Thess 5.2 is affirmed of Christ's second coming and when the Battel of Armageddon shall be then Christ shall come as a Thief Rev. 16.15 and lastly the passing away of the Old Heavens and Earth and consequently the creating of the New will be at the day of Judgment v. 7. The Heavens and Earth are reserved to fire against the day of Judgment and all do grant that Christ will come personally at the day of Judgment and when he comes all the dead Saints shall be raised and appear with him Now put all these things together The Old Heavens and Earth must perish new must be created Saints and Righteouss Men must after this dwell in the New Earth and at this time will be the day of Judgment Therefore there must be a Visible and personal presence and reign of Christ upon this New Earth then to be called Beulah and Christ will not marry it and be presently after a day divorced again but as the Saints shall dwell in it so Christ with them If any shall Object that the Judgment shall not be till after the one thousand years and the destruction of Gog and Magog for then 't is said Rev. 20.11 Christ shall sit upon a great White Throne and the dead small and great shall stand before him and why may not this be the day of Judgment spoken of by Peter For answer to this I shall say that if this of Peter and the 20. Rev. be well considered and compared together it will evidently appear that there will be a day of Judgment begun at the time of Antichrist's destruction and the final fall of Babylon and the perishing of the World which now is which is called by some the Morning of that great day and will be at the beginning of the one thousand years And a day also after the end of them called the Evening of that day And as for the Judgment the Scipture gives evident ground to state it thus even by considering it in a threefold step or degree of it 1. There is a particular judgment which passes upon all Souls at their separation from their Bodies Eccles 12.7 Then shall the dust return to the Earth as it was and the Soul shall return unto God that gave it The Souls of all men do at their Death return to God but in a different manner some fall into the hands of the living God and that is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of revenging justice and wrath others having before committed their Souls into the hands of God are carried by Angels to Heaven where an hand of mercy receives them 2. There will be a Farther work of Judgment at Christ's second coming even at the beginning of the thousand years which as it is spoken of by Peter so by Daniel 7.26 When the Son of Man comes in the Clouds of Heaven then the Judgment shall sit and we may consider what shall be done by that Judgment then sitting in relation to the Wicked The Dominion of the little Horn will be taken away and so Antichrist's Kingdom will be wholly destroyed for the Judgment shall sit and they shall take away his Dominion to consume and to destroy it even to the end And then also it will be as Peter sayth a day of Perdition of ungodly Men even of those who shall then be found standing up against the Prince of Princes And Farther in relation to the godly it shall be a day to give reward to them and what reward this shall be we see Dan. 7.27 The greatness of the Kingdoms under the whole Heaven shall be given to the People of the Saints of the most High and all Dominions shall serve him they shall be judged to reign with Christ This we see also Mat. 25.15 and Luk. 19.17 What shall be said to those that improve their Talents and Pounds Well done good and faithful servant thou hast been faithful over a few things I will make thee Ruler over many things enter thou into the joy of thy Lord so as to reign with him Be thou Ruler over five Cities be thou Ruler over ten Cities At this time the Saints shall be judged to have an Inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ as it is distinct from the Kingdom of the Father of both which mention is made Ephes 5.5 3. The last step which Christ will take in the Judgment will be after the ending of the thousand years and this is that Judgment mentioned Rev. 20.11 Then the wicked shall be raised and brought to Judgment even such whose Names are not written in the Book of Life as there 't is said and shall be cast into the Lake of Fire At this time also there will be a Farther work of Judgment in Relation to the Godly For they shall be then judged to an inheritance in the Kingdom of the Father At the Judgment mentioned by Peter they shall have Judgment for an inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and at that spoken of Rev. 20. Judgment for an inheritance in the Kingdom of the Father Mat. 25.31 When the Son of Man shall come in his glory 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when he shall have come and so after the time of his coming in Glory he shall sit upon the