A Complete History and Mystery of the Old and New Testament, Part 2 · Chapter 30

A Complete History and Mystery of the Old and New Testament · Part 2 · Chapter 30

p. 501A Scripture Account next of James, Peter, Jude and John, after the laſt account of Paul. CHAP. XXX. Firſt of James and then of the reſt.

THIS Chapter containeth the Lives of the other Apoſtles, ſo far as the light of the ſacred Scriptures doth lead us, waving all other narratives from more uncertain and fallible hands (the moſt of which may be marked for monkiſh evaporations, and the frothy exuberancy of wanton brains, &c.) And ſticking ſtill as cloſe as we can to the infallible guidance and conduct of the word of God wherein we have yet ſome farther account of four Apoſtles, namely, James, Peter, Jude, and John, in their Apoſtolical Books. N.B. The firſt is James, who wrote the Epistle of that name: Not he that was the Son of Zebedee, Matth. 10.2. who was ſlain not long after Chriſt's Aſcenſion by Herod in Jeruſalem, probably long before any of the Apoſtles began to write any of their Epiſtles, Acts 12.1, 2. But he who was the Son of Alpheus, Matth. 10.3. Call'd James the leſs, Mark 15.40. And the Lord's Brother, Gal. 1.19. (As being of Kin to his Family) and reckoned with Peter and John as a principal Pillar, Gal. 2.9. Who ſucceeded his martyred name-ſake (James the Son of Zebedee that Thundering Brother of John,) In his Apoſtleſhip at Jeruſalem. N.B. And ſat Preſident of the Council there, Acts 15. And concluded it there (not withſtanding the preſence of Peter) which had been no better than an uſurpation, had the ſupremacy been ſolely belonging to Peter as the Romaniſts affirm. N.B. This James was the Reſidentiary Apoſtle at Jeruſalem for many years, and wrote his Catholick Epiſtle but a little before his own Death, and when the Deſtruction of Jeruſalem and of the Jews drew nigh, as appeareth by thoſe two Expreſſions he uſeth in that Epiſtle, to wit, [the coming of the Lord draweth nigh, and behold the Judge standeth before the door,] James 5.8, 9. Wherein be intimateth, that the vengeance of God upon that City and People (for killing Chriſt, &c. Which is foretold by our Saviour at large, Matth. 24.) did now approach very near. N.B. As this Apoſtle, being the Miniſter of the circumciſion in Judea, could not but be moſtly look'd upon with a malicious eye, by the bloody perſecutors of the Goſpel there, ſo he could not but obſerve with his own eye, how thoſe preſaging ſigns (predicted by Chriſt, Matth. 24.) grew on apace: He lived to ſee falſe Prophets ariſing, iniquity abounding, love waxing cold, a betraying and undoing one another, &c. All fore-runners and forewarders of that approaching Deſtruction, from whence he could not but certainly conclude that the Judge was at the door, and that particular Judgment day, wherein Chriſt would render vengeance on, and avenge the quarrel of Innocent ſufferers, upon Tyrannical perſecutors. The whole Jewiſh Nation being now got to the very height of Rage againſt the Goſpel and the Believers of it to the very depths of ſuffering for it, therefore doth he properly direct his Epiſtle to all the twelve Tribes ſcattered abroad (as the Lord had threatned them, Deu. 28. verſe 64.) Wherein he comforts the perſecuted, Chap. 1, &c. But denounceth a direfull doom againſt the perſecutors, Chap. 4. and 5. His inſiſting upon that point of profeſſors animating their faith by their works, makes it more than probable that this Epiſtle was wrote after theſe Epiſtles of Paul were written, wherein the Doctrine of free grace is ſo ſtrenuouſly aſſerted; James obſerving how that wholeſome and comfortable Doctrine concerning free Juſtification, by faith without works was at that time perverted, by a licentious and ſenſual ſort of Profeſſors (rather Libertines than Chriſtians) makes his remedy ſuitable to their malady. And chiefly endeavours to reform manners correcting the extravagancy of thoſe looſe coats. Thus they that would make ſtraight a crooked ſtick do bend it the contrary way to its own crookedneſs; And thus (as Auguſtin ſays) this Apoſtle did, ſeeing ſome turning the grace God (which Paul had preached) into wantonneſs: He preſſes the point of works thus far as to juſtify their faith by their works or their faith could never juſtify their perſons, and that their Religion was vain, if their practice contradicted their profeſſion. N.B. Paul wrote p. 502to a people many times of a Phariſaical temper, who, of themſelves lay too much ſtreſs upon good works, and therefore might he (in the wiſdom of God given him) look upon it as ſuperfluous to preſs Phariſees to a neceſſity of good works: but James wrote to ſuch as were looſe profeſſors (who relyed too much upon a bare Hiſtorical faith which is found in Devils. James 2.19.) And who neglected the fruits of a ſaving lively faith to bring them forth, but turned the Doctrine of Grace into an occaſion of Licentiouſneſs. Therefore doth he ſo ſharply tax that notorious abuſe, and inſiſts more fully on matters of practice; the Doctrine of Faith having been ſo largely inlarged upon by other hands: N. B. Euſebius (out of Egeſippus) Relateth how this Apostle James ſuffered Martyrdom at Jeruſalem by the then outragious Jews, who threw him down from the top of his Pulpit (ſome ſay from the pinnacle of the Temple) and then knocked him on the head with a Fuller's Club (as Abet was by Cain's) in the ninth year of Nero. The deſtructive wars of the Jews happening in his twelfth, Joſeph. de boll. Lib. 2. Cap. 25. And his Antiqu. Lib. 20. Cap. 8.

The ſecond Apoſtle next to James in order of Time to be diſcourſed of, in this Supplement of the Lives of the Apoſtles, ſo far as Scripture-Light ſtill leads us, is Peter, who is likewiſe named after this James the leſs (laſt mentioned in this Relation) Gal. 2.9. which order of placing theſe two Apoſtles doth ſpoil the Papiſts Argument for Peter's Primacy. Concerning Peter the Scripture mentioneth little of his Motions and Actions after his Deliverance from Priſon by the Angel, who ſomewhere abſconded till the Angel had alſo deſtroyed Herod who had impriſoned him, Acts 12, &c. Then he appeaned at the Council held at Jeruſalem, Acts 15, &c. After that no more is mentioned of him in the Book of the Acts of the Apoſtles: Yet mention is made of his Motion from Jeruſalem to Antioch after this, Gal. 2.11, &c. where Paul withſtood him to the face, becauſe he was to be blamed, &c. N.B. That this happened after the Council at Jeruſalem, is apparent from the place and time of this Conteſt; for (1.) The Place was Antioch: And (2.) The Time was while Barnabas was with Paul; now Paul and Barnabas came from Jeruſalem to Antioch with the Decrees of that Council, and at Antioch Barnabas parted from Paul (as hath been related in Acts chap. 15.) after which parting we never read of their being together any more; while Paul and Barnabas were together at Antioch, Peter came thither; N.B. From whom Paul was ſo far off, like one taking Inſtructions from him, as from a Superiour, that he withſtood him to his face, which would have been unmannerly, had Peter been the ſupreme Apoſtle, and had Paul given no better place to his Preſident and his Better; as holy Bradford phraſeth it. Paul reproves Peter, and that publickly, for his diſſimulation, and halting betwixt two Opinions (as Elijah had reproved the Seed of Halting Jacob, Gen. 32.31. 1 Kings 18.21.) for before the Jews (who were Chriſtians, yet zealous for the Ceremonial Law, Acts 21.20.) came from James at Jeruſalem to Antioch, Peter had freely converſed with the Gentile-Chriſtians at Antioch, and had eaten of ſuch meats with them as were prohibited by the Law of Moſes; but after thoſe Zealots came, Peter withdrew from Communion of that Gentile-Church, out of fear of diſpleaſing thoſe zealous Jews by the lawful uſe of his Chriſtian Liberty, leſt they ſhould upon their return to Jeruſalem raiſe up the Rage of the Jews againſt him by their Reports. N.B. When Paul ſaw how Peter made not ſtraight paths to his feet, leſt that which was lame be turned out of the way (as Paul ſaith, Heb. 12.13.) not walking with a Right foot, Gal. 2.14. but giving a great ſcandal to the Gentiles, and no ſmall blow to Paul's Preaching (who had taught the Aboliſhment of Ceremonies, and freedom from the Moſaical Yoke) by his warping from that plainneſs and ſimplicity which the Goſpel required, Paul rebuked Peter before them all, &c.

The Remarks upon this Hiſtory are theſe; Firſt, That the Scriptures ought to be ſearched (according to Chriſt's command, John 5.39.) that the Sacred Stories concerning Chriſt's Apoſtles may be gathered up and Recorded together, ſo far as the moſt wiſe God was pleaſed to Reveal them. What is not Recorded in one place, may be found out in another, by comparing one place of Scripture with another, as the word [foreign] (Acts 9.22.) ſignifies, a Metaphor borrowed from Builders, who Erecting their Fabricks, do ſit one piece or part of their work to another, and then bring them and joyn them together, finding each part then perfectly agreeing with the other, &c. Thus Paul did prove there that Jeſus was the Chriſt, by quoting the Promiſes and Prophecies of the Old Teſtament, and comparing them with God's Performances in the New, &c. And thus muſt we ſupply out of the Epiſtles what Luke hath not related in his Acts of the Apoſtles.

p. 503The ſecond Remark is; That the ſins of Teachers, are the Teachers of ſins. Great mens faults go as ſeldom unaccompanied, as do their perſons. The dangerous conſequence of the miſcarriages of men eminent in the Church (as well as in the State) is evident here in Peter's Prevarication, which had many Aggravations, for not only thoſe Chriſtians who were Members of the Church at Antioch (being Native Jews) followed Peter's Pattern, but alſo Barnabas (Paul's Felow-labourer, and Joynt-Commiſſioner with him to bring the Decrees of the Apoſtolical Council about that very caſe of NonCompliance with Legal Ceremonies) joyned with Peter in the ſame Hypocriſie (as the Original word is) Gal. 2.13. What need then have we to prove all things? 1 Theſ. 5. v. 21. ſeeing good men, yea, great men may ſeduce us: And how cautelous ought thoſe that are good and great to walk uprightly, leſt by their warpings (which are of the worſt ſort) they become ſeducers of others.

The third Remark is; The plaiſter ought to be ſo broad as is the wound. Peter had prevaricated publickly before them all, and therefore is Paul's Reproof of Peter's Offence accordingly; according to what Paul taught Timothy, 1 Tim. 5.20. The ſalve muſt be as wide as the ſore. Peter here feared not Danger ſo much as Offence, and herein he had not done amiſs, but that in avoiding a leſſer ſcandal, he falleth into a far greater; and Peter's practice proved a compulſion to make others, yea eminent Profeſſors, to comply with it. The company we keep do in ſome kind compel us to do as they do; and becauſe what Peter did, was not done privately, ſo as to offend ſome private perſon only, but it was done openly, whereby the Church of Antioch was offended. N.B. Therefore Paul reproves him openly, tho' Baronius be as bitter againſt Paul for ſo doing, as ever Paul was againſt Peter for this foul fault: And Bellarmin ſhifts this off, ſaying, that it was not Peter but Cephas, who was one of the Seventy Diſciples. Whether Peter made his next Motion from Antioch, the Sacred Writ mentioneth not: Yet have we upon Divine Record two Epiſtles writ by Peter, which do indeed give us further light concerning Peter's Life and Actions after his being (as aforeſaid) at Antioch, as appeareth by theſe Remarks.

The firſt is; The place where Peter was when he wrote theſe Epiſtles: His firſt Epiſtle Chap. 5.13. Gives us an intimation that he was in Babylon of Chaldea. N.B. When Cyrus made proclamation of leave to the Jews (after their 70 years Captivity) to return into their own Land, multitudes of them found themſelves ſo well ſeated and accommodated in Babylonia, and in continuance of time they were ſo naturalized to the Countrey of the Caldeans, that they refuſed to Remove their habitations, but fixed their ſtakes and ſtanding there, ſo in ſucceſs of time they grew into a great nation, and a diſtinct people, inſomuch as they had a prince of the Captivity (as they call'd him) of their own blood over them there.

Now when thoſe three Miniſters of the Circumciſion (Peter, James and John) divided their Apoſtolical employ by lot (as Paul was the Miniſter of the Ʋncircumciſion) Peter's Lot fell to be in Babylonia amongſt thoſe numerous Jews in their now Voluntary Captivity, and from Babylon it ſelf (the Center of that Country and where he had gathered a Church) doth he ſend his firſt Epiſtle: N.B. The Romaniſts fondly fancy this Babylon (Peter mentions here) to be Rome, as Rev. 17. that they may prove Peter's Epiſcopal Chair to be there, alledging, that Peter call'd Rome ſo, becauſe he would not have it known where he was. Oh! how uncomely was ſuch Timerouſneſs (who had been ſo bold before) in this their Prince of the Apoſtles, and the pretended Head of their Church. But tho' this Far-fetch'd Fancy be granted to them (who rather than not find Peter's Primacy, will go to Hell to ſeek it) yet therein do they grant us that their Rome is that Myſtical Babylon in the Revelation, againſt which ſo many dreadful Plagues are denounced there.

The ſecond Remark concerns the Perſons to whom Peter wrote, who were call'd the Strangers of the Diſperſion; ſuch as were ſcattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Aſia and Bythinia, 1 Pet. 1.1. The naming of all which places giveth ſome probable ground that Peter had at ſome time before Preached the Goſpel there, and therefore wrote to the Diſperſed Believers his two general Epistles for their better confirmation in the Faith; and not to the Jews only, but to the Gentiles alſo that had embraced Chriſtianity. As Paul (the Apostle of the Gentiles) wrote principally to thoſe of the Uncircumciſion, at Rome, Corinth, Epheſus, &c. yet he excludeth not thoſe of the Circumciſion that believed among them: So Peter included the Gentile-Christians, tho' primarily he wrote to the Jews, ſeeing both were joyned in one Faith and Worſhip.

