Vers 17. And the Spirit and the bride say Come And let him that heareth say Come And let him that is a thirst Come And whosoever will let him take the water of life freely In this verse there are three things remarkable the first whereof is the desire that both the holy Spirit and the Church had to see the coming of Christ before promised inasmuch as it would openly shew both his severity towards the wicked and his goodness towards those that had walked closely with him The second is the command here imposed upon every one that should hear of this coming to wish for it The third is the invitation made to every one that is athirst and earnestly aspireth unto happiness to come and drink of the water of life freely All which are of themselves plain and need no further interpretation Vers 18. For I testifie unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book If any man shall adde unto these things God shall adde unto him all the plagues that are written in this book Vers 19. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy God shall take away his part out of the book of life and out of the holy city and from the things which are written in this book Moses in the law enjoyned the children of Israel that they should neither adde to the word which he had commanded nor diminish from it Deut. 4.2 So doth Christ here deal with Christians in relation to the book of this excellent prophecy ratifying his injunction with the greatest penalty that can be imagined Now to add to the words of this book or to diminish from them if perhaps any man be ignorant of so easy a matter is to insert something thereunto which was not written by John or to race out something that was there written by him This being so what will become of them at the last day who have rejected this whole book from the Canon of holy scripture pretending it was written not by that holy Apostle John but by some vile person when in the mean time the name of John is often there expressed as the penman thereof and the divine excellency of the things contained in the book sufficiently demonstrateth that it came originally from God what likewise shall we think of those who have so shamefully abused the book of this prophecy as that they durst to make it subservient to their own passions and worldly interests imposing such glosses on the same as have no hint or footstep in the holy Text and that on purpose to blacken some either person or party with whom they are angry and render them odious in the sight of all men Certainly this is little less then adding to the prophecy and argueth so small reverence to the pure and undefiled word of God at which we ought to tremble and withal bewraieth so great malice towards men as that the fifteenth verse of this very Chapter sheweth that such interpreters will at length be excluded out of the Kingdom of heaven Vers 20. He which testifieth these things saith Surely I come quickly Amen Even so come Lord Jesus The Lord Jesus doth here the third time mention his speedy coming of which we have sufficiently treated and John following the direction that was before given him in the seventeenth verse doth beseech the Lord Jesus that according to his promise he would come Which passage is diligently to be observed as strongly pressing them who dare to deny the invocation of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ For it can with no forehead be denied that here is a direct prayer adderssed to him since his ascent into heaven and sitting at the right hand of God Vers 21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all Amen As the foregoing verse yielded us a direct prayer made to Christ so this affordeth an oblique one For John here requesteth that the favour of the Lord Jesus might still be put forth towards the Saints that were in Asia to whom he directed the book of this prophecy Wherefore let us after the example of so holy a person pray earnestly that the same Lord Jesus would continue and multiply his favor towards all his Saints that are dispersed through the whole world that he would shelter them under the shadow of his wings against the rage of their enemies and supply them as their several necessities shall require and finally so fill them with the Spirit of grace that they may abound in love towards one another and towards all men FINIS
same person with the Goat himself as the Angel there shews it doth Vers 21. namely Alexander the King of Greece and the first King thereof who subdued Darius the King of the Medes and Persians and so was the Goat that trampled on the Ram with two Horns there spoken of Vers 4. And they worshipped the Dragon which gave Power unto the Beast and they worshipped the Beast saying Who is like unto the Beast who is able to make war with him In this Verse is set forth the marvellous impiety of the whole World in the Reign of the Beast for they shall not stick to worship the Devil for investing the Beast with so vast Authority and also the Beast that is set up by him as judging no King in all the World like to him for greatness nor able to wage war with him Neither is this Worship of the Devil to be esteemed such a sin as that the Nature of Man cannot possibly be induced to commit it otherwise the Devil would not have sollicited our Saviour Christ thereunto telling him that if he would fall down and worship the Devil all the Kingdoms of the World together with the glory thereof should become his Luk. 4 6 7. For certainly the Devil is too subtil to propose such a thing to our Saviour the wisest and strongest Saint that ever was or shall be which is so enormous that no Man though never so gross and wicked is capable of being drawn thereunto I conclude therefore that this detestable wickedness of Worshipping the Devil will be put in practise according to the very Letter during the Reign of the Beast Vers 5. And there was given unto him a Mouth speaking great things and blasphemies and power was given unto him to continue forty and two Moneths These words imply that the Beast though otherwise of himself most impious yet could not utter so great things and blasphemies were he not animated by an extraordinary Power For as it is elsewhere said in the Scripture that none can do such or