are Assign'd to the Binding of Satan the Dragon the Old Tempting and Deceiving Serpent the Devil and Satan the Great Accuser and Adversary He was laid hold on by the Angel or Ministers of the Dâ—vine Power and Pleasure having the Key of that dark Vault of Impossibility for Satan to Appear or Act but in the Torment of his own Guilty and Miserable Spirâ—t as the Chain also Signifies so much as in the smallest Instance even as at all Times He is Remanded into it and Held in it but according to the Permission of God He was now laid Hold upon bound and Chain'd and Seal'd up for a Thousand Years Here Satan is Consider'd as in the Essentials of the Prince and whole Host of fallen wicked Spirits full of Power Might and Rage as well as Counsel and Policy the whole Number of these Intelligences Spirits and their Action is as effectually and to all Intents and Purposes Bound for the Thousand Years as it shall be when Satan is Cast into the Lake for Eternity and under the Absoluteness of Kingdome when all Enemies subdued God shall be All in All. 2. The Thousand Years are Assign'd to the Not deceiving the Nations till those Thousand Years are Expired or Finisht Now it is most Evidenâ— These Nations are not the Nations of the Saved Chap 21. 24. and Healed by the Leaves of the Tree of Life Chap. 22. v. 3. For These were Destroyed from Heaven But there were at the same Time other Nations Saved and Healed a Holy and Beloved City There is therefore a certain Assurance the Nations here spoken of are the Wicked Reserved to Future Destruction Now These I say are Really the Dead who as I shall just now speak more were Symbolized by Nations or Gentiles more properly Aliens as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 often signifies from the Common-wealth of Israel the New Jerusalem below But for the Thousand Years they are not to be stirr'd by Satan They cannot be Deceiv'd into any Action against the Kingdom of Christ The Glory of Christ's Kingdom is so Full in their Face 3. The Thousand Years are Assigned to the Martyrs and all the Saints of Christ whose Saintship is Symbolized by the Not worshipping the Beast c. That is as Pure to God in all Ages before the Beast and making up One Church of the First Born with Them as the Apostle calls this whole Number of Saints These are Rais'd in Bodies of the First Resurrection and Reign with Christ in his Thousand Years Kingdom a Thousand Years 4. These Thousand Years are Assigned to the Rest of the Dead not Living again till the Thousand Years are Finisht And these Dead signifie to me Those Chap. 19. Slain with the Sword of Christ's Mouth and on whose Flesh the Fowls viz. the Saints of Christ Triumphing in the Vengeance and Washing their Feet in the Blood of the Wicked are Satisfied upon It is Expresly said They Lived Not which is Principally to be understood of the Highest of Life in the Highest Senses of it For as soon as ever The Saints were Rais'd All the Wicked Dead were Rais'd But They Lived not Living not so as to Reign with Christ as the Dead Saints Rais'd Saints of the First Resurrection liv d. But because They are of a Resurrection though a Resurrection of the Vnjust and to Condemnation Therefore They are spoken of next to the Raised Saints But They Lived not till the Thousand Years were Expir'd As soon as ever that is said it is Added immediately This is the First Resurrection the First and Onely Resurrection to Living But These Dead were not of it and so They never can Live in the true Senses of Life though Rais'd For They Liv'd not till the Thousand Years of the First Resurrection were Finisht and so could not so much as Taste of the First Resurrection or Partake of it and then They never can For they are immediately Forepriz'd as soon as ever it had been said They were the Dead who for the Thousand Years Liv'd not It is said Blessed and Holy is He that is Partaker of the First Resurrection over such the Second Death hath no power Over All else it hath The Dead therefore which These are are Cast into the Lake of the Second Death There may be also a Secondary Sense of the Dead not living viz. Not Appearing as Gog and Maâ—og till the Thousand Years are Finisht as hath been shewn But This is 〈◊〉 Principal 5. These Thousand Years are Assign'd to the Partakers of the First Resurrection Holy Saints and in â— State of Paradise-Blessedness making up with the Risen Saints We All as the Apostle saith 1 Cor. 15. 25. and 1 Thess 4. 17. viz. who Come to us and make us up to an All to a Complement of Saints who cannot â—e the Dead for They Die not All but are Chang'd and so Participants of the First Resurrection Not the Dead for They are the Living and Remaining These also though they are not Saints of the First Râ—sâ—rrection yet Partakers Though they are not said here to â—ive yet They are Priests of God and of Christ and Reign with Him as Kings of the Earth Nations Saved and Healed a Thousand Years And so the Greatness of the Redemption of Christ Abounds in the Sight of their short Danger and They are Caught up to Christ and to all the Saints above and are ever with the Lord and so the Second Death hath no Power over Them 6. These Thousand Years are Assign'd not in their whole Line but in their end to the Loosing of Satan for that little space to the Insurrection of Gog and Magog against the Holy City and the Casting Satan and the Dead into the Lake Object If it should be said How can One and the Same sort of Persons be Known to be the same when Prophecy hath so varied their Names Calling Them the Nations or Gentiles The Dead Gog and Magog Answ So Great a Prophecy as This of the Revelation that hath pronounc'd a Blessedness upon Them who Read and who Hear it Expects All should be most Accurate and Diligent in Comparing it Self with it Self bringing All Scripture into a Compare with it that so the Two Leaved Gates of its Truth may open to Them and the Secret Treasures even Treasures of Darkness as it seems to our dim Understanding may be Disclos'd to Them And if Any think the Trouble too Great They are shut Out In this Case therefore by Comparing we come to understand that there is not only fair Inducement to think the Dead the Nations Gog and Magog to be the same but Greatest Assurance They must be the same There is fair Inducement in that Gog and Magog being Described as a Great Multitude whose Number is as the Sand of the Sea They must be a Collection of Nations and therefore They are expresly call'd the Nations Chap. 9. v. 8. and a Hammonah of Nations as of Old in the Type Ezek. 39 9. Now we find
