Demonology and Theology, Chapter 1
CHAP. I.
Of the Generall and maine Poſition.
IT is Propheſied in the New Teſtament, that next before Chriſts appearance to cal the Jewes, of whom, with the fulneſſe of the Gentiles, to ſet up his glorious Kingdome on Earth, there ſhould be juſt ſuch times, as theſe preſent evil times now are, 1 Tim. 4.1. Now the Spirit ſpeaketh expreſly, that in the later times, ſome ſhall depart from the faith, giving heed to ſeducing ſpirits, and doctrines of Devils, &c. 2 Tim. 3.1. This know, that in the laſt dayes perilous times ſhall come, for men ſhall be lovers of themſelves, covetous, boaſters. 2 Pet. 2.1. But there ſhall be falſe teachers among you, who privily ſhall bring in damnable hereſies, even denying the Lord that bought them, &c. 2 Pet. 3.3. There ſhall come in the laſt dayes, ſcoffers, walking after their owne luſts, and ſaying, Where is the promiſe of his comming, &c. Jude v. 14. And Enoch the ſeventh from Adam, propheſied of theſe; that is, of theſe and ſuch as theſe. What are they? Verſ. 4. &c. Such as creep in unawares, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into wantonneſſe, or laciviouſneſſe, &c. Jude v. 17, 18. Remember the words which were ſpoken BEFORE of the Apoſtles, of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, how that they told you, that there ſhould be mockers in the laſt time, who ſhould walke after their own ungodly luſts. Theſe be they, who ſeparate themſelves, ſenſuall, not having the Spirit.
If one Apoſtle had once ſayd theſe things, all the World might not, without great ſin, either contradict, or not beleeve. But in the mouths of two or three witneſſes, every word is eſtabliſhed, in the judgements of all rational men. We have here three Apoſtles teſtifying of the truth in hand, and each of them twice apeece: Some teſtifying it to the Gentiles, others to the Jews, another to both, and all. And from them all, we have both the Poſition and the Expoſition; yea, and as Chronologers doe Aſtronomically, by Eclipſes, Plenilunes, Novilunes, Epacts, &c. ſo theſe The logically ſeveral wayes, ſet markes upon times, whereby they may be known to be the laſt times, in the ſenſe before expreſſed. So that we cannot but be compelled in our underſtandings, to acknowledge that when the evils we ſpeak of are extant, the ſayd laſt times are exiſtent.
When Paul had ſayd, in that 1 Tim. 4.1. foreign, in the later times, ſuch and ſuch evils ſhould be; yea, and not content with that expreſſion, ſpeaks more punctually, in 2 Tim. 3.1. foreign, in the LAST DAYES ſhal be ſuch and ſuch evils, as pride, ſelfe-love, &c. about twenty in all, to Verſ. 10. he preſently exhorts Timothy to ſtand ſound, while ſeducers grow worſe and worſe; Verſ. 11. to the end of the Chapter; charging him, Chap. 4. v. 1. before the Lord Jeſus Chriſt, and by his appearance and Kingdome, to Preach the Word, and to be inſtant in ſeaſon and out of ſeaſon; Namely, to the end that he may Preach and eſtabliſh men whiles they wil heare. For, ſaith he, in v. 3. The time will come that men will not endure ſound Doctrine, &c. And ſhall be turned unto fables: So that Saint Paul ſets a mark upon theſe times of evil, that he ſaith ſhal come in the laſt dayes; that they doe precede next before the appearance of Chriſt to ſet up his Kingdome. So that the entyre Syſteme of this whole point of the evils that ſhal be in the laſt dayes, mentioned both before and after the mention of the appearance of Chriſt, to ſet up his Kingdome, can intend nothing more, then that theſe laſt evil dayes the Apoſtle ſpeaks of, doe forerunn next before the appearance of Chriſt, for the erecting of that Kingdome. As if Paul ſhould ſay, in the laſt dayes ſhal be theſe and theſe evils, juſt afore Chriſts appearance; and upon that, I charge thee, &c. Where an emphaſis is put upon his having a Kingdome at his appearance (if we read but as in the Engliſh.) For the Apoſtle doth, as it were, adjure Timothy upon this Book, chargeth him upon this, as a ſingular intereſt, that Chriſt at his appearance ſhal have a Kingdome: Not onelyonly that ſpirituall Kingly power which hee hath alwayes had with his Church, but he ſhal have a Kingdome at his appearance, in which he ſhal exerciſe a