The Kingdom of Jesus Christ Entering at 1697, Discourse · Part 3
That we may then go on with the Prophecy of Daniel; As the Calendar we are upon, was moſt declaredly brought down to the Roman Monarchy at the Birth of Jeſus Chriſt; So there are ſeveral Periods of the Calendar from that Time, wherein the Prophecy of Daniel, and of the New Teſtament Agree moſt Illuſtriouſly with Hiſtory, in Relation to the Roman Empire.
Period. 1 It is moſt notorious notwithſtanding the Birth, Death, Reſurrection, Aſcenſion of Jeſus Chriſt, and the Apoſtolical preaching; The Roman Empire continued one, and continued Pagan in the ſupreme Powers, and in the Body and Bulk of the People; From hence it is evident, the Calendar was not Run out, becauſe the Kingdom of Chriſt did not onelyonly, not Fill the Earth, but did not conſume other Kingdoms, as it is firſt to do, before it Fills the Earth; And therefore no Interpretation of Filling the Earth with the Goſpel, or Spiritual Kingdom can ſtand Good: And further, the Calendar was not come down to the Feet and Toes of the Image, nor into the Head of the Beaſt, diſhevelling it ſelf into Ten Horns, as it muſt in its laſt ſtate; But during the Pagan Empire, it remained perfectly One; and therefore was not in its laſt ſtate.
Now of this Pagan Empire, Two Things are moſt known.
That Jeſus Chriſt having come into the Fleſh under the Roman Monarchy, Sathan the old Serpent and Dragon being aware, that that Kingdom, which ſhall utterly deſtroy his Kingdom was entred; He as a Dragon watch'd that manly Birth to deſtroy it, if it were poſſible firſt; He then inhabiting the Pagan Roman Empire, it is fitly Reſembled to a Dragon in regard of that Spirit, that inhabited it by a moſt particular influence over it; And becauſe when Chriſtianity began to ſpread it ſelf in that Empire in a multitude of Chriſtians; It had a Jealous eye over it, and over the Empire, it might raiſe; Therefore by Ten ſo known and Famous Perſecutions it endeavour'd as a Dragon to devour it, and to ſurprize that Supreme Monarch Jeſus Chriſt, who ſhould Rule the Nations with a Rod of Iron, which the Chriſtian Church compar'd to a Travelling woman was to Bring forth; Herein the Pagan Empire is Reſembled to Pharoh the Egyptian King of Old, who fearing the overgrowth of Iſrael into a Kingdom, as a Dragon lying in the Nile waited to devour it, by Killing the Male Children; And thus Herod the Roman Vaſſal, though King of the Jews, watch'd to have devour'd Jeſus Chriſt, the Incarnate King, who ſhall ſit on the Throne of his Father David, and of whoſe Kingdom, there ſhall be no End. Thus admirable is the Concinnity and Agreement between the Pagan Emperors of Rome, that was to be a Spiritual Egypt, and the Dragon. How plain therefore is the Calendar of the Roman Empire in this particular to the very laſt of it, as Pagan; Diocleſian and the other laſt Heathen Emperors being among the Perſecutors of the firſt rank, and therefore we muſt needs be certain whereabout the Time of the Calendar then was. For we know this ſtate laſted about 300 Years after the Reſurrection, and in the clearneſs and particularity of this, the New Teſtament exceeds the old. Conſider further this Imperial power with relation to the reſt of the World, and it was Salvage, Dreadful, and Terrible, as Daniel ſtyles it, and as the Revelation ſtyles it, as a Dragon, devouring and Conſuming all other powers as with Iron Teeth, and ſtamping on them as with Legs of Iron, on which account the Dragon is ſaid, as it were, to ſweep down the Third part of the Stars, or other Princes,Rev. 12. 4. and powers of the World with its Syrma, its Tail or Train of Power, and enlarged Empire; And in that, it is call'd the Third part of the Stars It thus ſweeps down; It is agreeable, that its Succeſſion to the Third, or Graecian Empire ſhould be Connoted, which it ſo particularly drew down; from whence the Third or Third part becomes in this Prophecy a Cypher or private Character of the Roman Empire, Whether in the Weſt, the moſt proper peculiar Rome, and Roman Empire, or in the Eaſt, that affected alſo to be call'd Roman Empire, even as Conſtantinople, New Rome; and Theſe Two are therefore in theſe Prophetick Hieroglyphics call'd Two Wings of the one Great Eagle or Roman Empire.
And that we may know the Prophetick Calendar was taken care of in this Pagan ſtate of Roman Empire, the whole Roman Beaſt, that is ſaid to be diverſe from the other Beaſts in regard of its many, and more Eminently Seven forms of Government, very ſtrange to the other Three Kingdoms before it, eſpecially in the laſt, the Papal Supremacy, was pictured as with Seven Heads, Heads of that City, that when St. John wrote the Revelation, Reign'd over the Kings of the Earth, and therefore could be no other, then Rome. And it is particularly ſaid, Five were Fallen, One then was; which we know, could be no other, then the Pagan Emperors; Thus exact is the Calendar, or account of Time, till Conſtantine, under whom the Empire became Chriſtian; Becauſe all Hiſtory Agrees whereabouts in Time it was.
Period. 2 The ſecond Period of the Roman Empire, ſince the Reſurrection, according to Prophecy, and moſt known in Hiſtory, is the Chriſtian Roman Empire under Conſtantine and his ſucceſſors; And the Time is very well known in Hiſtory and Agreed, whereabouts it was.
But it muſt be acknowledged, this Period or change of the Empire from Pagan to Chriſtian is not at all ſhaddowed in Daniel's Prophecy; in either of the Two Viſions of the Image, or of the Beaſts, it hath no Lines, or Mentions.
And the reaſon is very clear, and plain; For when the Spirit of Prophecy was pleas'd to give a Calendar of Time by Two Viſions, Both repreſenting a Monarchic Frame, though of Four Monarchies; Yet they were but One in a Beſtian enmity, and Contrariety to the great Kingdom of Jeſus Chriſt.
A Chriſtian Monarchy, that was given for a ſhort ſpace, as an Emblem, ſhade or Specimen, though but a dark one, of that Kingdom of Chriſt could have no proper place there, but muſt have confus'd the Frame.