with Christ a 1000 Years Rev. 20. 4. And then It is anew said Blessed and Holy is He that hath part though not the Principal viz. either as Saints Rising though not Martyrs or as Living Remaining Saints on such the Second Death hath no Power And then as at the End of the Judgment according to the General Doctrine Christ Resigns up that Judiciary Kingdom and Returns to God And as the Apostle says having Subdued All Enemies He Gives up the Kingdom even so the 1000 Years Kingdom must be Given up because it is a Kingdom only of a 1000 Years And thus the Kingdom of Christ Begins with a Judgment viz. of determining who are Those his Saints who shall Appear in the Glory and Blessedness of it even of that First Resurrection as Saints Rais'd or as Saints Living and Remaining but Chang'd and who as Enemies shall lye at the Footstool of Christ's Feet Slain with the Sword of his Mouth and as the Dead and yet in Visible Bodies under Contempt and Dishonour and as the Trophies of the victorious Wrath of Christ And this Kingdom Ends with a Judgment even the Giving up all this Saints in perfect Immortality and Incorruptibility to his Father to Enjoy him for ever and with that perfect Subduing All the Wicked Angels and Men which the Apostle callâ— a Catargesis or destroying and the Apocalyptic Apostle a Casting into the Lake And because This is Final and Consummate therefore He Represents the whole Judiciary Proceeding and sets out the Dead as Gather'd from all the Receptacles of Death from whence They Came and were Judg'd at the Beginning of the 1000 Years which Judgment is Affirm'd and Ratified and Fill'd up at the End of the 1000 Years and the Execution also There being this only Difference between the Beginning and End of the 1000 Years in Relation to Them that They are at the Beginning and during the whole Space of the 1000 Years made the Footstool of the Feet of Christ and afterwards under the Final destruction of being Cast into the Lake This therefore takes away the Objection of the New Earth having such an abundance of Wicked in it For They Lye as Captives and Slaves of Justice that can neither Annoy nor defile that State So that there is a Glory of the Kingdom of Christ in and with his Saints above and below during the whole Time of the 1000 Years and a Government every way Agreeable and no difference between the General Doctrine of Christians concerning the Day of Judgment and what I Affirm except the duration of the 1000 Years For who can but say That Day shall be a Day of Glory to Christ and his Saints both Rais'd and Chang'd as in visible Bodies of Glory of Horror Dishonour and Punishment to the Wicked in visible Bodies of Contempt and Shame That they can neither Trouble nor Pollute that Day nor State any more then They do the Kingdom of Eternity though They are never so many in their own place or Hell That these visible Heavens and Earth shall be so chang'd by the Glorious Coming of the Judge and his Saints That They shall be New Heavens and a New Earth That there must be Room for all Good and Bad in whatever shall be suppos'd to be the Pretorium the Hall of Justice at that Time That Christ and his Saints come from the highest Heaven for that purpose That Wicked Men come from Earth and Hell And that Christ and his Saints Return this Glorious Administration being at an End to that Highest Heaven to God and the Father with this Judiciary Kingdom Given up to Him and Sathan and All the Wicked Cast to the Lake So that I say again here is no difference but only of the 1000 Years Continuance And to the Proof of that I now proceed And I will do it in greatest Brevity in this Method 1. I will propose the Scripture-Model of this State which it self will shew the Rationality of it self and as in a State of duration 2. I will super-add to the Arguments I have given new Ones That there is such a State to be and of a 1000 Years duration and no more and Answer the most Formidable Objections more Fully 3. I will Argue against any Hypothesis or Scripture Model that can be given in Bar of what I now give I Begin with the First the Rationality of the Scripture-Model 1. There shall be an Exaltation of the Humane Nature of our Lord Jesus in visible Glory in opposition to that unrevealed State wherein the Heavens Now contain Him and also in opposition to and Recompense of the Depressions and Humiliation it was under in his first Coming Philip. 2. 9. c. that every Knee may bow to Him and every Tongue confess that He is Lord to the Glory of God the Father Every Eye shall see Him every Mouth of his Servants shall praise Him and none of his Enemies be able to gain say The Lowest Creation Things in Earth and under the Earth shaâ—l as They can Bless Him This Appearing is the Sign of the Son of Man that shall be seen in the Clouds That All this shall be at the Day of Judgment no Christian will deny I lengthen it out the 1000 Years 2. There must be an Appearance of the Glory of the Redemption of Christ in its full Lustre To this End the Saints of the first Resurrection must be seen in Robes wash'd white in his Blood as Kings and Priests to God and the Father and Reigning over rather then upon the Earth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 over not upon many Things will I make thee Ruler Revel 5. 10. with Matth. 25. 21. They have Palms of Victory in their Hands The Bride the Lambs Wife is Adorn'd and it is Granted to Her to be Arrayed in Linnen White and Clean which is the Righteousness of the Saints The Armies of Heaven that is These Saints follow Cloth'd also in Fine Linnen White and Clean They have the Name of the Lamb in their Foreheads even as of God Revel c. 19. c 20. The Saints Living and Remaining who partake of the First Resurrestion are Priests also not only of God but of Christ and Reign with Him a 1000 Years And from this Glory of Redemption It is impossible for the Saints either of the First Resurrection or the Living Remaining partaking of the First Resurrection to fall as it is for the Redeemer himself to fail as I always assert particularly in my last Answer For the Second Death else might but never can never shall have Power over Them And for the Appearance of this Glory of Redemption the Saints of the First Resurrection shall have Bodies of that Spirituality Incorruptibleness and Immortality as to be equal to the Angels so that in the Nature of the Thing as it shall then be Founded by God They cannot dye any more being the Children of God and of the Resurrection And this is given first to the
