A Scripture Line of Time, Treatise · Part 2 · Section 3

A Scripture Line of Time · Treatise · Part 2 · Section 3

p. 13SECT. III.

Of the matching each Character of Time with each of thoſe States, as in a General View.

THat the States of the Beaſts Tyranny, and the Churches Third General.Sufferings, may then be beheld at nearer Lights, in their Implication with the Characters of Time, Let us in the next place Remark each Character of Time, match'd with its State, and the Order wherein the Characters are given, and then collect their certain Enfoldedneſs within one another, and how juſtly inferrible the Sameneſs and Oneneſs of the whole ſpace is, although given under ſo many various Characters, in the Union of the States; Each of which hath yet its ſingular Uſe: For they are not vain Repetitions, or mere Flouriſhes of Symbolical Prophecy, but each Character, and each Repetition of each Character, hath its great particular Service.

Firſt then, after the Real Line of Time given, as it were in Subſtance, in four Succeſſive Monarchies, and thoſe repreſented in an Image, or Immenſe Statue, Dan. 2. and then under the Iconiſme of four Beaſts, Dan. 7. The Regnancy of a Prince under the Type of a Little Horn, is made the principal Aim of Prophecy, and hath the firſt Character of Time ſet upon his duration, viz. time, times, half a time; and theſe are made ſo proper to him, that whenever theſe are nam'd, p. 14He, as the Proprietor, or Leſſee of them from God, is to be underſtood: For changing Laws and Times, and wearing out the Saints of the moſt High, are ſo long given into his Hand.

Furthermore, becauſe any fixed Limits of Time could not be known by Time, Times, Semi Time, being Hieroglyphical, and a Number Vague, and Floating in the vaſt Compaſs of four Monarchies; There is therefore a Third Viſion, in which the Babylonian Monarchy, as having no farther Place in Time, is cut off altogether, Dan. 8. 1. &c. For it had been accounted in a Former Scripture-Line of Time, viz. the 390, and forty five Days for Years, Ezeck. 4. 5, 6. And therefore if it had not been cut off, when a new Line of Time was to be given; it muſt needs have diſturbed that Line, and all Account by it. The Perſian therefore, the Grecian, and the Roman Monarchies are given in new Symbols, and a Line of twenty three hundred Even. Morn. of Prophetical Time, till the Cleanſing of the Sanctuary, and the Breaking of that Prince, ſo Inſolent againſt Christ, the Prince of Princes, broken without Hand, fitted to them.

And ſtill to ſhew the principal drift of Prophecy, at the Little Horn; it is firſt particularly, and notably pourtraied in Antiochus, as a Type, and therefore call'd, a Little Horn, and his principal Action is recorded to be the taking away the daily; For ſo I tranſlate it exactly according to the Hebrew Verity, the Divine Spirit ſeeming to have deſign'd a Liberty for the ſupplying the Senſe, either with Sacrifice before the Death of Chriſt, or with Service, or daily Worſhip after Chriſt, according to the Rules of the Goſpel; And it is Remarkable, except in this Place, and its parallels, Dan. 11. and Dan. 12. there is not any Example of Tammith, or the Continual, without the Addition of Sacrifice; ſo that I cannot but ſuppoſe it ſo plac'd for an eſpecial ſignificancy.

Now for the ſake of Taking away the Daily, the Viſion is call'd, the Viſion of the Daily, even as in regard of the 2300 Even. Morn. It is called the Viſion of the Evening and of the p. 15Morning; although it is moſt evident, the Viſion contains much more matter, than juſt of the Daily taken away, viz. of the Perſian Monarchy, and the former parts of the Grecian; and the 2300 Even. Morn. embrace much more Time, than the mere duration of the Daily taken away by Antiochus, as a Type, or even by the Antichriſtian taking away, as is made to appear upon that Viſion. For in the Explanation of that Type, when Daniel was made to underſtand the Viſion; in the Explanation of that Type, I ſay, All is ſo expounded, as to be moſt agreeable to the little Horn, and his Action in the former Viſion, Dan. 7. and to his Bestian Apocaliptick Tyranny; Now this taking away, firſt by the Gentiles begun, then continued by the Beaſt, lays a Foundation for the beginning this Line of Time we are upon.

For, by reaſon of the length of a Line of Twenty three hundred Years, ſeeing no particular Time can be aſcertain'd by it; Therefore the next Viſions, either explicitely in the 70 weeks of years, viz. 490 till the end of the half Week, or three years and a half after Meſſiah cut off, and in the 1335, in which the Antitypical, Antichriſtian taking away of the Daily, begins, and endures theſe very 1260 Days, which we are upon, or implicitly, viz. 75 years, during the Words going forth to reſtore and build Jeruſalem, firſt by Cyrus, (though immediately interrupted by Ahaſuerus and Artaxerxes, till the ſecond of Darius) then by the ſame Darius, and after him, by Artaxerxes, called Longimanus, completed. All which is fully expounded on the Viſion, Dan. 9. And implicitly alſo in 400 years, from the laſt half week after the Reſurrection, which is plainly the Epoch of Apocalyptical Time (as is alſo made good on that part) during the Time of the Seals opened, till the Trumpets began, and with the very firſt of them the 1260 dayes; All which make up together the 2300 Even. morning, the 1260 leaving 75, for the finiſhing all things to the bleſſed and happy State; which is Daniel's end of wonders, Dan. 12. and the State of the New Jeruſalem after the deſtruction of the Beaſt, Revel. chap. 19. chap. 20, &c. even as it is the cleanſing p. 16of the Sanctuary, and breaking that proud Prince without hand. Dan. 8.

