Figurative Esau p. 13 Host of Heaven p. 14 The Land that will be turned into Pitch p. 15 The Lords Vengeance and the year of Recompence p. 17 New Heavens and New Earth p. 21 Drunken but not with Wine p. 23 When the Everlasting Covenant is to be made p. 2â— The Saints Rising p. 32 The Two Witnesses and the Beast p. 38 The meaning of the last day p. 40 Coming to Judge the World p. 46,47 Esau and Jacob made the Representatives of the 2 Worlds p. 55 The Beast which Daniel saw p. 66 Where the Judgement will be p. 76 Figurative Egypt p. 7â— The Innocent Children of those that have been the Afflictors of the People of God will be spared p. 8â— The Vision on the Mount p. 91 Rachel and her Children p. 94 When Satan will be bound p. 97 Who he was that was to be removed out of the way before the Beast could rise p. 97 Christs Church in the time of this World a suffering Church p. 100 Wandring Stars p. 103 Christ coming in this Generation p. 106,108 The Lords return p. 114 When it is the wicked cannot spread their Sail p. 11â— The War that is now fore-told p. 125 Who it is that are condemned in the Valley of Jehoshaphat p. 126 The Signs of the times p. 127 The Fall of Babylon p. 129 The City that Reigns over the Kings of the Earth p. 131 The Glorious Tabernacle p. 142 The Spirit or River of God p. 147 Jerusalem when Gloriously Built p. 149 Where those that are saved will be preserved from the Storm p. 151 How long the Earth is to lie waste before it is restored p. 152 Who are they that are so suddenly changed p. 153 The Prophesie of Luther p. 154 Threatnings against Watchmen if the people not warned p. 163 Who they are that will be snared and taken p. 256 The Law and Prophets Prophesying p. 258 Instructions whereby to enlighten us how to read the Holy Writ so as to understand it IN the first place that which I shall speak to is the Words of Christ the which he hath left us to enlighten our Understanding in his Word That is in that he did joyn the Destruction of Jerusalem and the Destruction of the World together According to which it is so joyned by the Prophets and also all the Prophesies are joyned and Intermixt And therefore St. Paul knowing that the Word was so â—oyned as there must be Skill in the dividing of â—t said unto Timoth 2 Tim. 2.15 Study to â—hew thy self approved unto God a Workman â—hat needeth not to be ashamed rightly dividing the Word of Truth The which we not rightly understanding how to divide neither the Scripture way of speaking which has occasioned so many Mistakes amongst us as there is For as 〈◊〉 have shewed you the Destruction of Jerusaâ—em is in some places joyned with the Destruction of the World So is Christs first coming in â—ome places joyned with his second coming And also the sufferings of Christ are intermixt and joyned with the sufferings of David the Reign of Christ with that of David and â—olomon the Deliverance by Christ with that of the Deliverance by Cyrus the Deliverance out of the Old Babylonian Captivity by the Deliverance that is to be by Christ when he again comes Now what we know was not fullfilled of the Prophecies it remains to be fullfilled and what was not made out in Davids and the Prophets sufferings was in the sufferings of Christ And what was not made out in the forementioned Kings will be fullfilled by the King of Kings the Lord Christ And what was not fullfilled by his first coming remains to be fullfilled at his second coming And although all these things are in some places intermixt yet in some other places they are set down more distinctly by themselves And also it is the usual way of Scripture speaking to mention things that are to come as though they were already done both in the Old and New Testament But the Coming of the Lord the Destruction of the World and the Restoration of the Jews is all along said to be at one and the same time as the following Treatise by the Word doth make appear There is also the Enemies of Christ joyned with the Enemies of David but we may easily know the one from the other for he curseth the Enemies of Christ but prays for his own There is also the Enemies of the Natural Seed of Israel and of the Adopted seed joyned together And there is the sins of the Naturâ—… Seed of Israel and of the Adopted joyned together There is also the Judgments pronounced against the Natural Seed of Isrâ—…l and the Adopted Seed joyn'd together And also with the Friests and Shepherds are included the Gospel Ministrs but in especial manner by the Shepherds And likewise the strangers that were taken in and those that should be taken in were alike joyned in the same Covenant with Israel and from the adopted seed did the Root of Gall and Wormwood arise And also in the Scripture the word All doth not signify the whole but the Major part as in Exod. 9.6 and 18.19 and 2 Kings 24.17 2 Kings 25.13,14,15 Ezek. 33.17 Jer. 44.28,29 Rev. 19.18 Zeph. 3.8 And also there is three sorts of Promises to three sorts of People First there is a general Promise to all that will accept of Salvation according to the conditions as it is tendred The second sort is to them that were as a gift from the Father to Christ John 10.29 And the Third is to Israel at the time of Restitution of all things There is also figurative speeches but we have made figurative speeches where there is none and where the greatest figurative speeches are we have made none which has cast us into so great a mist of Darkness as now we lie under for we ought to make nothing a figurative speech but what we can prove to be so by the word and also we must put no Interpretation upon any figurative speech but what we can find another place in the word that is so exprest that may unfold or open it and no other Scripture to contradict it And also 't is the usual way of Scripture speaking both in the old and new Testament to mention things that are to come as tho they were then past or present And as to the figurative speeches I shall here set down in this Treatise those figurative speeches which are most significant yet have been the least taken notice of As first there is the fabrick of the World and the World of People which is far oftner term'd the World in Scripture than the other is There is the material Heavens and Earth and there is the Heavens and Earth of Powers and People which are far oftner said to be the Heavens and Earth in Holy Writ than the other are And as there is the Host of Heaven the Son Moon and Stars and also the Principalities and Powers are said
as to become obedient unto him And the Lord speaking of the Signs of his Coming saith Luke 21.28 And when these things begin to come to pass then look up and lift up your Heads for your Redemption draweth nigh Heb. 9.28 And unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation That is looketh for him with a true longing desire after him For the Lover is with him accepted For the Lord saith John 14.21 He that hath my commandments and keepeth them he it is that loveth me and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and will manifest my self unto him And God hath also promised in Jeremiah Jer. 29.13 Ye shall seek me and find me when ye shall search for me with all your heart And now whosoever comes to Christ by Repentance Love and New Obedience he will in no wise cast out But when he comes to Judgment it will be too late for us Christians But I know to them that are unwilling to leave their Old Sins these glad Tidings will prove but unwelcome News as Christ's first Coming was to Herod and to the wicked Jews with him For when they heard thereof it is said they were troubled Mat. 2.2 For they thinking they were well enough as they were and their Consciences telling them they must reform their ways they desired him not and so as they desired him not so they knew him not who he was to their own destruction And so whosoever now hears of the Lord 's Coming and think with themselves that they will see a little farther first before they will amend their Lives there remains no Hope for them but that they will be left of God to Hardness of Heart and Blindness of Mind and so either be carried off this world by the Judgments that are now sent upon the Earth just before his Coming or otherwise reserved for those intolerable Judgments that are spoken of in the Revelations the which all the greatest of them will be poured forth upon the Earth after the Lord comes And then shall men desire to die but Death shall fly from them till such time that they have endured the Torments that God hath on the Earth allotted them For upon the wicked Psal 11.6 God shall rain Snares Fire and Brimstone and an horrible Tempest this shall be the portion of their Cup As in Esdras 2 Esd 13.37,38 For when the Son of God shall come to rebuke the wicked Inventions of those Natious which for their wicked Life are fallen into the Tempest and shall lay before them their evil Thoughts and the Torments wherewith they shall begin to be tormented which are like unto a Flame and he shall destroy them without Labour by the Law which is like unto Fire For as the fire refineth the mettal from the Dross so shall the Lord do at his Coming as it is in Malachy Mal. 3.2,3,4 For he shall come saith the Lord of Hosts but who may abide the day of his coming and who shall stand when he appeareth For he is like a Refiner's Fire and like Fullers Soap And he shall purifie the Sons of Levi and purge them as Gold and Silver that they may offer unto the Lord an Offering in Righteousness Then shall the Offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord. This is spoken of the Natural Seed of Jacob whom the Lord shall purifie at his Coming And St. Jude saith Jude v. 15. The Lord cometh with ten thousands of his Saints to execute Judgment upon all and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodlily committed and of all their hard Speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him And St. Peter tells us 2 Pet 3.3,4,5,6 That in the last days there shall come Scoffers waking after their own Lust saying Where is the promise of his coming for since the Fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of the Creation For he there tells us That this they are willingly ignorant of That by the word of God the Heavens were of old and the Earth standing out of the water and in the water whereby the world that then was being overflowed with water perished But by St. Peter's words we are fully given to understand what that world was which then perished it being neither the material Heavens nor Earth which then perished but the people of the world which perished But he saith in 2 Pet. 3.7 The Heavens and the Earth which are now by the same word are kept in store reserved unto fire against the day of Judgment and perdition of ungodly men But you may say why doth St. Peter here make mention of the Heavens and Earth that are now if â—e means the people The which words do make it plainly appear he had a figurative meaning in it for we know that there was then the same Heavens and Earth which are now therefore there is this Reason that he here mentions the Heavens and the Earth and not the world as he did before for we read of no Principalities nor Powers no more Soveraignty than was from the Parents to their Children and as from the Elder Brother to the Younger the which their Sons and Daughters had as much command over their children as their Parents had over them And as to what the Lord doth say in Isa 13.13 doth enlighten us herein for God there speaking of the destruction of the Old Babylon which also hath a reference to that which now is the Lord there saith in the 13th Verse Therefore I will shake the Heavens and the Earth shall remove out of her place in the wrath of the Lord of Host and in the day of his fierce anger Now what was the shaking of the Heavens in this place but the destruction of the King of Babylon by the Medes And pray consider what was the Earth that then was removed but the destruction of the Babylonians most of them being destroyed â—p the Sword and the Remnant that was left made Captives The Relation of which is set down in the same Chapter ver 15.16,17,18,19 Every one that is found shall be thrust through and every one that is joyned unto them shall fall by the Sword Their children also shall be dash'd to peices before their eyes their Houses shall be spoiled and their Wives ravished Behold I will stir up the Mece against them which shall not regard silver and as for Gold they shall have no delight in it Their Bows also shall dash the young men in peices and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb their Eyes shall not spart children And Babylon the Glory of Kingdoms the Beauty of the Caldeans Excellency shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah Here you see that God terms the Babylonians to the Heavens and Earth and also in Isa 1.
