a new Song before the Throne and before the four living Creatures and the 24. Elders and no man could learn that Song but the 144000. There is nothing difficult in this Vision The Lamb is Jesus Christ Sion is a Mountain separated from Jerusalem and is a Figure of the True Church The 144000. who have the Fathers Name written in their Foreheads are Believers who compose the True Church and who by keeping themselves separated from the Romish Church have this comfort that they do enjoy the gracious presence of their Saviour as Sacrificed for them and they will hearken to no other Saviour but him He then who would know the True Church in order to join himself into Communion with it needs no more but to consider this Portraiture which the Holy Spirit hath vouchsav'd us and wherein he hath given us six Characters of her that so we may not be deceived First 't is said that they were redeemed from among them or from among those of the Earth Now it had been said in the 13. Chap. that all the Earth went or wondered after the Beast 'T is then from this Earth that is from among the Followers of the Beast that they who constitute the True Church are redeemed and separated In the second place they are those who are not defiled with Women for they are Virgins Which words cannot be understood of the Romish Ecclesiasticks without a manifest injury to the Text. Forasmuch as the term Virgin agreeth only to Females nor is the word in the Original used of any but of those of that Sex. We are not then to take the Phrase in a Literal sense but in a Mystical for he speaketh of a Chastity and of a Virginity that is Mystical of a purity of Soul that abhorreth Idolatry as spiritual Adultery For they who are Virgins and who are not defiled with women are set in opposition to those whom the Woman hath made drunk with the Wine of the Wrath of her Fornication that is with Idolatry whereof the Papal Church is manifestly guilty 3. 'T is said that they follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth Which is as much as that the Members of the True Church are united to Jesus Christ by indissoluble Bonds and that they follow him on Mount Calvary as well as Mount Tabor in a Wilderness as well as in a Land that flows with Milk and Honey on the raging Sea as well as upon firm ground and as S. Paul says through honor and dishonor through evil report and good report 2 Cor. 6. 8. 4 They are those in whose mouth there is found no Guile for they are without fault before the Throne of God. Which is the language wherein St. Paul speaketh of the Church Eph. Chap. 5. v. 25 26 27. Christ says he loved the Church and gave himself for it that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of Water by the Word that he might present it to himself a glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that it should be holy and without blemish So that it is not true that worldly and wicked persons do constitute the true Church 5. They are those who could learn the new Song that is sung by the 24. Elders and by the four living Creatures What Song can this be which they of the Earth could not learn Forasmuch as that we do not learn Songs but in order to sing them there must be some Mystery contained under this new Song We learn not but in order to practise and they who do not practise do not know nor have they learned So that in a word this new Song is the Mystery of denying our selves and or resolving to bear the Cross Worldlings might learn the Mysteries of Religion if they would The Theory doth not exceed their capacity But to be obliged to deny themselves and to take up the Cross is unintelligible to them or at least that which they will not submit unto and practise Finally they are those who are built upon the Doctrine of the twelve Apostles Therefore they are said to be of the number of the hundred and forty four thousand because twelve thousand multiplied twelve times makes up the number of 144000. Besides it is a definite number put for an indefinite to shew both that God knoweth all those who are his and that they cannot be diminished notwithstanding all the attempts that the Dragon makes against them XVII ILLUSTRATION Of the three Angels of the Everlasting Gospel and of the Denunciation against Babylon and her Followers REV. CHAP. 14. v. 6 7 8 9. GOD hath not only alway's preserved a number of true Believers who as we have already shew'd never worshipped the Beast nor his Image but he hath moreover raised up Teachers who have both openly condemned the Idolatry of the Romish Church and have exhorted the People to withdraw from her Communion And that is this which is here represented in the Vision of the three Angels Forasmuch as the Pastors of the seven Churches are in the second and third Chapters of the Revelation stiled by the name of Angels These Angels are represented in the person of him who appeared the first of the three with the