All theſe things being ſo fix'd, that they cannot be otherwiſe, for a Time there muſt be for the word going forth, by a full Evidence of Sacred Prophecy in Daniel, and Hiſtory in Ezra, Nehemiah, and Eſther, and this Time is fairly reſolved into 75 years, and then the 490 years of the 70 Weeks, agreed by all Chriſtians, after which, the 1335 muſt needs be, and they muſt be the laſt of the 2300. So there is onelyonly ſpace for 400 neceſſary, which during the Seals opening until the Trumpets ſounding, viz. from three years and a half, or the laſt half week, ſo long after the Reſurrection, to the Vulgar Year of our Lord, 437. when the Weſtern Empire under Valentinian, the Son of Placidia, began to be violently ſhaken by the Wind of the Trumpets, and its Flouriſh blaſted by the Fire and Hail of the firſt Trumpet mingled with Blood, by the agreement of all Hiſtory, was four hundred years. By all which Account, we muſt needs be in or about the Twelve hundred and fiftieth year of thoſe dark Twelve hundred and ſixty, and no more of them then about Ten remain, when Chriſtianity ſhall grow much brighter and clearer, till the full cleanſing of the Sanctuary, or the New Jeruſalem, at 1772.

Let us now then proceed to the Apocalyptical Account of this Line, and the firſt Note of the Time is the Forty two Months, and that is firſt given, that it might exactly touch the taking away the Daily.

For whereas the Prieſts of Jeſus Chriſt, even all his pure Worſhippers, were to come into the Outward Court, the Type of Publick Evangelical Worſhip, or Spiritual Sacrifice, and to fill it, and his Kings, under his Univerſal Kingdom or Monarchy were to Reign; They were all ſeal'd up into a Beginning Retirement immediately after the Chriſtian Empire of Conſtantine, and the deſolation of Heatheniſm by him; in ſignification, that that perfectly cleans'd Sanctuary, nor that Kingdom ſhould not yet appear in Glory, but at p. 17the firſt Trumpet, the Paganiz'd Antichriſtians crowded in under the very Title of Chriſts Prieſts, or Servants, and ſo took away the Daily, and prepar'd the way to the Beaſts ſurpriſal of the Kingdom, upon which the Witneſſes put on Sack-cloth, and the Woman, or Church, fled into the wilderneſs; ſo that the Forty two months, and the twelve hundred ſixty dayes began together, at the daily taking away, as that Divine Perſon, Jeſus Chriſt, the man in linnen, had declared to the Prophet Daniel, Dan. 12. and Apoc. 11. 2, 3.

And whereas there is in Daniel no mention of the Forty two months of the Gentiles, nor of the Beaſts forty two months, which we ſhall be to conſider in this Line alſo, it is with admirable contrivance of the Divine Prophetick Spirit; For in as much as the Time, Times, Semi-Time, are ſo appropriated to the Beaſt, as that they are never alienated from his Action, and the Servants of God ſuffering under him, and are as deſcriptive of him as the very Name, Beaſt; for Times in ſome caſes are as deſcriptive of Perſons and Things as Names; as we all know, what is meant by our laſt 41, or 71, apply'd either to Perſons or Things; Further, in that Seaſon, Seaſons, Half-Seaſon, are abſolutely proper to the Beaſt; and that yet they reſpect principally the intimate part Time, of which hath been ſpoken; therefore Time, Times, Half Time, could not be attributed to the Gentiles, or the other Beaſt, Rev. 13. For that had been an Entrenchment upon the Grand Beaſt.

And yet becauſe the Beaſts time of duration, much more of his Regnancy, was not ſo early as the Twelve hundred ſixty dayes, begun in the Sufferings of the Servants of God, and that the Daily Service is no where ſaid to be taken away by him, but rather from him, or before him, and as in preparation to Dan. 8. 11. Marg.Dan 8:11his riſing; there is of neceſſity ſome additional Character of Time to coextend the Time, Times, Semi Time, as at large, and equal to the 1260 dayes; when the Line comes into ſo diſtinct a Fixation; and none ſo fit, as taken out of the 2300 Even. and ſo declaring their Linage, as theſe Forty two months of the Gentiles under the Influence of him whom p. 18the Scripture calls the other Beaſt, both of the Eaſtern and Weſtern Empire, of which two Horns, for the ſake of that ſo notorious Dicholomy or Diviſion of the Roman Empire into thoſe two parts, and of a Lamb, for the pretenſions they made to Chriſt, are the Embleme; of which Beaſt more is after to be ſpoken; and whereof the Beaſt himſelf was no ſmall part before, from the firſt till his Regnancy.Ap…. 13. 10.

Now theſe Gentiles, and this other Beast, which were to be Subjects of the Grand Beaſt, have theſe Forty two months aſſign'd to them to prepare for this Grand Beast, till his Riſing, to cauſe an Image to be made to him, and to give Life to the Image, that ſo the Beaſt, that had been wounded in its ſixth head might recover, and live in its ſeventh head, although it did not appear in his Infancy, nor till He came to his Number, or manly Age, viz. at 666. when He took upon him, as Prince, and Lord of the intimate part of Time, which is moſt preciſely foreign, Seaſon, Seaſons, Half Seaſon. All which is a full Anſwer to any Objection that the Univerſal Monarchy of the Beaſt cannot be trac'd ſo early as the Prophecy ſuppoſes.

Thus therefore the Gentiles tread the Court, and Holy City, the firſt Forty two months, that is, ſo long of them, as till the Beaſts Exiſtence eſpecially, and indeed till his Time of Regnancy, and that as Principals in the Apoſtacy; After that their Forty two months are merg'd in the Beaſts forty two months, although for the Decorum, or Grace of the Type, they are given intire Forty two months.

And becauſe the Beaſts intimate Time or Seaſon will be ſpent and exhauſted, and the Gentiles forty two months alſo expired before the 1260 dayes be expir'd; He, the Beaſt, hath therefore full Forty two months power of duration, Revel. 13. 5. into which, as was ſaid, the Gentiles forty two months fall, and ſubſide at the Beaſts Regnant Time. And by theſe is the Time at large furniſhed out for his Action, to keep the Witneſſes in Sack-cloth, and the Woman in the Wilderneſs, and alſo to continue the Gentiles treading the Holy p. 19Court, and that the Daily Service may remain Taken away, and to do many great Acts of Cruelty upon the Servants of God, even after his intimate Time, and poſſibly to give in little, and as in Epitome, a Recollection of the 1260 years, in the laſt three years and half, or ſome ſuch proportion of Time when the Time of the Witneſſes Teſtimony is ſo near finiſhed, and all this by vertue of his large permiſſory Commiſſion, given to him by God, above that given to his Gentiles; though He cannot expand, or ſpread, nor culminate, or riſe any more to the height of his intimate Time, when it is once paſt.

