A Discourse Upon the Powers of the World to Come, Discourse · Chapter 6
CHAP. VI. A Diſcuſſion of the Times wherein Miracles have been most Illuſtrious, and when there hath been greateſt Darkneſs among the People of God, in Relation to them; Preparatory to the Aſſerting, That Miracles are not ceas'd, but a Return of Them is to be Expected.
SEeing from All I have Diſcours'd, it appears very undoubted, that a Return of Miracles is, and ought to be expected; becauſe the Great and Adequate End of Miracles is a Connexion with, and even an Introduction of the Kingdom of our Lord Jeſus Christ, and the World to come; which Kingdom and World to come is not yet come; and when it ſhall indeed come, it ſhall have a mighty Power of Signs, Wonders, Miracles, and Gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own Will, to appear with it, to introduce, ſettle and eſtabliſh it, in the Order and Glory of the New Creation. I ſhall therefore, before I come to the down-right Proof, endeavour to anticipate, or to be before hand with the greateſt Objection I meet with to it.
Object. The Great Objection I find in my own Thoughts, and which Raiſes, and Confirms (I doubt not) in others a Reſolved Pre-judgment, that Miracles ſhall not Return, is; Becauſe, that now for a Thouſand, Two Hundred and Sixty Years, or near about, Miracles, except the Lying and Legendary ones, the Antichriſtian Apoſtaſy hath pretended to, there hath been a going off, and a Ceſſation of the True Power of Miracles; and the Reaſon to be aſſign'd for it, hath been thought; Becauſe the Doctrine of Salvation in the Goſpel, and the Canon of Scripture, and particularly of the New Testnment, hath been ſo ſumm'd up, finiſh'd, ſetled, and ſealed; ſo confirm'd and aſſur'd by undoubted Power of Miracles, that brought it into that Settlement, and gave it ſo large a ſpread in the World; that any further uſe, or ſervice of Miracles, ſeems wholly ſuperfluous, and unneceſſary: For if it were not ſo, it looks very ſtrange, and there ſeems no Reaſon to be given, why God ſhould be pleaſed to order ſo long a Parentheſis, ſo Long and Dark an Interval; ſuch a long ſpace, and, as I may call it, Gap, between the Power of Miracles, in the Days of Chriſt, and the Apoſtles, and ſome ſpace after; and the preſent Time.
And indeed, I would add, To give the Objection all the ſtrength I can; That the Papiſts or the Antichriſtians, both pretending Themſelves to Miracles, and finding among the Proteſtants, and Reformed Churches, no ſuch Power, nor ſo much as Pretenſion to it, have been Loud and Clamorous upon it; and have hereby aſſum'd it as a Good Reaſon to Damn the Reformation, becauſe it hath come Naked, and Unarm'd of Miracles; From whence the Reformed, not having conſidered enough the True Reaſon of Miracles, nor of their Ceſſa…ion, have been under a Neceſſity to Defend Themſelves, by aſſerting, Miracles are wholly ceas'd, and no Return to be expected; and that the Popiſh Pretences have been but ſo much Counterfeit and Falſhdod; In which Laſt Part they have ſpoken moſt Evident and undoubted Truth, and this Defence hath alſo in the Firſt Part, ſeem'd ſo neceſſary, that it could not be, but it muſt ſink Deep into the Minds of All the Moſt Holy, Sober, Serious, Wife Proteſtants, as well as the more General Profeſſion of the Reformation; and hath brought All Diſcourſes of a Return of Miracles, under Great Diſrepute, as Wild, and Fanatical, Altho indeed this part …f the Defence aroſe from a not due conſideration of the Reaſons of the Ceſſation, and of the certain Return of Miracles, when the Force of thoſe Reaſons ſh…ll expire.
And I cannot but acknowledge, It may ſeem ſtrange, according to the very Reaſon I am to lay down, why there hath been ſuch a Ceſſation of Miracles: And there does ariſe a Difficulty upon it; That there was not any Return of the Power of Miracles with the Reformation. But I hope to give Faireſt Solution to it.
In the mean time, I cannot but take n…tice, that the Popiſh Pretenſions to a conſtant Power of Miracles does very notably, not only agree with the Character of Prophecy, in their Lying VVonders; but alſo that they make indeed a Counterfeit Kingdom to the True Kingdom of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, both in Prophecy, and in their own Pretences; and ſo far Counterfeit proves, what ought to be in the Truth, and the Life; of That, It is the counterfeit of, and by Prophecy It was to counterfeit; They give a Proof by the By, That Miracles do indeed appertain to the Kingdom of Ghriſt.