judicature over the bodies of men, as 'tis alſo expreſſe in this Verſe. How, we ſhal touch by and by. But the Greek hath a farr lowder emphaſis. For it is foreign, that is, THAT SAME appearance of him, and THAT SAME Kingdome of him, or of his. As that his appearance at this time, this Text ſpeaks of, is not meerly ſpirituall, but viſible; ſo proportionably, that his Kingdome at that time is not onelyonly ſpirituall but viſible. And further the Greek tels us that Chriſt hath that Kingdome, foreign, AFTER, or ACCORDING to his appearance: Yea, the copulative AND puts it into that order; namely, firſt his appearance, and THEN his Kingdome. His appearance, at leaſt, is firſt in order of nature, before his Kingdome, if not in time. Til the Jews be called, none of this Kingdome is ſet up, as is the general vote of all the Bible (cleared largly in another Treatiſe.) And how they ſhal be for the generality called at once, as (to uſe the Prophets words, Iſa. 66.8.) a Nation borne at once, without the viſible appearance of Chriſt to them (which they daily expect, oft throwing open their windows to behold) let them deviſe that are contrary to us in opinion, for I cannot. The Scriptures tel me twiſe, Zech. 12. 10, 11. Revel. 1.7. (which places cannot be meant of Chriſts comming in the fleſh, or to the ultimate day of the general Judgement, as hath been largely demonſtrated elſe where) I ſay, they tel me that the Jewes ſhal be called by the viſible appearance of Chriſt. Zecharie ſpeaks of the Jewes Families mourning a part, and of pouring out of the spirit upon them, which cannot be imagined at the ultimate day of Judgement. And John in the Revelations quotes the ſame place, carrying it on as a Propheſie of a future time, when Chriſt long ſince had been incarnate, and aſcended. And beyond all contradiction with meditational men, this Text of Paul to Timothy is cleare for the appearance of Chriſt to be the preparation and Primitie of his Kingdome: At the beginning of which Kingdome, tis ſayd here, He ſhall judge the quick and the dead (as our Engliſh hath it.) It can be no danger to keep cloſe to the Original. I charge thee, ſaith Paul to Timothy, before the Lord Jeſus Chriſt, foreign, &c. Who will in future judge quick and dead after his appearance. His appearance muſt precede (as to make himſelfe known to Jewes and Gentiles to be King, &c.) then after that he ſets up his Kingdome at the beginning whereof he ſhal judge (tis not ſayd foreign, THE quick, and THE dead, as compriſing all mankinde that ever was, but) quick and dead indefinitely, meaning indeed, according to the Analogie of other Scriptures, that at the beginning of the ſayd Kingdome he ſhal judge SOME of the quick and dead: that is, He ſhal deſtroy the quick obſtinate wicked, eſpecially that relate to the Antichriſtian party, Revel. 19. two laſt. And he ſhall raiſe all the dead Saints, Revel. 11.15, 16, 17, 18. (weigh the place) And Revel. 20.4, 5. &c. In the former is mentioned Chriſts Kingdome, at that reſurrection; and the anger of Nations; and reſcuing the Earth from the deſtroyers thereof: and the opening of the Temple, and the Arke ſeen; which I cannot by any ſafe interpretation make to ſuit with the ultimate day of the general Judgement. In the later, namely, Revel. 20.4, 5. &c. to the end of the Chapter, the ſix times mention of a thouſand years, the mention of looſing of Satan after that; the following of the reſurrection of the wicked after that; the mention of the Saints reigning mean while with Chriſt a thouſand years (who reignes not after the general Judgement, but layes downe all, 1 Cor. 15.24.) with infinite more that hath beene diſcuſſed on this place, and the other of Revel. 11.15. make me confident, that nothing but the Corporall reſurrection, and glorious reigning of the Saints on earth for a long time, can rationally be underſtood in thoſe places. Thus you ſee how Paul having Propheſied what evils ſhal be in the laſt days, ſhews us clearly what is that which is the period of them, and the beginning of better times: Namely, Chriſts appearance and his Kingdome: So that the evils that we are to ſpeake of, according to theſe Texts of Saint Paul, doe precede, and go next before Chriſts next appearance.