Everlasting Gospel because there is no other Rule whereby to Reform the Church when she is corrupted nor to restore the purity of Gods Worship when it is degenerated into Superstition So that the Eternal Gospel is the same with the Reed wherewith the Temple was measured in the 11. Chap. The Followers of the Beast have alway's used to accuse those of Novelty that have condemned their Errors But the Gospel which they preach in its purity doth fully vindicate them against this accusation because it is the same Gospel which was written and preached by the Apostles and which shall be preached to the consummation of all Ages and is therefore called the Everlasting Gospel There are Three Angels spoken of to intimate Three different Times wherein God raised up Teachers who declared against the Errors and Idolatries of the Romish Church Now these three different Times were the twelfth the 14 th and the 16 th Centuries In the twelfth Age about the year 1126. there arose Peter du Bruit and soon after him in the year 1147. there appeared one Henry of Tholoss whose Disciples were cried down for Hereticks under the name of Petrobrusians and Henricians Tho' they taught nothing but the Everlasting Gospel thro preaching against the Sacrifice of the Mass Transubstantiation Prayers and Offerings for the Dead Invocation of Saints the Adoration of Images the Celibate of Priests and against other Errors and Superstitions of the Roman Church In the same Age there arose also Arnoldus de Bress who upon going into Italy to preach against those Errors was by the command of the Emperor Frederick Barberossa apprehended and to gratify the Pope whose Friendship he sought burnt in the year 1155. In which year Valdo appeared who was had in so great
before the last day So that it is the same that St. Iohn meaneth by the first Resurrection and by Reigning with Iesus Christ a thousand years The same Daniel says in the seventh Chap. v. 27. that after the destruction of the Roman Empire represented by the fourth Beast that the Kingdom and Dominion and the greatness of the Kingdom under the whole Heaven were given unto the people of the Saints of the most High and that all Dominions shall serve and obey him This cannot be after the general Resurrection because then there will be no Dominions nor hath it hitherto been accomplished so that it must refer to the 1000 years whereof St. Iohn doth here speak But what can we desire more plain than that Prophesie of Isaiah chap. 65. v. 17. c. where God speaketh in these Terms Behold I create new Heavens and a new Earth and the former shall not be remembred nor come into mind But be you glad and rejoice forever in that which I create For behold I create Jerusalem a rejoicing and her people a joy And the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her nor the voice of crying There shall be no more thence an Infant of day's nor an old man that hath not fulfilled his day's for the Child shall die a hundred year old And they shall build houses and inhabit them and they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them They shall not labour in vain nor bring forth Children for trouble For they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord and their offsprings with them And it shall come to pass that before they call I will answer and while they are yet speaking I will hear There are many things in this passage of Isaiah that there can be no room for in the life to come yea not in an allegorical sense Nor have they been fulfilled from the time of the Prophet till our day's so that they are to be accomplished after the first Resurrection i. e. after the deliverance of the Church from all her Enemies and during the thousand years in which she shall enjoy a perfect peace We can give no sense to these words whereby to adjust them to the state of the glorified There will not be from thence an Infant of day's nor an old man that hath not accomplished his day's Shall it be in Heaven that these words are to be fulfilled the Child shall die an hundred years old Or are the following words to receive their completion in the state of Glory They shall build houses and inhabite them they shall plant vine yards and eat the fruit of them They shall not labour in vain nor bring forth for trouble for they are the blessed of the Lord and their off spring with them And it shall come to pass that before they call I will answer If we take these words in a literal sense as they may without any difficulty it is then certain that they are not hitherto accomplished nor hath any thing like unto this been ever seen on the earth Nor can we affix unto them such a Mystical sense whereby to shew that they have been fulfilled in a state of grace from the establishment of the Gospel till this time and much less can such a sense be proved in reference to a state of Glory Nor can we avoid the fastning the like Exposition upon that