21. 8. Q. How is This to be Applied to the Casting the Devil Hell and Death with all their Dead into the Lake just before Christ Delivers up the Kingdom A. Hence it Appears That the Action of the Devil in Deceiving is only Chain'd up but not utterly Abolish'd in the thousand Years Kingdom of Christ For He is Loosed out of Prison for a Little Space after the Thousand Years and He Deceives the Nations again But Fire comes down suddenly from Heaven on those Nations in the very Attempt and then an utter end is put to Sathans whole Action For He is Cast into the Lake and so notwithstanding the Victory over Death in the First Resurrection of Dead Saints and the Living Remaining Saints not Dying but being Chang'd Yet till They are all Actually Chang'd so that Mortality or Possibility of Dying Puts on Immortality and Corruption puts Incorruption and so Mortality is swallowed up of Life in the Living Remaining Saints Caught up even as in the Dead in Christ Rising first who cannot Dye any more being in perfect Immortality Luc. 20. 36. Death and Hell with all their own Subjects the Dead are not Cast into the Lake so as to be utterly Abolish'd from any possible place in the Kingdom of God Then They are and when this Last Enemy Death is thus subdued Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Then so Long after his First Beginning to Reign Delivers up the Kingdom having Done all to be Done as the Second Adam and God is All in All But still and for ever even Eternally That Lake Burns with Fire and Brimstone For the Kingdom of Life shines in the Face of it with Everlasting Torment while it is not yet able to Return one of its Sulphur Steams in Revenge 1 Cor. 15. 24 55 56. Revel 20. 10. to the end 2 Thess 1. 9. Q. Have we any Accounts of Time kept in Scripture from the First Creation to the Times of Restitution or of the Kingdom of Christ A. There hath been for the sake of it kept a Constant Account of Time from one Point to the other Q. What Reason have you to think so A. Because as the First Coming of Christ in the Flesh is said to be in the Fulness of Time viz. of that Time Because it was in be in the Fulness of Time viz. of that Time Because it was in the Just Time according to Daniels seventy Weeks and according to the Agreement of all Christians So this Time of the Heading of All Things under Christ in his Kingdom is call'd the Fulness not of Time as of one Time but of Times as of all Times Issuing according to Just Account into it And further it is call'd the Oeconomy or the wise Order of All Times in Relation to it by the Supream and wise Pater-Familias or Governour of the World who as the Great Potentate King of Kings and Lord of Lords Giving the whole Family of Angels and Men a Show of and for his Glory would have it at this Fulness of Times for a Thousand Years and These are call'd Gods or Christs Proper Times and the Times of Refreshment and the Times of Restitution as in the Just Place of that Time All which speaks that there was a Strict Calculation of Time for it and to it Gal. 4. 4. Ephes 1. 10. Acts 3. 21. 1 Tim. 6. 15. Q. Where is This Account of Time to be Found A. It is to be found all along Holy Scripture in this manner In the First Roll of Patriarchs from the Creation to Shem the Head of the New World after the Flood 1658 years Genesis 5. c. 11. 10. From Shem to Abraham Receiving the Promises by the Second Roll of Patriarchs 425 Y. Gen. 11. to c. 12. From thence to the Going out of Egypt immediately before the Tabernacle of Testimony set up 430 Y. Exod. 12. 40. c. 40. From thence to Solomon's Temple Begun in his Fourth Year and so to his Death 516 Y. 1 Kings c. 6. 1. c. 11. 42. From thence to Ezekiel's Divine Temple and City drawn by his Bearing the Sin of Israel divided from Judah so many Days for Years according to the Reign of Israel's Kings to their Captivity and then by the Kings of Judah to 14 years after the City Jerusalem smitten and the Temple Burnt 390 Y. Ezek. c. 4. 4. 5. c. 40. 1. c. From thence to the End of Judah's Captivity drawn by the Forty days for Years of Ezekiel Bearing the Sin of Judah as from that vision of the City and Temple to Cyrus his First year 40 Y. Ezek. c. 4. 4. 5. c 40. 1. Ezra 1. 1. From thence by the Sanctuary that then lay Trodden under Foot to the Sanctuary of the Vniversal Church Cleans'd drawn in the 2300 Evens Morns according to the Prophetical Cypher before nam'd and establish'd for after Times of a Day for a Year 2300 Y. Dan. 8. 13. 