But as if it were on purpoſe to compenſate the ſilence of the Chriſtian Monarchy in Daniel, and becauſe it may ſeem a Diſcontinuer in the Beſtian Calendar of Kingdoms, and in that Frame of Four, and yet but One; and eſpecially in the Two ſtates of the one Roman Fourth Monarchy; The Prophecy of the New Teſtament is much the more careful, and Abundant, and ſeems as it were to make Amends for this Appearing violation; that whereas all the Four Monarchies are as one Beſtian Monarchy, or Image, and the Fourth Monarchy, but one Beaſt There comes in as Ex improviſo, as unforeſeen a Chriſtian Monarchy in the midſt of that Laſt Fourth Monarchy, and ſpoils the whole Frame; and diſturbs eſpecially the Calendar as it may ſeem, but it will be found much otherwiſe.
1. For there is, as I may Reverently call it, a Prophetical ſcene in the New Teſtament Prophecy on purpoſe to Repreſent a Chriſtian Empire caſting out the Pagan, in the Woman the Church bringing forth after moſt painful Throws, Sufferings and Martyrdoms a Manly Child, caught up to the Throne of God, and the Dragon Cast down, and and a ſolemn Doxology upon it; Now is the Kingdom of our God come, This was a great Emblem of the Kingdom of Christ, as it is an Imperial Kingdom and not a Spiritual onelyonly; And this is ſo plain, that no Interpreter doubts it of the Chriſtian Roman Empire, nor of the Admirableneſs of the Emblem Repreſenting it.
2. There is a diſtinct account of the Roman Monarchy in its Seven Heads, which were crowned Heads, or Formes of Soveraign Government, and all Beſtian, or Idolatrous, full of the names of Blaſphemy. And they muſt needs be of Rome that was carried alought by them, becauſe Rome without diſpute was the City, that then Reign'd over the Kings of the Earth, as It is ſaid Revel. 17. ult. Among theſe There is one King, that is plainly ſtyl'd foreign to be a King of another ſort, No Head; For there were but Seven, and the Eighth is expreſly to be One of the Seven, viz. Heads; So the Seventh King could be no Head, for Five had been Heads and Fallen, and One then was, and the Eighth was of the Seven, therefore the Seventh could be no Head.
The Room, therefore of this King in the Calendar is Embolimean, and perfectly Intercalar; And it is ſo plac'd, that it muſt be, as I may ſo ſpeak in the Seventh Stall of thoſe Kings, immediately after the Pagan, as All Hiſtory knows, the Chriſtian Empire was, and juſt before the Eighth King, or Papacy, as Hiſtory alſo knows, the Chriſtian was in ſuch a ſenſe, as Prophecy will guide us unto.
But that it might be known to make no great Infraction in the Beſtian Calendar, It is ſaid Emphatically, He must or Heforeign ▪ ought in regard of his unnaturalneſs to the Beſtian Monarchy, according to Prophecy to continue but a ſhort Space; that is but about a hundred and fifty Years.
Can now any care be greater with Relation to the Chriſtian Empire, that we may know it was; That it was by way of Interpoſal, as in the midſt of the Roman Beſtian Monarchy, and the very Time, when, and where it came ſo between, and the general Scantling of Time, it laſted?
3. The Apostle Paul, according to the wiſdom given to Him, diſcourſing of theſe Things ſhews, that the Kingdom of Christ 2 Theſſ. 2. 1. &c.that was to have its Times, its own proper Times, could not attain its proper Times, even according to his own Oath, till an Apostaſie according to Daniel's Prophecy, had brought forth1 Tim. 6. 15. the Man of ſin, and He had had his own Times; and therefore the Apostle is moſt vehement upon Christians, not to expect that day of Christ ▪s Kingdom, till then; For he knew the Oath Dan. 12.of Christ was abſolutely againſt it; There ſhall be Time, Times, Half Time firſt.
Therefore ſaith the Apoſtle, though Chriſt be come into the Fleſh, though the Roman laſt Monarchy be now in its Courſe, which may quicken your Expectations, yet expect not that day of Chriſt, till after the Times of the Man of Sin.
And that you may not expect thoſe Times too ſoon, Know that God hath Interpos'd a Curb, an Hold faſt, that ſhall keep back the Man of ſin, till his own juſt Times; For the myſtery of Iniquity is now at work, and would bring him forth before his Time, but there is a Chriſtian Empire, that will Hold faſt its Time, and be before Him, and will caſt him on his juſt point of Time, that his Time, Times, and Half a Time aſſign'd him by that Oath of Christ may ſo end, that the Kingdom of Chriſt may ſucceed in its proper Time immediately after the Times of the Man of ſin, which had not God thus Interpos'd a Chriſtian Empire, and the Pagan Empire had continued no longer, it would not have done according to the great Times deſign'd by God; Set in, and by his own Power for Chriſt's Kingdom.
Thus by the Apoſtles diſcourſe the Calendar is not weakned, but ſtrengthn'd, and the Chriſtians of the Apoſtles Times, and of all Times, ſince he writ, may be led through the ſtages of Time ſince the Reſurrection of Chriſt to the Kingdom of Chriſt; As if the Apoſtle ſhould ſay, Watch the Pagan Empire, when it ends; For after that, there ſhall be a preternatural foreign a Succeſſor of another kind, a Chriſtian Emperour who keeps back the Succeſſion of the Man of Sin, that ought to ſucceed immediately, after the Pagan Empire according to the Courſe of nature; But yet it will not diſorder but keep Tight the whole Calendar, the Man of Sin ſhall after that Chriſtian Empire be Revealed juſt in his own Time; and whenever the Times of the Man of Sin ſhall end, expect the day, comming and appearance of Chriſt, for Chriſt ſhall conſume him with the Approach of his comming, and Aboliſh Him with the Brightneſs of his own Appearance.