Throne of his Glory and all Nations shall be called before him and he shall set the sheep on his Right hand and the Goats at his Left hand and now although it hath been Stated thus that at the beginning of the Thousand years he shall set the Sheep on his Right hand and after the End of them the Goats at his Left hand yet it seems more agreeable to the expressions there to conceive that both sorts shall be set in this posture together and shall thus stand before Christ the Judge and then the wicked shall be judged to go away into everlasting punishment and the righteous into Life eternal in the Fathers Kingdom And thus as at Peters day of Judgment Being the Morning of it the Saints shall be the blessed of Christ and receive an Inheritance in his Kingdom and reign with him so at Johns day of Judgment or at the Evening of that day they shall be the blessed of the Father and be admitted to the enjoyment of their Inheritance in his Kingdom Hence 't is the King shall say to the Sheep on his right hand Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom that is take your Inheritance in my Fathers Kingdom 2. 'T is most evident from Scripture that there will be a time in which the Jews shall be called and delivered from their spirituall Captivity which is upon them by their blindness and unbelief and the vail which is upon their Hearts shall be taken away They shall be delivered from their outward Captivity and also be in a state of freedom Rest and Power and in this estate must long continue even for many generations as hath been shewen in the former Treatise Now that there shall be a personal
Body grew downwards so it shall die upwards beginning at Vltima Thule Obj. Shall we think that the Holy Spirit making a discovery of Alexander's Kingdom and the four Kingdoms which were to stand up out of his would immediately pass from these over so vast a space of time and on a sudden come down to speak of what should be in the last times A. So it is and we are necessitated to conceive so For first 't is when the Transgressors are come to the full that is when their number is filled up and the number of their Iniquities is filled up also when they are accomplished Dan. 8.23 This little Horn will fill up the number of the Transgressors when he comes he will be the last Secondly He will be broken without hand v. 25. this last Transgressor will not be destroyed as the former they were broken with hands the Babylonish Transgressors by the hands of the Medes and Persians they by Graecian hands and the Graecian by Roman hands But the last Transgressors without hand that is such a hand as the others were destroyed by for the Lord himself shall destroy them and then the slain of the Lord shall be many 2. 'T is usual with the Prophets in their Prophecies to leap on a sudden from their times to the very last times of all delighting to be in view of them and to be speaking of them hereby comforting themselves amidst the calamities of their times and also laying up comforts in store for the Saints in all ages viz. by prophesying of these times of ruine to all their enemies and of the restitution of all things 't is usual with them having the Wings of the Dove to fly to these times that they may be at rest Thus Isa 1. The prophet complains of Sin and bewailes the Judgments which it brought upon the Jews and then on a sudden he is carried by the Spirit to the very last times v. 25.26 I will purely purge away thy dross and take away all thy tin not only purge but purely purge or according to pureness which is to be done when the Jews shall be called and I will restore thy Judges as at the first and thy Counsellors as at the beginning Surely they must be the last Judges of the World that shall be as the first and Counsellors at the end of the present World who shall be like those at the beginning and then Chap. 2.1 c. he goes on to declare these blessed times It shall come to pass in the last dayes that the Mountain of the Lords House shall be established in the top of the Mountains c. See also Isa 11.30.18 to 26. Thus we see grounds to conclude that this little Horn must be the second Beast and Objections answered And one thing more is very worthy of our observation concerning him That is As he shall wax great so it shall be only towards the East and towards the South and towards the pleasant Land Nothing is said of his waxing great towards the West The Lord it appears by this will be gracious to this Western part of the World where the first Beast hath been so long tyrannizing and exercising so much Cruelty so that though he shall destroy Wonderfully and prosper and practise yet it shall not be in that part where the Witnesses prophesied in sackcloth 1260 days And now having spoken so much of this little Horn which was very necessary that we may better know what to Judge of the 2300 days when they began and when they