And if there be ſuch a Prince, whom the Scripture calls a Beaſt, that is, a Paganiz'd Idolatrous Monarch; the Gentiles muſt needs be his People, and in his Service, elſe he muſt be a Prince without a People; ſo that though the Gentiles forty two months are neceſſary before the Beaſts forty two months, yet they are not neceſſary to be a diſtinct time after; for the Beaſts Power neceſſarily ſuppoſes them; they ſerve therefore not only the Grace of the Type, as was ſaid, but the Secreſie of the Propheſie; both which require, theſe numbers ſhould be given entire, and parallel, even as Adams years of Life ran along to his Death with the common Line of Time to the Flood, though it was neceſſary only until the Time of his Begetting, and after that the Line was ſet upon a ſucceeding Patriarke, and ſo in the whole Roll, every ones Life, though it did not ſupport the Line, yet corroborated it after the Paidogony or Begetting, and ſo concurred with it to the laſt, even thus the Gentiles Fourty two months ſupport the Beſtial Line, till the Beaſts riſing, and concurr in it with the Beaſt, while they laſt, and when they are ended, there is no alteration, becauſe the Beſtian Times include to the very laſt of them the groſs Gentiliſme of them that dwell on the Earth; and the falſe Prophetiſme, into which the other Beaſt ſunk down, as into a proper Character after the Beaſts 666, as Apoc. 19. v. 20. He is called, and c. 20. v. 10.

But further than this, the Beaſts forty two months have a certain Epoch, viz. at the Year of our Lord 475, in the ceſſation p. 20of the Chriſtian Empire in Auguſtulus. Compare 2 Theſſ. 2. with Revel. 17. 10, 11. For the Chriſtian Emperours being the ſixth King, but none of the ſeven Heads, was the foreign, or he that letted or with-held, as the Empire was the foreign, or the thing that letted or with-held, that the eighth King, that was yet of the ſeven Heads, could not ſucceed: for an after King cannot ſucceed till the former is gone off the Stage, eſpecially where God holds the Line of Succeſſion firm: ſo that by adjuſting the forty two Months of the Beast, as lunar Time to the 1260 Days of ſolar Time, we find thirty eight Years difference; and ſeeing All the whole Line muſt end with the 1260, the Time of the Beasts forty two Months beginning exactly agrees with 475, thirty eight Years after the 1260 Years of the Witneſſes Sackcloath, at 437, and All end at 1697.

And becauſe we have ſpoke much of the Intimate Time of the Beast, or of his Seaſon, Seaſons, Half-ſeaſon, within time, times, half a time, we have the Pillar of that Time erected, Revel. 13. 17, 18. when his first Seaſon was well, or about eighteen Years enter'd, viz. at 666, when his Name or Nature was come to his Number, and when he was come to his Age of 666 from his Conception, which by ſearching the Root, and as the Ʋnderſtanding and Reaſon of a Man ſearches Number, we find to be Twenty Five by the conſent of all Arithmetick, as the Time of his Conception, when the Myſtery of Iniquity, like a Womb, was at work for him, who, as a man of thoſe Characters, 2 Theſſ. 2. was indeed foreign, or a Beaſt; and from Twenty Five, after the Reſurrection or Apocalyptical Epoch, the firſt viſible Variation from the Apoſtolical Twelve, both in Time and Nature, when it became the Baſe of another Doctrine, Kingdom, the Root of another Name, the Apoſtacy conceiv'd, and wrought within the Mystery of Iniquity, not openly, but ſecretly, and as in the lower parts of the Abyſs, out of which the Beaſt comes, as a Womb at 725, when the War concerning Images began, and continued till all that refus'd that Worſhip were anathematiz'd by the ſecond Council of Nice; I ſay, to that 725, when p. 21Leo Conon, the Grecian Emperour, was ſtruck by the Thunderbolt of Excommunication, interceeded juſt 666 Years from twenty five Years after the Reſurrection: and if by the three days and a half by themſelves, as alſo by many other Circumſtances leading us to the three days of our Lord's Death, we ballance Time, we ſhall find the Proportions; for, as Chriſt died in the laſt fourth part of the first day, and roſe in the firſt fourth of the third day; ſo was the Condition of the Witneſſes. Begin their 1260 days at 437, and at 707 began the laſt fourth part of the firſt Day or Time; viz. the laſt 90 of the firſt 360, as Chriſt's Death began at the ſixth Hour, or at twelve, the laſt fourth part of the Nycthemer, and was perfected by the end of it to his Burial; ſo the Witneſſes from 707 to 797, the end of the firſt day, lay dead in the Street of the great City. But it did not become the Type they ſhould be buried: and ſo to 1517; then their firſt motion to a Reſurrection began, and their compleat Reſurrection at 1697, even to admiration anſwering the laſt half day.

And laſtly, becauſe Imperial Revolutions, as being under the eye of all Hiſtory, moſt livelily repreſented by their Emblems, and fixed upon their juſt Reſts of Time, muſt needs ſtrengthen Prophecy concerning the Church of God, when one joyn Hand in Hand with the other; there is therefore the Fall of the Western Empire given by the Divine Apocalyptical Prophecy to the Fall of the Eastern Empire, or the taking of Constantinople, by ſuch wonderful Types and Figures of the gradual Impreſſions on the Weſtern Empire, (Apoc. 8. v. 7. to the end) by ſuch Images of the Mahometan Saracens, as Locuſts, c. 9. to v. 13. and of the Turkiſh Horſemen, to the end of the Chap. and with ſuch a Relation to the Antichriſtian Idolatries, and their Impenitency therein; adorn'd with ſuch Notes of Time, as the five months, and five months, to the Locusts, and the hour, the day, the month, and the year, to the Horſe-men call'd for by the Voice, from the Golden Altar of Incenſe within the meaſur'd Temple, when the Daily of publick Worſhip was taken away, as p. 22makes the Line out of meaſure excellent, and adorable, as given by the Holy Spirit; to the killing the third part of men, or taking Conſtantinople, 1453.

