The Kingdom of Jesus Christ Entering at 1697, Discourse · Part 1

The Kingdom of Jesus Christ Entering at 1697 · Discourse · Part 1

p. 1I Have in the Foregoing Diſcourſes Adjuſted theſe Viſions of Daniel, and his whole Prophecy to the Time of Ezekiels Prophecy, and particularly to that Cardinal Viſion **c. 40. &c.of the Glorious Temple and City, and therein to the laſt Joynt of the Line of Time before it, viz. the 390 days, at the end of which, as I have ſhewn; Ezekiel had that ſo great Viſion, giving a viſional Ceſſation to his Bearing the Iniquity of the Houſe of Iſrael.

I have adjuſted alſo the firſt of theſe viſions to Nebuchadnezzar's Supreme Monarchy by his Conqueſt of Egypt, viz. to the Second year of it, and the twenty ſeventh of Jehoiachins Captivity, and the Thirty fifth of Nebuchadnezzers general Reign.

p. 2Now in all theſe parti…ulars, theſe Two viſions have deep Intereſt, as I have ſhown; I now addreſs my ſelf onelyonly to this point, to prove that theſe Two viſions are a Real, and Subſtantial Calendar of Time to the Kingdom of Jeſus Chriſt, when the Sanctuary ſhall be Cleans'd; according to that Great Note of Daniel's Third viſion, at the End of the 2300 Evenings and Mornings, and moſt Agreeing with Ezekiels Prophacy, when alſo according to that Prophecy, the Everlaſting Throne ſhall beEzek. 47. 7, &c.Ezek 47:7 ſet up.

Theſe Two, then and indeed the Third viſion of Daniel give the Time, how Long; That great viſion of Ezekiel ſhall be viſion onelyonly, and put nothing into Act, and Effect: The Third viſion which is Exactly numeral, I have already publiſh'd the probation of, as Reaching that End.

Without any further preface therfore, I lay down theſe following Arguments to prove, that theſe Two viſions are ſuch a Subſtantial real Calendar, and contain alſo a ſhort Hieroglyphical numeral Calendar; of Time, Times, and Half a Time, that Falls into all the Variety and yet Complication of the Characters of Time, in the great Prophecy of the New-Teſtament, the Revelation, which together with the real Subſtantial Characters of theſe viſions, make the Time demonſtratively certain, that the ſucceſſion of Chriſts Ringdom ſhall be 1697.

Argu. 1 The firſt Argument I ſhall Level to this point, ſhall be; That Theſe Two Dreams, or viſions are made ſo Remarkable by God, that They are worthy to be ſuch a Calendar of Time, as I affirm of Them; Now the firſt viſion as laying the Foundation, is fuller of outward pomp, and more prepar'd for publick, and univerſal notice; But the ſecond is more Inward to the Glory, and Kingdom of Chriſt, as a ſecond, and more perfecting Hand drawn upon the Firſt.

The Firſt viſionary Dream was granted to Nebuchadnezzar, in whom an Ʋniverſal Monarchy then Reſided; which made him a fit Head of that Image, and of that Time alſo to be continued all along in a Courſe, deſcending from the Head to the ſeveral parts, even to the Feet and Toes, and then and there to be Broken in pieces, and to be ſucceeded by the Kingdom of Chriſt.

And as in preparation to this very purpoſe, the Greatneſs of this Monarch is ſo often Amplyfied in the Prophets; He is ſeveral Times Call'd by God, Nebuchadnezzar, My Servant; as the Great, not onelyonly Subſtitute of Divine power, but as the p. 3proto Type of it, as it ſhall appear in Chriſt. God gave Him All Nations to ſerve Him, even the Beaſts of the Field and the Fowls of the Heaven; Jeremiah was Commanded to ſend Yokes to all Nations, as a Symbol of ſerving Him, and ſubmitting to his Yoke; Ezekiel calls Him King of Kings, a ſtyle Prophetick of Chriſts ſupreme Title; and the Mighty one of the Heathen; Daniel repreſents him by the great Tree, whoſe ſhaddow cover'd and protected the very Fowls of Heaven and Beaſts of the Earth; and All Fleſh was Repleniſh'd with its Fruit. His Greatneſs reach'd to Heaven, and his Dominion to the End of the World.

This made Him the Head of Gold, the Beginning of the Ʋniverſal Monarchy, that was to ſucceed in the Perſian, Grecian, and Roman States; and to Foreſhow, what a Kingdom the Kingdom of Chriſt was to be in its Univerſal Extent; For whoſe ſake ſuch a Calendar of Monarchies was given; To fore-tell which the Jews and Gentiles ſtood, as one Body under the Shade of the great Tree, Nebuchadnezzar.

And that this Dream of the Image might be the more Notable, and Remarkable; There was a Concurrence of all things, that might make it ſo: Firſt, in regard of the Ʋniverſal Monarchy of the Prince, that had the Dream, whereby every Circumſtance of the whole matter had an eaſie and almoſt a neceſſary paſſage through the moſt known parts of the World.