From the Reſurrection of Chriſt then, the Pagan Empire laſts to the Christian Empire, the Chriſtian Empire till the days of the Man of Sin, or Antichriſt; The Times of Antichrist till the Times of Christ and of his Kingdom, an exact, and an eaſie Calendar, Solid, and Subſtantial; And ſeeing we all know the Pagan Empire is paſt, That Chriſtian Empire we ſpeak of, viz. of Constantine and of his ſucceſſors, till done out of the way, had its Courſe, and ceas'd; if we can but know then, how long the Times of the Man of Sin laſt, we muſt needs know, how long it is to the Kingdom of Christ.
But it is moſt plain, this Holder back is a very Elegant Inſinuation of a Chriſtian Emperor, that ſtay'd the Succeſſion of the Man of Sin after the Pagan Empire, till his own juſt Times, and no longer, though the Con-naturalneſs of Paganiſm, and Antichriſtianiſm was ſo Great, and the Miſtery of Iniquity then at work to attemper one to the other, that he might very well have come juſt after Paganiſm, and Paganiſm have merg'd into it; but God had decreed a Chriſtian Empire between, a Specimen of the Kingdom of Chriſt, (even as in Nebuchadnezzars firſt Babylonian Kingdom there were thoſe ſudden Appearances of the Divine Kingdom in his Acknowledgments of God) which Antichriſt ſupplanting, it made him the more exceedingly, and foreign Antichriſt.
4. As a further Care of Prophecy concerning the Calendar of Time, and the Interpoſal of the Chriſtian Empire, it gives us this plain Account of the State of the Roman Beſtian Empire, during that Chriſtian Empire, viz. That by Reaſon of the Chriſtian Empire, that was not Beſtian, nor any of thoſe Heads. The Roman Beaſt lay wounded; and it is ſaid, the Wound was a Wound unto Death, and a Wound with a Sword, and a Wound in one of the Heads; and that we may take further notice of the Wound, It is ſaid, His deadly Wound was healed, and he did Live.Rev. c. 13.
Now this Wound hath been much miſtaken by ſome Interpreters, as if it were the Wound given by the Barbarous Nations, invading the Empire, of which in the next particular we ſhall find another Account; But it is very plain, becauſe the Wound was in one of the Heads, and that the Chriſtian Empire upon which the Barbarians fell moſt peculiarly, was none of the Heads; It muſt needs be, that the Wound intended was on the Pagan Imperial Head, whom Conſtantine the Great, and Theodoſius the Great, beſides other the Chriſtian Emperors ſo remarkably Wounded, even unto Death, that It never recovered in a purely Pagan but only in the Pagan Anti-chriſtian Head. To which, becauſe of the Congenialneſs of the one to the other, the Dragon is ſaid in prophetic Language to deliver his Throne, Power, and Authority by way of Succeſſion, and to live and to be worſhip'd in Him.
So that though we are not plainly told, it was the Draconic Head, which we found to be the Pagan Empire, was wounded, yet in that it is ſaid, The Dragon was caſt out of Heaven; that the Dragon gave his Power, Throne, and Great Authority to the Beaſt, and was worſhip'd in Him, the World wondring after the Beaſt. There is nothing more plain, then that it was the Pagan Dragon that was wounded by the Chriſtian Empire, coming next after it, and healed in the Beaſt coming in as a Head.
This then was the Wound, that the ſixth Head, as Pagan, Idolatrous, and bloody, could not maintain its Supremacy, and Imperialiſm, till the Antichriſtian Head ſucceeds it; but an Empire, a Chriſtian Empire, prophetic of the Kingdom of Chriſt, rooting out Pagan Idolatry, and advancing Chriſtianity ſo newly perſecuted to death by Paganiſm came between, by which, though the Empire continued, yet the Beſtianiſm of the Empire was ready to dye, and had dyed, but that there was a decree, to permit it to be Heal'd, and Reviv'd within a ſhort ſpace in the Antichriſtian Beaſt; which could therefore be no other, then whatever ſucceeded the Chriſtian Empire in Roman Beaſtian Supremacy; though, as we ſhall find only in an Image of Supremacy, and therefore muſt be the Papacy; elſe the Wound were not Healed to this day, which were moſt contrary to Prophecy, as deſtroying the frame of the Beſtian Monarchies in Daniel, and the whole Image of Things in the Apocalyps of John.
Now this Note of the Beaſt wounded is ſo great an aſſurance of the Care of Prophecy over the Calendar, given in Daniel, (though this Wound was not revealed in his Prophecy, as improper to it, and not to its Time) as can be given; and makes us more certain of the Truth of it, then if that occaſion of its Care had not been, as the Truth of a Prediction is more ſeen by taking notice of a preternatural Accident, and foretelling it, then if ſuch an Accident had not been; we are therefore to conſider the Prophecy of Daniel, and John, as all one Prophecy of the Divine Spirit in both; and as but of one, and the ſame Author, writing ſeveral Propheſies in ſeveral Times, and filling up the former by the latter.
And thus all Hiſtory agrees; That the Chriſtian Emperors came after the Pagan Emperors, and diſabled their Idolatrous and perſecuting Power. And that after the Chriſtian Emperors came the divided State of the Roman Empire in ſeveral Kingdoms, and Kings, united in the Papacy, and hath continued to this very Day; which muſt therefore be the Beaſt with his Ten Horns; (though all be convey'd, as it ought to be, according to this Prophecy, in a Myſtery, and in an Image,) or elſe the Revelation cannot be a True Prophecy.
5. There is another principal Note, that the Sacred Prophecy of the New Teſtament gives, on purpoſe to ſhew, that the Beſtian-Antichriſtian-Roman Supremacy in the ſeventh Head; call'd the Beaſt, and his Ten Horns; did not immediately ſucceed to that Pagan, Beaſtian Monarchy; but that there was the coming between of a Chriſtian Empire; and that the Beſtian Kingdom, that followed that Chriſtian Empire, was the Papal Kingdom; the knowledge and regard to which is of ſo great moment to this prophetic Calendar, that Prophecy hath taken ſo great Care in it; and It is thus to be underſtood;
The Four Monarchies ſucceding one another, as in the Image of a Humane Body, the Succeſſion muſt be, as by way of kind Communication, as is between the ſeveral parts of the ſame body; And this was to ſhew, one Idolatrous Spirit, a Spirit contrary to the Kingdom of God, and of Jeſus Christ inform'd, and intelligenc'd the whole from Head to Foot.