The third Remark is concerning the Time when Peter wrote his Epistles; whereof indeed we have no certainty in Scripture; ſo the preciſe point of Time cannot be poſitively p. 504aſſerted: But we have (ſaith Dr. Lightfoot) ſome Chronical Hints in ſome paſſages of the first Epistle, which render a fair probability that it was written about the year of our Lord 65. and the 11th of Nero's Reign, which was a Center betwixt two Critical Years, the Year before the beginning of the perſecution of the Christians at Rome, and the Year after the beginning of the deſolating Wars in Judea. N.B. Beſide the Apoſtle's general Exhortation of the Elect (alluding to his Lord's words) [They ſhall deceive, if it were poſſible, the very Elect] Matth. 24.24.) to exerciſe patience under thoſe miſeries already felt, and worſe feared. There be particular paſſages (as [The End of all things is at hand] 1 Pet. 4.7. [The fiery Tryal] verſe 12. and [The time is come that Judgment must begin at the houſe of God] verſe 17, &c.) which ſeem to point out this very time that Chriſt foretold, Matth. 24.7, 8, 9, &c. and Luke 21.12, &c. wherein the deſolating Wars of the Jews happened (which was but the beginning of Sorrows) and Nation Roſe up against Nation, &c. and then ſhall they deliver you up and kill you, &c. All which was commented upon, and accompliſhed, when Nero ſet Rome on fire, and burnt down Ten of the Fourteen great Wards of the City, but he at that time killed the Chriſtians for his own Crime, as if they had been the Incendiaries, and had burnt the City; and may it not be ſaid How eſcaped Peter, if he now ſate Biſhop at Rome, as the Romanists do affirm? ſurely he muſt go to the Pot with thoſe whom Paul ſaluted, Rom. 16. Yet he forgot Peter in thoſe Salutations: Whereas Paul himſelf (with Luke and Timothy) were pack'd away (as is aforeſaid) before this Storm did fall, not only upon Rome and Italy, but upon many parts of the Empire, &c. N.B. And now Judgment began upon the Jews (among theſe fiery Tryals) who always helped forward the Perſecution of the Goſpel; but now ſuch a mad Phrenzy falls upon them, that they caſt off the Roman Yoke, whereby they incenſed the Romans to deſtroy them: Then was the Abomination of Deſolation ſet up in the Temple, Matth. 24.15. N.B. Then God gave his People this Sign [When ye ſee Jeruſalem compaſſed about with Armies] (which was done by Cestius Gallus a little before that fatal and final Siege of Titus Veſpaſian) Luke 21.20 then were the Chriſtians to flee into the Mountains, and to take the beſt courſe for their own ſafety, verſe 21, &c. and Matth. 24.16, 17, 18. Then their Deſolation was nigh, and ſuch Tribulation (which is call'd Affliction it ſelf, Mark 13.19.) came ſo great upon the Jews in Judea (ſuch as never had been, nor ſhall be, Matth. 24.21.) that the heart of Man can hardly hear the Hiſtory without Tears, as Joſephus relateth it. Yet the Lord provided a [Pella] for his own People, a City beyond Jordan, which was their Sanctuary and City of Refuge, as Zoar was for Lot for a time, till it proved too hot to hold him, which made him flee to the Mountains alſo as Judea proved too hot to hold the Jews) until the Indignation was overpast; as Euſeb. Eccleſ. Hist. lib. 3. cap 5. tells us. Peter being now in Babylon of Chaldaea had Intelligence, what great miſeries had befallen the Jews in Judaea (which was but the beginning of Sorrows, as he had heard his Lord ſay. He thereupon concludes, that the Deſolation of the Jewiſh Nation drew nigh, and likewiſe his own Martyrdom, therefore doth he improve his little time (he had now to live) in writing his ſecond Epistle, wherein he firſt telleth them [I know that I must ſhortly put off this Tabernacle, as our Lord hath ſhewed me.] 2 Pet. 1.14. which he knew would come to paſs before the Deſtruction of Jeruſalem; for Christ had told him, that he might not live to ſee the Lord's coming to judge Jeruſalem for all her Iniquities, which John ſhould live to ſee done, John 21.18, 19, 20 21, 22, 23. (which ſhall be ſpoke to by and by) and in this Epistle alſo, he deſcribes Jeruſalem's Deſtruction in the ſame Terms as his Lord had done, Matth. 24. and as the Scripture doth the Ruine of that Curſed people, and their City in other places, namely Deut. 32.22, 23, 24. and Jer. 4.23. &c. Uſing the ſame expreſſions [as the Heavens paſſing away with a noiſe; the Elements melting with heat; the Earth burnt up, &c. 2 Pet. 3. v. 10, 11.] Such as the Deſtruction of the whole World is uſually expreſſed by in other Scriptures to alarm the ſecure, &c.

The fourth Remark is; the manner of Peter's death, whereof we have ſome Scripture-light, and of him only of all the Apoſtles. As Peter's ſecond Epiſtle leaves us ſome light concerning the time of his death (as well as of writing that Epiſtle, to wit, a little before his death, as is above ſaid) which he ſaith, was to be very ſhortly, yet muſt that phraſe of his [as our Lord Jeſus Christ hath ſhewed me, 2 Pet. 1.14.] borrow ſome light from, John 21.18, 19, &c. to make the manner of his death the more manifeſt, where Chriſt tells Peter that he ſhould dye a violent kind of death [wherein another ſhall manacle and pinion thee, carry thee priſoner where thou wouldst not] and that he ſhould follow his Maſter in the manner of his death in being Crucified at his Martyrdom as Chriſt had told Peter [thou canſt not follow me now, but thou ſhalt follow me afterward] Joh. 13.36. This our Lord ſpake [ſignifying by what death Peter ſhould glorifie God] John 21.18, 19. p. 505That Peter's hands ſhould be ſtretched out and nailed to the Croſs, as Chriſt's were-when Crucified, &c. This muſt be Peter's Exitus (or way of deceaſe) and the manner of taking down his Tent and Tabernacle, 2 Peter 1.14, 15. when Peter heard his own fate, he then is too curiouſly inquiſitive to know what was John's deſtiny, ver. 20, 21. Our Lord checks his curioſity, bids him mind his own concern (of executing his maſter's commands and Imitating his Example) not troubling himſelf with the concerns of others, yet withall intimating that Peter's death ſhould be before John's, who ſhould live till he came, to wit, in judgment againſt Jeruſalem to deſtroy it, ver. 22. John lived to ſee the holy City deſtroyed, but Peter was crucified a little before, N.B. And yet that he might dye in charity to Paul, who had (as before) expoſed him to ſome open ſhame by his ſo publickly reproving him: He makes a moſt honourable mention of him as his Beloved Brother, &c. 2 Pet. 3.15, 16. Whereby he declares to all the world upon record, that he had nothing the worſe thoughts of him, for being ſo ſharply rebuked by him, but rather loved him the better for his faithfulneſs, according to Solomon's ſaying. [Rebuke a wiſe man and he will love thee.] Prov. 9.8, &c. N.B. This is the laſt Account and the Total which the ſacred Scripture gives us concerning the great Apoſtle Peter. Therefore the life of Peter written by the Jeſuit Xaverius that mock Evangeliſt among the Indians in the Perſian Language, and tranſlated into Latine by Ludovicus de Dieu is no better than a fardle fraught full of many impudent Fables, wherein (take only this ſhort taſt) he telleth how Peter ſolliciteth the Bleſſed Virgin, to intercede for him with her Son to procure his pardon for his Thrice Denying him: As likewiſe how Chriſt made Peter and his Succeſſors to be he Lord's Vicars upon Earth, and much more [ejuſdem farinae] of the ſame Bran; as appeareth in the Animadverſions upon that fabulous lie: That Peter was martyr'd by the Jews in Babylonia, where he now was, is far more probable, becauſe ſuch a Frantick Madneſs was now judiciarily fallen upon them in all parts, and a bloody Rage againſt the Goſpel, the Devil at this time beſtirring himſelf in the Jews, knowing his time was ſo ſhort. N.B. That Peter left no more Writings behind him ſave thoſe two Epiſtles, makes more againſt Popery than for to countenance it.

The third Apoſtle that ſtill the ſacred writ gives ſome light into their lives, is the Apoſtle Jude, on whom take theſe few Remarks.

The firſt is; His Name which is prefixed to his Epiſtle according to the common manner of writting Letters and Epiſtles in that time, Acts 23.26. and all the Apoſtolical Epiſtles) and not ſubſcribed as our manner is; he is called Jude, whom Luke calls Judas, Luke 6.16. Matthew calls him Lebbeus, Matth. 10.3. and Mark Thaddeus, Mark 3.18. So that he had three Names, Luke calls him the Brother of James the leſs, to diſtinguiſh him from Judas Iſcariot and from him who was the mover of Sedition, Acts 5.37. His Mother ſeems to be the Wife of Cleopas, the bleſſed Virgin's Siſter, John 19.25. Matth. 27.56. compared with Matth. 13.55. In which ſenſe his Brother James is called the Lord's Brother, Gal. 1.19 as he calls himſelf James's Brother, Jude, verſe 1. And ſuch was his humility and his Brother's alſo, James 1.1. that neither of them writ themſelves [a Brother or Kinſ-man of Chriſt] nor yet [an Apoſtle] as both Paul and Peter do: but both of theſe Brothers ſtile themſelves, only, [the Servants of Chriſt] which they eſteemed more honourable than the moſt glorious Title in the world: Thus David in his Title to Pſalm 18. uſeth the like phraſe [David the Servant of the Lord] which he accounted a greater honour than his being KING of Iſrael. Jude's other Name [Lebbeus] ſignifies Hearty, being an Humble and Hearty Servant of Chriſt.

The ſecond Remark is; The length of his Life: As Chriſt promiſed (by way of Equivalency) to Peter, that he ſhould not be Martyred in the middle of his Life, but that he ſhould live God's Servant all that time, and that, not until he came into his old age he ſhould then dye God's Sacrifice, as appeareth in the foregoing diſcourſe of him. So it is as apparent that the Lord performed his promiſe of prolonging the Life of his Kinſ-man Jude, inſomuch that he ſurvived and over-lived all the Apoſtles except John. This truth is proved from Jude's own word, in his Epiſtle verſe 17. Saying, [Remember, beloved, the words which were ſpoken by the Apoſtles of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt] adding in verſe 18. [How they told you, that there ſhould be Mockers in the laſt times, &c.] which paſſages make it plainly appear that Jude wrote his Epistle very late, even later than any of either Paul's or Peter's Epiſtles, for thoſe two were the very Apoſtles, eſpecially that gave any ſuch fore-warnings upon Record, Acts 20.29. 1 Tim. 4.1. 2 Tim. 3.1. and 2 Pet. 2.1, 2, &c. which reference renders it alſo probable, that thoſe Apostles might be p. 506dead at Jude's writing his Epiſtle: However, he putteth the Chriſtian-Jews in remembrance of thoſe Apoſtles Sayings, which he would not have to dye with them, ſeeing thoſe Mockers of Goſpel-Myſteries ſtill lived among them.

The third Remark is; The ſubject matter of Jude's Epiſtle, which is much like to that of Peter's ſecond Epiſtle, not only in matter, but alſo in ſtyle, and therefore ſome Cavillers will not have this Canonical, becauſe (as they ſay) it was borrowed from Peter's, and not dictated by the Holy Ghoſt. N.B. But by the ſame Rule Obadiah's prophecy may be reputed Apocryphal, becauſe 'tis like that of Jerm. 49. ver. 14, &c. and the ſame may be ſaid of Pſalm 60. becauſe it is in a great part the ſame with Pſal. 108, and ſo is Pſal. 14. with Pſal. 53.

But tho' many paſſages in this Epiſtle do agree with that of Peter's, yet is there ſo much difference in the whole, as makes it manifeſt, that it was not Tranſcribed thence, and yet the Spirit might dictate the ſame truths to ſeveral Pen-men, eſpecially when the evil of theſe times required it that the ſame truths might be confirmed by the more witneſſes. N.B. 'Tis probable this Jude ſtood up in his Brother James his charge among the Circumciſion of Judea, ſo he directs his Epiſtle to all thoſe that were preſerved in thoſe Apoſtatizing times (and not to any one particular Church as Paul's were) like as his Brother James's had done to the twelve Tribes in general: Jude exhorts thoſe Chriſtian Jews to maintain the truth with holineſs of life, leaſt they ſhould be ſeduced by falſe Teachers whoſe manners he deſcribes to whom he thunders damnation

But to amplifie a little longer upon the Life of this Jude, who wrote that Epiſtle General and Catholical, placed next before the Revelation of John the Divine, he was one of the twelve Apoſtles, called Judas, as above, but he was not that ſtigmatized Judas Iſcariot, the Apoſtate that hanged himſelf, &c. The occaſion of this Apoſtle's writing that Epiſtle was this; He ſurvived almoſt all the Apoſtles, Paul, Peter, and James were now dead, and John only was now alive, Euſebius ſaith, This Apoſtle Jude lived till the time of Domitian the Emperor, about fifty years after Chriſt's death. However, he lived to behold a moſt deplorable decay among the Churches of Chriſt: He ſaw in his day how many profeſſors of the Goſpel did then deny the power of godlineſs, and degenerated into groſs and open prophaneneſs, and, to uſe his own phraſe, [they turned the grace of God into wantonneſs.] v. 4. Namely, the Nicolaitans, Rev. 2.6.14, 15. The Gnoſticks, and other looſe Hereticks of that age, who had learnt the Devil's Logick of arguing from Mercy to Liberty, and unlearnt that ſacred Leſſon (taught in Chriſt's School) to wit, Mercy moſt ſtrongly obligeth to duty: The more merciful God is to man, the more dutiful muſt man be to God: leaſt God ſay [do ye thus requite the Lord (returning your wicked Liberty for my holy Mercy) O! ye fooliſh people and unwiſe] Deut. 32.6. and as it was ſaid to Huſhai [is this thy kindneſs to thy friend?] 2 Sam. 16.17. This ſad ſight and obſervation ſtirred up the Spirit of this holy Apoſtle to write this Epiſtle, wherein he admoniſheth all true Saints to contend earneſtly for the Faith &c. and to beware of being polluted with the Apoſtates ſins, after he had diſcovered the black Aggravations of thoſe heinous ſinners, and denounced the certainty of God's Judgments againſt them, for their notorious provocations, at the appointed time: aſſuring them, that the day was approaching wherein the Lord will Judge all wicked men, for all their ungodly words and works, &c.

In order hereunto, this Apoſtle giveth three famous inſtances of Apoſtates.

The firſt is; Thoſe degenerate Iſraelites are brought in for an Example, who murmured in the wilderneſs, and luſted after the Fleſh-pots of Aegypt, after they had been ſo miraculouſly delivered out of that long and grievous houſe of Bondage: Yet God deſtroyed all them that believed not, v. 5. which ſhews that their paſt preſervation from that Fiery Furnace (as it is called, Deut. 4.20.) was but a Reſervation for a future puniſhment by fiery Serpents, &c. for God threatened to deſtroy them after he had done them good, Joſh. 24 20 even ſo, cloſe Hypocrites and looſe profeſſors, who ſeem to be redeemed from the Bondage of ſin, yet dare return, with the Dog to his Vomit, and with the Sow to its wallowing in the mire, &c. The latter end is worſe with them than the beginning, &c. 2 Pet. 2.18, 19, 20, 21, 22.

The ſecond Inſtance this Apoſtle Jude introduceth, is, that of the Apoſtate Angels, verſe 6. who, notwithſtanding the higher dignity of their nature above that of Man's, Pſal 8.5. yet upon their Rebellious diſobedience they were left to a moſt dreadful doom, &c. Their voluntary ambition changed thoſe glorious Angels into damned Devils. This argument is not [a part ad par] from one equal caſe to another, as in the firſt inſtance, verſe 5. but [a Majori ad Minus] from the greater to the leſſer, arguing, if God ſpared not ſuch more noble Creatures, the Angels, who, by the grace of p. 507Creation, were advanced to the higheſt excellency of all Created beings, then aſſuredly, God will not ſpare men, whatever Goſpel-priviledges they have, and whatever glorious profeſſions they make, when the wicked practices of their lives do give the lye unto all their holy profeſſions, ſuch Backſliders as begin in the Spirit, but end in the fleſh, Gal. 3.3. that ſeem [Sancti Juvenes] young Saints but prove [Satanici Senes] old Devils, not only God's Soul can have no pleaſure in them yea rather loaths them, but alſo, there is a deep pit, behind all ſuch as draw back, which they ſee not, even the bottomleſs pit of endleſs perdition, Heb. 10.37, 38. Apoſtates do haſten into Hells mouth. 'Tis moſt true, the Lord loveth a returning Prodigal above an Apoſtate Angel.