But to come to the main Anſwer to this Objection, I propoſe upon it,
Firſt, To obſerve the State of Miracles, or Miraculous Power, in all the ſeveral Ages, or Times Recorded to Us in Scripture; and to collect the Light, that may from thence be received, to ſhew, that Miracles ſhall certainly Return, and Introduce the Kingdom of Chriſt.
2. I will lay down, what, upon Great Reaſon, I Eſteem to be the True Cauſe of the Ceſſation of Miracles, theſe Laſt Twelve Hundred and Sixty Years; and why, eſpecially, ſince the Reformation, Miracles have not return'd; ſeeing as Miracles pertain to the Kingdom of Chriſt, ſo the Reformation it ſelf was an appearance of that Kingdom: Wherein I will conſider any Collateral Objections, that may ſpring up from any Diſcourſe in this Anſwer.
That therefore which in general I pitch upon, is; that when we look upon the ſeveral Varieties of Appearances of Miraculous Emanations, or Flowings out from the Divine Glo…y, and Power in Miracles, according to the Records of Scripture; there have been no Times wholly without them, of which Any Records of Scripture have given us the Memorials, Becauſe there was always a certainty of that Kingdom Coming▪ and the mo…e Notable, and Remarkable Manifeſtations have been prepared for thoſe more Noble and Remarkable Manifeſtations of the Kingdom of Christ. The Hiſtory of Scripture is indeed very ſhort in the Time before the Flood, yet we have an Eminent Inſtance of a Miraculous Power of Grace in the Tranſlating Enoch to Heaven, without any ſight of Death; Enoch walked with God ſo many years, and was not; For God took him, Gen. 5. 22, 23, 24. This was an Eminent Peice of that World to come; Enoch was tranſlated without ſeeing Death; As the Apoſtle ſaith; Some ſhall not Dye, but be Changed, and Caught up.
There were two Miraculous Appearances of Judgment. The Lapſe, and Curſe upon the Creation, and Death upon mankind, that Came in upon the Diſobedience of the Firſt Adam; the grand Pro…unciation of Judgment upon the whole State of the World of that Firſt Adam; and this compar'd with the Firſt Glory of the Creation, on which it Brake in, is moſt juſtly to be eſteemed Miracle, tho now not ſo. The ſo univerſal, and general Judgment upon the Old World by the Flood, of which was ſpoken before; and how cloſely it Relates to the VVorld to Come; as alſo of the Peculiar Miracle of Grace towards Noah, and ſuch a Remnant of the Creation with him; as ſhould give a preſent Reſtitution of all things; and how Repreſentative was that alſo of the World to Come, in which the Servants of Chriſt ſhall be Saved from the Deluge of the Vials, and of that Fire of the laſt Vial!
Now it was very Agreeable, even to that Beginning of the World; That it ſhould not be left wholly without a Teſtimony of that Kingdom, ſignified in the Promiſe of the Womans Seed, wherein there is given the Hiſtory of that Seed, propagating it ſelf, as the almoſt whole Hiſtory of that Time; tho it was ſo very far off at that Time from Coming, and was to paſs through ſo many ſeveral Changes of Repreſentation, ere it came into its Glory.
The Confuſion of Languages, and the Diviſion of the Earth in the Time of Shem, the great Melchiſedec, and Eber the Holy Patriarch, through whoſe Loyns the Holy Seed Ran; and whoſe Son Peleg, in an eſpecial manner bore the Character of that Diviſion, had this Remarkable Relation to the Kingdom of Christ; That it carried the Face of a Miraculous Judiciary Driving aſunder the Nations, and made the great Diſtincti…n of Mankind, That Kingdom hath made all along in the World, and ſhall make; For hereby the Oracles of God were ſo long committed to that particular Seed of the Hebrews, of whom Chriſt, God over All, Bleſſed for ever came.
And hereupon aroſe that Temporary and preſent Remedy, or Divine Expedient of the Gift of Tongues, ſhewing the Miraculous Power of Christs Kingdom, making way for its enlargement in the World; and Foretelling alſo that Reunion of Languages At Pentecoſtin his Kingdom.