But though theſe Monarchies were ſo united in one Spirit, and therefore as in one Body; yet to ſhew the contrariety of each ſucceding to each former Kingdom; they are in another Viſion repreſented, as Four Salvage Beasts, each latter ravaging on that in power before it.
Thus the Perſian, as by a Belluine Might, vanquiſhed the Babylonian, the Graecian the Perſian, the Roman the Graecian, as Daniels Viſions, c. 7. c. 8. and all Hiſtory make notorious.
And thus it was determin'd by God, that the Ten Kings that came in, as Feet of Iron in Succeſſion to the Legs of Iron; and the Horns in Succeſſion to the Iron Teeth, ſhould come in as by way of Leaving, or Legacying, or kind Communication, as from part to part. And ſo indeed, the Pagan idolatrous Empire did, as it were naturally, and ſpontaneouſly reſign, and dye into the Antichriſtian riſing out of it; thus it is repreſented after a prophetical, emblematical manner by the Revelation; The Dragon gave its Throne, Power, and Great Authority to the Beaſt, that is, the Pagan Emperor to the Papal Antichrist, what ever diſtance of Time there was between them; and ſo they worſhipped the Dragon in the Beaſt, as aforeſaid; Thus it was as between the Congenial, one Pagan and Papal Beast, and the Legs and Feet of the Image.
But then as the Viſion of the Beasts imports each Kingdom ſucceding the former, as by violence; ſo theſe Horns or Ten Kings came by violence into the Empire; for ſo it pleaſed the wiſe, and Holy Governour of the World, it ſhould be▪ The Nations foreign to the Roman Empire tranſplanted themſelves from their own Seats, and by armed force plac'd themſelves in Italy, and the ſeveral parts and Provinces of the Roman Empire.
And yet they all made ſtill the ſame Roman Monarchy, and the ſame Beaſt, becauſe, whereas the Perſian King ſucceding the Babylonian did not place his Royal Greatneſs in Babel, but in Shuſhan, nor Alexander in Perſia, but in Graece, nor the Roman in Graece, Perſia, nor Babylon, but transferred all to Rome; The barbarous Nations on the contrary do not remove the Potentacy from the Roman Territories to the Countries, from whence they came, but continue it, where they found it, and Inhabit, and Inherit the former Reſidencies of Roman Power, and ſo are the ſame Empire in Feet of Iron, and of Clay.
For if the Feet of Iron make no Tranſplantation, much leſs would, or could the Feet of Clay, much more tyed to the ſame Earth, from whence they ſprung; and above all to the Roman Earth of St. Peter, where He, ſay they, as Biſhop left the print of his Foot, as in Clay, that the Roman Hierarchy might ſprout from it.
And they are all the ſame Beaſt alſo, whereby the Calendar, and Succeſſion is maintained; for to ſhew, the ſame Idolatrous and Hoſtile Spirit to the Kingdom of Christ influx'd all; the Dragon gave his All, as was noted before; and the whole is, as nearly allyed as part to part in the ſame Body, acted by one and the ſame Spirit.
And this was all certainly an Illuſtrious, and adorable Care of Providence over Prophecy; That Things ſhould be juſt thus; that Prophecy might be fulfilled in the Roman Monarchy, continuing One and the ſame Monarchy, as we ſhall ſee, in Ten Kings united, in one Eccleſiaſtic Roman Supremacy, as Ten Horns in one Head; and the Capital, Imperial City Rome was continued for the ſame Head, by a moſt aſtoniſhing, and even amazing Ordination of God, as the other Capital Cities within the Roman Dominion for the Ten Kings each in their own Kingdoms.
But ſtill, there were all the Violences of War made uſe of for the Succeſſion of the Ten Kings, as Feet of Iron; and they were as neceſſary for the Feet of Clay, to riſe in the midſt of thoſe Noiſes, ſtilly, ſilently, unobſervedly to their Grandeur, and the Supremacy of One Pontiff, even He of Rome, among them.
To adjuſt therefore every thing to this Succeſſion with the Decorum of the prophetical Types, let us now obſerve the admirable Concert of Providence and Prophecy in this Period.
In the firſt place therefore as a great Emblem of the Glorious Kingdom of Jeſus Chriſt, and his Ʋniverſal Monarchy over all Nations, and eſpecially his Triumph over that Ancient Kingdom of Sathan, Pagan, and Heatheniſh Idolatry; wherein Himſelf, and his Angels, and the Demoniz'd Spirits of his Servants were ſo immediately worſhip'd; there is a wiſe Ordination by God of a Christian Empire, to remonſtrate this Victory in an Empire then own'd, as the Ʋniverſal Empire of the World, and where Heatheniſm had ſeem'd to Triumph over Chriſtianity; but Chriſtians thus overcame, by the Blood of the Lamb, by the word of his Teſtimony, and by Chriſtians not Loving their Lives unto Death.
This Empire therefore enter'd, as into the Heart of the Fourth Monarchy in Daniels Viſions by a High Dominion, and Ordination of God, though ſo contre-natural to it, that on all Accounts It is as a caſting Sathan out of Heaven, and as it were the Coming of the Kingdom of our God.
The whole Order therefore of theſe Emperors throughout the whole Time of the Chriſtian Empire is ſo far all one order,Revel. 17. v. 10. that from firſt to laſt, they are All one ſeventh King, as the Kings of Judah were All, One Houſe of David; but this Empire in its former and in its latter Times differ'd much in the purity of the Chriſtian State, and in the Illuſtrious Preſence of God with it; as Zedekiah and thoſe latter Kings did from David and Solomon; yet ſo, that while the order it ſelf ſtood, there could be no Succeſſion of the Bestian Kingdom; for they are ſpecificly diſtinct, which is a note of great weight in the Calendar; and it is even demonſtrated, That all thoſe Chriſtian Emperors in ſacred Regiſter, are but One; becauſe They are called One other King, and that they are ſpecificly diſtinct; becauſe the Eighth is of the Bestian Heads, the ſeventh before it is not.