14. Q. Can we know whereabout we are in nearness to the Kingdom of Christ by so long a Line of Time A. If we would be diligent in Searching and Comparing Scripture we might find this Line divided into 75 Years before Daniel's 70 Weeks began for the Word going forth to Restore and Build Jerusalem Into 490 by those 70 Weeks for the Death and Resurrection of Messiah and the first Apostolical Preaching to the Jews Into 1260 of the Roman Papal Apostasie Into 30 and 45. after that Apostasie making first the 1260 1290 then the 1290 1335. The first 75 in preparation to the Litteral Jerusalem and Temple Restor'd after Litteral Babylon falling and the last 75 preparing to the New Jerusalem after Mystical Babylon falling exactly Answer One after Another and by all these Summs laid together we certainly know There must be 400 between the Weeks ended and that Apostasie began From whence It Follows we must be in the 2218 Even Morn just 7 Years before the Fall of Mystical Babylon Dan. 9. 24. c. 12. 11. 12. Q. Is there any other way of knowing the Time A. There is even plainly Running into ordinary Observation For there are Time Times Half a Time plainly given to the Beast the last Part of the Roman Fourth Monarchy in Daniel c. 7. 25. and Sworn to Him for Scattering the Holy People c. 12. 7. and the Church is Accordingly said to be in the Wilderness for those Times in the Revelation Rev. 12. 14. Now at the Reformation There was such a Retrenchment of the Papal Power as could not be till the Morning of the Half Time with the Truth of Prophecy Then there might even as Christ might Rise at the Morning of the Third day though according to Prophecy He was to be Three days and Three nights in the Heart of the Earth The Reformation therefore Beginning at 1517 by Luther as all Agree and the Half Time being an 180 Years as being the Half of 360 a Time It must needs be There can be but 7 Years to the End of the 1260 and so to the
Water of Life and over Them the second death can have no power Q. But it seems They only who have been Martyrs and especially They who would not Receive the mark and Name of that Antichristian Idolatrous Power which the Revelation calls the Beast are They who thus Rise and enjoy that State a Thousand Years Rev. 20. 4. A. They are indeed the principal there nam'd to Answer the Table or Representation of Things in that Prophecy of the Revelation But it is subjoyn'd immediately v. 6. Blessed and Holy is He that hath part in the first Resurrection though they are not the principals Beheaded for Christ And the Apostle Paul assures us All who have died in Christ will God bring with Him That none should Mourn without hope for Dead Friends as if They should loose that Glory For none of the Saints can be perfected the one without the other The Living Saints cannot prevent the Dead and the Wee of the Living Saints are Joyn'd in that Glory with the Dead Rais'd 1 Thess 4. 15. and Heb. 11. last Call'd we All as making up the whole Q. What then shall be the State of the Saints Living and Remaining at the Coming of the Lord A. They also are as was said Partakers of the First Resurrection so that the Second Death shall have no Power over Them For the Blessed and the Holy is only He who is so Partaker And it is expresly said These shall not dye but be Changed and caught up to meet the Lord in the Clouds and be for ever with the Lord So they cannot fall into the Lake of the Second Death The Leaves of the Tree of Life are therefore for the Healing these saved of the Nations And the River of Life from the Throne runs down to them and the Trees of Life are for their Food and Medicine and the Healing Waters from the Sanctuary so that whatever doth Live shall Live Rev. 22. 2. Ezek. 47. 11. They shall be as Adam had he continued in Paradise served with the whole Variety of the Creation for Use and Delight without Lust or Sensuality without Labour Sorrow Curse or Death till They are so changed and they shall propagate a Holy Seed Psal 110. 3. in such abundance as to recompence with a much more to the Glory of the Second Adam Rom. 5. 12. to the end for the few that are saved within the World of the First Adam Q. What Entercourse shall there be betwixt the Saints of the New Heaven above and the Saints of the New Earth beneath A. Such as betwixt the Lights of Heaven and the Firmament and our Selves now on Earth For the Nations of the Saved shall walk in the Light of the New Jerusalem above shining as the Sun and Stars down to them And as All Glory on Earth is refer'd to the Light of the Sun and the Heaven over us So the Saints the Kings on Earth shall bring their Glory to the New Jerusalem above especially They shall give their Glory and walk in the Light and Enjoyment of God and of Christ And Angels and Saints above Angels Equalls shall Ascend and Descend on that Jacobs Ladder whose Foot being on Earth its Top reached to Heaven and God and the Lamb are on the Top of it and by Ezekiel's steps enlarging and winding still upward shall All below Ascend upward Gen. 28. 12 13. Ezeck 41. 