Thus the Time of the ſecond Patriarchal Roll of Generation is Illuſtrated with a Miracle, ſeparating the Hebrews from all the Nations of the Earth.
The Time of Abraham with his Call to the Going out of Egypt was Enlightned with the continual Appearances of God to Abraham, Iſaac, and Jacob, which were indeed of the Na…ure of Perfect Miracle; beſides what was Miraculous in the Birth of Iſaac, of Jacob; and that Miracle of Judgment on Sodom before ſpoken of.
Thus we ſee, No Time hitherto to the Going out of Egypt hath been a Dark Place in Regard of Miraculous Appearances of God to his Servants, becauſe of the Great Son of Abraham, according to the Fleſh; in whoſe Right of Inheritance as the Prince of the World to come, Abraham is call'd Heir of the Worlds, Rom. 4. 13.
The Time of the Going out of Egypt, from the Multiplication of the Children of Iſrael there, to the very ſettlement in Canaan, was one Continued Train of Miracles: Nor was the Time of the Judges or of the Kings of Judah Un-illuſtrated by various Irradiations of the mighty Power of God towards his People in Fore-Aſſurances of the Kingdom of our Lord Jeſus Christ; which is much to be Remark'd; Becauſe the Law of God, by his Servant Moſes, had Receiv'd the full ſettlement, and Eſtabliſhment by as high Teſtimonies from Heaven, as ſerv'd not only the neceſſarineſs of its Sanction, but the Glory and Grandieur of it. And if only Prophets, without any Power of Miracles, had been Rais'd up in Addition to it; There had been yet a Meaſure of Truth Shaken Down, and Running Over; For beſides thoſe Extraordinary Prophets, there was the Standing Miniſtry, as in Ordinary, of the Prieſts Lips preſerving Knowledg.
But that which is moſt Wonderful, and Deſerves particular Enquiry, is, That even in the Apoſtaſy of the Ten Tribes, beſides the Communication of whatſoever great things God did in the Kingdom of Judah; There were Thoſe two Prophets, Elijah, and Eliſha, like two Witneſſes, after Moſes, and Aaron, ſet out, and Credential'd with a Mighty Power of Miracles, to be as a Light ſhining in the Dark place of that Apoſtaſy, that was ſo great a Type of the Antichriſtian Apoſtaſy; and the Types of one are made by great Wiſdom of the Divine Spirit, Correſpondent to the Types of the other; even to ſo undoubted clearneſs, and Certainty; that I make no doubt to Aſſign it, as one Reaſon, Why there was ſuch a Miraculous Preſence there, even that It, with thoſe witneſſes at the Deliverance out of Egypt, might be a Prophetical Plat-fotm of the Witneſſes Appearing in the Twelve Hundred Sixty Days againſt the Antichriſtian Apoſtaſy.
But beſides that, There was with Regard to Joſeph, of whom the Prophetick Benediction of Jacob, and Moſes ſpoke ſo great Things; and who was ſo great a Type of Chriſt, in his High Adminiſtration in Egypt; and whoſe was, as the Spirit of God Teſtifies, the Birth-Right, 1 Chron. 5. 2. There was a Type, I ſay, of the Kingdom of Chriſt, neceſſarily to be Erected in his peculiar Poſterity, whereof he himſelf Foretold in Ephraim; ſo that tho the Kingdom was Judah's, and no one Good King of the Houſe of Joſeph over the Ten Tribes; yet God being pleaſed to have ſome Repreſentation of the Kingdom of Chriſt, tho in ſo continued an Apoſtaſy; he was pleaſed alſo to Honour it with ſo peculiar a Prophetical Miniſtry; and that ſo Illuſtrated with Miraculous Powers, till he gave them a Bill of Divorce under the Name of thoſe three Children of Whoredom, Jezreel, Lo-Ruhamah and Lo-Ammi, Hoſea 1.
Yet becauſe it was ſtill a Type of the Kingdom of Chriſt, There was an Eminent Type of the very Kingdom of Chriſt, Elijah carried up to Heaven, even above the Tranſlation of Enoch, in a Chariot of Fire, without Dying.