Behold then, as at a Review, the admirable Structure of it, and the great Inſtructions ariſing from its order of Repetitions upon theſe ſhort Particulars.

1. The intimate Time of this Line is eſpecially moſt ſolemnly appointed and deſign'd, and the whole, as united with it; for it is made, and conſtituted not without an Oath, Dan. 12. 7. to be Time, Times, half a Time, and therein Seaſon, Seaſons, half a Seaſon: and it is cut off, not without an Oath, at the end of intimate Time, though the whole of the Time, Times, half time, be firſt ſuppoſed to run out at large, and the whole both of Time at large and intimate Time alſo cut off for ever at that end. Apoc. 10. 6.

2. The whole of this Line, and of the laſt ſeventy five Years, is meaſured by even Indictions, or Fifteens of Years; the uſe of which Riſing in the Reign of Conſtantine became well known by the beginning of this Line, which is one great Confirmation, that we are upon the true Time of it; for to declare this, as it were with Induſtry, there are even thirty joyn'd to the 1260, and more openly Three Fifteens, or Forty Five to the 1290, that we may thereby be engag'd to look back upon the whole Line, and find it throughout ſo compacted, as may be eaſily computed, and hath been before obſerv'd on Daniel's Viſion.

3. Each Community hath its juſt ſhare in the intimate and full extended Time of this Line, and each twice given: The Beaſt hath firſt his intimate Time, twice given in Daniel; and by two forty two months, given firſt to his Gentiles, till his own riſing, and then forty two Months to himſelf; he hath the utmoſt extent of Time, Times, half time, as before declared; and drawn out of the 2300 Evenings: In juſt correſpondence with which, the Servants of God, as collected and congregated in the Woman, the Church, that they might not be accuſed as having Relation to no Church; and ſingle in the Witneſſes, and the Seed, who have the Witneſs, that p. 23Apo. 12. 17.the Church might not ſeem a Notion onelyonly, have each one and the ſame 1260 da. drawn out of the 2300 mornings aſſign'd to them; and the Witneſſes three dayes and a half, and the Woman three times and a half, or ſeaſon, or intimate Time, anſwering the Beaſts intimate Time, who muſt have the Servants of God as a ſubject to work upon while his Tyranny laſts.

Now that the Time at large, or the Twice 1260 Days, muſt needs be the ſame, and differ only in notion, as the Church, and the Witneſſes, or the Seed that have the Witneſs of Jeſus do, is moſt evident; becauſe lying within the ſame Continent of Time, Times, Semi Time, and being both of the longeſt reach, and exactly of the ſame ſize, it is not poſſible they ſhould begin or end ſooner one than another, as we have found it poſſible the Gentiles and the Beaſts months may do; For neither are they ſo united as the Woman and the Witneſſes; And their months, though of the ſame ſize one with another, are yet not of an equal extent to time, times, half time, at their full length; nor to the 1260 dayes, the juſt meaſure of the three times and half; although both the Forty two months uniting, as we have ſaid, are neither longer nor ſhorter than the 1260 dayes, nor than the Three Times and half, the common Womb of all.

And even ſo the three Times and half of the Woman, and the three dayes and half of the Witneſſes muſt be the ſame alſo, ſeeing the Witneſſes and the Woman are the ſame, and the 1260 dayes the ſame, and no difference, but only notional, as was explain'd. For if they were different, the Woman ſhould have no parallel to the three dayes and half of the Witneſſes, nor the Witneſſes have any parallel with the three times and half of the Witneſſes, which, as moſt unbecoming ſo Uniform a Type, are impoſſible alſo in ſuch a ſameneſs.

Thus the Marches, or Out-lying Borders, as well as the Intimate Time are full, on the ſide of both Communities, the Beaſts Tyranny, and the Sufferings of the Servants of God.

p. 24The laſt Seventy five years, by the Voices, Revel. 14. and by the Vials, Rev. 16. move on to the two utmoſt Pillars of Time. It is done, It is done, Rev. 16. 17. Rev. 21. 6.

Object. In the former or after Parts of this Diſcourſe, I offer, as I hope, moſt Convictive Proofs of all theſe things in particular, and anſwer all Objections; I ſhall only at this time remove this one, viz. There ſeems no more reaſon to underſtand the forty two Months, as Lunar Months, than the days of Years, as Lunar Years.

Anſw. There is very great difference, for if we look throughout the Scripture, and the whole manner of Jewiſh Computation of Time, we ſhall find, They always underſtood Months, Lunar Months; and the very Solemnity of their New Moons abſolutely requir'd it, ſo that to underſtand them otherwiſe, muſt needs be to underſtand againſt that conſtant uſe of Scripture, and the Importance of the Name of their Months Scripture uſes.

But now their Years were ſo neceſſarily Solar Years, for there can indeed be no Year but ſtrictly Solar, that they moſt induſtriouſly provided to Adequate their Lunar Time to their Solar; by Intercalations, and Inſerted Months, or a double Adar, which was their laſt Month of the Year; we every Leap-Year by a double Twenty Eighth of February; As may be ſeen by the Learned, in that Excellent Tract of Maimonides of Intercalations; which gives great light to this whole Matter: As ſhall be farther taken notice of in the after Management of this Diſcourſe.

Having given this general View of this Grand Prophetical Line of Time, which appears to be of ſovereign Uſe to the Church of God, by the ſo often Repetition of it; I think it neceſſary to make theſe Practical Remarks upon it, for the univerſal profit of all that read it.