God speaking of the Princes and people of Judah wherein he saith in v. 2. Hear O Heavens and give ear O Earth for the Lord hath spoken I have nourished and brought up children and they have rebelled against me Can we think that God here spoke to the material heavens and earth that has no ears or understanding No it was to the Princes of Judah and their people to let them understand why he was displeased with them And again God saith in Jer. 6.19 Hear O Earth behold I will bring evil upon this people even the fruit of their own thoughts because they have not hearkned unto thy words nor to my law but rejected it You see here that this Earth is the people of the world which God doth hear Alarm with his displeasure against Judah And God saith in Jer. 22.29 O Earth Earth Earth hear the word of the Lord. 30. Thus saith the Lord write ye this Man Childless a Man that shall not prosper in his days You see here in this place that the Earth was not only to hear the word of the Lord but to do some thing and what is it But to write this man which was the King of Judah Childless and that he should not prosper Now upon consideration none can be so stupid as to think that God call'd on the massy lump of Earth which we tread on to hear his word and to write this Man childless And the Lord speaking of the destruction of his people in Isa 5. by Nebuchadnezzer in which he declares how the enemies should come up against Israel saith in v. 30. And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the Sea And if one look into the land behold darkness and sorrow and the light is darkned in the heavens thereof Whereas the Lord saith darkness in the land that is sorrow and darkness among the people of the land And whereas the Lord saith the light is darkness in the heavens thereof that is the heavens of that land which was the King Princes and Priests thereof And St. Peter saith 2 Pet. 3.8 Beloved be not ignorant of this one thing that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day And in v. 10 he tells us That the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat The Earth also and the Works that are therein shall be burnt up Whereas he saith in the forementioned Verse But the Heavens and Earth which are now are reserved unto fire and in the 10th Verse he saith That the Heavens shall past away with a great noise That is That the wicked Powers will so pass away with terrible shriekings thorough the fiery Indignation of the Lord. And whereas he saith That the Elements shall melt with fervent heat the which Elements are the Elements that the body of Mankind is made up of For they are composed of the 4 Elements According to this it is said in Psal 37.20 The Enemies of the Lord shall be as the â—at of Lambs they shall consume into Smoke shall they consume away And whereas he saith That the Earth and the Works that are therein shall be burnt up That is with the forementioned Tempell spoken of in Ps 11.6 the which shall carry off all the wicked and then the Earth and Air will be purified by Fire as it was before by water at which time Israel with the rest of the Elect of God will be secure in the Holy Land between Mount Olivet underneath that glorious Tabernacle the which the Lord shall pitch and not Mâ—n the which I shall hereafter prove and then 't will be according to the saying of the Psalmist When the nicked are cut off thou shalt see it and then 't is as in Psalm 91.4 He shall cover thee with his Feathers under his wings shalt thou trust And it is said in the 8th Verse Onely with thine Eyes shalt thou behold and see the Reward of the wicked that which this whole Psalm treats of is the security of his people at the time of the wickeds Overthrow Whereas he tells us That One Day is with the Lord as a Thousand Years and a Thousand Years as One Day After which he tells us the Day of the Lord will come which is not the Natural Day nor the Artificial Day the Old World was not destroyed in such a Day Neither did the Ram's Horns blow down Jericho in such a Day But it is that Day which is spoken of in Acts 17.31 where it is said That God hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in Righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained whereof he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead But you may say Where will the Thousand Years Reign be when the Heavens and Earth are burnt up as St. Peter saith in the 7th Verse of the forementioned Chapter Pray forget not the Apostles saying wherein he tells us The Heavens and Earth which are now God hath reserved unto fire For those that were in the Old World those shall continue as then so now the being of Heaven and Earth at the Restitution or in the world to come or New Jerusalem-state only they will appear more illustrious when the darksome Clouds are dispersed and then the Earth will be renewed to that Perfection as it was in the first Creation But as to the Heavens which are now whereof St Peter speaketh his meaning is the Principalities and Powers which are carrying on the Rule of the darkness of this World and by the Earth the meaner sort which are filling up their measure of Iniquity the which the Old World did admit of no such dstinction in it And also by the Heavens is comprehended the Teachers and those that should have been the Teachers of the Word for if they are called Gods to whom the Word of God came as in John 10.35 why not those called Heavens to whom the Word of God was entrusted to enlighten the World withal And as our Lord saith to his Disciples in Mat. 5.14 Ye are the Light of the world And in the book called The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs which they spake to their Children before their Death wherein Levi in his last Charge to his Sons tells them They be the Light of the Heavens as the Sun and the Moon And he said unto them What shall all the Heathen do if you be over darkned with wickedness and bring Cursedness upon your Countryfolk for whose sake the Light of the world is put into you to enlighten all men withal This Light of the world shall you most willfully steal and teach Commandments contrary to the Righteousness of God Here by all this you see that those to whom the word of God is committed are term'd the Light of the World and the
times Matth. 16.3 The which became destructive to them but St. Paul saith Ye are not in darkness that that day should come upon you at unawares 1 Thes 5.4 And blessed will they be that upon the warning the Lord gives them will so prepare for him as to have their Lamps trimed and their lights burning For the Lord compareth himself to a man that took a long journey and gave to every man his work and commanded the Porter to watch And the Lord saith watch ye therefore lest coming suddenly I find you sleeping Mark 13.34,35,36,37 These places shew the dreadful condition those Christians will be in that will not take warning by the Signs given by him and the Lord also saith If the good man of the house had known what hour the Thief would have come he would have watched and not have suffered his house to have been broken through Luke 12.39 For as the Thief comes to destroy so the Lord will come to the destruction of them that profess they know him yet will not make preparation for him Chap. V. The Signs of the Times NOW as concerning the Time and the Signs of the Time that is that the time of the Signs and Wonders to the time of Christ's coming and afterwards till such time as the Wicked are taken off from the Earth it doth clearly appear will be forty five years according to which time Israel lay in the Wilderness and were Conquering their Enemies in the Land of Canaan before they were peaceably setled there for in numbers it is said According to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel what hath God wrought Numb 23.23 The like is said in Micah According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt I will shew unto him marvellous things the nations shall be confounded at all their might Mich 7.15,16 And it is said in Zechary 14.3 Then shall the Lord go forth and fight against those nations as when he fought in the day of battel And in Daniel there is just forty five days difference in the number of the days and he is said to be blessed that comes to the last number Dan. 12.12 And that we are now far gone in this forty five days of years is certain by the Signs of the Times and if they began in 1663. when the great Blazing Star appeared which the Astronomers said was a Rod to whip the Earth withal And since we have had Signs in the Sun and in the Moon and oft repeated Blazing Stars according to the Word of the Lord Luke 21.25 or whether the beginning of the limited time was when the Evil Spirits mentioned in the Revelations Chap. 16.13,14 came out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet which has gathered together the Kings of the earth to the battel of the great day of God Almighty And by these the World is now in an uproar as in 2 Esdras 9.3,4 and also the Lord saith in Luke Chap. 21.25,26,27 There shall be distress of nations with perplexity the sea and the waves thereof roaring mens hearts failing them for fear and looking after those things which are coming on the earth for the powers of heaven shall be shaken By which is meant the ruling powers of the earth which in Scripture is also called the Heavens And then it is the Lord will come as in ver 27. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory And it is also given us as a Sign of the Lord 's coming the often breakin gs forth of fire out of the earth altho' History gives us an account that the Mountains were fired before Christ came The Romans being formerly the afflicters of the natural Seed of Jacob as since they have also been of the adopted Seed of Jacob for which with their other abominable sins the anger of the Lord has been kindled against them yet before the coming of the Lord it is declared by the Angel to Esdras There shall be confusion in many places and fire shall be oft sent out again 2 Esd 5.8 which hath lately in a wonderful manner been fulfilled Now all along in the Scripture the Afflictions of the Natural and of the Adopted Seed are joyned together so here in Isaiah 5. from the beginning to the 14. verse in a particular manner treats of the miscarriage and punishment of the natural Seed of Jacob. And beginning at the 14th verse to the 24th treats of the punishment of the adopted Seed of Jacob. For in the 16th verse he saith The Lord of Hosts shall be exalted in Judgment At which time the Lambs shall feed after their manner Therefore this is to be fulfilled when the Lord again comes Against which time it is said Isa 5.14 Hell hath enlarged her self and opened her mouth wide without measure and their glory and their multitude and their pomp and he that rejoyceth shall descend into it This doth evidently appear that Hell hath enlarged her self by these often torrents and rivers of Fire Pitch and Bitumen which God hath lately sent out thence According to the Word of God in Deuteronomy Chap. 32.22 For a fire is kindled in mine anger and shall burn to the lowest Hell and shall consume the Earth with her increase and set on fire the foundations of the Mountains By these words we are to understand that the fire of Hell and the fire in the Foundations of these Mountains extendeth it self from the one to the other This is further treated of in a Book that is to come forth And it is also said in Isaiah 30. v. 30. For Tophet is ordained of old yea for the King it is prepared he hath made it deep and large the pile thereof is fire and much wood the breath of the Lord like a stream of Brimstone doth kindle it This Tophet here spoken of is Hell the King for whom it was prepared is the Devil but Man that is insnared by him does also fall into it For the Lord saith Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels Matth. 25.41 But all Hell will not be fired till the last and final Judgment when all the dead will be judged Rev. 20.14 And whereas it is said The pile thereof is fire and much wood That is much combustible matter fit for fuel as Brimstone Pitch Sulpher Bitumen Coperas and the like These things the Lord hath so placed and by his breath and command he hath kindled it And it is said of the Beast and false Prophet that after the Lord comes they were both taken and cast alive into a Lake of fire burning with Brimstone Rev. 19.20 which Lake is already kindled into which they shall be cast which reacheth to the lowest Hell Chap. VI. Whirlwinds from the Lord. NOW are the Whirlwinds of the Lord gone forth according to the Word of
