The Good Hope Through Grace, Title page – To the reader
THE GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE.
The Jubilee of the Kingdom of Chriſt ſhall come upon the Counterfeit Jubilee of Rome; and before the end of the Following Year 1700▪ ſhall begin to bring under Deſolation that Great City and its Papacy: Therein Uniting the Year 1697 with 1700. according to Prophecy.
Humbly Preſented to the Faith and Prayers of all Sincere Proteſtants.
By, T. BEVERLEY.
Rev. xviii. xix. In one Hour is ſhe made Deſolate.
LONDON, Printed for William Marſhall, at the Sign of the Bible in Newgate-Street, and John Marſhall, at the Bible in Grace-Church-Street.
TO THE HONOURABLE His much Honoured Sir Samuel Barnardiſton.
Honoured Sir,
ALthough I muſt ever Acknowledge a long Series of very great Obligations to your Friendſhip, and Favour for me; Yet That is not the Sole, nor ſo much as the Principal Reaſon of the preſenting this following Diſcourſe to your Acceptance: The more Due Reaſons of that are, That by the Freedoms you have Allowed me of Converſation with you; I have very undoubted Evidences of your ſincere Love to the Kingdom of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, the Lord of Glory; in its preſent Spiritual Evangelical Adminiſtration; and in its Gradual Illuſtrations of it ſelf in Glory, Promiſed and Foretold to the latter Days. And yet more particularly, as in All Things I had obſerved, your Patriottal Spirit, your Great Love to your Country, the true Engliſh Spirit; ſo your Great Love to Proteſtancy, and Bewailing, That no Greater Liberty and Security could be procured, for the Suffering Proteſtants beyond the Seas, and particularly in France. But I hope God ſupports you in ſo long a Life, to ſee the Openings of his Kingdom. And That your Honourable Lady, whom I have long obſerved the Trueſt Conſort of All the Varieties, that God hath been pleaſed to Diſpenſate to you, may Rejoyce with you in that ſo Great Joy, is the Humble Earneſt Prayer of, Moſt Honour'd Sir,
Your moſt Affectionate Humble Servant in our Great Lord, T. BEVERLEY.
The PREFACE to the Favourable Proteſtant READER.
THE Diſcourſe following, I Humbly Preſent, as the Reſult of the moſt Cloſe Reſearches into the Sure Word of Prophecy, after the ſo great Diſappointment of the Hopes I had at the Year Ninety Seven. I Humbly Acknowledge to Infinite Grace, it gave me not the leaſt Doubt of the Truth and Divine Authority of ſacred Scripture, or particularly of the Prophetic Scriptures of Truth, which the Divine Spirit takes ſuch care to aſſure, Are the True Sayings of God, and that Theſe Sayings are Faithful and True; And I Humbly Bleſs Him, I have beſides all thoſe Great and Weighty Arguments, that ſo many Holy and Learned Men have Eſtabliſhed the Autopiſty, or ſelf-evident Divineſs of Scripture upon, I have the particular Aſſurance of ſo Admirable a Prophetic Scheme and Frame; God hath given me, that I am ſure none, but Infinite Preſcience, could ever have Projected, or ſo curiouſly have Wrought and Inlaid; and only to be Found by Compare of one Prophetic Scripture with another, and when they are ſo matched one with another, the Admirable Artifice is ſeen.
Now this very Adorable Workmanſhip led me to Ninety Seven by Prophetic Iconiſms, or Images, adjuſted to Prophetic Numbers of Time, and juſtified and verified by Matters of Fact, or as Prophecy calls them, Effects of Viſion in Ez. 12. 23. foreign the Matter of Fact of Viſion.univerſal Hiſtory and Chronology, Correſponding to them.
And in the very laſt Year, after all Hope ſeeming to be paſt, it pleaſed the Lord to ſhew me that Character of Time, ſtiled, Indictions or Fifteens of Years; even ſtudiouſly obſerved in adding 2 and 3 Fifteens to 1260, made up of ſo exact Dan. 12.Fifteens; making them, 1290; 1345; All which ſure could never be by Chance. This Note of Indiction, I ſay, what I had always accounted, I found enclapſed, whole Prophetic Time, from Solomon's Death to the Bleſſed Time at the end of the 1335 Days, all which make 2730 Days … Indicted; As any one verſed in Accomptancy may eaſily find. And the very firſt, the 390 Days of Ezekiel's bearing Judah's Sin, begin in ſet Indictions. Hereby I have found Ninety Seven eſtabliſhed by even Arithmetic Demonſtration, as I have made out in a Treatiſe on purpoſe, Printed 1699.
Ʋpon all this, I could not remove from Ninety Seven; However, ſo great a Failure looked ſo unfavourably upon it: What therefore God, upon earneſt unwearied Prayers, and ſo ſtrict Enquiry, a… the Holy Oracle, was pleaſed to give in the Night at the Houſe of an Elect Lady, near Sarisbury; and to enable to Cultivate and Improve; I have here given to public view, conſiſting of Four Heads.
