world, dreadful and terrible to the Antichri&s;tian party.</P>
<P>And whereas it is the <HI>voyce</HI> of but one <HI>Thunder,</HI> it in|timates, that at this fir&s;t <HI>Rendezvouz,</HI> there &s;hall appear but &s;ome <HI>one</HI> noted <HI>Head</HI> for Chri&s;t, but a while after, when the work is gotten a little forwarder, we hear of <HI>many Thun|drings,</HI> Rev. 19.6. <HI>i.e.</HI> many great One, Heads, Rulers, who either wanted opportunity or courage at fir&s;t, &s;hall now come in, and joyn with this party.</P>
<P N="2">2 They &s;hall <HI>begin their march with prai&s;es.</HI> The <HI>Lamb</HI> being now upon <HI>Mount Sion,</HI> his <HI>remnant</HI> gathered about him, an <HI>eminent Head</HI> by Chri&s;t rai&s;ed up, and &s;et over them, the fir&s;t work they do is to &s;ing prai&s;es. <HI>I heard the voyce of Harpers, harping with their Harps.</HI> The Holy Gho&s;t in the&s;e words alludes to the way of prai&s;ing God in time of Old, when Gods people in their prai&s;es made u&s;e of In&s;truments of Mu&s;ick, and particu|larly, and as that which was in mo&s;t common u&s;e, of the Harp, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 33.2. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 43.4. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 71.22.</P>
<P>And methinks the <HI>fir&s;t &s;etting forth</HI> of the 144000. &s;eems to be much like <HI>Jeho&s;haphats march again&s;t the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir,</HI> 2 Chron. 20. <HI>An infinite multitude of people, and Nations like the &s;and of the Sea, come up together again&s;t Jeho&s;haphat and Judah.</HI> The <HI>noi&s;e</HI> and <HI>rumor</HI> of their <HI>coming,</HI> doth <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">i&s;tre&s;s</HI> the people, but &s;eeking God, the Lord
<PB N="86" REF="220">&s;etting it home upon the heart of <HI>Jeho&s;haphat</HI> and his people, that the <HI>morrow &s;hould be the day of his power,</HI> he would do the work for them, they &s;hould not need &s;o much as to fight, only &s;tand and behold the &s;alvation of the Lord; <HI>fear</HI> and <HI>faint-heartedne&s;s</HI> now flyes away; they do not con&s;ult, whether are we &s;trong, or whether are we weak; how is it po&s;&s;ible we &s;hould deal with this multi|tude? But being a&s;&s;ured of the Victory, and that the day &s;hould be theirs, they begin a March with pr<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="3 letters">es, &s;inging, and rejoycing, before ever a &s;troke is &s;truck, as if they had carried the Field already. So will it be with this <HI>remnant</HI> at this day, the raging <HI>Dragon</HI> in his wrath and fury comes on gaping upon them; It is a miracle in rea&s;on, if ever they <HI>&s;cape</HI> his mouth, but again&s;t this, to <HI>bear up</HI> their &s;pirits, they have the <HI>glorious pre&s;ence of the Lamb</HI> in the mid&s;t of them, this doth &s;o wondrou&s;ly animate them, that in the mouth of danger they fear none, but march o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> in the very face of the <HI>Dragon,</HI> harping with their Harps, <HI>i. e.</HI> prai&s;ing and rejoycing, as knowing a&s;&s;uredly&punc; the <HI>Lamb</HI> will manife&s;t his power, they &s;hall tread the <HI>Dra|gon</HI> under their feet.</P>
<P>Thus much as touching our &s;econd particular; from the whole note, <HI>That notwith&s;tanding the Witne&s;&s;es them|&s;elves are undoubtedly, after their ri&s;e, to be e&s;teemed a part of this</HI> 144000, <HI>yet &s;hall the beginning of this glo|rious company be not with them, but there where that remnant of the Womans &s;eed &s;hall be found, th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> the Dragon wars again&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>I &s;hall here in the clo&s;e of this Section adde a word or two as touching <HI>Daniels Stone,</HI> the looking upon this Rendezvouz pre&s;enting that to mine eye. The fir&s;t ri&s;e of this <HI>Stone</HI> we are doubtle&s;s to place with the <HI>beginn<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="3 letters"></HI> of the third <HI>Vial.</HI> My Rea&s;ons are,</P>
<P N="1">1 Becau&s;e it being the <HI>Stone</HI> alone that breaks the <HI>Great Image</HI> by &s;miting him on the Feer and Toes, we
<PB N="87" REF="220">are there to place the <HI>ri&s;e</HI> of it, where the <HI>Civil power</HI> of Antichri&s;t, in any of the ten Horns (repre&s;ented by the ten Toes) is <HI>irrecoverably broken</HI> to peeces. But the doing of this is <HI>begun</HI> with the third <HI>Vial,</HI> therefore with the <HI>beginning</HI> of that are we to place the <HI>beginning</HI> of the <HI>Stone.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2 Becau&s;e <HI>Daniels Stone</HI> that <HI>&s;mites,</HI> Chap. 2. and his <HI>Ancient of dayes</HI> that <HI>&s;its,</HI> Chap. 7. being one and the &s;ame, we are to reckon the <HI>ri&s;e</HI> of the <HI>Stone</HI> from the <HI>fir&s;t day</HI> that the <HI>Ancient of dayes</HI> began to &s;it, and to ca&s;t down any of the <HI>Thrones</HI> of the fourth <HI>Bea&s;t.</HI> But this work was <HI>begun</HI> with the <HI>beginning</HI> of the third <HI>Vial,</HI> therefore there are we to <HI>begin</HI> the <HI>Stone.</HI></P>
<P>Now let us look upon the <HI>work</HI> done of <HI>late yeers</HI> un|der either of the&s;e <HI>notions,</HI> either as it is a <HI>breaking of the great Image,</HI> or as it is <HI>ca&s;ting down</HI> the <HI>Thrones</HI> of the fourth <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> for both are &s;ub&s;tantially the <HI>&s;ame,</HI> and in|&s;trumentally wrought by the <HI>Stone,</HI> and hath it not been done by a de&s;pi&s;ed handful, which worldly powers would not have rai&s;ed up at fir&s;t, could they have holpen it, nor continued when rai&s;ed, could they have had their will; but as the rai&s;ing, &s;o the continuing hath been from God more immediately, than by the endeavour of hands, <HI>i.e.</HI> humane means.</P>
<P>But now ob&s;erve, as God never doth any <HI>wonderful work,</HI> but in the <HI>beginning</HI> of it, he puts &s;ome <HI>death</HI> upon it; &s;o the mo&s;t <HI>remarkable work</HI> that ever yet was in the world, <HI>viz.</HI> the <HI>Stone &s;miting</HI> the great Image, is no <HI>&s;ooner on foot,</HI> but pre&s;ently, even within that <HI>very Vial</HI> that the <HI>Stone</HI> begins to &s;mite, comes the <HI>&s;adde&s;t blow,</HI> the <HI>blacke&s;t cloud</HI> over the <HI>work</HI> of God, that ever one of them, the world &s;aw, namely, the <HI>death</HI> of the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es,</HI> this &s;tops the <HI>work</HI> a while, the <HI>Stone</HI> lyes &s;till, by <HI>lying &s;till</HI> it &s;eems to <HI>moulder;</HI> In this extremity God ari&s;eth, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">kes the <HI>Scone</HI> into his hands again, forms it more &s;trong|ly,
<PB N="89" REF="221">by ca&s;ting out the loo&s;e earthly matter, and firmly uni|ting and cementing the re&s;t, adding withal more matter to it, that &s;o upon its next &s;miting, it may break in peeces what&s;oever &s;tands in its way. This is done in this glorious Rendezvouz, of which we have &s;poken.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="5" TYPE="section">
<HEAD><HI>SECT.</HI> V.</HEAD>
<P>OUr third Particular comes now into con&s;ideration, namely, to con&s;ider of the <HI>Characters</HI> of this 144000.</P>
<P>As for the <HI>&s;everal Characters,</HI> we have ver&s;. 3.4. I have given my thoughts of them already in the Epi&s;tle Dedicatory to my late Di&s;cour&s;e upon the <HI>Vials;</HI> But what I then wrote being but as the fir&s;t day-break of light into this Prophecie, and hoping (through grace) that I do now begin to &s;ee tho&s;e things a little more clearly, di&s;tinct|ly, and fully than at that time I did, I &s;hall notwith&s;tanding go over the whole again.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t <HI>Character</HI> of them, <HI>viz. That they &s;tand with the Lamb upon Mount Sion,</HI> relating more to their <HI>condition,</HI> than their <HI>qualification,</HI> I &s;hall be &s;ilent as touch|ing it; and the rather, becau&s;e I have opened it already, <HI>Sect.</HI> 1. That omitted, we have be&s;ides it eight Characters in the Text.</P>
<P N="1">I <HI>CHARACTER. They have their Fathers Name written in their fore-heads,</HI> ver&s;. 1. <HI>i.e.</HI> they &s;hall bee &s;uch who &s;hall <HI>know</HI> one another by no <HI>mark,</HI> but only the <HI>Image</HI> of the Father, the <HI>Fathers Name written in their-fore-heads.</HI> And I take it that <HI>this is &s;poken</HI> of the 144000 followers of the <HI>Lamb,</HI> in <HI>oppo&s;ition</HI> to the <HI>Bea&s;ts</HI> followers, of whom we read a little before, Chap. 13.16. <HI>That they have a mark written in their fore|beads, i.e.</HI> they make up a judgement of per&s;ons by &s;ome <HI>mark</HI> given to them, one hath this <HI>mark,</HI> another
<PB N="88" REF="221">that <HI>mark,</HI> and men (as well good men as others) all the <HI>time</HI> of the <HI>Bea&s;ts</HI> Kingdome, know one another by <HI>marks,</HI> and &s;uch marks as are of the <HI>Beasts</HI> devi&s;ing. But now when the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> goes off the Stage, and the <HI>Lamb</HI> comes up, all <HI>marks</HI> that formerly men were known by are laid <HI>a&s;ide,</HI> and now there is no <HI>mark</HI> to know Saints by, but only this, <HI>The Fathers Name written in their fore-heads;</HI> There &s;hall be no knowledge of Per&s;ons, as <HI>Presbyters,</HI> as <HI>Independents,</HI> as Anabapti&s;ts, &amp;c. any longer, but the <HI>mark,</HI> the <HI>only mark</HI> that Saints &s;hall know one another by, &s;hall be the Image of the Father, <HI>The Fathers Name written in their fore|heads.</HI></P>
<P>This &s;hall be the <HI>mark</HI> by which Saints in the time of the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem,</HI> when the <HI>Lord &s;hall be one, and his Name one,</HI> &s;hall know one another by, <HI>Rev.</HI> 22.4. <HI>His Name &s;hall be in their fore-heads, i.e.</HI> Grace and Holi|ne&s;s, the <HI>Image</HI> of the Father, &s;hall be &s;o vi&s;ible in them, that there &s;hall be no need of any other <HI>mark</HI> to know one another by, but all &s;hall be known unto each other by this. The <HI>beginnings</HI> of this &s;hall be very <HI>eminent</HI> in this <HI>One hundred forty four thou&s;and,</HI> and therefore we have this laid down as the great <HI>Character</HI> of them.</P>
<P N="2">II <HI>CHARACTER. They &s;ing a new Song which none can learn, but only this One hundred forty four thou&s;and,</HI> ver. 3. The meaning is, This <HI>One hundred for|ty four thou&s;and</HI> &s;hall go a <HI>&s;train higher</HI> in their actings and prai&s;es, then the Saints before them <HI>did;</HI> and for this rea&s;on many of the old Singers that &s;ung the fir&s;t Song, <HI>Rev.</HI> 15.3. &s;hall not be able to &s;ing this, it &s;hall go in a note too high and &s;piritual for them.</P>
<P N="3">III <HI>CHARACTER. They are &s;uch as are redeemed from the Farth, i.e.</HI> (as I conceive) &s;uch only as have ob|tained to &s;tand loo&s;e from <HI>earthly intere&s;t,</HI> being per&s;ons d<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ad, and delivered from the evil of the honors, preferments,
<PB N="90" REF="222">plea&s;ures, profits, of this pre&s;ent evill world, which not the Sons of <HI>Adam</HI> onely, but too many of the Sons of <HI>Sion</HI> are plunged in, and overtaken with.</P>
<P N="4">IV. <HI>CHARACTER. They are Virgin-Saints, not defiled with women,</HI> ver&s;. 4. I take this <HI>Character</HI> to be a <HI>Character</HI> di&s;tinct from the former, though not long &s;ince I judged either the &s;ame. And yet withall, the difference is no great matter, the former noting redemption from earthly intere&s;ts and engagements in the general, <HI>i.e.</HI> earthly intere&s;ts of all &s;orts, by which men, yea Saints them&s;elves are oftentimes mi&s;-lead, and drawn a&s;ide from following Chri&s;t; but this latter denotes redemption in a more &s;pe|cial kind, <HI>viz.</HI> from <HI>Antichri&s;tian intere&s;ts,</HI> the particu|lar defilements of the whori&s;h Woman; the meaning is, this One hundred forty four thou&s;and &s;hall be a <HI>&s;elect number of &s;uch per&s;ons,</HI> who notwith&s;tanding for a great part of their time <HI>they lived</HI> within <HI>the verge</HI> of that <HI>I|dolatrous &s;uper&s;titious age,</HI> in which the <HI>whole world</HI> went a <HI>whoring</HI> after the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> yet did in that <HI>adulte|rous generation</HI> keep them&s;elves <HI>Virgins,</HI> not commit|ting <HI>fornication</HI> with <HI>the Whore</HI> of <HI>Babylon,</HI> by having any hand in her <HI>Super&s;titions</HI> and <HI>Idolatries.</HI></P>
<P N="5">V. <HI>CHARACTER. They follow the Lamb whi|ther&s;oever he goeth, i.e.</HI> They &s;hall be &s;uch who from the day they began to follow the <HI>Lamb, have ever kept him company in his mo&s;t difficult paths, through rockie, craggie, thorny wayes;</HI> In dangerous paths, where they have been nece&s;&s;itated to put their lives in their hands to follow him; in de&s;olate wilderne&s;s-paths, where they have been in a manner &s;tripped bare of all outward comforts and injoyments, yet willing to quit all, rather than leave his company, in paths contrary to rea&s;on, fle&s;h, and blood, to their own preferments, intere&s;ts, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> &s;uch &s;hall the&s;e be. And this <HI>Character</HI> (I take it) is <HI>given to them</HI> in <HI>oppo&s;ition</HI> to <HI>tho&s;e</HI> who did follow the <HI>Lamb
<PB N="91" REF="222">&s;ometime,</HI> &s;o long as it &s;tood with their &s;afety, plea&s;ure, honor, preferment, profits, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> but when in following him they could have the&s;e no longer, they will follow him <HI>no further,</HI> the Lamb may march alone for them.</P>
<P N="6">VI. <HI>CHARACTER. They are redeemed from a|mong men; i.e.</HI> (as before I have noted) a <HI>picked party,</HI> not &s;o much from the <HI>Antichri&s;tian crow</HI> of <HI>Idolaters,</HI> as the more <HI>pure party</HI> of the <HI>Reformers</HI> them&s;elves, they &s;hall be (as I have &s;aid) the very <HI>cream,</HI> the flower of the <HI>Reformed party.</HI></P>
<P N="7">VII. <HI>CHARACTER, They are the fir&s;t fruits un|to God, and to the Lamb, i.e.</HI> Either tho&s;e that God makes more <HI>account of,</HI> as being more precious in his &s;ight, than of other of his people; for the <HI>fir&s;t fruits</HI> under the Law were accounted the mo&s;t precious, and therefore were &s;et apart, and con&s;ecrated to God; or el&s;e, (which I rather incline to) the&s;e &s;hall be the <HI>begin|nings</HI> of that large <HI>Harve&s;t</HI> to Chri&s;t among the <HI>Gentiles,</HI> which he is to have <HI>after the Bea&s;ts time</HI> is out; For the <HI>fir&s;t fruits</HI> were the <HI>beginnings</HI> of the <HI>Jewi&s;h Harve&s;t;</HI> Or they &s;hall bee in a manner the <HI>beginnings</HI> of that <HI>glorious Kingdom</HI> of Chri&s;t in the world, which &s;hall <HI>break in peeces</HI> all other <HI>Kingdoms,</HI> and &s;tand for ever.</P>
<P N="8">VIII. <HI>CHARACTER. In their mouth is found no guile,</HI> ver&s;. 5. that is, (as I conceive) They &s;hall in a <HI>very naked and plain-hearted way</HI> manage their whole work, without driving on &s;elf-de&s;igns, under a vizzard and pre|tence of &s;erving and &s;etting up Chri&s;t, or without acting by the <HI>R&V;LES OF STATE-POLICY,</HI> which expo&s;eth men to <HI>fal&s;hood, di&s;&s;imulation and guile;</HI> no &s;uch thing &s;hall be found in this One hundred forty four thou&s;and, or their actings; but they &s;hall without fear or favor let the world know what they intend and de&s;ign, they are
<PB N="92" REF="223">for Chri&s;ts Kingdom, and that the Crown may be &s;et up|on his Head; if the Kings of the earth will &s;ubmit to it, and lay down their Crowns and Scepters at his feet, &s;o it is, if not, they will endeavor to make them. And this I take to be the very meaning of the words, for the rea&s;on given in tho&s;e that follow, <HI>For they are without fault before the Throne of God, i.e.</HI> they &s;hall not di&s;&s;emble in the bu&s;ine&s;s of <HI>Christs Throne</HI> and Kingdom, or they &s;hall not <HI>&s;eek them&s;elves</HI> in the &s;etting up of this King|dom.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="6" TYPE="section">
<HEAD><HI>SECT.</HI> VI.</HEAD>
<P>THe fourth and la&s;t thing comes now to be handled, <HI>viz. How things &s;hall go on,</HI> or what &s;hall be done in the world, from <HI>the time that this One hundred forty four thou&s;and &s;tand up,</HI> untill the <HI>beginning of the Thou|&s;and years.</HI></P>
<P>There are but two clear Prophecies in all the <HI>Revelati|ons,</HI> that afford us matter for an an&s;wer to this Que&s;tion; 1. That of the <HI>Vials, Chap.</HI> 16. taking in al&s;o its expli|cation in the following Chapters. 2. That of the <HI>Wit|ne&s;&s;es ri&s;en,</HI> hinted <HI>Chap.</HI> 11. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 11, 12, 13. enlarged in this 14 <HI>Chapter.</HI> As for &s;o much as concerns our Que&s;ti|on compri&s;ed in the fir&s;t, I have handled that in opening the <HI>Vials,</HI> and &s;hall not here repeat it. What may be collected from <HI>Chap.</HI> 11. I have given &s;ome general hints of it likewi&s;e in our fir&s;t Chapter. All therefore I intend to do at pre&s;ent &s;hall be to take up &s;ome few Ob&s;ervations, as lie couched in this Chapter, and will add &s;ome little fur|ther light than what hath been already brought forth, to the Que&s;tion in hand.</P>
<P N="1">1 More generally, <HI>The work &s;hall go on with a more &s;wift and irre&s;i&s;table hand than ever formerly.</HI> Now &s;hall not all the means and endeavors that can by the world