It ought to adminiſter no Scandal to us, that Chriſtianity Remark 1 hath yet had no greater Effect in the Univerſe upon Jews, Mahometans, Pagans; That it hath not won upon the world to an univerſal Converſion to it; That it hath not prevail'd upon Chriſtians themſelves, to higher degrees of Religious and p. 25Holy Affections and Actions; That it hath not reconcil'd Men more to one another, and made the Wolf and the Lamb to lye down together; That it hath not fill'd the Earth with the knowledge of God, as the Waters cover the Sea; That it hath not deriv'd down a more univerſal ſtate of outward Bleſſing, Proſperity, Peace and Happineſs; For theſe are the great Promiſes, and Pretentions of the Kingdom, Chriſt deſign'd to erect in the World; now an Enemy hath done all this; in the Wiſdom of God and Chriſt, the old Dragon, the Serpent, Satan hath inhabited, and acted a Beſtian Empire, firſt as Pagan, and in the very appearance of a Dragon, watching to devour the manly Birth of Chriſtianity; and ſince That Empire became Chriſtian; in a Beſtian Kingdom of Apoſtaſie; and this hath ſurpris'd and cut off the bleſſed Emanations of Chriſtianity and the Goſpel, and made the Chriſtian World, except in ſome ſmall choſen Parts of it, like the Wilderneſs, like Heathen, Pagan Nations and Kingdoms, full of Scandals, to the great hinderance of the other parts of the World from ſubmiſſion to the Scepter of Chriſt, or taking upon them his Name and Profeſſion, and made ineffectual this Profeſſion to the very Profeſſors of it.

And this hath been, lo theſe twelve hundred and fifty years, wait only, till the ten are run out alſo, and you ſhall ſee a greater change in the World, than ever yet it hath known; Chriſtianity ſhall then prevail more in a little time, than it hath done ever yet; The Light of one day ſhall be as the Light of ſeven, till it grows brighter and brighter, to the perfect Day of Chriſts Kingdom; the firſt Converſions to Chriſtianity, though ſo great, as to be a very ſtrong Argument of its Truth, were ſmall, in compariſon of what this ſhall be; for the Miſtery of Iniquity began early to work; Epheſus, the Type of the Apoſtolical Church left its firſt love, as ſoon as the Apoſtles went off the World; and notwithſtanding all the ſufferings of the Primitive Chriſtians, under the Type of Smyrna, yet a Synagogue of Satan, an authoritative Eccleſiaſtick Apoſtaſie then overſhaded it, till in the times figur'd p. 26by Pergamus, all was cover'd with the Throne of Sathan, a Supremacy of Apoſtacy; and ſo things went on, and they are not yet recover'd in the Beſt Chriſtian Churches; but they ſhall be after the ſpace of ten prophetical Days, that is, years; to that degree, that the Kingdoms of this World ſhall be proclaim'd to be the Kingdoms of the Lord, and of his Chriſt, and ſo things ſhall go on amain to the Reſtitution of all things, as God hath ſpoken by his Prophets, ſince the World began, the Lord will haſten all this in his own time; and if it be wonderful in our Eyes, ſhould it be therefore wonderful in Gods?

The Witneſſes ſhall then put off their Sack-cloth, the everlaſting Goſpel ſhall be preached to every People and Language; the Monarchy of Chriſt Jeſus ſhall be an Ʋniverſal Monarchy, and the Tenfold Principality, the ten Kings ſhall fall perfectly off from the Beaſt, and the City, that is born up on high by it, that hath ſo long reign'd over the Nations and Kings of the Earth, ſhall fall.

Stay then you Atheists, and Deſpiſers of all Religion, and aſſwage the high Atheistical Humour, ſee whether God hath not call'd the end, and declar'd it from the beginning, and declar'd all along the great things to come, that you and all may know that he is God, have ſo much Patience, as to ſee what theſe ten years will produce at their end; but if you will not be perſwaded, take your fill of Atheiſm, and your farewel alſo; for the very Air you breath in, will be too bright, and hot for Atheiſm to live any longer in.

Let us, conſidering at what Door this fatal Apoſtaſie Remark 2 enter'd, even at a departure from the Apostolical twelve, and ſo grew up to its number 666; let us, I ſay, fear the leaſt remove in Doctrine, Worſhip, and Practice from the foundation of the Prophets, and Apostles, or from Chriſt, the chief corner ſtone.

We need not ſo much mind combating Parties in Religion, by names hateful or reproachful to them; much leſs thoſe little ſnatches at them by trifling Reflections upon them; let us center our ſelves upon Truth it ſelf, in the p. 27word of God, and grow in Grace and in the Knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jeſus Chriſt; and that will ſecure us from this Error of the Wicked, and from falling from our own ſtedfastneſs; this will cut off Offence from all but thoſe, who are reſolved to take Offence; this will preſerve us in due regard to Authority, if we diſſent from it, in matters of Religion; and yet we ſhall preſerve our Religion, while we keep cloſe to thoſe Images of things, Scripture hath given us, and obſerve thoſe notes of Time it hath fitted to them, and ſuffer Hiſtory, which is every mans Priviledge to read, to hear, or to know, even by the Law of Nature, to declare what fell out; and this we cannot be deny'd, ſince God hath furniſhed us in all things, and commands us to ſearch his word, and to hear and read the Words of his Propheſie, and count the numbers he hath given, with Wiſdom and Ʋnderstanding; and his Miniſters are to expound to us, and then we are to ſearch and try whether thoſe things are ſo or not; and in all things receiv'd from the word of God we know, and all know, it is more reaſonable to obey God than Men.

Theſe are two things, in which the Happineſs and Welfare of Man conſiſts, for this World, and for that to come; both which he hath made, as certain and evident to us, as the Light.

One, and the Firſt, and Principal, is true Religion, fix'd in his Word, with the preſent Conſent of Natural Conſcience, and the Awes of that, even whether we will or no. If we would but reſt in the clear, plain, and undoubted Truths of it, and not be haſty of removing from them, till we have full Evidence from them to conduct us farther into Divine Knowledge, without ſuffering our own Fancy to miſlead us, or our Credulity and ſudden Belief of others, to hurry us according to their Impoſitions.