fore-mentioned promised new Covenant will not be made with the rest of the Nations that then will be called in as God by the Prophet hath declared Ezek 16.61 And after the thousand years when Satan is again loosed and the eminent glory of the Lord is not so visible among them then Satan will again draw off some of them that are spared of those Nations which are not secured by the everlasting Covenant and fire shall come down from Heaven and destroy them And then the Devil that deceived them will then be cast into the lake of Fire and Brimstone where the Beast and false Prophet are and shall be tormented day and night for ever and for ever Rev. 20.3,9,10 From which words we are to take notice the Lord here declareth the continuance of day and night as also in Psa 89.36 â—7 And after the Devil is cast into Hell we read of no other than a temporal punishment inflicted on them of the Nations that will not go up to worship the King the Lord of Hosts and keep the feast of Tabernacles Zec 14.16,17 And how many thousand years it will be after Satan is cast into the fire of Hell before the final judgment the Lord best knoweth But by the word it is clear it will be many thousand years For God hath said He will keep Covenant and mercy to a thousand Generations Deut 7.9 And from Adam to this time we cannot well reckon above a hundred Generations For where St. Luke counts the Genealogy from Adam to Christ he reckons up but about three score Generations Luke 3. And this fore-mentioned Kingdom is the Kingdom of which the Angel told the blessed Virgin that Christ should Reign over the House of Jacob for ever and of his Kingdom there shall be no end Luke 1.33 This ever chiefly includes the ever of the world to come in which time Christ will have his Reigning Power and at the time of the last Judgment when the Heavens and Earth are said to fly away Re. 20.11 The fore-mentioned Book explaineth the meaning thereof fully making it appear by the word there is two sorts of Heavens and Earth whereby it is clearly proved that the Kingdom of Christ will have no end according to the word of the Angel to the Blessed Virgin and according to the word of the Lord in Daniel But the Saints of the most High shall take the Kingdom and possess the Kingdom for ever even for ever and ever Dan. 7.18 And God saith in Isaiah For as the New Heavens and the New Earth which I will make shall remain before me saith the Lord so shall your Seed and your Name remain Isa 66.22 For then it is God will give Israel a place of their own so as they shall move no more 2 Sam. 7.10 But we not apprehending there is three Evers three Times three Generations and three Worlds spoken of in Scripture thereby we have been much in the dark concerning this world to come And this world to come being the time that is chiefly comprehended in Psal 89.2 For I have said mercy shall be built up for ever thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very Heavens I have made a Covenant with my Chosen I have sworn to David my Servant Thy Seed will I establish for ever and build up thy Throne to all Generations Chap. X. The Meaning of the Feast of Tabernacles being again kept NOw in that the feast of Tabernacles is again to be kept when all the other great Feasts are laid aside Zech. 14.16 it doth thereby appear that when Israel and those of the Nations which are saved are first gathered they will then again for some time dwell in booths as Israel did when they came out of Aegypt And therefore this feast to be kept for a remembrance in the ever of the time to come But some may say How can the Nations come up yearly to Jerusalem the Journy being so far distant from some But none need Question but God will make them of ability to do what he requires of them And whereas it is said That every one that is left of all the Nations That is every one of the Nations that were left should go up yearly to Jerusalem but not that it is there meant that every individual person of the Nations will be required to go up year by year unto Jerusalem but some of the heads of the Nations And therefore said in the 18 verse If the Family of Aegypt go not up c. Then a National punishment is threatned Now what we find written in the old and new Testament and nothing therein to contradict the plain meaning thereof that will of certain be fulfilled in the plain and clear way as it is expressed But that is a figurative Speech and not to be taken in the letter of the word where we find other Scriptures in contradiction to it There God hath a secret vail'd in it which he reserves until such time as he will have it revealed But what God commands to be done And what God declares he will have done And what God hath sworn he delights not in And what God hath absolutely promised to do And what God hath sworn he will do These things are to be taken as they are exprest or we are apostatized from the truth And it is at the Restauration of Israel that the Everlasting Covenant will be established as to which time God has sworn to Israel That he will not be wroth with them nor rebuke them any more Isa 54.8,9,10,11,12 For then God will put his fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from him Jer. 32.39,40,41 And concerning that time The Lord hath sworn by his right hand and by the arm of his Strength that he will no more give their Corn to be meat for their enemies neither shall the Sons of Strangers drink the Wine for which they have laboured Isa 62.8 This promise will be fulfilled when Jerusalem is made the praise of the earth as in the 7th ver Which is at the time of the Restitution of all things when the Lord again comes Acts 3.20,21,22,23,24 And then it is There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob Rom. 11.26 Isa 59.20 Then shall the Lord rore out of Zion and utter his voice from Jerusalem and the Heavens and Earth shall shake but the Lord will be the hope of his People and the Strength of the Children of Israel Joel 3.16 This Zion or Jerusalem is meant of the glorious Tabernacles spoken of Heb. 8.2 But we all coming out of the Darkness of Popery have lost the right apprehension of this Kingdom or World to come whereby we are involved in great mistakes so as to think the promised everlasting Covenant is now established and that such as belong to it may fall foully but not finally but when that Covenant is established then it is that God will put his fear into their hearts so as
us It is the day of the Lord's Vengeance and the year of recompence for the controversy of Sion Why is it termed the Day of the Lord's Vengeance and year of recompence being both one and the same time The Lord to inlighten our understanding that the day in which he will come to Judg the World in is more than a natural day and that in that day the vengeance shall not long last upon the Earth but as the Psalmist saith Psal 9.17 The wicked shall be turned into Hell and all the Nations that forget God but his Mercy shall be of long continuance to his Spouse and chosen People the Jews from which he will never withdraw his mercy from them more And the Prophet Isaiah doth also confirm this to us again from the Lord in much the same words for the Lord saith Isa â—3 4,5,6 The day of Vengeance is in mine heart and the year of my Redeemed is come And I looked and there was none to help and I wondred that there was none to uphold therefore mine own Arm brought Salvation unto me and my fury it upheld me 6. And I will tread down the people in mine anger and make them drunk in my fury and I will bring down their strength to the Earth All which doth fully make out that the day in which the Lord doth come to judge the world in will be the day of the Restitution of all things and then will Israel be restor'd And God hath given us further Confirmation of this in Isa 62.6,7,8,11,12 where he saith I have set Watchmen upon the Walls O Jerusalem which shall never hold their peace day nor night Ye that make mention of the Lord keep not silence 7. And give him no rest till he establish and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the Earth 8. The Lord hath sworn by his right hand by the arm of his strength Surely I will no more give thy Corn to be meat for thine Enemies and the Sons of the strangers shall not drink thy Wine for which thou hast laboured 11. Behold the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world Say ye unto the Daughter of Sion behold thy Salvation cometh behold his reward is with him and his work before him 12. And they shall call them the holy people the redeemed of the Lord and thou shalt be called sought out a City not forsaken Now first in the 6th Verse the Lord tells them That he hath set Watchmen upon thy Walls O Jerusalem Which shall never hold their Peace and the Saints that are of the New Jerusalem which is above as it is said in Rev. 6.9 They cry Lord haw long In the next place that followeth is a special Command to all that make mention of the Lord not to keep silence and that we should give him no rest until he establish and make Jerusalem a praise A praise Where The Lord hath said in the Earth And in Verse 8. the Lord hath sworn to them by his Right Hand and by the Arm of his Strength the which is by the Greatness of his Power That he will give no more their Corn to be meat for their Enemies and that the Sons of Strangers shall no more drink the Wine for the