But now, as to our Note; this Chriſtian Empire look'd like an Infracture on the Calendar; for that, a Succeſſion was due to the Feet of Iron, and Clay, and to the Ten Horns, and to the little Horn; that is; to the Ten Kings, and the Papacy, as ſoon as ever the Legs of Iron, and Head as of the Teeth of Iron, that is, the Pagan Empire was depriv'd of ſupreme Power; ſo that this▪ Chriſtian Empire according to Daniels Viſions was to have dyed, as ſoon as it was born.
Prophecy therefore, as it were remembring in the New Teſtament, what it ſelf had ſaid in the Old, and, as conſcious of the ſhort ſpace, This Empire was to continue; and knowing well, That there were four Trumpets of War decreed, and prepar'd, as Storms and Tempeſts to remove it; in the very next Viſion to that of Heatheniſm deſolated, which was Revel. 6. laſt; It preſents four Angels, c. 7. 1. Holding the four Winds, that They ſhould not blow by thoſe Trumpets, c. 8. and a charge is given them, to take heed to their Commiſſion, that they ſhould not let out thoſe Winds, until the Servants of God were ſealed in their Foreheads; that is, That the Chriſtian Empire ſhould continue, and continue in Glory, and Peace, till Things were prepared for the Succeſſion of Antichriſt, that Man of Sin, or Beaſt, as this Prophecy ſtyles Him; and as we ſhall find preſently, that ſealing of the Servants of God in the Forehead imported; Till the Feet of Clay then were ready for their Succeſſion, the Feet of Iron ſhould not ſucceed; for they were Feet together, though of ſo different a Mettal, and not to cleave; nor the Ten Horns, till the little Horn, though in another appearance. viz. of a Head in the New Teſtament-Prophecy, ſhould be ready for his▪ Succeſſion alſo; for at the ſame Hour Both were to receive Power.
Now what does this ſo peremptory Charge import, but a miraculous, as it were, and immediate over-rule of the natural courſe of Things, according to Daniels Viſions? and the vertue of it laſted in full force from the Chriſtian Empire of Conſtantine the Great, till the Death of Theodoſius the Great. Then there was ſuch a Relaxation of this Charge, that the Angels prepared Themſelves to ſound, but did no more, then prepare.
Now how agreeable is this to Hiſtory? ſoon after Theodoſius's Death, theſe Clouds and Storms began to hover and hang, but did not fall, in their full effect of doing the Chriſtian Empire out of the middle, as the Apoſtle ſpeaks, 2. Theſſ. 2. 7. where it ſtood as a Wall of partition betwixt the Beſtian Times of the Pagan Empire, and the Times of the Antichriſtian Beſtian Empire, that They could not meet; but then according to Daniels Prophecy expounded by the Revelation, They clos'd; for then the Dragon, or Pagan Empire gave its Throne, and Great Authority to Antichriſt, or the Beſtian Empire, and the Antichriſtian Times began▪ And thus the man of Sin was held back, as the Apoſtle ſaid, that He might be revealed in his own Time, and the middle Time being of an arbitrary interpoſal, but Divine, is, an Inter-reign of no Account in the Beſtian Empire, but all comes naturally together, that the Dragon, as was ſaid, Gave his Throne, &c. as if there had been no Interruption.
And how decorous now to the Type is All the State of Things, as to the Heathen Empire remov'd!
1. It was abſolutely neceſſary to the Succeſſion of the Papacy, the Heathen Empire ſhould be removed; It was then moſt decorous, it ſhould be done by a Chriſtian Empire, the Emblem of the Kingdom of Christ, and not that the Feet, and Toes of Iron of the Roman Beſtian Empire ſhould ravage on the Legs of Iron, nor the Horns of the ſeventh Head on the ſixth Head, which according to prophetic Repreſentation kindly yielded the Succeſſion to it, as was ſaid.
2. The Chriſtian Empire gave Great Advantage to the Feet of Clay, or the Antichriſtian Hierarchy to negotiate their own power by the Favour of Chriſtian Emperors, and their Donations of Titles, and Revenues to Chriſtian Biſhops, and to a Chriſtian Clergy, as they affected to be call'd.
And Shoales of People then coming in to the Princes Religion, there was a condeſcending to the Pagan Divi, conſecrated Temples, Holy-days, Prieſts, Pontiffs, Rites to the Dead, Images; So, that Reſemblances were found for them of a Chriſtian Name, until Things came to that paſs, that the Servants of God were ſeal'd, that is, the true Chriſtian Glory was ſtay'd, ſeal'd up, and reſerv'd to the future Time of the New Jeruſalem, and ſecur'd for that againſt Antichriſtian Contagion; The Gentiles in Pagan Rites enter'd into the outward Court, or Profeſſion of the Chriſtian Name, and the True Worſhippers retir'd into the Temple; The Witneſſes put on their Sackcloth, out of whith they are not yet, and the True Chriſtian Church fled into the Wilderneſs, in which it is ſtill Hid, though not ſo cloſe, ſince the Reformation, but yet waits the perfection of the Reformation; All which are Expreſſions of the Antichriſtian Succeſſion, together with the Ten Kings, and for which the Trumpets were ſtay'd from ſounding, till he who judg'd Righteouſly of the True Epoch of the Apoſtaſie, gave them leave to ſound.
In the ſecond place, as to the removing of the Chriſtian Empire, how admirably fitted are the Types alſo! For ſeeing the Beſtian Supremacy in the ſeventh Papal Head, and the Ten Kings could not be, till all Light of the Sun, Moon, and Stars of the Chriſtian Empire were darkned, and the Empire it ſelf quench'd, as a Lamp in Water, and Rome ſo often taken, and re-taken; that it had no Title of Supremacy over it, but that of Biſhop; and the whole Glory of the Empire blaſted, as by Hail mingled with Fire; who ſo fit to do this, as Barbarian Nations, whom Prophecy brands as the Inſtruments of Sathan, the Dragon perſecuting the Woman the Church, that brought forth the manly Child, and who were to be the Horns of the Antichriſtian Beaſt, by whoſe Mediation the Dragon gave his power to Him?