Saints of the First Resurrection as a peculiar Recompense for the many Terrors and Debasements Death Brings with it The Saints therefore Living and Remaining who Dye not nor shall suffer the Dishonour Pain the Terror of dying are upon the Ballance of Things for the Glory of God and Christ in this Oeconomy not till the 1000 Years are ended and They Caught up invested with this Glory and are therefore said till then only to be Partakers of the First Resurrection They have therefore Bodies Chaâ—g'd into the most excellent Paradisiac State as Adam had before sin and probably as much excelling as the First Adam is excell'd by the Second And though they for many great Resons Beget an Off-spring to the Mediator and Eat and Drink as Adam should have done and All this in the Holiest Purest manner such excellent Bodies can be Exalted into and though They do not Immediately put on Incoeruption and Iwmortality till they are Caught up Yet They in event can no more dye nor fall away then the Saints above All which Answers many Objections concerning them And It Redounds Infinitely to the Glory of the Redeemer and of the Second Aâ—am above the First that in a possibility of dying as to the Nature of Things They who might as Adam dye and Fall Yet secur'd by the Mediaâ—or They shall not dye nor Fall but They shall be Caught up and put on Incorruption and Immoâ—tality And when Death and Sin are thus every way subdued in the Saints of the First Resurrection vindicated out of their Hands and in the Saints chang'd preserv'd from their Sting even under a possibility Then are They both Swallowed up in Victory by Christ Appearing thus every way a perfect Redeemer on which Account as one Reason All is thus ordered Then â—s Death and Sin and Hell with all its Dead and Sathan the Prince of All Thrown into the Lake and the Triumphal Song sung the Effect of which endures throughout All Eternity 3. The Saints of Christ principally the Martyrs and Sufferers and the Contemn'd Abused Persecuted and Beheaded for the Word of God and the Testimony which They Held with All who have Resisted the Impurity and Corruptions of the World shall Appear in Glory sown in Weakness but Rais'd in Power Sown in Dishonour Rais'd in Glory Bearing the Image of the Heavenly Adam the Quickning Spirit the Lord not only in Heaven but from Heaven as in a Kingdom lower then the highest Heaven Sitting on Thrones and Judgment is Given to Them for the 1000 Years 4. For this Glory of Christ the Redeemer and of his Redemption and of his Saints There is a Glory of the Renewed Restored Creation in the visible Heavens and all their Influences Purified and Purg d and so made new and the Earth Renewed in the same manner that the Saints of the First Resurrection may Appear as a Firmament and shine as the Stars Dan. 12. even as the Sun Matth. 13. 43. upon the New Earth and have a prospect of Beauty and Purity And the Saints on Earth * Call'd Nations of the Saved All as Kings of the Earth Revel 21 24 25. may Walk in this Light of the New Jerusalem above and Bring their Glory to it in looking upon their Communion with it as their Highest Glory and so the whole Creation may be deliver'd from the Bondage of Corruption into the Glorious Liberty of the Sons of God for which it now Groans in its present Slavery and with earnestness Waits Even as in all Mankind There is an Appetite Implanted by Creation to See and Enjoy a due Time in the Glory of Gods Creation freâ— from the Curse and Adorn'd with the Blessings of it This we see how strongly it now works in the Holiest Men and Women however in Regard This is not the Place nor State nor Time it be mix d with much Corruption and as the Apostle calls it Lust in a World to which God s Heart cannot be and therefore He often chastises with Great Severity the over eager desires in any of his Sts. of Any Thing here But then there shall be such a State that the Lord Himself shall Rejoyce in his Works with all his Saints Triumphing in the Works of his Hands when there shalâ— be an Apocatastasis a Restitution of All Things without which the Second Adam would not be as perfect a Restorer as the First Adam was a Desolator But I Assert and shall after prove the Flying away of this New Heaven and Earth and that therefore this Oâ—conomy lasts but a 1000 Years as the Sabbatism of the Glâ—â—y of Creation 5. There must be a State Bearing some Proportâ—on to all the promises made to Abraham and his Seed of a City and a Country and of Nations and a Postâ—rity as the Stars of Heaven as the Dust of the Earth Gen. 13. 16. and as the Sand on the Sea shorâ— Innumerable that He may be a Father of many Nations and Heir of the World of all which Canaan and Jerulalem Gen. 2â— 17. and the People of Israel were but Types For this was a Heavenly Countrey and City as the Apostle tells us Heb. 11 and a Posterity of True and Sincere Believers How can this then be better explain'd then by the New Jerusalem coming down from Heaven and the Saints of the First Resurrection a Posterity as the Stars for whom he Knows how to make Room who hath done it for those vast Globes of Light and then by the New Earth and the Saints Living and Remaining on the New Earth who shall be as the Dust and as the Sand And He will make Room for Them who hath stretched out this Earth for them that walk upon it and wherein besides the much less Cumber of Paradisiac Bodies and the Abundant Sufficiency of the Paradisiac Earth and Purity of the Air and the Leaves of the Tree of Life for the Healing the Nations There is Provision for all Enjoyments of the Saints in those Bodies Besides all this There shall be no Sea to to take up Room Revel 21. 1. as there was not in the First Paradisiac Earth as hath been made out by that Truly Excellent Theorist Dr. Burnet Master of the Charter-House Giving Great Light to that Apocalyptical Text and Receiving Great Proof from it And herein for his sake who God over All Blessed for ever came of Them and for the Believed Father's sakes and according to all the Images and Language of Poophecy The Spiritual Natural Israel shall have a Preeminence and for which They shall certainly be call'd though it will Remain a Mystery until the set Time of the Gentiles Fullness be come But in the mean Time for their sakes the Nâ—w Heaven and New Earth is call'd New Jerusalem and so many Apocalyptical Figures are derived from Them leading to that New Jerusalem 6. There shall be a plain sensible and visible State of the Wicked in Dishonour and Contempt in the View of All For all the