It being given to the Prince himſelf, it muſt needs be the more Notorious, and the more Certain; and to a prince not worſhipping the True God; It muſt be the more undeniable, and free from the Suſpition of a pious Fraud; The manner of giving the Dream was by the ordination of Providence ſuch, as to cauſe the greateſt Agony, and Perplexity to his Thoughts; For his Imagination was deeply Imprinted, that a very Stupendious Dream had found a place in it; And what yet it was, was gone from Him, which contributed exceedingly to the Notoriety of the Thing. For firſt all the Magicians, Aſtrologers, and Wiſe men of Babylon were ſummon'd upon the Occaſion.

When they came, there was nothing offer'd them, but a rude Apprehenſion of ſuch a Dream; whereas if the Dream it ſelf had been told them; They might have faſtend ſome ſatisfactory, however falſe Interpretation to it, and ſo the thing have dyed? When they could offer no Reſolution in ſo difficult a Caſe, there was to make the matter more Notable, a p. 4decree to put them to death; After all the King's perplexity, and even Fury, God gave him ſuch a Reſolution by Daniel, as ſav'd ſo many Lives, which fix'd the thing yet deeper in all Mens Thoughts, and gave Aſſurance, that the King was fully ſatisfi'd within Himſelf; That the Dream reveal'd to him by Daniel was the ſame, that had Graven it ſelf ſo deeply on his mind in his ſleep.

And it was therefore ordered to be a Dream, becauſe according to the opinion of thoſe Nations, and alſo in the thing it ſelf, a Dream ſo exactly Fram'd, under ſo great ſenſe, was leaſt under the power of the underſtanding, and therefore Divine, and Immediately from God.

Now that all theſe great Preparations, and ſolemn Circumſtances ſhould be thus ordered, and diſpoſed by God, without ſome High deſignation of God for the Glory of his own Kingdom, and ſome very Admirable Prophecy, and Courſe of Time lay'd out to it, I appeal to any perſon, that ſhall duely weigh, and conſider it, whether it be ſo much, as probable.

On the other ſide, whether if there ſhall be other very weighty Reaſons, that ſuch a Courſe of Time to the divine Kingdom is deſign'd; This great Ceremony ſo immediately order'd by providence, does not exceedingly concert with it, and add to the Reaſons otherwiſe drawn? Seeing elſe, All this Dvine ſtate was to adorn a Heathen Prince's Dream concerning Heathen Potentacies, and no change upon the Heathen world for the better, nor any Accruement to the divine Kingdom hereby; but onelyonly thoſe Temporary, ſhort Acknowledgments, that dyed upon the Breath, and Lips of that Pagan Prince that made them, while neither Himſelf, nor his Kingdom were Converted to the True God.

Argu. 2 Although there was no End of Glory to the Divine Kingdom, worthy the Magnificence of the Manifeſtation to the Babyloniſh Prince in this Dream, ſhort of the Divine Kingdom it ſelf; Yet taking the Divine Kingdom at the End, there is a very great and Glorious Correſpondence betwixt this Manifeſtation, and the Divine Kingdom.

For at the Time, when the Kingdom of God ſeem'd to be loſt, and ſwallowed up, and to be even as it were, none at all, through the deep Captivity of the onelyonly True people of God, then in the World, under this Babylonian King; Yet to ſhew the ſurmount of the Divine Kingdom in its vertue, and efficacies, p. 5there is by the true, and Supreme Monarch of the World, a Dream ſo Rivetted into all the Imaginative faculties of this ſo great viſible Monarch, his Subſtitute and Servant, that could not be, by all the Pleaſures, and buſineſs of a Court, forc'd from thence; and which yet could not be ſo much as call'd into Knowledg, what it was, nor Expounded but by a particular Miniſter of the Divine Kingdom, the Prophet Daniel; All the Fatigues of the Aſtrologers, Magicians, and Wiſe-men, the Seers of that great Prince being to no purpoſe in their Divination.

And this Dream retreived out of the dark of a Troubled, but unknowing Imagination, where it was written, as in Marble, in ſo indelible, and yet ſecret Characters prov'd to be, and was Acknowledg'd in the Inlightned underſtanding, and not Incertain Imagination of this Prince, to be a Prophecy of the uneaſie Reſt of his own Monarchic Power, that was continually Over Turn'd, Over Turn'd, Over Turn'd **Babylonian. Perſian. Grecian., till He whoſe Right it is, ſhould come, and take it out of the laſt Reſt of it**Roman., Even the Son of God Himſelf.

All which ſo wrought upon this otherwiſe Haughty Potentate, that He made this Confeſſion to Daniel; Your God is the God of Gods, and Lord of Kings, and a Revealer of Secrets; And as a further Acknowledgment, He exalts Daniel, as in a Repreſentation of Gods Supremacy over the World, to be over the Province of Babylon, and Chief of all the Governouors, and over all the Wiſe men of the whole Dominion. A great Prophecy of the Subjection of Babylon it ſelf to the Kingdom of Jeſus Chriſt, and here the Horn of Iſrael that ſeem'd Dead, was made to Bud according to Ezekiels prophecy of this very Time, as before argued. c. 29. 17.