such an act of Piety unless it be given to him and consequently God doth in mercy enable him by the Power of his Holy Spirit as Christ saith that none could come unto him except it were given him of the Father Joh. 6.65 And Paul saith Phil. 1.29 To you it is given in the behalf of Christ not onely to believe in him but also to suffer for him So the outragious blaspheming of the Name of God here spoken of is so high a strain of impiety that were not the Beast incited and spirited thereunto by the working of Satan he could in no wise reach unto it The same is said of his making war namely with the Saints as you have it Vers 7. and Dan. 7 25. for the space of forty two Moneths For this being a more than ordinary act of Tyranny requireth the assistance of the Devil to stir up and strengthen the Beast to perform it As for the duration of this War with the Saints which the Beast is said to wage for the space of forty two Moneths seeing I have already proved that by the Beast is meant a King neither can any place be alledged out of the Scripture where by Moneths are meant Moneths of Years and not of Days onely I collect that the said War shall last but three Years and an half Vers 6. And he opened his mouth in Blasphemy against God to blaspheme his Name and his Tabernacle and them that dwelt in Heaven What the Beast had by the permission of God received a Power to do he here putteth in execution blaspheming the Name of God and his Tabernacle By which Tabernacle is meant the heavenly Jerusalem the place of Gods abode as appeareth from Chap 21.2 3. For there when that holy City descendeth out of Heaven upon the new Earth a voice is heard from Heaven saying Behold the Tabernacle of God is with men and he shall dwell with them Which implyeth that the heavenly Jerusalem is the Tabernacle of God wherein he will dwell with men And this City is therefore called a Tabernacle because contrary to the guize of other Cities it removeth from place to place as Tabernacles or Tents are wont to do Neither is the Blasphemy of the Beast terminated in God and his Tabernacle but extendeth it self to all those dwelling in Heaven namely Christ and the holy Angels which fully verifieth what Paul saith of this Beast under the name of the Man of Sin and Son of Perdition namely that he shall exalt himself above every one that is called God 2 Thess 2.4 For this Appellation of God is in the Scripture given both to the Father and to his Son Christ Jesus and also to the holy Angels See Ephes 1.17 The God of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of glory John 20.28 Thomas answered and said unto him namely Jesus Christ My Lord and my God Zech. 12.8 The house of David shall be as God as the Angel of the Lord before them Vers 7. And it was given unto him to make war with the Saints and to overcome them and Power was given him over all Kindreds and Tongues and Nations The Beast hath Power given to him not onely to make war with the Saints which by the way implyeth that the Saints oppose him with Arms for it is then rightly termed War when Hostility is openly used on both sides See Chap. 12.7 but also to vanquish them in fight And this is a thing very remarkable giving us to understand that the Saints though fighting in a just Cause against the Beast yet cannot prevail by force of Arms in as much as the Beast is to be defeated by the divine Power of Christ their Captain who will at length appear in the Heaven riding upon a white Horse and by the Sword of his Mouth dissipate the Beast and his Complices See Chap. 19.11 15 20 21. What is here further said of the universal Monarchy of the Beast is of it self very plain and hath been touched before in the Exposition of the first Verse so that I need not add any thing thereunto Vers 8. And all that dwell upon the Earth shall worship him whose Names are not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the Foundation of the World As the Kingdom of the Beast is universal so is the Worship also none amongst all the Inhabitants of the Earth refusing it save they whose Names are written in the Book of Life For they being appointed of God unto Salvation are accordingly preserved by him from committing so great impiety as to worship a King that openly blasphemeth God and was set up by the Devil Furthermore when the Book of Life is here said to be the Lambs it is because God hath prepared it for him for Moses of old testified that God hath written such a Book Exod. 32.32 that he might know on whom to bestow eternal Life For seeing it was the will of God that none should
the Dead is evident in that the very chief of them came not to pass in the time of his former life as will appear to any one that peruseth what hath been written of him by ancient Authours For where is it said of him in story that he received a deadly Wound and recovered Yea we finde on the contrary that when he had been wounded by one Stephanus he was so far from being cured thereof that he was by others coming in presently after killed outright See Suetonius in the History of Domitian cap. 17. Where that his Image was erected and made to speak that they might be put to death that refused to worship it Where that he did set a Mark upon either the fore-head or the right hand of Men without which none might buy or sell These and sundry other remarkable things recorded of the Beast in the Book of the Revelation were never yet acted by him nor indeed by any other person whatsoever that we read of since this Prophecy was written wherefore if the Beast that was long since slain must do them as this Prophecy plainly testifieth it will unavoidably follow that he must be raised from the Dead to that purpose But though the Inhabitants of the Earth in general shall admire the Beast yet some will refuse to do so namely They whose names were written in the book of life from the foundation of the world By which passage it is clear that there is a certain number of men ordained by name to eternal life from the foundation of the world And this Ordination is alledged by the Angel as the true cause why they above others consent not to the epidemical impiety that is committed in admiring the Beast Neither did I ever meet with any man who denying such a