Some years after the Captivity of the Ten Tribes, when they were come under the very Perpendicular Influences of that Dreadful Lo Ruhamah, and Lo-Ammi, The Miraculous Power of God ſhone out with very Bright Rayes upon Hezekiah King of Judah, a moſt Excellent Reforming Prince; Firſt, in the Deſtruction of ſo great an Aſſyrian Army; which threatn'd him with the Lot of the Ten Tribes; and Immediately after, with that Miraculous Sign in the Shadow; that is, as the Learned make manifeſt, The Sun going ſo many Degrees back, to aſſure his Life reſtor'd.
Then came on the Babyloniſh Captivity; during the Time of which; beſides the Grandieur of the Spirit of Prophecy during that Time, in Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel; there were very Reſplendent Signatures of the Mighty Power of God in Nebuchadnezzar's Dream, and Image; both Retrieved by Daniel, when He had loſt all Lines of it; as alſo Expounded to him, which both ſatisfied, and convinced that Inſolent Monarch into an acknowledgment of God; the Miraculous Chaining up the power of the Fire upon the Three Servants of God, in that ſo overheated Furnace, while yet it had Full Force to Fly out, and Ravage upon the Servants of the Idolatrous, Furious Prince, that doted upon that very Image of Vaſt Arbitrary Dominion; moſt probably; which being ſo Miraculouſly Repreſented, and Expounded, had Extorted from him the Confeſſion of the one True God: That immediate Hand of the moſt High upon him in ſuch a Deliration and Phrenſy, which turn'd him to Graſs with the Beaſts, and as wonderfully Reſtor'd him with a Mouth ſo full of acknowledgments of the God of Heaven; The Dreadful, and Aſtoniſhing Starting of the Hand and Fingers out of the wall, to that Intemperate Sacrilegious and Idolatrous King Belſhazzar, with the Affrightful Comment of Daniel upon the writing of them; The preſerving Daniel in the Den of Lyons, when their Rage was yet ſo quick upon the men, that gave him as a prey to their intended Ravenous Teeth: All theſe very ſtupendious and Mighty Works of God, were undoubtedly on purpoſe provided for that very Time, wherein Theſe moſt Admirable, and Truly more Miraculous Viſions of the Kingdom of Chriſt were in Giving, and as moſt Connatural to them; ſo for a Confirmation of them; They laſted therefore ſo long, and were ſucceeded by not ſo many Miracles, as very wonderful, and Mighty Providences in the Reſtoring Judah and Jeruſalem, by ſuch Signal, and almoſt miraculouſly moved, and Ingaged ſervices of ſo many Princes of Perſia; together with the Glorious Prophecy of Haggai and Zechary; which laſted, till Judah, and Jeruſalem were Reſtor'd, and ſo long continued the Spirit of Prophecy; Then immediately came on thoſe Strait Cramped Times, both as to the Prophecy, the Miraculous Power and all Appearances of the Kingdom of Chriſt; One Riſing and Setting with the other, as by the ſtrongeſt Sympathy and Configuration, or moſt Wiſe Diſpoſals, to, for, and with one another; For when thoſe Straits of Time, under the Power of Heathen Princes, and the more ſettled Times of the Gentiles came in, the Spirit of Prophecy Retired in Malachies Prophecy, and took, as it were, its Leave, and gave its Fare-well in thoſe Words ending it; Remember ye the Law of Moſes my Servant in Horeb for All Iſrael, with the Statutes, and the Judgments, viz. As Enlarg'd upon by the Prophets; Let my Written Word be your Rule; Thus there was a Sealing up Prophecy till the ſending of Elijah the Prophet, which Elijah the Prophet, our Lord Aſſures, was John the Baptiſt, in One Degree, but not in the Higheſt; For another Elijah like Miniſtry, and of an Higher Elevation, or exaltation ſhall yet Ariſe; as our Lord hath Intimated alſo in ſaying; Elijah truly Cometh, and ſhall Reſtore All Things; even before that Notably Great, and Terrible Day of the Lord; And when the mighty Converting Power, the Power of Miracles being alſo Joyn'd with it, ſhall be abundantly given out; For John did no Miracle to ſhew the Prophecy was not in him Fullfill'd to the utmoſt; then ſhall indeed the Heart of the Fathers be Turn'd to the Children, and the Heart of the Children to the Fathers, or of the Diſobedient to the Wiſdom of the Juſt.