1. The Certainty of a moſt Stupendious Judgment, to be executed on ſome City, deſcyphered by Babylon, and this City proved to be Rome.
2. That the Time of this Judgment to be executed, is at ſome pompous Time of Babylon, ſuch as the Holy Year or Jubilee, and great Princes appearing for it.
3. That whereas the Time this Judgment to be Executed, was moſt properly Ninety Seven; there is by a curious Artifice of Prophecy, a Reſerve of 3 Years and a half, reaching to 1700: With an Anſwer of Objections to ſearch of Time from Miſtakes.
4. That ſuch a Reſerve is called God's Infraction or Breach of Promiſe, or his Abruption, and Breaking off the Series and Contexture of Begun Providences; the Notions of which are opened and applied to the preſent Caſe; there are alſo Reſerves in a way of Wiſdom and Goodneſs, from Ninety Seven.
And all recommended to Faith and Prayer, under Divine Bleſſing; and Humbly laid at the Feet of the Supreme Palmoni, or Wonderful Numberer of Time, the Apocalyptes or Revealer, the High-Prieſt, or Man Cloathed in Linnen, and the Apoſtle of our Profeſſion; That He may judge, whether his Word or not. To Him, God over all, Bleſſed for ever, be Glory for ever, Amen.
THE JUBILEE OF THE Kingdom of CHRIST, Coming on the Counterfeit JUBILEE of ROME.
Rev. xviii. vii. viii.
She ſaith in her Heart, I ſit a Queen, and am no Widow, and ſhall ſee no Sorrow. Therefore ſhall her Plagues come in one day, Death, and Mourning, and Famine; and ſhe ſhall be utterly burnt with Fire; for ſtrong is the Lord who judgeth her.
THE Intention of the following Diſcourſe, is to give Encouragement from this Scripture firſt; then, to excite and even arouſe the Proteſtant Zeal, Faith and Hope; and to oblige the earneſt Prayers and Supplications of the Reformed Churches and Nations; and humbly to beſeech the Princes and Governments of them, by their Commands and Examples ſo to lead the way, that we may all Rev. 6. 10.cry out with the loud Voice of the Souls under the Altar; How long Lord, Holy and True, doſt Thou not avenge the Blood of thy Servants; on Them, who dwell on the Earth! which is a Prophetick Periphraſe of Pagan Rome firſt, and then of Rome Antichriſtian.
And this at a Time, whereunto the Divine Spirit hath directed us ſo plainly, and ſpecially to look for it; as at a proper Seaſon God hath foreſcen, and ſingled out for the Execution of his Judgment on Babylon; even this her Enchanting Jubilee, when ſhe ſays, I ſit a Queen; I am now on a Throne giving out my Pardons and Indulgences: I am no Widow, nor ſhall know the lofs of Children; Behold from all Parts, how they gather about me at this very time!
And at the time of ſo violent a Perſecution upon the Servants of God, making the ſame Proteſtation with our ſelves againſt the Papal Idolatry, Superſtitions and Tyranny.
If we are not concern'd at ſuch a time as this, we have only a Name to live, as, Proteſtants and the Reformed, but are dead; as God Charges upon the Church of Sardis, the Prophetical Emblem of the Churches ſtiled the Reformed; We have forgotten, how we Received and Heard, in that ſo great Appearance of God, by the Rev. 3. 1, 2.firſt Reformers; and Princes will too ſadly ſeem to have loſt that firſt Proteſtant Spirit, &c. which acted thoſe Princes in the Tranſactions at Spire Am. 1529. Oh that therefore we might Remember, Hold faſt and Repent: And if there were a Spirit pour'd out from on high upon us, a Spirit of Prayer, who knows but that in the midſt of this falſe Jubilee; Theſe two things, Widowhood and loſs of Children, Alienation of Princes and People, might come on this Myſtic Babel in one Day, in one Moment! If we could wreſtle with God, as Jacob, theſe Two Things would certainly come upon Her in their Perfection, as on Eſay. 47. 8.that Babylon of Old, for the Multitude of her Sorceries and Enchantments in this very day of her Jubilee.
To this very purpoſe, I will draw out from the Text, as it ſtands in connexion with This, the Former, the Following Chapters, Six great Propoſitions; and then argue further upon them in compare with other Scripture Prophecies.