The Second is Loyalty, or Subjection to the Sovereign Power ſet over us by God, and what that is, we may eaſily know; For the Sword of Juſtice is Supremely in the Hands of it, and the Government of that World in which we live, p. 28that the Diſorders of Mankind may not ſwallow up it ſelf, depends upon it; It carries before it a Terrour to evil works, and a praiſe to them that do well; Upon which account we muſt be ſubject, not only for wrath, but for Conſcience ſake. And when this is in the Hand of a Prince, whoſe Anceſtors have been Princes throughout many Ages, when the Succeſſion is Clear and Lineal; we can have no greater Aſſurance, The Power that is, is ordain'd of God; And ſuch, bleſſed be God, is the Caſe of our Nation, that we can have no poſſible Scruple.

Now our Subjection is clear, what it ought to be, even in all things, but our Religion, whether Reveal'd or Natural, for that is Gods; and to be rendered to him onelyonly; All things elſe are Caeſar's. A Chriſtian, as a Chriſtian, can have no Scruple or Doubt in any thing elſe, whatever it be; This he can by no means ſubmit; It is to impeach Sovereignty in its higheſt Orb, even as it is to obey a Subordinate Magiſtrate, ſent by the King, againſt the King and his Supremacy. But in all things elſe, he needs as a Chriſtian ask no Queſtion for Conſcience ſake. What men may, as men, as the Subjects of ſuch Laws, ſuch Eſtabliſhments, as every Nation hath peculiar to it ſelf, inſiſt upon, I leave to thoſe Laws. I know as Chriſtians, the rendering our Lives, our Eſtates, if call'd for by God, and the Edicts of Princes, cannot hurt our Conſciences, but rendering our Religion to any but God and his Word, will.

So theſe two things, Religion and Loyalty, can never claſh, can never interfere; for to deny the ſurrender of our Religion, can never hurt our Loyalty; for to be Religious according to the Word of God onelyonly, and Natural Conſcience guided by that, is the higheſt Loyalty: This is all the Loyalty Man can require; to render All things elſe without Reſiſtance, and to Love, Honour, Pray for the Prince that requires all; our Loſs God will recompence in the Reſurrection of the Juſt. So a Chriſtian hath no need to be Diſloyal, if he underſtand his Religion aright: It is not our Loyalty to p. 29our Prince, to be of our Prince's Religion, though it be right, it is our Loyalty to God in the firſt place; ſo it is not Diſloyalty not to be of the Princes Religion, if it be not according to the Word of God, when we render All but our Religion, He can require; And this we need not fear to do, becauſe we cannot loſe by it, our Reward will be great from our Father, who is in Heaven; and as Chriſtians we ſhould be aſham'd to deny it; but in Religion, even to the leaſt Ceremony of it, except determined by natural decency or order, we have but one Father and Maſter, God and Christ, and here he hath neither Vicar, nor Vice-gerent, but his Spirit in his Word.

We ſhould be content in this time of the Apostaſie, with a Remark 3 mean Condition upon the account of Religion, not to ſeek Grandeur and Honour upon that Title; If God caſts it on us, we ſhould improve it to his Glory and the ſupport of the Service, and Servants of Chriſt, it is the Beaſt and his Adherents, that carry the Pomp and Greatneſs of this World in a Religious Equipage; it is even a ſuſpition upon what is high, and ſtately, and in Opulency by Chriſtianity; for Chriſts Witneſſes are in Sack-cloch, it is the Time of the Delay of his Kingdom, and all his Servants are with him in the Patience of it; they ought not to raviſh Glory, and ſurpriſe Dignity before the time, but to ſtay for it, till the appearance of Jeſus Christ, the 1260 Days of Mourning, and of the Church in the Wilderneſs are not yet run out, the Beaſt is yet in Power; the Tenthlineſs of the City is not yet fallen, the Kingdom of Chriſt is not yet proclaimed.

It is no wonder, there is yet ſo great a Rent and Diviſion Remark 4 in Chriſtian Religion, that any thing unreaſonable, or a frame of things moſt contrary to it, bears up againſt all the urgencies of Scripture and Reaſon, and will not be bafled nor aſhamed; but vouches high, and pretends aloft; ſo it ſhould be, that Propheſie may be fulfilled, The Beast and his Adherents are obſtinate to the laſt, even when the Elevation of things againſt them ſhall be much higher then now, when p. 30Evidences from Heaven ſhall be much more ſenſible, they blaſpheme and repent not. Chriſtianity from ſo long an Antiquity, and the profeſſion of it ſhields and defends their Pretenſions, and carries a ſhade over them, even wherein they depart from it, and moſt Apoſtatize, this keeps up the Controverſie, and perpetuates the Diſpute.

But within a Time, a ſhort Time it will be decided; it will come to that publick Declaration of the Witneſſes Aſcention, of their Song before the Throne, the poſitive Denunciation, If any man worſhip the Beast, and his Image, He ſhall drink of the wrath of God, and &c, will put an end to all Diſpute, Revel. 14. 9.

In the mean time, let not any pretence ſtagger us, The man of ſin ought to ſit in the Temple of God; his ſeat then muſt be founded in a profeſſion of the true Religion; his Antiquity ſignifies nothing; for he ought to be a Beast of forty two months of years, or above twelve hundred years standing. His Pretences from any thing ſaid or done before that 1260, how early ſoever, if it be not found evident in Scripture, is of no avail; for the Myſtery of Iniquity, the Womb out of which He came, was at work, and in a Myſtery ſo ſecret, ſo cunning, as not to be diſcern'd by many good men; and all to bring him to what he was, and is; the Spirit of Antichriſt was then in the World.

It is no wonder Princes continue ſo devoted to him, and his City, he calls a Church; the words of God are not yet fulfilled concerning him, but they ſhall conſider, and change their Minds when God puts it into their Hearts; and therefore we ought earneſtly to pray for them, whatever their Perſwaſions are now; that God would continue their Lives, for they ſhall then be Inſtruments in his hand; that change ſo near approaching ſhall be moſt orderly, moſt regularly by Princes themſelves induced by Evidences from Heaven, of an extraordinary nature; God will not be help'd herein, but by his own Vicegerents, whom he hath appointed, whom he hath ordain'd; no Sedition, Rebellion, may grow from hence; It is p. 31to be quieted, appeas'd, and even rooted up by this Doctrine, even as it is utterly condem'd by it, for God will appear, and Princes with him.