<PB N="93" REF="223">or hell it &s;elf be u&s;ed, be able to hinder, but the wrath of God as a mighty over-flowing deluge &s;hall irre&s;i&s;tably come in upon the Antichri&s;tian ungodly world. This &s;eems to me to be noted in that running and po&s;ting of Angels one after another, &s;o &s;oon as ever the work is &s;et upon this Ba&s;is, ver&s;. 6. <HI>I &s;aw another Angel flie in the mid&s;t of Heaven, having the everla&s;ting Go&s;pel,</HI> ver. 8. <HI>And there followed another Angel &s;aying,</HI> Babylon <HI>is fallen, is fallen,</HI> Ver&s;. 9. <HI>And the third Angel followed them, &s;aying with a loud voyce, If any man wor&s;hip the Bea&s;t, and his Image, or receive his mark in his fore-head, or in his hand; The &s;ame &s;hall drink of the wine of the wrath of God.</HI> Ver&s;. 15. <HI>And another An|gel came out of the Temple</HI>&mdash;. Ver&s;. 17. <HI>And another Angel came out of the Temple</HI>&mdash;. Ver&s;. 18. <HI>And ano|ther Angel came out from the Altar, which had power over fire.</HI> The po&s;ting of Angels argues the work now to be hot, it runs like fire in a Thatch, every Angel or In&s;tru|ment makes a quick and &s;peedy di&s;patch of his work.</P>
<P N="2">2 More particularly, we have the&s;e things noted in the following part of this Chapter.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, The <HI>everla&s;ting Go&s;pell is preached,</HI> ver&s;. 6, 7. <HI>And I &s;aw another Angel flye in the mid&s;t of Heaven, having the everla&s;ting Go&s;pel to preach unto them that dwell on the Earth, and to every Nation, and Kindred, and Tongue, and People, &s;aying with a loud voyce, Fear God, and give glory to him, for the hour of his judge|ment is come, and wor&s;hip him that made Heaven and Earth, and the Sea, and the Fountains of waters.</HI> Five things we have here ob&s;ervable concerning this preaching of the Go&s;pel, which &s;hall be at this day.</P>
<P N="1">1 The <HI>wonderful purity, and &s;implicity of the Doctrine of the Go&s;pel as now held forth</HI> it &s;hall be pur|ged from tho&s;e Antichri&s;tian mixtures and devices of man, which tend to nothing el&s;e but to corrupt and darken the
<PB N="94" REF="224">pure word of the Go&s;pel, and lead &s;ouls from the &s;impli|city of the Go&s;pel. Hence it is called the <HI>everla&s;ting Go&s;pel,</HI> becau&s;e it &s;hall be now preached as it was at fir&s;t; or all that dro&s;s that hath been, and is in the Doctrine of the be&s;t Preachers hitherto, &s;hall now be purged out, and that onely which will abide the fire, and &s;hall be everla&s;ting, &s;hall remain.</P>
<P N="2">2 The <HI>matter it &s;elf,</HI> that &s;hall be held forth as one principal part of this <HI>everla&s;ting Go&s;pel, &s;hall be tho&s;e things which concern Chri&s;t, judging the great Whore, and all his enemies, and the &s;etting up of his own King|don<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">, calling upon the Rulers of this world to wor&s;hip the Lamb, throw down their Crowns, and Scepter at his feet;</HI> and therefore ob&s;erve the matter of the Sermon is, <HI>Fear God, and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgement is come, and wor&s;hip him that made Hea|ven, Earth,</HI> &amp;c. as to &s;ay, the time is come that the Lamb will judge the Whore, de&s;troy the Bea&s;t, tremble all ye Na|tions before him, ye Kings and Princes of the earth be wi&s;e, give glory to him, Ki&s;s the Son, wor&s;hip before him who made Heaven, Earth, the Sea, and the Fountains of wa|ters, le&s;t he be angry, and ye peri&s;h in the way, as he is in his march to his Kingdom.</P>
<P N="3">3 The <HI>univer&s;al &s;preading of this Doctrine abroad, and that as it were in a moment;</HI> therefore the Angel, to note the &s;wiftne&s;s of carrying it, is &s;aid to <HI>flye,</HI> and to &s;hew the univer&s;al &s;preading of it, it is &s;aid to be <HI>preached, to every Nation, and Kindred, and Tongue, and People.</HI></P>
<P N="4">4 The <HI>publick, and boldholding of it forth;</HI> &s;uch a &s;pirit &s;hall be upon the Preachers, that they &s;hall not whi&s;per the&s;e things, and &s;peak them in private corners; but openly and boldly in the Market-&s;treet; yea, in the very faces of the Kings and Princes of the Earth. Hence to note the publickne&s;s of it, the Angel is &s;aid to <HI>flie in the mid&s;t of Heaven, i.e.</HI> openly, in the view of all, and to
<PB N="95" REF="224">note the publickne&s;s and boldne&s;s both, is &s;aid to <HI>proclaim it with a loud voyce.</HI></P>
<P N="5">5 The <HI>great mea&s;ure of faith that &s;hall be upon the Preachers, as to this particular bu&s;ine&s;s, that the very time is come in which God will judge the Whore,</HI> therefore they cry out, <HI>The hour of his judgement is come.</HI> As to &s;ay, Flatter your &s;elves no longer, O ye Papi&s;ts, &s;it &s;till no longer, O ye Prote&s;tants, with this in your mouths, <HI>the time is not come, the time is not come,</HI> for a&s;&s;ure your &s;elves Chri&s;t will now delay no longer, <HI>The hour of his judgement is come.</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, Romes <HI>de&s;truction now comes unavoidably upon her,</HI> ver&s;. 8. <HI>And there followed another Angel, &s;ay|ing,</HI> Babylon <HI>is fallen, is fallen.</HI> The words <HI>Babylon is fallen, is fallen,</HI> are not (as I conceive) to be looked upon as words of faith concerning a work to be done, but rather a Proclamation of a work already done. This Angel is but the Me&s;&s;enger and Herauld of tho&s;e glad tydings, who &s;preads this news over the Churches and Nations; which what with the greatne&s;s of it, the &s;uddenne&s;s, and unex|pectedne&s;s of it, begets &s;uch wonderment, and joy, that the whole World in a manner is filled with <HI>Hallelujah's, Rev.</HI> 19.</P>
<P>Thirdly, <HI>A &s;erious and &s;olemn warning to all tho&s;e who &s;hall yet adhere to the Bea&s;t,</HI> Ver&s;. 9. <HI>And the third Angel followed them, &s;aying with a loud voyce, If any man wor&s;hip the Bea&s;t and his Image, and receive his mark in his fore-head, and in his hand.</HI> Ver&s;. 10 <HI>The &s;ame &s;hall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indig|nation, and he &s;hall be tormented with fire and brim&s;tone in the pre&s;ence of the holy Angels, and in the pre&s;ence of the Lamb.</HI> Ver&s;. 11. <HI>And the &s;mock of their torment a&s;|cendeth up for ever and over, And they have no re&s;t day nor night, who wor&s;hip the Bea&s;t and his Image,
<PB N="96" REF="225">and who&s;oever receiveth the mark of his name.</HI></P>
<P>But why are the Papals warned by pronouncing a|gain&s;t them &s;o dreadful a threatning at this day?</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> The rea&s;on hereof I take to be this, becau&s;e the day of Chri&s;ts coming, and the fatal ruin of the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> and his followers, is now at hand, therefore the coming of Chri&s;t, and the treading of the Wine-pre&s;s, follows immediately upon this.</P>
<P>Now Gods way is, ever before his fatal blow, to give his enemies &s;uch a warning, as may both leave them inex|cu&s;able, and clear his ju&s;tice before all men in their de|&s;truction. Hence in regard the dreadful day of the Lords wrath is immediately to approach, in which the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> is to be &s;lain, his body de&s;troyed, and given to the burning flame, the <HI>Bea&s;t and fal&s;e Prophet</HI> both to be ca&s;t into the Lake of fire burning with Brim&s;tone; that therefore the Ju&s;tice of God in this mo&s;t terrible execution of his wrath might be apparent unto Men and Angels, God, before he will &s;trike, &s;tirs up &s;ome in a more &s;pecial manner to make di&s;covery among the Nations of the terror of the Day approaching, warning all, not to &s;ide, or have any thing to do with the <HI>Beast,</HI> who&s;e final de&s;truction and torment is at hand, and in ca&s;e, notwith&s;tanding this warning they &s;hall, this is that they mu&s;t certainly and &s;uddenly expect, to drink of the wine of the Wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the Cup of his indignation, and to be tor|mented with fire and brim&s;tone in the pre&s;ence of the holy Angels, and in the pre&s;ence of the Lamb, the &s;moak of which torment of theirs, &s;hall a&s;cend up for ever and ever.</P>
<P>I have &s;ometimes thought this <HI>Angel</HI> may be the &s;ame with that <HI>Ch.</HI> 19.17, 18. for both are immediately before the <HI>Great Day of God Almighty;</HI> both &s;eem to have very clear light into that thing, of the de&s;truction of Gods e|nemies; therefore as the one paints out the very nature
<PB N="97" REF="225">and manner of their torments, &s;o the other is &s;aid (as to this par&s;icular, <HI>viz.</HI> of the certain ruine of Gods enemies) to &s;tand in the Sun, <HI>i.e.</HI> in clear light; both &s;peak with abundance of &s;aith, the one to the Papal power, a&s;&s;uring them of ruine; the other to the Fowls that flye in the mid&s;t of Heaven, <HI>i.e.</HI> the neutral party, who would willing|ly joyn with the Conquering &s;ide, could they tell which that &s;ide would be, therefore are mo&s;t fi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">y de&s;cribed by &s;uch Fowls, who&s;e chief de&s;ire is prey, and &s;aid to flye in the mid&s;t of Heaven, becau&s;e they keep them&s;elves as it were in the middle betwixt. Heaven and Earth, the Saints party, and the party of the Bea&s;t, not knowing which to fal in with, yet would willingly be of the winning &s;ide, and where they might have prey. Now the&s;e the Angel a&s;&s;ures that if they will joyn with the people of God they &s;hall have vict|ory and &s;poyl, be both of the winning &s;ide, and have prey to boot, as to &s;ay, You that waver, and are doubtful which &s;ide to take, would you bee of the pro&s;pering &s;ide? take this then, for a&s;&s;uredly the Victory &s;hall fall to this party.</P>
<P>Now whether or no the&s;e Angels are two, or but one, I &s;hall not be curious to determine, nor is it a thing &s;o ma|terial for us to know; Onely &s;uch a thing may be, and it is not improper to &s;ay, That one and the &s;ame Angel may do both the&s;e works, and that in a manner together, <HI>viz.</HI> inform and invite the one, whil&s;t he threatneth and warneth the other.</P>
<P N="4">4 A &s;weet <HI>word of Heavenly con&s;olation to the Saints and people of Chri&s;t, the ble&s;&s;ed day of their redemption being now come.</HI></P>
<P>Ver&s;. 12. <HI>Here is the patience of the Saints; here are they that keep the Commandements of God, and the faith of Je&s;us;</HI> That is, in effect, to &s;ay. Here is the end and fruit of the Saints patience, here is the ble&s;&s;ed reward of keeping the Commandements of God, and holding the faith of Je&s;us; Now, now the day is come, in which it
<PB N="98" REF="226">&s;hall appear that the Saints have lo&s;t nothing by waiting patiently upon God for the fulfilling of his word, by keep|ing the Commandements of God, holding the faith of Je&s;us. The world have looked upon them as fools, and counted their life a very pri&s;on; but here, here are they that keep the Commandements of God; here is the day of making up a right judgement of them; here is their condition vi&s;ible from under a veil. Now, now, O yee world, look upon them, &s;ee what you think of them now, and of all their patience, obedience, and faith; whether were they fools, as you e&s;teemed them, or no?</P>
<P N="5">5 And la&s;t, <HI>We have Chri&s;ts Per&s;onal coming,</HI> ver&s;. 14. <HI>And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one &s;ate like unto the Son of man, having on his Head a golden Crown, and in his hand a &s;harp &s;ickle.</HI> That Chri&s;ts <HI>Per&s;onal coming</HI> is the thing held forth in the&s;e words appears,</P>
<P N="1">1 Becau&s;e the <HI>coming</HI> here is a <HI>coming</HI> of <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> as he is the <HI>Son of man,</HI> which phra&s;e doth ever point at Chri&s;ts <HI>Per&s;onal coming.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2 Becau&s;e he <HI>cometh in the Clouds,</HI> which is the manner of his <HI>Per&s;onal coming,</HI> Matth. 24.30. <HI>Then &s;hall ap|pear the &s;ign of the Son of man in Heaven, and then &s;hal all the Tribes of the earth mourn and they &s;hall &s;ee the Son of man coming in the clouds of Heaven, with power and great glory,</HI> Rev. 1.7. <HI>Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye &s;hall &s;ee him,</HI> 1 The&s;&s;. 4.16, 17. <HI>The Lord him&s;elf &s;hall de&s;cend from Heaven with a &s;hout, and with the voyce of the Arch-angel, and with the Trump of God, and the dead in Chri&s;t &s;hall ri&s;e fir&s;t. Then we which are alive, and remain, &s;hall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air,</HI> Matth. 26.64. <HI>Hereafter &s;hall ye &s;ee the Son of man fit|ting on the right hand of power, and coming in the
<PB N="99" REF="226">clouds of Heaven,</HI> Luke 21.27. <HI>Then &s;hall they &s;ee the Son of man coming in a cloud with power, &amp; great glory.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3 Becau&s;e Chri&s;t <HI>comes with a golden Crown on his Head,</HI> which agrees to no coming &s;o properly as his la&s;t, when he comes to receive his Kingdome, and when upon his coming, the Kingdomes of this world are to be given to him. Of this <HI>Daniel</HI> &s;peaking, &s;aith, Chap. 7.13, 14. <HI>I &s;aw in the night Vi&s;ions, and behold one like the Son of man came with the clouds of Heaven, and came to the Ancient of dayes, and they brought him neer before him. And there was given Dominion, and Glory, and a Kingdome, that all People, Nations, and Languages &s;hould &s;erve him; his Dominion is an everla&s;ting Do|minion, which &s;hall not pa&s;s away, and his Kindom, that which &s;hall not be de&s;troyed.</HI></P>
<P N="4">4 Becau&s;e the <HI>Battle of Armageddon follows imme|diately</HI> upon this <HI>coming.</HI> This is noted by the treading of the <HI>Winepre&s;s,</HI> ver&s;. la&s;t. The phra&s;e of treading the <HI>Winepre&s;s,</HI> is the very phra&s;e u&s;ed by the Holy Gho&s;t in other places to &s;et forth the <HI>terror</HI> of that day, <HI>Rev.</HI> 19.15. <HI>He treadeth the Winepre&s;s of the fiercene&s;s of the wrath of Almighty God,</HI> I&s;a. 63.3. <HI>I have trodden the Winepre&s;s alone,</HI> Joel 3.13. All which places I have proved upon the <HI>Viais</HI> to have their fulfilling <HI>immediately</HI> upon <HI>Chri&s;ts coming</HI> in that terrible day of the battle of <HI>Arma|geddon.</HI> So that by all circum&s;tances this <HI>coming</HI> is the <HI>&s;ame,</HI> and can be <HI>no other,</HI> than the <HI>coming</HI> mentioned <HI>Rev.</HI> 16.15. Of which we have treated at large, and proved in opening tho&s;e words, that it can be <HI>no other coming,</HI> but <HI>Chri&s;ts Per&s;onal.</HI></P>
<P>Now becau&s;e at the <HI>time</HI> of <HI>Chri&s;ts per&s;onal coming</HI> the <HI>dead Saints</HI> are &s;o to be <HI>rai&s;ed up,</HI> as that they may be ready to come with Chri&s;t, 1 <HI>The&s;&s;.</HI> 3.13. 1 <HI>The&s;&s;.</HI> 4.14. <HI>Zech.</HI> 14.5. Therefore we have the <HI>re&s;urrection</HI> of the <HI>dead</HI> intimated in the ver&s;e before <HI>Chri&s;ts coming,</HI>
<PB N="100" REF="227">ver&s;. 13. <HI>And I heard a voyce from heaven, &s;aying un|to me, Write, Ble&s;&s;ed are the dead that dye in the Lord, from henceforth, yea, &s;aith the Spirit, that they may re&s;t from their labours, and their works do follow them.</HI> The Empha&s;is of the Text lyes in tho&s;e words, <HI>from hence|forth,</HI> about which I find Expo&s;itors, not applying this to the time of Chri&s;ts <HI>coming,</HI> and the <HI>re&s;urrection,</HI> but to a <HI>time pa&s;t,</HI> to be much puzled. And indeed there is cau&s;e, for as it is a <HI>forced Tran&s;lation,</HI> and be&s;ides the <HI>Etymo|logie</HI> of the word, to tran&s;late <GAP DESC="foreign"> otherwi&s;e than from <HI>henceforth,</HI> or from this <HI>time;</HI> &s;o cannot any &s;olid rea&s;on be given for it, without a &s;uppo&s;al of the <HI>re&s;urrection</HI> to be here intimated, why <HI>the dead from this time</HI> &s;hould be pronounced <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed,</HI> more than from any <HI>other time;</HI> why from <HI>this time</HI> they &s;hould <HI>re&s;t from their labours,</HI> and have their <HI>works following them,</HI> more than from any <HI>other time.</HI> To &s;ay they go to Heaven by Death, and there re&s;t from their labours. <HI>An&s;w.</HI> But why from <HI>this time</HI> rather than <HI>any other</HI> are they <HI>ble&s;&s;ed,</HI> &s;eeing all that dye in the Lord throughout all Ages are equally made partakers of the ble&s;&s;ing, in this &s;en&s;e? To &s;ay, the rea&s;on of the &s;pecial ble&s;&s;ing ari&s;eth from the Cau&s;e they dye in, they dye in Chri&s;ts Cau&s;e, and &s;uffer as Martyrs. <HI>An&s;.</HI> But why is the <HI>&s;peciality</HI> of the <HI>Ble&s;&s;ing</HI> annexed to <HI>this time,</HI> &s;eeing as Martyrs many had &s;uffered for Chri&s;t long before? To &s;ay (as do &s;ome others) becau&s;e the <HI>Go&s;pel</HI> began now to <HI>be preached</HI> in the world, which only makes men dye hap|pily. <HI>An&s;w.</HI> But why from <HI>this time,</HI> &s;eeing a Soul can|not dye happily, or in the Lord, at <HI>any time,</HI> without &s;ome <HI>knowledge</HI> of <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> and the <HI>Go&s;pel?</HI> To re&s;train this (as do &s;ome others) to the pains of Purgatory, which (they &s;ay) till about this time did cau&s;e fear even in good people at their deaths; but now the Go&s;pel being preach|ed clearly, and the vanity of that opinion laid open, the people of God dye comfortably, with a&s;&s;urance of going
<PB N="101" REF="227">&s;traight-way into Paradi&s;e, will not help us with an inter|pretation; for who can think otherwi&s;e, but that the va|nity of this mo&s;t gro&s;e opinion was laid open before, even when the <HI>everla&s;ting Go&s;pel</HI> was preached, <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 6.7. and if &s;o, why then are they &s;aid to be <HI>ble&s;&s;ed</HI> from <HI>this time,</HI> and not rather from <HI>that time,</HI> when the <HI>everla&s;ting Go&s;pel</HI> began to be preached? To &s;ay yet (as do o|thers) becau&s;e great Per&s;ecutions were now to ari&s;e, &s;o that it was a ble&s;&s;ing to be dead before they came. <HI>An&s;.</HI> 1. Whether is it a greater ble&s;&s;ing to die in the Lord a Martyr, or to die of a mans natural death? 2. Let it be con&s;ide|red, Whether the time of the <HI>Walden&s;es, Albigen&s;es,</HI> which time Expo&s;itors place higher, making application of the thing &s;poken of, <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 6, 7. to them, were not a <HI>time</HI> of as <HI>&s;ore,</HI> yea <HI>&s;orer Per&s;ecutions,</HI> than the time to which they make application of the&s;e words; and if &s;o, that this be the onely rea&s;on, why then &s;hould not the <HI>ble&s;|&s;ing</HI> be placed there, rather than here, or as well there as here?</P>
