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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A42413	A persuasive to the study of the Revelation, or, An exposition of the three first verses of that prophecy wherein 1. There is an account given of the unintelligibleness of the Revelation ... 2. Dr. Hammond's key ... shewn to be a mistaken one. 3. That neither the Doctor himself, nor anyone else in his time, understood the meaning of those passages. 4. That it can proceed from no better cause than injudiciousness or unskilfulness in these mysteries, to take exceptions at our modern Protestant expositions of the Revelation upon the account of novelty / by Wal. Garrett, rector of Everly.	Garrett, Walter.	1699 (1699)	Wing G271; ESTC R42043	8,363	8

A ●ERSUASIVE To the STUDY of the REVELATION OR An EXPOSITION of the Three first Verses of that PROPHECY WHEREIN There is an Account given of the Unintelligibleness of the Revelation ●or a long time viz. Till the Time it self prefixes for the Understan●ing of its own Visions Dr. Hammond's Key taken from things shortly to come to pass and seal not the Prophecy is shewn to be a mistaken one That neither the Doctor himself nor any one else in his time understood the meaning of those Passages That it can proceed from no better Cause than Injudiciousness or Un●kilfulness in these Mysteries to take Exceptions at our Modern Protestant Expositions of the Revelation upon the account of Novelty By Wal. Garrett Rector of Everly ●●thing what or what manner of Time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signifie c. Vnto whom it was revealed that not unto themselves but unto us they did minister 1 Pet. i. 11 12. Science has no Enemy but the Ignorant Gnom LONDON ●●inted March 1698 9. And are to be had with the rest of the Authors 〈◊〉 Tracts at W. Dotchen's Bookseller in Holborn over-against Chancery-Lane … d and at M. Ball 's in Leestreet near Red Lyon Square The PREFACE THAT the Wisdom of this World is Foolishness with God as the Wisdom of God is with the World 1 Cor. i. 18 24. iii. 19. appears in nothing more than in those great and unjustifiable Endeavours that have been used to keep the Mysteries of this admirable Prophecy in perpetual darkness at the same time when the blessed Author of it is doing all be can to recommend it to our serious and diligent perusal He does not suffer it to be entit'led the Vision or Words of the Prophet as was usual in former times Isa i. 1. Jer. i. 1. but the Revelation of Jesus Christ with this notable Addition which God gave unto him intimating thereby his high esteem of the Gift for the Givers sake And accordingly it is well worth our Observation in what a glorious as well as graceful form of Words the Dignity of Opening or unfolding those Divine Mysteries is set forth to us Rev. v. 1 2 3 c. But alas it is but too too evident that the Great ones of the world have very far different thoughts of it Their Objections indeed are civil enough I wish I could say the same of their Oppositions too And besides I shrewdly suspect some to make use of unlawful Weapons poysoned Arrows these I leave to the just Judgment of God who is a true Beholder of all the dark paths they tread But if any Man has a mind to traverse the Point fairly with me I shall be ready by God's Ass●stance to give him a clear and a full Answer to all pertinent Allegations My Des●gn at present is to perswade the Study of the Revelation to be worth our while especially at This time and to take off the grand Objection drawn from the Unintelligibleness of it To which purpose I here shew That the Time when our blessed Saviour design'd to have the Revelation understood is plainly noted in the Prophecy it self which is a very considerable circumstance that no former Expositor has been aware of and which the Reader I hope will take notice of as a good Omen of what may be expected Now above what is to be met with in any former Interpreter My Design then is by degrees as God shall enable me to carry on the Exposition of the Revelation to where Mr. Mede begun his viz. to the end of the vth Chapter The ivth and vth I have done in Latin already to try before I was engaged too far what the more learned sort had to say against it which in point of Argument I do not find to be discouraging at all But I see These labour under mighty Prejudices from which the m●aner sort of Scholars being free may pr●v● for ought I know as capable of Sense as they I am therefore now good English Reader by the Blessing of God preparing for thee a plain Exposition of the Five first Chapters of the Revelation a truly Noble and Divine Prophecy never before understood by any Man extending from the Beginning of a Christian Church in Rome to the Times we Now live in And I pray take this Sheet of Paper as a Specimen of what may be expected in the following If you like This prepare for greater Discoveries and I hope this will convince thee That the Time is now come for that Blessedness to him that Reads and Hears and Keeps or Observes this Prophecy Chap. i. 3. to take effect and wherein we may safely affirm without a new Revelation That Christ Jesus will not take it well of those that would obstruct the Opening of those glorious Mysteries Let nothing then discourage us from lending every one his helping hand towards it For When Man cries Seal the Book and God says Not Whose Word shall stand Man talks