Christians exhorted to Take heed of falling from their own Firmament or Firmation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Verse 17. That They may shine as that Firmament Dan 12. 3. 4. Their Wresting of Scriptures to their own Perdition Universally more Particularly the Prophecies for their own Papal Kingdom and against the Kingdom of Christ And that Discourse of the Apostle Paul 2 Thes 2. They Writhe wholly from Themselves which would They have Observed it and ask'd as Judas their Type Is it I It would have Answered Them as Christ did Him Thou sayest This is a Great Brand by which the Son of Perdition with all his Adherents may be known whose Character is as the Judasses of the Christian Church Son of Perdition and Two Times Going into Perdition Compare John 17. 12. 2 Thess 2 13. Revel 17. v. 8. v. 11. These Remarks upon the Apostle Peter's Prophecy as I style it I have been larger upon to shew I am Conscious of no Recoyl of Mind concerning it and though some Things may seem wiredrawn yet the Manner and Symmetry of Prophecy the Great Rule of its Interpretation will Justifie me Argum. 4. I do indeed so Rely upon the Prophecy Revel 20. Concerning the Thousand Years that if I had only that Scripture I should think it sufficient although it be but One and although it be Propheick Because I find the Letter so Express as that the Thousand Years are no less than Six several Times Named And I Observe the Apostle's Discourse upon Melchisedech so Weighty so Large with so severe a Reproof of the Unteachableness of Christians concerning it Heb. c 5. â—0 c. 6 1. with Reâ—erence to it throughout c 7. All of it to be Suspended upon One single Oracle and that Prophetick also Psal 110. 4. The Lord hath Sworn and will not Repent Thou art a Priest for ever after the Order of Melchisedech Referring to a small Historick Memoir Genes 14 18. 19 20. and that on purpose Contriv'd to be Dark and under a Veiâ— Yet the Apostle severely Reproves a Dulness of Hearing of it Whereas the Christians then might have said We Desire only plainer more undoubted Truths more genearlly Treated Principles and fundamental Points But the Apostle Silently Threatens the Danger of Ayostacy on not Going on to Perfection by grounding his so Earnest Exhortation to Go on upon that Danger of Apostacy without so Doing And indeed there is Great Reason to think a Prediction of the Great Antichristian Apostacy in the Bulk not to be Repented of not to be Renewed to Repentance according to Râ—vel 16. is lodg d in it and that That very Apostacy came in upon the Ignorance of and not Acquiescency in Christ's Melchisedechian Priesthood after the Power of an endless Life but setting up that Kingdom and Priesthood in Counterfeit For what is the Melchisedechian Priesthood of Christ but a Priesthood on a Throne Zech. 6. 13 And what is the Papacy but a Counterfeit of that a Priest on a Throne the False Propbecy Included also as the True is in the Priesthood of Christ And why was this Golden Calf Idolatry brought in by that false Aaron as his Vicar but to supply the Absence of Christ Gone up to the Mount and not knowing That it is Witnessed of him He liveth and is as Active for his Church and Saints Above as Below while on Earth so far as is necessary till he brings forth all his Saints Appearing also in the Glory of his Melchisedechiaâ— Priesthood as Kings and Priests also But to Return to the Prophecy Revel 20. I observe as I have already observed There is not only the Shell or Words but the Deep Reason of Things as All Prophecy and most particularly all the Lines of the Revelation before it Run into It and Center in it and All Require such a Kingdom of such a State of New Heavens and New Earth and of a Duration of Time that may speak Perfection to Accomplish Them And that Duration this Prophecy Declares to be a Thousand Years and then All to be Drawn up into Eternity and no otherwise to End Argum. 5. The Observation upon the Thousand Years I made heretofore in my Patriarchal Line p. 58. does much sway my Judgment still concerning the Thousand Years Kingdom of Christ viz. By the Recollection of each Patriarch's Life whol and together is most Pompously set out That none of these Holy Men Attain'd a Full Thousand Years of Life though some Life 's swell'd so much above Nine hundred as if they would mount to a Thousand yet it was said to Them Hitherto shall you come and no further for a Thousand in Sacred Record is a Number of Perfection that is not Allowed to any Years of Life in Adam's Apostate State but Reserv'd for the Restitution of the Second Adam and p. 165. As if the Thousand Years were a Tree of Life Guarded with Cherubims that none might Take of it Enoch had a particular Exemption of not Dying yet no One might be in a Visible State on Earth One Thousand Years wherein I am Confirm'd by Reading what Dr. Sherlock so Reverend so Learned so Considering and so far from what is call'd Fanaticism as every One knows hath written in his Excellent and Generally Acceptable Practical Discourse of Death p. 129 130. Wherein it is most Considerable that he Writes not as having Espous'd the Opinion of the Thousand Years Kingdom of Christ nor was Intentionally Writing upon it But so Discerning and Quick-sighted a Person was struck with its Beams of Light and Truth while he was upon another View And thus he Writes The longest Term of Humane Life after the Sentence of Death passed on Man was a Thousand Years And Comparing this Observation with that Promise of a Thousand Years Reign with Christ which is call'd the First Resurrection and is â—he Portion only of Martyrs and Confessors and pure and sincere Christians Revel 20. I have been apt to Conclude To live a Thousand Years is the Priviledge only of Immortal Creatures That if Adam had continued Innocent he should have liv'd no longer upon Earth but have been Translated to Heaven without Dying For this Thousand Years Reign of the Saints with Christ whatever that Signifies seems to be Intended as a Reparation of Death which They fall under by Adam's Sin But then these Thousand Years do not put an End to the Happiness of those Glorious Saints but they are Immortall Creatures And though this Reign with Christ continues but a Thousand Years Their Happiness shall have no End though the Scene may change and vary for over such the Second Death shall have no power Or else this Thousand Years Reign with Christ must signifie an Eternal and Vnchangeable Kingdom a Thousand Years being a certain Earnest of Immortality But there is an Unanswerable Objection against that Because we read of the Expiring of those Thousand Years and what shall come after them even the Final Judgment of all the World This is a Great