<P>For my own part, I do conceive that the thing here in|timated is the <HI>Re&s;urrection,</HI> which opinion, as it cuts off a multitude of uncertainties, &s;o doth it agree mo&s;t fitly to the circum&s;tance of time, according to the method I have ob&s;erved, and is clear al&s;o from the Context, con&s;ent of other Scriptures, and the words them&s;elves taken in their natural &s;en&s;e, without &s;training or forcing of them, being in effect thus much, as if the Holy Gho&s;t &s;hould &s;ay; <HI>The children of God untill this day have been ever accoun|ted the worlds Fools, who have counted their life a burden and toyl, their death a lo&s;s of their expectations; but now at this day of the Re&s;urrection, when the fruit of Gods peoples patience, their faith and obedience</HI> (of which was &s;poken in the foregoing ver&s;e, which hath a ne|ce&s;&s;ary dependance on this, and had we conjoyned them in our expo&s;ition, as they are in the Text, it might po&s;&s;ibly
<PB N="102" REF="228">have been better) <HI>&s;hall be manife&s;ted before all men;</HI> it &s;hall then be &s;een that tho&s;e who in former ages, from the very beginning of the world, did live to the Lord, and dye in the Lord, are the onely ble&s;&s;ed men, who from this day in Soul and Body both are made partakers, and that in recompence of their former toyl and labours, of the glo|rious re&s;t of Chri&s;t, having now their good works follow|ing them, <HI>i. e.</HI> the reward of all their former good works (which the world looked upon as things lo&s;t, and ca&s;t away) given to them.</P>
<P>Hence, (which &s;erves to expound the&s;e words) the time of the &s;eventh Angels &s;ounding, (which is contemporary with this, both looking to the time of Chri&s;ts coming) is called the time of Gods giving a reward unto his Servants the Prophets, and to the Saints, and to them that fear his name &s;mal and great, <HI>Rev.</HI> 11.18. which an&s;wers punct|ually to this of their works, <HI>i.e.</HI> the reward of their works following them.</P>
<P>By the&s;e two Scriptures I am further confirmed in what I have writen upon the Vials, <HI>viz.</HI> That not Martyrs onely, but all the Saints &s;hall ri&s;e in the fir&s;t Re&s;urrection, and come with Chri&s;t; for the ble&s;&s;ing here pronounced is common to all that dye in the Lord, yea, to all that have kept the patience, faith, and commandements of Chri&s;t, and not peculiar to Martyrs onely; the rewarding Saints in the time of the <HI>new Jeru&s;alem,</HI> is not a rewarding Mar|tyrs onely, but all that fear Gods Name (a qualification common to Saints) &s;mal and great.</P>
<P>As for the double &s;imilitude in the following words, 1. Of a <HI>Harve&s;t,</HI> ver&s;. 15, 16. 2. Of a <HI>Vintage,</HI> ver&s;. 18 19, 20. whether the <HI>Harve&s;t</HI> &s;ignifie Chri&s;ts gathering his Elect in the world (which are his Corn) together to him, 1 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 4, 17. 2 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 2.1. <HI>Mat.</HI> 24.31. And the <HI>Vin|tage</HI> Chri&s;ts de&s;truction of tho&s;e of his Enemies that he finds gathered together upon his appearing; or whether
<PB N="203" REF="228">one thing, <HI>viz. The ruin of his enemies</HI> be intended in both, which &s;eems be&s;t to agree to <HI>Joel</HI> 3.13. <HI>Put ye in the Sickle, for the Harve&s;t is ripe; come get you down, for the Pre&s;s is full, the Fats over-flow;</HI> (which Prophecy, as it is the &s;ame for time with this, &s;o this &s;eems to be taken thence) I &s;hall not undertake po&s;&s;itively to determine. Further, whether the <HI>Angel</HI> with a Sickle, who gathers the <HI>Vintage,</HI> ver. 19. be any <HI>Angel</HI> that Chri&s;t makes u&s;e of at his coming, to de&s;troy his enemies, as God by an <HI>Angel</HI> de&s;troyed the Ho&s;t of <HI>Senacherib,</HI> or whether this <HI>Angel</HI> be <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> him&s;elf, who before is cal|led the <HI>Son of Man,</HI> here an <HI>Angel</HI> (which name is al|&s;o given him, <HI>Rev.</HI> 10.1, 2, 3, 5, 6. <HI>Rev.</HI> 20.1. <HI>Chap.</HI> 16.17. which in my di&s;cour&s;e on the &s;eventh Vial, I have &s;hewed is to be under&s;tood of Chri&s;t) I &s;hall not much in&s;i&s;t on, onely adding, that I rather incline to the latter, that it is <HI>Chri&s;t him&s;elf.</HI></P>
<P N="1">1 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> this work is done by the pouring out of the <HI>&s;eventh Vial,</HI> and the <HI>&s;eventh Vial</HI> is poured out by <HI>Chri&s;t alone.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> this work is <HI>the treading of the Wine-pre&s;s,</HI> and the treading of the Wine-pre&s;s is <HI>Chri&s;ts work alone, I&s;a.</HI> 63.3. <HI>Rev.</HI> 19.15.</P>
<P N="3">3 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> it carrying greate&s;t probability with it, that the <HI>Harve&s;t and Vintage &s;hould be but one</HI> and the &s;ame thing, &s;et forth for amplene&s;s &s;ake under two Similitudes, it &s;hould al&s;o &s;eem mo&s;t probable to conclude, <HI>the An|gel</HI> of either to be <HI>the &s;ame.</HI> Now the work of <HI>the Har|ve&s;t</HI> is in expre&s;s terms appropriated to <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> the <HI>Son of Man,</HI> therefore the <HI>Vintage</HI> is his work too.</P>
<P N="4">4 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> &s;upplication &s;eems to be made in the &s;ame manner to this <HI>Angel,</HI> as is to <HI>Chri&s;t him&s;elf.</HI> An <HI>Angel</HI> coming out of the Temple cryes with a loud voyce to him that fate on the Cloud, <HI>i.e.</HI> Chri&s;t the <HI>Son of Man,</HI> to thru&s;t in his Sickle and reap, ver&s;. 15. In like manner an
<PB N="104" REF="229"><HI>Angel</HI> coming from the Altar, cryes with a loud voyce to this <HI>Angel</HI> to thru&s;t in his Sickle, and gather the clu&s;ters of the earth, <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 18. therefore they &s;eem to be one and the &s;ame, and Chri&s;t him&s;elf the per&s;on pointed at in both.</P>
<P>If here I may add my conjecture concerning the&s;e <HI>two Angels</HI> that cry with a loud voyce, to have this work of the <HI>Harve&s;t</HI> and <HI>Vintage</HI> performed, I have a conceit, that the fir&s;t may &s;ignifie, the <HI>Gentile Churches,</HI> the &s;econd the <HI>Jews;</HI> who both about the <HI>in&s;tant time</HI> of Chri&s;ts appearance are provoked, by &s;eeing the whole world gathering together to &s;wallow them up, to cry mightily to the Lord, to manife&s;t his power for their pre&s;ervation; for which cau&s;e either are &s;aid to <HI>cry with a loud voyce;</HI> and both by &s;eeing the rage and height of the enemy, have &s;aith to beleeve their de&s;truction to be at hand; therefore either are brought in, <HI>pleading great words of faith.</HI> The fir&s;t pleads, <HI>Reap O Lord, for the time is come to reap, the Harve&s;t of the Earth is ripe,</HI> ver&s;. 15. The &s;econd pleads, <HI>Gather the clu&s;ters of the Vine, for her Grapes are fully ripe,</HI> ver&s;. 18. and for this rea&s;on al&s;o may (as I conceive) the &s;ame thing be &s;et forth under two Parables, that &s;o here|by a clear way might be made for either of the&s;e two, fir&s;t <HI>Gentiles,</HI> than <HI>Jews,</HI> to be brought in pleading with Chri&s;t, to &s;hew forth his power and greatne&s;s at this day.</P>
<P>Now of the&s;e <HI>two,</HI> the <HI>Angel</HI> of <HI>the Gentile Churches</HI> is &s;aid to <HI>come out of the Temple;</HI> (yet not the Temple of Heaven, which the Angel of the Vintage, <HI>i.e.</HI> Chri&s;t, comes forth of, <HI>ver.</HI> 17.) becau&s;e the <HI>Gentile-Saints</HI> had long before this time, even from the fir&s;t day the Vials be|gan to be poured forth, had a <HI>Temple among them, Rev.</HI> 15.5, 6. this being the mo&s;t remarkable thing concer|ning them, that they had a <HI>Temple,</HI> therefore are they de&s;cribed as coming thence. The <HI>Angel</HI> of the <HI>Jews</HI> comes from <HI>the Altar,</HI> ver&s;. 18.</P>
<PB N="105" REF="229">
<P>Que&s;t. <HI>Why is he &s;o de&s;cribed?</HI></P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> To note the <HI>wonderful &s;ufferings</HI> that people &s;hall be in, and that in that very nick of time wherein Chri&s;t &s;hall appear, which is &s;poken of, <HI>Daniel</HI> 12.1. <HI>Zoch.</HI> 14.1, 2, 3. and of which we have di&s;cour&s;ed before, this being the mo&s;t remarkable thing concerning them, and that which makes them to cry &s;o loud, therefore are they de&s;cribed as coming from the Altar; yet as touching this <HI>Angel</HI> it is added, <HI>that he hath power over fire,</HI> ver&s;. 18. noting the great <HI>preva|lency</HI> that the cry of this <HI>Angel</HI> from the <HI>Altar</HI> &s;hould have, to bring down the <HI>Wrath of God</HI> upon the Heads of the enemies; as <HI>Elijah commanded fire from Heaven,</HI> and the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es</HI> in the time of their Prophecy are &s;aid <HI>to devoure their enemies by fire, Rev.</HI> 11.5, &s;o <HI>the cry</HI> of the&s;e poor <HI>Jews,</HI> who at this pre&s;ent are to be exerci|&s;ed under an hour of &s;uch &s;harp trouble, as never was until this day, &s;ince there was a Nation, &s;hall be &s;o prevalent with Chri&s;t, that it &s;hall in a manner con&s;train him out of Heaven, and command down his &s;ore and heavie&s;t wrath upon the heads of their enemies, which is here &s;et forth by this <HI>Angels</HI> having <HI>power over fire.</HI></P>
<P>As touching the 1600 <HI>Furlongs,</HI> ver&s;. 20. conjectures are divers.</P>
<P><HI>Napiers</HI> opinion is, <Q><HI>That it re&s;pects the date of this terrible day; who reads the words thus; Blood came out of the Wine-pre&s;s unto the Hor&s;e Bridles, by the &s;pace of</HI> 1600 <HI>&s;tades of cour&s;es; as if (&s;aith he) ap|pearingly he &s;hould mean Metaphorically as Wine may be thought to flow from the Pre&s;s, or the blood of &s;lain men in a Field to a&s;cend to the Hor&s;e Bridles, &s;o e|ternally &s;hall the torment of the wicked a&s;cend after that</HI> 1600 <HI>years be accompli&s;hed; for (&s;aith our Author) the&s;e &s;tades agree well to mean years, &s;eeing a &s;tade is that race or cour&s;e that one may be thought to run
<PB N="106" REF="230">with one breath, before he begin to renew his breath again; as one year is that race or cour&s;e that the Sun makes in a Circuit, before he begin to renew his Cir|cuit again. Now counting</HI> 1600 <HI>years from the time that this was written, which was about the</HI> 97 <HI>year of Chri&s;t, as</HI> Eu&s;ebius <HI>in his Chronicle &s;aith, or in the end of the reign of</HI> Domitian, <HI>as</HI> Irenaeus <HI>&s;aith, which was</HI> An. Dom. 99. <HI>the end of the account &s;hall fall out about the year of Chri&s;t,</HI> 1697. <HI>or</HI> 1699.</Q> Thus <HI>Napier.</HI></P>
<P>This agrees well to the time of Chri&s;ts coming, as the &s;ame is held forth in other Scriptures, onely falls two or three years &s;ooner. Now whether Chri&s;t, who tels us, that <HI>for the Elects &s;ake the days &s;hall be &s;hortned, Matth.</HI> 24.22. may not by rea&s;on of that &s;harp trouble that pre|cedes his coming, &s;horten by &s;o much as this comes to, that determined time of his coming, which we have in <HI>Daniel,</HI> I will not &s;ay, yet a &s;eeming probability of &s;ome &s;uch thing there is in our Saviours words.</P>
<P><HI>Mayer</HI> hath an opinion, that this may relate to the place; quoting <HI>Rabbi Menahen</HI> upon <HI>Gen. fol.</HI> 60. who affirmeth, that the Land of <HI>Canaan</HI> was 1600. <HI>Furlongs</HI> in length. Now (&s;aith our Author) for &s;o much as all things are carried here on in an Allegory to the Temple, the Al|tar, and the Holy City which were of the <HI>Jews,</HI> I doubt not but in this &s;pace without the City it is al&s;o alluded unto that Country, &s;uch an innumerable multitude are de|&s;troyed, as if &s;uch a &s;laughter of men were made, as would overflow in this depth, all the whole land of <HI>Canaan.</HI></P>
<P>This opinion the Prophets favor, in that general concur|rence that is among&s;t them, that the battle of <HI>Armageddon</HI> (which is that treading of the Wine-pre&s;s here mentioned) &s;hall be in the land of <HI>Canaan,</HI> near <HI>Jeru&s;alem.</HI></P>
<P>Hence that opinion falls to the ground, which would have this 1600 <HI>Furlongs</HI> to be a de&s;ignation of <HI>Peters</HI> Patrimo|ny, which (&s;aith the Author of it) in the longe&s;t extent
<PB N="107" REF="230">thereof, from the wals of <HI>Rome</HI> to the River <HI>Po,</HI> is exactly 1600 <HI>Furlongs,</HI> whence (&s;aith he) its probable that the Popes own Territories, may prove the Cock-pit of this execution, whither Chri&s;t as into a Wine-pre&s;s, will from all parts ga|ther the bloody grapes, when he means to tread them.</P>
<P>Another opinion I find hereof, which applies 1600 <HI>Fur|longs</HI> to the greatne&s;s of the puni&s;hment, which &s;hall befall the enemys of Chri&s;t at this day, and that in re&s;pect both of the multitude of tho&s;e who &s;hall be puni&s;hed, and the length of their torment. <HI>Blood</HI> flowing &s;o great a depth as to the <HI>Hor&s;e Bridles,</HI> and this, for 1600 <HI>Furlongs,</HI> is an Argument both of abundance of blood, and a long time of pre&s;&s;ing.</P>
<P>This conjecture al&s;o agrees well to the Prophets, who &s;peaking of this day, make mention of multitudes that &s;hall be de&s;troyed, <HI>Ioel</HI> 3.14, <HI>Ezek.</HI> 38. &amp; 39. <HI>Rev.</HI> 16.14, 16. &amp; 19.19, 20, 21. and al&s;o of length of torment, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 66.24.</P>
<P>Now &s;eeing that either of the&s;e opinions will, and do a|gree to the mind of the Holy Gho&s;t in other places, where mention is made of this day, I judge it mo&s;t &s;afe not to re|&s;train the interpretation of &s;o great a my&s;tery to any one, but as the wi&s;dom of God in Scriptures more plain, much more in places &s;o my&s;tical, is manifold, &s;o to conceive that either, <HI>viz.</HI> the time, place, and greatne&s;s of the puni&s;h|ment al&s;o may be here intended.</P>
<P>Thus once more we are come unto <HI>the day of Chri&s;ts appearing,</HI> which though looked for but by a <HI>few,</HI> yet doubtle&s;s <HI>ha&s;tens</HI> upon us. By how much this ble&s;&s;ed time is nearer, by &s;o much the more doth it call upon us to have our eyes fixed thereupon; to awake, ari&s;e, put on our beautiful garments, and &s;hake our &s;elves of our du&s;t; ga|ther up our courage, our zeal, our life, our love to Chri&s;t, his cau&s;e and people; re&s;olving within our &s;elves for <HI>Sions &s;ake not to hold our peace, and for</HI> Jeru&s;alems <HI>&s;ake to give him no re&s;t, till the righteou&s;ne&s;s thereof go forth as
<PB N="108" REF="231">brightne&s;s, and the &s;alvation thereof as a Lamp that burneth;</HI> till &s;he who now is termed for&s;aken, and her land called de&s;olate, &s;hall become a <HI>Crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal Diadem in the hand of our God,</HI> and be no more called <HI>Hephzibab,</HI> nor her land <HI>Beulah,</HI> but the Lords delight, marryed unto him, the prai&s;e of the whole earth, an eternal excellency, a joy of many Genera|tions, a City of &s;olemnities, a Tabernacle that &s;hall not be taken down, nor one of the &s;takes be for ever removed, where the glorious Lord will be unto his a place of broad Rivers and Streams, to water the City of our God, to re|pleni&s;h and make fat the Mountain of his Holine&s;s: Which things, as he hath foretold them in his Word, and will &s;urely fulfill them in their &s;ea&s;on; So let me &s;ay, THIS GENE|RATION SHAL NOT PASS TIL ALL THESE THINGS BE FULFILLED; for the time is at hand. He will fini&s;h the work, and cut it &s;hort in righteou&s;ne&s;s; Verily a &s;hort work will the Lord make upon the earth. Warch ye therefore and pray always, that ye may be ac|counted worthy to e&s;cape tho&s;e things, that &s;hall come up|on the world, and to &s;tand before the Son of Man; For he that doth the&s;e things &s;aith, <HI>Behold I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give to every man according at his worke &s;hall be. I come as a Thee&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> Bl<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;&s;ed is he that watcheth and keepeth his G<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">rments, le&s;t be walk <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">ked, and they &s;ee his &s;hame: Even &s;o, Come Lord Je&s;us, Come quickly.</HI> Amen.</P>
<P>I&s;a. 14.32. <HI>What &s;hall o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters"> now du&s;wer the Me&s;&s;ongers of the Nation? That the; Lord bath founded</HI> Sion, <HI>and the poor of his people &s;hall tru&s;t in it.</HI></P>
<P>From my S<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">dy in <HI>Trunch</HI> the 23. day of the fir&s;t Month, in the year of our Lord 1654.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="231">
<P>A MOTIVE TO Generation-work: OR A Key to unlock the My&s;ticall Numbers of <HI>Daniel</HI> and the <HI>Revelations,</HI> tending to re&s;olve the great Que&s;tion of the Age we live in, <HI>viz. How long &s;hall it be unto the end of Wonders?</HI></P>
<P>By <HI>J.T.</HI> A waiter for the Redemption of <HI>Sion.</HI></P>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>Dan. 8.13.</HI></BIBL> Then I heard one Saint &s;peaking, and another Saint &s;aid unto that certain Saint which spake; How long &s;hall be the Vi&s;ion concerning the daily Sacrifice, and the tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion of de&s;olation, to give both the Sanctuary, and the Ho&s;t, to be trodden under foot?</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver&s;. 14.</HI></BIBL> And he &s;aid unto me, &V;nto two thou&s;and and three hundred dayes, then &s;hall the Sanctuary be clean&s;ed.</P></Q>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>Exod. 12.41.</HI></BIBL> And it came to pa&s;s at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the &s;elf &s;ame day, all the Ho&s;ts of the Lord went out from the land of <HI>Egypt.</HI></P></Q>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed for <HI>Livewell Chapman</HI> 1655.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="to the reader">
<PB REF="232">
<PB N="111" REF="232">
