to the Flood on the Old World and the Fire and Brimstone on Sodom the very same day that Noah enter'd into the Ark and Lot went out of Sodom Luke 17. 27 28. The Conflagration must be a Conflagration before the Judgment or Instantaneous with the Beginning of that Day and so I suppose is the Judgment of all Divines 7. The Wicked Alive shall be speedily by this Fire brought into the same Condition with the Dead Wicked Raised to share in the Common Perdition For the Heavens and Earth that now are are Kept in Treasure for the Day of Judgment and the Perdition of Vngodly Men. 2 Pet. 3. v. 11. 8. Seeing the Apostle Expresly teaches v. 13. That we Look for New Heavens and New Earth wherein Righteousness shall dwell It is most according to Scripture that the New Heavens and New Earth should come as a Vessel out of the Refiner's Fire and Righteousness dwell therein So that the New Heaven and the New Earth immediately Come out of this Fire All this I look upon as so Agreeable to Scripture and the most undoubted Sense of it that whoever keeps Inviolate this Form of Sound Words cannot fall into any Great Error I then making a Solemn Profession that I am Fully perswaded of all these Things even to a Plerophory of Assurance and supposing All Sober Christians herein to Joyn with me I pass forward with Greater Assurance 9. The particular Precise State of the Kingdom of Christ as in this Judiciary State shall be deliver'd up at some Time to God and to the Father and so the Kingdom and State of Eternity succeed I do also suppose is the Universal Faith of Sober Christians Although the New Heavens and New Earth may be suppos'd to continue for ever as They are by Mr. Baxter and as I Remember by that so excellent Interpreter Calvin on the aforenam'd Text and very probably by many other Great Theologers and Scripture-Interpreters Now from all these Principles lay'd together several Points are Allowed upon the Consideration of the General Doctrine of the Day of Judgment that are ready to be charg'd as Unreasonablenesses or Antiscripturisms on the Doctrine of tho Thousand Years Kingdom which compar'd with what is taught universally of Christ coming to Judgment will be as a Load taken off from it 1. Seeing the Day of Judgment is a middle State of the Kingdom of Christ between the present State and the State of Eternity It is hence undeniable There is a middle Kingdom or middle State of the Kingdom of Christ. 2. When a Dispensation or Oeconomy for the Divine Glory as for Judgment Requires it It is no dishonour to Christ to come from the Right Hand of God where He is Exalted above All Heavens into the Lower State of the World much less Degradation from present Glory for Saints to Come with Him 3. Nor does Christ suffer any diminution of Glory when He Goes back to Heaven the Business of such Oeconomy as of Judgment being dispatch'd 4. There is sufficient Security in the midst of the Conflagration for the Bodies of Saints whether Risen or Chang'd though we cannot define how 5. Nor shall the Bodies of the wicked however punish'd be consum'd in these Flames 6. There is no Absurdity on Scripture Account to suppose a manifold Change of Body according to the Variation of States 7. There will be Found Room for the Bodies of all both Risen and Changed Saints as also of all the wicked according to the General Doctrine of the Day of Judgment 8. A New Heaven and a New Earth and by Consequence a Restitution of All Things are in the very Letter to be Expected according to Scripture Now whatever may according to Scripture and without any Contradiction to the Great Principles Notions and Sense of it be suppos'd for a Lesser or so much as Any Time may be suppos'd for a longer Time even for so long as Scripture gives us any Reason to extend it unto seeing There is no Scripture Inconsistency in the Fundamental Possibility And now there being such a Foundation lay'd in that which is Agreed among all Christians if there shall be Any Inducement from Scripture to do it we may Build upon this Foundation 1. That seeing Christ shall Appear from Heaven with his Saints in a Kingdom of Triumph and Glory over his Enemies and that there is no Signification of the Time of duration Contradictory to that of a 1000 Years and at least one Great Signification It is a 1000 Years Why may we not Conclude the Kingdom is a Kingdom of a 1000 Years 2. Seeing there shall be a New Heaven