And further, that Miracle from Heaven ſo Encloſing his Servants in the Furnace with the Guards of Providence, that the Flame was a Wall of Fire to defend onelyonly, and not to kindle upon them, while it Burnt up their Enemies, vindicated Gods Supreme Royalty over Nature, and caus'd that Exorbitant power, that durſt erect ſuch an Image for his own Glory, and command the worſhip of it, under a penalty ſo dreadful, to proclaim the reverence of the True God, under a more dreadful penalty.

And laſtly, God ſuſpended this Monarch from his Throne, and Levell'd him with the Beaſts, by depriving him of his p. 6Reaſon, till he came to ſuch a humble Publication of the Name of God, as was the neareſt to True Religion, that could be, not to be determin'd to be True Religion.

And it is moſt obſervable, that as the Son of God appeared to this very firſt of the Four Monarchs, as it were in perſon, who was the Supreme Monarch truly ſo call'd, that his Right to the Kingdom deſigned Him, might be the more underſtood, and Teſtified; So Daniel, a Jew had his Skirt taken hold off, thus leading to the True God and his Kingdom; and He himſelf with the other his Three Companions in the Patience, and Kingdom of Jeſus Chriſt had a promotion in that Babyloniſh Monarchy, Prophetical of the Kingdom firſt comming to the Jews, when it ſhall be Given under the whole Heaven to the Saints of the moſt High.

Thus jealous was Divine honour, not onelyonly over it ſelf, but careful of preſenting to Univerſal view, and notice its great deſign of ſetting up an Ʋniverſal Monarchy, and Kingdom in a viſible Glory by that great Son of Man, who is alſo the Son of God; The Glory was not ſo Given to another, but that it was ſeen to this Gentile Ruler, as ſitting on a Throne far above Him; and He on all occaſions was humbled, and abaſed before it.

And whether theſe Acknowledgments of the Father, might not have an influence on Evilm…rodach the Son, and move Him to that kindneſs to Jehoiachin, and to ſet his Throne above any of the Kings, the word of God gives us no poſſitive Rule to aſſert; Yet probable it is, both the Father and the Son, however convinc'd of the true God, knowing Gods determination of the Seaventy years Captivity of the Jews, They minght not releaſe it, as Cyrus did. It being God's Councel, it ſhould not be done during that Monarchy, becauſe as in Time, ſo in other great Regards, it could not Agree to that Type, Babylon was to Bear, to be ſo honour'd.

Argu. 3d. The very Frame and Fabrick of the Dream, or Viſion it ſelf is a full Evidence of a Calendar of Time to the Kingdom of Jeſus Chriſt.

For the Image it ſelf is a Calendar of Time, and while that sands, the Calendar cannot be out of date, for the Monarchy like the Sun, from ſign to ſign moves on, and ſlides down from the Head to the Arms, and Breaſt▪ then to the Belly, and Thighs, then to the Legs, and Feet; and points to time all along according to the nature of a Calendar, both by its duration and p. 7by its motion, and while the Feet are unbrokan, the Image ſtands, and remains a Calendar.

2. The Four Mettals, Gold, Silver, Braſs, Iron, and a mixture of Clay, according the General Emblem of ſucceſſive Ages, in this very order ſignifies the Flower, and top of Time, and the Head of it at firſt, and at laſt the very dregs of Time.

In which the ſecond is ſaid to be a Kingdom Inferior, not ſoDan 2. 39.Dan 2:39 much intending the ſtrength, or Temperament of the following Perſian Monarchs, in many regards exceeding the Babylonian, as the Inferiority, and Poſteriority of Time, in regard of which the Head was of Gold, as further off from Ruin, and Deſolation; to which every ſucceſſion approached nearer, till the very Feet and Toes of Clay had the Fatal and Deſtructive ſtroke, wherein all fail'd and fell. So as in Litteral Bobylon, the Glory began in Gold, ſo in myſtical Babylon the Feet and Toes of Iron and Clay ſhall be ſtruck and Broken, and the whole Image ſhall Fall, and Great ſhall be the Fall of it.

3. The Monarchies themſelves, into which the parts of the Image are Interpreted, Deſcribe a long Time; ſince it is ſufficiently known, ſuch Potentacies muſt have Time to diſplay Themſelves in; And that if They ſucceed one Another, it muſt be a long Tract of Time, that muſt give them oportunity to Come on, and go off from the Stage of ſo publick Action; Therefore They themſelves, as Kingdomes, or Monarchiies deſcribe long Time.

And ſeeing the Kingdom, that ſhall ſtand for Ever and Ever, and that ſhall have the dominion under the whole Heaven, is plainly plac'd at the End of theſe Four, and Breaks in peices the laſt; The Kingdom of Chriſt that does this, and ſo the whole Falling and Beaten to Powder, and paſſing away as the Chaff of the Summer Floor, muſt needs be the Scene, that muſt open laſt, and its Times be beyond all their Times.