<HEAD>The Epi&s;tle to the Reader.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>Chri&s;tian Reader,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>IT hath been oftentimes in my thoughts, that there is hardly any controver&s;ie in this age (which is fruitful in little el&s;e) but there are in that thing wherein the con|trover&s;ie lyes, &s;ome <HI>more general principles</HI> of truth, which, as in their own nature they do carry a <HI>light</HI> round about them, &s;o could they be found our, would in a few words <HI>inlighten</HI> a man more than all tho&s;e tedious Volumes, which, about things controverted, are daily &s;ent forth into the world, which ordinarily do but beat about the Bu&s;h, never coming at the place where the&s;e <HI>prin|ciples</HI> lye.</P>
<P>The <HI>care</HI> of that man who would make <HI>di&s;covery of Truth,</HI> &s;hould be in the fir&s;t place, and above all, to <HI>&s;earch</HI> the&s;e out, and having found them, to place them right|ly; for the&s;e being to be his foundation, if but a &s;tone in this foundation, be either not of the true metal, or di&s;|placed, it nece&s;&s;arily follows, that &s;o much of the building, as hath it for its Ba&s;is, mu&s;t be weak or car|ried awry.</P>
<P>The be&s;t <HI>outward means</HI> to attain the&s;e <HI>principles,</HI> is to give attendance to the reading of the word, and dili|gently to compare one place with another; but yet this may be done, and a man no whit the neerer, if with this endeavour there do not concur the inward &s;upply and a&s;&s;i&s;tance of the Spirit. And truly I have many times thought with my &s;elf, that as the great thing our faith is to have in its eye, when it goes to the Promi&s;e for teach|ing,
<PB N="112" REF="233">is, That the Lord would lead us to the&s;e; &s;o the principal thing in the Spirits teaching, when it teacheth any &s;oul, is by its <HI>inward hints</HI> to point it unto the&s;e.</P>
<P>The mo&s;t <HI>certain Character</HI> to know the&s;e <HI>principles</HI> by, when they are attained and when not, is an <HI>univer&s;al harmony</HI> of Truth; for the&s;e <HI>principles</HI> are as the Center, in which all the lines of Truth, which are &s;eparated in the Circum&s;erence, do weet together, and become one point. But now, as the wider any Circumference is, the farther will a man be, who walks there, from the Center; So tho&s;e who travel in the large Circumference of mens Writings are farther from the&s;e <HI>principles,</HI> than tho&s;e, who &s;hunning this broad way, betake them&s;elves to the narrow path of the Word alone. And it &s;tands with rea&s;on it &s;hould &s;o be (though we had it not to &s;ay, This way is the way of the Promi&s;e) for the bringing forth of a <HI>Harmony,</HI> being by comparing one thing with another, a man may much better compare, where he hath much laid down in a little, as in the Word, than where hee hath little in much, as in the Writings of men; for as Judgement, Memory, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> are greatly holpen by the one &s;o are they confounded by the other.</P>
<P>Tho&s;e <HI>principles</HI> are not without cau&s;e to be <HI>&s;u&s;pected,</HI> which will not produce this <HI>Harmony:</HI> for Truth being one, and but one, &s;o far as the creature cannot make it one, its a manife&s;t Argument of his falling &s;hort of the knowledge of Truth.</P>
<P>As it is ordinary for Gods people by <HI>inward hints</HI> to have fir&s;t the <HI>light</HI> of th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;e <HI>principles,</HI> which followed up, will produce this <HI>outward Harmony,</HI> &s;o mu&s;t they in ca&s;e they would walk &s;afely, and make right conclu&s;ions, by this <HI>outward Harmony;</HI> judge of their <HI>inward hints. <HI>Hence</HI> inward hints</HI> are no<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> to the <HI>fleighted,</HI> nor rably rejected, for of entimes they carry that with them, which were they followed up by tho&s;e that have
<PB N="113" REF="233">them, would produce a glorious <HI>Harmony</HI> of Truth; Nor contrariwi&s;e are they to be <HI>credited,</HI> or received any further, than by this <HI>out ward Harmony,</HI> a te&s;timony is given to them; for it is mo&s;t certain, if the Spirit within be Teacher, he will make manife&s;t the hidden my&s;teries of his voyce without, but never contradict them.</P>
<P>The&s;e <HI>principles</HI> I am &s;peaking of, could they be <HI>found out,</HI> and brought to light, the <HI>way</HI> to Truth would bee <HI>&s;horter,</HI> the <HI>my&s;tery</HI> of Truth <HI>cleerer,</HI> the <HI>force</HI> of Truth to batter down Error, by how much it would be more united, <HI>greater,</HI> and a clo&s;e among the &s;pirits of good men, &s;ooner attained, than is like to be in any other way. Withall, who&s;oever would examine other mens <HI>principles</HI> upon any particular &s;ub<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ect, walking by <HI>this Rule,</HI> &s;hall find that work <HI>ea&s;ie,</HI> which might otherwi&s;e prove very <HI>difficult.</HI></P>
<P>That I my &s;elf have attained this knowledge, I can|not &s;ay, nor is it likely, &s;eeing I am but uewly come unto this Le&s;&s;on; yet having made a di&s;covery of &s;uch a way, I am pre&s;&s;ing after it, and what I have attained, I offer to thee, Sober Reader, Read, and judge, and try if thou plea&s;e&s;t.</P>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB N="114" REF="234">
<HEAD>A Key to the My&s;tical Numbers of <HI>Daniel,</HI> and the <HI>Revelations:</HI> Or. certain <HI>The&s;es,</HI> tending to re|&s;olve the great Question of the pre&s;ent time, <HI>How long &s;hall it be unto the end of Wonders?</HI> Added as a Motive to the &s;everal parts of Generation-Work.</HEAD>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<DIV3 N="1" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> I.</HEAD>
<P>_THere is a certain <HI>definite and determined time,</HI> that God in his Word hath &s;et, how long the Captivity and Sufferings of the Church of the New Te&s;tament &s;hall con|tinue, beyond which they &s;hall not be ex|tended. That &s;uch a <HI>determined time</HI> &s;hould be, is a thing of <HI>&s;pecial u&s;e,</HI> both for the comfort of Gods Church un|der &s;uffering, the firengthning of their faith, and the helping them in prayer; and it cannot be thought that God who was &s;o careful to mea&s;ure out the time of his Churches &s;ufferings under the Old Te&s;tament, and that to a yeer, yea a day &s;eventy yeers in <HI>Babylon,</HI> 430 in <HI>Egypt,</HI> and in the &s;elf-&s;ame day the determined time was expired, God brings them out, <HI>Exod.</HI> 12.41, 51. &s;hould be altogether carele&s;s (as if his grace in Go&s;pel-times were le&s;s) of mea&s;uring out, and determining the time of the Captivity and Sufferings of the Church of the New Te&s;tament.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="2" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> II.</HEAD>
<P>The <HI>knowledge of this time,</HI> is a thing <HI>attainable,</HI> or otherwi&s;e there could be no <HI>advantage</HI> ari&s;ing hence;
<PB N="115" REF="234">Yea the former ends &s;hould be fruitle&s;s, and of no u&s;e; yea otherwi&s;e why is there a promi&s;e left us of attaining knowledge as to this thing, by running to and fro, <HI>Dan.</HI> 12.4. if by running to and fro knowledge were not <HI>attain|able?</HI> Yea to what end are the my&s;tical Numbers in the time of the end to be un&s;ealed, <HI>Dan.</HI> 12.9. if notwith|&s;tanding their un&s;ealing no certain conclu&s;ion, as to the things they hold forth, were deducible?</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="3" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> III.</HEAD>
<P>This <HI>knowledge,</HI> though attainable, is <HI>not a di&s;covery in|tended for al Ages</HI> but for the <HI>la&s;t</HI> only, or tho&s;e <HI>Saints</HI> which &s;hall live <HI>immediately</HI> before the expiration of this time. Therefore is the revealing time alwayes particulatly noted by this expre&s;s Character, <HI>The time of the end.</HI> Dan. 12.4. <HI>But thou, O</HI> Daniel, <HI>&s;hut up the words, and &s;eal the Book, even to the time of the end.</HI> Ver&s; 9. <HI>Go thy way</HI> Daniel, <HI>for the words are clo&s;ed up, and &s;ealed till the time of the end.</HI> Chap. 8.17. <HI>&V;nder&s;tand, O Son of man, for at the time of the end &s;hall be the Vi&s;ion;</HI> which la&s;t words can|not re&s;pect the <HI>time</HI> of the Vi&s;ion, which was many Ages &s;ince, in the third yeer of <HI>Bel&s;hazzar,</HI> ver&s;. 1. nor the <HI>matter</HI> of the Vi&s;ion, as if the &s;ame did relate only to things done in the <HI>time</HI> of the end; for the <HI>matter</HI> of the Vi&s;ion is a Prophecie of the three la&s;t Monarchies, Fir&s;t, <HI>Medes</HI> and <HI>Per&s;ians.</HI> Secondly, <HI>Grecians.</HI> Thirdly, <HI>Romans</HI> (the <HI>Babylonian</HI> Monatchy being omitted, becau&s;e it was in the expiration of that <HI>Daniel</HI> had the Vi&s;ion) and there|fore the <HI>matter</HI> of it runs through all of them, and may not be limited to the <HI>time</HI> of the end; but they re&s;pect the <HI>revelation</HI> of the Vi&s;ion, which <HI>Daniel</HI> him&s;elf hath light into at pre&s;ent, but with this Provi&s;o, that he &s;hut it up, Ver&s;. 26. <HI>Shut thou up the Vi&s;ion;</HI> for others mu&s;t wait for the under&s;tanding of the&s;e things until the <HI>time of the end.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="4" TYPE="thesis">
<PB N="116" REF="235">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> IV.</HEAD>
<P>The <HI>Per&s;ons in a capacity,</HI> and that when the Book is opened, to attain this knowledge, are &s;uch only as make <HI>inquiry</HI> after it. Therefore the determinative an&s;wer con|cerning the times is given forth to the <HI>inquiring</HI> Saints, Dan. 8.13, 14. <HI>Then I heard one Saint &s;peaking, and another Sain: &s;aid unto that certain Saint which &s;pake; How long &s;hall be the Vi&s;ion concerning the daily Sacri|fice, and the tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion of de&s;olation, to give both the Sanctuary, and the ho&s;t to be trodden underfoot? And he &s;aid unto me, &V;nto</HI> 2300 <HI>dayes, then &s;hall the Sanctuary be clean&s;ed</HI> And al&s;o the promi&s;e of increa&s;e of this know|ledge, and that in the time when the Book is to be un|&s;ealed, is not to all (though per&s;ons otherwi&s;e qualified with abundance of grace and knowledge) but to &s;uch onely as are <HI>runners to and fro,</HI> Dan. 12.4. <HI>But thou, O</HI> Da|niel, <HI>&s;hut up the words and &s;eal the Book, even to the time of the end; many &s;hall run to and fro, and knowledge &s;hall be increa&s;ed.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="5" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> V.</HEAD>
<P>The <HI>time it &s;elf</HI> is held forth in tho&s;e My&s;tical Num|bers that we find in the Prophecie of <HI>Daniel,</HI> and the Book of the <HI>Revelation;</HI> which mu&s;t be, becau&s;e no <HI>deter|mination</HI> of the time can be found in all the Scripture, in ca&s;e it bee not in tho&s;e Numbers.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="6" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> VI.</HEAD>
<P>That <HI>interpretation</HI> of the&s;e Numbers is doubtle&s;s to be <HI>&s;ought</HI> for, and, when found, followed, that brings them to an <HI>Harmony</HI> within them&s;elves, for truth is <HI>never found</HI> but in a <HI>Harmony.</HI> No Prophecie is of a private inter|pretation. <HI>Out of the mouth of two or three witne&s;&s;es &s;hall every word be e&s;tabli&s;hed.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="7" TYPE="thesis">
<PB N="117" REF="235">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> VII.</HEAD>
<P>The <HI>be&s;t way</HI> to attain this Harmony, is to <HI>con&s;ult</HI> with the naked te&s;timony of Scripture, Hi&s;tory, and Chronology.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="8" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> VIII.</HEAD>
<P>The <HI>voyce of Scripture</HI> is to be attended in the fir&s;t place, Hi&s;tory and Chronology in the &s;econd. The rea&s;on is, becau&s;e the reports of Hi&s;torians being various and perplexed, oftentimes as to actions them&s;elves, oftentimes as to the time of them, they will but confound the En|quirer, if in dubitable principles and conclu&s;ions from Scrip|ture be not fir&s;t laid as a foundation.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="9" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> IX.</HEAD>
<P>If it may be &s;uppo&s;ed (which mu&s;t, or otherwi&s;e no cer|tain determination of the time is attainable, and &s;o this, and every enquiry is but a running in vain, and labouring in vain) that <HI>indubitable principles,</HI> which may &s;erve us as a ba&s;is for &s;uch an undertaking, are left us in the word; and al&s;o if it be a thing &s;uppo&s;able, that among&s;t the va|riety of Hi&s;torians, any one of them, in recording &s;uch Acts, which are to be as Heads to this, or that My&s;tical Number, hath neither given fal&s;e reports of the Acts them|&s;elves, nor mi&s;&s;ed the time; it is a thing then not im|po&s;&s;ible by vertue of the light fir&s;t received from the mo&s;t certain principles of holy Scripture, to pa&s;s a <HI>definitive Sentence</HI> upon the reports of Hi&s;torians; And to con|clude this, in this or that particular report, to be in the truth, the&s;e in the error.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="10" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> X.</HEAD>
<P>If among many, <HI>any one,</HI> or more Hi&s;torians be <HI>found in the truth,</HI> as touching &s;uch and &s;uch acts, and their time,
<PB N="118" REF="236">then al&s;o by the <HI>indubitable principles</HI> of Scripture, and their reports laid together, a <HI>certain determination</HI> of the time may be made.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="11" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> XI.</HEAD>
<P>The <HI>Numbers them&s;elves</HI> which point us to the end of the Churches Captivity and &s;ufferings in New Te&s;ta|ment-times, are 2300 <HI>dayes,</HI> Dan. 8.14. 1290, and 1335 <HI>dayes,</HI> Chap. 12.11, 12. 1260 <HI>dayes,</HI> Rev. 11.3, Chap. 12.6. and 42. <HI>months,</HI> Rev. 11.2. Chap. 13.5. both which la&s;t I have before proved, Chap. 1. Sect. 2. to be one and the &s;ame.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="12" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> XII.</HEAD>
<P>A <HI>day put for a yeer,</HI> is a Scriptural, and a Prophetical way of &s;peaking, <HI>Num.</HI> 14.33, 34. <HI>And your children &s;hall wander in the Wilderne&s;s forty years, after the number of the dayes in which ye &s;earched the Land, even forty dayes, each day for a year,</HI> Ezek 4 4 5 6-<HI>Thou &s;halt bear the iniquity of the hou&s;e of</HI> Judah <HI>forty dayes; I have appointed thee each day for a year.</HI> Thus we are to interpret dayes in the fore-going Numbers, of other|wi&s;e the Numbers will be of no u&s;e at all, as to mea&s;ure out the time of the Captivity, and &s;ufferings of Gods people under the New Te&s;tament; for how little time, &s;hould we under&s;tand the&s;e dayes of natural dayes, doth the greate&s;t of the&s;e Numbers contain?</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="13" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> XIII.</HEAD>
<P>As <HI>Daniel</HI> wrote in <HI>Old Te&s;tament-times,</HI> when the <HI>Jews</HI> were the only people of God, and <HI>John</HI> in <HI>New Te&s;tament times,</HI> when the <HI>Jews</HI> were a people rejected, and the <HI>Gentiles</HI> Gods cho&s;en people; &s;o are we to look upon the thing principally pointed at in the fore-going Numbers of <HI>Daniel,</HI> to be the <HI>time of the Jews delivery</HI>
<PB N="119" REF="236">from their long Captivity; the thing chiefly intended in <HI>Johns</HI> to be the utmo&s;t period of the <HI>Gentile Churches Bondage,</HI> and Captivity under Antichri&s;t.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="14" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> XIV.</HEAD>
<P>Now becau&s;e the <HI>Gentile-Churches deliverance</HI> from <HI>Antichri&s;tian Bondage,</HI> which began with the beginning of the Vials, &s;hall be <HI>compleat</HI> at the end of the 1260 days, or the two and forty Months, <HI>i.e.</HI> Antichri&s;t, this time ex|pired, &s;hall never &s;o far prevail again&s;t them more, as to bring them into bondage to him again; therefore the <HI>utmo&s;t period</HI> of the Churches &s;ufferings, that we have in <HI>John,</HI> is <HI>the end</HI> of the 1260 <HI>days,</HI> the forty two <HI>months,</HI> nofarther number beyond this being a&s;&s;igned. But now becau&s;e the <HI>de|livery of the Jews</HI> is to be begun at the <HI>time</HI> of their <HI>com|ing up to their Land,</HI> and not <HI>compleated</HI> till forty five years after, therefore have we in <HI>Daniel,</HI> Chap. 12. <HI>two numbers</HI> laid down, the one 1290 <HI>days,</HI> the other 1335. which carry us <HI>forty five years</HI> farther than the other.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="15" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> XV.</HEAD>
<P>All the afore&s;aid <HI>Prophetical and Apocalyptical numbers</HI> may be divided into two Ranks; tho&s;e of the fir&s;t Rank point us to the time of the <HI>Jews fir&s;t &s;tirring,</HI> the <HI>ri&s;e of the Chri&s;tian Witne&s;&s;es,</HI> the <HI>end of the Bea&s;ts reign,</HI> and <HI>treading under foot the Holy City.</HI> Tho&s;e of the &s;e|cond, to <HI>the time of Chri&s;ts &s;econd coming,</HI> the <HI>final de&s;truction of the Bea&s;t,</HI> the <HI>full deliverance of the</HI> Jews.</P>
<P>Here it is a thing mo&s;t nece&s;&s;ary, that we <HI>mind,</HI> and <HI>diligently ob&s;erve this di&s;tinction;</HI> for the not di&s;tingui&s;h|ing betwixt <HI>the ending time</HI> of <HI>Antichrists</HI> reign and Ty|ranny, and <HI>his final de&s;truction,</HI> which is in the de&s;tructi|on of the <HI>Fourth Monarchy;</HI> the beginning time of the <HI>Jews delivery,</HI> and their <HI>compleat deliverance;</HI> the &s;tanding up of Chri&s;t in his <HI>Witne&s;&s;es, i.e.</HI> by a more glo|rious