and a New Earth that shall come forth as a Vessel for the Finer out of the Conflagration and that there is Great Reason to think That They shall be both inhabited Why may not the Saints of the Resurrection Equal to the Angels Inhabit the New Heavens and the Saints Chanâ—'d who are so peculiarly called twice the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Living the Remaining as a most peculiar Generation of Saints that Christ so Holds in his Hand as that They can no more Fall as may be Surmized then the Saints Above who are as Angels confirm'd Inhabit the New Earth as Adam should have done a 1000 Years Especially seeing It is supposeable It shall be Inhabited and we Know not Any who shall Inhabit it God knoweth only who shall Inhabit it Except these Living Remaining Saints 3. Seeing it is Agreed The Administration of the Kingdom as at the Day of Judgment shall not Last to Eternity and that Christ and All his Saints Ascend up to God and that Kingdom of Judgment Ends Why may not this be the Sense of those so Weighty Words of the Apostle concerning the Son's delivering up the Kingdom of his being Subject and of God being All in All or what else is so likely as this of the Son 's Resigning up that Illustrious Appearing visible Glory that He shall be invested with during that Judicatory Kingdom seeing it is a Kingdom of Triumph and Victory that is so Deliver'd up And why should it not be the Kingdom of a 1000 Years Seeing the naming a Kingdom though of a 1000 Years yet because It is but of a 1000 Years Implys It shall end And as the Apostle makes plain in that it is a Reign till All his Enemies are put under his Feet It is a Kingdom of Victory and Triumph Beginning and Ending in putting down Enemies as Judgment must needs do and then Given up to God And thus there is an easie Slide from the Acknowledged and most General Doctrine of the Day of Judgment into what the Scripture says of a Kingdom or Reign of Christ for a 1000 Years For it is expresly said There were Thrones as of a Kingdom and Judgment was Given to Them that sat upon the Thrones the very word proper to thâ—t Day and â—hey that Sate upon the Thrones must needs be Christ and his Saints For They Lived and Reigned
THE UNIVERSAL Christian Doctrine OF THE Day of Iudgment Applied to the Doctrine of the Thousand Years Kingdom of Christ Herein Guided by Mr. BAXTER's Reply To Vindicate It from all Objections Shewing as is the One so is the Other VIZ. His Judging the Quick and the Dead and His Appearing and His Kingdom Which seeing it must have some Duration the Scripture 1000 Years is on Great Proof Preferr'd By THOMAS BEVERLEY An humble Minister of that Kingdom II. PET. III. 7 8. The Day of Judgment and of the Perdition of ungodly men But Beloved be not ignorant of this One Thing That one Day is with the Lord as a Tbousand Years c. LONDON Printed in the Year 1691. The Preface TO THE READER BEcause Many will Deign to Read a Preface that will not a Book I shall take Freedom to give a Prospect of the Whole in a Preface And first I am very Sensible my Lot of Discourse is fallen on such Ground that each Point must be Disputed for not Adorn'd nor Simply Taught but Argued and Won as it were by Inches And which much Increases the Difficulty The Land of Promise as the Map of it lies in Scripture is not in any Entire Table but in several smaller Lines variously Planted which must be Transplanted and laid Together And Who is Sufficient for such a Thing as a Teacher And as for Hearers They are not only Vnteachable or Dull of Hearing but are Prejudic'd and Cry out against this Heritage of the Lord as a Speckled Bird Some call such a Discourse Whimsie Vnintelligible Non-sense Foolishness To other Graver Christians and even Teachers It is a Scandal an Offence full of Causes of Objection And even to many more Favourable unintelligible Mystery Plain Things say they are more Profitable But none of these Things move Me that I should not Take heed to Fulfil this Ministery I have Received of the Lord. I intend this Small Tract not so much as a Rejoynder to Mr. Baxter's Reply upon my Answer For who am I that I should maintain a Controversie with so Honoured Able and Faithful a Minister of Jesus Christ I only with Thankfulness take Advice from Him what Points to Clear what to Guard what Advantage to take for Defence And had I not found some Arugments which I have not propos'd