other Prophesie of Isaiah chap. 11. v. 1 c. And there shall come forth a rod out of the Stem of Jesse and a branch shall grow out of his roots And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him In righteousness shall he judg the poor and reprove the meek with equity He shall smite the Earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips shall be stay the wicked The Wolf shall dwell with the Lamb the Leopard shall lie down with the Kid the Cow and the Bear shall feed together and the Lion shall eat straw like the Ox and a little Child shall lead them They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain for the Earth shall be full of the knowledg of the Lord as the waters cover the Seas I dare maintain against the warmest Antimillenarians that this Prophesie is not yet fulfilled and that it shall be accomplished on the Earth after the destruction of Antichrist The fourth verse does plainly guide to this sense he shall smite the Earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked And it evident that St. Paul had these words of Isaiah in his thoughts when he wrote the 2d chap of the 2d Ep. to the Thessalonians For after that he had described Antichrist by his principal Characters he adds v. 8. the Lord shall destroy this wicked one by the breath of his mouth and shall destroy him by the brightness of his coming Of what coming of the Lord doth St. Paul speak It cannot be of the last It must be a coming that may accord what is said by the Apostle with what is predicted by Isaiah And whensoever the Iews come to be brought home and all Nations converted it will then appear so clearly that Iesus Christ is come into the world that if he should descend from heaven unto the Earth we could not be more convinced This coming of the Lord will be magnificent and glorious forasmuch as it will make the Church from that time forward to appear as an Army glorious in holiness and victorious over all her Enemies There are three things promised in this Oracle The first is a perfect union of the Iews with all Nations This is promised under the Embleme of wild beasts dwelling and feeding peaceably with the Lamb and with the Ox. When was it that this was seen In the times of the Apostles when the Iews and Gentiles were converted by St. Peter and his fellow Apostles I do affirm that there was nothing then seen save a small pattern of the accomplishment of this prophecy Nor was that the time of the conversion of the Iews but rather of their rejection And the peace which appeared then in the Church made up of Jews and Gentiles was of too short a continuance to express all the Force and the whole extent of this Union and of this harmony of agreement which the Prophecy before us of Isaiah gives ground to hope for The 2d is an abundance and large diffusion of the knowledg of the true God. This is expresly promised in these words the whole Earth shall be full of the knowledg of the Lord as the waters cover the Sea. From the time of the Apostles till our day's there hath been nothing seen that may answer the greatness of this promise The darkness of Paganism prevailed in the Roman Empire till Constantine That of Arianism-followed soon after that of Heathenism And that of Antichristianism hath reigned for above these twelve hundred years and is not yet dissipated
Christ shall Reign after an eminent manner upon the Earth for a thousand years 'T is this second Marriage which is spoken of here in the 19. chap. Which Chapter may be called an Epithalamium or a Wedding Song because St. Iohn say's that he heard as it were the voice of a great multitude and as the voice of many waters and as the voice of mighty thunders saying Alleluja for the Lord God omnipotent Reigneth Let us be glad rejoice give honor to him for the Marriage of the Lamb is come his Wife hath made her self ready to her was granted that they should be arayed in fine linnen which is the Righteousness of the Saints The Spouse of this Marriage is the Christian Church being filled up with the fulness of Iews and Gentiles The Iews refused to come to the Marriage of the Son of God Matth. 22. 2. c. but they are here represented coming with joy And that is doubtless the reason why the Term Allelujah is four times used in this chapter as a Term familiar unto the Iews and ordinarily used by them in their Synagogues This Marriage is stiled a Supper blessed are they who are called unto the Marriage Supper of the Lamb v. 9. Because it is to be celebrated in the evening of the worlds duration The Marriage to which the Iews were first invited by their Lord is called a Dinner Matth. chap. 22. v. 4. but here at this second Marriage they are called to a Supper as being the last Invitation The Iews rejected the first Invitation because Christ left the Roman Empire in the state he found it whereas the Iews had strongly hop'd that the Messiah would have delivered them from its