particular and peremtory Ordination could give a clear and satisfactory answer to this passage which in my judgement now that I have made a more diligent search thereinto seemeth sufficient to decide the so much agitated controversie about Predestination especially if you add that other invincible argument taken from the Ordination of Christ himself For if Christ were unchangeably Ordained to glory not only from but also before the foundation of the world as the Scripture attesteth and all Christians grant why should not we by like reason affirm the same of his people it being altogether absurd to imagine that the head should be designed and not also the body pertaining thereunto inasmuch as they have a mutual relation the one to the other For whereas some indeavour to decline the dint of the foresaid passage in the Revelation by referring those words from the foundation of the world to the book it self and not to the writing of the names therein this can by no means consist for then to exclude all ambiguity an Article would have been prefixed to them in the Greek and accordingly the words have run thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Again I would demand of any man well skilled in that language how the Angel could speak otherwise then he doth were it his intention as I affirm to shew that certain mens names were from the foundation of the world written in the book of life But if he meant to signifie that the Book onely was from the Foundation of the World that as I before shewed might easily have been done by setting an Article agreeing in Greek with the word Book before these words From the Foundation of the World Vers 9. And here is the minde which hath wisdom The seven Heads are seven Mountains on which the Woman sitteth 10. And they are seven Kings five are fallen and one is and the other is not vet come and when he cometh he must continue a short space 11. And the Beast that was and is not even he is the eighth and is of the seven and goeth into perdition Here the Angel cometh directly to the matter making way to the discovery that he had promised to John with a so emn Preface whereby he intimateth that the Interpretation which he was about to deliver was so ordered that none but a wise and intelligent man could apprehend it Then beginning to declare the Mystery of the Beast with seven Heads and ten Horns whereon the Woman sitteth he saith that the seven Heads are both seven Mountains whereon the Woman sitteth which Description the wise and learned know denoteth Rome that was built upon seven Mountains and also seven Kings so the Roman Emperours are elsewhere styled in the Scripture for the Jews John 19.15 say We have no King but Caesar And that he here meaneth Roman Kings or Emperours is evident in that they are coupled with the seven Mountains of Rome and represented as they before had been by the seven Heads of the Beast of which Kings five namely Claudius Nero Galba Otho Vitellius are fallen that is are taken away by a violent death Thus David 2 Sam. 4 38. saith to the Israelites concerning Abner whom Joab had slain Know you not that there is a Prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel And God saith to the murmuring Israelites against whom his hand was lifted up to destroy them from among the Host until they were consumed As for you your carcases shall fall in this wilderness Numbers 14.32 but one is namely Vespasian the other is not yet come and when he cometh he must continue but a little while That is Titus the elder son of Vespasian who Reigning after his Father continued but two years two moneths and twenty days as Suetonius in his life witnesseth And the Beast that was and is not even he is the eighth and is of the seven and goeth into perdition This is meant of Domitian the younger son of Vespasian who was the eighth King or Emperour from Claudius if you consider him as reigning after the death of his Father and his elder brother But if you look upon him as Reigning in the absence of his Father who was not yet come out of the eastern parts unto Rome to manage the Empire he was one of the seven Kings from Claudius namely the sixth For that Domitian after the death of Vitellius the Emperour did in the absence of his Father Reign at Rome as Emperour is manifest from the words of Tacitus Hist lib. 3. Cap. ult Domitianum postquam nihil hostile metuebatur ad duces partium progressum Caesarem consalutatum miles frequens utque erat in armis in paternos penates deduxit that is Domitian when no further hostility was feared presented himself to the Captains of the party and being saluted Cesar that is Emperour for this was the Title of all the Roman Emperours after Julius Cesar was brought by the Souldiery in their arms to his Fathers house And lib. 4. cap. 1. Nomen sedemque Caesaris Domitianus acceperat that is Domitian had assumed to himself both the Title and the seat of Cesar ib. cap. 4. Ipsi consulatus cum Tito filio proetura
no other receptacle of the dead besides these twain save only the Grave Thus we finde that Job doth by death understand the Grave Chap. 27.15 When he saith of the wicked man that those that remain of him shall be buried in death and his widows shall not weep Finally Hell not Hell-fire giveth up the souls both of them that were drowned in the Sea under which name all waters are comprehended and also of them that were buried in the earth For that Hell is designed to be the mansion of separated Souls appeareth from the words of Peter Acts 2.31 Who speaking out of the Psalms concerning the resurrection of Christ saith that his soul was not left in hell neither did his flesh see corruption And also from that passage of David Psalm 30.3 O Lord thou hast brought up my soul from Hell thou hast kept me alive that I should not go down into the pit For that I have rightly rendred the words in saying from hell and not from the Grave is manifest both from the Greek version which here hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and also from the Hebrew original not using the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is proper to denote a Grave or Sepulchre See Gen. 23.6 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereby Hell is wont to be expressed and which lieth in the lower parts of the earth See the Hebrew context of Numb 16.30.33 Besides it is apparent to common sense that not the souls but only the bodies of men are laid in the grave Vers 14. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire This is the second death Vers 15. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire What the second death is and consequently those words mean which we read in the second clause of the sixth verse foregoing as also those Chap. 2.11 where it is said He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death is here by John explained for he expresly telleth us that the lake of fire and brimstone is the second death So that to be cast into that lake and to be under the power of the second death or hurt of it are expressions of the same import Thus had we the testimony of Jesus expounded to us in the nineteenth Chapter Nevertheless how Death and Hell being both of them places and receptacles of the dead should be cast into the said lake is hard to comprehend Yea were it not for a certain passage in the sixth Chapter of this prophecy I should be inclineable to think that this was a mystery which God would not have us pry into as we have above shewn that sundry such mysteries are to be met withal in the Book of the Revelation But forasmuch as in the Chapter aforesaid verse 8. Death is brought in riding upon a pale horse and Hell following him and consequently both of them are represented in the similitude of persons we may from thence rationally collect that in the passage here under debate the Holy Ghost intending to intimate that after the universal Judgement there shall be neither burial nor separation of the soul from the body doth exhibit two persons representing Death and Hell which are thrown into the lake of fire as resigning up their Office to it and being swallowed up therein according to that of the Prophet Hosea Chap. 15.14 O death I will be thy plague O Hell so it is in the Hebrew and not Grave I will be thy destruction Besides the books of the Old and New Testament which are the rule by which the actions of men that have had some form of Religion delivered by God shall at length be examined there is yet another Book opened in the day of judgement to wit the Book of life wherein whosoever have not their names written are said to be cast into the Lake of fire From whence it may be rightly concluded that as the want of being enrolled in that Book was above in the thirteenth and also in the seventeenth Chapters alleged as the Cause why so many erred most grosly in admiring and worshipping the Beast so is it here why so many are thrown into the Lake of Fire in that it is altogether impossible for such persons to attain that piety to which the Promise of eternal Life is annexed As for the place of the Lake of Fire that is here so much spoken of were it part of the World it would of necessity perish with the World which as we have before evinced is to be abolished Wherefore seeing it abideth for ever we ought in reason to conceive that it is without the compass of the World in the Description of which the Scripture doth perpetually omit it And hence it seemeth to be called by Christ the outer Darkness Matth. 22.13 as being without the Verge of Heaven and Earth Chap. 21. Vers 1. And I saw a new Heaven and a new Earth for the first Heaven and the first Earth were passed away and there was no more Sea The Exposition WHat I before said touching the orderly course held by John in setting down his Prophecies is here worthy again to be observed For having in the precedent Chapter described the abolition of Heaven and Earth he now mentioneth the new Heaven and the new Earth that are to succeed in their place And he therefore affirmeth that he had seen this new Heaven and this new Earth though to this very day the old ones still continue because they were represented to him in a Vision Thus Christ saith to his Disciples Matth. 16.28 There be some of them that are standing here who shall not taste of Death till they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom Not that any of them were to remain alive to the end of the World for both the Scripture and the Ecclesiastical History testifie the contrary but because about eight days after he vouchsafed to three of them a sight of that glory wherein he shall come as King to judge the World Luke 9.27 28 29 30. But for as much as many endeavour to obscure this passage of the Revelation with their forced Allegories let us confirm the plain and literal meaning thereof by what the Scripture elsewhere speaketh concerning this matter The Apostle Peter describing the Day of Judgement and the alteration that shall happen to the World thereby telleth the pious Jews to whom he directeth his Letters that the Day of the Lord will come as a Thief in the Night in the which the Heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat the Earth also and the Works therein shall be burnt up Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness looking for and hasting unto the coming of the Day of God wherein the Heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the Elements shall melt with fervent
and let us serve them Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that Prophet or that dreamer of dreams for the Lord your God proveth you to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul Neither can any one justly say that the Wonders to be performed by the false Prophet are onely seeming Miracles and not real ones For besides that neither the Scripture nor the common use of speaking doth by great Wonders understand meer Illusions and Deceptions of the sight the particular Wonder that John allegeth for an instance putteth the matter out of all question for he saith that the false Prophet causeth fire to come down from Heaven before men But if fire coming down from Heaven be not a true Miracle I would fain learn what is Vers 15. And he had power to give life unto the Image of the Beast that the Image of the Beast should both speak and cause that as many as would not worship the Image of the Beast should be killed The false Prophet who had done sundry Miracles to make Men erect an Image to the Beast