Mystery which we must not hope perfectly to Understand till we see the Blessed Accomplishment of it I could not but Transcribe a Paragraph worthy of Letters of Gold Not because suitable to my Sense of small Account but because so Agreeable with Sense of Scripture if I can be sure I see or know any Thing And yet how little taken notice of To conclude the Argument The Thousand Years are made by God the Emblem and Hierogliphick of the Perfection of Time and do litterally express that very Time God hath Ordain'd to be the Fulness of Time and the Perfection of it And so I come to the Third Thing propos'd to consider any other Hipothesis or Model of Things in Bar of this propos'd And I find these Two 1. That All this Kingdom of Christ with its New Heaven and Earth are suppos'd rather to Fit the Kingdom of Eternity Against this I Argue 1. The New Heaven and the New Earth the Scripture speaks of Revel 21. v. 1. are certainly the very same that Fly away from the pure Crystal Throne of Eternity and from his Face that Sate upon it Ready to Deliver up the Kingdom to God All in All. This is certain because the New Heaven and New Earth are Concurrent with the New Jerusalem as is most Clear by the Conjunct Vision John had of Them Revel 21. 12. I saw a New Heaven And v. 1. And I John saw the holy City When he Saw the New Heaven c. and the New Jerusalem The first Heaven and the first Earth were passed away So then the Heaven and Earth that were with the New Jerusalem were not the first Heaven and Earth but the Heaven and Earth that were at the same time with the Holy City And they fled away as is most Evident by the close Connexion and Order between the Compassing the Holy and Beloved City which cannot be suppos'd to be any other then the New Jerusalem call'd by the Name of the Holy City as c. 20. 9. so c. 21. 2. and the Beloved City because the Bride For after that Assault that was after the 1000 Y. Satan was cast into the Lake that had the Power of Death And then immediately the White Throne was seen and Heaven and Earth fled away which must be the Heaven and Earth Cotemporary with the New Jerusalem and so with the 1000 Years and seeing as was said just now They must be new Heaven and New Earth Therefore the New Heaven and New Earth continue not to Eternity For I cannot see where there can be any Doubt in the Connexion or Order the Divine Prophecy hath so taken care Sathans casting into the Lake must needs be after the 1000 Years therefore after the New Heaven and Earth the Heaven and Earth that Fled must be Those that were at the Judging and casting the Dead into the Lake Can we suppose then that this White Throne the Judging the Dead and casting the Dead into the Lake was before the 1000 Years and so the Heaven and Earth flying also and then indeed They must be the First Heaven and First Earth and not the New Ones But All that cannot be because whatever was not Written in the Book of Life was then cast into the Lake And it is certain Sathan was not Written in the Book of Lâ—fe therefore he Could not be out of the Lake at the Time of Death and the Dead being cast into the Lake But he was not cast into the Lake till the 1000 Years were past So that this whole Transaction upon Death and the Flying of Heaven and Earth were all after the 1000 Years and therefore the New Heaven and New Earth which Run along with the 1000 Years were the Heavens and Earth that Fled away 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which was the Thing to be shown and is shown For if such a Connexion as this will not prove nothing can be prov'd by Consequence from Scripture 2. Those Three Expressions of the Apostle The Kingdom shall be deliver'd up by the Son The Son shall be subject God shall be All in All so strongly sway with me that no distinction of Acquisition and Fruition can weigh against them but that such a State as of the New Heaven and New Earth and a Kingdom of Christ proportionate to it cannot be the State of the Kingdom of Eternity Especially when I Joyn to it those Words of our Lords Mediatory Prayer John 17. That They may be one in us and that They may see my Glory and that Glory was the Glory Christ had with the Father before the Foundation of the World So that the Glory of the Humane Nature of Christ and of the Elect Angels and Saints being first confess'd All the State of Glory is Brought to the nearest that can be to that State of Glory before the World began and so not of New Heaven and a New Earth and what is Agreeable to the Creation 3. A Delivery up of the Glory of the Judiciary Kingdom or of that proper to the Day of Judgment to the Father and the Son 's being subject that is laying down that Lustre of Appearance proper to that Administration cannot be denied And that and no other which is always Attributed to the Son of Man and to the Man Christ Jesus and the delivering up that Kingdom and no other is what I plead for and no otherwise then so far as is necessary for the making Good of what the Apostle hath said That the Kingdom is to be deliver'd up that the Son is to be subject and God to be All in All From which as having some Higher Deeper and more Substantial Sense then the distinction of Acquisition and Fruition can Comprehend I cannot depart 4 The Superlative unexpressible Excellency of the Divine Glory from Eternity hath so Great a Command upon my Understanding together with that Expression of the Apostles of God's being All in All that altho the Humane Nature of Christ as united to the Divine though the Humane Nature of Christ and his Saints the Union of Saints to God by Christ be Free and wholly Grace and were not indeed from Eternity yet Joyning the so often mention'd Assertion of the Apostle Paul with our Lords of the Glory before the World began Assures me that the State of Angels and Saints is Brought to the highest Nearness Created Nature is capable of to that Glory before the Foundation of the World even as the Humane Nature of Christ is so Advanc'd and that that Objectition viz. that the Humane Nature of Christ had not an Existence in that Glory before the World Argues to me the more strongly that All this is so For it speaks that Humane Nature it self therefore drawn more out of all Created Glory into the Glory of the Eternal Word and that the Divine Nature of the Eternal Word is our Object and not the Humane Nature of Christ all the objective Glory of Christ in his Humane Nature and of Angels and Saints being