The third Inſtance is; That of Sodom, &c. ver. 7. Which Example is moſt fitly adapted to the former two. The Angels had been betruſted with the bleſſings of Heaven but they loſt them all by their Apoſtacy. The Iſraelites had the priveledges of the Church in the wilderneſs (ſo called, Acts 7.38.) but by their murmurings they loſt not only all thoſe, but they alſo fell ſhort of Canaan, &c. Now come in thoſe Sodomites, &c. Who had been bleſt with a moſt pleaſant Land (called the Garden of the Lord, Gen. 13.10. like another paradice, yea and they had been bleſt alſo with a marvelous deliverance from Captivity by the proweſs of Abraham, Gen. 14.11, 15. Thus had thoſe five Citys the great bleſſings of this lower world, (as the Angels had of Heaven, and the Iſraelites had of the Church) yet theſe alſo made a forfeiture of their mercies (as well as the two former) namely, by giving themſelves up unto filthy Leudneſs: God wrote their ſin upon their puniſhment, as they had burned actively with the fire of Hell in their unlawful Luſts, ſo they were burned paſſively with fire from Heaven: The Lord rained down (as it were) Hell out of Heaven upon them, Geneſis 19.24.25. yea and above all this, we are told here, that they are ſuffering the vengeance of eternal fire, and ſo ſhall all carnal profeſſors having only a form without the power 2 Tim. 3.5, We may live by a form, but we cannot dye by a form, and if we live and dye after the fleſh, we are damned to all Eternity, Rom. 8.7. A form of piety, and the power of impiety, may conſiſt together in the ſame perſon.

N.B. When this holy Apoſtle Judas, not Iſcariot the Apoſtate, (who cryed, how is it Lord that thou manifests thy ſelf to us and not to others in the world chap. 14.22.) had ſtirred up theſe Chriſtians of his day [to contend earnestly for the faith, &c. ver. 3.] which was then oppoſed by ſeducers crept in among them, ver. 4. ſuch as the Gnoſticks, who gave themſelves up to all manner of prodigious pollutions, &c. At that time; (in whoſe ſtead the Ranters, &c. Are ſtarted up in our day, who are [likewiſe filthy dreamers, defilers of the fleſh, &c.] ver. 8. this Scripture-expreſſion is ſadly fulfilled (before our eyes) the Apoſtle proceds to declare the certainty of thoſe ſeducers deſtruction, not only from former examples as before but from the likeneſs of their ſins with thoſe which God had puniſhed in ſinners of old, verſe 8, 9, 10.

Then he amplifies his concluſion ſaying, (woe to them they ſhall all likewiſe periſh) ver. 11. as Cain, Balaam and Korah, &c. did, and then he illuſtrates the ſin of thoſe ſeducers by five elegant compariſons, comparing them (1ſt.) to ſpots (2dly) to clouds without water, &c. (3dly.) To decayed Trees, ver. 12. (4thly.) To raging waves of the ſea, &c. and (5thly.) To wandering ſtars, &c. ver. 13. After all this, the Apoſtle urgeth another argument to certifie the deſtrctuion of thoſe ſeducers, adding a third branch to his two former, both of examples and of compariſons, namely, the prophecy of Enoch, ver. 14, 15. which was likewiſe of the moſt ancient date, as all his examples were, becauſe ancient things have the moſt of Veneration in them, 1 Chron. 4.22. In this ancient and infallible prophecy of Enoch. Jude declareth the loſt eſtate of thoſe Apoſtates at Chriſt's coming to judge ſinners, ver. 14, 15. and then he applyeth it to to them, ver. 16. ſhewing that theſe ſeducers were the ſame ungodly perſons which Enoch had deſcribed, and therefore ſuch as are liable to the Judgment threatned. Laſtly, this Apoſtle having diſpatched the doom upon thoſe Hereticks, he returns to exhort thoſe Chriſtian Jews, (whom he had ſpoke unto in the preface, ver. 1, 2, 3.) 1ſt. That they beware of ſuch ſeducers alledging the warning words of thoſe Apoſtles who wrote before him, to wit, Paul, in 2 Tim. 3.1, 2, 3, 4. and Peter, 2 Peter 3.2, 3. who, both of them, foretold the carriages and condemnation of thoſe peſtilent perſons, verſe 17, 18, 19. 2dly. He exhorts them to an edification on their moſt holy faith, verſe 20. 3dly. To a Supplication in the holy Ghoſt, Ibid. 4thly. To a Conſervation of themſelves in the love of God, verſe 21. And 5thly to an expectation of the coming of Chriſt Ibid. In all which Jude directs them to the right means of perſeverance, both as to thoſe two bleſſed duties, to wit, conference and prayer, and as to thoſe two bleſſed graces, namely, Love and Hope, intimating, that it is not enough to get grace, but we p. 508muſt be careful to keep it, that we leave not our firſt Faith, 1 Tim. 5.12. nor loſe our firſt love, Rev. 2.4. but do our firſt works of obedience, verſe 5. having our laſt works to be our beſt, verſe 19. and not decline, as David did in his old age, 2 Chr. 17.3. who then fell into foul ſins of adultery and murder: Now the Apoſtle having done his directions in thoſe duties that concern themſelves, he directs them in their carriage towards others, even to the very Seducers, verſe 22.23. to be gentle to the ſimply Seduced, 2 Sam. 15.11. Gal. 6.1. but rough to Rebellious Ring-Leaders, Tit. 1.11, and 13. Laſtly, he ends in a Doxology, verſe 24, 25. Praying that God may keep them, &c.

Note well; Some do Question the Pen-man of this Epiſtle; Objecting,

Firſt, Becauſe he gives not himſelf the Title of an Apoſtle.

Anſwer, Nor doth James call himſelf ſo, James 1.1. Nor doth Paul ſtyle himſelf an Apoſtle in four of his Epiſtles, to wit, to the Philippians, to the 1ſt. and 2d. of Theſſalonians, nor to Philemon.

Objection the 2d. This Pen-man Ranks himſelf after the Apoſtles, verſe 17.

Anſwer, Tho' his writing this Epiſtle was indeed after the writing of the other Apoſtles in point of time (as above) yet this degrades him not in his Office and Authority.

Objection the 3d. He ſpeakes both of a Contention about Moſes's Body, and of Enoch's Prophecy, neither of which are found in Scripture-Record.

Anſwer 1ſt. As to that about Moſes the Subſtance of it is Recorded, Deut. 34.5, 6. and tho' the other Circumſtances were but Jewiſh Traditions & therefore doubtful before, yet now the holy Spirit in Jude, makes them undoubtedly true, as is done to the names of theſe Magitians that oppoſed Moſes, whom Paul calls Jannes and Jambres, 2 Tim. 3.8. So Moſes's quaking at Sinai, Heb. 12.21. And Jacob's worſhiping on the top of his Staff, Heb. 11.21. And Joſeph's being laid in Irons, &c. Pſal. 105.18. none of theſe Circumſtances doth the Scripture mention in their proper places, yet now are they all Sanctified (as well as certified) by the Pen-man of the Holy Ghoſt, and have put upon them the ſtamp of Divine Authority.

Anſwer the 2d. As to Enoch's prophecying, &c. tho' that was but a Tradition, yet the ſame may be ſaid of this, as of the former, moreover, that Enoch preached to the old world of the final day of Judgment, is here made Authentick, and now is put into Sacred Canon: Some ſay that Enoch wrote it, and his Book (ſaith Tertullian) was kept by Noah in his Ark, tho now loſt, but 'tis more probable he only preached it and not wrote it, for undoubtedly Moſes was the firſt writer, ſeeing Chriſt began at Moſes, &c. Luke 24.27. had Enoch wrote a Book before Moſes, ſurely our Saviour would have begun there. Learned Rivet affirmeth, that Jude had a Special Revelation to aſſure him, that this Prophecy (quoted by an Apocryphal Author) did verily come from Enoch.

Objection the 4th. This Epiſtle ſeems to be only a Tranſcript from 2 Pet. Chap. 2.

Anſwer 1ſt. Tho' that 2d. Chapter of the ſecond of Peter carry a great congruity with this Epiſtle of Jude in reſpect of its ſubſtance, as it is a diſſwaſive from Apoſtacy, yet there is ſo much diſparity and difference in circumſtances as do plainly diſcover, this is no Tranſcript from that, &c.

Anſwer the 2d. Why may not the holy Spirit dictate the ſame truths to ſeveral Pen-men at ſeveral times, to be declared to ſeveral perſons, &c.

Anſ. the 3d. Upon this account of likeneſs (as before) the prophecy of Obadiah may be rejected, becauſe the ſame matter is moſtly found in the prophecy of Jeremiah, So, Pſ. 60. is Moſtly the ſame with Pſal. 108. and ſo is Pſal. 14. the ſame with Pſal. 53. and ſo it may be ſaid of many other Scriptures, Paul wrote the ſame relative duties both to the Epheſians and to the Coloſians.

Anſwer the 4th. Tho' ſome of the Antients did Queſtion this Epiſtle, &c. yet more of them do confirm its Authority, not only they but alſo all modern Authors finding the Spirit of an Apostle all along breathing in it as well as in all others. There is in this Epiſtle the ſame Majeſty, Purity, Efficacy, Spirituality and power upon mens Conſciences; all which do demonſtrate its Divine impreſſion: Moreover the Rabbins ſay, that Enoch inſtituted that great excommunication of MARAN-ATHA, 1 Cor. Chap. 16.22.

What became of Jude, at laſt, the Scripture mentions not, but Euſebius tells of his going to Agbarus King of Edeſſa whom he cured and converted (according to the letter our Lord returned in Anſwer to the King's firſt letter ſent to him) and there he lyes interred: but other Eccleſiaſtical writers ſay, that he went with his Brother Simon p. 509into Perſia where he was ſlain by the Pagan Prieſts, &c. This is only humane Teſtimony.

Now come we (through the ſupplies of the Spirit of Chriſt, Phil. 1.19.) to the fourth and laſt of all the Apoſtles, to wit, John (having no Scripture-light concerning the Hiſtory of the reſt of the Apoſtles, and therefore are here omitted in this Diſcourſe) who, as he was the beſt Beloved Diſciple, ſo was honoured above the other by his Loving Lord, both in writing Scripture (being made an Evangeliſt in his Goſpel, an Apoſtle in his Epiſtles, and a Prophet in his Revelation) and alſo in prolonging his Life the longeſt of all; for he ſurvived all his Collegues, and died laſt of all the Apoſtles (as is ſuppoſed) about an hundred years after the birth of Chriſt, and is thought to have gone to, & continued in Aſia, till the Third of the Ten Perſecutions under Trajan.

The Remarks upon this laſt living, and over-living Apoſtle John (who lived till the Ninety ſeventh year of his Age, and was the only Apoſtle that ſaw his Lord's prediction of the Deſtruction of Jeruſalem fulfilled) are theſe.

The firſt is, as John is frequently called the beſt Beloved Diſciple, John 13.23, 24. So, he had moſt of his Lord's perſonal Favours, in being uſually preſent at his chiefeſt Miracles (as at his Transfiguration on Tabor, Matth. 17.1. Luke 9.28. in Raiſing Jairus's Daughter, Mark 5.37. &c.) and ſo at his Agony in the Garden, Luke 22.8. at the Prieſt's Hall, John 18.15. and at his Paſſion under the Croſs, John 19.25.26. where Chriſt commended to him the care of his Mother: To which may be added his firſt Teſtimony of Chriſt's Reſurrection, John 20.2, 8. His being an Agent in the firſt Miraculous Cure after Chriſt's Aſcenſion, Acts 3.3, &c. His boldneſs for Chriſt Crucified, Acts 4.13. and his conferring the Holy Ghoſt, &c. at Samaria, Acts 8.14, 15, 17. As alſo, His being call'd by his Lord [Boanerges, a Sun of Thunder] Mark 3.17. and a Pillar of the Church, Gal. 2.9, &c.

The ſecond Remark is; This Apoſtle ſpent moſt of his time in Aſia, which ſeems to be his Province falling to him (as ſome ſay) by Lot, when the Apoſtles divided their Apoſtolical work. Tho' it ſhould not be granted that the ſeven famous Churches (call'd Golden Candlesticks) in the leſſer Aſia, were founded by John (who Preached moſtly in thoſe parts, but that they were founded (as others think) by Peter and Paul; yet, this is plainly evident, that after the death of Peter and Paul, John took upon him the charge of theſe Churches, and was much converſant among them: Hereupon ſome not improbably conjecture, N.B. That the Epiſtle from Laodicea (mentioned in Col. 4.16.) muſt be meant the firſt Epiſtle of John, which was wrote by him while he abode in Laodicea; This is ſafer to ſay, than that it was an Epiſtle written by Paul from Laodicea, which is now loſt (as the Papiſts ſay) and therefore they do infer, that the Canon of the Holy Scriptures is defective. And to affirm that Epiſtle to be the firſt Epiſtle of John, is better done than thoſe Quakers do, who have Printed a Tranſlation of that ſpurious and Apocryphal Epiſtle from Laodicea, and plead for it. However, this is certain, John wrote an Epiſtle to Laodicea, and to her Six Siſter-Churches in Aſia, wherein he declareth great Declinings in thoſe Divided & Apoſtatizing Times, whereof Paul pertinently giveth this intimation, ſaying, [All they that are in Aſia are turned from me.] 2 Tim. 1.15. No wonder then if John found the Synagogue of Satan, Satan's Throne, falſe Apostles (working Magical wonders) a Jezebel, and corrupt Doctrines, &c. (as John's Epistles, Rev. 2. and 3. do expreſs) among thoſe that were deſerters of Paul, and had been aſhamed of his Bonds: And no wonder then if this Apoſtle, obſerving the notorious decay of Truth, Piety and Charity, wrote his firſt General Epiſtle as a ſuitable Salve for theſe ſad Sores of the Church, wherein, throughout, he inter-weaveth Purity of Doctrine, Piety of Life, and Love to the Brethren, the better to fortifie them againſt the Seducers of that day; and his other two Epiſtles are very much of the ſame Argument, in the cloſure of which he intimates his deſire and purpoſe ſhortly to come to them; and he wrote his Goſpel againſt ſuch as denied the Deity of Chriſt.