doth at length cause the Image it self to speak with words tending to this purpose that whosoever refuseth to worship the Image of the Beast shall be put to death Of such a Miracle as this we sometimes read in the Scripture as namely Zech. 10.2 The Idols or Images for so the Hebrew word Teraphim is rendred 1 Sam. 19.13 have spoken vanity Wherefore there is the less reason why any man should in the explication of this place betake himself to a figurative sense and so impose upon the words an uncouth and uncertain Interpretation as men love to do when they comment upon this Book of the Revelation Vers 16. And he causeth all both small and great rich and poor free and bond to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads Vers 17. And that no man might buy or sell save he that had the Mark or the Name of the Beast or the Number of his Name The false Prophet thinketh he can never sufficiently engage Men to the impious Worship of the Beast and his Image which he hath undertaken to settle to which end he addeth another device causing them of what rank or quality soever they be to receive a Mark upon their right hand or their forehead and permitting none to buy or sell that hath it not Now what this Mark is were it not here set down would easily appear to us by comparing two other passages of this Book the one Chap. 14.11 Whosoever receiveth the Mark of his Name The other Chap. 15.2 over his Mark over the word and set in the English before this second over is not in the Greek the number of his Name Whence it is manifest that by the Mark of the Beast is meant either his Name or the Number of his Name and accordingly those words Chap. 13.17 are to be rendred thus Save he that hath the Mark either not or the Name of the Beast or the Number of his Name Neither is it a new thing in the Scripture that a Mark should be set on the Bodies of Men for Protection Thus God is said to have set a Mark on Cain lest any one finding him should kill him Gen. 4.15 He also caused a Mark to be set on the foreheads of them that sighed and cryed for all the Abominations that were done in Jerusalem that the Destroyers might not come near them when they in the Vision slew all the rest of the Inhabitants of that City Ezek. 9.4 6. Finally we read in this very Book of the Revelation Chap. 7.3 that the Servants of God are by an Angel sealed or marked on the forehead to secure them from the Plague of the Locusts Chap. 9.4 and this Mark is the Name of the Lambs Father Chap. 14 1. We see then by these Allegations out of the Scripture that there is no need to fly to a mystical Interpretation in explaining the Mark of the Beast set upon Men that they may be thereby licensed to buy and sell without molestation especially because this Mark is said to be imprinted upon certain parts of their Body and that as the Devil is wont to be God's Ape in imitation of the Name of God set upon the foreheads of his servants for their security Of which thing no man shall ever be able to render a good account if he once depart from the Letter of the Text. Vers 18. Here is Wisdom Let him that hath understanding count the Number of the Beast for it is the Number of a Man and his Number is is six hundred threescore and six As touching the Number of the Beast that is of the first Beast as this Expression doth in the Revelation perpetually signifie or of his Name to such as are not acquainted with the Greek Tongue wherein the Revelation was written this seemeth very difficult but to those who know that the Greeks in Numbring make not use of Figures but reckon by the Letters of the Alphabet putting the first Letter for one the second for two c. the thing is obvious and easie For when it is said that the Number of the Beast by whom as John himself expounded it a Man is understood is six hundred sixty six it is all one as if it were said Write the Name of this Man in Greek the Language of this Book and then calculate the Letters thereof according to the custome of the Greeks and it will amount to the Number of Six hundred sixty six And this very thing is hinted by expressing the Number of six hundred sixty six in Greek not by words but letters Thus much then God is pleased to make known to us but what the Name it self is he hath concealed reserving the knowledge thereof for them that shall live in the time of the Beast So that besides Irreverence towards God it is also lost labour for us in these times to spend our conjectures upon it Chap. 14 Vers 1. And I looked and so a Lamb slood on the Mount Sion and with him an hundred forty and four thousand having his Fathers Name written in their foreheads The Exposition BY the Lamb here standing on Mount Sion is meant Christ Jesus the Son of God both because the Name of his Father is writ upon the foreheads of the Saints here mentioned and because he is brought in as their Leader and finally because no other person besides him is wont to be designed by the Name of a Lamb. By Mount Sion it self is under slood Jerusalem For though Mount Sion if you speak strictly and properly was but a Castle in Jerusalem taken by David in the beginning of his Reign over all Israel 1 Chron. 11.4,5 yet is it as being the chiefest part of that City frequently in Scripture put for Jerusalem it self as Isai 33.29 Look on Sion the City of our solemnities thine eys shall see Jerusalem a quiet