about to Acquiesce and Settle in a State by Themselves on Earth which Christ by no means Allows nor Endures Here enters the Laodicean State of which because I have never at any Largeness published my Thoughts I would be more large when I have given these Pre-Cautions 1. That neither on my Judgment concerning Laodicea nor concerning Gog and Magog as the Captivated Dead or Condemn'd of the Thousand Years do I suspend the Weight of my principal Doctrine of the Thousand Years Kingdom of Christ but therein offer the best Light I am able to give in so dark Points in Agreement with my principal Doctrine and the Symmetry of Prophecy and Commend my Self therein to the Candor of the Wise and Sober without any occasion of Offence or Exasperation 2. That the strangeness of the Abatement of Fervours in the Living Saints or the Laodicean Church will be easily taken off by considering The Assurance of the best â—reated State depends upon the Degrees of Divine Confirmation which does not perfect it self into the very Nature of Vnchangeableness but in the Kingdom of the New Jerusalem Above and in the Kingdom of Glory Yet from hence no such Thing as a Falling from Grace in the Saints much less in the Kingdom of Christ though Below can be Fairly Collected For there is an unchangeable Love manifesting it self in the midst of Weâ—kness till thâ— Saints are brought to the State of Incorruption and Immortality which is not but in the Kingdom of Christ Above where the Saints of the First Resurrection are and the Living Remaining are as I always Asserted Cauâ—ht up without the loss of any One and so Deliver'd up together into the Absolute Eternal Life of God All in All which States are by the Decree of God in their own Natâ—re so Fram'd by Infinite Wisdom and Power in Conjunction with Infinite Love and Grace in Christ as Unchangeable as God himself For the Manifestation therefore of the Weakness of any State but of that Absolute Incorruption in the Kingdom of Christ Above and of Eternity for the Manifestation of the Power and Grace of Christ's bringing his Saints Below safe to these States through the possibility of Danger at the end of the Thousand Years for the Greater â—onquest over Satan Sin and Death And lastly for the shewing the Necessity of putting an End to all Church-State on Earth without such a Glory of the New Jerusalem coming down upon it which Infinite Wisdom for the Glory of God All in All had Determin'd to be only a Thousand Years On all these Accounts there is a Permission of the Appearance of the Danger but it was no sooner given Leave to Appear but there was immediately a Catching up of the Prey as it were out of the Mouth of the Lion and with Violence pulling out of the Fire every One of the Saints below and without the Loss of One. In all which I desire to be Clearly Justly and Candidly Understood 3. There is less Wonder that the Wicked Captiv'd and bound under Condemnation and the Glory of the Kingdom of Christ for the Thousand Years shining just in their Faces should break out into that Outrage of Gog and Magog For thus as Dead all that Time not in the Sense of Suffering and Torment but of any Spirit for Action against the Kingdom of Christ They lay bound and Fetter'd It is no wonder then that upon the withdrawing of the Glories of that Kingdom Satan and that Gog and Magog break out into that Attempt upon these Accounts 1. All the Conviction and Punishment the Divels have been under these Thousand Years and of the Damned throughout Eternity does not according to the Judgment of all Divines upon Scripture at all abate their Wickedness and Rage against God but in what-ever they find their Chain loose and allowing Liberty They take it This then will be the Case of Satan Gog and Magog at the end of the Thousand Years They find the Chains of the Kingdom of Christ loose about Them so They Stir They Move thus 2. There is no doubt Satan is the Name of the Highest Dominion Power and Influence of Wickedness in Scripture He therefore being particularly loosed at the end of the Thousand Years mightily Agitates and Enflames to the Highest the Highly dispos'd Spirits of the Gog and Magog full of Rage and Hatred of the Kingdom of Christ the Loss and Torture of which They will have Endur'd a Thousand Years besides the undoubted Foresight of the Lake for ever And not able so strongly Chain'd to have mov'd against it upon a Loosening of Satan and a Power of Action as it were of some Liveliness by the Thousand Years Glory Retiring They are under Satan's Energy call'd Deception because of its Folly and Falsenses how Powerful soever That they Gather and Compass the Holy City 3. The Wisdom Justice Glory and Power of God and Christ in a Supream manner permitting Order also and over-rule this Effort 1. That there might be a full Display of the Wickedness and Irreconcilable Spirits of Satan and this lost Gog and Magog of the Condemned and of their Fittedness for the Wrath of Christ's Coming Down not as a Second Conflagration of the New Heaven and Earth which by a milder Exffection Fly away when Christ Delivers up the Kingdom but on Satan and his Hosts only Fire comes down as it were Hell from Heaven upon Them shutting them up for ever in the Lake where there shall be an utter Impossibility of Satan being Loosed of Gog and Magog Feeling any such Life or Action or Gathering in Battel for ever 2. When therefore all the Numbers Strength utmost Efforts of Rage and Spirit in Satan and all his Legions and Hosts are thus at the Heighth there is then this Supream Manifestation of the Glory and Powâ—r of God against these Armies whose Number is as the Sand on the Sea That the Grace Love and Mercy of God 〈…〉 â—hrist in the Râ—sâ—â—e oâ— th◠〈…〉 Castle Camp or Strong Citadel of his Saints in the New Earth the New Jerusalem below the Beloved City might be seen at last in this Illustrious and Glorious Deliverance and Rescue It is therefore call'd a Battel even as the Second Part of that Great Battel of the Day of God Almighty at Armageddon And now the Victory is Compleat and Irrecoverable by the Catargesis or Casting into the Lake thâ—t after a Full and Absolute Judgment immediately followed And of this Battel even as of that of Armageddon All the Great Battels Deliverances and Victories as of Moses over Amalek Joshua and David Psal 18. Asa Hezekiah Constantine Theododosius his Last against Eugenius and Argobastes were Types 4. By way of Recollection and for further Preparation concerning the Church of Laodicea let us consider the Six-fold Repetition of the Thousand Years Rev. 20. and how they are Assign'd which will add Certainty and Lustre to both the Thousand Years and the Hipothesis or Frame of Doctrine built upon them 1. They