or not fully urg'd before and so fit a Medium or Instrument of Conveyance of this Doctrine as the Parallel between it and the Vniversally receiv'd Article of Faith Christ's coming to Judge the Quick and the Dead at his Kingdom which must needs be a middle Kingdom I had been silent Nor shall I think of opening my Mouth any further in this Point till I find something Objected which what I have now said if Duly Consider'd will not Answer which I am much in hope cannot be For to be Conscious to have said what can be spoken by One even as an Oath ought to conclude One and on Ones own part to be an End of All Strife Of small Questions and Exceptions I know there is no End And I must confess with Thanksgiving to God and with Subordinate Thankfulness to Mr. Baxter On His so often Naming a Middle Kingdom by way of Objection it was as it were by a Divine Prompting said to me This Notion of a Middle Kingdom which the Day of Judgment must needs be and which I have long since understood the same with the Kingdom is the Key of this Great Mystery and so I have Found it and am so Fully satisfied in it Even above all I have written before that I am at perfect Peace and will Contend no more I can look on any further Objection but as the Talk of Loosers For I am sure such an Appearance of the Kingdom of Christ as the Day of Judgment is or such a Return with the Kingdom Receiv'd as Luke 19. 15. or a Coming not into as is to Loss Translated Chap. 23. 43. but according to all Scripture Language in his Kingdom must needs be in the Middle between the Kingdom of Christ hitherto and to Eternity And it must have a Space of duration defined for It is not Eternal All Acknowledge I therefore preferr only the Scriptures naming a 1000 Years with such Apparences of that Time and according to the so Known Axiom of the Jews the People of God before the New Testament The Day of Judgment shall be a 1000 Years It is evident also from the Article Founded on 2 Tim. 4 1. Christ Judges the Quick or Living even as the Dead at his Appearing and Kingdom There must be Saints Rais'd and Saints The Living The Remaining of which I Treat according to Scripture Guidance as by 1 Thess 4. 17. The New Heaven and the New Earth must needs be at the same Time New by such a Lustre of Christ's Appearance the Sun of Rigâ—teousness Even as the Heavens and Earth are as it were New to us every Summer by the Suns Return And it is no more then Goâ— intended in his First Creation such a Glory of it And I cannot but Give Esay 45. 18. in somewhat a differing Translation but such as I suppose the Original will well Bear to this purpose upon naming the Salvation of Israel as an Everlasting Salvation World without end It follows Thus saith the Lord that Created the Heavens that Formed the Earth He hath Established it He Created it not saith the Translation in vain say I out of the Hebrew for a Tohu such an Inanity of Glory as It is now He Formed it to be Inhabited saith the Translation say I according to the Hebrew for the Sabbath even this Great Sabbatism wherein Jehovah shall be one his Name one none else no Idols Name any more for ever And then shall He Appear that Infinite Foreknower declaring the End from the Beginning that He may be known to be God And by All These Things I hope Mr. Baxter will be satisfied concerning the Specificness of this Kingdom Beginning with a Judgment and ending with a Judgment and its entire middle Space an Appearance according to that Judgment viz. of the Saints in the Glory of the Restitution of All Things by the Second Adam the Redeemer the Restorer of all the Ruins of the First Adam and an Appearance of the Wicked in Shame and Contempt and both these for the 1000 Y. Receiving what they have done in Body before the Tribunal of Christ Now All will Acknowledge as this Kingdom hath not been yet So it shall not be for ever but be deliver'd up Here therefore is a perfect Specification except Specification be an unknown School-Term I Know in some Things I differ from that Sweet as well as most Judicious and Pious Writer Mr. Increase Mather as Appears by his Accurate discourse De Signo Filii Hominis or of the Sign of the Son of Man I should be most Glad by Friendliest Conference or entercourse of Letters to conciliate as concerning a Scripture-Line of Time to this State
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