he knows not Study it then good Christian and depend what On God's sure Promise for a blessed End A Persuasive to the Study of the Revelation c. REV. I. Vers 1. THE Revelation of Jes●s Christ which G●d gave unto him to shew unto his Servants things that must shortly come to pass and he sent and signified them by his Angel to his Servant John 2 Who have Record of the Word of God and of the Testimony of Jesus Christ and of all things which he saw Blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the words of this Prophecy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and keep or observe these things that are written therein for the Time is at hand In which words the Book is Entitled The Revelation of Jesus Christ that is The Discovery of Future things revealed or made known by Jesus Christ the Author of the Discovery which Discovery he was enabled to make in vertue of his Divine not Human Nature Mat. xxiv 36. which is the meaning of those Words Which God gave unto him For hence it is That with respect to his being the Author of this Prophecy he so often takes upon him the Stile or Title of the Only True God viz. The First and the Last c. Rev. i. 8 11 17 xxii 13. For this very Title does Isaiah set forth as the into nmunicable Attribute of the Only True God Isa xli 4. xliv 6. xlviii 12. And hence also it is That Jesus Christ is called The Lord God of the Holy Prophets Rev. xxii 6. And the Lord God of the Holy Prophets sent his Angel c. For at verse 16 of the same Chapter it is said of the same Mission and the same Messenger I Jesus have sent mine Angel Jesus therefore it need must be whom a little before the Angel that was sent had called The Lord God of the Holy Prophets And can any one now ●●●nk either that Christ as a Good Man w●●●● have thus intruded himself into the Society of the Godhead Or

the Angels that had the seven Vials to pour out upon Babylon Chap. xvii 1. Whereby is signified That till the Times of the Vials or Last Plagues as they are called Rev. xv 1. that Vision of Rev. xvii which is the Key to all the rest should not be understood This Promise therefore Blessed is he that readeth or interpreteth c. could not take its true and just Effect till the Times of the Vials that is of the Declension of the Babylonish Tyranny whatever City we can imagin to be meant by Babylon With respect to Those Times therefore is that Promise to be understood and not to any Times preceding the Vials By all which we see That this Prophecy should lye dormant as it were till the time of the Vials but that then our Blessed Saviour would raise up such as should interpret it to his Servants notwithstanding all the opposition that should be made by such as would have the true meaning of the Prophecy to be seal'd shut up or stifled For as when the Vial-Angels are said to have brought several Plagues upon the adverse party Rev. xvi we thence conclude That therefore those Plagues were really to come in the Time of the Vials So when a Vision is said to have been shewed or interpreted by a Vial Angel we are as much oblig'd to inser there-from That therefore that Vision was to be Really and Eventually shewed or interpreted in the Vial-times Thus then we see the Revelation begins with addressing it self to those Times of the Vials which were a little to precede the fulfilling of its Chief Vision when first it was to be understood and in respect of which it bears the Title of A REVELATION For while the Mysteries of it lay in Darkness as confessedly they did for many Ages and were so ordain'd of God to do it could not in any tolerable sense be call'd A REVELATION or a Book Unsealed to those Ages Objection But if a Vial-Angel's interpreting the Mysteries of the xvii Chapter is an intimation That those Mysteries could not be interpreted till the Times of the Vials And if a Vial-Angel's saying Seal not the Prophecy must be understood with respect to the Times of the Vials then why must not a Vial-Angel's Exposition of the seven Kings Rev. xvii where he says Five are faln One is c. be conceived to reset to the Times of the Vials too as meaning One is Now in the Times of the Vials which would unjoynt the whole Prophecy I answer The Angel speaks those Words Five are faln One is c. as an Interpreter and not as a Minister or Actor in the Vision as appears from vers 7 9. And therefore he must be understood to regard the Time in which he Really spake the Words for Otherwise his Interpretation would signifie nothing for we should still be to seek when the Times of the Vials were to be But in saying Seal not the Book for the Time is at hand he speaks as a Minister or Actor in the Vision and must be understood mystically viz. with respect to the Part assigned to him in the Vision But further we have this irrefragable Demonstration that the One is cannot be referr'd to the Mystical Time viz. the Time of the Vials nor those Words of our Saviour Blessed is he that readeth c. for the time is at hand answering to those of the Angel Seal not the Prophecy that is Read it Interpret it Isa xxix 11. for the time is at hand of the Real time that St. John liv'd in For the One is is the sixth Head or King After him is the seventh After him again the Eighth who also is called The Beast that was and is not Together with This Beast or Eighth King arise Ten other Kings that for a time contribute their Power and Strength and Kingdom to him