such a Collection of Nations Slain with the Sword of Christ's Mouth Chap. 19. For v. 18. Their Flesh is Expos'd as a Feast to the Fowls in such a Collection of Kings Captains Small and Great And v 19. They are said to be the Kings of the Earth and their Armies Gathered together under the Beast as their Chief And when the Beast and false Prophet were Taken and thrown into the Lake verse 20. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Rest even the whole Rest besides the Beast and false Prophet are v. 21. expresly said to be Slain with the Sword of Christ's Mouth And so They became the Dead therefore Chap. 20. They are call'd very properly in so Neighbour a Context 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Rest of the Dead by the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Chap. 19. v. 21. and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 put together The Remnant slain Chap. 19. 21. The Remnant of the Dead c. 20. 5. Slain and Dead being most Conjoyn'd in Signification They appear to be the same And these Rest slain and so Dead are in their whole Number and â—ollection the Gog and Magog so gathered together as to the First Battel at Armageddon So to the Last Battel of the Thousand Years or of the Day of Judgment ending There is beyond this Induâ—ement strong Argument For who-ever Live in the State of the Thousand Years must be Partakers of the First Resurrection Because They are the Nations of the Saved saved from the Sword of Him that Sate on the Horse As they are call'd The Land brought back or Rescued from the Sword Ezek. 38. 8. All Those are Healed with the Leaves of the Tree of Life They must be therefore the Living for All that are Living are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the very Left as under a peculiar Guard and Care of Life So They are call'd the People left and Escaped and the Living Esay 4. 2 3. and by Ezekiel compar'd to Fishes in the Living and Healing Waters wherein whatever doth Live shall Live and the Dead viz. the Raised-condemn'd to Marishes or Miry places not Healed but Given to Salt Ezek. 47. 9 11. even the Salt of that Fire never Quench'd March 9. 47. From whence it Follows whoever Escape in that Great Tribulation the Fire the Sword the Hail of the Day of Judgment and Perdition of Vngodly Men at that Battle of Armageddon are the Living Remaining Written in the Book of Life and shall Live And All other are to be Accounted the Dead First Slain with the Sword of Christ's Mouth punnish'd with Everlasting Destruction and then cast into the Lake at last For so it is Everlasting Destruction to be Slain with the Sword of Christ's Mouth Because All the so Slain are the Dead not Partakers of the First Resurection So the Second Death gets the Power over Them certainly and infallibly They are cast into the Lake that Burns with Fire and Brimstone which is the Second Death Having thus far Pre-caution'd concerning all Things relating to the State of the 1000 Years and the Little Space of Sathan's Loosing after the 1000 Years I will now in very Brief Lay down some very short Positions Clearing the Doubts Arising from the State of the Living Remaining Saints as It is Symboliz d and Figur'd by the Church of Laodicea Posit 1. The Great Reason perswading The Church of Laodicea is the Representation of the Saints after the 1000 Years is that There are Great Reasons to be Given eâ—sewhere declar'd That the Seven Churches are as a Prophetic Seheme prepar d by Christ to Run the whole Line of Time Allotted to the Apocalypâ—ic Prophecy as it is first Given by those Churches with Relation to the Church of Christ to the very end of All at the Kingdom deliver'd up and as more Generally It is the Second Time Fully Given in the Prophecy of the Book sealed with Seven Seals and Gradually Open'd to the Kingdom by Christ Posit 2 If it be so Then the Philadelphian Church being the Church on which the Thousand-Years-New-Jerusalem comes down and Rests The Laodicean Church that comes after it must needs be the State of the Church upon the Glories of the New Jerusalem above being withdrawn Sathan Loosed and the Assault by Gog and Magog deceiv'd by Him preparing For All These Immediately succeed the 1000 Years if then the Church of Philadelphia Agrees in Time with the 1000 Y. and describes the State of the Church during those 1000 Years the Church that Follows that must describe the State of the Church after the 1000 Years Posit 3. There is a wonderful Agreement hereunto of the Titles of Christ in writing to this Church viz. the Amen and Faithful Witness to the Last End about to Close the whole Created State by delivering up the Kingdom as well as the Beginning of the Creation of God the Name of the Church Laodicea as in a Judiciary Power over the Nations of the Raised Condemn'd Wicked Lying Captive at Christ's Feet and so at his Saints Feet as the Dead The Promise of Sitting down with Christ on his Throne They being Caught up to it and that as Christ Sat down on his Father's Throne till the Time of his own Kingdom So these Saints sit while the Last Act of Judgment on Sathan Gog and Magog on Death and Hell is in Sentence and Execution and so until the Kingdom deliver'd up All these I say Admirably Agree to the Last End of Things Posit 4. The several Branches of the Epistle must not be Rigorously Applied to the Saints Living Remaining in the New Jerusalem State but carried only to the Principal Scope and what-ever Exceeds that must be understood as in all Parables of Scripture to Flourish and Embellish the Figures that They may most to the Life Express that Principal Scope and the Rest must vale off and be Applied only to the Ground-work it self of the Figure as here It must to the Church of Laodicea that was in Being when the Epistle was written and so These Following Particulars are of Chief Remark in which let us then Hear what the Spirit thus speaks to the Church of Laodicea 1. The Lukewarmness of the Church of Laodicea Applied to the Living Remaining Saints cannot be understood but of the abatement of the fervors for the Glory of the Jerusalem above to which hitherto these Kings of the Earth the Saints below had Brought their Glory But now those Glories from Above being withdrawn and the so Free and Illustrious Communications ceasing These Saints below whereas They rather Acquiesce in their State below at least as very well should have Burnt in an Immediate Zeal to be Caught up as Elijah in Charriots of Fire to Christ above and to be ever with Him 2. The Spewing out of Christ's Mouth can by no means indeed be understood of a disgraceful dishonourable End put by Christ to his own Kingdom below or on his the Living Remaining Saints but only that seeing a Church State on Earth Born up