which they have laboured These Promises we see are not yet made good to them and therefore doth remain to be fullfill'd to them for that God that cannot Lie hath sworn it And that this is to be perform'd on Earth is evident in as much as there is not Corn and Wine to be sowed and reaped in Heaven Now when this shall be the Lord tells us in the 11th Verse for there the Lord hath Ordered Proclamation to be made to the End of the World thereby to let us know that their Restoration is not to be in this our World for it is not there said That the Lord hath proclaimed it to the Ends of the World but to the End of this World Say to the Daughter of Sion behold thy Salvation cometh and his Reward is with him Now it is evident that when the Lord did first come that they had not salvation and that his Reward was not with him nor their City restored to them And therefore the Lord tells them in Luke 21. where speaking of his Second Coming to judge the World he telleth them in the 24th Verse That Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the Times of the Gentiles be fullfilled That is not till the Time of the Gentiles be accomplished And therefore the Lord in Luke 4. read no more of Isa 6. than what did belong to Israel at that time Which being the first Verse of that Chapter in Isaiah which is the 18th Verse of the forementioned Chapter in Luke where it is said The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor he hath sent me to heal the broken hearted to preach deliverance to the Captives and the recovery of sight to the blind to set at liberty them that are bruised 19. And to preach the acceptable Year of the Lord. 20. And he closed the book 21. And he said unto them This Day this Scripture is fullfilled in your Ears Now the Lord at this time was sent to preach Deliverance or to foretell the Deliverance of the Captives and he was sent to recover the sight of the blind and by whom the blind Gentiles were enlightned and to set at liberty those that were bruised or bound as Isaiah hath it That is bound by Satan through the darkness of Error â—nd to preach or proclaim as Isaiah hath it the Acceptable Year of the Lord. Wherein all were invited as it is said in Mat. 11.23 The Lord there inviteth all that were weary and heavy laden to come unto kim So the Lord leaving the following words of Isaiah which was concerning himself as not belonging to them of that time And the last part of the Verse which treats of the Second Coming of the Lord. 2. Wherein it is said The Day of Vengeance of our God to comfort all that mourn 3. To appoint unto them that mourn in Sion to give unto them Beauty for Ashes and the Oyl of joy for mourning and the Garment of praise for the Spirit of heaviness that they might be called Trees of Righteousness the planting of the Lord that he might be glorified Here you also see that the day of the Lord's Vengeance is the time of Sion's Comfort And whereas St. Peter saith There shall be New Heavens and a New Earth wherein dwelleth Righteousness This hath its special Reference to the New Ruling Powers which are the raised Saints which are here termed the Heavens wherein dwelleth Righteousness And the New Earth is the Restored Jews with the rest of the Promised Elect. In which Earth will dwell Righteousness But as to the Massy Lump of Earth of it self is neither capable of doing right or wrong And as for Righteousness dwelling
Unrighteous shall cease from their Naughtiness but the Righteous shall rest in Him and He shall open the Gates of Paradice and stay the Threatning Sword against Adam and feed the Lambs with the Fruit of Life and the Spirit of Holiness shall be in them He shall bind up Belial and give his own children power to tread down Hurtful Spirits and the Lord shall rejoice in his children and accept them as his Beloved for evermore Then shall Abraham Isaac and Jacob be glad and then shall I and all Saints rejoyce Now my children ye have heard all therefore chuse unto you either Light or Darkness either the Law of the Lord or the Works of Belial and we answered our Father saying We will walk before the Lord according to his Law And my Father said The Lord is Witness and his Angels are Witness and I am Witness and your selves are Witnesses of the Words of my mouth And when we answered We will be Witnesses Levy rested with this charge be given unto his children And Daniel speaking of the time when the Kingdoms of this World should become the Kingdoms of God and Christ And of the reign of the raised Saints Dan. 7.9 he saith I beheld till the thrones were cast down and the antient of days did sit whose garment was white as snow and the hair of his Head like the pure wooll his Throne was like the fiery flame and his wheels as burning fire V. 10. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him thousand thousands ministred unto him and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him the Judgment was set and the Books were opened V. 11. I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake I beheld even till the beast was slain and his body destroyed and given to the burning flame Ye see here also that Daniel makes mention of the Destruction of the Beast and whereas he saith he beheld till the Beast was slain which may only signify that he received the Sentence of Condemnation and his body destroyed his greatness and his grandeur of his Power broken After which he is given to the burning flame Soul and Body And as St. John says after Christ came The beast was taken alive and cast into a lake of sire burning with brimstone And Daniel saith V. 12. As concerning the rest of the beast they had their dominion taken away yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time V. 13. I saw in the night Visions and behold one like the Sun of man came with the Clouds of Heaven and came to the ancient of days and they brought him near before him V. 14. And there was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom that all People Nations and Languages should serve him his dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and his Kingdom that which shall not be destroyed And whereas the Prophet saith there was given to Christ Dominion Glory and a Kingdom which was that all People Nations and Languages should serve and obey him And in v. 18. it is said The Saints of the most High shall take the Kingdom and possess the Kingdom for ever even for ever and ever Here it is said That the Saints of the most High shall take the Kingdom that is be possest with the Kingdom or made partakers of the Kingdom of which Christ is head And he tells us in the 27. v. That the Kingdom Dominion and the greatness of the Kingdom under the whole Heaven shall be given to the People of the Saints of the most high whose Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom and all dominions shall serve and obey him We see by these words that it is fully cleared where this Kingdom is said to be which will be given to the People of the Saints of the most High That it is the greatness of the Kingdom under the whole Heaven Therefore it must be upon the Earth at the time of the restitution of all things For Isaiah saith c. 24. v. 4. The Earth mourneth and fadeth away the world languisheth and fadeth away the haughty People of the Earth do languish In these last words the Prophet tells us his meaning in saying the Earth Mourneth and the World Languisheth For he saith it is the Haughty People of the Earth do Languish V. 5. The Earth also is defiled under the Inhabitants thereof because they have transgressed the Laws changed the Ordinances broken the everlasting Covenant Whereby we see that the Earth is defiled through the sinfulness of man that is upon it Now Christ dyed to restore lost man that he might purchase to himself a Glorious Church withour spot or wrinkle And he will restore the Earth to be for what it was intended in the first Creation which was for the bringing up of a Holy Seed and to be Israels inheritance and the Earth was prepared for their Nourishment which as the Earth did fill God might translate them to those Heavenly habitations Now in the day of the Restitution of all things Christ has more than a ruling Power in the Hearts of his People or with his Saints in Heaven But then will be given to him all the Kingdoms of the Earth to serve and obey him Then shall it be term'd but one Kingdom as having but one Head to be the chief Ruling Power and the raised Saints to Rule under him And Daniel doth further assure us by the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzars Dream Dan. 2.44 That in the days of those Kings shall the God of Heaven set up a Kingdom which never shall be destroyed and the Kingdom shall not be left to other People but it shall break in pieces and consume all these Kingdoms and it shall stand for ever V. 45. For as much as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the Mountain without hands and that it brake in pieces the Iron the Brass the Clay the Silver and the Gold the great God hath made known to the King what shall come to pass hereafter and the dream is certain and the interpretation thereof is sure Now whereas the Prophet here tells us that the Dream is certain and the interpretation thereof is sure that is we may bind upon it that the God of Heaven will set up a Kingdomwhich never will be destryed And that the Kingdom shall not be left to other People but it shall break in pieces and consume all other Kingdoms and stand for ever For although it is said Christ and his Raised Saints shall reign a Thousand Years the which as I before said those words doth not at all signifie that the Reign of Christ and his raised Saints shall continue no longer than the thousand years but that the Glory may not so eminently or visibly appear after Satan is loosed to accomplish his wickedness in his deceiving his Gog and Magog after which he shall receive his final Doom Now whereas the Lord saith in Isa 26.19,20,21 Thy dead men