concerning Christ having his Palace of Glory not on this New Earth but in the New Heaven concerning the Wicked Dead Rais'd In which Points I perceive my Self to differ from Him but as I Hope on Great Scripture Grounds Now to Conclude All This Kingdom is the Great Practical Doctrine which when It shall be Vniversally Preach'd by the Everlasting Gospel shall Bring in all the World Jews and Gentiles to Christ And besides the Blessed Effusions of the Spirit that shall go along with it How must it needs in Reason prevail For what would the Great Value and purchase of but a 100 Years in the Vigors and All Affluences of Life be and in such a Heaven and Earth as are now and if Men were so enclin d in all wise and vertuous Converses Of what Inestimable Value then to every serious Considerer even now the offer of so much a Higher and Longer 1000 Y. of Life as is propos'd on so Great Scripture Grounds How may it satisfie that Appetite Implanted by Creation into our Natures which is that very Olam or World set by God in the Heart of Man Ecclâ—s 3 11. the Desire to see the Glory of God in his Visibly Glorious Creation for a perfect Duration of Time But how much stronger will the Impression be upon an Enlightned Convinced Awaken'd World under that Everlasting Gospel Preach'd when that shall be Fully declar'd and â—â—liev'd that Few will now Believe though it be never so plainly Told Them In the mean Time seeing we All profess to Believe Fully the Apostle Peter s Doctrine of Looking for New Heavens and a New Earth according to his Promise wherein Righteousness shall dwell Let us Resolve what Manner of Persons we ought to be in all that Holiness and Godliness of Conversation and let us Grow in Grace and the Knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ beyond the Beginnings of his Doctrine Going on to Perfection and so unravel the Apostasie where it Began in not so doing and above all Let us Give All Dilligence that we may be Found of him in Peace without Sâ—ot and Blameless and by Him be so Presented before the Presence of his Glory And let us consider the Day is near Approaching Concerning the Truth of which I make Appeal to Him to show by his Arm made bare in unquestionable Evidence of Fact and Event every Thing in its proper Time And I am now waiting at this Time when the Kings are preparing to Go out to War for a Dawn of thâ— Morning Star on the Suffering Witnesses of the yet Afflicted Thyatyra the French and Vaudois and that the Rod of Iron should begin to Break tâ—at Potters Vessel whom patience hath yet spar d from being a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for what ends will be seen who with a more then Herodian Insolence and Cruelty hath nâ—â— only let Rest on Him as Herod but even Hunted for such Attributions as to a God and not to a Man and so Inhumanely Vex'd so many of the Church of Christ to please a Sacrilegiously Flattering Jesuitic Order Now to the only wise God be Glory for ever Amen A REPRESENTATION OF THE Thousand Years Kingdom OF CHRIST Endeavouring to Reconcile it to the General Confessions of the Faith of Christians and particularly to the Judgment of the Eminent Servants and Ministers of Jesus Christ with a Vindication from Further Objections I Can Sincerely Appeal to the Searcher of Hearts I am in all the Substantial and Essential Points of Christianity of the Judgment of all the Wisest Soundest and most Universally Approved Ministers of the Gospel and Christians in the Faith at once Deliver'd to the Saints and have no By nor Secret Opinions in Reserve either concerning the Person of the Great Media or God and Man or concerning his Kinâ—dom as if it had not been from the Beginning or were not to be for ever in such Explications of it as the Churches of Christ most Agree in according to Scripture I make the same Appeal concâ—rning my Belief of the Eternal Happiness of the â—aints with and by Christ in the Distinctness of Humane nature Spirits in Bodies of Glory united by Him to the Father and yet each one in his own proper Personality and so made Truly Equalâ— to the Holy and Elect Angels and of the punishment of the wicked in their Spirits and Bodies together with the Devil and his Angels even throughout a Strict and proper Eternity a Parte Post as They speak or for ever Except therefore my Doctrine and Affirmation of the Kingdom of the Thousand Years can be shown in a perfect Amity and Conciliation with this Gospel and Form of Sound Words I Acknowledge It ought to be Rejected I therefore Attempt in very Brief to shew it to be in such a State of Agreement and to vindicate it from Exceptions to it I observe therefore one Great Complex of Articles of Faith wherein All Christians are as much as in any Point of Christianity at One and They may be thus Given 1. That there shall be a Day or Time before the State and Kingdom of Eternity wherein Jesus Christ shall Come from the Right Hand of the Father to Judge the World and this as Man Acts 17. 