in Glory from the Jerusalem State above during the 1000 Years could by the decree of God Assigning only a 1000 Years for it be no longer and that his Saints not yet vested in Immortality and Incorruption would be liable to Sathan's Assaults and to Temptation and to Fall from their Glory He would therefore Spew out for ever Any Church-State but what should be Fix d in Immortality and Incorruption and so Immediately be deliver'd up through Himself to God and the Father This Spewing or Vomiting out of Christ's Mouth signifies then the utter Impossibility for ever of any Lapsible Church State or what is not so Eternally secur'd Seeing it is most Impossible Christ should Return to his Vomit any more 3. The Church of Laodiceas so high Account of it self as being Rich and Increas'd with Goods c. but in Christ's Account being Poor Miseâ—â—ble Blind and Naked and Counsell'd therefore by Him to Buy of Him Gold tryed in the Fire white Rayment and Eye-Salve as Applied to the Living Remaining Saints is no otherwise to be understood then that All that Excellent State of the Jerusalem below was through the Beams of a free Communication from the Jerulalem above with which It was in Union but that being no longer possible because the Thousand Years were finisht there could be no Satisfaction in any longer Continuance below however They might be Tempted to mistake concerning it For the State of the Church so Deserted was poor miserable blind naked and the Good State could no way be Recover'd but by the Pure Gold the White Rayment and Eye-Salve of Immortality Incorruâ—tion and Immediate Sight of Christ Face to Face in his Kingdom above 4. By the Rebuke and Chastisement on Laodicea as It may be Apply'd to the Living Remaining Saints is Figur'd in tâ—â—t Compassâ—ng the Camp or the Munition of the Saints Christ's main Intention and Design which was Love the end of it being to stir up that Zeal and change of Mind or Resipiscency producing an Earnestness to be Caught up to Christ in his Kingdom above according to the Necessity that must needs Aâ—pear from so Bold an Attempt of Satan as soon as ever the Glories of Jerusalem above were stay'd which was the Security of that below And seeing there was but a Thousand Years Determined to that Universal Glory of the Kingdom of Christ and there could be no longer such a Communication and yet that there was not that Ardor in these Saints to be Translated to the Highâ—st State Christ stops also those Influences that Fetter d Satan and the Gog and Magog which They immediately Feel as a Loosening of Themselves and so They Come up and Cover the New Earth and Compass the City So that the Remove of the Saints is as by a violent Motion as it were Spewing out and by a Severe Admonition upon the Saints that Their Zeal for that Remove up might Flame out and so Christ in a Zeal of Fire from Heaven Devouring their Enemies might Rescue Them This Translation is therefore call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Thess 4. 17. Implying a Violence in the whole Transaction as of a mighty Rescue from a destroying Beast of Prey 5. Christ Standing so Graciously at the Door and Knocking even at every Door and Assuring his Free Communion in Supping with his Saints and They with Him shews in the Application to the Living Remaining Saints that Never-failing Love of Christ as the Redeemer and Second Adam that when those Brighter Rays were Retracted and with held yet would not Fail to Visit Them by no less Effectual though not by so Resplendent Rays and when He did not Visit Them as a New Jerusalem below any longer to Continue He yet lookt with a particular Care and Love to every Single Saint to Loose not so much as One not One of those Saved and continually Healed with the Leaves of the Tree of Life and the Water of â—ife being possible to be Lost Forasmuch as not One was a Son of Death for that were to be a Son of Perdition and of the Second Death and so not to be of the Saved of the Nations nor of the First Resurrection over whom the Second Death can have no power 6. These Living Remaining Saints are therefore every One Over-commers and so every One Caught up to Sit with Christ on his Throne as Christ Sate down on the Father's Throne They Sit with Him in those Great Acts of Judgment and when Satan is Cast into the Lake And when Death Hell and the Dead are Cast into the Lake the Great and Final Acts of Judgment They put on Immortality and Incorruption They with all Saints meet Christ in that High Act of Resignation of the Kingdom and having been Kings and Priests before during all the Thousand Years are in one Moment Perfected into an Equality to the Saints of the First Resurrection and So to Angels to whom Those are Equal at that Resurrection that Possibility of Dying and Falling of which for the Glory of the Redeemer and his Grace and Mighty Power over Satan and the Dead there was but a Shew and no more even all Mortality is swallow'd up of Life and so They are Ever with the Lord who is Ever with the Father All in All. And thus I have according to the utmost Grace and Assistance God hath herein been pleas'd to give me Set out the Kingdom of the Thousand Years which is indeed the First Resurrection and there is no Second All Second to it is Second Death as I have and do Affirm Constantly All Saints are either Principals or Partakers Here are the Two in Capital Letters written Rev. 20. 5. 14. This is the FIRST RESVRRECTION This is the SECOND DEATH So that however it be not Intentional not Understood by Them that say it To say the Thousand Years are past already Is to say The Resurrection is past already as I have already Observ'd And if They are past already how comes it to pass the Season since their Ending hath been not a Little Season as the Prophecy so Positively Asserts it to be For Beginning the Thousand Years at Constantine and Ending Them at 1300 when the Turkish Euphrates Began to Swell over in the World there must have pass'd about 400 Years since which Compar'd with a Thousand Years besides what still may be Expected it is no Small Season Nor does Prophecy barely say The season of Satan's Loosing is Small or Little But it Describes All Things in the most Rapid Motion to a Final End Which will by no means Agree with so long a Time as hath already Actually pass'd But thus it Fares with All who will Deny Great Scripture Evidence They are forc'd to swallow Camels of Difficulty for the Gnats they so strain at But God forbid I should seem to Charge All that do it with Hipocrisie except that secret Hipocrisie Remaining and Lurking in the Heart of the Holiest here Nor do or can I in the least suspect the