Domitiano consulare imperium that is to him namely Vespasian with Titus his son the consulship was voted to Domitian the pretorship and consular authority ib. cap. 16. Mox ejurante Frontino Caesar Domitianus praeturam cepit Ejus nomen epistolis edictisque proponebatur Vis penes Mucianum nisi quod pleraque Domitianus instigantibus amicis aut propria lubidine agebat that is Not long after upon the resignation of Frontinus Caesar Domitian took the pretorship his name was prefixt to all Letters and Edicts The power and sway of affairs was in Mucianus save that Domitian either at the instigation of his friends or upon his own pleasure transacted very many things ib. cap. 20. Vespasianus in Italiam resque urbis intentus adversam de Domitiano famam accipit tanquam terminos aetatis concessa filio egrederetur that is Vespasian being intent upon Italy and the affairs of the City heareth an ill report of Domitian as if he had passed the bounds of his age and carried himself with more state then became an Emperours son Suetonius also saith of him in the description of his life Cap. 1. Post victoriam demum progressus Caesar consalutatus honorem praeturae urbanae cum consulari potestate suscepit titulo tenus quam jusdictionem ad collegam proximum transtulit Caeterum omnem vim dominationis tam licenter exercuit ut jam tum qualis futurus esset oslenderet Nec exequar singula contrectatis multorum uxoribus Domitiam Longinam Aelio Lamiae nuptam etiam in matrimonium abduxit atque uno die super viginti urbana officia atque peregrina distribuit mirari se Vespasiano dictitante quod successorem non sibi mitteret that is Domitian after the victory going out and being saluted by the name of Cesar assumed the honour of the City Pretorship with consular authority as to the Title transferring all the jurisdiction to the next Colleague howbeit he did so licenciously exercise all the power of Sovereignty as that he even then shewed what manner of Prince he would afterwards prove For to omit the rest of his actions having abused the wives of many Citizens he took away Domitia Longina that was maried to Aelius Lamia and made her his own wife and distributed in one day above twenty offices belonging either to the City or to foreign parts Vespasian in the mean time ever and anon crying out that he wondred that his son did not also send him a successor ib. chap. 13. Principatum vero adeptus neque in senatu jactare dubitavit patri se fratri imperium dedisse illos sibi reddidisse Pari arrogantiacum procuratorum suorum nomine formalem dictaret epistolam sic coepit Dominus deus noster sic fieri jubet Unde institutum post hac ut ne scripto quidem ac sermone cujusquam appellaretur aliter that is Domitian having obtained the Empire doubted not to boast in the very Senate that he had given the Empire both to his Father and to his Brother whereas they had only restored it unto him with like arrogancy as he endited a formal Letter in the name of his procurators he began thus Our Lord and God commandeth it so to be done whence it was afterwards injoyned that none should either in writing or in speech give him any other Titles This shifting of the Kingly power in Domitian seemeth to be a proof or essay of what shall hereafter happen to him in the same kind For as he was sometimes recalled from a private condition to the Empire so shall he in future ages arise from the dead to be a King as I have before evinced By what the Angel hath here spoken to declare the Mystery of the Beast it is manifest that by the Beast is meant a Man who was alive when this Vision happened to John For the Angel saith expresly Verse 8. that he is It is also manifest that the Beast had already been a King at Rome and should after the decease of his two immediate Predecessours reign there again But who was there in the time of this Vision to whom such a thing doth agree save Domitian about the end of whose Empire Irenaeus saith lib. 5. cap. 3. that this Book of the Revelation was seen Neque enim ante multum temporis so are his words visum est sed paenè sub nostro saeculo ad finem Domitiani imperii Which may be so far true as that perhaps it was not published and commonly known before that time Nevertheless it appeareth from those words of the Angel Five are fallen and one is that it was written in the Reign of Vespasian These things being so I rightly reckon the Kings from Claudius for if you begin either before or after him the words of the Angel will not suit with the truth of the History as it is delivered by sundry grave Writers that lived in or about those times And it is likely that the Angel so ordered the Vision that the computation should begin from Claudius inclusively because he was the first Roman Emperour that imployed his Authority to molest the Christians For Suetonius in the History of his Life cap. 25. telleth us that he expelled the Jews out of Rome as making continual Tumults by the impulsion of Christ whom he as it seemeth doth out of an heathenish malignity call in Latin Chrestus and not Christus as doth also the Authour of that profane Dialogue called Philopatris which is found among the Works of Lucian see Page 1003. of the Salmurian Edition However certain it is out of the sacred story that Claudius expelled the Jews out of Rome by which means Aquila and Priscilla his Wife both believing Jews being forced to quit Rome betook themselves to Corinth Acts 18.2 It is further manifest from what hath been before discoursed that the Beast Domitian is aptly represented with seven Heads because of his relation both to the seven Mountains and also to the seven Kings that were signified by them For he had not onely sometimes reigned in Rome the seven-hilled City but was also born there for so saith Suetonius in the beginning of his Life Domitianus natus est regione urbis sexta ad Malum Punicum that is Domitian was born in the sixth Ward of the City at the Sign of the Pomegranate He was also Son to one of the seven Kings and Brother to another as hath before been shewed Vers 12. And the ten Horns which thou sawest are ten Kings which have received no Kingdom as yet but receive Power as Kings one hour with the Beast 13. These have one minde and shall give their Power and Strength unto the Beast 14. These shall make War with the Lamb and the Lamb shall overcome them for he is Lord of lords and King of kings and they that are with him are called and chosen and faithful Hitherto the Angel hath spoken concerning the Beast and his seven Heads now he cometh to the