Till therefore Theſe Four Kingdomes have had their Time, the Kingdom of Chriſt comes not on, nor breaks them in pieces, and till the Time, the proper Time of the Kingdom of Chriſt be come, theſe have not had their Full Time; So this is an Indented Character of Time, if any one, That if the laſt of theſe Kingdomes be yet continuing, It is certain, Chriſt's Kingdom is not yet; And if Chriſts Kingdom be not yet, it is certain, the laſt of thoſe Kingdomes is yet continuing, and is not daſh'd to powder, and all the Image with it, as it ſhall be by the Stone cut out p. 8of the Mountain, Filling the whole Earth, when his Kingdom ſhall come.

Argu. 4 After a moſt ſtately, and Magnificent deſcription, or Iconiſm of Four mighty Monarchies, that viſibly and ſenſibly rul'd over the World, and aw'd it; and that by force, and power broke in pieces all who did not ſubmit; There is ſubjoyn'd the preſence of a Fifth Kingdom, or Monarchy, that the God of Heaven ſhould Set up, and had never yet been ſet up, that ſhould Break in pieces, and Conſume all theſe Kingdomes, and ſhould it ſelf ſtand for ever. And the deſcription of the Four precedent is evidently on purpoſe to Introduce, and ſet at the cleareſt, and fulleſt Light the laſt.

The doubt then is, what Kingdom this laſt ſhould be; The Sovereignty of Supreme, and Univerſal providence is at all Times alike; The moſt High always Rules, changes Times, and Seaſons, Pulls down, and Sets up; It cannot therefore be underſtood of that; For to what Account would ſo particular and expreſs Iconiſm of that Turn, that is always the ſame, and always alike? or why ſhould that Kingdom of the ſupreme Godhead adminiſtred by his Providence, that is an Everlaſting Kingdom and Endureth throughout All Generations, be thus Poſtpon'd to Four great Monarchies, that exiſted before them; and by, and in which they Themſelves always ſubſiſt while they do ſubſiſt? This divine Providential Kingdom then it cannot be.

Let it then be ſuppos'd to be the Spiritual Evangelick Kingdom of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, beginning at his Reſurrection and Chriſtianizing ſo great a part of the then Known World, and which by degrees brought Nations and Princes into Subjection to it, not onelyonly Spiritual, but alſo Politick, Civil and Monarchic, from the Time of Conſtantine.

And that it was not the Spiritual and Evangelical Kingdom of Chriſt, I will conteſt onelyonly on this Topick; When an Image is made up of Four Monarchies, Senſible, Viſible, and that did all their work in ſuch a Senſible, Viſible manner; It is againſt thoſe curious Laws of Iconiſm, in which the Holy Spirit is as Exquiſite, as in the very order of the Creation, or in the Fabrick of Mans Body, to ſubjoyn a Spiritual Stone and Mountain, that ſhould as a Stone ſmite the Image, and Break it in Pieces, and then it ſelf became a great Mountain filling the Earth, and all this onelyonly in an Evangelical Spiritual ſenſe, and then Riſe up into a perfect Spirituality or Heavenlineſs, and therein continue for Ever. p. 9This I aſſert, (and leave the aſſertion to every judicious Conſiderer,) to be ſo unlike the admirable Emblematizings, or Repreſentations of the Divine Spirit, as to be by no means endured.

For the Stone and the Mountain thus underſtood, take up no Room, nor give any more Reſiſtance, or Anti-typy to the four Monarchies before, then the Hoaſts of Immaterial Beings do to Bodies, how innumerable ſoever; or then the Omnipreſence of Immenſity does to the motion of material Beings throughout the whole Sphere of worldly ſpace; or the Notions of Vertue and Juſtice make reſiſtance after the manner of Armies to the Inſults of bodily Puiſſance: and therefore though the Kingdom of Chriſt had great Effects upon the World in that very ſpiriritual Senſe, and by way of Conſequence, upon bodily Action; yet the Imagery of it were as improperly joyn'd with the Imagery of the Monarchies, as the laying Spirits in Colours would be, when the Action of Body and Matter is intended to be repreſented firſt; and then that Body and Matter forc'd out of its place by other however purer Matter, that ſhould fill its Room and Space: for ſo it is here, the Stone, though Cut out of the Mountain without Hands, becomes a Mountain filling the Earth, and the Saints of the moſt High take the Dominion under the whole Heaven, which Expreſſions plainly ſhew, the State of theſe Monarchies is not taken away, and ſupplyed by a State above All Heavens, but by a State as well under the Heaven, and upon the Earth, as on high; ſo that the taking away all Earthly State, and a Heavenly State ſucceeding it, cannot be the meaning of this Viſion; nor a ſpiritual State before that, can be the meaning; for the higheſt ſpiritual State that hath been yet in the World. viz. the Miniſtery of Chriſt, and his Apoſtles gave no diſturbance to the Monarchies of the World, no… made any remove of them.