that is to the Whore or Babylon the City that he heads and rules in After this the Friendship of those Kings is turned to mortal Hatred These shall hate the Whore says the Angel and shall make her desolate and naked and shall eat her Flesh and burn her with Fire that is they shall pour out the Vials or Last Plagues upon her All which is exceeding clear beyond all possible Exception from Rev. xvii 10 11 12 13 16 17 18. From whence we see That the Vials or Last Plagues whereby Babylon is to be destroy'd come not upon the Stage till the Ten Kings who are to destroy the Whore begin to Hate her Between which and the One is there is interposed all the time of the Confederacy of the Ten Kings with the Beast and also all the time of the seventh King So that to say That the One is or Sixth King belongs to the time of the Vials how Absurd were it Wherefore the One is cannot possibly be referr'd to the Time of the Vials or Mystical Time but to the Real Time St. John liv'd in to whom the words were spoken And on the other side the Absurdity of understanding those words Blessed is he that readeth c. or seal not the Prophecy for the time is at hand of the Real Time St. John liv'd in is altogether as gross and palpable as the other For it is confest on all hands that this Prophecy was sealed if ever Prophecy in the World were seal'd and could not be read as a Prophecy or Declaration of Future things to any purpose for many Ages after And the complaints of the skilfullest Divines of all Persuasions at this very day to whom the obscurity of these Mysteries is the pretended discouragement are a sufficient Evidence of the undeniable Truth of that Assertion Wherefore if those passages cannot be understood of the Real Time St. John liv'd in they must relate to the Mystical Time of the Angel that spake them to him consider'd as an Actor in the Vials If you still insist the Prophecy in Saint John's time was written for any one to read or understand that could I answer so was Daniel's in his time written too which yet was commanded to be sealed Dan. xii 4. till the time of the end It is not therefore the Writing but the Vnderstanding of a Prophecy that Unseals or Opens it And This is Demonstration by heap to a truly good Man who is the only competent Judge of Discourses of this nature Dan. xii 10. and who only can receive Benefit by the Shewing of these Mysteries to him Rev. xxi 9. c. xxii 11. Insomuch that whoso is Averse to them is manifestly deficient in one Symptom of true Goodness And so much for the Objection Lastly then as a Consectary from what has been said we may observe how very injudiciously those Gentlemen who make Rome Pagan and not Papal to be Babylon have managed their Interpretations of these Visions For they all make the Vials to be emptied and Babylon to have been destroy'd above a thousand years ago but all the while they shew no true Interpretation of the xvii Chapter to have come abroad For Every one of them appears at the head of a new pretended Exposition of his own so making Vial-Angels of Themselves unsent by Christ because Mistiming their designs with no better Authorities and Accoutrements than perhaps some useless Reliques of old Empty Vials But on the contrary As for those that take a Prejudice at the Protestant Expositions of this Prophecy upon the account of NOVELTY these shew as much Unskilfulness and Injudiciousness on the other hand For according to the Protestant Scheme the Vials are Now a pouring out which hath been shewn to be the Proper Season for interpreting the xviith Chapter That indisputable Key of all the other Visions And as for the main Vision of all viz. That of the Bride the Lambs Wife c. when her Enemies being subdued the Church shall be put into a most firm and lasting state of Splendor and Tranquillity that was to be foreshew'd but a little while afore its coming to pass Rev. xxi 9 c. xxii 6 7 10 12 20. As therefore they who make 〈◊〉 Lamb's Wife to have been come abo●● these Thousand years in the state she 〈◊〉 there described in but do not shew h●● Coming predicted a little afore from the●● Visions know not what they speak of So we who being in expectation of a speedy Accomplishment of that great Revolution are offering every foot and anon some new Exposition or other one Right another Wrong and all of us anew● the matter and according to the Ability that God giveth act as consistently with Our Hypothesis as the others inconsistently with theirs For it is certain That Ours must be New if they be True But Theirs if True cannot be New And so much for this time If any thing here delivered be unsatisfactory or obscure upon Notice given I do not question but by God's Assistance I shall clear it fully in the next Paper In the mean time let the Reader that designs for any degree of Skilfulness in these Matters take care to acquaint himself well with the xvii Chapter to which purpose my Exposition of that Chapter in want of a better may be serviceable to him for that Chapter as hath been often said but nor Too often is the Key to the whole Prophecy and till we are agreed in the sense of That I cannot undertake to render any thing so Clear as I could wish to him For I confess it is the height of my Ambition to dismiss him at the last with all imaginable Satisfaction such as I have my self I ble●● God for it and to leave nothing in h●● way if possible but Sun-beams to stumble at FINIS