to be there detained for a certain time but into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone to be there tormented for ever and ever From whence it may be gathered 1. That Satan after this time shall not tempt the Sons of Men any more and consequently as we have before discoursed they shall have no other inward sollicitation to sin then what issueth from the natural pravity of their own hearts which is nothing in comparison of that malignity which is infused into them by the artifice of Satan 2. That the reason why the Beast was formerly thrown into Hell-fire and not Satan also that stirred him up is this because God intended to make no further use of the Beast whereas Satan was a thousand Years after to seduce Gog and Magog Which being done and so the wrathfull Ministery of Satan accomplished he likewise is flung into Hell-fire to be there for ever tormented together with the Beast 3. That Hell-fire for that is the same with the Lake of Fire and Brimstone is already in being and not to be created at the Day of Judgement otherwise how should Satan be thrown thereinto before the coming of that Day 4. That Satan though a Spirit yet is not therefore immaterial otherwise how should a true real and material fire as that of the Lake is seeing the smoke of men therein tormented is said to ascend for ever and ever Chap. 14.11 be capable of working on him For he is no less said to be tormented therein than the Beast and the false Prophet who being both Men as I before proved must needs consist of matter as all will grant As for the place where Hell-fire is we shall see concerning that towards the end of this Chapter Vers 11. And I saw a great white Throne and him that sat on it from whose Face the Earth and the Heaven fled away and there was found no Place for them Vers 12. And I saw the Dead small and great stand before God and the Books were opened and another Book was opened which is the Book of Life and the Dead were judged out of those things which were written in the Books according to their Works Vers 13. And the Sea gave up the Dead which were in it and Death and Hell delivered up the Dead which were in them and they were judged every Man according to their Works The Prophecies of the Revelation if we look rightly on them considering them in their own plainness and not as they are disguized and tangled with the far-fetcht Opinions of Men will be found to have been set down in an orderly manner those things being usually delivered first that are first to be accomplished Hence the casting of the Devil into Hell-fire being once dispatcht the universal judgement which was to follow whether in a little or a large distance of time is uncertain cometh here in its own place very fitly to be described God therefore is the supreme Judge is said to sit upon a great white Throne By which words the colour of his Throne which had been hitherto concealed seemeth to be here made known unto us For seeing God as David testifieth hath prepared his Throne in the Heavens for Judgement Psalm 9.7 103.19 and whiteness therein doth for its purity and lustre as well comport with the glory of God if not better than any other colour why should we not believe that the Throne of Judgement whereon God sitteth in the Heavens is as it is here described white But as the glory of God is set out in some measure by the greatness and colour of his Throne so is it infinitely more by the action that is here ascribed to him namely the Annihilation of the heaven and earth For to make them so fly away from before his face as that there is no more place found for them is indeed to reduce them into nothing Otherwise had they any being they would also have a place and be somewhere This reduction of the world into nothing leadeth us to believe the more easily that it was at first created out of nothing For had the matter thereof been from all eternity coexisting with God it would like him be ens necessarium and so likewise of necessity continue for ever with him John having seen the sovereign judge sitting on his throne doth in the next place see them also that stand before him in judgement and they are the dead of all sorts whether they be of high or low degree For that this expression of great and small doth so signifie is evident from Deuteronomy 1.17 Where Moses saith to the Judges of Israel Ye shall not respect persons but ye shall hear the small as well as the great And also from the nineteenth Chapter of this book verse 18. Where an Angel inviteth all the fowls of the heaven to come that they may eat the flesh of all men both free and bond both small and great For the trial of the persons aforesaid are opened certain books containing not their actions for the words import the contrary but the laws by which God proceedeth in judging them and consequently they are the books of the Old and New Testament For Paul plainly telleth us that as many as have sinned in or under the law shall be judged by the law Rom. 2.12 And Christ saith John 12.48 He that rejecteth me and receiveth not my words hath one that judgeth him the word that I have spoken the same shall judge him in the last day These therefore must needs be the books and out of the things written in them the dead shall be judged according to their works For the inspection of these books doth presently discover both of what kind the works themselves are and what reward is appointed to them From whence it may be collected that they to whom God never made known his will nor imparted any of those laws recorded in the Old and New Testament but suffered them to walk in their own waies albeit they shall perish for their wickedness yet shall they not undergo any trial And thus much are we taught by the Apostle Paul who saith 2 Thes 1.7 8. That the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that knew not God And Rom. 2.12 As many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law That is without having any law proposed whereby they should be tried and cast Moreover that we might have a more full knowledge of the foresaid judgement both the resurrection of the dead which is a preparative thereunto and also the several places from whence the dead come forth are here described For the Sea giveth up the bodies of them that were drowned therein and the Grave giveth up the bodies of them that were buried in the earth For that the Grave is here to be understood by death is evident in that it is a place of the dead distinguished both from the Sea and also from Hell But there is