<PB N="120" REF="237">manife&s;tation of his power and pre&s;ence, with, and among his people, and his &s;tanding up in <HI>per&s;on,</HI> is a fun|damental mi&s;take in an enquiry of this nature; yea, confounds and darkens the whole truth (in a manner) of <HI>Daniel</HI> and the <HI>Revelations;</HI> and indeed is the very rea&s;on why &s;ome contend for a <HI>Spiritual appearance</HI> of Chri&s;t onely, <HI>viz.</HI> an appearance with his in a way of power, and others contrariwi&s;e for a <HI>Per&s;onal;</HI> whereas in both there is a glorious truth, and a &s;et and an appointed time for both; onely the fir&s;t falls &s;o many years &s;ooner, and &s;o is nearer to us; the &s;econd &s;o many later, and &s;o is farther off; and po&s;&s;ibly this may be one rea&s;on, why good people at this day harp &s;o much upon the fir&s;t, be|cau&s;e it is neare&s;t to them, and &s;o mo&s;t upon their hearts. Now by <HI>ob&s;erving this di&s;tinction,</HI> and carrying it with us through the Prophets, either, and the time of either, will be clear.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="rank">
<HEAD>Numbers of the fir&s;t Rank.</HEAD>
<DIV3 N="16" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> XVI.</HEAD>
<P>The <HI>Numbers</HI> that belong to the fir&s;t Rank, are the 1290 <HI>days,</HI> the 1260. and the <HI>forty two Months,</HI> the &s;ame with the 1260.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="17" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> XVII.</HEAD>
<P>The 1290 <HI>days,</HI> and the 1260 (alias <HI>forty two months</HI>) are both to end at <HI>one</HI> and the &s;ame <HI>point;</HI> that is, the <HI>Jews</HI> delivery from their long Captivity, which is the thing &s;et forth by the 1290 days, is to begin at that point where the <HI>Gentile Churches</HI> delivery from the tyranny of Anti|chri&s;t, &s;et forth by the forty two month, the 1260 days is to end, and &s;o con&s;equently either number concenter in their end, and terminate at the &s;ame point, which is clear.</P>
<P N="1">1 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> the time, times, and a half, <HI>Dan.</HI> 12.7. <HI>Rev.</HI>
<PB N="121" REF="237">12.14. which ends at the &s;ame point with the 1260. ends al&s;o at the &s;ame point with the 1290, as I have proved at large in my fore-going Di&s;cour&s;e, Chap. 2. Sect. 5.</P>
<P N="2">2 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> our <HI>Saviour, Luk.</HI> 21.24. fore-telling the time how long the <HI>Jews</HI> Captivity &s;hould continue, and <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> &s;hould be trodden under foot of the <HI>Gentiles,</HI> tels us, that the &s;ame &s;hould be untill the times of the <HI>Gentiles</HI> &s;hould be fulfilled. <HI>And they &s;hall fall by the edge of the Sword; and &s;hall be led away captive into all Nations, and</HI> Jeru&s;alem <HI>&s;hall be trodden down of the</HI> Gentiles, <HI>untill the times of the</HI> Gentiles <HI>be fulfilled;</HI> the meaning whereof is not, that the Jewi&s;h <HI>Captivity</HI> &s;hould continue, untill &s;uch time as the <HI>Gentiles</HI> &s;hould cea&s;e to be Gods people any longer, for the &s;tream of the Prophets run again&s;t &s;uch a conjecture, they every where fore-telling of a wonderful acce&s;s of <HI>Gentiles</HI> to the Lord, about the time of the <HI>Jews</HI> coming in, from which day the <HI>Gentiles</HI> are not to be rejected, but <HI>Jew</HI> and <HI>Gentile</HI> together to be the people of God. But the meaning I conceive to be this, <HI>until the time of the Gentiles be fulfilled,</HI> that is, untill the time of the <HI>Gentiles Captivity,</HI> and &s;ufferings under <HI>Antichri&s;t</HI> is at an end, &s;o long &s;hall the <HI>Jews Captivity</HI> remain, but with the end of the one, &s;hall the other al&s;o have end. Now the <HI>Gentiles Captivity</HI> ending at the end of the forty two months, the 1260 <HI>days,</HI> which is the term of the Bea&s;ts Tyranny, and the Womans being in the Wilderne&s;s, therefore mu&s;t the <HI>Jews</HI> al&s;o, and &s;o con&s;equently the 1260 days, and the 1290. end to|gether.</P>
<P N="3">3 <HI>Becau&s;e Daniel, chap.</HI> 9.26. telling us how long de|&s;olations are determined upon the <HI>Jewi&s;h Nation,</HI> makes their de&s;olations to <HI>end</HI> with the end of the War, <HI>Unto the end of the War de&s;olations are determined.</HI></P>
<P>Que&s;t. <HI>What War is this?</HI></P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> Doubtle&s;s the War he had &s;poken of before,
<PB N="122" REF="238"><HI>chap.</HI> 7.21. <HI>viz.</HI> the War of the little Horn again&s;t the Saints; <HI>I beheld, and the &s;ame Horn made War with the Saints, and prevailed again&s;t them;</HI> the continuance of which War is but untill the end of the time, times, and a half, where the time of the little Horns reign and Tyranny expires, ver&s;. 25. <HI>He &s;hall wear out the Saints of the mo&s;t High, and think to change times and Laws, and they &s;hall be given into his hand, until a time, and times, and the dividing of time.</HI></P>
<P>Now ob&s;erve, with the <HI>end</HI> of this War the Jewi&s;h <HI>de|&s;olations</HI> end, and their re&s;tauration begins; now this War <HI>ending</HI> with the end of the time, times, and a half, and the end of the time, times, and a half, and the 1260 days being <HI>one</HI> and the <HI>&s;ame,</HI> it nece&s;&s;arily follows, that the 1260 days, and the 1290 &s;hould <HI>end together.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="18" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> XVIII.</HEAD>
<P><HI>The point of time</HI> where either ends is in the year of our Lord, 1656.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="19" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> XIX.</HEAD>
<P><HI>The true beginnings</HI> of either number do nece&s;&s;arily in|fer this to be the end.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="20" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> XX.</HEAD>
<P>The 1290 <HI>days are to be begun Anno Dom.</HI> 366, with that noted act of <HI>Julian,</HI> of &s;etting the <HI>Jews</HI> about re|edifying the Temple, and furni&s;hing them out of the pub|lick Trea&s;ury with all nece&s;&s;aries for this work, when by a terrible Earth quake all they built was thrown up, yea, the very foundation-&s;tones of the Temple, which never till that day were moved, thrown out of their places, and by ter|rible Thunder and Lightning, and Fire falling from Hea|ven, all their tools and in&s;truments were burnt up. So that as <HI>Socrates</HI> (in his third Book, <HI>cap.</HI> 20. according to
<PB N="123" REF="238">the Greek, the 17. according to the Tran&s;lation) &s;aith, <HI>That there a man might have beheld Hammers, Graving-Irons, Saws, Axes, Hatchets,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>con&s;umed with fire; which fire</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>cea&s;ed not to burn the &s;pace of a whole day, and the</HI> Jews <HI>them&s;elves being amazed hereat, confe&s;&s;ed Chri&s;t to be the omnipotent God.</HI></P>
<P>Yea farther (&s;aith the afore&s;aid Author) <HI>Cyril, then Bi&s;hop of</HI> Jeru&s;alem <HI>when they began the work, remem|bred this Prophecy of</HI> Daniel, <HI>and urging Chri&s;ts words with it,</HI> Matth. 24.2. <HI>did prophecy unto many, that now the time was come that our Saviours words &s;hould be fulfilled, which he &s;pake of the Temple, that</HI> not one &s;tone &s;hould be left upon another. Thus much out of the very words of <HI>Socrates,</HI> who wrote above 1200 years ago.</P>
<P>The truth of this act is al&s;o te&s;tified by many other an|cient Writers; as</P>
<P><HI>Ammianus Marcellinus,</HI> who lived in the very time of <HI>Julian,</HI> and was a Souldier under him, <HI>lib.</HI> 23.</P>
<P><HI>Theodoret</HI> (who wrote his Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Hi&s;tory, <HI>Anno Dom.</HI> 430.) <HI>Lib.</HI> 3. <HI>cap.</HI> 17.</P>
<P><HI>Sozomene</HI> (who was contemporary with <HI>Socrates</HI>) <HI>lib.</HI> 5. <HI>cap.</HI> 21, yea by mo&s;t Chronologers and Hi&s;torians, both Ancient and Modern, that have written any thing of this time.</P>
<P>Yea, which is al&s;o a thing very ob&s;ervable, and noted by <HI>Socrates,</HI> and mo&s;t of the afore&s;aid Authors, <HI>viz.</HI> That as wicked <HI>Julian</HI> did &s;et the <HI>Jews</HI> upon re-edifying the Tem|ple, &s;o did he al&s;o about the &s;ame time &s;end his Legates to offer Sacrifice in the chief Heathen Temple of the <HI>Gentiles</HI> in <HI>Delphos,</HI> and there to con&s;ult with the Oracle of <HI>Apollo;</HI> and as God by Earth-quake, Thunder and Lightning did over-turn the one, &s;o did he al&s;o in the &s;ame manner, and about that very time, the other; thereby overwhel|ming at once both the cheif Temples, the one of the <HI>Jews</HI>
<PB N="124" REF="239">he other of the <HI>Gentiles,</HI> putting an end to the <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> daily Sacrifice, and the <HI>Gentile</HI> Super&s;titions, at one and the &s;ame time; and therefore no time may &s;o fitly be called a time of De&s;olation, and that becau&s;e of abominati|on, as this.</P>
<P>Now the Rea&s;ons why we are to fix the Head of our Account upon this act, rather than any other before it, or &s;ince it, are.</P>
<P N="1">1 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> if we begin with any act before it, the <HI>time is expired,</HI> and the <HI>Jews</HI> not yet delivered, experience therefore proves &s;uch beginnings fal&s;e.</P>
<P N="2">2 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> we may not <HI>begin lower</HI> for the&s;e Rea|&s;ons;</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> if we begin lower, the 1290 days cannot be <HI>made concurrent in their end</HI> with <HI>Johns</HI> 1260. which for the fore-going grounds mu&s;t be.</P>
<P>Secondly, <HI>Becau&s;e Daniel</HI> being a Prophet of the <HI>Jews,</HI> and the things he fore-told having a more <HI>e&s;pecial re&s;pect to that Nation,</HI> there cannot in any Hi&s;tory of any time &s;ince Chri&s;t be found an act &s;o famous, and that with a relation to that Nation, as was this act of <HI>Julians,</HI> with which therefore we mu&s;t begin, or none.</P>
<P>Thirdly, <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> no beginning lower (that will agree to <HI>Daniels</HI> words) either <HI>can be found,</HI> or is <HI>&s;tated by any</HI> that ever yet I have met with; and it is a thing that I have much ob&s;erved, how that all tho&s;e, who becau&s;e the time is near, and &s;o little likelihood of any &s;uch thing ap|pears as yet, have not faith enough to beleeve this begin|ning, have al&s;o not light enough to make out another, but are &s;ilent, laying down no Head to begin this account up|on, which yet the Holy Gho&s;t hath marked out, by as eminent and noted Characters, to &s;hew us where we are to begin it, as any account in all the Scripture, ver&s;. 11. <HI>From the time that the daily Sacrifice &s;hall be taken a|way, and the abomination that maketh de&s;olate &s;et up, &s;hall be</HI> 1290 <HI>days.</HI></P>
<PB N="125" REF="239">
<P>And the&s;e Characters do mo&s;t exactly agree to the act of <HI>Julian,</HI> as I have proved in my fir&s;t part, pag. 52, 53. and indeed are not &s;o fitly appliable to any act that ever was before or &s;ince it; I judge my &s;elf therefore to have much rea&s;on &s;till to hold to that opinion, I then more doubtfully laid down, viz. That we are with <HI>Julians</HI> act of &s;etting the Jews about re-edifying of the Temple, to begin the 1290 days.</P>
<P>The rea&s;on why I pitch upon the year <HI>three hundred &s;ix|ty fix,</HI> to be the year in which this was done (when as there is among&s;t Hi&s;torians three or four years variance in &s;tating the year) is not this onely, becau&s;e Hi&s;torians of be&s;t ac|count report this to be the year, and Authors of no little e&s;teem adhere rather to this report than any of the other; but my rea&s;on is, becau&s;e the one thou&s;and three hundred thirty five days, <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 12. (who&s;e Head is the &s;ame with the one thou&s;and two hundred and ninety) cannot be made, as they mu&s;t (as &s;hall &s;traight-way appear) concurrent in their end with the two thou&s;and three hundred days, in ca&s;e we fix this act of <HI>Julian</HI> upon any other year than the afore&s;aid year three hundred &s;ixty &s;ix; that therefore I conclude (as formerly) to be the year; To three hun|dred &s;ixty &s;ix, add one thou&s;and two hundred and ninety, the whole is one thou&s;and &s;ix hundred fitly &s;ix.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="21" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> XXI.</HEAD>
<P>The 1260 days are to <HI>be begun, A.D.</HI> 396. for to that year are the <HI>Characters,</HI> the Scripture gives us both of the time in which the Bea&s;t was to ri&s;e, and the Characters of the Bea&s;t him&s;elf, mo&s;t fitly appliable.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="22" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> XXII.</HEAD>
<P>Two clear <HI>Characters</HI> we have laid down by the Apo|&s;tle <HI>Paul,</HI> 2 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 2. of the time in which the man of &s;in was to be midwifed into the world.</P>
<PB N="126" REF="240">
<P>Fir&s;t, In the time of the Churches <HI>fir&s;t mo&s;t eminent Apo&s;tacy</HI> from Primitive purity. This we have, ver&s;. 3. <HI>That day &s;hall not come, except there come a falling away fir&s;t, and that man of &s;in be revealed, the Son of perditi|on;</HI> as if he had &s;aid, the revelation of the man of &s;in, <HI>i.e</HI> the bringing him forth into the world, is then to be expected, when you &s;hall &s;ee &s;ome eminent falling away; for he thru&s;ts him&s;elf forth into the world, in, or with this falling away. Now this defection though it began and was in part more early, becau&s;e the my&s;tery of iniquity did work and en|deavor to thru&s;t it &s;elf in, even from the Apo&s;tles daies, as <HI>ver.</HI> 7. <HI>For the my&s;tery of iniquity doth already work;</HI> yet did it not become eminent, &s;o as that corruption began to have the Major Vote in Councils, and to be confirmed by their Decrees, till in and near about this year. What Canons that never pa&s;&s;ed Councils before the &s;econd Council of <HI>Carthage,</HI> and other Council sin and about this year did produce, I &s;hall &s;hew pre&s;ently.</P>
<P>Secondly, The <HI>ri&s;e of the Antichri&s;tian Bea&s;t</HI> is there to <HI>be placed,</HI> where the ancient Roman Empire (which is that the Apo&s;tle tells us did then with-hold and let) <HI>began to fall to decay,</HI> and to be taken away, Ver&s;. 6, 7, 8. <HI>And now yee know what with-holdeth, that he might be re|vealed in his time. For the my&s;tery of iniquity doth al|ready work; onely he who now letteth will let untill he be taken out of the way. And then &s;hall that wicked be revealed&mdash;</HI> But this was <HI>A.D.</HI> 396 for the Emperor <HI>Theodo&s;ius</HI> dying A.D. 395. as &s;aith <HI>Helvicus in Thea|tro Hi&s;torico, Al&s;ted. in Chronologia Monarch. Rom.</HI> the Empire was thereupon divided betwixt <HI>Arcadius</HI> and <HI>Honorius,</HI> his two Sons; &s;o that the year 396. was the very fir&s;t yeer of the divi&s;ion of the Roman Empire. Now divi&s;ion being the beginning of ruin, we may &s;ay there be|gan the ruin of the Roman Empire, where it began &s;o to be divided as never to be united more. Hence <HI>Dan. Pareus</HI>
<PB N="127" REF="240">calls this the con&s;ummate Divi&s;ion, which did &s;o di&s;tract the Empire now broken into two, as that it never after|wards became united under one Emperor again. <HI>Par. in Medulla Hi&s;toriae profanae.</HI></P>
<P>About this very time al&s;o, by the general con&s;ent of Hi|&s;torians, did the <HI>Goths</HI> and <HI>Vandals</HI> invade the Empire, in &s;uch &s;ort, as that, <HI>A.D.</HI> 410. <HI>Alaricus</HI> King of the <HI>Goths</HI> takes <HI>Rome</HI> it &s;elf. <HI>Al&s;ted.</HI> in <HI>Chronologia Regno|rum Veterum, Helvicus</HI> in <HI>Theat. Hi&s;t. Ro&s;s</HI> in his Chronology at the end of his <HI>Worlds Hi&s;tory.</HI> And &s;o mightily was the <HI>Roman Empire</HI> weakned by the former divi&s;ion, and this inva&s;ion falling out together, that <HI>Rome</HI> never recovered its former &s;trength and beauty &s;ince.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="23" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> XXIII.</HEAD>
<P>The <HI>Characters of the Bea&s;t</HI> him&s;elf do al&s;o agree mo&s;t punctually to this time of any: Or take it thus, Tho&s;e <HI>very things which gave breath</HI> and being (as I may &s;o &s;ay) to the man of &s;in, came forth in, or neer about this very year, as,</P>
<P N="1">1 <HI>Idolatry,</HI> in wor&s;hipping Images, the Virgin <HI>Mary,</HI> Saints, the Reliques of <HI>Saints,</HI> &amp;c. is the principal <HI>Character</HI> of the Bea&s;t. All the&s;e things had beginning neer about, if not in this very year, as may bee &s;een at large in <HI>Wolfius</HI> his <HI>Centinaries, Cent.</HI> 4. in treating upon the particular year 396.</P>
<P N="2">2 <HI>Prohibition of Marriage,</HI> this the Apo&s;tle makes an <HI>expre&s;s badge</HI> of Antichri&s;t, 1 <HI>Tim</HI> 4.3. <HI>Forbidding to marry.</HI> This began about this very time. The &s;econd Council of <HI>Carthage</HI> was the fir&s;t Council that ever made it a Law that Mini&s;ters &s;hould not marry, as may bee &s;een in <HI>Al&s;ted. in Chronol. Conciliorum, Sim&s;on, Hi&s;tory of the Church, lib.</HI> 4. <HI>Cent.</HI> 4. This Council was held (&s;aith <HI>Helvicus</HI>) in the very year 396.</P>
<P>Al&s;o in the fir&s;t Council held at <HI>Toledo</HI> in <HI>Spain,</HI> a little
<PB N="128" REF="241">after, <HI>viz. A. D.</HI> 400. (as &s;aith <HI>Helvieus</HI>) was the &s;ame Decree confirmed, as may be &s;een in Eccle&s;ia&s;tial Chronology at the end of the Tirpartite Hi&s;tory. Yea (which was wor&s;e) in this Council was not only prohi|bition of Mariage, but allowance given therewithall to have Concubines. <HI>Sim&s;on Hi&s;t. of the Church, lib.</HI> 4. <HI>Cent.</HI> 5.</P>