7. Q. Give yet a fuller Account of the State of the wicked in this Kingdom of Christ A. The Scripture is not so full nor so clear in setting out the State of the Wicked under this Kingdom yet so that It is most certain that They who have lived before it are rais'd to Illustrate the Glory of it and to bear the Shame and Dishonour of their wickedness under the Just and Righteous Condemnation of Christ call'd a being slain with the Sword of his Mouth Shame and Contempt shall be pour'd upon Them as a Just Recompence of all the Scorn They have cast upon Christ his ways and Servants and They shall be seen in a State of Punishment Destruction and Death under a sharp sense of it in Themselves and so that They shall be seen as Carcasses whose Worm dyes not and their Fire is not quenched so that They are an Abhoring of all Flesh And this is a Just and Righteous Recompence of all the Cruelties They have exercised upon the Servants of God and their Disobedience to God and to Christ and their so obstinate prefering the present World before and above the World to Come Lastly in what ever State Any of them can be suppos'd to be They are certainly so under Christ and his Saints That They are made his Foot-stool Dan. 12. 2. John 5. 29. Esay 66. ult 2 Thes 1. 9. Psal 110. 1. Q. When does the Kingdom of Christ begin A. It begins at the Coming and Appearance of Christ and at the Resurrection of his Saints at that his Coming and Appearance a Resurrection to Life Honour and Immortality and to a visible Glorious Appearance with Christ and Reigning with Him Q. Is there not a Resurrection of the Wicked at the same Tme And if so How then does their Resurrection stand in Relation to the Happy Resurrection A. There is their Resurrection as was last declared but because It is a Resurrection to Punishment and Dishonour It is called Death and They are called the dead though iâ— a visible Appearance The Scripture therefore but seldom names the Resurrection of the wicked as a Resurrection and when it speaks of the Resurrection at any Time absolutely It means the Happy and blessed Resurrection as Luc. 20. 35 36. 1 Cor. 15. throughout Rev. 20. 4. 6. And therefore there can be no other Respect had to them in the Kingdom of Christ and the Resurrection proper to it but as They add to the Triumph of the Kingdom and are in a State of Deprivation of its Glory Q. What proof can you give of the Kingdom of Christ at his Coming and Appearance A. The whole Stream of the New Testament Joyns his Coming and his Appearance and his Kingdom One with Another The Son of Man coming in his Kingdom Mat. 16. last When the Son of Man shall come in his Glory and All the Holy Angels with him Then shall He sit on the Throne of his Glory Mat. 25. 31. Remember me when Thou Comest in not into thy Kingdom Luk. 23. 42. Because They thought the Kingdom of God should immediately Appear He spake a Parable unto Them of a Nobleman going into a Far Country to Receive a Kingdom and to Return and Having Receiv'd a Kingdom He Return'd in it Luke 19. 13 15. When we made known unto You the Power and Coming of Christ and were Eye Witnesses of his Majesty to wit in the Transfiguration that Great Fore-Appearance of his Kingdom Behold He who is the Prince of the Kings of the Earth cometh in the Clouds and Every Eye shall see Him Revel 1.5.7 And his Appearance
Obedience of Christ the Linnen white and clean which is the Righteousness of the Saints that It Invests Them All which makes the difference betwixt the Saints and the Reprobate Inconceivable For the Talents that the Reprobate might have here by General Grace to Adorn Them are Taken from them and All their Sins find them out and are as the Garment that covers them and the Girdle wherewith They are Girded continually Allowing yet the differences of Punishment betwixt the more and less Malicious Sinners Jerem. 50. 20. Luke 23. 40. c. Mat. 25. 28. Q. But the Kingdom of Christ seems a State of Purgation for that last State of Delivering up the Kingdom to God All in All Why may not therefore some that have not Repented here Find place in that State for Repentance especially when some are Converts so near Death and so many dye Infants and are Sav'd who had no space of serving God in this World A. In the deep and wise dispose of God besides that Standard of Glorifying God here on Earth the Spirits unreconciled to God in Christ and unsanctified in the very moment wherein They leave the Body become Devilish James 3. 15. and so can be no more chang'd after then Devils and the Bodies being laid down without any Seeds of the Divine Life not the Temples of the Holy Spirit are Taken up in the very same State and can never be chang'd because the Spirit to Inhabit them cannot And so thus as the Spirits of Holy Men are Pledges of Happiness to the whole Man so the Spirits of Vnholy Men in Prison are Hostages for the whole man to Justice under Wrath and hereby there is in each order of Spirits having in themselves a sense of their Future Condition a Preparation for the Kingdom of Christ in Glory or in Dishonour For thus there is no discontinuance in the Sense and Knowledge Each have in the Reasons of the Future State as there would be if the Spirits of Men stâ—pt in the dust as their Bodies do till the Resurrection and that Visible Appearance in the Judgment and Kingdom of Christ But They are Spirits in Prison or with Christ 1 Pet. 3. 