War with the remnant of her Seed which kept the Commandments of God and the Testimony of Jesus Christ Now by the Wings of a great Eagle is meant Support and Assistance and by Waters is comprehended Afflictions and the Men that are the Afflictors by what the Prophet David faith in Psal 18.4 The Floods of ungodly men made me afraid From these Waters the Earth helped the Woman for the Earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up That is takes them away by Death yet still the Devil Persists in his Malice for he goes to make War with the Remnant of her Seed By all this it is made clearly to appear that Christ's Church was a suffering Church is a suffering Church and so will continue to the end of this World and the Lord to incourage us tells the Church in Rev. 3.10 That if they keep the word of his Patience he also will keep them from the hour of Temptation which shall come upon all the World to try them that dwell upon the earth Here we see is a general Tryal and the Lord to comfort us saith in the 11. v. Behold I come quickly hold that fast which thou hast that no man take thy Crown Here we may plainly see that the Glory will be prepared for them that Love him when he comes the second time for the Glory is not now in this our World for Christ's Church And when we Pray for Christ to have here in this World a Glorious Church we Pray against the determined will of God But whereas St. Paul saith Ephes 5.25 Christ loved his Church and gave himself for it 26. That he might Sanctify it and cleanse it with the washing of Water 〈◊〉 the Word This part is to be perform'd in this sinful World But whereas he saith in the 27. v. 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 Now we must take notice of the words of the Apostle which tells us that he might present it to himself a Glorious Church without spot or wrinkle or any such thing Not that he hath so presented it or that it is so presented but the word is That he may present it a glorious Church without having spot or wrinkle Then the question is here when it shall be to which I Answer it will be at the great Weding Supper of the Lamb the which will be when the Lord comes Now as to his coming that we might not be mistaken therein the Lord saith Matt. 24.25 Behold I have told you before 26. Wherefore if they shall say unto you behold he is in the desert go not forth Behold he is in the secret Chambers believe it not 27. v. For as the Lightning cometh out of the East and shineth 〈◊〉 to the West so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be 28. For wheresoever the Carcass is there will the Eagles begathered together By which we see the Lord did not tell them they should be gathered into Heaven at the time of his coming But the Lord after he arose expounded to them the Scriptures Luk. 24.27 Begining at Moses and all the Prophets he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself Now the Scriptures do not only speak of his Sufferings but also of his Reigning on Mount Sion in Jerusalem Gloriously And then as to what the New Heavens and Earth will be will then be made manifest Whereas the Lord saith in Mat. 24.29 Immediately after the Tribulation of those days shall the Sun be darkned and the Moon shall not give her light and the Stars shall fall from Heaven and the Powers of Heaven shall be shaken By these that is the Sun Moon and Stars and the Powers of Heaven being shaken hath its reference of certain as to what I before shewed you But these words may admit of a two fold meaning and not only comprehend the Popish Ministery and others that have been negligent in their places and the wicked powers but also when the Lord cometh there may be a great Eclipse of the Sun and the Moon may change her Colour and those wandring Stars fall from Heaven which Satan has influence on as to carry on the darkness of this World by And as St. Jude saith in the 13. v. Where he compareth the wicked to the raging Waves of the Sea foaming â—ut their own shame And likewise he compares them to wandring Stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever Now as there is the real Waves of the Sea we see here that the Wicked are the Figurative Waves of the Sea And as there is real wandring Stars that Satan has Influence on to help him in the carrying on the darkness of this World So there is Figurative Wandering Stars the which do darken the light of the Word and so the World that is the people is darkned thereby For which both the real and figurative Stars are reserved the blackness of darkness for ever For by these words we see that in the Restoration the Stars will not be left to influence man to Iniquity Now whereas St. John saith John 2.8 The darkness is past and the true light now shineth Which was the true Light then broke forth in the Church as to Knowledg and Love but as to the latter it hath a more particular reference for he so explains himself in the 9. v. in that he saith He that hateth his Brother is in darkness And in the 10. v. he saith He that loveth his Brother abideth in the Light 〈…〉 St. Paul saith 〈…〉 Rom. 13.12,13 The night is far spent the day is at hand let us therefore cast off the works of Darkness and let us put on the Armour of Light Let us walk honestly as in the day not in rioting drunkenness not in chambering and wantonness not in strife and envy Here the Apostle fully declares that it was then night but that he would have them walk as the Children of the day in which day there will be no such thing committed at which time according to the saying of the Psalmist That all the Families of the Earth shall be blessed of the Lord and also in Ezek. 48.31 Zach. 14.11 Jer. 31.40 Now as to what the Lord saith in Luke 21. c. 24. That Israel shall fall by the edge of the Sword and shall be led away captive into all Nations and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fullfilled Which is as I before told you not until the Gentile Power is quite vanquished the which will be when the Lord comes and then will Jerusalem be gloriously built never more to be destroyed as it is written 25. v. And there shall be signs in the Sun and in the Moon and in the Stars and upon the Earth distress of Nations with perplexity the Sea and the Waves roaring 26. v. Mens
Hearts failing them for fear and for looking after those things which are coming on the Earth for the powers of Heaven shall be shaken 27. v. Then shall they see the son of man coming in a Cloud with power and great glory 28. v. And when these things begin to come to pass then loob up and lift up your heads for your Redemption draweth uigh These Words of our Lord admit of wonderful Comfort to the Saints And in all these forementioned places the Lord makes no mention of the damned being raised at his coming And the Lord saith Luke 21.31,32 When ye see these things come to pass know ye that the Kingdom of God is nigh at hand 32. v. Verily verily I say unto you this Generation shall not pass away till all these things be fullfilled Now we see by these Words that the Lord doth assure us that he will come in this Generation which words of the Lord is confirmed to us by the Evangelists But you may say I desire to know the meaning of the Lord in his saying that he would come before this Generation shall pass away and since that there has been so many Generations and the Lord is not yet come As to the meaning of this Generation the Psalmist himself makes it fully out to us in Psalm 12.7 v. wherein he saith Thou shalt keep them O Lord thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever Which is as much as to say such a wicked sort of people as is now shall continue ever That is the ever of this World or as long as that lasteth In which all the Wicked God looks upon as one generation being guilty of one and the same sins as Idolatry Adultery Fornication False Swearing Prophanation of the Sabbath Druokenness Debate Deceit making a man an Offender for a Word and upon all Occasions their flight is unto the Refuge of Lies That wheresoever ye hear any almost run down so as though they were not fit to live upon the Earth it is commonly they are the Innocent Party for they that are in the Wrong think to carry off all before them with their Lies whilst the Innocent and Righteous are loth to speak the worst they know of their Adversaries taking Example by their Lord and Master And like the Angel in St. Jude durst not bring a Railing Accusation against the Devil but said The Lord rebuke thee Whilst the Wicked are raising all their Instruments to broach their Clamour of their own Inventions through Town and Countrey But the Lord saith in Isa 28.17 Judgment will I lay to the Line and Righteousness to the Plummet and the Hail shall sweep away the Refuge of Lies The which being the storm that at last shall carry them all away This Scripture hath its special reference to the time when the Lord cometh by the Hail that is here mentioned Now it is just with us Christians as it was with the Jews when the Lord first came that was they thought themselves secure enough they being of the Seed of Abraham So the generality of the Christians think themselves safe enough in that they are baptized and go by the Name of Christians and are of the Outward Church They rest there and think they need not concern themselves any farther Not considering that also they must put on Christ and thereby become New Creatures or else it will avail them nothing And another sort there are that think that if they get but themselves into a separate Congregation and fancy themselves elected they then think themselves past all danger The which will prove but self-deceiving And like that of the Jews who fancied themselves safe because they were of the Seed of Abraham But as to the sure Rule the which is Warrantable by Scripture to bring us to Eternal Happiness is That God requires of us our true Love to himself above all other with a filial Fear of his Majesty continually before our Eyes and in a holy Resignation of our Wills to his Law and so to walk in sincere Obedience unto him The which if we so do and so continue to do the Lord will give us 2 Tim. 4.8 at his appearing as it is written a Crown rf Righteousness for the Lord died not to save us in our sins but to save us from our sins that sin might not reign in our mortal bodies to fulfil it in the Lust thereof That is not to give liberty to any known sin let it be never so near or dear to us Now as I before shewed you God looks upon all the Wicked of this World as One Generation And again the Prophet David makes it out in Psalm 22.28,29 There speaking of Christs glorious Kingdom he saith in the 30. v. A Seed shall serve him and it shall be accounted to him for a Generation Although to our way of reckoning and the Scriptures common way of reckoning are many Generations But being made partakers of one Blessedness therefore accounted of the Lord but as One Generation And David again speaking of the time to come saith in Psalm 24.5,6 He shall receive the blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation 6. This is the Generation of them that seek him that seek thy Face O Jacob. Selah And the Lord again terms all the Wicked of this World as One Generation Luke 16.8 For the Children of this World are in their Generation wiser than the Children of Light And the Lord saith to the like effect Luke 17.24,25 For as the lightning that lightneth out of the one part under Heaven shineth unto the other part under Heaven so shall also the Son of man be in his day 25. v. But he must suffer many things and be rejected of this Generation Here the Lord tells us of the visible Glory that he shall have in his day which is the day in which he shall Judge the World which is the day of the Thousand Years But first he faith he must suffer many things and be rejected of this Generation Wherein by this Generation he includes the Wicked of this World which will continue till he again comes And having further proof of this in Tob. 14.5 where he declared to his Son before his Death That again God would have mercy on them and bring them again into their own Land where they should build a Temple but not like the first until the time of that Age he fullfilled That is that Generation or that Age or such a sort of People their time be accomplisht After which he saith They should return from all places of their Captivity and build up Jerusalem gloriously The Lord foreseeing what Darkness we were like to fall under and in especial manner as to that concerning his coming and therefore the Lord doth assure us he will come in this Generation After which he saith Heaven and Earth shall pass away but his word shall not pass away That is the Wicked Powers and People shall pass away Of