Argum. 5 The Heavenly State of Chriſts Kingdom, or in the pure and perfect Eternity being foreprized by thoſe Expreſſions forenam'd, from being the meaning, and importance of this Viſion, we may further argue, that neither the Spiritual State of Chriſts Kingdom at his Reſurrection, nor that Spiritual State prevailing upon the multitude of Chriſtians, firſt by Converſion, and then upon Temporal Princes, as Conſtantine, and Princes, ſince the Empire becoming Chriſtian under Him, can be the purport of this Viſion.

p. 10For though the Kingdom of Chriſt did grow great in its Spirituality and Divine Truth, in the Miniſtry, Death, and Reſurrection of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt; And though the World was in very Great, and wonderful manner converted to Chriſtianity after it, and though the Kingdom of Chriſt did become viſibly and ſenſibly Great under Conſtantine, and did break in pieces the whole material, and ſecular frame of the Heathen Roman Monarchy, and might ſeem hereupon to become a Mountain filling the whole Earth; and indeed great notice is taken of it in the Revelation, as if the Kingdom of our God had been come, Revel. 12. Yet by comparing two things; one in this Prophecy, the other in the Apocalyps, we ſhall be plainly convinc'd, that neither the Spiritual Kingdom, nor his Kingdom ſuppoſed in the Chriſtian Empire can be this Stone, Mountain, nor Kingdom, and certain Knowledge not only of Hiſtory, but of the general State of the World will make it good.

1. That the Kingdom God ſets up ſhall not be left to other People, that is, It ſhall not be as the other Kingdoms, bequeath'd, left by Will, or as we ſpeak demiſed to other People; not without the Death, that is, the Ruine of the Teſtator, as to his Dominion, however his Life might be prolonged. This is ordain'd by him, whoſe Dominion is to all Generations. Thus the Babylonian demis'd to the Perſian, the Perſian to the Graecian, the Graecian to the Roman, the Roman ſhall be forced to ſurrender to the People of the moſt High; But they ſhall never paſs away their Dominion, over whom the Lord Jeſus is Prince to any diverſe People, as the Inheritor of their Power.

But now let the Kingdom be underſtood of the Spiritual Kingdom of Chriſt, or of the Empire as Chriſtian, becoming the Kingdom of Chriſt, and this Character will fit neither; for the Spirituality of Chriſts Kingdom was thus far left to other People, that the Apoſtle after the Reſurrection of Chriſt, ſays, That day ſhall not come, except there come an Apoſtaſie Firſt, a defection… Theſ. c. 2. from the Kingdom of Chriſt, and the Man of Sin, who is a Prince moſt oppoſite to Chriſt, be Revealed; accordingly it is ſaid, The Spirit ſpeaketh expreſly, ſome, viz. a Generation of men ſhall depart from the Faith, &c. How then can ſo much as the Spiritual 1 Tim. 4. 1.1 Tim 4:1Kingdom of Chriſt be ſaid to ſtand for ever and ever: And then for the Kingdom of Chriſt being ſuppoſed to become Great by Conſtantine, and other Chriſtian Princes ſince Him, It cannot be made good, for beſides the Inrodes, the Barbarous Nations p. 11made on the Empire, and the Kingdom of the Beaſt Riſing ſo ſoon, as the ſame Hour, the Empire fell; Beſides all this, the Mahometan Impoſture and Pſeudo-Religion aroſe againſt the ſpiritual part of Chriſts Kingdom; and its Tyranny againſt the appearrance of the Kingdom of Chriſt, that ſhould fill the Earth. How then did the Kingdom of Chriſt in this Senſe break in pieces all other Kingdoms, and conſume them, that It might it ſelf fill the Earth? Or how was the Kingdom under the whole Heaven given to the Saints of the moſt High? Or how was his Kingdom ſuch an Everlaſting Kingdom? But when ever Chriſt takes the Kingdom, It muſt be thus univerſal in its ſpread, and Everlaſting in its Duration.

From whence I conclude neither the Spiritual Evangelical Kingdom, begun at the Reſurrection of Chriſt, nor the Chriſtian Imperial Kingdom at Conſtantine is the Kingdom here foretold; but one yet to come, and though the Spiritual Kingdom then begun never indeed can be totally deſtroyed, nor ſo much as the Imperialneſs of the Name of Chriſt declared in Conſtantine ſhall ever be depoſed; yet the Conſumption of all other Dominions, and the Greatneſs of the Kingdom under the whole Heaven cannot ſo much, as be pretended to be Fulfilled, while Popery, and Mahometaniſm have ſuch a Name in the World; nor can the Propheſie poſſibly allow any Abridgment of what was once obtained by this Kingdom, which yet hath certainly fallen out to Chriſtianity in both the Spiritual and Imperial Kingdom of Chriſt; from whence it is certain, It is not the Kingdom here propheſied, that hath yet been.

Nor, to ſpeak Impartially, can It be underſtood by either of theſe Propheſies, that there ſhould be any viſible Regiment at leaſt in the then known parts of the World, but what ſhall be given to the Saints of the moſt High, when That Kingdom ſhall appear, for All ſhall be taken from thoſe of the four ſucceſſive Monarchies, that had it before, or what ever was enjoyed by any of them within any of thoſe Territories; ſeeing of Them particularly It is propheſied that their Dominion ſhall be taken away, and given to the Saints of the moſt High, and then are added more large, and comprehenſive Words, taking in the whole World.