The third Remark is; The powerful providence of God, in this Apoſtle's preſervation from the Reſidue of his perils, in thoſe Primitive Pagan Perſecutions: we find him in the Iſle Pathmos, Rev. 1.9. Some ſay he went thither voluntarily to avoid Perſecution, and to Preach the Word there; but this is improbable, becauſe thoſe Iſlands in the Archipelago (where Pathmos is) have in them few Inhabitants. That very Text tells us, he was there, not [to] Preach the Word of God, but it was [for] Preaching it in Epheſus, and other places, for which the perſecuting Emperor baniſhed him thither. N.B. The Pagan Perſecutions were now begun by that Monſter Nero (out of the p. 510mouth of which Ravenous Lion the Lord delivered Paul, 2 Tim. 4.17. &c ſo did he deliver John from him, for he was not baniſhed till the Reign of Domitian) but within Three years time after Nero had begun his Barbarous Cruelties againſt the Chriſtians, that Tyrant died by his own hands to eſcape publick, and a more ſhameful execution: N.B. In him ended the blood and family of the Caeſars, and then had the Churches of Chriſt reſt (as 'tis ſaid, Acts 9.31. on a like occaſion) from bloody perſecutions for twelve years and upward, &c. by reaſon of the ſhort Reigns of Galba, Otho, and Vitellius (God ſo ordering it for his Church's good) that no ſooner had the Soldiery of Spain proclaimed Galba to ſucceed Nero in the Empire; but Otho riſeth up againſt him, and cuts him off in the 7th. Month of his Reign, and ſet up himſelf: but before Otho was well warm in the imperial Chair, that Debauchee Vitellius roſe up againſt him, put his army to the foil, for which Otho ſlew himſelf, ſo he rendred his life and his Empire up both together to him: When he had Reigned (if it may be called a Reign) only 95. days. N.B. Nor did Vitellius fare better by his beaſtly & bloody practices, for before the year went about, the rumor of Veſpaſian's ſtirring in Aegypt againſt him, made his Rabble of Roaring Ruffians (like himſelf) ſoon to forſake him, the Citizens (almoſt undone by his Riotous exceſſes, &c.) ſeiz'd upon him, dragg'd him through the ſtreet, caſt all kind of filth at him, wounded him with weapons, and at laſt threw him off the ſtairs into Tyber, as he had barbarouſly done to the Brother of Veſpaſian who ſucceeded this wretch, and who (with his Son Titus his ſucceſſor) exerciſed more moderation towards Chriſtians: But about 82 years after Chriſt, Domitian (Titus's Brother, and one of a curſed carriage from his Cradle) ſteps up, and about the year 90. ſets on foot that ſecond grand perſecution (as Nero had done the firſt) againſt the Chriſtians, wherein this Apostle was not devoured by that bloody Beaſt, but only baniſhed into Pathmos where he lay five years a priſoner till Nerva, who ſucceeded this Tyrant Domitian, when he was ſlain by his own Servants, after he had Reigned about 6. or 7. years, and who releaſed John and many more, and countermanded that cruel perſecution of Chriſtians; for which this Emperor Nerva was ſtiled a Parent and Patriot as well as a Prince of his Empire: And 'tis ſaid, that John (thus marvelouſly both preſerved and releaſed by the power and providence of God) returned to Epheſus again and dyed there about three years after, in the year 98. but for five years before his releaſe, himſelf tells us, that he was a companion of the Chriſtians in Tribulation, Rev. 1.9. All which pretious time God would not have ſo good a man to loſe, but to Improve, and therefore falls he into a Divine Rapture upon the Chriſtian Sabbath (call'd the Lord's day) in Pathmos, Rev. 1.9, 10. wherein he received the Revelation from Chriſt, which is a prophecy repreſenting the affairs of the Church of God concerning both her dangers, and her deliverances from the Apoſtles times to the laſt coming of Chriſt.

N.B. This prophecy John was commanded to write, and to depoſit it in the hands of theſe ſeven Churches of Aſia, which then were the moſt famous in that part of the world, tho' miſerably enough corrupted (as is above mentioned.) 'Tis not a ſmall matter that unchurches a true Church of Chriſt, and thoſe ſeven golden Candleſticks were to Communicate the light of this Divine Prophecy to other Churches with the promiſe of a bleſſing upon thoſe that read or heard it, ſo as to make a believing uſe of it, Rev. 1.3. and 22.7. ſuch pretious treaſure as Chriſt hands out to his Church in it, may not be ſlighted: The manifeſtation of thoſe Divine Myſteries by our Mediator to this Apoſtle makes the Family of Faith to be of God's Court and Council: Great is the comfort to know God's ſecrets, Pſalms 25.14. 1 Cor. 2.16. Gal. 6.10, &c. God will not hide from Abraham, Gen. 18.17.

N.B. I have already given a large Analytical account of this whole book of the Revelation in my Scripture Prophecy, which is the latter part of my Church Hiſtory to which I refer the Reader. Adding here only that it contains three Kingdoms. 1. The Pagan, which ended at Conſtantine the Great, about 325 years after Chriſt, 2. The Pa-pagan Kingdom both being the Kingdoms of the Dragon the one litteral and the other myſtical. And, 3. The Prince of Peace his Kingdom, or the Kingdom of the Lamb of God; for the Lamb will have his Kingdom as well as both the Dragons; He will divide the ſpoil with the ſtrong, Iſa. 53.12. being the ſtronger man than the ſtrong Pagan Prince, or the ſtrong Pa-pagan Pope, yea or the ſtrong Dragon or Devil himſelf, Luke 11.21, and 22. and when Chriſt takes to himſelf his great power to Reign, &c. Rev. 11, 15, 17. then that Kingdom of the Stone ſhall not only become the Kingdom of the Mountain to fill the whole earth, Dan. 2.35, 45. N.B. (a little ſtone from ſmall beginnings, growing into a great mountain, 1 Cor. 15.24. filling the whole world) but alſo it ſhall p. 511be a perſevering Kingdom and perpetual (not like the other foregoing Kingdoms which had their certain bounds and periods appointed them beyond which they could not paſs only days are allowed for thoſe Kings, but Christ's Kingdom ſhall never have an end of days, weeks, months or years, Dan. 2.44. and 7.9, 12, 14, 18, 27. N.B. And the Celeſtial Beings (glorified Saints and glorious Angels) ſhall bleſs the Lord for exerting his power and for recovering the Kingdom of Chriſt out of the hands of Antichriſt and ſetting his King upon his holy hill of Zion, Pſa. 2.6. where he ſhall Reign for ever and ever, Reve. 11.15, 17. and 12.10. ſinging Halelujahs becauſe the Lord God Omnipotent Reigneth, Revel. 19.6. and the Kingdom of this Prince of Peace (as Chriſt is called Iſa. 9.6.) ſhall be a peaceable as well as a perpetual Kingdom, for then all his foes ſhall be made his foot-ſtool, Rev. 11.18. and 16.17. and 19.15, 16, 19, 21. N.B. And the thouſand years mentioned, Revel. 20.2, 3. cannot bear a lower conſtruction than this at the leaſt that they denote [ſtatum tranquillum] a ſerene calm and ſublimely peaceable time of long continuance for the Church of Chriſt to enjoy her free liberty for worſhiping God in ſpirit and truth without any moleſtation or temptations to idolatry, then no impoſitions and penalties, for non-conformity (as formerly ſhe hath had) either from Pagans, Jews, Turk or Pope, N.B. And this muſt be before the day of Judgment, for after this large ſpace of time which the Lamb grants to his Bride (upon her marriage with him at the Jews converſion, Rom 11.15. Rev. 19.7.) of a long feaſting with him in a peaceable and plentiful injoyment of all Goſpel ordinances (call'd the marriage-ſupper Matth. 22.2. and 25.10.) Satan is let looſe again (after his long reſtraint) and beſtirs himſelf in all quarters of the world to ſtir up his Vaſſals for making one more attempt to ruine the Lamb's Bride, Rev. 20.7, 8, 9. where that mixt multitude of the Devils rude rabble (gathered from all parts of the earth, all which is but the Devils round walk Job 1.7.) is compared to Ezekiel's Gog and Magog for the like number, deſign and ending in their own deſtruction, Ezek. 38.4, 6, 18. to 23. then follows the viſion of the day of Judgment, &c. Rev. 20.10, 11, &c. But the grand [foreign] poſtulatum or inquiry is, at what period of time will Chriſt begin this his third peaceable Kingdom?

The Anſwer in ſhort is this; (1.) It is a ſpecial favour of God to his children, that he hath made ſo great a diſcovery of ſuch Divine Secrets and Myſteries both by Daniel and by John concerning the wonderful over-ruling providence of God, in Governing the world, and his Church in the world, according to his own pleaſure. Should we know no more but this in the General, That Chriſt our Reedemer is reſolved (at ſome time or other) to take unto himſelf his great power and to put down all contrary powers (as verily he will, 1 Cor. 15.24. Rev. 11.15, 17. &c.) and in the mean time will order all matters of the world (both Pagan and Pa-pagan) in ordine ad Eccleſiam, for his Church's beſt good, Romans 8.28. Pſalm 84.11. and 128.1, 2. Iſaiah 3.10, &c. This alone is very comfortable.

(2ly.) The firſt of the three periods (afore-mentioned) in this prophecy, concerning the Pagan power, is certainly accompliſhed in Conſtantine the firſt Chriſtian Emperour (tho the determination thereof was not ſo expreſly revealed in the ſeal-prophecy, as is that of the Pa-pagan power in the Trumpet-prophecy) The Pagan Empire perſued the perſecution of the Church in ten ſucceſſive perſecutions (John living in the ſecond thereof) But when God raiſed up Conſtantine, the Pagan State and Religion was in ſuch a conſternation under the effects of the ſixth Seal (wherewith the Book was ſealed, Rev. 5.1.) that the Ruine thereof (reſembled to their apprehenſions) the dread of the day of Judgment Rev. 6.12. to the end: This began about the year 311. and was carried on to year 325. yet this reſt to the Chriſtians (who ſtill ſuffered by the Arrians and by Julian the Apoſtate) was not a compleat quiet reſt till Theodoſious's time about the year 390. This ſmall time of reſpite from perſecution may be probably ſignified by [that ſilence in Heaven for half an hour] Revelations 8.1.

(3ly.) That which more nearly concerns us to make a more narrow enquiry after, is, the ſecond period, under which we live and ſuffer: We muſt know for our comfort that tho' God be very choice in keeping the keys of time hanging at his own Girdle, Dan. 8.26. and 12.4, 9. Acts 1.7, &c. yet ſuch hath been his Divine condeſcenſion in this caſe, that he hath not altogether hid it as an, Arcanum or ſecret, from our knowledge: For beſide that in the General which the Angel (Chriſt, Dan. 12.7.) ſware that as the Pagan, ſo the Pa-pagan power ſhall be no more or any longer, Rev. 10.6. as he had put a period to the former ſo he would ſurely put a period to the latter, and more particularly He hath pointed out the Period (tho' not of the Pagan, yet) of this Pa-pagan Dragon p. 512expreſly revealing that his leaſe (allowed him to live and to do his Exploits) ſhall not laſt any longer than 1260 years: N.B. Reckoning thoſe prophetick days as, Num. 14.34. and Ezek. 4.6. and as Daniel reckons his 70 weeks by 490 days (there being juſt ſo many days in ſo many weeks) for 490 years, otherwiſe the promiſe of the Meſſiah's coming had failed in his account, Dan. 9.24. and reckoning the 42 months (mentioned, Rev. 11.2. and 13.5.) to be the ſelf-ſame time with the 1260 days, (mentioned, Rev. 11.2. and 12.6.) For in thoſe Countries they counted 30 days to each month, and but 360 days to each year.

This great Remark is therefore worthy to be well weighed, how our Lord hath revealed to us that the four great diſpenſations of Divine providence (namely 1. Thoſe new Gentiles or Pa-pagans treading down the outward Court, the formal profeſſors that worſhip not within the Oracle, Rev. 11.2. 2. The witneſſes, or faithful Miniſters prophecying in Sackcloth all this mournful time, Rev. 11.3. 3. The Woman or Chriſt's Church, lying hid in the wilderneſs ſo long, Rev. 12.6. And 4. The Reigning of that Apocaliptick Beaſt repreſented in his double capacity of Secular and Eccleſiaſtick power Rev. 13.1, 11. (N.B.) All thoſe do Synchronize together, and as contemporaries do all run in parallel lines all along from their beginnings to their endings, one with another, at the ſame time: So that thus far our Lord hath apparently condeſcended for the comfort of his Church: N.B. That if we can but find out where to fix the Epocha or beginning of any one of thoſe four Remarkable providences, in what year any of them had its firſt riſe and Original; we might then without difficulty diſcover the punctual period of all the other three: Oh! how comfortable would it be, could we but find out when the witneſſes ſhall put off their Sackcloth and take down their harps (which they have not caſt quite away, but only hung them up upon the Willows by the banks of Babylon's Rivers) and then tune them again to ſing the Songs of Zion and to found out the praiſes of the God of Iſrael, Pſal. 137.1, 2, &c. We are aſſured of this, that at the time appointed the end ſhall be, Dan. 8.19.

Note well; 1. Likewiſe, how comfortable would it be to know the preciſe time when the Lord will call back the woman (his Church and Spouſe) out of her wilderneſs-State (into which he hath now allured her, Hoſea 2.14.) or according to a plainer Verſion [I will allure her, after that I have brought her into the wilderneſs:] ſhewing, that God firſt viſits and chaſtizes her for playing the Adultereſs, verſe 13. and then comes to comfort her by alluring her with kind Intreaties to return again to her firſt and beſt Husband verſe 7. and ſpeaks comfortably to her heart, like a kind Husband, who wins his Diſloyal Wife home to him after her wandrings from him, making uſe of her preſent Diſtreſſes to gain her again to himſelf, and into a condition more honourable and happy to her, Hoſ. 2.14, 15, 16, 19. I will be reconciled to thee; I will take thee upon new Amicable Terms, and betroth thee again to my ſelf for ever in my Kingdom, &c.

Note well, 2. 'Tis likewiſe no leſs comfortable for us to know when thoſe New Gentiles (ſo the Papiſts are call'd, for bringing in Gentiliſm again into the Church, and ſcarely differing in any thing, ſave that the old Pagans worſhipped many ſupreme Gods, but theſe new Pa-pagans own one only) ſhall have done treading down the outward Court, or generality of Chriſtians? whoſe worſhip is not warranted by the word, ſo cannot indure a meaſuring by God's reed, the rule of the Goſpel: and therefore leſs under God's care for preſervation than thoſe that were to be an holy Prieſthoon and more ſpiritual, 1 Pet. 2.5. worſhipping God in the inner Court of the Prieſts and Levites, according to the Rule of the Divine Rod, the word of God: It however, ſhould grieve us that the Chriſtian Church call'd the holy City (as the Jews in general were call'd the Holy Nation) Rev. 11.1, 2. ſhould ſtill be troden under foot more and more, by the foul feet of the Beaſt, which yet will not be for ever becauſe limited to 42. Months only.

Note well, Laſtly, Oh! how comfortable would it be to know the priciſe and punctual period of the Reign and domineering of this Behemoth or Beaſt of Beasts, Heb. The plural faeminine, as if he had many Beaſts in his belly, and therefore is deſcribed as a double beaſt, Rev. 13.1.11. becauſe he began in the civil power of the Roman Empire, but was quickly Metamorphoſ'd in the Eccleſiaſtick power of the Biſhop of Rome, in compariſon of whoſe power, that when Phocus had gratified Boniface the Biſhop with the primacy for the ſupporting him in the Imperial Chair, after he had murdered the Emperour Mauritious, his Maſter, and placed him ſelf in it. The Emperor's power was indeed very ſmall ever after; Therefore is he ſaid to exerciſe all the power of the firſt Beaſt, healing his former wound by reviving the adoration of Images under a new name of Saints, p. 513by which Idolatry lived again and doth live, yet is it alſo limited to 42 months, Rev. ch. 13. v. 5, 12, 15 and thoſe two Beaſts are but one Beaſt, ver. 17, 18, &c.