31. 2. That Jesus Christ shall Come in the Glory and Power of the Father to this Judgment and that It shall be a most Illustrious Appearance of his Kingdom that was not before nor shall be after For He comes in his Kingdom and the King shall say c. Matth. 25. and He Sits on the Throne of his Glory v. 3â— v. 34. 3. That at the same Time There shall be a Glorious Resurrection and Appearance of his Saints with Him as Sharers in the Glories and Triumphs of that Day 4. That the Saints that shall at that Time be living and Remâ—ining upon Earth shall not Dye but at the very same Time be Chang'd so as that They also may have their part in the same Glory and Resurrection 5. That there shall be a Resurrection of the Vnjust and of Those that have done Evil to the Condemnation to the Dishonour and Contempt and to the Punishment that shall at that Day be Executed upon Them 6. That the Heavens and Earth that now are are Reserv'd for Fire at that Day and that Christ as the Apostle Paul speaks 2 Thess 1. 7 8. shall be Reveal d in Flames of Fire taking Vengeance and that as the Apostle Peter says The Day of the Lord Cometh as a Theif in the Night in which the Heavens shall pass away with a Great Noise and the Elements melt with Fervent Heat and the Earth and the Works that are therein shall be Burnt up 2 Pet. 3. 10. and again v. 12. Looking for and Hasting unto the Day of God wherein the Heavens being on Fire shall be dissolv'd and the Elements shall melt with Fervent Heat Now seeing the very Revelation of Christ is in Flames of Fire as Lightning and that our Lord compares his Coming
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
seen in Speculo Divinitatis in that Infinite Mirrour of the Divine Nature And herein I Relye on the very Words of Scripture that cannot be over-rul'd And seeing God hath been pleas'd to make the Humane Nature of Christ and the Union of his Saints to himself Unchangeable as himself So far am I from supposing a Fall from that State the Exaltation of them to Closest Approximation to that Glory to Eternity that was from Eternity is the Cessation of Oeconomy and the perfect Eternal State wherein the Saints are Equal to Angels and need them not for their Enjoyment but as All meet in God On the contrary though Devils and Lost Spirits have all the Sense and Action Agreeable to their Lost State Yet it is not such kind of Hostile Action as now They are Exercis'd in but are in as perfect a State of Suffering as and above All we can conceive and so for ever and in the most Unchangeable Misery And whereas a Political Conception of the Eternal King his Laws and Subjects seems to Require Another State or order then this I Assert Yet as from Eternity Supreme Dominion was Essential to God even as Mercy Goodness Truth before any Subjects capable to Exercise them upon So to Eternity without any such Administration as according to Political Laws we Apprehend and have known here But who can sail in this Infinite Ocean now without the having All Thought and Understanding Lost in that Infinity But this is certain God is a King Eternal as well as Immortal Invisible and the Only Wise God To Him therefore be Glory be for ever And in All this I most humbly Acknowledge Jesus Christ God and Man the Mediator even the Mediator of this union to Eternity But the very Nature of a Mediator is not that he should be Our utmost Objective Rest but that as All Scripture speaks He should Bring us to God even God All in All by several Degrees the Highest of which is his own Kingdom and at last to the most Immediate union in and by Himself which is the Kingdom of Eternity And thus I have endeavour'd to make plain that the Kingdom of Christ as in the Judgment Given to Him as the Son of Man enstated in a World to come of New Heavens and a New Earth does not Last for ever but is as in our Law a Lease for a