But this Empire, however it carried the Name of Chriſtian, and bore the Emblem of the Kingdom of Chriſt ſtill, as Jeruſalem, even after the Crucifying of Chriſt was call'd the Holy City, yet it was ſo deeply by this Time Antichriſtianiz'd, that the Judgment of God adminiſter'd by theſe barbarous Nations did indeed purſue it. For he abhor'd the Idolatrous Proſtitutions, and Relapſes to Paganiſm under the diſguiſe of Antichriſtianiſm, from which he had ſo wonderfully reſcued it.
As therefore of old, He gave up Jeruſalem to be either Captivated or deſtroyed by litteral Babylon, on whoſe Idolatries it doted; even ſo He now delivered up the Chriſtian Church, and Empire, as ſo Antichriſtianiz'd to be either deſtroyed, or enſlaved by thoſe Feet of Iron and Clay, and that ſeventh Head, and its Ten Horns; ſo that what Sathan did with a Helliſh malice, God moſt Righteouſly, and Supremely, though moſt ſeverely executed by Him.
And thus we have brought down the Calendar, and ſettled it on that great pillar of Time, the Chriſtian Empire, Inaugurated in Constantine, Illuſtrated a new in the great Theodoſe and Vacated in Augustulus, from which as we ſhall find the man of ſin in his own Times, as the Apostle calls them, commencing, and of which we have a numeral Calendar given us by Prophecy. And the Time where we are to begin, we are moſt certain of by History; That it was cloſe to 475, from whence therefore it is to be dated, for then Augustulus was compell'd to Abdicate Empire. Then therefore Antichristian Times began, as I ſhall now go on to make out and to ſhew the ſtate of Things from that Time going on, till now; as we all in great meaſure muſt needs know to be very Astoniſhingly agreeing with Prophecy.
I have now, I ſay, brought down the Calendar in my own Judgment, and I offer it to the Judgment of all the Serious, (ſuppoſing it acording to the Spirit of God, and therefore undeniable) to the fourth Roman Monarchy, eſtabliſh'd upon an Article of Faith, at the Crucifixion of Jeſus Chriſt; I have led it from thence through the Pagan State of it, of which a Dragon watching a Manly birth to devour it, is an Emblem ſo ſignificant of the dreadful Perſecutions for above 300 years after Chriſt as to be even demonſtrative; and ſo conducted it to the Chriſtian Empire, of which the Dragon caſt out of Heaven and a Manly Child caught up to the Throne of God, in a Kingdom decreed him as in Heaven (though not immediately Appearing on Earth, as is manifeſt by the Churches flying into the Wilderneſs) is an Emblem ſo Beautiful, and Inviting, as not to be refus'd.
And if we do but yield that, to be the Emblem of the Roman Monarchy, firſt perſecuting Chriſtianity, and then it ſelf becomming Chriſtian, we are of neceſſity concluded, that either that Chriſtian Empire was all the Kingdom of Chriſt, or that the Roman Monarchy is that Roman Fourth Monarchy ſtill in a direct oppoſition to the Kingdom of Chriſt; For ſo the Fourth Monarchy muſt be the fourth Monarchy till then, and if the Roman be the Fourth, that muſt be ſo.
Now that that Chriſtian Empire is not the Kingdom of Chriſt, we muſt needs know, becauſe it did not conſume all other Kingdoms, and becauſe that of Chriſt ſhall never end, but that of a Chriſtian Empire would continue but a ſhort ſpace; About an 150 years was the bounds of it. And violently it was made to ceaſe by the Barbarian Force, which Prophecy calls the Dragon perſecuting that Chriſtian Church, that brought forth as a ſhort Emblem of the Kingdom of Chriſt in that Chriſtian Empire, the Manly Birth, Chriſt as a Soveraign.
And leaſt we ſhould think, it had a ſucceſſion, and ſo an endurance in the Papacy and Chriſtian Kings, and Emperours that roſe out of its ruins, we find according to Prophecy; All that ſucceſſion is involv'd in the dark Portraictture of a Beaſt and its Ten Horns; That true Chriſtianity, that brought forth that Empire, is cloſe Hid in the Wilderneſs, for 1260 years, till the end of which it cannot return; beſides, even that Papal ſtate ſuppoſe it had been a ſucceſſion of a Chriſtian Kingdom; It hath been, if I may ſo ſpeak, Woe Trumpetted by the Saracens, and Turks, for ſo great a ſpace, that as hath been ſaid, it could not be the Kingdom of Chriſt, and therefore muſt be the Kingdom of Antichriſt.
For ſo we find the Beaſt, as an Eighth King ſucceeded the Seventh or Chriſtian King after a ſhort ſpace, and the very ſame Beaſt of the Seventh Head ſucceeded the Sixth Pagan King wounded in his Head, ſo his ſucceſſion was double; In Time, He ſucceeded the Chriſtian Emperour; as Beſtian, He ſucceeded the Pagan ſixth King, who according to Daniel gave him his Throne, Power, and great Authority. For the Papacy in his Ten Kingdoms, devoted to him, is a Pagan Chriſtian, or Antichriſtian Supremacy; Thus it was, and thus it ought to be, that Prophecy might be fulfill'd.
Thus far then we are moſt aſſured, whatever ſucceeded the Pagan Empire in Time, was the ſhort ſpac'd Chriſtian Empire; whatever ſucceeded the ſhort Chriſtian Empire in Time muſt be the Beaſt, that notwithſtanding the Interpoſal of the Chriſtian Empire is united according to Daniel to the fourth Beſtian Kingdom, and according to the Revelation to the Dragon; And ſeeing no other ſucceeded the Chriſtian Empire in Time, but the Papacy, and the Ten Kings; Therefore that is the Continuation of the fourth Monarchy in the Image, as Feet of Clay and of Iron; and in the viſion of the Beaſts, as the Beaſt and Ten Horns, and remains, and ſhall remain ſo, until it ſhall be Broken by the Kingdom of Chriſt.
Period. 3 Our Calendar Reaches down to 475. by Prophecy and by Hiſtory; and here there enters a Beſtian ſtate which will take up more then Half the Time, from the giving of theſe viſions to Daniel; and a Moyety, or thereabouts of the whole Time, that the fourth Kingdom had ſo much, as a Being, even at the Ʋrbs Condita, or the building of the Roman City; more then the Time thrice over, that it came into this Calendar, which was at the Ceſſation of the Graecian Empire.