will end let this come into consideration in the next place 1. That the 2300 dayes and the 1335 dayes will end together for first the 1335 days bring us to the end of the dayes of trouble and affliction to the Saints and to the end of those days at which Daniel shall stand up in his Lot Dan. 12.13 so 't is in Dan. 8.19 I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the Indignation that is when he that shall prosper and practice and destroy the mighty and the holy people shall come to his end and be broken without hand This will be at the end of the 2300 dayes and of the 1335. And doubtless this last end of the Indignation and the breaking of this little Horn that shall stand up against the Prince of Princes without hand shall be the pouring out of the last Vial Rev. 16.17 Then secondly At the end of 2300 dayes the Sanctuary shall be cleansed then all shall be cleansed then all shall be pure and clean as it ought to be in the Church and among the Saints Now compare with this Chap. 11.35 some of them of understanding shall fall to try them and to purge and to make them white but how long shall this trying time be to the time of the end because it is yet for an appointed time this is spoken concerning the Jews after their first Call Now when shall this time end When the 1335 dayes end of which it 's said Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to them because then the trying time will be over for at this time the Sanctuary shall be perfectly cleansed so there will be no more need of afflictions and sureffings to try to purge them to make them white 2. The 2300 are to be accounted to begin at the time when Daniel had his Vision This I gather from Dan. 8.13 14. How long shall be the Vision concerning the daily Sacrifice And he said unto 2300 dayes How long shall be the Vision that is how long from the beginning to the end of it how long from the first representation of these things in the Vision to the accomplishment of them how long from the time of the Prophecy to the time of the performance Now Daniel said v. 1. In the third year of Belshazzar a Vision appeared to me Belshazzar reigned but three years and in his third year but after Babylon was taken Daniel had this Vision For v. 2. He sayeth when I saw I was at Shushan in the Palace Now Shushan was in Persia thither he was carried after Babylon was taken so he had this Vision at the beginning of the Persian Monarchy and that we must take to be the Epocha of this Number And if any one can find out and give an exact account of years since the beginning of the Persian monarchy then I think I may undertake to tell when they will end And consequently when all the other Numbers mentioned will come to their end A late Author who hath laboured much to find out the true account fixes the period of this Number in A. D. 1701. but for my part I shall only declare what I am most inclined to believe which is that it will not be till about 1731. those that have Books and leasure may do well to try what by searching they can find out of the certain Number of years since the beginning of the Persian-monarchy which would be a
should serve him so as that the Lord shall be King over all the earth and his Kingdom shall be the stone which shall break in pieces the great Image and become a great Mountain and shall fill the whole Earth Thus Christ shall reign sitting on his own Throne Next let it be considered how the Saints shall sit with him upon his Throne and reign with him This is not meant of the state of Glory in Heaven for Christ doth not there sit upon his own Throne and therefore they do not sit with him upon it but behold his Glory Consider the Saints own sense Rev. 5.10 The four beasts and four and twenty elders say We shall reign upon the earth This is the sense of the Saints in Heaven and shall any on the Earth contradict the sense of Heaven This is confirmed Dan. 7.26 The Judgment shall sit and they shall take away his dominion to consume and destroy it to the end and then the Greatness of the Kingdom under the whole Heaven shall be given to the Saints Rev. 2.26 To him that overcometh will I give power over the Nations and he shall rule them with a Rod of Iron even as I received of my Father The Saints shall judge the World and govern the Nations yea the Saints shall judge Angels also Mar. 16.17 In my Name shall they cast out Devils This Paul did Acts 16.18 I command thee in the Name of Jesus that thou come out of her Such a power some have had in the time of the Old Heavens and Earth much more may it be conceived of the Saints of the New Heavens and Earth And as the Saints have been cast into Prison by Satan Rev. 2.10 So why may not Saints have power to cast him into Prison suitable to that promise They shall take them Captives whose Captives they have been and rule over their Oppressors And therefore as Saints shall have this