thou hast kept the Word of my Patience I also will keep thee from the Hour of Temptation which shall come upon all the World to try them that dwell upon the Earth Behold I come quickly Now that Christ is said to come when he executeth Judgement on any persons for their Faults is manifest from his own words in sundry places of the Revelation See Chap. 2.5 where he saith to the Angel of the Ephesine Church Remember from whence thou art fallen and repent and do the first Works or else I will come unto thee quickly and will remove the Candlestick out of its place except thou repent And Verse 16. of the same Chapter where he saith to the Angel of the Church in Pergamus Repent or else I will come unto thee quickly and will fight against them with the Sword of my Mouth And Chap. 3.3 where he saith to the Angel of the Church in Sardis Remember how thou hast received and heard and hold fast and repent If therefore thou shalt not watch I will come on thee as a Thief and thou shalt not know what Hour I will come upon thee By this we see how appositely Christ subjoyneth after the mention of his speedy Coming that he is happy who keepeth the Sayings of the Prophecy of this Book For whosoever did so should be hid in the Day of Christ's Anger when he executed Judgement upon the Disobedient and Wicked as he promiseth to the Angel of the Church in Philadelphia in the fore-quoted place Revel 3.10 Vers 8. And I John saw these things and heard them And when I had heard and seen I fell down to worship before the Feet of the Angel which shewed me these things 9. Then saith he unto me See thou do it not for I am thy Fellow-servant and of thy Brethren the Prophets and of them which keep the Sayings of this Book worship God The things which John had heard and seen by means of this Angel were so superlatively great and glorious and John himself was withall so interessed in them for being one of the Lambs twelve Apostles he saw his own name written on the Wall of the new Jerusalem that being ravished therewith he forgets himself falling down before the feet of the Angel to worship him although he had formerly been checkt for doing so Which action of John though not free from blame hath yet something in it very laudable namely the setting of so high a value on the knowledge of excellent things and consequently on those persons that discover them When I consider this in my minde and withall observe how far Christians generally are from having any certain notion of that happiness which God hath prepared for them that love him embracing meer fancies in the stead thereof I conclude that some respect is likewise due to such as vindicate the holy Scripture where it treateth of this matter from those false Glosses that men have so long imposed on them For the right understanding of the Text in this point is of sovereign use and tendeth much to encourage Christians onto piety as filling their mindes with a more firm and lively apprehension of that glory which they through so many difficulties do aspire unto And therefore Paul doth very wisely intercede with God in the behalf of the Saints at Ephesus that they might know what is the hope of his calling Ephes 1.18 lest having an uncertain knowledge of the Prize they should but faintly run that Race which God had set before them But as we learn from the carriage of John to esteem highly of them that do in a true and accurate manner represent to us the glory of the World to come so should the Example of the Angel direct us to refuse all excessive Honours though given by those whom we have by special favours obliged to us For by this means we shall preserve the Prerogative of God entire which we ought to have continually in our Eye Vers 10. And he saith unto me Seal not the Sayings of the Prophecy of this Book for the time is at hand When the Prophet Daniel had seen certain Visions concerning that which was a long time after to be performed he is commanded to shut them up and seal the Book wherein they should be written Dan. 8.26 Ch. 12.4 But here the Angel doth on the contrary charge John that he seal not the words of the Prophecy of this Book alleging this as the reason thereof Because the time was at hand For the case being so it much concerned the People of God to be acquainted with the Revelation that they might in time prepare themselves by that means avoid a surprisal Yet must we not therefore imagine that all the things foretold in this Book were in a short time to be fulfilled for the very 20. Chapter doth abundantly refute such a conceit there being in it the History of above a thousand years but onely that they should ere long begin to be accomplished as we have before demonstrated in the Exposition of the sixth Verse Vers 11. He that is unjust let him be unjust still and he which is filthy let him be filthy still and he that is righteous let him be righteous still and he that is holy let him be holy still When Christ saith Let him that is unrighteous be unrighteous still and let him that is filthy be filthy This is not a Command otherwise these unjust and filthy persons should do well whilest they went on in their wickedness but a Commination For seeing the means that had already been used for the reclaiming of them from their unjust and filthy courses had taken no effect Christ was now resolved to deliver them over to their own hearts lusts whereby it would come to pass that they would afterwards proceed to a further degree of Injustice and Uncleanness Suitable hereunto is that saying of the Angel to Daniel in the 12. Chapter of his Prophecy Verse 10. The wicked shall do wickedly In like manner when it is said on the contrary Let him that is righteous be righteous still or be jet justified and let him that is holy be holy still or be yet sanctified it is a Promise whereby Christ sheweth that it is his intention to bring those who hearkning to his Word were become righteous and holy unto a greater measure of Justice and Sanctity agreeable to that Oracle of his delivered in the Gospel according to Matthew Chap. 25.29 Unto every one that hath shall be given and he shall have abundance Vers 12. And behold I come quickly and my Reward is with me to give every man according as his Work shall be It was before shewn in the Exposition of the 7. Verse that when Christ saith Behold I come quickly this must not be understood of his coming at the last Day Suitably hereunto neither can the Reward that he here speaketh of be meant of such a Recompense as shall then be rendred unto men but which hath place