domination And now the same Roman Empire become Papal doth as much and more keep them off from Christianity because they cannot imagine that Idolaters can be the people of the Messiah and they have reason for it But when the Papal Empire shall come to be destroyed as it assuredly shall upon the Effusion of the Vials and when the Beast and the False Prophet shall be cast into the bottomless pit in a word when the Papacy shall be abolished with all its Idols then the Iews will be no longer deaf to Gods call but will come to the Supper of the Marriage of the Lamb shall unite with Christians to worship together the God of Abraham and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ The Church of Rome boasteth herself to be the Church of God but her vanity therein doth appear after such a manner that she might blush if she were capable being so vastly different from the Church which Jesus Christ acknowledgeth for his Spouse and which is called here the Spouse of the Lamb. There is as great a difference between the Church of Rome and the Church of Iesus Christ as there is between Babylon and Jerusalem between a Harlot and the Spouse of the Lamb. She discovereth herself by her gaud'ries and costly habit 's which serve for nothing but to gratify the sight and please the senses The Church of Christ manifesteth her self by another kind of Dress which is nothing but Righteousness and holiness For to her was granted that she should be arayed not in purpl ' and scarlet as Babylon but in fine linnen which is the Righteousness of the Saints XXIV ILLUSTRATION Of the holy Jerusalem REV. CHAP. 21. v. 10. ALL Interpreters do agree that this Ierusalem described Chap. 21 is the Church of God but they differ in this that some do believe it to be the Church of God glorified in Heaven whereas others do take it to be the Church Militant on Earth but victorious over all her Enemies and enjoying an universal peace during the 1000 years which have been spoken of This last opinion is the truest 1 Because the Angel entreth upon this description of the Church of God as he had entred upon the description of Babylon chap. 17. 'T is there said v. 1. One of the seven Angels which had the seven Vials talked with me saying I will shew thee the whore and her judgment The same is said here One of the seven Angels which had the seven Vials talked with me saying come hither and I will shew thee the Bride the Lambs Wife After the same manner that the glory of Babylon is represented there is the glory of the Church of God described here but such as she shall have afier the destruction of her Enemy 'T is in the prospect and hope of this that the Church do's rejoice Mica 7 8. c. Rejoice not against me O mine Enemy tho I be fallen I shall arise tho I sit in darkness the Lord shall be a light unto me I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him until he plead my cause then she that is my Enemy shall be covered with shame and mine eyes shall behold her troden down as the mire of the streets 2 The Church of God is here called the great City a Title which had been given to Babylon in the 16 17 and 18 Chapters Because the whole Earth went after Babylon while the Church of God did hardly appear being brought into a narrow compass and to a small number but now Babylon hath abandon'd the field and appeareth no more and now the Jews are brought again in and the fulness of the Gentiles is entred into the Tents of Jerusalem which being forced to stretch out her curtains by reason of the conversion of all nations is therefore called that great City This is exactly the little Stone in the Prophesie of Daniel which was to become a great Mountain And this Prophecy is to be fulfilled on the Earth before the day of judgment 3 'T is said in the 24 th verse that the Nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it and the Kings of the Earth do bring their glory and their honor into it Which can no way's be applied to the Church triumphant in heaven but agrees unto her as she is victorious on the Earth over the fury of the Beast and as she is in the enjoyment of her Millennian tranquillity It will be then that the Prophecy of Isaiah will be fulfilled chap. 49. v. 22 23. Behold I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles and set up my standard to the people And they shall bring thy Sons in their arms and thy Daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders And Kings shall be thy nursing fathers and their Queens thy nursing Mothers they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the Earth and lick up the dust of thy feet Moreover the Church of God as she shall be glorified in heaven having been described in the beginning of the Chapter as well as the frightful state of the damned is in the 8th verse it is evident that in the 9. verse and forward the Angel describeth a glory of the Church different from that of heaven which