honour to bind the Nobles of Babylon with Links of Iron so it 's possible they may have a farther honour eved to bind evil Spirits with Chains and to clear the Earth and Air of them and to command them in the Name of Jesus out of the World into the bottomless Pit and there shut them up and keep them close Prisoners during the One thousand years Observe farther this promise was made to the overcoming Saints in John's time They must rule the Nations and be raised to reign Arg. 2. It 's most evident from Scripture that the Church shall have in the last Days a very Peaceable and Glorious Estate upon Earth The Prophesies concerning it are so many and so manifest that it can't be denied Isa 54.11 and Isa 60. It 's also evident that this State will be of long continuance Peace so long as the Moon endureth Mine Elect shall long enjoy the works of their hands As the new Heavens and new Earth shall remain before me so shall your Seed and your Name remain Isa 66.22 It 's also evident that Ancichrist must be destroyed the Beast and the false Prophet must be taken and Satan bound up before the Church shall have its Liberty and Peace for whilst they have power they will be troubling the Saints Lastly It 's evident that there will be a personal coming of Christ when these things shall be accomplished For 1. There will be a personal coming of Christ when Antichrist shall be destroyed 2 Thess 2.8 The Lord shall consume him with the Spirit of his Mouth and destroy him with the Brightness of his coming Which is not meant of a Spiritual coming for this is included in the former expression of consuming with the Spirit of his Mouth therefore it must be meant of a Personal coming 2. When this Glorious time shall begin Christ will come the second time This is evident from two places the first is Matth. 24.30 Immediately after the tribulation of those days the Sun shall be darkned c. What tribulation is this v. 21. There shall be great tribulation such as was not since there was a Nation This is the great Tribulation spoken of by Daniel and Zachary now when this Tribulation shall end and the Glorious State shall begin then shall they see the Sign of the Son of Man and immediately after the Son of Man himself From hence it 's most evident that the second coming of Christ will be at the beginning of this blessed time For immediately after the tribulation of those Days Christ comes So that if there shall be a quiet and peaceable estate of the Church as 't is most evident there shall be then the personal Presence and Reign of Christ must be acknowledged The second place is Acts 3.19 20. Repent that your sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. This is his Personal presence In the worst of times the Saints have had refreshing from his Spiritual presence but the great refreshing times will be from his Personal presence and the following words do evidently set forth this sense For as he is now in Heaven so shall he be on Earth The Heavens receive him personally and therefore when the times of Restitution come the Earth shall receive him personally 3. When Christ shall come his Kingdom shall come 2 Tim. 4.1 Christ shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and Kingdom Then a King shall reign in righteousness Isa 32.1 Arg. 3. When the time of the Marriage of the Lamb shall come then the Lamb himself shall come the Bridegroom must be present at the Marriage Hence we find mention made of the Bridegroom 's coming and their going in with him to the Marriage who shall be ready Matth. 25.6.18 which must be understood of his Personal coming Here four things are to be considered 1. Who is to be the Bride the Lamb's Wife Now the New Jerusalem-Saints will be the Bride Rev. 21.2 I saw the holy City New Jerusalem prepared as a Bride adorned for her Husband So those that shall come with Christ and be gathered to him at and after his coming shall be the Bride the Lamb's Wife 2 Thess 2.1 I beseech you by the coming of Christ and our gathering to him That is To be with him in the holy City Then that will be fulfilled Two shall be in the Field one shall be taken and the other left And the raised Saints and those that shall be taken into the holy City will be the Lamb's Wife 2. What is meant by the Lamb's Marriage For this we may consider that when any are converted they are espoused to Christ and take him for their Husband and Christ loves and cherisheth them No man hateth his own flesh but loveth and cherish it as the Lord the Church Ephes 5.29 So all true Saints on Earth are espoused to Christ in Heaven 2 Cor. 11.2 I have espoused you to one Husband that is Christ But though espoused 't is to an Husband absent from them As for this