However, in the mean time, The Beginning of the Goſpel, in every Evangeliſt, is plac'd in John, to whom ſays Luke, The Word of God by immediate Miſſion came; and he was a Man ſent from God, as the Evangeliſt John ſays; And the very Beginning of the Goſpel of Jeſus Chriſt the Son of God is Fix'd in Him by Mark cap. 1. 1, 2 As if he would have Joyn'd the laſt words of Malachi, and the firſt of his own together, and in a Continuation, as one and the ſame Holy Scripture.
But notwithſtanding all this, tho John was ſo great a Prophet; Yet he (ſaith Chriſt) that is Leaſt in the Kingdom of God, is Greater than he; His Greatneſs above all, that were Born of Women ſtood in this, That he prepar'd the way to Chriſt, and to that great Power, with which the Son of God came: He was ſo Great in his being ſo near the Kingdom of God; yet becauſe he was ſo near, and not in that very Kingdom, It was not fit for him to do any Miracle; That was a Glory Proper only to the Kingdom of God it ſelf Now it was juſt in its Appearance.
And thus, I have brought Time down to its Fullneſs, juſt to that very point wherein our Lord Jeſus Chriſt Appearing, there were ſo great Reaſons of Expectation, that his Kingdom ſhould alſo have then Appear'd Immediately, and all Miracles have been ſumm'd up in its Coming with Power; But tho in the Days of thoſe Kingdoms; I mean of thoſe Four Monarchies in Daniel, that were ſo Determin'd by God and by Chriſt; a Room was reſerv'd, That the God of Heaven ſhould ſet up a Kingdom, and a Dominion never to End; yet it was in Infinite Wiſdom, and Counſel ſo Determin'd, that it ſhould ſhew it ſelf, and its right, and ſo withdraw again; becauſe the laſt of the Four Monarchies, even the Roman Monarchy, had that large Stage of Time allow'd to it to run over; and concerning the laſt State or Part of which Chriſt had Sworn, There ſhould be Time, Times and half a Time, e're the Wonders, or Miracles proper to the Introducing his Kingdom ſhould be Finiſhed. Dan. 12. 6.
However for that very Appearance of that Kingdom ſet up, ſo great a Power of Miracles, as were wrought in the Days of Chriſt, and of the Apoſtles of our Lord and Saviour Jeſus Chriſt was ſo ſhewn; both in regard of that Kingdom of Faith and Holineſs, that did then actually ſhow it ſelf; and which indeed can never ſuffer a Total, ſo much, as Interruption, much leſs an End; But yet an Apoſtaſy from it, even a General Apoſtaſy, the Apoſtaſy of a Generation, the Antichriſtian Generation, expreſs'd by the Apoſtle, 1 Tim. 4. 1. by foreign, was to come; as the Apoſtle does with ſo great an Earneſtneſs and Zeal Aſſert, 2 Theſ. 2. And by the ſame degrees, the Mystery of Iniquity wrought in order to that, and to bring it forth, by the very ſame, the Kingdom of Chriſt withdrew; and Retired in the Spiritual Vertue, and Power of it, and alſo in the Miraculous Power that comes along with it.
This ſtop to its preſent glorious Appearance is very Forcibly Expreſs'd by Daniel in theſe words, Dan. 9 24. The Sealing Viſion, and Prophecy at the very Time of making an End of Sin, and Finiſhing Tranſgreſſion; ſhewing, that whereas the Glory of the Kingdom was in ſtrict Juſtice due to Chriſt at the very Time of the Sacrifice offered, and Reconciliation made, and the great Aſſurance God gave of his Acceptance of it by the Riſing of our Lord from the Dead for our Juſtification; which was in Daniels Phraſe, bringing in Everlaſting Righteouſneſs; That then immediately ſollows the Sealing Viſion, and Prophecy, viz. The Viſion, and Prophecy of the Glorious Temple, and Kingdom of Chriſt, even to Ezekiel 40. &c.