<P><HI>Siricius</HI> who was made Bi&s;hop of <HI>Rome, A.D.</HI> 385. and &s;o continued until the year 398. (as &s;aith <HI>Al&s;ted. in Chronologia Paparum. Helvicus in Theatro Hi&s;torico, Joan. Wolfius Cent.</HI> 4. <HI>Prideaux</HI> in his Introduction to the reading of Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Hi&s;tory, p. 78.) was the fir&s;t (as the afore&s;aid Authors, with many others, affirm) that impo&s;ed &s;ingle life upon the Clergy. Yea this rage of <HI>Siricius</HI> was &s;uch (as &s;aith <HI>Melancthon</HI> upon <HI>Carion, lib.</HI> 3.) as that he removed from their office all &s;uch as being unmaried did marry; forbad &s;uch as were married to company with their wives, and in ca&s;e of di&s;obedience, re|moved them from their places and functions; and in an un&s;avoury manner cites that of <HI>Paul,</HI> in his Decree, <HI>They that are in the fle&s;h cannot plea&s;e God.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3 <HI>Exalting him&s;elf above the Civil Magi&s;trate.</HI> This is another <HI>badge</HI> of Antichri&s;t, 2 The&s;&s;. 2.4. <HI>Who oppo&s;eth and exalteth him&s;elf above all that is called God.</HI>&mdash;This began pre&s;ently after this time, for Pope <HI>Innocent</HI> the fir&s;t, who was made Pope <HI>A.D.</HI> 402. &s;aith <HI>Al&s;tede,</HI> 403. &s;aith <HI>Helvicus,</HI> did &s;o take upon him, as to excomunicate the Emperor <HI>Arcadius</HI> (though Emperor not of <HI>Rome,</HI> but <HI>Con&s;tantinople,</HI> another place) as &s;aith <HI>Dan. Pareus in Medulla Hi&s;t. Eccle&s;. univer&s;ali.</HI> Yea at the &s;ame time together with the Emperor he excom|municated the Ea&s;tern Churches al&s;o, as faith <HI>Ro&s;s,</HI> Hi&s;tory of the world, <HI>lib.</HI> 3. <HI>cap.</HI> 3.</P>
<P N="4">4 <HI>Humane Traditions</HI> is another <HI>badge</HI> of Antichri&s;t. The&s;e began about this very time. <HI>Ro&s;s</HI> in his Chronology,
<PB N="129" REF="241">at the end of his Hi&s;tory of the World &s;aith, That be|twixt the years 390. and 400. It was fir&s;t Ordained that the Go&s;pel &s;hould be heard &s;tanding, al&s;o Canonical hours for prayer were fir&s;t in&s;tituted; Al&s;o that the third Coun|cil of <HI>Carthage</HI> which was held within this time (<HI>viz. A.D.</HI> 398. &s;aith <HI>Al&s;ted.</HI>) ordained that the Euchari&s;t &s;hould be received fa&s;ting. My Author pitcheth upon no particular year, but affirms all the&s;e things to have their fir&s;t ri&s;e within this Decad.</P>
<P>The &s;ame Author al&s;o pre&s;ently after &s;aith, That about the year 400. began fir&s;t the rights of Patronages in the Council of <HI>Mela. Joan. Wolfius</HI> in his Centenaries, <HI>Cent.</HI> 4. upon the year 393. &s;aith, About this time began Traditions, Monki&s;h life, <HI>&amp;c. Al&s;tede</HI> &s;aith, That <HI>A.D.</HI> 398. the Order of Regular Prie&s;ts was fir&s;t in&s;tituted. <HI>In Chronologia Ordinum inter Monachos.</HI> This is al&s;o te&s;tified by <HI>Wolfius,</HI> who treats more largely of the thing, <HI>Cent.</HI> 4.</P>
<P N="5">5 <HI>Ab&s;tinence from meats</HI> is another <HI>badge</HI> of Anti|chri&s;t. 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 4.3. &mdash; <HI>commanding to ab&s;tain from meats. Socrates</HI> who wrote the Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Hi&s;tory of the Church, from <HI>Con&s;tantines</HI> time until the time of <HI>Theodo&s;ius</HI> junior, di&s;cour&s;ing in his fifth Book of the &s;tate the Church was in, the year before, or this very year 396. tells us, of the great &s;tri&s;e that was made by &s;ome at this time about Holy-dayes; what divers &s;orts of Fa&s;ts were now in&s;tituted and kept; and what Laws were laid upon men, and men laid upon them&s;elves, about meats, &s;ome refu&s;ing all living Creatures, &s;ome feeding upon Fi&s;h only, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> which things the afore&s;aid Author zealou&s;ly di&s;clames again&s;t, calling them Jewi&s;h Rites, and the A&s;|&s;ertors of them favourers of Jewi&s;h Cu&s;tomes, and proves the&s;e things to bee contrary to Scripture, quoting many Texts out of <HI>Paul</HI> to that end.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="24" TYPE="thesis">
<PB N="130" REF="242">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> XXIV.</HEAD>
<P>The <HI>foregoing Characters,</HI> although they do as well, yea better (take them in the general) agree to the year 396. then any other year, yet <HI>do they not all jump with that particular year;</HI> the rea&s;on is, becau&s;e the coming forth of the Bea&s;t was by degrees, not all at once, for then the knowledge of the time of his ri&s;e would have been no My&s;tery; Its nece&s;&s;ary therefore that &s;ome other rea&s;on be given, why I fixe on this year rather than any other within the Decad.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="25" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> XXV.</HEAD>
<P>The mo&s;t &s;ub&s;tantial rea&s;on that can be given hereof, is, <HI>The Head of the</HI> 1260 <HI>dayes mu&s;t &s;o be placed, as that the</HI> 1260 <HI>may concur in their end with the</HI> 1290. Now the 1290 beginning from <HI>Julian A.D.</HI> 366, the 1260 (which hath in it thirty years le&s;s) to the end either may terminate at the &s;ame point, mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arily have its Head fixed thirty years lower, <HI>viz.</HI> with the year 396, the year I have before &s;tated.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="26" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> XXVI.</HEAD>
<P>Here I cannot but ob&s;erve a <HI>very &s;ignal hand of Pro|vidence</HI> in fixing &s;uch a Standard as this is, to give us light into this great My&s;tery, where we are to begin the time of the Bea&s;t; for the Bea&s;t coming forth by degrees, it is a thing mo&s;t difficult from bare Hi&s;tories only, to fixe upon any particular year, within the number of many, &s;o as thence po&s;itively to conclude, here, and no where el&s;e are we topitch our Standard: But now <HI>Julians</HI> act being a more particular thing, and re&s;trained to a particular time, the very time of that may be found. This found, our Standard is fixed already, it is now but coming thirty years lower, and we have the ri&s;e of the Bea&s;t.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="27" TYPE="thesis">
<PB N="131" REF="242">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> XXVII.</HEAD>
<P>The thing I am &s;peaking of affords us a <HI>notable con|firmation of the truth of either beginning;</HI> for they mu&s;t be &s;o placed as that both Numbers may end together: by con&s;equence therefore the heads of either Number mu&s;t be &s;et at thirty years di&s;tance from each other; and in this di&s;tance too, the head of the 1290 mu&s;t be by &s;o many years the higher, and the head of the one thou|&s;and two hundred and &s;ixty the lower, or el&s;e they cannot end together. Now is it not a thing very ob&s;ervable, that two things &s;o remarkable, and made famous by &s;o many Hi&s;tories, the one a thing &s;o like the &s;etting up of the Abomination of De&s;olation, that no particular act recorded in any Hi&s;tory former or latter, doth more patly agree to <HI>Daniels</HI> words than this of <HI>Julian</HI> doth: The other a thing &s;o like the ri&s;e of the Bea&s;t, that we cannot, &s;hould we &s;earch Hi&s;tories over and over, find a time, which in all things will afford us more proper Characters than this doth, &s;hould fall out at thirty years di&s;tance each from other? And al&s;o which is very ob&s;ervable in this di&s;tance too, that that which looks mo&s;t like the 1290 dayes, the greater number by thirty years, &s;hould be the highe&s;t, and that which looks mo&s;t like the 1260 the lowe&s;t? Cer|tainly this <HI>Harmony</HI> is not a thing <HI>accidental,</HI> but &s;o or|dered by the All-wi&s;e Di&s;po&s;er of times and &s;ea&s;ons, who through all the actions of the &s;ons of men carries on his own De&s;igns, and performs his own eternal Will.</P>
<P>If either of the&s;e beginnings be di&s;allowed by any, let it by them be con&s;idered where they will find Heads, if not here, to begin the&s;e two Numbers upon, &s;o as that the Harmony may not be broken, but either made from &s;uch beginnings as they &s;hall &s;tate, to Terminate at the &s;ame point.</P>
<PB N="132" REF="243">
<P>Now compute the years from either beginning, as we have before &s;tated them, and the concluding time of each number will be <HI>A.D.</HI> 1656.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="28" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> XXVIII.</HEAD>
<P>The <HI>neerne&s;s of the time</HI> to the fulfilling of the&s;e things, is no more <HI>an impediment to our beleeving</HI> and looking for them at this day, then it would be to the peo|ple of God at any other time, &s;uppo&s;ing them to live as neer the time as we.</P>
<P>Nay, what if I &s;ay, <HI>Our faith may hence take encou|ragement the rather to beleeve the&s;e things, and expect them;</HI> &s;eeing Gods ordinary way with his people in former ages hath been, when&s;oever he hath had any &s;pecial delive|rance to work for them, to conceal the time of it from his people, till the work was ripe, and now ready to bee put in execution. To give in&s;tance in two only, both fa|mous Types of the Deliverance I am now treating of.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, <HI>I&s;raels deliverance from Egypt. Mo&s;es is &s;ent of God to do the work</HI> before any of them <HI>dream of de|liverance,</HI> or once think, that the four hundred and thirty years were &s;o neer run out, as indeed they were.</P>
<P>Secondly, <HI>The deliverance from Babylon.</HI> Holy <HI>Da|niel,</HI> although he was the only man of that age that knew the times and &s;ea&s;ons, yet doth not he know the deliverance of Gods people to be &s;o nigh, as indeed it was, <HI>until</HI> (as I may &s;ay) <HI>the very day before their deliverance,</HI> or untill that very year was come in which they were delivered, <HI>D<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">niel</HI> 9.1, 2. compared with <HI>Ezra</HI> 1.1, 2, 3, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="29" TYPE="thesis">
<PB N="133" REF="243">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> XXIX.</HEAD>
<P>The great unlikelihood in an eye of rea&s;on of bringing &s;uch great and wonderful things about, within &s;o &s;hort a time, to which as yet we &s;ee &s;o little vi&s;ible preparation, <HI>may well be a block in the way of carnal rea&s;on;</HI> but <HI>why &s;hould it be &s;o to Faith?</HI> Seeing God hath a&s;&s;ured us again, again, and again, <HI>Rev.</HI> 18. that from that time wherein the proud Whore &s;hall bee glorying, boa&s;t|ing, triumphing, conceiting her &s;elf far enough from danger, it &s;hall bee <HI>but an hour</HI> (<HI>i. e.</HI> a very little time) to Gods pa&s;&s;ing judgement upon her, in the overthrow and ruine of <HI>Rome,</HI> the glory of her Kingdom.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="30" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> XXX.</HEAD>
<P>The <HI>&s;entence of death,</HI> that is, upon this work at pre|&s;ent, is <HI>matter of incouragement to faith,</HI> no matter of di&s;couragement; &s;eeing that from what I have laid down in many places of my foregoing Di&s;cour&s;e, it is a thing manife&s;tly clear, that a <HI>very black cloud</HI> (to the end the work may come forth upon the &s;udden from under it with the greater glory and brightne&s;s) <HI>is to come upon the work and cau&s;e of Chri&s;t among the Gentiles, at the very ending time of the</HI> 42 <HI>Months, the</HI> 1260 <HI>dayes;</HI> as a like <HI>di&s;mal cloud</HI> is to befall the <HI>Jews,</HI> and Gods work among them, at the very <HI>ending time</HI> of the 2300, the 1335 dayes. If no &s;uch cloud did begin to appear, there would bee cau&s;e of que&s;tioning our for|mer principles, but that it doth, is a confirmation of them.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="31" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> XXXI.</HEAD>
<P>The <HI>fixedne&s;s of the time,</HI> and certainty of the thing when the time is expired, is no more an Argument for
<PB N="134" REF="244">us at this day to <HI>&s;it &s;till and do nothing in order to the effecting the&s;e glorious things,</HI> than it would be to &s;ay in another ca&s;e, did I know the time of a mercy, I may now &s;it &s;till, be idle, &s;leep, do what I will, for I can|not have my mercy before, and I &s;hall have it at &s;uch a time.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="32" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> XXXII.</HEAD>
<P>The end of the 1290 dayes, the 1260, the 42 months, being &s;o neer,</P>
<P N="1">1 <HI>Hence</HI> the &s;everal Di&s;cour&s;es and hints laid down in our <HI>fir&s;t Part,</HI> our <HI>&s;econd,</HI> and <HI>third,</HI> tending <HI>to per|&s;wade, That the day of the re&s;urrection of the dry bones, or the Jews &s;tirring, is neer,</HI> are confirmed, and made good.</P>
<P N="2">2 <HI>Hence,</HI> what I have written, <HI>Vial</HI> 5. p. 52. ap|pears to be a truth, <HI>viz. That the &s;uffering of the Gen|tile Churches will &s;hortly bee at an end; for the</HI> 42 <HI>Months of the Bea&s;ts tyranny, and treading underfoot the holy City, the</HI> 1260 <HI>Dayes of the Witne&s;&s;es pro|phe&s;ying in &s;ackcloth, the Womans being in the Wil|derne&s;s, will &s;hortly expire.</HI> Now the Bea&s;ts Tyranny and treading under foot the holy City, the Womans be|ing in the Wilderne&s;s, the Witne&s;&s;es wearing &s;ackcloth, being the original cau&s;e of all the &s;ufferings of the <HI>Gen|tile Churches,</HI> their &s;ufferings &s;hall therefore end with the end of the&s;e; for the Bea&s;ts limited time being once cut, he &s;hall have no new Lea&s;e of time to per&s;ecute the Woman, tread the holy City underfoot; the Woman once out of the Wilderne&s;s &s;hall not return thither again, the Witne&s;&s;es having once put off their &s;ackcloth &s;hall not put it on again.</P>
<P N="3">3 <HI>Hence</HI> that which I have &s;aid <HI>Chap.</HI> 1. <HI>Sect.</HI> 5. <HI>viz. That the Witne&s;&s;es do in all likelihood at this pre&s;ent
<PB N="135" REF="244">day lie dead, appears a truth, for their killing is to be</HI> (as I have proved <HI>Chap.</HI> 1 <HI>&s;ect.</HI> 4.) <HI>in the la&s;t three years and a half of the</HI> 1260; and according to this our com|putation there are not at the utmo&s;t above three years of the 1260 to expire.</P>
<P N="4">4 <HI>Hence,</HI> the glorious <HI>Rendezvouz of the</HI> 144000 (of which our <HI>third Chapter</HI> treats) <HI>cannot be full three years off:</HI> for that is to be &s;ome little time before the com|pleat expiration of the 1260 days. Thus much as touching the Numbers of the fir&s;t Rank.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="rank">
<HEAD>Numbers of the Second Rank.</HEAD>
<DIV3 N="33" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> XXXIII.</HEAD>
<P>The Numbers of the <HI>Second Ranck</HI> are, the 2300 days, the 1335.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="34" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> XXXIV.</HEAD>
<P>The 2300 daies, and the 1335 dayes, are likewi&s;e both to <HI>end at one and the &s;ame point.</HI> Which is clear.</P>
<P N="1">1 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> the Prophecy of the eighth Chapter, which lays us down the fir&s;t number, and the Prophecy of the 11 and 12 Chapters, which gives us the &s;econd, are one and the &s;ame, the &s;ubject matter of either, being the three la&s;t Monarchies, <HI>viz. Medes and Per&s;ians, Grecians, Romans;</HI> and al&s;o either Prophecy terminates at one and the &s;ame point, <HI>viz.</HI> the final de&s;truction of the Fourth and la&s;t Monarchy; which thing needs no farther proof, &s;ave onely diligently to compare the one with the other; therefore the 2300 days, which bring us to the &s;hutting up of the one Prophecy, and the 1335, which bring us to the &s;hutting up of the other, mu&s;t of nece&s;&s;ity end at one and the &s;ame point.</P>
<PB N="136" REF="245">
<P N="2">2 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> as the 1335 days bring us to that time in which <HI>Daniel</HI> was to &s;tand in his Lot, <HI>i. e.</HI> to ri&s;e again, <HI>chap.</HI> 12.13. <HI>But go thou thy way till the end be, for thou &s;halt re&s;t, and &s;tand up in thy lot</HI> (as our old tran&s;lation reads it) <HI>at the end of the days</HI> (<HI>i.e.</HI> at the end of the 1335 days mentioned in the foregoing Ver&s;e, <HI>Daniel</HI> &s;hould ri&s;e) So the 2300 days brings us to the la&s;t end of indig|nation, <HI>Ch.</HI> 8.19. <HI>Behold I will make thee know what &s;hall be in the la&s;t end of indignation.</HI> And what is this la&s;t end of indignation, but only the la&s;t Vial of Gods wrath? <HI>Rev.</HI> 16. the pouring out of which is at the time of Chri&s;ts coming, and the Re&s;urrection, as I have el&s;ewhere proved at large. Therefore the 2300 days, and the 1335. do, yea, mu&s;t terminate at one and the &s;ame point.</P>
<P N="3">3 <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> the Per&s;onal appearance of Chri&s;t, is the concluding point of both. The la&s;t King, <HI>Chap.</HI> 8.25. (or the fourth Monarchy) comes to his final end by &s;tand|ing up again&s;t the Prince of Princes, <HI>i. e.</HI> Chri&s;t. Now this &s;tanding up, is not a &s;tanding up again&s;t Chri&s;t in his Members, for that he did it before, <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 24. <HI>He &s;hall destroy wonderfully, and &s;hall pro&s;per, and practi&s;e, and &s;hall de&s;troy the mighty, and the holy people.</HI> But this &s;tanding up is brought in with an al&s;o, he &s;hall al&s;o &s;tand up again&s;t the Prince of Princes, as noting it to be another, and a di&s;tinct &s;tanding up from the former; that was again&s;t Chri&s;t and his members onely; but this &s;tan|ding up &s;hall be a higher act of boldne&s;s, and wickedne&s;s in him, <HI>viz.</HI> a &s;tanding up again&s;t Chri&s;t him&s;elf in per|&s;on, who now appears as the Prince of Princes (the very name written on his ve&s;ture, and thigh, at the day of his per&s;onal appearance to de&s;troy the Bea&s;t, <HI>Rev.</HI> 19.16. <HI>King of Kings, and Lord of Lord,</HI>) to vindicate the cau&s;e of his people; again&s;t him &s;hall the power of this fourth Monarchy &s;tand up, and by him, without the help of any Creature, &s;hall it be de&s;troyed, therefore &s;aid in the
<PB N="137" REF="245">following words, to be <HI>broken without hand, i.e.</HI> with|out mans hand, by Chri&s;t alone, agreeing to other places, which &s;peak of the &s;ame time, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 63.3. I have trodden the Wine-pre&s;s alone, and of the people there was none with me, <HI>Chap.</HI> 66.16. The &s;lain of the Lord &s;hall be many, <HI>Rev.</HI> 19.21. the remnant were &s;lain with the &s;word of him that &s;at on the Hor&s;e, with many others.</P>