thing of great Use if it could be found out Thus much of the first Number 2300 dayes The second and third have an Epocha which next is to be enquired into This Epocha is the time of taking away the daily Sacrifice and setting up the Abomination that maketh desolate Dan. 12.11 12. Here our enquiry must be to know what is meant by the daily Sacrifice and when it was taken away 1 What is meant by the Daily Sacrifice Now the generality of those that look for Redemption in Israel do take the Jewish Sacrifices and Worship to be here meant which were abrogated by the coming of Christ To these Julian out of his hatred of Christianity gave countenance and he was willing to have them brought into Use again and so they conceive the Daily Sacrifice was taken away c. when Julian gave liberty to the Jews to rebuild the Temple from the doing of which they were miraculously hindred But this puts a strange sense upon the words for here 's taking away and setting up the taking away is to give oportunity for the setting up of somewhat in the room of what is taken away and therefore the taking away is first mentioned and so if we must understand the Jewish daily Sacrifice 't will be as if it had been said the Daily Sacrifice and the Jewish Worship was taken away which was a great Abomination and an Abomination that would make desolate set up and this Abomination which was to be set up was the Temple and Jewish Worship which was indeed the Daily Sacrifice And thus the sense will come to this the Jews Worship was taken away to make way for the setting up of the Jewish worship an Abomination was taken away to set in an Abomination the Daily Sacrifice was taken away to set up the Daily Sacrifice Secondly The Daily Sacrifice must be taken here in a good sense that is for the pure worship of God spiritual evangelical worship set forth under a Legal Name and thus the sense will run clear pure Religion and Worship in the free and publick exercise of it was that which the Enemies of it would prevail to take away and set up an Abomination a false Religion corrupt and impure Worship in the room of it which would bring great desolation upon the true Church and such as would worship in spirit and truth and would be a very great desolating thing to true Religion and by this means the World would come to be filled with abominable Doctrines with abominable Idolatries with abominable Will-worship and Superstition Now for the farther clearing of this that the Daily Sacrifice is to be taken in a good sense and not in an evil sense let 's consider a little a parallel place before mentioned Dan. 8.11 12 13. He magnified himself to the Prince of the Host and by him the Daily Sacrifice was taken away and the place of his Sanctuary was cast down I have proved before that this was to be done in Gospel-times by what was said concerning the little Horn Now most evident it is that in this place the daily Sacrifice is to be taken in a good sense for it is joyned with the Truth an Host was given him against the daily Sacrifice and it cast down the Truth to the ground The Truth and the daily Sacrifice suffer together and then 't is asked How long shall be the Vision concerning the daily Sacrifice to give the Sanctuary and Host to be trodden under foot and he said unto 2300 days then the Sanctuary shall be cleansed and the daily Sacrifice restored Now the daily Sacrifice being taken in a good sense in this place why should it not be so in the other both speak of Gospel-times and both mention it as a great calamity to the Church to have it taken away and doubtless it must be taken in the same sense in both places there is onely this difference that taking away in the Eighth Chapter is meant of the great Calamity which shall come upon the Jews after their First Call and that in the Twelfth Chapter of a desolation to come upon the Churches of the Gentile Saints And thus we are quite beaten off from making that mentioned concerning Julian our Epocha there where we find pure Religion and the true Worship of God to be eminently cast off by the generality of men professing Christianity and in the room of it a false Religion and Worship set up so that true Religion in comparison with its former state becomes a desolate thing maintained and owned but by a few This is to bring us to a right understanding of the daily sacrifice and the Abomination set up that so we may stand upon a sure foundation in our Inquiry And so I come to the next thing which is 2. When the daily Sacrifice was taken away And here I shall consider first what we find foretold in the New Testament concerning this which may be a help to us in this Inquiry and secondly what we find in Ecclesiastical History of the fulfilling of things foretold in the Scripture Now for the former of these let two places of Scripture be considered The first is Rev. 11.2 The court which is without measure it not for it is given to the Gentiles and the holy City shall they Tread under Foot That which I would here take notice of for our present purpose is the Name given to those to