Indeed there was a Gradual Unſealing that firſt Sealing in the Opening the Seven firſt Seals, which produc'd the Appearance of the Kingdom of Chriſt in the Christian Empire of Conſtantine, and his Succeſſors; but becauſe under it the Antichriſtian State of the Empire made up every day nearer and nearer to Antichriſt's, (2 Theſ. 2.) own Time, wherein he was to be Revealed; therefore there was a ſecond ſ…aling of the Servants of God in their Forehead; which ſealing being contemporary with the Witneſſes in Sackcloath, and that contemporary with the Forty Two Months of the Gentiles, and of the Beaſt, and of the Woman in the Wilderneſs, is, by conſtruction, a Time of 1260 Days of Years. So that the Glory of their State was indeed ſecur'd, but Conceal'd alſo, and Reſerv'd. Upon which the Kingdom of Chriſt could not be Reveal'd, during that ſealing alſo; and this, as I ſhall argue, was the True Cauſe of the ceſſation of the power of Miracles.
And when there was a Challenge of the Kingdom of Chriſt, Rev. 10. by the Roar of the Lyon, and Seven Thunders uttering their Voices, there was yet (which ſhall be the laſt) a ſealing up the Voices of the Thunders; So that there coald not be the mighty Works of Miracles ſhewing forth themſelves, notwithſtanding the Reformation.
I have thus far now ſhewn the cloſe connexion of Miracles, and the Kingdom of Chriſt, all along from the Promiſe of the Seed of the Woman breakiag the Head of the Serpent unto the very Kingdom of Christ appearing in far Greater Glory, than ever yet it hath done; and no Time excepted, but the Time of Straits, from the Reſtoring Jeruſalem to Meſſiah; and the Time of the 1260 Days of the Apoſtaſy, not expiring at the Reformation, nor yet expired.
That I may then give, what I account, the True Reaſon of the Suſpenſion, rather than Ceſſation of Miracles, I will lay down my ſenſe of it in theſe Following Particulars:
1. There is a ſolemn Oath of Chriſt. That the Potentacy of the Beaſt would have Time, Times, and half a Time, 42 months, or 1260 Days.
2. This Potentacy of the Beaſt was to attain its power by doing Great Wonders, and working Miracles. For that which is called, The other Beaſt, Rev. 13. 13. while he ſays to them that dwell on the Earth, that they ſhould worſhip the Beaſt, and make an Image to the Beaſt; that is, give him in the Image of Spiritual Supremacy, Imperial Power. He works miracles, tho falſe ones. And thus it was to be, becauſe, as hath been ſaid, the Kingdom of the Beaſt is the Counterfeit of the Kingdom of Chriſt, and ſo muſt Appear with Miracles.
3. The Kingdom of Chriſt cannot appear while …he Be…ſt's Term laſts; For thoſe Two Kingdoms, can no more ſtand together, in Manifeſtation and Appearance, than the Ark and Dagon.
4. In the Kingdom of Chriſt then, Miracles come, when his Name in his Kingdom comes; For where his Name is near, in any Outward Luſtre, and Viſible Glory of his Kingdom; in that Pſalm of his Kingdom, Pſal. 75. 1. There his wondrous works muſt and ſhall declare it.
5. Where True Miracles come, Falſe Miracles cannot Abide, but Vaniſh, as thoſe of Simon Magus, Acts 10. of Elymas the Sorcerer, Chap. 13. 8. of the Exorciſts, Chap. 19. 13. as thoſe of Jannes and Jambres, before Moſes, 2 Tim. 3. 8. as the Prieſts of Baal, whoſe God could not Anſwer by Fire, before the True God by Elijah, 1 Kings 18. 28. 38. When God indeed appears, All Counterfeits are forced to cry out, This is the Finger of God. God cannot be out-ſhot in his own Bow.
5. Where the Miracles proper to the Evangelical Kingdom and Glory of Chriſt come, there is alſo a pouring out of the Divine Spirit in the Hearts of Men, by mighty Operations of Grace, according to his own Will; and in proportion to the Appearance his Kingdom is to make at that time; And this muſt prevail over All that ſtands in the way of it.
Lay then theſe together, They make Demonſtrative Proof; There could be, There can be no Miracles while the Antichristian Times laſt; that is, no open, viſible, ſenſible Miracles; For if the Beaſt muſt, by the Oath tf Chriſt, laſt 1260 Years; If it muſt begin, and be ſuſtain'd by Lying Signs and Wonders; And if where Chriſt's Kingdom comes in Glory, Miracles come, and his Spirit alſo; If the Falſe Miracles of Antichriſt's Kingdom cannot ſtand before the True Miracles of Chriſt's Kingdom, much more with his Spirit; Then it neceſſarily follows, there can be no Miracles, no Divine Viſible Miracles, while the Kingdom of the Beaſt is by the Oath of Chriſt to continue: It would preſently break All in pieces, over-throw All: The Beaſt's Kingdom cannot ſtand before them: His Kingdom having been ſo near to 1260 Years, ſo long Miracles muſt have been ſuſpended, and the Miraculous Power have lain ſtill; and been quiet, as in its Scabbard.