<P>The final de&s;truction al&s;o of that proud King &s;poken of, <HI>chap.</HI> 11. <HI>viz.</HI> the fourth Monarchy, is by the per&s;onal appearance of Chri&s;t, as compare <HI>chap.</HI> 11. <HI>ult.</HI> He &s;hall come to his end, and none &s;hall help him, with <HI>chap.</HI> 12.1, And at that time &s;hall <HI>Michael</HI> (or Chri&s;t) &s;tand up.</P>
<P>So that the utmo&s;t point of either Prophecy, or the con|cluding act of that long Tragedy, which we have, Fir&s;t, Rehear&s;ed in brief, <HI>chap.</HI> 8. Secondly, More fully declared, in that la&s;t, and great Prophecy, <HI>chapters</HI> 10, 11, 12. is the &s;tanding up of <HI>Michael,</HI> therefore the 2300 days, which bring us to the end of the fir&s;t, and the 1335, which bring us to the end of the &s;econd, mu&s;t both expire at one and the &s;ame point, <HI>viz.</HI> with Chri&s;ts per&s;onal appea|rance.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="35" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> XXXV.</HEAD>
<P>The point of time at which either ends, is <HI>A.D.</HI> 1701.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="36" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> XXXVI.</HEAD>
<P>The true beginnings of either number do nece&s;&s;arily infer this year to be the end.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="37" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> XXXVII.</HEAD>
<P>The 1335 days are to be begun at the &s;ame Head, with the 1290; therefore but one Head of account is laid down to both, which is the taking away of the daily Sacrifice,
<PB N="138" REF="246">and &s;etting up that abomination that maketh de&s;olate, <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 11. Onely it is to be extended &s;o many years far|ther, as there are more days in the 1335. then we have in the 1290, which is 45 years; now 45 years being ad|ded to the year 1656, where (as hath been proved) endeth the 1290, the 1335 wil expire with the afore&s;aid year 1701.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="38" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> XXXVIII.</HEAD>
<P>The 2300 days are to <HI>be begun with the beginning of the Per&s;ian Monarchy,</HI> namely, with the fir&s;t year of <HI>Cyrus.</HI> The rea&s;on is, becau&s;e, the eighth Chapter of <HI>Da|niel</HI> is (as I have &s;aid) a Prophecy of the three la&s;t Monarchies onely, <HI>viz. Medes and Per&s;ians, Grecians, Romans,</HI> therefore may we not go upward into the <HI>Baby|loni&s;h Monarchy</HI> for a beginning, becau&s;e in &s;o doing we exceed the bounds and limits of the Prophecy, but we are to begin with the fir&s;t year of <HI>Cyrus,</HI> with which year be|gins the Prophecy it &s;elf.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="39" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> XXXIX.</HEAD>
<P>That <HI>the Heads of either number,</HI> (which yet both end at one and the &s;ame point) <HI>are &s;o &s;tated, as that the greater begins with the beginning of the Per&s;ian Monarchy,</HI> and &s;o with the Head of the Vi&s;ion it &s;elf, run|ning down quite through it; <HI>the le&s;&s;er not till near a</HI> 1000 <HI>years after,</HI> about the mid&s;t of the Vi&s;ion, a little before the coming forth of <HI>the Bea&s;t;</HI> is no le&s;s than the mo&s;t glorious re&s;ult of the wonderful wi&s;dom of the All-wi&s;e di&s;po&s;er of all things, who for divers rea&s;ons hath thought good &s;o to order it.</P>
<P N="1">1 That <HI>hereby the My&s;teries of the&s;e two Prophecies, yea, all</HI> Daniels <HI>Prophecies, might be the greater;</HI> for ob&s;erve, there being not above three years betwixt either Vi&s;ion, <HI>Daniel</HI> having the fir&s;t of the&s;e two, in the third of <HI>Bel&s;hazzar, chap.</HI> 8.1. which year was the la&s;t of the
<PB N="139" REF="246"><HI>Babylonian Monarchy;</HI> his &s;econd, in the third of <HI>Cyrus, chap.</HI> 10.1. the third year of the <HI>Per&s;ian,</HI> had both been to be begun from the time of the Vi&s;ions, then would the number of dayes in either, have been equal to about three dayes, which little time too, the Text hath clear|ly determined to pa&s;s betwixt Vi&s;ion and Vi&s;ion; and if &s;o, this one thing alone would have been &s;o great a Stan|dard of light into both the&s;e Prophecies; yea, all the Pro|phecies of <HI>Daniel</HI> (his 70 weeks excepted) all the re&s;t having dependance on the&s;e, as could no way &s;tand with the de&s;ign of the Holy Gho&s;t, which was to have the Book &s;ealed up, until the time of the end; for, hence it would have been obvious, and evident to every eye,</P>
<P N="1">1 That <HI>either Prophecy were the &s;ame,</HI> and had one and the &s;ame beginning, and ending.</P>
<P N="2">2 That the <HI>thing &s;poken of the little horn,</HI> chap. 8. and of <HI>the vile per&s;on,</HI> chap. 11. <HI>were not to be applied to the time of</HI> Antiochus <HI>rage,</HI> (which very opinion hath been a cloud upon the Prophecies of <HI>Daniel</HI> for a long time) for as Mr. <HI>Parker,</HI> in his <HI>Daniels Prophecies</HI> expounded, pag. 37. hath well proved, the 2300 days are no way ap|pliable to the time of <HI>Antiochus</HI> per&s;ecutions.</P>
<P N="3">3 That all <HI>Daniels Vi&s;ions, and Prophecies, viz.</HI> That of the great Image, <HI>chap.</HI> 2. That of the four Bea&s;ts, and the little Horn, <HI>chap.</HI> 7. together with the&s;e, <HI>chap.</HI> 8, and <HI>chap.</HI> 10, 11, 12. <HI>do terminate at one and the &s;ame point;</HI> and this point to be no other but the end of the 2300, the 1335 days; for if the&s;e two be the &s;ame, and terminate at one point, then by a parallel of rea&s;on, the other two al&s;o, <HI>viz.</HI> that of the great Image, and that of the four Bea&s;ts, for either of tho&s;e conclude with work of a like na|ture, and glory of a like kind with the&s;e. And if &s;o, then is that other clouding opinion which darkens all <HI>Daniels Prophecies</HI> at this day, <HI>viz. That the little Horn,</HI> chap. 7. <HI>is to be under&s;tood either of the whole</HI> Norman <HI>Race
<PB N="140" REF="247">here in</HI> England <HI>from</HI> William <HI>the Conqueror, the fir&s;t of that Race, as &s;ome conceive; or of the late King</HI> Charles <HI>onely, the la&s;t of that Race, as others,</HI> &s;haken off; for that Race hath been extirpated root and branch the&s;e five years already, whereas to the end of the 2300 days, the 1335, it is near 50 years yet to come; and therefore we mu&s;t of nece&s;&s;ity (unle&s;s we deny, that which from the &s;cope of each <HI>Prophecy</HI> is &s;o clear, as that it is undeniable, <HI>viz,</HI> that <HI>Daniels</HI> Prophecies have but one and the &s;ame end) conclude, that either the little Horn, <HI>Chap.</HI> 7. is no &s;uch thing, as many now adays &s;uppo&s;e; or affirm, that the final de&s;truction of this little Horn is come upon him upwards of fifty years, before the determined time. Now this one beam of light followed being &s;uch, as that it di&s;|covers mo&s;t of tho&s;e by-wayes that men have gone in, and thereby darkned the truth of <HI>Daniel,</HI> it could not, I &s;ay, &s;tand with Gods de&s;ign of &s;ealing this Book, to make Re|velation of &s;o great and clear light, as would have come in, had the heads of each number been placed with the time of each Vi&s;ion.</P>
<P N="2">2 Rea&s;on. <HI>Becau&s;e hereby the latter Prophecy which is the clearer, and intended by the Lord as a farther, and more particular light into tho&s;e things, that in the general had been revealed before; &s;hould have been as dark as the other, in regard of making up any ac|count of time, had the &s;ame began</HI> (as the other) <HI>from the time of the Vi&s;ion,</HI> for what is it that makes the 2300 days to be &s;o hard to compute, but this, the ground we go upon to make up a right &s;upputation of the years from the be|ginning of the <HI>Per&s;ian Monarchy</HI> until Chri&s;t, is more dark, perplexed, and uncertain; and therefore to find the vein of truth here, is a thing more hard; but now the 1335 dayes being begun (as before) with <HI>Julian,</HI> the very beginning it &s;elf is below all the mo&s;t difficult knots, and therefore the computation made thence more ea&s;ie.</P>
<PB N="141" REF="247">
<P>Hence many have found the vein of truth, that runs from the Head of the 1335; but the vein of truth that runs from the Head of the 2300, I may truly and mode&s;tly &s;ay, hath not yet been found. And indeed, therefore God left that more clear, this more dark, becau&s;e the way of God, is to give his people fir&s;t a little light, afterwards more; and al&s;o, becau&s;e that in the revelation of this light, that, after di&s;covery might appear to be the greater light, which before di&s;covery, was the thing mo&s;t dark, and ob|&s;cure.</P>
<P N="3">3 Rea&s;on. The Head of the 1335 is placed as it is, <HI>becau&s;e God in laying down that, had a &s;pecial de&s;ign at another thing,</HI> viz. <HI>To &s;et up a light, to &s;hew us thereby the ri&s;ing Bea&s;t,</HI> (as I ob&s;erved before) and therefore it was mo&s;t nece&s;&s;ary it &s;hould not be counted from the time of the Vi&s;ion, for then it could no way have &s;erved &s;uch an end; but rather &s;hould be fixed as it is. Which fixation is &s;uch, and &s;o wonderful, that deny it, and no other fixation can be, which will, fir&s;t make the 1290 days end with the 1260. And &s;econdly, the 1335, with the 2300; both which mu&s;t be for our fore-going rea&s;ons, and by vertue of this fixation both are exactly performed, as in part we have &s;een already, and &s;hall fully &s;treightway; And the number it &s;elf al&s;o, hath as famous a Head for it &s;elf, as any one number in Scripture. What admirable wi&s;dom therefore is there in appointing, and di&s;po&s;ing the&s;e heads as they are, <HI>viz.</HI> That the 2300 days &s;hould begin where it doth, and the 1335 where it doth?</P>
<P>And indeed, were not the placing of the Head of the 1335 de&s;igned in the wonderful wi&s;dom of God, to be a Torch to give light to the time of the ri&s;e of the Bea&s;t, we &s;hould have no Scripture ground, but the bare report of Hi&s;tory (which leaves it &s;o dubious as to many years, that we cannot, were we left to it alone, know certainly which
<PB N="142" REF="248">to chu&s;e) to build upon for the time of the Bea&s;ts ri&s;e, and &s;o con&s;equently of his ruin, though yet this is the great thing, and (as it were) the very hinge of all the principal Apo|calyptical Vi&s;ions.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="40" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> XL.</HEAD>
<P>The 2300 days, <HI>as they end at the &s;ame point with the</HI> 1335, <HI>&s;o al&s;o they determine the duration of all the three la&s;t Monarchies;</HI> for they begin with the begin|ning of the <HI>Per&s;ian Monarchy,</HI> and end with the end of the <HI>Roman.</HI> This being therefore a divine determination, the voyces of all humane Hi&s;torians mu&s;t here be laid a&s;ide, and the reports of tho&s;e only, how many or few &s;oe|ver, be acknowledged to be truth, who&s;e reports laid to|gether, will bring the 2300 days, and the 1335 to end at the &s;ame point, and al&s;o give to the three la&s;t Monar|chies, neither more nor le&s;s of years than 1300, which is the number of the years determined upon them.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="41" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> XLI.</HEAD>
<P>The <HI>calculation of this great number</HI> cannot be perfor|med together, but mu&s;t be done by parts, or by dividing it into &s;everal periods.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="42" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> XLII.</HEAD>
<P>The <HI>fir&s;t part or period</HI> contains the number of years from the fir&s;t of <HI>Cyrus,</HI> to the 20. of that <HI>Artaxerxes,</HI> whom the <HI>Greeks</HI> call <HI>Artaxerxes Mnemon,</HI> with which year we are to begin <HI>Daniels</HI> 70 weeks, or 490 years, <HI>Chap.</HI> 9.24.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="43" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> XLIII.</HEAD>
<P>That <HI>Daniels</HI> 70 weeks are <HI>to be begun from the</HI> 20 of <HI>Mnemon,</HI> is clear from the Head of account, that we have laid down in the Text, <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 25. <HI>Know there|fore
<PB N="143" REF="248">and under&s;tand, that the going forth of the Com|mandement, to re&s;tore, and to build</HI> Jeru&s;alem, <HI>&s;hall be &s;even weeks, and three&s;core and two weeks unto the Me&s;|&s;iah, the Prince, i.e.</HI> 69 weeks of the 70, the other week we have, <HI>ver.</HI> 27. <HI>he &s;hall confirm the Covenant with many for one week,</HI> which added to the 69 makes up the 70 compleat.</P>
<P>Now ob&s;erve, the Head we are to begin upon, is a com|mand expre&s;ly for the building of <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> but nei|ther <HI>Cyrus</HI> command, nor any command before this, had relation to the building of <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> for they concerned the Temple onely, as the plain words of <HI>Cyrus</HI> Decree, <HI>Ezra</HI> 1.1, 2, 3. do &s;hew: and again, <HI>chap.</HI> 6.3, 4, 5. the copy of it, which was kept in the Court Rolls, and found many years after, had not a word in it that concerned <HI>Je|ru&s;alem,</HI> but the Temple onely, nor had any following Decree untill the 20 of <HI>Artaxerxes,</HI> &s;o much as a tittle in it that concerned the building of <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> but all &s;till had reference to the building and beautifying of the Tem|ple. But now the Decree of <HI>Artaxerxes Mnemon,</HI> gran|ted to <HI>Nehemiah</HI> in the 20 year of his Reign, did particu|larly concern the building of <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> and indeed no|thing el&s;e, <HI>Nehem.</HI> 1.3, 4. compare with <HI>chap.</HI> 2.1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. ver&s;es.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="44" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> XLIV.</HEAD>
<P>The <HI>Objections from Ezr.</HI> 4.12, 13, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 44.28. which at the fir&s;t view &s;eem to have in them weight again&s;t the thing I am &s;peaking of, <HI>may with ea&s;e and clearne&s;s be an&s;wered;</HI> But I &s;hall tran&s;mit the an&s;wer to a more full di&s;cour&s;e.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="45" TYPE="thesis">
<PB N="144" REF="249">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> XLV.</HEAD>
<P>The <HI>number of years betwixt</HI> Cyrus <HI>fir&s;t, and the</HI> 20 of <HI>Artaxerxes Mnemon,</HI> according to the account of the ancient <HI>Greeks,</HI> who wrote the State, and affairs of the <HI>Per&s;ian Monarchy,</HI> are computable 147, which they reckon thus,</P>
<P><HI>Cyrus</HI> &mdash; 30, whereof we are to account upon but&mdash;3</P>
<P><HI>Camby&s;es</HI> with the Magi&mdash;8</P>
<P><HI>Darius Hi&s;ta&s;pes</HI> &mdash; 36</P>
<P><HI>Xerxes</HI>&mdash;21</P>
<P><HI>Artaxerxes Longimanus</HI> &mdash; 40</P>
<P><HI>Darius Nothus</HI> &mdash; 19</P>
<P><HI>Artaxerxes Mnemon</HI> &mdash; 43, of which we are to account upon but &mdash; 20</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="46" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> XLVI.</HEAD>
<P>This to be <HI>the account of the ancient Greeks,</HI> is te&s;tified by Sir <HI>Walter Rawleigh, Hi&s;tory of the World Lib.</HI> 3. <HI>Chap.</HI> 4. <HI>Sect.</HI> 1. <HI>Carion</HI> in his Book of the four Monarchies, in treating upon the &s;econd Monarchy, <HI>Simp&s;on Chronic. Catholic. pars quarta,</HI> p. 179. Onely <HI>Carion</HI> in his report differs from the other one year (which falls within the number of tho&s;e we are to account upon) which is, he gives to <HI>Xerxes</HI> but 20 years, whereas the o|ther give him 21.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="47" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> XLVII.</HEAD>
<P>This account <HI>is followed by the be&s;t Chronologers,</HI> name|ly, <HI>Al&s;ted.</HI> in <HI>Chronologia Monarchiae Per&s;arum, Helvi|cus,
<PB N="145" REF="249">in Theatre Hi&s;torico, Sim&s;. Chron. Cath.</HI> Sir <HI>Walter Rawleigh</HI> in his Hi&s;tory of the World; who all of them with the limitation laid down in the next, conclude upon the very &s;ame number of 147. years.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="48" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> XLVIII.</HEAD>
<P>The <HI>Greek Hi&s;torians not accounting the fir&s;t year of Cyrus,</HI> from the time of his taking <HI>Babylon,</HI> which they onely reckon among&s;t his noble explo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ts, but from the time he began to Reign in <HI>Per&s;ia, do give to</HI> Cyrus 30 <HI>years, whereas we are to give him but three onely,</HI> becau&s;e the Scripture account is from his taking of <HI>Ba|bylon,</HI> after which but three years are to be allowed to him, as is excellently ob&s;erved, by the worthy Doctor <HI>Lightfoot,</HI> in his Harmony of the Old Te&s;tament, upon <HI>Ezra</HI> 4. pag. 190. this con&s;ideration allowing to <HI>Cyrus</HI> but three years onely, makes the number of years, as they are laid down by the <HI>Greeks,</HI> neither more nor le&s;s than 147, as will appear to him that &s;hall count them up. An<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> by this al&s;o, all that &s;eeming difference that is between Chro|nologers is taken away, the ground of it lying here, &s;ome give to <HI>Cyrus</HI> more years after his taking of <HI>Babylon,</HI> &s;ome le&s;s.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="49" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> XLIX.</HEAD>
<P>That <HI>&s;o many years as</HI> 147 <HI>did pa&s;s betwixt</HI> Cyrus <HI>fir&s;t and</HI> Artaxerxes <HI>twentyeth,</HI> there &s;eems to be conj<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ctural ground for it in Scripture, becau&s;e from the time of <HI>Je|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">hua</HI> who was High Prie&s;t, and contemporary with <HI>Zerub|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">abel,</HI> both coming out of <HI>Babylon</HI> in that very year the Scripture calls <HI>Cyrus</HI> fir&s;t, <HI>Ezra</HI> 2.2. <HI>Chap.</HI> 3.2. until the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">me of <HI>Nehemiah</HI> are reckoned three Generations; for in <HI>Nehemiahs</HI> time <HI>Elia&s;hib</HI> was High Prie&s;t, <HI>N<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">hem</HI> 31.