N.B. That the Lord may make me as another Barnabas (a Son of Conſolation, Acts 4.36.) unto the Diſconſolate Church in this our Day, with a bleſſed Voice in the Temple, Iſa. 66.6. I ſhall lay down this General Rule firſt, that the choiceſt and moſt ſoveraign Cordials, wherewith we ought to Refreſh and Revive our Trembling Spirits (when we are even fainting away with fear prevailing over our hope) are the exceeding great and precious Promiſes of God, 2 Pet. 1.4. which are called by the Evangelical Prophet [the Breaſts of Conſolation] Iſa. 66.11. Thoſe are the bleſſed Suckling Bottles that all God's Children (who are taught of the Lord, Iſa. 54.13. John 6.45.) muſt learn to ſuck, that they may be ſatified, ſo, as no longer to look upon the conſolations of God like ſmall matters to them, Job 15.11. for no ſmall gifts can come from the hand of ſo great and ſo gracious a God, who is the God of Conſolation, Rom. 15.5. and the Conſolation of Iſrael, Luke 2.25. He is the God of all Comfort, 2 Cor. 1.3. that is, of all true Comfort, of all kinds of Comfort, and of all degrees of Comfort; He is the Fountain from whom they all flow, and ſuch a Father of Mercy, as when one comforting Mercy is ſpent upon us, God ſtill abides as a Father, able to beget more and new comforting Mercies for us, that the Heirs of the Promiſes might have ſtrong conſolation, &c: Heb. 6.17, 18. even everlaſting Conſolation in our Lord Chriſt, 2 Theſ. 2.16. Now as there is a Natural Inſtinct which inſtructeth Lambs and all ſuch like young Animals immediately (as ſoon as brought forth) to ſuck the Teats of their Dams, &c. So there is a Divine and Spiritual Inſtinct, which teaches all the Lambs of Chriſt to ſuck the precious Promiſes (thoſe bleſſed Breaſts of Conſolation) that they may be as Napthali, ſatisfied with favour, and filled with the bleſſing of the Lord, Deut. 33.23. Behold the marvelous congruity betwixt this Inſtinct of Nature in all young Animals, and that great Grace of Faith in all God's Children; 'Tis ſaid, the Juſt ſhall live by his Faith, Hab. 2.4. (a Text ſo famous, as to be three times quoted in the New Teſtament, R…m. 1.17. Gal. 3.11. and Heb. 10.38.) All which Divine Scriptures do [foreign] unanimouſly hold forth the moſt eminent and moſt excellent exerciſe of that great Grace of Faith, ſo exceeding uſeful to us both while we live, and when we die: The Juſt (or truly juſtified ones) cannot live without it; 'Tis as the Merchant Ship, that fetcheth our food from far, Prov. 31.14. even from Heaven it ſelf ſometimes, as it did Manna, Pſal. 78.24, 25. John 6.31. This Grace makes men able to live even in the worſt of times; and ſure I am, none dare die without it; 'tis the ſaving Grace, as Heb. 11.13. All God's Worthies died in the Faith, &c. Thus far in the general; but now come to particulars. N.B. We muſt learn (all of us) as becometh the Babes of Chriſt, to ſuck out ſatisfaction to our Souls from ſuch bleſſed Breasts of Conſolation as are moſt ſuitable to our preſent condition of any kind of Calamity.

The firſt Inſtance I ſhall give here, is that exceeding great and precious promiſe which God moſt graciouſly granted unto Abraham (that Father of all the faithful, Rom. 4.16.) when a pang of fear came upon him, and when his Faith was fallen below his Fear, and his Fear was ſwollen up above his Faith, then God comes ſeaſonably, and ſays to him [Fear not Abraham, I am thy Shield, and thy exceeding great Reward] Gen. 15.1. When Abraham was made able to ſuck out the ſweet Milk of this precious Promiſe by the Myſterial Mouth of a lively Faith, then his former fainting fits of a deſponding fear were done away, and then could he walk (as it were) hand in hand with his God through all his following Tryals, and became able to follow his heavenly Father (as we may ſay blindfold [not knowing whither he went] Heb. 11.8. yet all along, well knowing with whom he went, for he always walked as a Child in his Father's hand, ſaying (as David ſaid afterward) Though my God lead me through the Valley of the ſhadow of death, I will fear no evil, for God is with me, his Rod and Staff ſtill comfort me, therefore ſurely goodneſs and mercy ſhall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the houſe of the Lord for ever, Pſal. 23.4, 6. 'Tis expreſly ſaid of Abraham, that [he ſtaggered not at the promiſe of God through unbelief; but was ſtrong in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully perſwaded, that what God had promiſed, he was able alſo to perform, &c.] Rom. 4.20, 21. Now what Malady of fear did here befal our Father Abraham, may befal any of the Sons and Daughters of Abraham, yea undoubtedly often times does ſo. As Faith in God's Promiſe was this holy Patriarch's Remedy againſt his Malady of fear: So accordingly it ought to be our Remedy alſo: If we could believe more in the Lord our God, we ſhould be better eſtabliſhed againſt all diſtruſtful fears, and be more proſperous in our works and ways, 2 Chron. 20.20. Iſa. 7.9. for God proportioneth his performing unto the meaſure of our believing, ſaying to us, as to the Man in the Goſpel [As thou be, p. 514lieveſt, ſo be it unto thee] Matth. 8.13. Mark 9.23. This is a very great Truth, that whoſoever of the Sons and Daughters of Abraham do their duty (according to that Divine Command, Rom. 4.12.) of walking in the ſteps of faithful Abraham in this World, they ſhall be ſure of lodging in the boſom of Father Abraham (as Lazarus did, Luke 16.22.) in the World to come, &c.

The ſecond Inſtance (that I ſhall add alone here) concerneth the Church of God in general, as the firſt did every Child of God in particular, both which may fall into fainting fits of hopeleſs fear, this is that exceeding great and precious promiſe, out of which all the Children of the Church ought to ſuck the Milk of conſolation in a diſconſolating day of diſtreſs upon the Church of Chriſt, namely, that bleſſed Breaſt of comfort recorded by Zechariah [Rejoyce greatly O! daughter of Zion, &c. Behold thy King cometh unto thee, Juſt and having Salvation, &c:] Zech. 9.9. This is that full and ſtrutting Breaſt of conſolation which all the Children of the Church are commanded to ſuck and be ſatisfied, to milk out and be delighted with the abundance of her glory, Iſa. 66. ver. 11. to wit, when her King comes in his glory to comfort her, this choice Cordial the Prophet Zechariah prepared for the Church's comfort in her Captivity, about 500 years before Chriſt's coming in the fleſh, and it was ſo famous a Prophetick promiſe, that when it became a performance at the coming of Chriſt, we find this ſame Prophecy quoted by all the four Evangeliſts, as Mat. 21.5, 7, 9. and Mar. 11.2, 10. and Luk. 19. ver. 30, 38. and Joh. 12.13, 14, 15, 16. N.B. But long before this Prophet Zechariah we find that Evangelical Prpohet Iſaiah gives us the ſubſtance of this very Prophecy in his day, ſaying to the ſame purpoſe [what ſhall one then anſwer the Ambaſſadors (or Meſſengers) of the Nations?] that the Lord hath founded Sion, and the poor of his people ſhall truſt in it, Iſa. 14.32. ſee Pſa. 87. ver. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. and 102.16. where David (long before Iſaiah) moſt highly extolls Sion's foundation, and its ſuperſtructure alſo, when the Lord ſhall appear in his glory: but this Prophetical Evangelist (Iſaiah) comes yet more near to this Prophecy of Zechariah, ſaying [Behold the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world (as the beſt Tidings that can be heard in the world) ſay ye to the Daughter of Zion, behold! thy Salvation cometh, behold his Reward is with him and his work before him] Iſa. 62. verſe 11. Note hence, (1ſt.) Here are three [Beholds] to give the greater Luſtre upon the the matter there mentioned (2ly.) Zions King and Salvation are Synonima's, ſignifying one and the ſame, for Zechariah's [King cometh] is Iſaiah's [Salvation cometh] and thus old Simeon call'd Chriſt his Salvation, Luk. 2.30. (3ly.) When Zion's King cometh then Zion ſhall be called [a City ſought out and not forſaken,] Iſa. 62.12. This is the ſum and ſubſtance of all the beſt news upon the earth, we may draw water with joy out of this well of Salvation, Iſa. 12.3. A Mandamus from Zion's King can ſave Zion at her loweſt State Pſ. 44.4. and 74, 12, and 48.2. N.B. This Prophetick promiſe of Chriſt's coming with Salvation unto Zion, doth afford twelve comfortable conſiderations.

The Firſt, Cordial is; If the Tidings of Chriſt's firſt coming unto his Church (tho' then he came only in the form of a Servant and in his State of Humiliation) yet the Promiſe thereof was ſuch good news to Zion and ſo grand a ground of her greateſt joy, as both thoſe Prophets, [Iſa. 62.11. and Zech. 9.9.] do teſtifie. Then how much more joyful tidings muſt needs be Christ's ſecond coming in his State of Exaltation unto his Church? when he ſhall come in his Kingdom and in the Clouds of Heaven with Power and great Glory, Mat. 24.30.

The ſecond Cordial is; If the Ante nati, or thoſe born before Chriſt, namely, the Old Teſtament Saints, could be content to wait the full term of four Thouſand years from the firſt Time that Chriſt was Promiſed in the ſeed of the Woman, Gen. 3.15. (as a Congruous Remedy to man's Curſed Malady by his firſt foul fall) before that promiſe was performed at the Birth of Chriſt: Then why cannot the Post nati, or ſuch as are born after Chriſt, (namely, the New Teſtament Saints) be content to wait until the term of only two Thouſand years more be run quite out before his ſecond coming in Glory which is but half the time that the Patriarks and Prophets waited for his firſt coming as a… Servant only and not as a Lord and King in his Grandeur of Majeſty. T'is well known that the time ſince the Birth of Chriſt amounts not yet to Seventeen Hundred years, ſo there is yet Three Hundred years and more to make up the numbers of two Thouſand (which is but the one half of the afore-ſaid 4000 in the Old Teſtament times: yet, our Lord comforts us with ſaying [For the Elects ſake theſe days ſhall be ſhortned] Mat. 24.22. and the world may not laſt thus Six Thouſand years as the Rabbins ſay, only from this ground, as the Creation of the world laſted ſix days, ſo its continuation ſhall be Six Thouſand years becauſe 'tis ſaid [a Thouſand years are but as one day with God, &c.] Now what a ſhame it is that we of the new Teſtament times, ſhould be ſo ſhort spirited, as to be ſo ſoon weary of waiting for our Lord's coming, p. 515eſpecially conſidering, how we lay under the bleſſed influence both of Chriſt's Birth, Life and Death, yea and of his Reſurrection, Aſcenſion and Interceſſion, &c. None of which were priviledges of Old Teſtament times, yet they waited for the conſolation of Iſrael, Luke 2.25. we ſhould adjure our ſelves not to awake our love till he pleaſe, Can. 2.7. & 3.5.

The third Cordial is; Tho' there be a time for our Lord's going from his Zion, to wit, when his Glory departs from her, as it did gradualy from his S…ctuary, Ezek. 10.18. and 11.23. Becauſe Zion's ſins do ſometime ſeperate betwixt her Lord and her, Iſa. 59.2. then is it that the ſpouſe complains [My beloved had with drawn himſelf, Cant. 5.6. This is the time of Zion's trouble, but ſhe ſhall be ſaved out of it, Jer. 30.7. becauſe there is a time of Zion's Kings returning to her again, wherein he ſaith to her [I am returned with my mercies to Jeruſalem and I will yet comfort Zion] Zech. 1.16.17. Tho' Zion be ſad, when her King goeth from her, yet is ſhe commanded here to rejoice greatly, for behold her King cometh unto her, Zech. 9.9.

Thus we are told how Chriſt did depart from his Diſciples, this made them melancholly, therefore 'tis added, for their comfort, that in like manner he will return to them again, Acts 1.9, 11. To the ſame effect Chriſt had told them before his death, Saying, [Let not your hearts be ſad, if I go from you, 'tis to prepare a place for you, and I will come again to you and receive you to my ſelf, that where I am, there ye may be alſo.] John 14.1, 2, 3. And he adds [I will not leave you comfortleſs, or, Gr. Orphans, for I will come to you again.] verſe 18. and 28. yea, for their greater comfort, he tells them, his abſence from them was both expedient and ſhould be only for a little while, and then they ſhould ſee him again, John 16.7, 16. which proving a problem or a dark ſaying to the Diſciples, our Lord explains it, verſe 17, 18, 19, 20. As it was but a little time indeed betwixt his Death and his Reſurrection, &c. So it muſt be but a little time betwixt us (living in this laſt age of the world) and our Lord's returning to us, though he tarry his appointed time, yet are we aſſured he will ſurely come and will not tarry, therefore muſt we wait for him, Hab. 2.3. the Lord is not ſlack concerning his coming, 2 Pet. 3.9. we muſt be looking for his return, Iſa. 8.17. ſo that when he returneth we may be able to cry with comfort [This is our Lord we have waited for him, we will rejoyce in his Salvation, Iſaiah 25.8, 9.

The fourth comfortable conſideration is; Though, during this diſtance of time betwixt Sion's King's departing from her, and his returning to her again, be the time of Zion's trouble and travel. The Church Militant here upon Earth is compared to a Travailing Woman, tho' pangs take hold of her, and ſhe is in pain, labouring to bring forth, Mic. 4.8, 9, 10. yet this traveling-pain, theſe labouring pangs do not laſt long, ſhe is at length delivered to her great ſatisfaction and comfort: This ſame alluſion our Lord himſelf maketh, that the time of his Abſenting himſelf from his Church would be her Traveling time, ſhe ſhould ſuffer the pangs and pains of a Travailing woman, and ſhe ſhould have ſorrow, becauſe her hour is come, yet ſo ſoon as ſhe is delivered of a Man-Child, ſhe then remembers no more her fore-going anguiſh, but all her former ſorrow is ſwallowed up with preſent joy, becauſe God hath enabled her to bring forth a man-child into the world, John 16.20, 21, 22. And thus the Woman (Chriſt's Church) is ſaid to bring forth a Man-child, which was caught up into Heaven for its ſecurity from the Dragon, Rev. 12.5.

Thus likewiſe we are told when Chriſt comes to be formed in the hearts of true penitents by ſuch godly Miniſters as Travel in birth for their Converſion (as bleſſed Paul did, Gal. 4.19.) then there is joy in Heaven over one ſinner that repenteth, Luke 15. verſe 6, 10, 23, and 32. Now aſſuredly the Church of Chriſt ſhall not alway go with her great Belly, nor ſhall ſhe long complain (as Hezekiah did in his Day) that the Child of Reformation is brought to the Birth, and there is no ſtrength to bring forth, Iſa. 37.3. The Lord will haſten her deliverance in his own due and appointed time, Iſa. 60.20. and Dan. 8.19. He will work wonderful works which we never looked for, Iſa. 64.3. Who hath heard, or ſeen ſuch a thing, that before Zion travelled, ſhe brought forth, before her pain came ſhe was delivered of a Man-child, a Nation is born in one day ſo ſoon as Zion travelled ſhe brought forth her Childeren: Shall I bring to the Birth, and not cauſe to bring forth? (ſaith the Lord, &c.) Iſa. 66.6, 7, 8, 9. As 'tis the voice of the. Lord that maketh the Hinds (thoſe girt Creatures) to Calve, Pſa. 29.9. and Job 39. ver. 1, 2, 3, 4. So, and much more than ſo, 'tis the Voice of the Lord from his Temple, that openeth the Church's Womb, and cauſeth her to bring forth her ſorrows with Joy, and the ſame Voice from the Temple calleth upon all that love her, to rejoice for joy with her, and to ſuck the Breaſts of Conſolation unto ſatisfaction, and to milk out ſo as to be Delighted with the Abundance of her Glory, Iſaiah 66 610, 11, 12, &c.

p. 516The fifth Cordial is; Tho' there be four famous Joys that are temporal, and Tranſitory here upon Earth, and all Recorded in Scripture. namely ▪ 1ſt. The Joy of Harveſt. And 2dly. The Joy of Victory both theſe be named in Iſa. 9.3. as very great earthly joys for 'tis well known, what ſtrange tranſporting Joys are practiced by Country-men at the laſt Load of Corn led out of the Field into the Barn, to which we add the ſhearing of Sheep, which is called a good day, &c. 1 Sam. 25.8.36. And 'tis well known what ſtrange Triumphing Joys are made by the Conquering Soldiers when they run to divide the Rich Spoils of their Conquered Enemies. 3dly. There is the Joy of marriage, mentioned in, Cant. 3.11. Where the day of Solomon's Eſpouſals is call'd the day of the gladneſs of his heart: And 'tis no leſs to other meaner men, unto whom it cannot but be matter of Joy; When man at his Marryng a Woman, doth verily find again his Loſt Rib that was taken out of his ſide, Gen. 2. v. 21, 22. Therefore marriage is near in ſound to a merry age. (4thly.) There is the Joy (that ſucceeds this Joy of Marriage) namely, the Joy of a Man-child born into the World (as is afore-mentioned) this is likewiſe matter of great Joy, becauſe thereby, Names, Poſterities, Families and Generations are upheld in the World throughout all Counteries over the face of the Earth, and without which the World would ſoon come to an end, &c.