For what can ſuch Lying VVonders, as are done by the Dead Bones of Martyrs; Relicks of this or that Saint; the Virgin Mary; or even pertaining to Chriſt's Garments, VVood of his Croſs, before the mighty Power of Truly Evangelical Doctrine, ſeal'd with Miracles; ſuch as were done by Chriſt, and his Apoſtles; together with the Inward Power and Grace of the Divine Spirit, making obedient by Word and Deed; What could All the Legendary Miracles of Tranſubſtantiation do in Reſiſtance to Divine Truth ſo armed; or Brutiſh Excommunications effect before that True Apoſtolical Power of caſting to Sathan; The One True Fire from Heaven; the other Brutum Fulmen, Falſe Fire, though pretended to be brought down from Heaven; where, by the way, I cannot but obſerve how Prophecy hath guided common Language; For as Lightnings, or Fulminations are Fire from Heaven, ſo common Language hath ſtyled Excommunications; Fire as from Heaven, though indeed only from the Magical Heaven of the Pope, and moſt truly from the ſulp…ureous ſmoak of the bottrmleſs Pit, Revel. 9. 1. Falling in with Revel. 13. 13. to Great Exactneſs.
Now a due Conſideration of what I have now Repreſented, makes Full Solution to Two Objections, that may ariſe from an overly Reflection upon it.
Object. 1 It may be asked, Why had the Apoſtaſy of the Ten Tribes, ſo Great a Type of the Antichriſtian Apoſtaſy; ſo many and ſo great Miracles by Elijah, and Eliſha?
Anſ. The Anſwer is already given, becauſe the Kingdom, and Apoſtaſy of Antichriſt was ſworn by Chriſt; and therefore could not be broken till the End of the 1260 days; but it would have been broken by Miracle; whereas the Kingdom of the Ten Tribes being Iſraelitiſh, and Appointed by God, was not Touch'd by the Miracles of Elijah, and Eliſha, altho their Paganiz'd Apoſtaſy was; the Kingdom therefore continued, notwithſtanding thoſe Miracles, ſo long as God intended; But after he Removed it, as he ſaw good. But if the Antichristian Apoſtaſy had or ſhould Fall before the Time, the Papal Kingdom muſt fall with it; Now the Power of Goſpel Doctrine, of Miracles, of Powring out the Spirit, muſt needs have Broken it without Remedy; which had been contrary to the Oath of Chriſt. There were yet Spiritual Miracles, as is to be ſhewn, together with the Doctrine of the Witneſſes; But they being not viſible, and ſo not Forcible on the Senſe, nor Joyn'd with the Spirit powr'd out, as it ſhall be in the Succeſſion of the Kingdom of Chriſt; the Antichriſtian, both Kingdom and Apoſtaſy have ſtood notwithſtanding.
Object. Why had not the Reformation a proportionable appearance of Miracles with the Revival of the Doctrine of the Goſpel, and the Retrenchment of the Papal Kingdom, in ſo many States and Kingdoms?
Anſ. It hath been already Intimated; The Antichriſtian Potentacy and Apoſtaſy were to continue not only Time, and Times, but the Half Time alſo; the 180, as well as the 1080 Days of years; Now at the beginning of Half Time the Reformation appear'd, yet the Beaſts Half Time was Remaining due; Chriſt therefore Seales the Thunders, Rev. 10. 4. Gives out no Miraculous Power, nor Gifts of the Spirit in Extraordinary, or according to his Kingdom, but ſtays till the Expiration of Half Time alſo; For if the Revival of the Doctrine only, with ordinary Gifts of the Spirit, hath ſo far prevail'd without theſe Mighty Powers; How much more muſt Theſe Joyn'd with Miracle, and extraordinary Effuſions of the Spirit have prevail'd; even to the Ruine of the Papal Kingdom, and taking away the Apostaſy before the Time ſworn by Chriſt!
And ſo I have ſettled what I had to ſay on the Various Times, and the various appearances of Miracles in all Times.