are put out of a Capacity of being such any longer And had this City been in Heaven as some would have it when the Wine-press is trod it must have taken up the whole confine of the Heavens or otherwise the Wine-press of God's wrath would appear to be trod in the Heavens without the City But this being too great an absurdity St. John to end all Controversy saith in Rev. 2. He saw the New Jerusalem coming down from God out of Heaven And in the first verse he saith I saw a New Heaven and a New Earth for the first Heaven and the first Earth were passed away and there was no more Sea The New Heavens and the New Earth is as I before shewed you The New Powers and New People in whom dwelleth Righteousness As Christ and his raised Saints the New Heaven and his Elect the New Earth Now whereas he saith there was no more Sea And St. Jude terms the wicked The Raging Waves of the Sea foaming out their own shame And where the Destruction of Babilon is spoken of the Multitude that came against her is said to be the Sea Jer. 51.42 The Sea is come up upon Babilon she is covered with the multitude of the Waves thereof Now the Sea has a prevailing Power therefore the Sea spoken of in Revelations which shall be no more is that the wicked shall then have no more prevailing Power For altho the Devil does gather together after the thousand Years his Gog and Magog yet it will be to their utter Destruction And the Lord spenking in Isa 57.20,21 of Israel's Peace and Healing and of the Wicked Worlds Destruction as in the 20. v. But the wicked are like the troubled Sea when it cannot rest whose waters cast up mire and dirt There is no Peace saith my God to the Wicked Here the wicked are said in the day of their Destruction to be like the troubled Sea And at the time when Israel shall be delivered from under the Power of all his Enemies it is said Psal 68.22 The Lord saith I will bring again from Basham I will bring my People again from the depths of the Sea Here we see that the wicked are the depths of the Sea from which God will bring his People from under their Power And the wicked as a Sea shall never more prevail And it is said Jer. 33.23,24 Thy tacklings are losed they could not well strengthen their Mast they could not spread the Sail. Then is the Prey of a great spoil divided the lame take the prey The Inhabitants shall not say I am sick the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their Iniquity When the Lord comes then the wicked can neither spread their Sail nor strengthen their Mast Then will the prey of a great spoil be divided then will the lame take the prey That is the Afflicted People of Israel And at that time the Inhabitants shall not say I am sick And whereas St. John saith Rev. 21.2,3,4 And I John saw the Holy City New Jerusalem coming down from God out of Heaven prepared as a Bride adorned for her Husband And I heard a great Voice out of Heaven saying behold the Tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his People and God himself shall be with them and be their God And God shall wipe away all Tears from their Eyes and there shall be no more death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are past away And the Lord saith Rev. 3.12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the Temple of my God and he shall go no more out and I will write upon him the Name of my God and the Name of the City of my God which is the New Jerusalem which cometh down out of Heaven from my God and I will write upon him my New Name Here the Lord as well as St. John saith the New Jerusalem comes down out of Heaven from God Now as to what this City is that comes down out of Heaven from God it does plainly appear to be the whole Church triumphant for St. John saith it is this City the New Jerdsalem which he saw prepared as a Bride adorned for her Husband Then it cannot be any outward glorious Fabrick which the Lord is said to espouse or is fit to be the Lamb's Wife But the Lord has promised to espouse his Church to himself at the great Wedding-Supper For as yet the Souls are said to be under the Altar and therefore not yet made Partakers of the Glory that shall be revealed But at the Last Trumpet when the Dead shall be raised incorruptible and the Bodies of the Saints again to them re-united and those that have been the Lord's Witnesses mentioned in the Revelations with them caught up in the Clouds to meet the Lord in Air. And then as it is said God shall wipe away all tears from their Eyes and then there shall be with them no more Death neither sorrow nor crying And by the promised new Covenant Israel will then fall little short of this when the Lord hath taken away their sins and so secured them in himself as they shall never more sin against him For altho afterward thay shall know a temporal Death Yet the Lord in John 11.26 John 6.50 Terms that not a dying And Revelations 19.11 It is there declared how the Lord shall come For St. John saith Râ—v 19.11,14 That he saw Heaven opened and behold a white horse and he that sate upon him was called faithful and true and in righteousness he doth Judge and make war 14. And the Armies which were in Heaven followed him upon white horses cloathed in fine Linen white and clean By which we see these Armies here spoken of come out of Heaven And St. John in the 14 Chap. 14. v. Doth open to us what these white horses are For he there saith Rev. 14.14 He beheld a white Cloud and upon the Cloud one sat like unto the Son of Man having on his head a Golden Crown and in his hand a sharp sickle You see here that the white horses are white Clouds and that the Lord will come in the Clouds of Heaven as was declared by the Angels in Acts 1.11 And the Lord also told his Disciples John 14.2 In my fathers house are many mansions if it were not so I would have told you I go to prepare a place for you 3. And if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto my self Now without doubt in the Clouds there will be Receptacles of Glorious mansions for the Lord and his chief raised Saints and Angels And St. John saith Rev. 21.9 There came unto him an Angel and talked with him Saying come up hither and I will shew the bride the lambs wife 10. And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high Mountain and shewed me that great City
Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited Now in that the Lord saith there will be no more utter destruction there whereby it doth appear that there will be some destroy'd but not an utter Destruction for after the thousand years the Gog and Magag will come up against Jerusalem which company will be all destroyed I have given a more full Account of this Gog and Magog where I have spoken of the very or special Elect and therefore shall not here further enlarge upon it A Prophecy of Luther 's which is wonderfully remarkable and also it is worded according to the Scripture Stile LVther began to Preach the Gospel of Christ and to fall off from the Pope in the year 1515 and he Lived and Preached till 1546. and in the time of his Preaching the year is not set down he did assure them before two hundred years be expired if not sooner by the coming of the dreadful day of Judgment they be consumed that all their abominable Blasphemies Idolatries and damnable Religion will utterly be extirminated and destroyed And on the contrary we who for the sake of professing God's Holy word in truth are tormented terrified banished imprisoned and slain here on Earth by that man of Sin and God's Enemies the Antichrist and Pope of Rome at the last day with unspeakable comfort shall injoy and take possession of the Fruits of our assured hopes namely everlasting Consolation Joy and Salvation This saying of Luther's was before the former by reason he mentions that the Gospel was not at that time Preached in England when he spake this as followeth Ah Loving God said Luther come once I wait continually for that day when Early in the morning in the Spring the day and the night are alike long I see a very clear Morning Red. For these are my Cogitations whereof I purpose also to Preach that swiftly out of the morning red will come a black thick Cloud out of which will issue three flakes of Lightning afterwards there will come a clap and in a moment will strike all on a heap Heaven and Earth The Name of the Lord be praised who hath taught us to sigh and yearn after that day indeed we ought to desire the speedy approach thereof When the Turk said Luther begineth a little to decline then certainly the last day will come for then it must needs be of the necessity of the Scripture the loving Lord will come as the Scripture saith and when I come I will move Heaven and Earth and then shall come the desire of all Nations At the last there will be great Alteration and Commotion for then all the Elements shall be melted to Ashes the whole World shall be made a vast lump again as in the Begining then there shall be a New Heaven and Earth and we shall be changed but the Devil shall remain as he is for he hath nothing of the Elements as St. Paul sheweth who had great Revelations But I hope seeing the Gospel in such sort is contemned that the last day is not far two hundred years hence God's word will decrease again and fall and there will be a great darkness for want of upright faithful Servants of the Word as then the whole World will be wild and Epicurish and then the Voice will come and sound behold the Bridegroom cometh Now whereas Luther saith strike all on an heap Heaven and Earth Here he speaketh in the Scripture way of speaking terming the Powers and People to the Heavens and Earth for a great State of Power and People is term'd Heavens and an Earth as I have before show'd you in several places As the old Babilon was so termed when at the Destruction thereof it was said that the Heavens and earth were removed out of their places and this Romish Babilonian Power is also by the word said to be the Heavens and Earth And here he says they are to be struck on an Heap That is thrown down like an heap of Rubbish without any distinction of their Honour and Dignity till the Judgment of the Lord destroys them all and in that he terms it the last day his meaning is the last day of the Power of this World And as to the coming of Christ Luther hath given