But yet on this, nor on any other Account, can there be a Reconciliation, a Compoſition with this falſe ſtate of Chriſtianity: there may be ſuch Attempts, for there will be a Synagogue of Satan riſing a-new at the very approach of Chriſt's Kingdom, before the end yet of the 1260 Days: It appears as if there would be ſo; for Philadelphia, the beſt State of the Chriſtian Church before the New Jeruſalem, and with which it united, ſhall receive Acknowledgment from ſuch a Synagogue, that Chriſt hath lov'd it. Revel. 3. 9.

But this Repreſentation of Beſtianiſm, obſtinate, impenitent to the Laſt in the Body of it, as it is the deciſive Argument, and beyond all Volumes of Diſpute, becauſe it is divine, perpendicular, down-right, ſwift, and ſudden in its Determination; ſo it ſhews the impoſſibility of meeting halfway, accepting Terms to any good Effect.

We know not what may be between this preſent Time, though but a Remnant, and the end of the 1260 Days. There may be an Eye of the Witneſſes kill'd, and lying dead, three days and a half, a return of former Darkneſs in ſome parts at leaſt: I apprehend it not in this Nation; yet God only knoweth; it is not ſo far reveal'd, ſo far as I have found; but I hope not: There may be a Synagogue of Satan; a Project of Compounding; this I more fear: but let us obtain and maintain a full Victory over the Image, the Mark, the Name, and the Number of the Name. But it is certain, it is but ten prophetical Days, and the Witneſſes ſhall not only every where riſe, but every where come out of their Sackcloath, out of which, the true Witneſſes of God are no where yet come: Then they ſhall, for the mouth of the Lord hath ſpoken it.

So many certain Notes, Characters, and Boundaries of Time as I have drawn together in the compute of this Line of Time with it ſelf, and that are given as Aſſiſtants to it, p. 32though not immediately of the Eſſence and Body of it; can be no more by chance than many Pictures exactly reſembling ſeveral Perſons pertaining to a Family, and found in the Manſion of ſuch a Family, and at ſuch Times when ſuch Perſons were known to be ſo appertaining to it, can be by chance: Forc'd they are not; for things themſelves conſpire: Fancyful and Arbitrary they are not; for they cannot be chang'd, or remov'd at Pleaſure, nor any like them made.

If then they are truly Scriptural and Divine, How certainly ſhall they be fulfilled in their Seaſon? All counter-Appearances can ſignifie no more, than the Iſraelites ſeverer Uſage by Pharaoh argued againſt their Deliverance by Moſes. All the Diſaffection in the Age to Interpretation of Prophecies, or its inſenſibleneſs of them, can no more diſprove them than Chriſt's coming as a Thief upon Sardis at an Hour it knew not, ſhall be diſprov'd by the Sleepineſs and Unwatchfulneſs of that Church.

Let us then with Reſolution, Conſtancy of Obedience, Strength of Faith, Labour of Love, Patience of Hope, wait for, and come to the end of theſe ten days, and from them to the 1335 Days, where Bleſſedneſs ſhall certainly be.

But if we ſhould ſay, We may dye before thoſe Ten Years are come to their Period, and there is no Probability or Poſſibility we ſhould live to the ſeventy five beyond, or the 1335 of Bleſſedneſs:

I anſwer; The Saints of God living on Earth ſhall receive their ſhare in all the Glories of his Kingdom, and the ſeveral degrees of it: and they that dye, hoping, waiting, deſiring, praying, ſhall be rais'd in the very ſame poſture of Soul wherein they died: ſo that they, who by a general Faith and Obedience waited, and came in Daniel's Time, and ever ſince, viz. by earneſt Prayers, Come Lord Jeſus, Come quickly, ſhall be bleſſed; even as they who by particular Faith and Obedience wait, and come at the Time it ſelf.

And in the mean time, the Souls of Saints above, the Spirits of just men, who ſhall be perfected at that time, celebrate p. 33in Heaven all the Advances of Chriſt's Kingdom, even as they pray for it: as the Souls under the Altar, cry, How long Lord, &c. ſo they rejoyce at every Riſing of Chriſt's Kingdom; ſo do the ſame Souls, Rev. 12. 10. So Rev. 14. 3. They, that ſing that new ſong, harping with their Harps. So They, Rev. 15. 3. So they, Rev. 19, &c. Such is the univerſal Song of Triumph of the Palm-bearing company, Revel. 7. 10. Let us not therefore deſpond, but be abundant in the work of the Lord, knowing our labour ſhall not be in vain in the Lord.

Why ſhould it be thought an incredible thing▪ that God Remark 6 ſhould draw in his Word the Plot of Future Time to ſo great a Period as the Kingdom of Chriſt? That all Futurity is within the Graſp of Infinite Omniſcience, cannot be doubted, Known to God are all his Works from the beginning to the end. The Scheme of all that hath been, before it was, or that ſhall be, is always with Him, as if it juſt now was, in all the circumſtances and Life of a preſent Appearance, in whoſe Eternity, All preſent, paſt, to come, are all one. The whole Table of Time is always before Him.

Does it then pertain to the Prerogative of Omniſcience, that Future Things ſhould be known only to himſelf? It does ſo indeed, any further than he is pleas'd to reveal them. But He that challenges the falſe Divinities of the Heathen, that they could not declare things to come, hath certainly given Iſa. 42. 23.Isa 42:23Inſtances of his own Preſcience, and Demonſtrations of it to his People. Hath he not done ſo in all Ages, by his Servants the Prophets? Is he not as Liberal to the Ages of Chriſtianity, to the ſtate of things under the Goſpel of his Son, whom he hath conſtituted Heir of all things, and put in ſubjection to him the World to come, of which we ſpeak.