Year to put into Possession that the Eternal Inheritance may vest in us I come in the Last place to Clear my Hypothesis in these Great Points from the Supposition that there may be other Worlds besides the World present that is now near 6000 Years old and that World to come of the Kingdom of Christ whereof I Speak and then the whole deliver'd up to God All in All either as Angels and Saints in Glorious Bodies in union to Him or as Lost â—pirits and Spirits in Bodies so Subdued quite below under his Kingdom in the Lake as to be Eternally separated from him Now I Briefly Argue against any other Worlds Reason 1. Because the Scripture in All it says Stints our Thoughts and Imaginations in this variety of Worlds Rising and Repullulating as it were out of the First World that we Read of the Creation of Gen. 1. An Extent of Thought beyond this Brings us under a Vertigo a Giddiness of Apprehension that we know not where we are and Inclines to Scepticism a doubt of All Things and if we do not stop to Atheistick Suâ—pitions Running out of the Assurance of the Truth of All Religion and of Christianity Reas 2. Because Scripture Represents the Angels and Saints of both the Saved and of the Lost as so many and those in such a variety Angels never sinning but Elect and Confirm'd in Original Holiness Angels Falling and never Recover'd Mâ—n Created in Original Purity Falling and a number very vast in it self Recover'd some dying but vindicated from Death by the Resurrection Others in the Kingdom of Christ that though they might fall and die viz. the living remaining are yet secur'd by the Mediator and the Lost of Mankind Fallen from their First Estate and not Recover'd notwithstanding the Grace of the Mediator Scripture Every-where also Magnifies the Riches and Fullness the Variety of the Creation as declaring to the utmost the Glory of God that He thinks fit to Reveal in such away especially as it shall be in Christ's World to Come Now the Infinite Riches of the Divine Being shewing it self in so Great an Explication of its own so Variegated Wisdom Ephes 3. 9. c. to Principalities and Powers in Heavenly Places in and by the Church when it is carried through all Oeconomies especially that in the Fullness of Times wherein Angels Themselves shall be Recapitulated Ephes 1. 10. into the Eternal Kingdom is All Scripture Reveals and it carries our Thoughts not a Moment beyond but winds up all herein foâ— that Search beyond it looks like the vain Puff and Swolness of a fleshly Mind as not being wise to Sobriety but above what is written And yet I know the Infinite Being and Wisdom and Power of God before some Holy and Good and so Zealous of the Glory of God may cause them to say Who knows what God will do Reas 3. Because it is not only unconceivable but directly against the Analogy of Scripture and Faith That there should be any Glory of Creatures Intellectual or Animal or according to the Mechanism and Frame of Heaven and Earth but what is All in Jesus Christ the eternal Word in our Nature Now how is it Conceivable either in Scripture or Reason He should be Related to Another or any more Worlds as to this wherein he was made Man the Son of Abraham the Son of David Can there be any more Sons of Abraham or of David Can the Eternal Word Assume any more or other Created Nature into Himself He must then see a World or Worlds wherein He hath no Interest as in that Personality wherein we Believe Him according to Scripture This would be a Diminution to his Glory Therefore this is to me a most Conclusive Argument against any Worlds before or after this Reas 4. I add the Manifestations of the Grace of God in Christ even the Riches of Glory on the Vessels of Mercy prepared to Glory and Honour and of his Wrath and Power on the Vessels of Wrath and unto Dishonour are to the Heighth as the Apostle shews Rom. 9 22. Any more then would speak the Imperfection of what hath been is and is to be which no way agrees with Scripture manifesting all to the utmost From whence I conclude such a Supposal of more Worlds cannot Rationally Barr the Hipothesis of such a Kingdom as God All in All. And thus I have endeavoured so to state that Kingdom of the 1000 Y. wherein not only his Enemies are in Fieri or about as they speak to be subdued but it shall be brought to that Consummation and Perfection which the Apostle speaks of and