Yet this Joy of the Church bringing forth the Man-child of Reformation is a Joy that far tranſcends all the other four former Joys, not only as it is, 1. A Spiritual and Heavenly Joy (wherein it exceeds all Joys that are only Carnal and Earthly & which ſtrangers do not intermeddle with, Pro. 14.10.) But alſo, 2. Becauſe It is an everlaſting Joy, Iſa. 35.10. & 61.7, & 65.17, 18, 19. Thus our Lord tells his Diſciples, their Joy at this Man-child's Birth (upon his return) will be joy which no man taketh away from them, Joh. 16. v. 21, 22, 'Tis call'd a day of Refreſhing [foreign,] Refrigerij, a cooling day after hot perſecutions, Acts 3.19. yea, And 3. Its a moſt extenſive happineſs as it is a day of Reſtitution of all …hings foreign, verſe 21. as the ground of this Joy is greateſt, ſo 'tis a joy that laſts longeſt: Moreover, 'tis ſaid to the faithful Servant [Enter thou into the Joy of thy Lord.] Matth. 25.21. and again, verſe 23. Intimating this Joy is too great to enter into us, but we muſt enter into it, and when it is once entered into, we muſt enjoy that Joy fore ever.

The ſixth comfortable Conſideration is; To behold Chriſt coming in his Kingdom (with power and great glory, Matth. 24.30.) to ſave Zion from her Enemies (Spiritual as well as Temporal) and to make all her Foes to become her Foot-ſtool, Pſal. 110.1. Matth. 22.44. Mark 12.36. Luke 20.42. Acts 2.35. 1 Cor. 15.24, 25, 26. Heb. 1….13. and 10.13. This muſt needs be a moſt joyful ſight (thus often Recorded in Scripture) and infinitely tranſcending thoſe three famous ſights which Father Auguſtin ſo earneſtly wiſhed to ſee, namely, [Romam in ſtore, Paulum in Ore, et Chriſtum in Carne] that is, Old Rome in her Antient ſplendor, bleſſed Paul preaching with his Charms of Eloquence, and our moſt bleſſed Redeemer in his humane nature, walking about and doing good, as Acts 10.38. We are told how the Tulep (call'd a Lilly) doth out-ſhine Solomon in all his glory, Matth. 6.28, 29. How much more glorious will the ſight of Chriſt be in his State of Exaltation, who was greater than Solomon in his State of Humiliation, Matth. 12.42. An exalted Chriſt is a rare ſight, ſo excellent, as only to be ſeen of Angels, 1 Tim. 3.16. yet it is ſaid, that ſome men ſhall not taſte of death, till they ſee Chriſt come in this Kingdom, Matthew 16.28.

The ſeventh Comfort is; Tho' the ordinary time (propoſed in the precious promiſe of Chriſt's coming to ſave Zion in the common way of Divine Providence) be uſually when his whole work is done upon Mount Zion) namely, 1. His Humbling-work for Sin. 2. His Purging and Purifying work from Sin. And 3. His Preparing work for her Reception of his ſaving mercy.) Iſa. 10.12. Then will her King come to diſquiet the Inhabitants of Babylon (who have ſo long diſquiet the Inhabitants of Zion) Ier. 50.34. Yet by his extraordinary prerogative of free grace, ſometimes, when Zion's King beholds unſufferable inſolency in her Enemies: This will bring him ſooner, before he can find any innocency in her ſelf, and before that Three-fold work (afore ſaid) be wrought upon her. Obſerve how the Lord argues [I would ſcatter them, &c.] were it not, that I feared the wrath of the Enemy, leaſt their adverſaries ſhould behave them inſolently, and ſay, [me non voluiſſe aut non valuiſſe] that I would not or could not ſave them, &c. Deu. 32.26, 27. Therefore ſaith the Lord, The feet of my Peoples Foes ſhall ſlide in due time, &c. verſe 35. but my People, themſelves, ſhall be exalted in due time, 1 Pet. 5.6. If they be not weary of well doing they ſhall reap in due Seaſon, Gal. 6.9. God will not grant the deſires of the wicked (as David prays) leaſt they ſhould exalt themſelves, Pſalms 140 8. His Mercy p. 517Triumphs over his Justice, James 2.13 and ſaves them with a Non-obſtante, with a Nevertheleſs, and with a Notwithſtanding their Sins, &c. Pſa. 106.8. and 78.38. but 'tis more diſtinctly demonſtrated in Ezek the 20. wherein we have the whole ſum of the Law and of the Goſpel, and where mercy many times catcheth hold of the hands of Juſtice and keeps them from ſtriking his Servants, as appeareth from, verſe 4. to 44. all along. God oft wrought for his own name's ſake, that it ſhould not be polluted, &c. verſe 14, 21, and 43, 44. when they had more highly provoked him, ſo that he could not ſave them for their ſake, yet brought he them into the bonds of the Covenant, verſe 37. yea and his moſt gracious repentings were (after all this) ſo kindled together, as to cry out [how ſhall I give the up Ephraim, &] I cannot find in my heart to be ſo unkind to thee [for I am God and not man, and I have holy ones in the midſt of thee, &c.] Hoſ. 11.8, 9. I will not destroy the Vine for the ſake of the few Cluſters that have bleſſings in them, Iſa. 65.8. God would not deſtroy Sodom and her four Cities, had there been found but ten Righteous Perſons in thoſe five Cities, Gen. 18.32. We therefore do well to argue in prayer to God, as Moſes did, [What will the Egyptians ſay, &c.] Exodus 32.12. and Numb. 14, 13, 14. and as Joſhua [What wilt thou do to thy great Name?] Joſhua 7.7, 8, 9. both thoſe Arguments then did prevail with God, and why not now, &c?

The eighth Cordial is; Tho' God will (and out of his very faithfulneſs, Pſal. 119.75.) Chaſtize his Childern, for whom he loves he chaſtens, yet he doth not love to chaſten, Heb. 12.6, 7, 8. Rev. 3.19. Lam. 3.33. He hath tears in his eyes when a Rod is in his hand, &c. Therefore he aſſureth us, he will not chide for ever leaſt their Spirits ſhould fail, and the ſouls that he hath made, &c. Iſa. 57.15, 16, 17, 18, 19. He always corrects in meaſure, Jer. 30.11. and meaſures it only out by Peck and by Peck, and not by whole Buſhels at once (as the Hebrew runs) ſtaying his rough wind in the day of his East wind, Iſa. 27.7, 8. The Lord ſaith [I will hear your cryes for I am gracious] Exo. 22.27. And even as a Father pitties his Child, ſo the Lord pitties us, Pſalm 103.13. 'Tis well known, that a little correction ſatisfies a kind Father for a great fault in his dear Child, when the Child ſwoons under its ſcourging, then the Father lets the Rod fall down on the ground, takes up his Child into his Boſom, and falls on kiſſing it to fetch life into it again, thus God did to Ephraim, Jer. 31.18, 20. He ſtirs not up all his wrath, Pſ. 78.38. but in midſt of wrath remembers mercy, Hab. 3.2… … rule is [as we are able to bear it] 1 Cor. 10.13. And his anger is but for a very little while, and then it ends in burning the Rod. Iſa. 10, 5, 25. So that we have need, but of a little more patience, Heb. 10.36. James 1.4. Rev. 13.10. And God will give an expected end, Jeremiah 29.11.

The ninth Cordial is, Zion's King is not ſo Titulo tenus, in an empty Title, and no more, but will come and ſet up his fifth Kingdom after all the four Grand Kingdoms (the Aſſyrian, the Perſian, the Graecian, and the Roman) be deſtroyed. The Humane Philoſophers do queſtion whether there be a Quinta Eſſentia, a Fifth Eſſence diſtinct from the four Elements, Earth, Water, Air, and Fire: Yet Divine Daniel doth demonſtrate that there ſhall be a Fifth Kingdom; tho' Daniel doth obſcurely compare the four aforeſaid Kingdoms unto four Boyſterous and Bluſtering Winds, Dan. 7.2. the fourth whereof (namely, that of the Roman Caeſars) was more violent and more permanent than any of the other Three; for firſt, The Foundation of that Kingdom was laid in violence and blood at the beginning of it; as Julius Caeſar (who was the firſt of the Caeſars) was violently (as it were) digged out of his Mothers belly when he came into the World, and accordingly was his Soul as violently digged out of his Body, with ſtabbing Bodkins when he went out of the World. And ſecondly, This laſt of the four bluſtering Winds hath laſted longeſt in blood and violence for near to Two thouſand years. But we are told of a ſmall ſtill Wind or Voice, 1 Kings 19.11, 12. which had the Lord in it, whereas neither the ſtrong Wind, nor the Earthquake, nor the Fire (all foregoing) had none of them the Lord in them: This ſmall ſtill breathing Wind or Voice may have a relation to the Kingdom of Christ, who is call'd a Prince of Peace, Iſa. 9.6. and Peace upon Earth, good will to men, Luke 2.14. and whoſe Kingdom conſiſts of Peace and Joy, Rom. 14.17. This is the ſmall ſtill Voice that will at laſt moſt effectually becalm all the four violent Winds, &c. But Daniel doth more plainly declare the four aforeſaid Kingdoms; all which he expreſly compared to four foul Beasts, Dan. 7.3, 4, 5, 6, 7. then, after the final fall of all thoſe four Beaſtly Kingdoms, he addeth a fifth Kingdom, which he calleth [the Kingdom of a Man] verſe 13, 14. to wit, of God-man, the Lord Jeſus, whoſe Kingdom ſhall never be deſtroyed. N.B. Chriſt's Kingdom hath not a finis conſumptionis, but only a finis conſummationis: Tho' it ſhall be conſummated when his Mediatory work endeth; yet then it will not be conſumed, but only ſwallowed up by p. 518his Eſſential Kingdom, which ſhall then comprehend it to all eternity; his Mediatory Kingdom laſts until he hath made all his foes his footſtool, &c. 1 Cor. 15.24, to 28. becauſe he is both the Maſter & the Maker of the Macrocoſm, or great World, & able to ſubdue all, Phi. 3.21.

The tenth Cordial is; This King of Sion hath a true right and propriety to his fifth Kingdom, even to all the Kingdoms and Common-wealths in the whole World. 'Tis told us in expreſs words [whoſe Right it is, &c.] Ezek. 21.27. Now the Lord Chriſt hath a Royal Right hereunto by Three manner of means or ways; as firſt, by a Divine Eternal Ordination, he was verily fore-ordained for this tranſcendent Royalty, 1 Pet. 1.20. which word holds forth, how careful our heavenly Father was to make all matters ſure concerning Man's Redemption by the Meſſiah; this great work was God's eternal purpoſe, Eph. 3.11. and ſuch a profound Myſtery was in that work, as made the holy Angels not only to admire it, but alſo deſirous to peep into it (as the word foreign ſignifies) 1 Pet. 1.12. and Eph. 3.10. Secondly, Chriſt came to this Royal Right by his Father's free and gratuitous Donation: The Father bids the Son [Ask of me, and I will give Thee the Heathen for thy Inheritance, and the utmoſt parts of the Earth for thy Poſſeſſion, Pſal. 2.8, 9. N.B. If all things were conveyed to Chriſt himſelf by way of Asking, why then ſhould we, poor Chriſtians, expect any good thing without asking, eſpecially when he bids us [Ask and ye ſhall have, &c.] Matth. 7.7, 8. Chriſt indeed had a Natural and Eſſential Kingdom (as he was God, co-equal with the Father, Phil. 2.6.) This he had not by way of asking, but did enjoy it from all Eternity, and ſhall hold it to all Eternity: But his other (the Mediatory, Oecumenical, and Diſpenſatory Kingdom) Christ hath as a Donative and Gift (upon that Eternal Covenant made betwixt the Father and the Son) for his faithful fulfilling the great work of fallen Man's Mediator, as his Rich Reward; and this is that Kingdom which he will deliver up to the Father when the End of it is accompliſhed, and then the Son (as Man) ſhall be ſubject, that God may be all in all, 1 Cor. 15.24, 28. Thirdly, Chriſt hath this Royal Right by way of ſpecial and peculiar Exaltation. 'Tis ſaid, Chriſt humbled himſelf, &c. wherefore God exalted him, &c. Phil. 2.8, 9. the word [foreign] ſignifies, Christ did empty himſelf in his State of Humiliation, paſſing through many little Deaths all his life long, and at laſt underwent that curſed and painful Death on the Croſs as to his Body; and as if this had been too little, his Soul alſo was ſorrowful to the Death, Matth. 26.38. Yea, he humbled himſelf ſo low as to lay down his Body three days in the Grave, &c. Therefore God declares his Decree to give him Royal Honour, Pſal. 2.6, 7. and to exalt him ſo high, as not only to be above the Grave in his Reſurrection, and above the Earth in his Aſcenſion, yea and above the Heavens alſo in ſeating him at his Right hand upon a Throne of Glory in the higheſt Heavens. Beſide all this, God ſets his King upon his holy Hill of Sion, above all other Hills, and advances his Son's Scepter above all worldly Scepters, yea and dignifies him with a Name above every Name of Honour and Dignity both in Heaven, on Earth, and under the Earth, Phil. 2.9, 10.11. Then the Sun of Righteouſneſs, Mal. 4.2. (which had lain long under a laſting Ecclipſe) breaks forth into its former Native Splendor and Glory.