Becauſe therefore this Time would be ſo long, it pleaſed the infinite wiſdom, and goodneſs of Holy Spirit of Prophecy, to give ſome light before hand to his Servants, how long this Time ſhould laſt; It pleas'd it, I ſay, to give here a Numeral though a myſtic Calendar, even juſt here, and to tell us, that Laws and Times ſhould be given for Time, Times, and the dividing of Time into the Hand of the little Horn.
And why, ſeeing were are bound to ſearch as far as we can, what, and what manner of Time, the Spirit of Chriſt did ſignifie, was it given here, rather then in any other part of the viſion of the Beaſts, if it had not been the pleaſure of God, that we ſhould know before hand, how long this laſt Beſtian ſtate ſhould exiſt?
For if we had been to wait the event onelyonly; There had been leſs need of a Calendar here, then in any other part of the viſion: For the Kingdom of Chriſt, immediately comming into its ſucceſſion, after the Times of this laſt Roman ſtate; It will give a more Indubitable Reſound of its event than any other event of the viſion can be ſuppos'd to do; It was certainly therefore given to define Time before hand.
But if with the Comment of Prophecy it ſelf in the Revelation, it were not to be underſtood, Then it muſt be given to no end; Let us therefore be encouraged to ſearch it; For it is certainly to be underſtood, as I hope we ſhall find.
And that we may underſtand it, Theſe Two Things are neceſſary: 1. To expound the Calendar in its Epoch, or beginning, and in its juſt Courſe, Extent, and Period: and then, Secondly, to Adjuſt by the Symbols of Prophecy, and the moſt noble Aſſurances of Hiſtory, or rather of our own knowledge and Experience (The Things being much in Being, and Exiſtence at this Day) the Congruity of Events according to it, ſo far as They are already paſs'd, and thereby to derive the moſt aſcertain'd Expectations, of what is yet to come.
Now that we may do the firſt, it is neceſſary, that we concert Time, Times, Half a Time with Forty two Months, which are the Apocalyptick Calendar for the Regnancies of the Beaſt, and his Ten Horns or various Kingdoms according to the Reſemblance of the Ten Toes in the Image; which have been already prov'd to be in an immediate ſucceſſion to the Chriſtian Empire.
In the firſt place therefore, we muſt obſerve the Correſpondence betwixt the Time, Times, and Half a Time, and the Forty two Months; Let therefore Time ſignifie a year, according to that note, Prophecy hath undoubtedly on purpoſe provided us with, of Seven Times paſſing over the Head of Nebuchadnezzar in his Lunacy; for that Times ſhould be more than Years, the courſe of his Conqueſts till within about Ten years of his Death will not allow; for in the Twenty ſeventh year of Jehoiachins Captivity, He made, as it appears, his laſt Conqueſt, and had been as we may perceive by Ezekiels Prophecy in a continual courſe of Victory to that Time, as hath been more at large in a former Diſcourſe diſcuſſed. Now that Twenty ſeventh of Jehoiach. muſt be the Thirty fifth of Nebuchad. for Jehoiakims Third was his Firſt; Add therefore the laſt eight of Jehoiakim to Jehoiachims Twenty ſeventh, they make Nebuch. Thirty fifth; and Evilmerodachs Firſt, who according to Scripture ſucceeded Nebuchadnezzar his Father, falling on Jehoiachins Thirty ſeventh; there remained Ten to Nebuch. when Ezekiel propheſied his Conqueſt of Egypt, within which Ten the ſeven of his Delirium muſt be comprehended; the ſeven Times therefore could not ſignific more, then ſeven Years. For his Life we ſee would not allow more; nor can They in any fair ſuppoſal ſignifie leſs, there being no determinate meaſure of Time, worthy to be call'd Times, except Months; and ſeven Months is a Time much too ſhort for his being turn'd out, as among the Beaſts; or that the ſtump, or little ſhort Time of his Reign ſhould be ſo Banded with Iron, that It might be ſecur'd to Him. Now I have thus induſtriouſly debated this Matter, becauſe I would gain by it that, I think cannot now be deny'd; That a Time in Time, Times, &c. denotes a year. If then a Time denotes a year, Times joyn'd with Half a Time muſt denote two Years, becauſe there is no medium betwixt One Time, and Half a Time, but two Times or two years; ſo that the whole is Three years and a half.
Let us then calculate the forty two Months, and we find They anſwer juſt Three years, and a Half, ſo that when we come to find as we ſhall do all along, by the compare, that the little Horn among the Ten Horns in Daniel, and the Beaſt in the Revelation, however they may ſeem to differ, are the very ſame; Even the Forty two Months will demonſtrate, that the Times and Half are three Years and Half, as forty two Months in general Account make.
Now if They are Three Years, and a Half, we know certainly They muſt be prophetically multiplyed, according to the ſtandard of All prophetical Time, given to Ezekiel, c. 4. except there be a plain Reaſon againſt it; each day of each year muſt become a Year. Beſides no Time ſo ſmall, as Three years and a Half can ſerve ſuch a Kingdom, as that of the Beaſt's.
The General ſenſe of the Calendar then, being thus eſtabliſh'd, the next thing to be done is to fix the Epoch of the Calendar, which is as it were the Foundation, of every Calendar.
Now ſeeing the Prophecy of the New Teſtament gives, as we have found, ſo clear an Account of the Time of the Chriſtian Empire interpoſed to the Roman Beſtian Empire betwixt the Pagan, and the Antichriſtian, of which Daniel ſays nothing; we may from thence learn the moſt preciſe, and definite Time of the Succeſſion.
And It is evident, The Succeſſion muſt be immediately after the Abdication of Empire by Auguſtulus, which was the very Time of the deceaſe of the ſeventh King; and therefore, as cloſe as Succeſſion is to Succeſſion, ſo cloſe muſt be the Antichriſtian Empire to the Chriſtian Empire. For ſo the general Laws of Succeſſion require.
And much more when God interpos'd an Empire, that ſhould be an Emblem of the Kingdom of Chriſt till that was done out of the midſt by an Ordination, as Supreme, as It was there ſet, there could be no Succeſſion, ſo that It could not be till Abdication. Thus on one ſide.