So likewiſe Saint Peter, having foretold the evils of the laſt dayes, doth likewiſe ſet a conſpicuous marke upon the times, to ſignifie hee meanes the ſame times as Paul did; Namely, thoſe that foregoe next before Chriſts appearance and Kingdome, 2 Pet. 3.2, 3, 4. That yee may be mindfull of the words which were spoken before by the HOLY PROPHETS (that is, ſaith Marlorat, the words which the Prophets ſpake concerning falſe Prophets, which Peter had repeated, 2, Epiſt. Chap. 2. Verſ. 1. and of the laſt times) Knowing this, FIRST, that there ſhall come in the laſt dayes ſcoffers, ſaying, Where is the promiſe of his COMMING? For ſince the Fathers fell aſleepe all things continue as they were from the creation: As if they ſhould ſay, We ſee nothing of Chriſts appearances, but outward providences, or ſpiritual Ordinances, But of Chriſts viſible appearance at his COMMING, we ſee no ſigne or ſymptome: But ſaith Peter, Verſe 8. to the Saints, Be yee not ignorant of this one thing, that one day with the Lord is a thouſand years: and a thouſand years as one day: As if he ſhould ſay (in that hee makes this repetition, according to the judgement, not onelyonly of all the moſt learned Hebrews, but alſo of moſt learned Mede) that Chriſts comming wil be ſudden to theſe Scoffers, as if it were but a day or two hence; every thouſand years, and parts of a thouſand years ſhal be but in proportion to a day, and ſo much of a day: The ſeven thouſand years of the World, is but as the ſeventh day of its age, when at fartheſt (if our account of years from the creation be ſo ſhort as we make it, of which we have cauſe to doubt) ſhal be the Sabbatiſme of reſt on Earth, as Paul muſt needs meane, Heb. 4. (demonſtrated largely in our Treatiſe of the thouſand years) And that day a thouſand yeares of refreſhment to the people of God: And it muſt be, ſaith Peter, Verſe 12, 13. at his comming, that for their refreſhment they muſt have, injoy, and be in, New Heavens, and a new Earth, wherein (though not afore) ſhall dwell all righteouſneſſe: And theſe new Heavens and new EARTH muſt be ſuch as he hath promiſed; which promiſe is, Iſa, 65.17. to the end of the Chapter; wherein this ſtate of the new Heavens and new Earth is ſo explained, as cannot (not onelyonly in my judgement, but the judgement of moſt learned Mede) be underſtood of ſupernatural glory in the higheſt Heavens. Thus alſo we ſee Peter marks out unto us, that the evill times, and the evils of the times hee ſpeaks of, doe in his ſenſe antecede, and uſher in, the next appearance, or COMMING of Chriſt to ſet up his Kingdome on Earth.
One word of Judes marks upon the times of evil, he ſpeaks of, and then we ſhal lanch forth into the deepe, and Sea of the evils of thoſe times: One marke is, Verſ. 14. Enoch the SEVENTH from Adam, propheſied of theſe (or, ſuch as theſe) ſaying, Behold the Lord commeth with ten thouſands of his Saints: Enoch evidently, according to the computation of Moſes, Gen. 5. and of Luke, Chap. 3. was the ſeventh from Adam, thus; Adam, Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahaleel, Jared, Enoch: that is, Excluſively, making Adam onelyonly the beginning of the All, of mankinde, Enoch was the ſeventh Father that came out of Adams loynes; which is according to the minde of the Text: The ſeventh FROM Adam; that is, The ſeventh of the Fathers that were FROM Adam.
Between Adam and Enoch were but ſix Fathers. So between Adam and the Age of which Enoch Propheſied, that the Lord ſhould come with ten thouſands of his Saints to judge, are at moſt but ſix Ages, ſix thouſand yeares; and then the ſtate of things in the ſeventh, Eòdem recidit, the ſecond Adam Chriſt, reſtores the World to the perfection of the firſt Adam, but with more ſtability.
The emphaſis of the ſeventh from Adam muſt of neceſſity ſignifie ſome ſuch thing, and not meerly ſignifie the antiquity of the quotation. For if that had been all, the Apoſtle mentioning the ſtory of Sodom, and as an example of judgement by fire, might alſo have quoted Lot, but doth not; of a certainty therefore the ſeventh from Adam hath ſome notable thing in it; as all ſevenths in the Old Teſtament have. And the conſtant tenor of the Jewes in all ages, is; and hath been, that towards the end of the ſix thouſandth yeare of the World, great will the change be: And our Text tels us that according as Enoch was a ſeventh, ſo in a proportion to that, the Lord ſhould come to judge, now after the Apoſtles times, in the laſt dayes of the World. Immediatly afore which, ſhall be mockers, walking after their own ungodly luſts; ſpoken long afore, by the Apoſtles of Jeſus Chriſt, as our Apoſtle Jude tels us, Verſ. 17, 18. which is a ſecond marke of thoſe evil times he ſpeaks of, to be the forerunners of the very laſt times before Chriſts appearance. For if the Apoſtles foretel theſe things long afore, then they are the laſt times, when theſe things ſhal come to paſſe.