The eleventh Cordial is; This King of Sion, who hath now a true Tittle to, & a Right Propriety in a fifth Kingdom, will in due time become the full Poſſeſſor of it, whereof he is ever the Right Proprietor and Owner: So 'tis ſaid [Ʋntil he come whoſe Right it is, and I will give it him] Ezek. 21.27. which intimateth, there is a time appointed by the Father, wherein he will give to his Son a plenary poſſeſſion of all that he hath purchaſed a propriety in by his Death; and to explain what this is, we are told that Chriſt will take to himſelf his great Power and Reign, overturning all that oppoſe, and cauſing them to comply with this Conquerour; then all the Kingdoms of the World ſhall become the Lord's and his Christ's, Rev. 11.15, 17. Chriſt indeed ſaith, My Kingdom is not of this Worlb, John 18.36. Yet is it in this World; Christ is better call'd [King of Nations] than Tidal was, Gen. 14.1. as well as he is call'd [the King of Saints] Rev. 15.3. For when any grievous Calamity was about to come upon the Church of God from any of her Evil Neighbours, Jer. 12.14. to wit, the curſed Nations that compaſſed her about (as ſo many greedy Tygers, Bears, Boars, Lions, Leopards, Wolves, &c. ſaith Luther) then God ſent his Prophets to comfort his Church againſt this coming Calamity with this ſoveraign Cordial of Chriſt's coming as a King to Relieve and Reſcue her from thoſe Ravenous Beaſts by his Irreſiſtible Power and Regal Authority. There be many famous Inſtances hereof, not only that great Text, Zech. 9.9. and that alſo, Ezek. 21.27. but likewiſe (tho' many more might be mentioned) I ſhall here add only one more, namely, that of Iſa. 9.6, 7. at which time there was to come a moſt unparallel'd Calamity upon the Church, Iſa. 7.17, 18, 19. and 9.1. Then to preponderate p. 519and out-weigh the perplexity of that matchleſs Miſery, the Prophet of God there doth comfort the Church, not only with the Birth, but alſo with the Kingdom of Christ, ſaying, [the Goverment ſhall be upon his ſhoulders, the Mighty God, the Prince of Peace, and of the Increaſe of his Kingdom there ſhall be no end] Iſa. 9.6, 7. The ſame may be obſerved in thoſe two Prophets that followed Iſaiah, namely, Ezekiel and Zechariah, as above quoted, all intimating the truth of Father Bernard's excellent notion [Tamen Christus Rex est etiam in hoc Mundo, ſcilicet, in ordine ad Eccleſiam] that is, though his Kingdom be not of this World, John 18.36. which wholly lyeth and walloweth in wickedneſs, 1 John 5.19. and whoſe God is the Devil, blinding their minds, &c. 2 Cor. 4.4. Yet Christ is King in this World, in his ordering and over ruling all the Affairs of the World, ſo far as they do relate to his Church in the World. Thus Chriſt is call'd [Lord of all] Acts 10.36. If it be asked [of all what?] 'tis anſwered, he is Lord of all perſons, of all things, of all Kings, of all Kingdoms; he is Lord of his Church, and he is Lord of the World, and therefore he will not ſuffer his Church to be long wronged by the World. Now, in order that this Proprietary Chriſt may become Poſſeſſor of his Royal Right, the Lord reſolveth to overturn, overturn, overturn all Impediments, &c. Ezek. 21.27. which threefold Repetition declareth both the certainty and the frequency of that overturning work; there muſt be many overturnings both of the Jewiſh and of the Gentile Nations: The Lord ſaith [Yet once, and yet once more will I ſhake both Church and State, &c. Then the deſire of Nations ſhall come, Hag. 2.6, 7. and then, that which cannot be ſhaken ſhall remain, Heb. 12.26, 27. and then ſhall we receive a Kingdom which cannot be removed, verſe 28. In the mean time we are told of an [foreign] He who now letteth, will let, to wit, Antichriſt, until he be taken out of the way, 2 Theſſ. 2.7. Namely, by the Breath of Chriſt's mouth and by the brightneſs of his coming, verſe 8. Thoſe be the means whereby the Myſtery of iniquity ſhall be overturned, and if one over-turning will not do, God will overturn three times, &c.

The twelfth comfortable Conſideration is; That this Joyful time, appointed by the Father, wherein he will give to his Son, Chriſt, all that right of Royalty over all, as a rich reward for his Accompliſhing the great work of Redeeming the world, doth now draw nigh, but to aſſign the preciſe point of time, day or hour when it ſhall be: This is the [foreign, or Poſtulatum] the problem that hath proved an harder Queſtion to reſolve, than all thoſe problems that the Queen of Sheba propounded to prove the wiſdom of wiſe Solomon, namely to give an exact Aſſignation of that preciſe point of time, wherein the Father will give Livery and Seaſin (as the Law-term Runs) to his Son, that Chriſt may become King de facto in his due time, as he hath been King de Jure (by vertue of that eternal Covenant betwixt the Father and the Son) from all eternity: To reſolve (I ſay) aright this moſt abſtruſe Queſtion, Hic labor, hoc opus eſt: 'Tis a point of enquiry that hath poſed & non-plus'd the moſt Mercurial and the Acuteſt and moſt refined wits in the world, yea, even, godly wiſe men (who have thought that they ſtood in the wiſdom of God, and had the mind of Chriſt, as 1 Cor. 2.16.) have moſt notoriouſly plaid the part of ſools in their extravagant conjectures upon this dark prophecy (ſhooting ſhort of the Mark, &c.) whereof time it ſelf is the beſt expoſitor. Our Lord hath ſufficiently corrected man's fond curioſity in his telling us [but of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no not the Angels in Heaven, neither the Son (as he is the Son of man) but the Father only,] Mark 13.32. And the Lord (juſt before his Aſcenſion) ſaid unto his Diſciples [It is not for you to know times and the ſeaſons the Father hath put in his own power] Acts 1.6, 7. But it was then accounted enough for them to know that they ſhould receive Power at Pentecoſt, &c. verſe 8. and ſuitable to thoſe ſayings, afore-ſaid, The Prophet Zechary had ſaid long before [That day of Christ's coming, is one day which ſhall be known to the Lord] Zech. 14.4, 6, 7, 8. which phraſe is excluſive of any man's knowledge. And Note well; That prophecy of Zechary hath reſpect to Iſa. 60.19, Rev. 21. v. 23. and 22.5. The Phariſees asking Chriſt [when the Kingdom of God ſhould come] He anſwered them [The Kingdom of God cometh not with obſervation] Luke 17.20 That is, not by humane might or power, but by God's Spirit, Zech. 4.6. Our Engliſh Law ſaith [nullum Tempus occurrit Regi] That is, Subjects muſt not ſet a time to their Soveraign, nor ſend an ordinary Poſt for him, much leſs may we limit the King of Kings to our time, Pſal. 78.41. Our time may be always ready, but my time (ſaith Chriſt) is not yet come, John 7.6. And never was our Lord ſo ſharp upon his dear Mother, as when ſhe would have limited him to her time, ſaying to her [What have I to do with thee Woman mine hour is not yet come] John 2.4. 'Tis ſufficient for us to know that this day of Salvation is nearer in our day, Rom. 13.11. than it was to our Fore-fathers in former days: We may ſafely ſay, 'Tis now about the fourth watch of that long night of Antichriſtian p. 520Darkneſs, Antichriſt's Evening (at which time the light begins, Zech. 14.7.) ſhall be Chriſt's morning, and his time of coming to comfort his (not-comforted) Zion, Iſa. 54.11, 12. as he did to his Diſciples, Mat. 14.25, 26, 27. Rebuking the ſtorm that the Beaſt hath rais'd againſt the Ship (his Church) and his preſence ſhall then bring her ſafe to ſhore, as John 6.16. to 21. N.B. And tho' Chriſt come not with obſervation (as above) that is, as great Conquerours in Chariots of Triumph, and with numerous ſtrar…y, live-Guards, &c. Yet we may truly ſay, that this King is come in our day, riding upon a company of Aſſ-Aſſinating Aſſes, as Zech. 9.9. Matth. 21.5. confounding the Language of thoſe Babel-builders, and cauſing them to impeach one another: This is now for ſaving Zion while we were in a dream, Pſal. 126.1. Nay not dreaming of any danger. God is exalted in his own ſtrength, Pſal. 21.13. and hath wrought wonders with the Jaw bones of theſe Aſſes far beyond Sampſon, Judges 15.15, 16, 17. Chriſt hath cut the cords (or plow traces) of the wicked, Pſal. 129.3. Oh! that they may never be able to Plow any more, &c. The Mount of Olives Chriſt's feet have made to cleave aſunder to open a way for our deliverance, Zech. 14.4, 5. Oh! pray that this may be a precurſor or forerunner of greater deliverances, that Chriſt may come quickly, leaping over mountains (the proudeſt Tyrants) Can. 2.8. Rev. 22.20. But we may not know the hour of his coming, Rev. 3.3. Therefore Watch, &c.

I ſhall conclude this Tract with theſe few Remarks. The firſt is; 'Tis a peculiar Divine favour and priviledge that the prophecy concerning Antichriſts period which brings both a longer and worſer perſecution upon the people of God than did the Pagan power is both ſealed and dated, which is a ſingularity above other Prophecies and Promiſes of God. N.B. But becauſe this Beaſt's time of riſing hath not a Divine date upon it as well as the time of his ruine hath, that therefore we are at a loſs where to begin the right reckoning. Lo, Here is wiſdom, Rev. 13.18. that is, Either herein is the wiſdom, the unſearchable wiſdom of God, for the exerciſe of his Church, or 'tis ſo abſtruſe and profound a point that it will exerciſe the moſt refined wits, and the moſt Spiritual wiſdom of the greateſt Divines in all Ages: The moſt valuable Authors do unanimouſly concur that his riſe muſt be fixed betwixt the fourth and ſixth Century, and ſuppoſing he roſe in the year 400 (for he could not riſe before the Pagan power was expired under the ſixth ſeal's Prophecy which laſted ſo long. N.B. 200 years may be allowed him for growing into his virile State of Domineering Royalty which carries the Account to the year 600 and whether we ought to reckon from his firſt Riſing or firſt Reigning [hoc restat ad probandum] Gueſſing is but a vanity where there wants Scripture light to ground and guide, And 'tis but a too lightly valuing a man's Reputation to venture raſhly upon ſuch Rocks, as too many famous men have ſplit their Credit upon by their particular determinations which time the beſt Expoſitor hath confuted as falſe, but much more of this in my diſcovery of Antichriſt largely handled there, &c.

The ſecond Remark is; Tho' Antichriſt have ſtill many ſcores of years, wherein to continue and make war with the Saints, Rev. 13.5, 7. (As fixing the Epocha upon the Sixth Century doth neceſſarily imply.) N.B. Yet our Lord hath hitherto Interlaced (with the tedious time of this Beaſt's Beastly Reign) ſome lucid intervalls to ſupport the feeble faith, and trembling hopes of his people: As in the ten Primitive perſecutions God now and then ſtoped the carreer of thoſe Pagan perſecutors, and gave his perſecuted Saints a little leave (as in Job's phraſe) to ſwallow down their ſpittle but more eſpecially when Conſtantine came to the Crown. N.B. And after the Church had about 97 years Reſt by times which may be well meant [That ſilence in Heaven for half an hour] Rev. 8.1. At the opening of the ſeventh ſeal (after the ſix ſeals had deſtroyed the Pagan State which the Dragon had made his drudge to deſtroy the Goſpel-Church) that brought forth the Trumpet-Prophecy, ſo therein all along God gave his Church ſome little revivings in their bondage under the Papagan power or Antichriſt hitherto, and will do ſo till the vials deſtroy him.

The third Remark is; Nor was this all to give his perſecuted people now and then ſome reſpite & intermiſſion or ſome cooling times from hot perſecutions only, but God alſo ſcatter'd Cordials for Corroborating and Comforting their Spirits in the Evil day. N.B. as, (1ſt.) It was a comfort to the Church that all the Pagan perſecuting Emperors were ſo ſhort lived, inſomuch that 27 of them God blew out of the Imperial Chair, in the ſpace of 200 years, and then the Devil was defeated of his firſt deſign, for ſo far was he from routing up the Church, by the Pagan power, that it ſelf was routed up by Conſtantine, &c. This the Church over-lived to ſee; N.B. (2ly.) No leſs Joy it was to the Church to ſee the Devil defeated in his ſecond deſign againſt her by his powring out the Puddle water-flood of Arrianiſm; for then the Lord his her in the Wilderneſs, p. 521Rev. 12.6, 14. And made the Earth help her, verſe 16. to wit, the Goths and Vandals which the four firſt Trumpets Summon'd in upon the Roman Empire in the year 410 and waſted the weſtern part of it about the 480 d. year. All which Interſpace the Church injoy'd peace in the Exerciſe of Religion; yea, and during this double deſign of the Dragon againſt the Church (the former in the form of a Pagan, the latter of a Chriſtian, Arrian, yet denying Chriſt's Deity, &c.) beſide the white robes given to thoſe crying Souls under the Altar, Rev. 6.11.

N.B. The whole 7th. Chapter of Sealing and Securing 144000 is brought in for the comfort of the Church: Nor did his ſecond deſign ſucceed; for beſide the hiding place prepared of God for his Church in perſecution, ſhe was born as upon the wings of Eagles (as Exodus 19 4 and Deut. 32.11.) to ſoar above its reach, Rev. 12.6, 14. So that the Church had a liberty to condemn the Arrians, Pelagians, Neſtorians and Eutychians, by the 2d. and 3d General Councils which ſwallowed up the Flood. N.B. (3ly.) Still 'tis a comfort to the Church to be preſerved under Anti-chriſt (the laſt attempt of a daring Devil (when he found it impracticable to deſtroy the whole Church) he makes war againſt the Remnant of her ſeed, that keep cloſe to the rule of God's word, Rev. 12.17. tho' he ſlay the witneſſes, yet he cannot bury them, God ſtirs up Friends to preſerve them from periſhing: And as the fifth Trumpet blew up the Saracens (who entered Spain the 714 years within 80 years time over-ran it and many other Countries, Italy it ſelf, &c. & were got to the very gates of Rome which could not but cauſe the Pope to pull in his puſhing horns; ſo the Sixth Trumpet brings up the Turks about the twelfth Century in Ottoman's year (as 'tis ſaid) 1296 (Joyning with the Saracens)▪ They are a curb to Papiſtry and a ſcourge to Papiſts, Rev. 9.20. for none worſhip Images as Papiſts do, As the Turks hath been a Rampart to the Proteſtants, ſo hath he been and is ſtill Rampant to Popiſh Countries: what father Service God hath for him of that Kind is yet unknown but the ſounding of the ſeventh Trumpet (which pours out ſeven Vials gradually upon the beaſt to deſtroy him) brings the greateſt comfort, Rev. 11.15. The accompliſhment of this is that which we muſt wait for, the viſion being yet for an appointed time, Hab. 2.3. Dan. 8.19. &c. then expireth the Kingdom of the Beaſt and then Chriſts Kingdom beginneth: Then the Temple of God (for Chriſt's worſhip and wittneſſes, both which hath been ſuppreſt) ſhall be opened, Rev. 11.19. This is the third State of the Church deſcribed, Rev. 20. A ſerene and peaceable ſtate till the battel with all the wicked of the world, which ſhall end with Chriſt's coming to Judgment and then follows the Triumphant ſtate Rev. 21.22. Chapters. Seeing theſe ſayings there can agree with no other State Rev. Chapters 12, 13.14, 15, to 20. do explain what is foretold in Chap. 11.