least Shadow of any Favour to the Horrid Anticristianisms of Popery in the sudden Resolve to be a Papist if one Humane Angel or Governour over all the Christian Churches could be suppos'd to be the Institution of Christ For certainly if such a Love of Pre-eminence had not been Cursed by God as making Preparation for the Man of Sin to sit so High in the Temple of God and to let into it the Desolating Abomination That might have been the most pardonable Errour in Popery Especially according to even Protestant Episcopal Principles For They beginning at Deacons as the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or First Degree that the Apostle intended go up to Priests from Priests to Archdeacons or Deans from them to Bishops from Bishops to Archbishops and why not to Patriarchs as Primitive And why not from thence as All Heighth would Culminate to One to the Pope as the Head of Vnity and Order the Vicar of Christ the Successor of Saint Peter who is Nam'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as if a Scandal were laid into that Philoprotensia if I may so call it that Primating Affectation But All Sincere Protestants though most Episcopal Abhor the Dreadful Consequences from such a Primacy as the Papaoy Claims not only over Consciences but over Princes and Civil Powers in Ordine ad Spiritualia or to Infamous Ends call'd Spiritual which Spirituality I am very prone to suspect was Foretold in the Holy Spirit 's Choice of that Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rev. 11. 8. and that it does not only signifie Spiritually viz. Mystically but is also Prophetick of that Great use Anticbrist should make of that Word Spiritual On which Account I cannot but pray All Protestants might get from under the Fathality of that Word any way Secularly Apply'd as also from any Primacy Allied to the Feet of Clay I have so Great an Honour and Love for many who stand so high in as They are call'd Spiritual Dignities who I am bound to hope are yet in their Truly Chief Scituation Stars in the Right Hand of Christ But the Chief Reason I make this Digression is that I may observe how far One may be from such Portentous Consequences that may seem yet to have some Ground Such are charg'd on me on Dr. Crisps Account All which I detest with Greatest detestation as I Fully Believe he did but minded only to Give the Full Consolation to Consciences Arising from Christ being an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Ransom in our Steed a Sacrifice a Surety and Sin for us and designing All his discourses of These Things to be Confin'd to the Elect only who shall All be brought in by Christ and Receive an Efficacious Spirit of Holiness and Perseverance But to Return to the Thousand Years which I have Affirm'd to be the Perfection of Time Because It is the Fulness of Times or of All Times to which the Scripture therefore Sets up as Pillars Two 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or It is Done It is Done One of Destruction to the Wicked One of Salvation to the Saints Therefore I Avouch a Scripture Line of Time from the First Sabbath to this Great Sabbatism in Express either Historick first or afterwards Prophetick number'd Nambers And because This is a Divine Chronology It is not subject to the endless Contrasts and Feuds of Greatest Chronologers never to be Reconciled by Persons of Greatest Learning Reading and Judgment much less by Me less than the least of the Sons of Learning not Worthy to be Nam'd among Them Yet by the Grace of God in this Matter I Am what I Am and hold in my Hand the Unerring Clew of His Word THE END Some small Errata The understanding Reader will pardon and mend I only note page 9. line 16. for Believ'd read Beloved p. 13. l. 24. for pro. read premises p. 28. l. 35. for Effec Read Affection p. 29. l. 30. read that before Kingdom A POSTSCRIPT TO THE READER Concerning the Thousand Years further Cleared SInce the Finishing of the Fore-going Discourse as I was in Earnest Thought about the Clearing the Due Assignation of the Thousand Years To the Saints of the First Resurrection Reigning with Christ To the Wicked Raised but not Reigning with Christ and so not Living And to the Saints the Living and the Remaining or Left under a Guard of Life Secur'd from the Sword of Him that Sat on the Horse and so never Dying To every of which Classes the Thousand Years are plainly and without any violence in the Threefold