19. Philip. 1. 23. Q. But there seems to be some Greater Refinement of Saints in the Kingdom of Christ for Vnion to God All in All A. The Spirits of Saints having been with Christ from their Leaving the Body and in the very beginning of the Kingdom of Christ the whole * Just Men not Spirits made perfect Man being made perfect Heb. 12. 23. They are for 1000 years Confirm'd in that most perfect State and with Angels They Behold in this Great Oeconomy the utmost God is pleas'd to have seen in a Created State in order to Vnion with God All in All and so are Deliver'd up with the Kingdom the Just Contrary to which is in every particular to Wicked Men for their being Cast into the Lake Q. Hath not the Eternal Word in Humane Nature a Kingdom throughout Eternity A. The Eternal Word in Humane Nature hath a Kingdom throughout Eternity but not as the Son of Man but as the Eternal Word The Glory in which then Christ is seen by his Saints being the Glory he had with the Father before the World Began of the same Nature wherein He is now at the Right Hand of God till He appears and the Vnion in that Eternal State is by God to God by the Word to the Father so the Son as Man is Subject and God All in All John 17. 5 24. Q. Is God excluded in the Kingdom of the Son A. No He is Excepted saith the Apostle who put All Things under Christ The Throne of God even as of the Lamb is in the New Jerusalem It is Gods Kingdom He Appoints sitting at the Right and Left Hand of Christ But the Divinity pleases so to Oeconomize its own Glory that the Son may be seen to Reign in Glory 1 Cor. 15. 27. Revel 22. 3. Mat. 20 23. Phil. 2. 11. Q. But it seems by the High Expression of God who is purest Spirit being All in All and by the Lake of the Second Death and even the New Heaven and New Earth after the 1000 Years Flying away Revel 20. 11. there is no Bodily or Material Nature Continued no not of the Son 's Glorious Body who is then Subject nor of his Saints A. Scripture having Declar'd no such Thing No such Thing can be suppos d but that Christ and his Saints shall be in Bodies But it is certain There shall be Highest Spirituality in Conformity to the Divine Nature that He may be All in All and in Vnion to Christ most Spiritual Bodies Even as in the Lake All the Damned become Spiritual Wickednesses to the Highest Degree All which Confirms the Nature and State of the Resurrection to stand in Visibility and Appearance for the thousand Years Phil. 3. 21. Ephes 6. 12. Q. What kind of State must that be of the Beast and of the False Prophet who are Cast Living into the Lake even before the Devil the Dead Death and Hell are Cast into it Rev. 19. 20. c. 20. 10. c. A. The finding out the meaning of that State is the more necessary because it will much clear that Last Issue or Casting of the Devil Death and Hell into the Lake 1. The Casting into the Lake therefore signifies Finall and most utter Cessation of Action so that the Casting the Beast and the False Prophet into the Lake Imports to us that the Antichristian State of which the Beast and the False Prophet were the Supream Constituents or Parts being the Counterfeit and Undermine of the True Kingdom of Christ shall as the Apostle speaks 2 Thes 2.8 be utterly Consum'd and Abolish'd by it 2. In that it is a Lake Burning with Fire and Brimstone It speaks severest Punishment and Torment by the True Kingdom of Christ shining upon the Beast and False Prophet and as it were in their very Faces 3. In that the Beast and the False Prophet are Cast Alive into the Lake It Declares that the Full Abolition of the Antichristian Kingdom shall be in the very Beginning of the Kingdom of Christ and that the Punishment of the Antichristian Kingdom as the Counterfeit and Undermine of the Kingdom of Christ shall be the most Conspicuous and Illustrious of all the Punishing Part of Christs Kingdom So that All other Enemies of Christs Kingdom shall be only as Dead Men Slain with the Sword of Christs Mouth in Comparison But the Severity upon the Anti-christian Kingdom shall be like Burning Alive as it were in Just Recompence of their Vivi-Comburia or Burning Those Servants of Christ They call'd Hereticks Alive upon the Beast his False Prophet and all their Worshippers and their Babilon And the Smoke of their Torment Ascendeth for ever and ever and Wicked Men have their part first but are not cast till the very End into the Lake Rev. 19. 3. 21. c.