whom the outward Court is given which is Gentiles Now these are called Gentiles in opposition to those that are called Jews that is such who were Jews inwardly as Paul saith 'T is observable in the same Book of the Rev. the true Worshippers are called Jews Rev. 29. and 3.9 I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not but the synagogue of Satan and doe lye This Intimates that some were Jews and did not blaspheme in calling themselves so others were Heathens who yet would have been called Jews So the Gentiles there spoken of are Jews turn'd Gentiles and Christians turned Heathens yet such as would keep up a Name for being Jews and Christians which argues a great Apostacy Now observe this when such an Apostacy did eminently appear and Men proffessing Christanity did turn Heathens and took up the way of the Heathens in many things in their worship then the daily Sacrifice began to be taken away and the Abomination that made desolate was set up these Gentiles 't is said Tread down the Holy City and that is the head of the 42 Moneths and 1260 dayes But before these Gentiles get into such power and grow so numerous they must have a time to become Gentiles and we may well conceive there may be a considerable space of time betwixt their first becoming Gentiles and there getting into such power as to be able to carry it in the outward Court against the true Worshippers the Jews inwardly and to tread down the Holy City So then the time of the Jews turning
Gentiles of Christians becoming Heathens is the head of the 1290 dayes and the possessing the outward Court and the Treading down of the Holy City is the head of the 42 Moneths and of the 1260 dayes 30 years after the former Thus much for the first place The other place is 1. Tim. 4.1 2 3. Now the Spirit speaketh expresly that in the latter times some shall depart from the Faith giving heed to seducing spirits Doctrines of Devils speaking lyes in hypocrisy forbidding to Marry and commanding to abstain from meat This place shews how Jews should turn Gentiles and Christians become Heathens and also shews how the daily Sacrifice was taken away and so will be of great Use to help us in our inquiry after the time when this was done for when the Doctrine of Devils was taught and practised when there was a prohibition of Marriage and when there was a command to abstain from meats then the daily Sacrifice began to be taken away and the Abomination was set up which proved so desolating a thing to true Religion and to the People of God Now Mr. Mede's interpretation of the Doctrine of Devils rather Daemons is generally known and embraced coming with such evidence that it is not to be rejected this Doctrine of Daemons he concludes to be that which taught the worshipping of Saints departed wherein Christians turned Heathens for they symbolized with them herein it being the custom of the Heathens to deifie and worship their Heroes when dead who were a middle sort of Powers betwixt their sovereign Gods and Men being mediators betwixt them And like to these were the adored Saints among Christians whose Reliques were trusted-in as Powers defending their Cities as appears by some passages which he quotes out of Basil and Chrysostom and these he takes to be meant by the Mahuzzim or God of Forces Dan. 11.38 This kind of Idolatry began saith he after Julian the Reader may see more in his Apostacy of the latter-times Now God was no longer worshipped in truth when this Abomination came in of worshipping Saints and trusting to their Mediation and Intercession and making them Protectors God says My Glory of religious worship and of Christ's Mediation and Intercession I will not give to another If men do it they certainly in this do cast off the daily sacrifice even the true worship of God and besides there is no Abomination more desolating and destructive to true Religion than for men to usurp a Power to command things contrary to the Commands of God and to forbid what God allows as Marriage and Meats no more desolating Doctrine no more desolating Principle than this That Men may take upon them to make Laws about Worship and Matters of Religion when men think to mend God's Institutions and to make a better Religion then what God hath left us in his word this is the ready way to marr all and so take away the daily sacrifice and to set up that Abomniation which makes all desolate Now this I take to be the true Epocha 1290 viz. the time when Christians thus turned Heathens and the Doctrine of Daemons was taught and practised and then these desolating Abominations were set up In which the Apostle sets forth the Apostacy of the latter days and doubtless the Head of this Apostacy is the true Epocha of these Numbers 1290 and 1335 days Secondly Let us see what we can find in Ecclesiastical History of the fulfilling of these things foretold in the Scripture and when