On the other ſide, ſeeing It was an unnatural Interpoſal betwixt the Pagan-beſtian and the Antichriſtian-beſtian Kingdom, as ſoon as ever that Chriſtian Empire was according to that moſt pregnant Expreſſion of the Apoſtle done out of the midſt, That Separation and diſtance made as it were by violence and not willingly betwixt Beſtian and Beſtian clos'd up; and as in the moment, Beſtian reunited to Beſtian, as by an Elaſtic force of ſelf Reſtitution; ſo that the Succeſſion could be no longer delay'd, then juſt the Abdication of Auguſtulus.
And by the way we may obſerve, Abdication, whether out of fear, and neceſſity, or a deſertion out of Reſolution, rather to part with Government, than to govern according to the fundamental contract of Government, is a doing a Government out of the midſt, and makes a good, and valid Succeſſion, in Gods Account, even where He had ſo particularly order'd a Succeſſion, becauſe Government is ſo neceſſary, that no vacuum can be allowed*Opor…t Impera… rem ſtantem, R… gem regenrem Em…ri▪; The Powers therefore, that are Powers in Being, and in the actual Execution of Juſtice, are ordained of God, and to be obey'd. Rom. 13. 1. 2.
For thus it appears here, the ſeventh King was, according to Prophecy, to continue only a ſhort ſpace; and being conſtrained by Odoacer the Barbarian Conqueror to renounce Government; Himſelf took the Title of King of Italy, and not of Rome, the Providence of God ſo ordering it, as it were to keep the Succeſſion clear; and ſo the Succeſſion immediately veſted in the ſeventh Head and Eighth King, that is, in the Antichriſtian Papacy.
And of this, the Sacred Prophecy gives all the Teſtimony poſſible; for when it gives a ſeries of Kings, One after another, and ſays Five were fallen, One is, Another is not yet, and when He Revel. 17. 10.comes, muſt continue a ſhort ſpace; and the Beaſt is the Eighth; It is plainly to ſay, though in other words, The Eighth King, who ever He is, that is the Beaſt, ſucceeded immediately to the ſeventh, who was the Chriſtian King or Emperor. Now ſeeing whoever was the Supreme of Rome all along hitherto, and muſt continue ſo till the Kingdom of Chriſt, muſt have ſucceeded the Chriſtian Emperor, and been the Beaſt; I do but ask then, who hath demanded, claim'd, and been defended by the Ten Kings, as Supreme of the City Rome for hundreds of years? He muſt be This Beaſt.
Again, becauſe the Ten Kings as Feet of Iron with the Feet of Clay, and as Horns with the Head, were to have a Succeſſion at equal dates with the ſeventh Head, and Eighth King, the Prophecy having ſo definitively given the Time of the Beaſts Succeſſion; that it was, whenever the ſeventh Head ceas'd; It gives alſo the Time of their Succeſſion, that It was at the very ſame Time, even at*foreign. The like manner of defining Time is other Times uſed in the New Teſtament. John 4. 52. Acts 10. 30. One Hour with the Beaſts Receiving Power; That is; At the very ſame Time, the Beaſt received Power, They received Power alſo, for they received Power at one Hour with the Beaſt; and therefore the Feet of Iron, and of Clay, and the Head and the Ten Horns together received Power immediately upon the Abdication of the Chriſtian Emperor, which was at 475. The ſame Phraſe or manner of ſpeaking is therefore us'd concerning both; Power was given to the Beaſt to continue Forty two Months, That He might do all Things ſpoken of Him from Firſt to Laſt. He had Power to continue forty two Months, orRev. 13. 5. foreign for his whole Action; Power was given to Him, during the ſpace of Forty two Months; ſo the Ten Horns received Power as Kings, Rev. 17. 12.though They had a motion and violent Action before, yet as in the Apoſtles Time, They had no Kingdom, ſo They had no Right of Succeſſion until the Beast received Power; and They then received Power as Kings of a lawful Succeſſion, even at one and the ſame Hour with the Beaſt.
And now ſeeing the Beaſt, and the Ten Kings received Power together, there muſt be ſome very Cardinal Time for them to receive their Power in; the Ten Kings altogether with one another; and then, They altogether with the Beaſt, and the Beaſt together with every one of them; This, I ſay, cannot be in Reaſon ſuppoſed without ſome ſupreme, and eminent Deſignation of Prophecy concerning the Time, when It ſhould be, and when God would be pleas'd to have it ſo accounted to be; for could ſo many Kings, who by various Accidents and Emergents of War aroſe to Kingly Power, ſome at one Time, and ſome at another, be ſuppos'd to receive Power together at one, and the ſame Hour, Hiſtorically, and in matter of Fact? Beſides, according to all Hiſtory, It was not ſo; ſome of theſe Kingdoms got up much ſooner, then others; It is therefore on a Prophetical Account, and on poſitive determination of the Time by Divine Authority; God, by whom Kings Reign, and who dates Kingdoms, as He pleaſes, dated the Power of the Beaſt, and the Power of theſe Ten Kings; All to an Hour; and He hath told us, when It was; It was, when that peculiar Chriſtian Empire of Rome He had ſet up, was by his Providence ſuperſeded; before that, though theſe Kings were Kings, and the Biſhop of Rome Biſhop of Rome; yet they were Kings, and the Pope of Rome Pope of Rome under one Imperial Head, who ſtood by Divine Appointment as their Supreme Lord; He was their Head by a Divine Right; and They All under Him, and in that Right in a dependence upon him, even as Herod on Auguſtus, though not in Fact; for He, who gives the Kingdoms of the Earth to whom He pleaſes, declares ſo; and tells us, The Beaſt came into his Hour as an Eighth King, when the ſeventh gave up; and though the ſixth Head, or Pagan Emperor was gone off ſo long before, yet as in the Water, or Air, when the interpoſing Body is removed, the ambient Air, and Water from every ſide immediately clap together; ſo the Beſtian Pagan, and the Beſtian Antichriſtian Kingdom does, when the Chriſtian Empire was done in the Apoſtles Phraſe, ſo full of this Senſe, Out of the midſt.