us for a certain sign the Turks declining the which is already come to pass and then it is he saith will be the last day of the Power of this wicked World for then Christ will come But when all the wicked are to be destroyed from off the Earth then he saith there will be great Alterations and Commotions so as the Elements will be burnt to Ashes and then will the Earth of People with the material Earth lye as a vast lump again as in the begining as in Esdras it is said Seven days and then the renewed Heavens and Earth will appear more Glorious for then the Heavens and Earth will be renewed to that Perfection as 't was in the first Creation then shall some that sleep in the dust awake as it s said in Daniel and Esdras for all that are raised do not Rise to the Glorious Tabernacle of whom Ezekiel speaks of when he saith they shall sleep in the Woods which is like unto that of Adam in Paradice Now the Elements that are here said to be burnt to Ashes are the Elements of Mans Body and this by his own way of expressing of it is made clearly Evident in that he saith the Devil shall remain as he is because he hath nothing of the Elements in him These forementioned Elements are the Elements St. Peter speaks of which shall melt with fervent Heat And of whom the Psalmist saith They shall melt as the Fat of Lambs even with smoke shall they consume away But as for the material Heavens Air Sea and Earth in the Bowels of which is inclosed Hell And for us to think that these shall be burnt to Ashes is altogether repugnant to Scripture for God hath set the Sun as I have already proved as a faithful Witness in Heaven and when the Devil is at last cast into Hell it is said Rev. 20. he was confined there day and night for ever and for ever And also it is said of the Wise in Dan. 12. They shall shine as the brightness of the Firmament and they that turn many to Righteousness shall shine as the Stars for ever and for ever And it was Prophesied of Luther by Holy Men As first a Learned Frier at Eisenach named John Hilten who Prophesied touching Luther's time namely That about the year 1516 Popedom would greatly decline as God be praised was through Luther fulfilled and especially concerning Luther and touching his Powerful Teaching and Preaching John Huss Prophesied in the year 1415 as he was to be burned at Costnitz who said This day ye Rost a Goose but one hundred years hence ye shall hear a Swan Sing Huss is called a Goose and Luther a Swan him ye shall not be able to Rost nor overcome
become the Author of eternal Salvation to all them that obey him And it is also said Ps 96.10 The Earth is fixed that it cannot be moved That is so as to become nothing or as not to be Earth The whole Earth will never be turned for ever into a burning Mountain neither will it for ever lie as a waste Chaos but as God hath promised it shall become a New Earth that is a Renewed Earth And unto that part which God hath assign'd the fire there shall it be bounded which is to part of the Land of the figurative Esau of which Isaiah makes mention Isa 34.5,7,9,10 Now whereas it is said in Genesis 8.21 The Lord smelled a sweet Savour and the Lord said in his heart I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his Youth Neither will I again smite any more every living thing as I have done While the Earth remaineth Seed-time and Harvest and Cold and Heat Summer and Winter and Day and Night shall not cease Now if God doth never more curse all the ground neither again smite any more every living thing as he hath done then the Earth cannot be made a perpetual Desolation Now whereas God saith in the following Verse While the Earth remaineth there should be Seed-time and Harvest c. The which Farth here spoken of seems to signifie the People of the Earth or the Earth of People that whilst the Earthly Body of Man remains there shall be Seed-time and Harvest and the like And what God saith in the following Chapter Gen. 9.11,12 doth seem to make it so appear For he saith I will establish my Covenant with you neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the Waters of a Flood neither shall there any more be a Flood to destroy the Earth Now we know that it was not the Material Earth that was destroyed but the Earth of People Now in the 12th verse God saith I will make between me and you and every living creature that is with you for perpetual generations 13. v. I do set my Bow in the Cloud and it shall be for a Token of a Covenant between me and the Earth Here again God terms the people of the Earth to be the Earth And whereas God saith to perpetual generations Thereby we are given to understand that there will be perpetually that is to everlasting a generation upon the Earth And therefore God saith Gen. 9.12,13,16 The Bow shall be in the Cloud and I will look upon it that I may remember the everlasting Covenant between God and every living Creature of all flesh that is upon the Earth Here God has explain'd what was the Earth which in the 13th verse he made a Covenant with Which is here set down to be with every living creature of all flesh Now for God to look on the Bow in the Cloud to remember the Everlasting Covenant between himself and every living Creature The which Covenant would be void if God should destroy every living Creature of all flesh from off the Earth Now whereas the Lord saith Heaven and Earth shall pass away that is the Powers with the People And whereas he saith pass away it argues that it will not be a sudden moving but that there will be a time of punishment inflicted on them here before their departure of which David saith Psalm 2.9 Thou shalt break them with a Rod of Iron thou shalt dash them in peices like a Potters Vessel And where Daniel speaks of the Judgment of this World he saith Dan. 7.12 As concerning the rest of the Beast they had their Dominion taken away yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time And the Lord saith Rev. 2.27 He shall rule them with a Rod of Iron as the Vessels of a Potter shall they be broken to shivers And also it is said of the Lord Rev. 19.15 Out of his mouth went a sharp Sword that with it he should smite the Nations and he shall rule them with a Rod of Iron and he treadeth the Wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of the Almighty God By all this it doth plainly appear that there will be a time of punishment upon the Earth when the Lord is againcome before the Wicked are turned into Hell And to make this further clear it is said Psalm 112.10 That the wicked shall gnash their Teeth when they see the vengeance Now St. John speaketh in the words of the Lord as touching the Heavens and the Earth which are at the coming of the Lord. For he saith Rev. 21.1 The first Heavens and the first Earth are passed away Which Heavens and Earth are the Wicked Powers with the Wicked People Now at the final and last Judgment the Heavens and the Earth are said to fly away the which shews a more hasty motion and as I apprehend by the Heavens is meant Israels Sovereignty over the rest of the Nations and by the Earth the serviceableness of other Nations to Israel And that at the final Judgment that distinction may no longer continue and so said to fly away as not to have place found for them For after Death is cast into Hell there will be no more dying and when they are become immortal there will not be that need of serviceableness the one to the other And not only so but the Elementary Body of Man will then fly away and no more place also found for it this being according to the promise God made to Abraham Gen. 17.8 And I will give unto thee and to thy Seed after thee the Land wherein thou art a Stranger all the Land of Canaan for an everlasting possession and I will be their God And the like God hath sworn in Isaiah as I have already proved that he will give them the Land of Canaan for an everlasting possession And in Isa 66 22. God saith As the New Heavens and the New Earth which I will make shall remain before me saith the Lord so shall your seed and your name remain By all this it is clearly proved That the and is to be Inhabited by the Seed of Jacob 〈◊〉 everlasting according to the Promise that â—od hath made unto them But at the time of this great Revolution 〈◊〉 it 〈◊〉 said in Dan. 12.1,2 And at that 〈◊〉 shall Michael stand up the great Prince â—hich standeth for the Children of thy People and 〈◊〉 shall be a time of trouble such as never was â—ce thâ—re was a Nation even to that same time â—nd aâ— what 〈◊〉 thy People shall be delivered every 〈◊〉 that shall 〈◊〉 written in the Book And any of â—…m thâ—… sâ—eep in the dust of the Earth all awâ—… some to â—verbasting Lise and some to â—ame and everlasting conteâ—…pt Now whereas he saith many of them that â—eep in the dust of the Earth shall awake â—y these words is given us to understand that it 〈◊〉 not all that sleep in the dust
their Father In this portion hath the Disciples their part and when the Kingdoms of this World are become the Kingdoms of our God and of his Christ Rev. 11.15 Then it is that the Kingdom of this World is become the Kingdom of their Father into which they shall thus gloriously shine forth and this is that the Apostle speaks of 1 Cor. 2.9 likewise Isa 64.4 and Ephes 2.6,7 and then they shall have their reigning-power on the Earth Rev. 5.10 next under Christ their Supreme Head Now the Lord all along whilst he was upon the Earth spake but in Parables as to his second coming and Kingdom Matth. 13.34 by reason Israel being sinful for which it was determined of God they should be left to blindness and that Christ should suffer by them for tho' in other things they sinned wilfully yet they ignorantly crucified the Lord of Life Acts 3.17 And the Lord again speaking of his second coming and of gathering the Nations and by the Parable of setting the Sheep on his right hand and the Goats on his left He saith to them on his right hand come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the World Matth. 