this Apostacy began so as that the true Worshippers had cause to take up the Psalmist's complaint O God the Heathen are come into thine Inheritance thy holy Temple have they defiled They are gotten into the outward Court and we fear they will drive all the Worshippers shortly thence and possess it wholly themselves and at length tread down the holy City also Now here I shall make use of some Collections of a late Author declaring when this Apostacy began which he makes the Epocha of the 1260 days this hath been the great mistake hitherto as I conceive from what hath been before laid down and we have great ground to conclude that what hath been pitcht upon for the Head of the 1260 days is indeed the Head of the 1290 days Now let us take the particulars of the Apostacy in that order in which the Apostle gives them to us 1. He saith in the general Some shall depart from the Faith some Sayings of Augustine are mentioned which shew a great departure from the Faith in his time As we who are called Christians do not believe in Peter but in him in whom Peter believed This doth intimate that some pretending to be Peter's Successors did begin to claim such a power and Right as this And what greater departing from the Faith than to come to this to believe in men And again reprehending the Popes arrogancy who suffered themselves to be called Gods He saith he that would seem to be God when he is man doth not imitate him who when he was God for our sakes was made man is not this a departing from the Faith Again saith he the Catholick Faith believes Heaven to be the first place the second Hell as for a third we are wholly ignorant neither is it found in Scripture this intimates a departing from the Faith in this thing Again good works do not precede Justification but follow the justified this also intimates a departing from the Faith when an opinion of Justification by Works began to be taken up This was about the year 393. that he wrote thus And about 393. began Humane Traditions to grow into request and a Monkish Life which was conceived to be a meritorious thing and that thereby men might be freed from Hell and obtain a true certain and plentiful hope of eternal Life Epiphan Contra haeres saith Among many other things shewing the great Defection A. 396. whence is this Image-worship and the Design of the Devil Men introduce Images to be worshipped having the Mind adulterated from the One and onely God 2. For the second thing The Doctrine of Daemons and of Saint-worship touching this a saying of Epiphanius is mentioned The Body of Mary was truly holy but not God her-self was indeed a Virgin and to be honoured but not given us that we should worship her she her self was worshipping him who was born of her self We may be sure of this that he observed Divine Honour to be given to her which was the occasion of his writing thus A Saying of Augustine also is mentioned to this purpose It is not our Religion to worship dead Men they are honoured for our imitation-sake but are not to be worshipped for the sake of Religion nor are we to Consecrate Temples to them for they will not be so honoured of us Now that of Epiphanius is referred to A. D. 396. as the other to 399. This shews that the Doctrine of Daemons was then taught and had too much
heed given to it And did not this tend to the taking away of the daily sacrifice and was it not an abomination making desolate 3. Touching Prohibition of Marriage It was endeavoured in the Council of Nice A. 326. to make a Decree That Bishops and Elders should refrain from their Wives But Paphnutius opposed himself to the whole Council urging that of the Apostle Marriage is honourable among all men and so far prevailed that a Decree of Liberty was brought forth But in An. 396. the second Council of Carthage was held saith Helvicus which made a Law against their Marriage and this was confirmed in the Council of Toledo in Spain with an Allowance to have Concubines A. 400. and likewise Siricius who was Bishop of Rome from A. 385 to 398. as saith Alfred in Chron. Paparum imposed single life upon the Clergy endeavouring to justifie it by abusing those words of Paul They that are in the flesh cannot please God Thus we see when forbidding to Marry came in viz. A. 396. 