<PB N="146" REF="250"><HI>ver&s;.</HI> 20, 21. Now <HI>Elia&s;hib</HI> was Grandchild to <HI>Je&s;hua,</HI> as appears, <HI>Nehem.</HI> 12.10. <HI>And Je&s;hua begat Jojakim, Jejakim al&s;o begat Elia&s;hib;</HI> And further con&s;ider, that <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> the Grandfather did live to a very great age, for he lived till the work of the &s;econd Temple was &s;et on foot the &s;econd time by <HI>Darius, Ezra</HI> 5.1, 2. and in all likelihood till it was fini&s;hed, (which as is ea&s;ie to be made appear) was many years after the coming out of <HI>Babylon;</HI> and al|&s;o <HI>Elia&s;hib</HI> the Grandchild at the time of <HI>Ezraes</HI> coming up to <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> which was in the &s;eventh of <HI>Artax|erxes, Ezra</HI> 7.7. and &s;o thirteen years before <HI>Nehemiahs,</HI> was &s;o aged, as that he had a Son a Prie&s;t, <HI>Ezra</HI> 10.6. which according to the Law none might be till they were thirty years of age, &s;o that here was the fourth Generati|on come to maturity. The whole laid together, it will appear no ab&s;urd conclu&s;ion to &s;ay, that as many years as 147 did pa&s;s, betwixt <HI>Cyrus</HI> fir&s;t, and <HI>Artaxerxes</HI> twentieth.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="50" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> L.</HEAD>
<P>The <HI>Grounds of &s;ome late Writers who have cut this time much &s;horter,</HI> the &s;trength of all which lies in the&s;e Texts, <HI>Ezra</HI> 7.1, 2. <HI>&amp;c. Ezra</HI> 2.2. compared with <HI>Neh.</HI> 13.6 and <HI>Zecharies</HI> &s;eventy years, <HI>chap.</HI> 1.12. <HI>chap.</HI> 7.5. <HI>will no way annoy our opinion,</HI> but be indeed found them|&s;elves too weak, and to have manife&s;t flaws in their foun|dations, and that upon a Scripture and rational account, when they &s;hall be throughly weighed, but the doing here|of requiring more room than here is fit to allow it, I mu&s;t tran&s;mit this al&s;o to my more full di&s;cour&s;e.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="51" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> LI.</HEAD>
<P>If yet it &s;hould be a Que&s;tion, <HI>Whether Artaxerxes
<PB N="147" REF="250">Mnemon were that Artaxerxes, in the</HI> 20 <HI>of who&s;e reign,</HI> Nehemiah <HI>had commi&s;&s;ion to build Jeru&s;alem;</HI> it is an&s;wered, that con&s;idering the long time <HI>Nehemiah's Artaxerxes</HI> reigned, two and thirty years of his reign being mentioned, <HI>Nehem.</HI> 13.6. and al&s;o con&s;ide|ring that this <HI>Artaxerxes</HI> lived near the expiration of the Per&s;ian Monarchy; for <HI>Nehemiah</HI> in his book makes mention of <HI>Jaddua</HI> who wa High Prie&s;t (as <HI>Jo&s;ephus</HI> te&s;tifies) when <HI>Alexander</HI> the Great came to <HI>Jeru&s;a|lem,</HI> and al&s;o of <HI>Darius,</HI> the la&s;t from whom <HI>A|lexander</HI> did take the <HI>Per&s;ian Monarchy, Nehem.</HI> 12.22. it will appear, that the &s;tory of <HI>Nehemiah,</HI> is not applia|ble to any of the <HI>Per&s;ian</HI> Monarchs, but <HI>Artaxerxes Mnemon.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="52" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> LII.</HEAD>
<P>Our <HI>&s;econd part or period</HI> runs upon <HI>Daniels</HI> &s;eventy weeks, which are a divine Chronology from the time of <HI>Nehemiah,</HI> where the Old Te&s;tament leaves us, until the time of Chri&s;ts pa&s;&s;ion.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="53" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> LIII.</HEAD>
<P>It is a <HI>&s;trange and wonderful forcing of the Text,</HI> and a palpable mi&s;application of this Prophecy, to apply it (as do &s;ome) <HI>to the times of the New Te&s;tament,</HI> which opinion leaves us de&s;titute of any ground, &s;ave onely the reports of humane Hi&s;torians, to build upon, as touching the years of the world, for upwards of four hundred years together; and that too, in a time wherein the voyce of Hi&s;torians is lea&s;t to be regarded, <HI>viz.</HI> through all the <HI>Grecian Monarchy</HI> which I may call the age of the worlds confu&s;ion, it being in a manner torn to peeces by <HI>Alexanders</HI> Captains after his death; &s;o that it was mo&s;t
<PB N="148" REF="251">hard to know, whil&s;t every one was catching the Crown, who Reigned, or how long; And therefore as it is no breach of charity to que&s;tion the truth of Hi&s;torians re|ports as to this time; &s;o is it to be e&s;teemed a &s;pecial to|ken of Gods love to his Church, and care of his people in all Ages, that he &s;hould leave his a divine Chronology, to lead them through that dark and &s;hady Wilderne&s;s, where mo&s;t Travellers have lo&s;t their way, untill they come again into the open field, <HI>i.e.</HI> to the light of Scrip|ture, and more certain Chronology.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="54" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> LIV.</HEAD>
<P>The&s;e &s;eventy weeks reduced into days, and the&s;e days into years, make up the &s;um of four hundred and ninety years.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="55" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> LV.</HEAD>
<P>We are not to extend the&s;e &s;eventy <HI>weeks beyond the pa&s;&s;ion of Chri&s;t,</HI> that opinion being contrary to the ex|pre&s;s characters of the 24 ver&s;e, which characters are there|fore laid down to give us light, how far the 70 weeks are to be extended.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="56" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> LVI.</HEAD>
<P>Tho&s;e <HI>expre&s;&s;ions</HI> of the people of the Prince that &s;hall come de&s;troying the City and Sanctuary, <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 26. and the making de&s;olate until the con&s;ummation, <HI>ver.</HI> 27. are not to <HI>be comprehended within the</HI> 70 <HI>weeks,</HI> though they are comprehended within tho&s;e four ver&s;es, which lay us down the Prophecy of the 70 weeks.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="57" TYPE="thesis">
<PB N="149" REF="251">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> LVII.</HEAD>
<P>Four <HI>years of the</HI> 490 <HI>are in our account to be de|ducted,</HI> the rea&s;on is becau&s;e Chri&s;ts death, or the cut|ting off of the Me&s;&s;iah, was not at the end, but in the mid&s;t of the 70 or la&s;t week; for in the beginning of the 70 week Chri&s;t is anointed, therefore this is one Character of the 70 week, ver&s;. 24. Seventy weeks are determined to anoint the mo&s;t holy. Chri&s;t being anointed goes forth preaching, and &s;ubmitting to the Law about half of the week, and then is cut off, and therefore it is &s;aid, ver&s;. 27. <HI>He &s;hall confirm the Covenant with many for one week, and in the mid&s;t of the week</HI> (<HI>i e.</HI> of that one week, which is the 70 and la&s;t) <HI>he &s;hall cau&s;e the Sacrifice and Oblation to cea&s;e;</HI> that is, Chri&s;t the Me&s;&s;iah being bap|tized at the very beginning of the 70 week, went about preaching and performing active obedience to the Law part of that week, and then about the mid&s;t of that week (which words (I take it) are therefore added, le&s;t other|wi&s;e we &s;hould think his Death to be not till the very end of the 70 or la&s;t week) he is put to death, by which death of his, he cau&s;eth the Sacrifice and Oblation to cea&s;e, that is, puts an end to the Jewi&s;h wor&s;hip, which lay in Sa|crifices, and Oblations; and hence likewi&s;e it is &s;aid ver&s;. 26. <HI>after</HI> 62 <HI>weeks,</HI> that is, 62 added to the other &s;even &s;poken of, ver&s;. 25. which make 69, <HI>&s;hall the Me&s;|&s;iah be cut off,</HI> and not after 70 weeks &s;hall the <HI>Me&s;siah</HI> be cut off, becau&s;e indeed Chri&s;ts &s;ufferings came before the 70 week was fully and compleatly expired. The&s;e four deducted, there remains to be accounted upon, only 486 years, which pa&s;&s;ed from the 20 of <HI>Artaxerxes Mne|mon,</HI> until Chri&s;ts Pa&s;&s;ion.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="58" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> LVIII.</HEAD>
<P>Our <HI>third part or period</HI> comprehends the number of
<PB N="150" REF="252">years from the year of Chri&s;ts Pa&s;&s;ion, until the end of the year 1655, or (which is all one) the beginning of that no|ted year 1656.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="59" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> LIX.</HEAD>
<P>Within this Period we are <HI>to account upon</HI> 1622 <HI>years,</HI> thus, Chri&s;t was thirty years old when he began to preach, <HI>Luke</HI> 3.23. from the time he began to preach until his Pa&s;&s;ion, the common opinion holds three years and a half, but we are to account three years only, as is clear from Chri&s;ts own words, Luke 13.32. <HI>Go ye, and tell that Fox, Behold, I ca&s;t out Devils, and I do cures to day, and to morrow, and the third day I &s;hall be per|fected,</HI> ver&s;. 33. <HI>Neverthele&s;s I mu&s;t walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following;</HI> Shewing us, that Chri&s;t in preaching &s;pent three full years, and yet but three; for as he is bapti&s;ed at the very beginning of the &s;eventieth week, <HI>i.e.</HI> at the beginning of the fir&s;t day, or year of that week, &s;o he is perfected at the end of the third day of that week, or the third year from the time he began to preach. Chri&s;t then at the day of his Pa&s;&s;ion was three and thirty years old, which three and thirty years, becau&s;e our com|mon account begins from the year of Chri&s;ts Nativity, we are to deduct; the&s;e deducted of 1655, there remains only 1622, which we are to account upon.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="60" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> LX.</HEAD>
<P>Let us now <HI>reckon up the three la&s;t periods</HI> that wee have gone through, and &s;ee what number of years of the 2300 we have already gained, tho&s;e yet behind, will fall in of them&s;elves.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t period from the fir&s;t of <HI>Cyrus</HI> to the twentieth of <HI>Artaxerxes Mnemon,</HI> contains 147 years.</P>
<PB N="151" REF="252">
<P>The &s;econd, from thence to Chri&s;ts Pa&s;&s;ion, 486 years.</P>
<P>Both together makes up 633</P>
<P>The third period from Chri&s;ts Pa&s;&s;ion to the year 1656, contains 1622</P>
<P>The total Sum is, 2255</P>
<P>It follows then that with the beginning of the year 1656, there are 2255 of <HI>Daniels</HI> 2300 years expired; the remaining years are only 45, which will expire, <HI>A.D.</HI> 1701, the very year in which <HI>Daniels</HI> 1335 dayes doth al&s;o expire.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="61" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> LXI.</HEAD>
<P>The 2300 dayes of <HI>Daniel</HI> are <HI>the be&s;t and &s;ure&s;t Chronologie</HI> of the Number of the worlds years that have pa&s;&s;ed, &s;ince the fir&s;t of <HI>Cyrus,</HI> or the beginning of the <HI>Per&s;ian</HI> Monarchy, until this pre&s;ent day.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="62" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> LXII.</HEAD>
<P>The 2300 years ending (according to our former Compu|tation) at the &s;ame point with the 1335, is a <HI>good Argument to prove that our cour&s;e by a good hand of Providence hath been &s;teered aright, both as to the beginning of either number, and al&s;o the carrying on of this great number,</HI> for &s;hould we &s;eek after any other beginning of the 1335 dayes, then what we have before &s;tated, the 1335 dayes could never be brought to end with the 2300. Or, in ca&s;e the head of the 2300 dayes, were to be placed either higher or lower, or the Compu|tation to be made otherwi&s;e than what hath been laid down, then would not the 2300 dayes concur in their end with the 1335. And &s;uch a Computation it is nece&s;&s;ary &s;hould bee made, as may bring both the&s;e to end to|gether.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="63" TYPE="thesis">
<PB N="152" REF="253">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> LXIII.</HEAD>
<P>The <HI>Harmony</HI> that is betwixt all tho&s;e My&s;tical Num|bers we have pa&s;&s;ed through, is <HI>a thing very glorious and admirable to behold;</HI> for there is not any one of them, but affords a beam of light to the other. The 1290 dayes affords a great beam of light to the 1260, and contrari|wi&s;e the 1260 to that again: The 1335 dayes affords a glorious beam of light to the 2300, and contrariwi&s;e, the 2300 to that again.</P>
<P>Finally, as the beginning of the 1260, proves our be|ginning of the 1335 to be true, &s;o our beginning of the 1335, proves the beginning of the 2300 to be true. And contrariwi&s;e, as the beginning of the 2300 proves the beginning of the 1335 to be true; &s;o the beginning of the 1335, the beginning of the 1260 to be true. So that (which is glorious to con&s;ider) the My&s;tical Numbers of <HI>Daniel</HI> and the <HI>Revelations,</HI> though di|ver&s;e, and having diver&s;e beginnings, yet have within them&s;elves &s;uch an univer&s;al Harmony, that each one &s;erves to inlighten the other, and the other him again.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="64" TYPE="thesis">
<HEAD><HI>THESIS</HI> LXIV.</HEAD>
<P>The final Conclu&s;ion is, <HI>That the ri&s;e of the Wit|ne&s;&s;es, the end of the Bea&s;ts reign, and treading un|derfoot the Holy City, and the fir&s;t &s;tirring of the</HI> Jews, <HI>will in greate&s;t likelihood be in the year</HI> 1656, <HI>with which year ends the</HI> 1290 <HI>dayes, the</HI> 1260, <HI>the</HI> 42 <HI>months. The Per&s;onal coming of Chri&s;t, the final de&s;truction of the four Bea&s;ts, or Monarchy, and the compleat deliverance of the</HI> Jews, <HI>in the year</HI> 1701, <HI>with which year ends</HI> Daniels 2300 <HI>dayes, and his</HI> 1335.</P>
<PB N="153" REF="253">
<P>Matth. 24.48. <HI>But and if that evil &s;ervant &s;hall &s;ay in his heart, My Lord delayeth his coming;</HI></P>
<P N="49">49. <HI>And &s;hall begin to &s;mite his fellow-&s;ervants, and to eat and drink with the Drunken:</HI></P>
<P N="50">50. <HI>The Lord of that &s;ervant &s;hall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,</HI></P>
<P N="51">51. <HI>And &s;hall cut him a&s;under, and appoint him his portion with the Hypocrites, there &s;hall be weeping, and gna&s;hing of teeth.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="conclusion">
<PB N="153" REF="254">
<HEAD>A Concluding Word.</HEAD>
<P>WHen <HI>Daniel under&s;tood by Books</HI> the number of the years whereof the Lord had &s;aid, He would accompli&s;h &s;eventy years in the de&s;olations of <HI>Jeru&s;alem, he &s;et him&s;elf to &s;eek the Lord by fa&s;ting, weeping, and mourning.</HI></P>
<P>When <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> under&s;tood the time of the delivery of Gods people out of <HI>Egypt</HI> to be at hand, he not only <HI>&s;trengthned his Brethren, but took courage, and went in unto Pharaoh.</HI></P>
<P>Though it is far from entring into my thoughts to com|pare my &s;elf with the&s;e, yet is it my duty, and de&s;ire, to imitate them in their grace.</P>
<P>As to the fir&s;t, my hearts de&s;ire, and prayer to the Father of mercies is, That a <HI>Daniels praying Spirit</HI> might abound in my &s;elf, and all the people of God at this day.</P>
<P>As for the &s;econd, my intents and purpo&s;es were to have clo&s;ed up this di&s;covery, with a <HI>&s;olemn Exhortation;</HI> Fir&s;t, To the Higher Powers of this Commonwealth. Secondly, To all tho&s;e who have fellow&s;hip with the Fa|ther, and with his Son Je&s;us Chri&s;t, within it. But con|&s;idering how poor and vain a thing the words of the Crea|ture are, and how little, where much is &s;poken, reacheth the heart, if the Holy Spirit apply it not, in my after thoughts I judged it better to leave it to the Spirit of God to &s;et home the&s;e truths, than to undertake to do it my &s;elf; and therefore re&s;ting in the&s;e thoughts, I &s;hall
<PB N="154" REF="254">only in a word or two deliver a Me&s;&s;age, and I hope not my own.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, To the Higher Powers, the Me&s;&s;age is this, THIS PEOPLE SAY, THE TIME IS NOT COME, <HI>the time that the Lords work &s;hould be car|ried on: Is it time for you (O yee) to dwell in your cieled hou&s;es, and this work of Chri&s;t lye wa&s;te? Now therefore thus &s;aith the Lord of Ho&s;ts, Con&s;ider your wayes; Yea, thus &s;aith the Lord, Con&s;ider your wayes:</HI> For if at this time you lay a&s;ide that work where|in the cau&s;e and glory of our dear and ble&s;&s;ed Redeemer is &s;o neerly, and immediately concerned, and attend to work of another nature, which comparatively he calls you not to, he will a&s;&s;uredly, in &s;ore di&s;plea&s;ure, with &s;hame and con|tempt, lay you a&s;ide; ruine &s;hall come to <HI>Babylon,</HI> &s;al|vation and deliverance unto Mount <HI>Sion</HI> another way.</P>
<P>Secondly, To the people of God in this Common|wealth, the Me&s;&s;age is this, That although you are verily as unworthy a generation of Saints (con&s;idering how for|mal the profe&s;&s;ion of &s;ome is, how loo&s;e the Principles of others, how unlike Saints of old, yea Saints but of ye&s;ter|day we are all) of this &s;o great Grace, now ready to be re|vealed, as ever the earth bore: Yet that the whole world may &s;ee and know the exceeding riches of his grace, and that by the &s;heddings abroad of his love (which is a way more &s;uitable to Go&s;pel admini&s;trations) your over-grown corruptions may be rooted out, and the breaches of <HI>Sion</HI> made up, and you made to remember your own evill wayes and doings that were not good, and to loath your &s;elves in your own &s;ight for your iniquities and abomina|tions, his grace &s;hall with a notwith&s;tanding triumph over all this your unworthine&s;s, and he will yet redeem his cau&s;e from the Grave, carry on his work among you, be|fore you and by you, as In&s;truments, gloriou&s;ly and &s;peedily, yea with a high hand for his Name &s;ake.</P>
<PB N="156" REF="255">
<P>Thirdly, in particular to the Impri&s;oned Saints, to|gether with all tho&s;e who in this day &s;uffer the reproaches of men, the &s;corn, and cen&s;ures of Brethren, for the te&s;ti|mony of Je&s;us, and upon the account of his Kingdom, my Me&s;&s;age is, Your Brethren that hated you, and ca&s;t you out for Chri&s;ts name &s;ake, &s;aid, <HI>LET THE LORD BE GLORIFIED,</HI> but he &s;hall appear unto your joy, and they &s;hall be a&s;hamed.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, To all <HI>Sions</HI> Children where&s;oever they may be, that take plea&s;ure in her &s;tones, and favour the du&s;t thereof; let me &s;ay, Lift up your heads with joy, for your redemption draweth nigh: For yet a little while, and behold the Lord cometh out of his place to puni&s;h the Inhabitants of the earth for their Iniquity; when (as he hath purpo&s;ed) he will &s;tain the pride of all glory, and bring into contempt the honorable of the earth; For it is the day of the Lords vengeance, and the year of recom|pences for the controver&s;ie of <HI>Sion.</HI> And though the &s;car|let Whore begins now to &s;ay in her heart, I &s;it as a Queen, am no Widow, and &s;hall &s;ee no &s;orrow, yet &s;hall her plagues come upon her in one day, death, and mourning, and fa|mine, and &s;he &s;hall be utterly burnt with fire, for &s;trong is the Lord our God, that judgeth her.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
<PB REF="255">
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</GROUP>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