Propoſition 1. There is undeniably a great Judgment denounced by God, and largely deſcribed upon ſome City, Figured by Babylon the Great, that muſt moſt certainly be Executed in its own Time, and upon the City deſigned, according to the ſure word of Prophecy, Cap. 1. 1. The Revelation of Jeſus Chriſt, that God gave to him, to ſhew to his Servants things ſhortly, that is, with great ſpeed; from that very time it was given; to come to paſs ſucceſſively; till the Everlaſting Kingdom of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, in compariſon of which all time is ſhort: Now becauſe this Judgment cannot yet (as will appear) be poſſibly ſuppoſed to have come to 1 Cor. 7.paſs, it muſt yet come to paſs: And becauſe ſo much hath all along, and for ſo very long time been coming to paſs, according to this Prophecy; and yet this Judgment hath not been Executed, the Execution of it muſt needs therefore be very near.
Prop. 2. There are Infallible Characters fixed by the Prophecy in theſe Chapters before us, on the the City ſo denounced upon; aſſuring this City is the preſent Papal Rome. For if Rome be the City Characteriz'd, as it is now Papal, it is that City ſo threatned by this Judgment; For the Characters, and the Judgment are inſeparable; Now Rome will appear to be the City Characteriz'd, and therefore on it muſt the Judgment here written be Executed.
Prop. 3. It is one of the great Glories of this Judgment; that the firſt coming of it into Execution ſhall be with great ſuddenneſs and ſurprizal; and when very Few (ſtiled by Chriſt the Few Names in Sardis) have a Thought, or Apprehenſion of any ſuch thing: One Day, one Hour, one Moment, as of Ancient Babylon, ſpeak the very great Velocity of the Judgment.
Prop. 4. The Princes, that at this time Bear up the Grandeur and the Haughtineſs of Papal Rome, by giving their Power and Kingdom to the Beaſt; called therefore His Horns, ſhall be by the Lamb, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords ſo overcome, as to be made Inſtruments in the Execution of the Judgment in ſuch Parts, and Degrees, as the ſtrong Lord, who Judgeth, ſhall Commiſſion them unto; which ſhall highly Exalt, and make Illuſtrious the Judgment: As an Indication of this, it is ſaid C. 17. 16. The Kings ſhall hate the Whore; ſhall make her Deſolate, and ſhell eat her Fleſh, and ſhall burn her with Fire; and in this Text, her Plagues are Death, and one concurring with the other Mourning, Famine, and burning with Fire.
Prop. 5. The Greatneſs and the ſudden Invaſion of this Judgment, as denounced by God, are uncontroulably to be demonſtrated, not only as to the poſſibility, but the certainty of both; as from the Truth of the Lord, who hath ſo long ago denounced it, ſo from the Wiſdom and Omnipotency of the ſtrong Lord that judgeth.
Prop. 6. The Divine Preſcience and Wiſdom, hath choſen out a Time, and decreed it for the Execution of this Judgment, when Babylon ſhall ſhew it ſelf in its Pride, its Pomp, its Preſumption, Security; For it is, when ſhe ſhall ſay, I ſit a Queen, and ſhall ſee no Sorrow; and 'tis moſt undeniable its Jubilee is ſuch a Time, and when Great Princes ſhall ſo be at her Devotion, as for her ſake, with ſuch a violence to perſecute, and Proteſtant Princes ſtand by, and have nothing to ſay againſt it.
Prop. 1. I begin with the firſt Propoſition; that the Judgment here forewritten muſt moſt certainly be executed: That there is a great Judgment here deſcribed and denounced on ſome City, Figur'd by Babylon the Great, is moſt unconteſtable; every word in the Foregoing and this Chapter aſſures it; and in the following Chapter, we have moſt ſolemn Doxologies and Thankſgivings upon it; In Cap. 17. 1. The Viſion begins thus; John is called to come to the Angel, who would ſhew him the Judgment of the Great Whore: In this C. 18. 1. Another Angel having Great Power, and with whoſe Glory the Earth ſhone Appears; and he cry'd mightily with a loud Voice, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen; certainly and irrecoverably Fallen; and ſo the Viſion goes on in the moſt dreadful Expreſſions, and Pourtraies of a Judgment moſt ſtupendious: The Kings of the Earth bewail, and ſtand afar off for fear of her Torment; her Merchants throw Duſt on their Heads, and cry out in their Lamentings, Alas! Alas! and at laſt her Irrecoverable Ruin is ſet out by a Millſtone, caſt into the bottom of the Sea by a mighty Angel pronouncing; So ſhall Babylon be thrown down, and found no more at all, ver. 15. 19. 21.
If this Judgment then be Prophetically denounced by the Holy, the True, the Mighty God; It muſt and ſhall certainly come to paſs in the Time, and upon the City deſigned: This is a Principle of Natural Light and Intellectual Reaſon ſo clear, I ſhall no further inſiſt upon it.
What then can be levied by way of Objection? I can poſſibly ſuppoſe but two Things: Either the Authority of the Book of the Revelation muſt be called into queſtion, as not from God; or it muſt be ſaid, the Judgment hath been already Executed.