The 4th Remark is; There is certainly a time predicted and prefixed by God, wherein the Beloved City (as the Church is called, Rev. 20.9.) ſhall have a Golden Age, and Halcyon▪ Days for a thouſand years upon Earth, which ſpace of Time is repeated ſix ſeveral times expreſly, Rev. 20.2, 3.4, 5, 6, 7. tho' this whole Book of the Revelation be moſtly myſterious; and, as Jerom ſaith (Epiſt. ad Paulinum) quot habet Verba, tot Sacramenta, ſo many Words, ſo many Myſteries; which may moſt ſurely be aſſerted concerning the 20th Chapter, that hath been a ſubject of ſo many differing and contrary Interpretations, and variety of Opinions, which is wittily called an Holy Diſeaſe: Yet this was the Judgment of the Antient Fathers in the very next Age to the Apoſtles. As, (1.) Tertullian contra Marcion. (2.) Irenaeus Tract. contra omnes Haereſes. (3.) Juſtin Martyr (who of a Philoſopher became a Chriſtian) about thirty years after the death of this John the Divine, the Pen-man of this Book of the Revelation. (4.) Papias, who was St. John's Scholar, and a godly Biſhop in that Time. (5.) Hilarius, a Divine of eminent Endowments. (6.) Lactantius, that Eloquent and Candid Writer (call'd the Chriſtian Cicero) Inſtit. lib. 7. where he expreſſeth this Golden Age of the Church in Virgil's Verſes, only with a little change of their Order. (7.) Yea Augustin himſelf. And (8.) His Contemporary Jeronimus (in his Catalogue of Antient Fathers) do afford their Suffrages, as to the main of this comfortable Doctrine. All theſe Fathers were Stars of the firſt Magnitude in the Firmament of the Primitive Church, all grounding their Opinions upon Iſa. 65.17. and 66.22. Behold, I Create New Heavens, and a New Earth, &c. and upon Mich. 4.1, 3, &c. with Iſa. 2.2, 4. in both which places it is ſaid, that in the laſt Days, the Church ſhall have a glorious Victory, and a Kingdom, &c. and that then Swords ſhall be beaten into Plow-ſhares, and Spears into Pruning-books; Nation ſhall not lift up a Sword againſt Nation, neither ſhall they learn War any more; but every man ſhall ſit under his Vine, and under his Fig-tree, and none ſhall make them afraid, &c. Yea, and upon more ſuch Prophetick Scriptures, both in the Old and in the New Teſtament (too many to p. 522mention here) which never had their Accompliſhment in any Age to this Day. It muſt indeed be acknowledged, that the Hereſie of Cerinthus, and the old Chiliasts, or Millenaries, were long ago exploded, &c. But we find this Reaſon for condemning them, namely, becauſe this Cerinthus, being a Jew, had his fooliſh Conceits concerning the Thouſand Years from his Judaiſm, and the Chiliaſts, his Followers▪ did Judaize alſo with him; they all entertained Carnal Conceits concerning Divine Matters, and carnally interpreted this Scripture of a Thouſand Years, as if it held forth only a Temporal Felicity, to wit, that the Earth during theſe Thouſand Years, ſhould be, not a Paradiſe of Spiritual Delights, but a Stew of all Impure Pleaſures, and a Stage of all Libertiniſm and Senſual Licentiouſneſs: Not unlike to that ſtupid Phantaſtick Paradiſe which the Turks doatingly dream of from their Impoſtour Mahomet, in their abominable Alcaron: This alſo is the fond Fancy of the Blinded Jews concerning their Mock-Meſſiah, whoſe Coming they do expect. To this Tremellius the Jew excellently anſwers [de mille annis, in Rev. 20. nihil eorum narratur quae Cenrinthus tam imprè garriebat, &c. that is, Here is (in the Thouſand Years) nothing told of which Cerinthus profanely prated; for, where is any luxurious Eating and Drinking? where is Marriages, and mad Merriments? and where are Sacrifices and Feſtival Days to be obſerved at Jeruſalem, &c? The holy Scripture names not any thing of ſuch unholy practices; therefore Cerinthus and his Followers are juſtly Branded for Hereticks by both Antient and Modern Divines, who unanimouſly affirm, that this Beloved City, the New Jeruſalem, ſhall enjoy a Thouſand Years, not of Carnal Pleaſures, but of Spiritual Joys, wherein holy Men and holy Women ſhall live in peace from Perſecutors, and in love one with another, without Differences either of Opinion or Practice, &c. rejoycing together in a moſt bleſſed and heavenly manner, while Satan is Chained up, &c.

To conclude; Though this Golden Age (call'd a Day of Refreſhing, and of the Reſtitution of all things, Acts 3.19.21.) be affirmed by Antient Fathers, and confirmed by Modern Authors, both Foreign (as Alstedius, Keplerus, Cunaeus, Daubricius, Piſcator, Molinaeus, and Tychobrake) and Domeſtick (as Dr. Hackwil, Dr. Twiſſe, and Mr. Mede, &c. which ſhews it is no Outlandiſh Toy, nor any Yeſterday Fancy: Yet in what Year this New World ſhall begin, all theſe great Lights of the World look'd upon it, as one of the great Secrets of Heaven, which (as Nuncius Propheticus, who ſubſcribes himſelf T. B. ſaith well) Our Dim Eyes cannot pierce thoſe Ten-fold Orbs above to diſcern. Indeed ſo many Men, ſo many Minds. Alsted determines upon Ninety four, others upon Ninety ſeven for the firſt Year hereof: Others judge the time uncertain; and certainly their Judgment (in my Judgment) is moſt certain: Let us turn our private Opinions into both publick and private Prayers, that the Lord Jeſus may haſten his Glorious Kingdom, and be like a Roe upon the Mountain of Spices, &c.

The 5th Remark; I have inſerted ſome more of my fifty years Collections out of many learned Authors about this Millenary point which hath been canvaſed pro and con as a profound Myſtery in all ages of the Church, &c.

(1ſt.) Hierom on Ezekiel ſaith in Lib. 11. Cap. 36. that Tertullian, Lactantius, Victorinus, Irenaeus, and Apollinarius, five learned men, were all of the Millenarian opinion. And Aben-ezra upon Iſa. 65.22. [as the days of a Tree, ſo ſhall the days of my People be, and they ſhall long enjoy the work of their hands.] ſaith thus, As this Tree, there mentioned, doth endure a thouſand years before it periſheth, even ſo thoſe that ſhall be raiſed at the time of the Meſſiah's appearing [tamdiu victuri, quamdiu patriarchae ab Adamo ad Noam] Shall live ſo long as the Holy Patriarch's did, from Adam to Noah, ſome of which lived very night to a thouſand years: Other Rabbinical Criticiſms carry the ſame congruity, namely, that John in the Revelation doth number all by ſevens, as 7 Churches, 7 Spirits, 7 Stars, 7 Candleſticks, 7 Angels, 7 Seals, 7 Vials, 7 Thunders, all which numbers do plainly point to the ſeventh, or Sabbatical year, and under the ſix Seals, Angels, Vials and Trumpets, is comprized the ſixth age of the world, or the laſt ſix thouſand years thereof, allowing 333 years, and the third part of a year to each, which make up about two thouſand years: of the ſame alloy is that curious Notion; As the firſt Adam did fall upon the ſixth day, and upon the ſixth hour of that day, and was judged in the ſame hour at Evening: And as the ſecond Adam was Crucified upon the ſixth day and at the ſixth hour of that day, &c. So on the ſixth age of the world expiring▪ God will take away all evils out of the world, and then begins that ſeventh or Sabbatical year of reſt to his Church, &c. Moreover, Juſtin Martyr reads that phraſe aforeſaid; …ſ…. 65.22. [the days of my people be as the day of the tree of life] which words (ſaith he) do implicitly point at the thouſand years that the firſt Adam ſhould have lived in his Paradiſe-felicity had he not eaten of the forbidden Tree, &c.

(2dly.) Learned Weems in his Ceremonial Exercitations obſerveth a three-fold … rour concerning Chriſt. 1. Error perſonae, a miſtake of his perſon: Hence we are told of Falſe Chriſts, &c. 2. Error Conditionis, a miſtake of his condition, thus the Je…s look'd for a Meſſiah to come in worldly grandeur and glory at his firſt Appearing, &c. And, 3. Error Temporis, that is, a miſtake about the time of his coming the ſecond time, &c. How many miſtakes have been made about this abſtruſe point, I have diſcovered at large in my Diſcovery of Antichriſt, Chapters 12, 13, 14, 15. I ſhall add a little here to what I have related there, and before here in foregoing paragraphs Dr. Fulk and Diodate, take the time of Satan's binding for a long time indefinitely, Zegerus, Emanuel Sa, and Eſthius all ſay, 'tis meant all the time ſince the firſt publication of the Goſpel; Ribera, Haimo and Gagneus take it for the time until Antichriſts riſe, who (as they ſay) muſt continue but three years and an half before the day of Judgment: Junius begins theſe thouſand years, thirty ſix years after Chriſt's death, for then Satan raged againſt the Chriſtian Church until Hildebrand, before he was reſtrained, &c.

Brightman reckons at Conſtantine to Pope Boniface… the eighth, and ſo do Napier and Mr. Fox the Martyrologiſt. Cotterius begins them at 1517 when Luther aroſe to a reformation, at which time was the riſing of the witneſſes: But Alſted and Archer begin them at 1666 and 1694, the latter of theſe two Dr. Hall (in his Revelation Revealed) moſt highly honoureth, ſaying of him, that Mr. Archer was a London Divine of ſuch Sanctity, and Eſtimation, as none doubted (ſaith the Doctor) to file him among men as pretious as any the Earth bore in his time, yet ſome miſtakes attended this pretious man, both in reckoning Chriſt's Reign to begin at 1666 year, and in fixing the call of the Jews and the ten Tribes upon 1650, or 56 year, both which time it ſelf hath confuted: Tho' Dr. Hall give this high character to Mr. Archer, yet was he of a differing opinion to him, ſaying, the Ten Tribes were 2340 years ago ſo diſperſed as duſt before the wind, ſo that now they have no known Being in the world, and for them to be fetched again out of the Rubbage of Paganiſm and Mahometaniſm, credat Judaeus Apella, let the circumciſed Jew believe it, &c. As to Alſted, he is an Author of Univerſal Reputation, as appeareth by his Encuclopaedia and other learned Works. He wrote in Latin his Aſſertion of the glorious Kingdom of Chriſt here on earth; Illuſtrates it from ſixty five places of holy Scripture, and anſwers thirty five Objections againſt it, which is faithfully Engliſhed by famous Mr. Burton, who calls it [The beloved City] and well-worthy of ſerious peruſal; Yet this great profeſſor of the Univerſity at Herborne hath his Miſtake alſo, in fixing the beginning of Chriſt's Reign on Earth upon 1694 year or ſooner. This his Conjecture is likewiſe expired Re infectâ, as well as the former: we may well ſuppoſe the cauſe of ſo many men's miſtakes as to times and things is this, that ſeeing the ſenſe of thoſe dark prophecies layeth [not in Superficie, ſed in medulla Scripturae (as the Father phraſeth it) not in the outſide of the letter, but in the marrow of the Spirit, therefore was it a prudent anſwer of Dr. Andrews, when a plain man asked him his opinion about thoſe obſcure paſſages in the Revelations, he modeſtly ſaid, [My Friend, I am not yet come ſo far, &c.] Yea and great Calvin (if Bodinus wrong him not) was forced to acknowledge that he was Nullus in propheticis, and knew not what many obſcure paſſages of the Revelations meant. Seeing (as Jerom ſaith) Quot habet verba, tot Sacramenta, ſo many words ſo many Myſteries as before.

(3dly.) There be many great lights of the Church that are in the dark about thoſe difficult points, rendring their Reaſons for their diſſenting, ſuch as learned Dr. Lightfoot, who in his comment upon the Acts, pag. 12. doth condemn the Millenarian opinion as erroneous, &c. And other learned men argue thus:

1. The firſt Leſſon that God taught Adam (after he had taught him the Leſſon of Chriſt) was, that he ſhould not expect Chriſt's Kingdom upon Earth, becauſe he then curſed the Earth to him, and what ſhould Chriſt's bleſſed ones for ever in Heaven, do a thouſand years on the curſed earth? ſeeing Chriſt ſaith, His Kingdom is not of this world, &c.

2. Tho' Millenaries (ſay they) underſtand Satan's binding to be, that he ſhall no more perſecute the Church, but 'tis expreſſed, Rev. 20. v. 3.8. that he ſhall not deceive the Nations; now there is vaſt difference betwixt perſecuting, and deceiving, and betwixt Church and Nations.

3. They ſay alſo that the firſt Reſurrection, Revel. 20.5. is meant the calling of the Jews, which is called a life from the dead, Rom. 11.15. and John 5.24, 25.

4. They add likewiſe, that the Reſurrection of the Gentiles, or the thouſand years of chaining up Satan from deceiving the Gentile Nations, did begin at the deſtruction of the Jewiſh Temple; for then (tho' the Goſpel had been preached before) did Judaiſm ceaſe, and Chriſtianity began, &c. Hence was that day called a Terrible day, Joel 2.31. Acts. ….20. as if it had been the day of Judgment; and Chriſt diſcourſes ſo of them together, that you cannot know them aſunder they are ſo alike, in Matth. 24, &c. Many more Arguments againſt the Millennium may be found in Dr. Willet's Hexapla on Rom. 11th. and on Daniel, &c. in Dr. Hall and in Roſs's Panſebeia, too long to inſerit here, which Alſted and others have induſtriouſly Anſwered. The ſafeſt choice (I Judge) in polemical points is only to ſpeak by permiſſion (as the Apoſtle's phraſe is, 1 Cor. 7 6.) and not over Dogmatically, &c. Dr. Goodwin concludes his Sermon on the fifth Monarchy with this prudent caution, ſaying, Whether ſo, or ſo, I leave undetermined. And the Rabbies old Salvo' (with a little variation) ſeems now very ſeaſonable, namely [Elias cum venerit, ſolvet Omnia] when the Meſſiah (Elias's Maſter) cometh, he will reſolve all thoſe Sacred Riddles; we muſt therefore pray with the Spouſe, Make haſt my Beloved, and run like the ſwift Roe to unriddle all Myſteries, &c.

The laſt Remark is; What became of John after he had delivered this Revelation to the Churches of Aſia the Scripture is ſilent. We are told his Epiſtles and Goſpel were writ after his return to Epheſus from Patmos where he had his Revelation, & were pubiſhed by Gaius his Hoſt and Deacon, mentioned, Romans 16.23. N. B. And that he was put into a veſſel of boiling oil at Rome which did him no harm, and that he ſlumbreth yet under the earth at Epheſus where he made his own grave out of which he had preached, &c. But theſe & many other ſtories ficta magis quam facta eſſe videntur, ſeem vain fictions rather than real facts ſaith Pareus, and be but monkiſh Evaporations, ſaith Prideaux. No better what is told concerning Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Simon the Canaanite, Matthew (ſaving that he wrote his Goſpel) and▪ Matthias, choſen by Lot in Judas's ſtead, is, if not Fabulous, at leaſt uncertain: N. B. Where the Scripture hath not a Mouth to ſpeak, we may not have a Tongue to ask. Now unto the King Eternal, Immortal, inviſible, the only wiſe God be honour and glory for ever and ever, Amen. 1 Tim. 1.17. Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, that great Shepherd of the Sheep, through the blood of the everlaſting Covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleaſing in his Sight, through Jeſus Chriſt, to whom be glory for ever and ever, Amen, Heb. 13.20, 21.

Δόξα μόνω Θεῷ

Deo Soli Gloria.

FINIS.

End of the text · Christopher Ness, A Complete History and Mystery of the Old and New Testament (1696)