Argum. 6 If the very Frame of the Viſion be ſuch, as is moſt proper for the giving ſuch a Calendar until that Great Kingdom of Chriſt, then we have Reaſon to look upon it as ſuch a Calendar.

p. 12Let us then conſider in the Image theſe ſeveral Things;

1. The whole Image made up of all its Parts.

2. The Diſtribution of the Parts, as the ſeveral Reſidencies of the Monarchies.

3. The Monarchicneſs it ſelf.

4. The Monarchicneſs firſt United in its Reſidency to ſuch and ſuch Parts, and then its remove to other Parts.

Now in every one of theſe Particulars by the Wiſdom of the Divine Spirit ſome aſſurance of Time in general is Given, as It runs to the Kingdom of Chriſt; but moſt particularly, the Calendar is fix'd in the Duration of the Monarchic Reſidence in each part; then in the Remove of the Monarchicneſs from one part to another; as ſhall be ſeen by this following Reflection on each.

The whole Image is made up of Four Monarchies, which in Alluſion to the Humane Body, make the upper and lower parts of ſuch a Body; the higher Parts the Precedent, and firſt Ages of Time, at and after the Viſion given; and ſo furtheſt from the End, or Kingdom of Chriſt; the lower parts the after Ages nearer, and nearer to the End, or Kingdom of Chriſt. The whole Image therefore hath a fitneſs to deſcribe Time by its Higher, and Lower parts; and further, It ſelf ſtanding, and having its ſeveral parts ſubſiſtent or in Being, is thus far a Calendar, that we know thereby; The Time of the Image is yet, and that therefore the Kingdom of Chriſt is not yet Come, even as we know by the Kingdom of Chriſt not yet Appearing; The Image is yet ſtanding.

Thus we ſee, the whole Image, and the diſtribution of its Parts is prepared, as the Dial-plate of a Clock, or Watch; or as the Months in the year, giving together the Circle of the Suns motion.

But then the Monarchicneſs is as the Sun moving from Sign to Sign, or from Month to Month, or as the Hand on the Dial-plate from Hour to Hour; ſo moves that Monarchicneſs from the higher to the lower parts, and thereby defines Time; For the Higher the parts in which the Monarchy reſides, the further off from the Kingdom of Chriſt; the lower it ſubſides, the nearer to the Kingdom of Chriſt; If then we can find the Monarchicneſs in any parts of this Image yet Reſiant or Reſting, we know in general the Kingdom of Chriſt hath not yet appeared; but if we find it in not only the Legs, but in the Feet and Toes, we know, as the Apoſtle ſays, It is the laſt Hour, but it is not p. 13yet out. Let us then conſider theſe Four Kingdomes, or Monarchies, as cloſely united, as they make this Calendar of Time, as the Humane Body is; however the parts, as ſeveral Kingdomes conteſt one with another, where the Monarchicneſs ſhall Reſide; while then the Feet ſupport the whole, the whole ſtands; and as the Head of Gold, the Arms and Breaſt of Silver, and Thighs of Braſs, give Luſtre to the Iron Legs, and Feet part of Iron, and part of Clay; So the Feet of part Iron, part Clay, at the ſame Time ſupport the more excellent Mettals, and ſhow their danger of being Beaten together, when ever thoſe partly Brittle Feet fail, and the Image falls thereupon; Till then they Remain, as in the Type united, as Bodily parts, however the Monarchicneſs, as a Spirit Flitts and ſhifts in its efficacy of Power, and Action from one to another; viz. from the Higher to Lower, on which account in the following Viſion, it is ſaid, the laſt or fourth Beaſt in the Little Horn, and his Body is given to the devouring Flames; But the other Beaſts had onelyonly their Dominion taken from them, but their Lives were Prolonged; That then, which principally gives us the Time of the Calendar is the Motion of the Monarchic Spirit from part to part.

Now that Monarchic Spirit, which is ſpecific to all theſe Monarchies is Idolatrous, Salvage, Cruel, oppos'd to the Kingdom of God, and of Jeſus Chriſt; So long then as ſuch a Spirit Animates, and Informs any part of this Image, ſo long the Calendar is in date. And if we can find where this Spirit is now in its Monarchic, Energetic force, we may know whereabout, we are in this Calendar; For ſeeing it is moſt undeniable, the Head of Gold was the Firſt Kingdom, and the Kingdom ariſing after, and Inferior in Time was the Second Kingdom, That which next followed after was a Third Kingdom, that was of Braſs, and then a Fourth of Iron, firſt as in the Legs, and then part of Iron, part of Clay, as in the Feet and Toes of the laſt ſtate; and that each of theſe are called Kingdomes and not ſingle Kings, and one after another, and that God hereby made known to Nebuchadnezzar, what ſhould be hereafter; Seeing All theſe things are undeniably thus; It is alſo undeniable, theſe Monarchies are a Calendar of Time: And laſtly, ſeeing the Kingdom that ſtands for Ever, and Ever, ſo particularly ſmites the Image in the Feet, and Toes of Iron, and Clay, and that the Iron, and the Clay and the Braſs and the Silver, and the Gold were Broken in pieces together; and that in the days of the Kings, Symboll'd p. 14by the Toes, the God of Heaven would Set up a Kingdom, and laſtly, that the Stone cut out of the Mountain without Hands, ſhall Break in Pieces the Iron, the Braſs, and the Clay, (which is ſet in the middle, as in the point where all were Broken) and the Silver, and the Gold; It is moſt evident, This Image of Gold, Silver, Braſs, Iron, and Clay, is a Calendar of Time till the Everlaſting Throne, which muſt be the ſame with the Throne in Ezekiel, and that the Toes particularly, as of Clay are the very Laſt part or End of the Calendar before that Throne, or Kingdom.