4. As for a Command to abstain from Meats which is the last thing mentioned by the Apostle Socrat. lib. 5. saith That about the year 396. Laws were made about Meats and other things were instituted which he called Jewish Rites which made Augustine complain That about this time Religion was so corrupted with Traditions and Humane Rites that the very condition of Jews under the Law was much more easie than that of Christians under the Gospel And Dionysius Bishop of Corinth did in an Epistle admonish another Bishop not to load Christians with heavy burthens Ceremonies and Traditions nor obtrude upon his Brethren single Life Thus we have seen somewhat that History doth afford touching the Apostasy foretold by the Apostle These things before mentioned and more may be seen in Wolfeus his Centenaries Now seeing the great things of the Apostasy foretold by the Apostle appear to have been commanded and practised in and about the year 396 therefore that year is most likely to be the Epocha of that Number 1290 dayes and that then the daily Sacrifice began to be taken away and if so then we may easily conclude about what time the Jews will be called Thus much of the Second and Third numbers And lastly touching the 1260 days I would have it considered 1. That the 1290 dayes and the 1260 dayes will end together for we may observe Rev. 16.10 12. that the fifth Angel poured out his Vial upon the Seat of the Beast and so destroys that and consequently the Beast as in that Seat then the sixth Angel pours out his Vial upon the River Euphrates that a way may be made for the Kings of the East These Kings of the East are the Jews and chiefly the ten Tribes Now we may well suppose a calling of the Jews before this it may be a considerable time They are called Kings at the time of the sixth Vial which supposes their calling before and getting into such power as to be called Kings as the Israelites when brought out of Egypt and gathered into a body then were a Kingdom of Priests And besides 't is said he shall save the Tents of Judah first therefore their calling is before the sixth Vial and so we may suppose it will be at the end of the 1260 dayes For my part I conceive that the Jews first Call at least the Call of those of the Tribe of Judah will be at the time of the Witnesses being raised Which seems hinted Ro. 11.15 If the casting away of them be the reconciling of the World what shall the receiving of them be but Life from the dead Life to the dead Witnesses a civil Life and Spiritual to them in a far more eminent degree than before and also a Spiritual Life to many of those that were dead in sins and then the fulness of the Gentiles wil begin to come in 2. The first appearence and Rise of the Man of Sin or first Beast is not to be reckoned for the head of this Number 1260 dayes It 's evident he did begin to appear about the time of the great Apostacy and the taking away the daily Sacrifice 'T is observable in the year before mentioned 196. There was a division of the Empire upon the death of Theodosius and division was the way to ruine and in few years after Alaricus took Rome and the Bishop of Rome begâ—â— to usurpe the power of the Keys as appeaâ—â— by a saying of Augustine The keys are delivered to the whole Church and not to one Peter and then a little after the Horns of the Beast appear 3. If we would pitch upon the right time for the beginning of the 1260 dayes let 's consider two places which give us two eminent marks of that time the first is Rev. 11.2 his having such power as that he thereby treads down the Holy City the other is Rev. 13.5 power was given him to continue Gr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to make War 42 Moneths we may well conceive he might have his Being some time before his making War and before he was able to tread down the Holy City Now upon that supposition that the 1290 and 1260 days will end together and that the head of the former number being reckoned to be about 396 it doth Appear that the head of the latter must be 30 years lower 4. At the Rise of the Witnesses the 1260 dayes will end and then the Beast's time also will be run out But we must consider in what sense this is to be taken that is then the time of his Treading down of the Holy City and his making War so as to prevail therein will have an end for so 't is said That he shall tread down and make War so long Now when the Witnesses shall be raised they shall begin to grow into a City and considerable body For then 144000 are said to be upon Mount Sion They get out of the Wilderness and afflicted estate and begin to be a Mount Sion and to tread down that wicked City Babylon for the tenth part of it then will fall and soon after the other parts and Rome it self and at this time the Witnesses will be able to make War with the Beast and first shall slay 7000 Names of Men and then shall overcome and kill him For he that killeth with the Sword must be killed with the Sword when the tenth part of the City falls and the 7000 Names of men are slain then a deadly Wound not to be healed will be given to the first Beast True he may doe somewhat towards his defence but all in vain So that his warring time so as to conquer and prevail by it will then be ended and his 42 Monthes compleated at the rising of the Witnesses And thus Although I had declared some resolutions not to medle with the times farther than to give some signes of them yet being earnestly prest to it I have adventured to doe somewhat in this matter which