mention of the Thousand Years Vers 4 5 6. Assign'd It yet seem'd a Doubt to Me Worthy of a further Illustration Where the universality of the Raised Saints Concerning which the Apostle is so clear That Christ brings Them with Him should be plac'd Because They could not with such Satisfaction be Repos'd either with the Martyrs and Non-Worshippers of the Beast c. Nor with the Partakers of the First Resurrection who though Chang'd are not â—aught up till a Thousand Years after which I never yet see Disprov'd Although because Scripture is so Positive All the Dead in Christ rise first They must have been Included in One of those Two And I did accordingly in the foregoing Treatise Incline to place Them among the Martyrs page 30. line 1. But yet a Desire of a further Explanation remain'd with me And I hope I may say without vanity God hath helped me And I Found Their Seat is distinct and in the First Place viz. In those words I saw Thrones and They Sate upon them and Judgment was given to Them most Agreeable with Daniel's Prophecy Chap. 7. v. 26 27. Who therefore are the They who Sate on Thrones I know it may be said No More was meant but that the Thrones were Sat upon as They shall require thy Soul Luke 12. 20. and They may Receive You Chap. 86. v. 9. But considering the following words Judgment was given to Them cannot be thus any fair way Expounded I conclude The They must Relate to some Persons spoken of before and who should They be but Those Signified by the Armies of Heaven Chap. 19 14. who Followed Christ on white Horses in Linnen white and clean Most Admirably Agreeing with the Prophet Zechary The Lord my God will come and All Thy Saints with Thee Zech. 14 5 With the Apostle Paul 1 Thess 4. 14. Those that Sleep in Jesus will God bâ—ing with Him With the Epistle of Jude Reciting Enoch's Prophecy v. 14. The Lord cometh with Ten Thousand of his Saints c. Whâ—n therefore the Prophecy had Disposed of â—he several Enemies of Christ as the Beast and false Prophet Chap. 19. Cast into ehe Lake and the Remnant Slain with the Sword of Christ's Moâ—th and Satan the Dragon bound c. Then it gives Account of the Armies of Heaven that were with Christ in this Victorious Dispose And of Them It says I Saw Thronâ—s and They Those Armies Sate upon them and Judgment was given to Them And so being in the Fore-Front or First Set on the Thrones must needs Reign with Christ the Thousand Years Allowing therefore not only the Scripture-way of giving Account of Things not in such a Method as Humane Writings observe and much more allowing for the Secrecy of Prophecy This is to Me a Full Satisfactory Account and I hope it will not be unworthy the Consideration of All who are Serious Considerers of these Things Then follows the Account of All Suffering for the Witness of Jesus and for the Word of God Surely from the Beginning of the World but with an especial Reference to the Roman way of Punishment of such Offenderâ— shewing a Direct Eye upon Roman-Martyrdoms by Beheading as John the Baptist and the Apostle Paul said to be But most particularly the Non-Worshippers of the Beast who are so particularly Recorded for Three Reasons 1. Because hereby the Judgment upon Them as Hereticks and Rebels to the Government of Christ as Antichrist pretended is as an Attainder by an Illegal Power Signally taken off 2. That the Prophecy all along before Insisting upon the Beast his Image c might have the Due Honour given to it by placing a peculiar Remark upon the Principal Subjects of it So that it is most Admirable how any Rational Considerer of the Prophecy can suppose Pagan Rome Falling about 300 Years after Christ s Resurrection should Take up such a Prophecy against so manifest Assurances that it must Run on to the End of the World That even the Wisest Papist cannot Deny it But what Violence must They use to it that Believe the Papacy to be the Beast and yet so begin the Thousand Years That they must be long ago before Him Finish'd Could such a Prejudice be brought from this Prophecy or Scripture in general against my Doctrine of the Thousand Years Kingdom or such a Proof against me as I have given of the Flying away Revel 2â— Of the New Heavens and the New Earth I would be so Retracting indeed as Immediately to Retract and even to Recant In the mean Time as I have Stated Things I fear no Accessions to Mahomet by My Doctrine of the Kingdom of Christ.