Argum. 7 The Conſideration of the following Viſion ofCh…p. 7. the Four Beaſts given by God to Daniel, is a further Aſſurance of the Calendar to the Kingdom of Chriſt, drawn in theſe two Viſions: For therein God hath doubled the thing for the certainty of it; as in Pharohs Dream of old, Interpreted by Joſeph, and there is no Reaſon to doubt, both Viſions Center in the ſame deſign to lead by the ſame Four Kingdomes to the Kingdom of Chriſt, and at the ſame Time, viz. at the End of the Four Monarchies: There is no Reaſon, I ſay, to doubt, although the Materials, or Symbols of the Viſions differ ſo much, as one to be taken from the ſeveral parts of the Body of a Man, the other from Salvage Beaſts. For ſo the ſimilitudes in Pharohs dream much differ'd; one taken from ſeaven Ears of Corn, the other from ſeaven Kine. But as then, ſo now, The great Intention was to Aſcertain the Event by Ingemination, For the Four Kingdomes in both Viſions ſo evidently plain, and the Everlaſting Kingdom at the End, are unqueſtionable Aſſurances, that both Intend the ſame thing, viz. a Subſtantial Calendar of Four Monarchies to the Kingdom of Jeſus Chriſt.

But yet this latter Viſion differs from the Former in Two regards.

1. The former was originally given to Nebuchadnezzar, a Heathen Prince, and Expounded by Daniel; This is firſt given to Daniel, and upon after Viſional ſearch more fully explain'd by God to him; and ſo there is a more inward diſcovery of things relating to the Kingdom and Church of God, then was vouchſaf'd to an Alien to the Common-Wealth of Iſrael, although That was admirably Great, and greatly for the Glory of the ſupreme Being and Governor of the World; and a laſting Monument of it to after Ages, and alſo an Illuſtrious Teſtimony of the Kingdom of Chriſt, that ſhould at the laſt break p. 15in pieces his own and the three ſucceding Monarchies, which were, as hath been ſhewn, a Table of Time to that Kingdom, and therewith all other Monarchies and Kingdoms.

But yet this was but in the groſs; To Daniel an eminent Miniſter of the Divine Kingdom, there is a more explicit Revelation of Antichriſt, the great Enemy, and oppoſite of that Kingdom, who was the Clay of the Image, and in whom the whole ſhould be broken; and this with the incident particulars, of the Tyranny, Antichriſt ſhould exerciſe over the Saints; of the Son of Man Receiving the Kingdom from God ſitting in Judgment on Antichriſt; and then the Saints poſſeſſing the Kingdom under Chriſt, are great Amplifications of the former Viſion, and more agreeable to Daniel, a Domeſtick of the Divine Kingdom, and ſo moſt fit to lead to that Kingdom.

2. The former Viſion was in the ſecond year of Nebuchadnezzar, when the Babylonian Monarchy had gain'd the aſcendent over all the Kingdoms, ſo as to be an Ʋniverſal Monarchy. The latter Viſion was in the Weſt, and Evening of that Monarchy, viz. in the firſt year of Belſhazzars ſhort Reign, who was the laſt Babyloniſh Monarch, and to whom the Scripture records only three years. In the firſt Viſion thereof the Types were more condecent to a Prince ſo aggrandiz'd by God, viz. A great Image of excellent Brightneſs, and terrible Form; a Head of Gold; but in the latter Viſion, theſe four Monarchies are repreſented by Beaſts, ſeated in the midſt of Violence, Blood, and Spoil; and chiefly beaſtly and bruitiſh Idolatry, and Perſecution; eſpecially the firſt and laſt of theſe Monarchies were ſo. And as to the ſecond, although the great Services of ſome of the Perſian Princes to the Church of God might ſeem to have deſerved a fairer Character: and ſo the acknowledgment, the Great Alexander is reported to have made to the True God in the High Prieſt; yet in regard of the Idolatry, and Ravage upon the World, and as making up one Image of Univerſal Monarchy oppos'd to the Kingdom of Chriſt, and laſtly in regard of the Perſecution of ſome of the Princes of both thoſe Monarchies againſt the Church of God, of which the Perſan Princes withſtanding Chriſt, Dan. 10. 13. Haman in Eſther, and Antiochus of the Graecian Monarchy ſo great a Type of Antichriſt deſolating the Sanctuary, and taking away the daily, are Inſtances, They are all under the ſame Name of Infamy.

p. 16Yet in the Infinite Mercy of God to any degree of Penitency, Nebuchadnezzar's acknowledgment of God after his ſo great Humiliation ſeems remembred with Honor in that Symbol; After the plucking of the Wings on the Lyons back, ſhewing at once both the ſpeed, and the ſhortneſs of the Babyloniſh firſt Monarchy; It was lifted up from the Earth, and made as a man to ſtand on its Feet, and a mans Heart was given to it: In all other, Theſe Monarchies together, as alienated from the Worſhip, and Religion of the True God, and as Predeceſſors of Antichriſt are deſcribed from what is worſt; Beſtialneſs and Ferity; and therefore the whole of their Dominion to be taken away, and conſum'd by the Kingdom of Chriſt.