Or, is the Glory of Divine Truth ſo great, that even as immediate Appearances, the Power of Miracles, and extraordinary Revelations have ceas'd ſince the full Settlement and Sealing the Volume of Truth in the Goſpel, ſo Prophecy needs not now. This indeed hath much of Reaſon, yet even p. 34as all Truth is compriz'd in that Volume, ſo are the Grand Revolutions pertaining to the Chriſtian Church, in the ſame Volume; and therefore whatever God hath done for the former World, the very ſame hath he ſumm'd up in the New Teſtament.

When therefore we have, beſides the Interſperſion of Prophecy in ſeveral places of it, a Book wholly Dedicated to Prophecy, Bleſſed is he that heareth and readeth the words of this Prophecy; Have we not reaſon then to expect the courſe of things to the very end in it?

But does not the Prophecy it ſelf ſay, The Things were ſhortly to come to paſs? So that what is to be found in it pertain'd to the primitive Age, the Deſtruction of Jeruſalem, to the Time when Chriſtianity was well ſettled, and till Pagan Rome became Chriſtian.

It is true indeed, The Divine Revelator, Jeſus Chriſt our Lord, does ſay, the things were ſhortly to come to paſs, that is, to begin to come to paſs. They were then upon motion; but as a great Army is ſaid to come immediately, when the Avant-Corriers are coming, or come, although the whole Body and Rear may be conſiderable diſtances off, ſo this whole Series, and Chain of Events in the Revelation come quickly, although the firſt and the laſt part differ ſo many Ages. Is it not clear and viſible, that there is the Beginning of Things, and the End of Things in every mans Apprehenſion plain and evident, that is, from the Reſurrection, and to the Day of Judgment? and why then ſhould we not believe, there is the Middle of Things alſo? Why ſhould we imagine, Prophecy hath made ſuch a Leap over the Between Lying Times, ſeeing they were very great? Did it not behove his Church and Servants to know of ſo great, and wide ſpreading an Impoſture as Mahometaniſme? Was it nothing to it, Chriſtianity ſhould be in ſo low and dark a ſtate, as it was from the loweſt Fall of the Weſtern Empire to the Ruine of the Eaſtern Empire, in both which the principal Reſidences of it were; and ſo long ſpace as from 666, to 1453.

p. 35But ſtill, it may be ſaid, If ſuch a Prophecy be, it does not become us to pry into it; it is the Ark of ſecret things, that do not belong to us. Why then does Chriſt ſay, Bleſſed is he that heareth the words of this Prophecy? Why doth he command him that hath Wiſdom and Ʋnderſtanding, to count the Number of the Beaſt? Why doth He, in explication of the Seven Heads ſay, Here is the Mind that hath Wiſdom? Why had Chriſt the Revelation to ſhew to his Servants?

But was it not all one, as if they had not been reveal'd, ſince the Revelation was not pretended to be underſtood in former Times? I anſwer, we do not know what was underſtood, the Apoſtacy ſo cover'd and muffled all Things, and does yet ſo darken them; The univerſal prejudice againſt the Explanation of this Prophecy is, I doubt not, the effects of this Apoſtaſie: But that there hath gone a ſtream of Light from hence to the Servants of Chriſt, by the Witneſſes in every Age, is to me out of all queſtion, and that it hath diſcover'd the Things moſt neceſſary to that Age, although the Light hath been not only clearer, but the knowledge that ſuch a Light hath been, more certain to us ſince the laſt Age and Half, and ſhall be every day clearer and clearer.

When therefore there are ſo many Types ſo very proportionable to Events, ſo agreeable to the Notes of Time, and even ſo ſcituated in the Courſe and Series of the Revelation, except that in ſome Chapters, as 11, 12, 13, 17, 21, there are on great occaſions Recollections, and yet even thoſe, in order to going on, as I have abandantly ſhewn; I cannot underſtand, why theſe things, and their Explications ſhould appear ſo ſtrange and unreaſonable to us.

But however, the Glory of God, and of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt ſhall be unſpeakably Great, when the whole Adminiſtration of his Kingdom delay'd ſhall be drawn out of what he had ſo curiouſly depainted in the Prophecy of the beloved Daniel, and the Apocalypſe of the beloved Apoſtle John, and with Admiration and Raviſhment His Servants ſhall behold the one in the other.

p. 36Let all this perſwade us, to have kinder, and more benign Inclinations to the Interpretation of this Prophecy; which, if we are the true Servants, and Lovers of Chriſts Kingdom, we have no reaſon to fear: only the Apoſtaſie, and Enemies of it, have reaſon to fear it. And they indeed have, and do ſtill operate againſt its Expoſition, as knowing it ſpeaks no good of them nor to them, and, which is wonderful, convey, inject, and inſinuate the ſame Diſguſt into the minds of many good men.

Seeing one great Reaſon of the unholineſs of Life among Remark 7 the generality of Chriſtians, is the Apoſtaſie, prevailing againſt the Power of Chriſtianity and Godlineſs, under the Form of it; in this we ought above all to overcome it. It is impoſſible ſo excellent a Doctrine, as of the Goſpel, ſhould be environed and cover'd with ſuch an outrage of Prophaneneſs and Wickedneſs, if the force of its Beams were not intercepted and eclipſed. In this therefore, I ſay, we ought moſt particularly to overcome, in all the luſtre of Chriſtian Graces, whereby we may ſhine as Lights in the midſt of a crooked and perverſe Generation. For to this Overcomming all the Promiſes are made. Rev. 21. 7.

If we do not overcome the Apoſtaſie in this, we do not overcome it at all; but ſink into it, while we never ſo much profeſs to abhorr it; but if we overcome it by ſincere Faith and Repentance, and Fruits meet for thoſe Graces, ſo that we thus waſh our Robes white in the Blood of the Lamb, we may, notwithſtanding darkneſs and miſtake in ſome things, have right to enter through the Gates into the City, to eat of the Tree of Life in the midst of the Paradice of God, to drink of the Water of Life that runs through the midst of it; but if we are in the foul Impurities of the Apoſtaſie, our dreadful doom is to be without the City, as Dogs, and to have our part in the Lake that burns with Fire and Brimſtone, where the Beast, and the falſe Prophet are, and the Devil, that deceived them, is at the end of all caſt for ever. Rev. 20. 10. ch. 21. 8.