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
coming of Christ when the Jews shall be thus redeemed from their Captivity is most evident Luk. 21.23 24. c. There shall be great distress upon the land and wrath upon this people and they shall be led away Captive into all Nations and Jerusalem shall be Trodden down of the Gentiles till the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled The Gentiles Captivating the Jews and treading them down were the Romans these Gentiles have their time set how long they shall Reign The Roman Monarchy which did Tread down Jerusalem in the Letter and doth now Tread down the Mystical Jerusalem that is the Church as we Read Rev. 11.2 hath a period set to it thus far shall it come and no farther thus long it shall continue and no longer that is at the end of fourty and two Months reckoning them from the beginning of the latter treading down mentioned Rev. 11. Rome the seat of this Monarchy shall be destroyed And then will the Jews deliverance from their long Captivity begin Now what shall happen when these times of the Gentiles shall be very near their end This we see v. 25. there shall be Signes in the Sun In the Moon and in the Stars and upon the Earth distress of Nations Mens Hearts failing them for fear and for looking after those things that are coming upon the Earth for the powers of the Heavens shall be shaken and these shew the day of their redemption to be drawing nigh v. 28. Now when these times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled and there shall be such a shaking to remove quite away the power of the Gentiles that is to destroy for ever the Roman Antichristian Kingdom and State then at that time v. 27. they shall see the Son of Man coming with power and great Glory which is his Second personal coming If any deny this they will gratify those Scoffers much which Peter spakes of in giving up so clear a proof of Christs Second coming 3. A Third Argument may be taken from Mat. 24.29 Which hath been a little toucht but now shall be farther urged Immediatly after the Tribulation of those days that is when Tribulation comes to this height to be such as never was c. the Sun shall be darkned c. and then shall appear the signe of the Son of Man in Heaven and the Tribes of the Earth shall Mourn and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the Clouds of Heaven with power and great Glory This shall be Immediatly after the Tribulation of those days what Tribulation this is the last Tribulation of the People of God which is said to be such trouble as never was since there was a Nation This is from the Devil when he shall have great wrath because his time is short 't is the Tribulation that Gog and Magog mentioned Ezek. 39. shall cause the same with those Kings of the Earth and the whole World which shall be gathered by the Beast and his Emissaries to the Battel of that great day of God Almighty This being the last Tribulation when this shall End then will the year of Christs redeemed come and the Saints will have rest and peace and shall sit under their Vines and fig-trees and have none to make them affraid Now if there shall be such a time here upon Earth that all the Saints troubles shall have an End and they shall enter into a state of rest and peace which shall have no End which if any will deny they must Write Apocrypha over a great part of that Scripture which was given by Inspiration of God I say if such a time shall be then Christ will appear personally at that time for immediately after this Tribulation shall appear the Sign of the Son of Man and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the Clouds of Heaven and this his personal coming for at this time the dead Saints shall be raised v 21. He shall send his Angels with a great Sound of a Trumpet and they shall gather the elect c. that is the dead shall be raised 1. Cor. 51.52 1. Thess 4.16 The Trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised and Observe by the way that at this time only the elect shall be raised for they shall gather the elect and besides 't is that coming of which Christ said none knows the day of it v. 36. which certainly is his second personal coming If the Church therefore shall have a glorious time on Earth Christ shall come personally even at the beginning of that time To this argument it hath been answered that this is the Tribulation which Gog and Magog shall cause after the thousand years shall be Ended But that this is not the Tribulation here meant these particulars sufficiently declare 1. At the time of this Tribulation there will be a great Apostacy of Men professing godliness For the love of many shall wax cold v. 12. and false Christs and false Prophets shall arise and deceive many v. 24. and the Stars shall fall from Heaven c. Now no such thing shall happen after the thousand years for the Devil shall only deceive the Nations Gog and Magog not any among the Saints and saved Nations much less any in the beloved City Shall the Sun in the New Heavens be darkned shall any of the Stars of that Heaven fall no certainly for Isa 60.20 Thy Sun shall no more go down and as the New Heavens so the Stars of those New Heavens shall remain 2. At the Tribulation here spoken of the powers of Heaven will be shaken which is not to be said of the New Heavens for these can't be shaken Heb. 12.26 yet once more I shake Heaven and but once This shaking will be of the Antichristian Kingdom and Heaven to remove it quite away that so way may be made for the New Heavens Gog and Magog when they shall gather at last shall not at all shake the New Heavens For the shaking is to remove the things that may be shaken But the New Heavens shall not be removed but remain Isa 60.22 Yea the Apostle saith plainly these cannot be shaken Heb. 12.27 That those things which cannot be shaken may remain wherefore we receiving a Kingdom which cannot be shaken c. The Mount Sinai Kingdom was shaken and removed that the Mount Sion Kingdome might be set up which is not to be shaken but stands fast for ever this is the Spiritual Kingdom of Christ under the Gospel which shall continue till the coming of Christ and then grow up to its perfection and then all the Enemies of it shall fall before it and be the Foot-stool of Christ and he shall be King over all the Earth and this his Kingdom is not to be shaken and removed It 's most evident then that this Tribulation will immediately precede the Thousand years and then Christ will come the second time to salvation and put an End to it And thus the Argument here stands like that Pillar