Now in that this Viſion thus reſumes the Time, that was paſt, from the firſt Viſion, It argues, The two Viſions ſo evidently of the ſame Importance, One at the Beginning, the other at the End of the Babylonian Monarchy are a ſubſtantial Calendar of Time, to begin as from the Viſion of Ezekiel, and to determine at the Everlaſting Throne that Ezekiel had foretold, as they moſt evidently both do; and ſo define the Time betwixt that Viſion, and that Throne, which is the point we are in purſuit of.

It is true, when the Sacred Chronology comes to a numeral Line, or a Line of Time by Number, the Babylonian Monarchy is then left out, as it muſt needs be; becauſe elſe the numeral Line beginning after it could not be exact, and becauſe it is ſo perfect in the Account of the 2300 Even. Morn. that there needed no ſervice from the ſubſtantial Calendar, which is thenceforth to be guided by it.

Argum. 8 I come now to the laſt and undeniable Argument, that Theſe Viſions are a Calendar of Time to the great Kingdom of Chriſt. And that is, if it can be made out by Holy Scripture in Agreement with Univerſal Hiſtory; That from the very Time of theſe Viſions given, Things have been in Motion, and are ſtill in the Motion, They ſhould be, according to this Calendar to the Kingdom of Chriſt; Then it will be impoſſible to deny, that Theſe Viſions are indeed a Calendar of Time to that Kingdom. But this is to be made out from Scripture, and therefore They muſt be a Calendar; For firſt the Scripture is expreſs, that according to this Calendar, the Babylonian Kingdom gave way to the Medes and Perſians, according to that Hand-writing, that ſo much Terrified Belſhazzar, of which Daniel was the Interpreter, Thy Kingdom is divided p. 17and given to the Medes and Perſians; viz. to the Breaſt and Two Arms of the Medes, and Perſians, but ſo that the Perſian Dominion Roſe above the Medes; and that one Horn in Cyrus ſtarted up ſo much higher, than the other, that it had the ſole Dominion. So that though Darius the Mede, took the Kingdom or the Ʋniverſal Monarchy from Babylon firſt; Yet we read of Cyrus King of Perſia his firſt year Following immediately; For in anſwer to Daniel's prayer at the very End of the Seventy years, the Commandment immediately came forth, which was by Cyrus, making in his firſt year a decree for the Releaſe of the Captivity, and therefore his Firſt year muſt be at the End of Darius his firſt year; So we read of his Third year, and of the years of the following Kings of Perſia, by which we know the Perſian Kingdom was the Second Kingdom.

The paſſing off of the Perſian Monarchs is no leſs expreſs; For the Grecian He Goat Brake the Two horns of the Perſian Ram, who Took the Kingdom from Babylon, and Stamped uponDan. 8. 7.Dan 8:7 Him; And to ſhew the Ʋniverſal Monarchy then paſs'd, the King of Grecia is ſaid to do according to his Will, an expreſſion of thec. 11. 3. Ʋniverſal Monarchy in this Prophecy.

Alexander the Great is by all allowed to be that Grecian King, figur'd by the Leopard, and He Goat, and is expreſly nam'd King of Grecia.

After Alexander, There was a continual mutation, and change of that Monarchy out of one Hand into another; that it was as into the four Winds in regard of the motion, and Variation, till it after ſettled in the four Kingdoms, and Conſpicuouſly in Two; the Lagidae of Egypt, and the Seleucidae of Greco-Syria, as in the Two Thighs of the Image, ſo Remarkable a Character of Time as to be known by the Dhil-Karnain or Two Hornes, as it were from this Prophecy of Daniel, and theſe, Prophecy eſpecially inſiſts upon in the Eleaventh Chapter, as the King of the South, and of the North, as ſhall be after explain'd.

And in this ſucceſſion, the Calendar is very clear, and not to be doubted, as hath been already, and ſhall be further made good in theſe Three great Poſitions, wherein the further progreſs of the Calendar down to our very Time, ſhall be even demonſtrated.

Poſit. 1. That the Time delineated by this Calendar cannot be expir'd.

p. 18Poſit. 2. That the Calendar, and its Time being not expir'd, it can be continued onelyonly in the Roman Monarchy.

Poſit. 3. That the Calendar having its ſubſiſtence in the Roman Monarchy, there is, as may juſtly be expected, ſuch an Idea of it, partly Hiſtorical but eſpecially Prophetical in the New Teſtament, agreeing with undoubted Hiſtory, as ſhall exactly correſpond this Prophecy of Daniel, whereby we may know whereabouts we are in this Calendar, with an anſwer to Objections.