25.34 Now from the foundation of the material Heavens and Earth there was no other Kingdom prepared but this World which will be again restored But the Law and Gospel speaking but to those that are under it Rom. 3.19 and chap. 2.12,14 The Lord might therefore have his reference to the foundation of the World that was laid in Israel for the World to come at which foundation Christ was figuratively slain in the Paschal Lamb And then was the Kingdom of Canaan prepared for Israel by their Enemies destruction And the Gentiles that Christ shall find in obedience amongst the Christian Nations at his coming will then be made the Inheritors with Israel of this Kingdom For they were not only to be Heirs with Israel of the promised Everlasting Covenant whereby Eternal Life is secured to the Soul but they were also to have a share with them in their Inheritance For of Japhet it was prophesied that he should dwell in the Tents of Shem and therefore this Kingdom may likewise be said to be prepared for them And also at the restoration of all things it is that Israel will be restored to their own Land Joel 3.16 And then will God make her Wilderness like Eden and her Desart like the Garden of the Lord Isa 51.3 And then it is Christ will have his peaceable Kingdom Isa 11.9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy Mountain for the Earth shall be full of the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the Waters cover the Sea Isa 65.23,24,25 And in that day God will make a Covenant for them with the Beast of the Field and with the Fowls of Heaven and with the creeping things of the ground and he will break the Bow and the Sword and the Battel out of the Earth and will make them lie down safely Hosea 2.18,19 And then will God betroth them unto him for ever in righteousness and in judgment and in loving-kindness and in mercies v. 19. And then this is the Peace the Lord hath declared shall be in the time of his Kingdom But when Christ first came he said he came not to send Peace on Earth but a Sword Matth. 10.34 For in this time them that are the true Followers of Christ the Devil will be still raising them up Enemies And Christ saith to his Disciples That in him they might have peace but in the World they should have tribulation John 16.33 And likewise St. Paul saith That after his departure shall grievous Wolves enter in among them not sparing the Flock And also of their own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away Disciples after them Acts 20.29,30 which accordingly followed Now whereas it is said Prov. 16.7 When a mans ways please the Lord he maketh his Enemies to be at peace with him This King Solomon spake of the natural Seed of Israel which had they continued in the fear of the Lord they had then been the Emblem of that peaceable Kingdom that is now to come And they in this time should have been the Head and not the Tail and above only Deut. 28.13 But there never was any such promise made to the true Churches of Christ in this time but on the contrary they were foretold they should be afflicted persecuted and meet with fiery Tryals neither were they to adorn themselves 1 Pet. 3.3 Chap. XV. The Elect Church discovered And why God suffered the Beast to arise to deceive the Nations Also a twofold being in the Book of Life NOW Christ by his Word declareth that he would have an Elect Church or People throughout this World that should never be deceived by the Beast or false Prophet And that it was to his Disciples which came of the remnant of Israel unto whom Christ promised to be with to the end of the World Matth. 38.20 And that none should pluck them out of his hand And tho' the first Gentile Churches that received the Word from the mouth of the Disciples were likewise also Elected and fore-chosen of God and made partakers of the Holy Ghost yet their succeeding Generations were but raised to that from which Israel fell And God foreseeing that the Gentile Nations that embraced the Gospel would afterward fall away by having no love to the Truth but taking pleasure in unrighteousness as Israel and the People of Old had done Rom. 1.21,22 therefore it was determined of God they should be left to strong delusions to believe a Lye Because they received not the love of the Truth that they might be saved 2 Thes 2.10,11,12 For which cause it was the determination of God that all that dwell upon the Earth should worship the Beast whose names are not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the World Rev. 13.7,8 That is all the Kindreds and Tongues and Nations that dwell upon all the Earth that the Beast had dominion over should worship him except those whose Names were written in the Book of Life for the Word speaks to them that received it and it was those fell into the snare that had not a love to it but took pleasure in unrighteousness And Luther says that the Beast and false Prophet are generally comprehended under one head And the Lord saith Rev. 17.8 And they that dwell upon the Earth shall wonder whose names were not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the World when they behold the Beast Now I have already proved by the Word in a Treatise concerning Election that there was no Election through the first World of People nor till after the miscarriage of Israel in the Wilderness Then did the Lord secure a certain remnant of them to himself at which time Israel was laid for the
foundation of the World to come for all that come in as Heirs to that World come in as the Seed of Abraham and from that foundation Christ was figuratively slain in the Paschal Lamb and from that foundation were the works of those unbelieving Jews finished that fell in the Wilderness when they refused to go to fight for the Land of Canaan And because of Israel's miscarriage the first Gentile Churches were chosen to partake of the Holy Ghost and to bear their Testimony to the Truth the which are said to be chosen before the foundation of the World which foundation was Israel the which choice was not before them as to matter of time but as to matter of choice and liking in God rather to make choice of them that should ignorantly offend him than them that had wilfully disobeyed him And I also have proved that the Eternal Purpose has only a relation to the Eternity that lies before us that the being chosen from the beginning was no other than from the beginning of the Preaching of the Gospel And I have also proved that the Decree was made that the Entrances into Life should be made strait after Adam fell and how that straitness doth consist And what is meant by being of old ordained to this condemnation And also I have proved in the Book in which the Faith of Abraham is explained that them of the World embraced the Faith in the Apostles time and brought forth fruit as it did in the Elect Churches All these things I have made clear which hitherto we have not rightly understood which makes me the oftener recite them These things being proved it makes it evident that there was none Elected from the foundation but the remnant And also the first Gentile Churches that were afterward Elected were long departed this life before the Beast arose so as there was none of them then to be deceived by him Now there is also a twofold way of being in the Book of Life First They that have their names there Secondly Those that have a part therein and it is those that have their names there that are Elected and fore-chosen And after the first Gentile Churches were called in their Children were taken into Covenant and a Door of Mercy set open to all such as would take hold of the offer of Life according as it is tendered by Christ Now if these have not their names put into the Book of Life when they are taken into Covenant yet they have their part in the Book of Life in performing the conditions upon which Life is offered by Christ for those he will justifie by his Righteousness Heb. 5.9 The which name or part in the Book of Life may not only be lost through negligence and prophaneness but by adding or diminishing from the Word Rev. 22.19 Deut. 4.2 And there are others also that have a part in the Book of Life which will find Redemption in the World to come for they were such as received not the Truth in the love of it but took pleasure in unrighteousness that the Apostle saith should be damned 2 Thes 2.12 And they were such as heard the Truth and would not believe to obey it that the Lord gave Sentence against But those that have had a longing desire after the Truth and such as have not taken pleasure in unrighteousness such will find Redemption in the World to come And no young Children can take pleasure in iniquity Therefore when all come to be judged according to their works such will be cleared Rom. 2.14,15 Rev. 20.12 But I shall not here insist upon this Subject because I intend hereafter fully to prove it But by what the Lord saith it is of dangerous consequence to take from the Word as well as to add unto it Now the Gentile Christians when they came to have no love to the Truth whereby they might be saved but on the contrary took pleasure in iniquity God gave them up to worship the Beast for when they would not be bound with the Cords of his Laws and follow him in Love Patience and Humility in expectation of the reward of the Crown of Life when the Lord again shall come then it was God permitted the Prince of Darkness to set up his pretended Kingdom by which delusion they also lost the apprehension of the glorious Kingdom of Christ which is now to come and is very nigh at hand which Kingdom has been foretold by all the Prophets sworn to by God himself Psal 89.2 declared by the Apostles And because the Lord Christ spake but in dark Sentences and Parables when he was upon the Earth because that Israel being sinful thereby might be blinded Therefore he declared in Vision to St. John how he would come and of the glory of the New Jerusalem that should come down from Heaven and of his reigning Power here upon the Earth Also annexing those great threatnings mentioned Rev. 22.18,19 to any that should add or diminish to the words of this Prophecy Now all the Gentile Christians thus falling into delusion so as when any of them come out of that darkness by the knowledge of the Word it was evident to them they could not be of that remnant that should never be deceived by reason themselves knew that they or their Predecessors had been deceived by the Beast but as to that Remnant Church or People that the Word does thus bear witness to I shall not here speak further of but hereafter by God's assistance I shall declare who the Two Witnesses are and then I shall make appear who this Church and People and Remnant are to whom the Word doth thus bear witness to and they to the Word Whilst on the contrary the Apostate Church or great Harlot bear not witness to the Word nor the Word to her any otherwise than to her condemnation And our Predecessors being all involved in that darkness whereby we have lost the true sentiments of the Word and so mistakingly taking all that was said to the first Churches and to Israel at the restitution of all things as tho' they now belonged to us the which is of dangerous consequence and whereby many like Ephraim have a care they fall not into the snare as Israel did for when the Lord first came he coming not of a Person of Dignity but of one of no Estate in this World This proved a snare to Israel Let us take warning by them and not neglect the owning of the truth for if we do we shall be taken in the snare as they were for the day of the Lord will come as a snare upon all them that will not prepare for him and take the warning given by him by the signs and the opening of the word as he hath declared and now made them manifest to the world Chap. XVI The difference between the State of the Elect in this time and of that which is to come NOW when God does Elect or fore-chuse any Person or persons
it is not hid from thee neither is it far off 14. v. But the Word is very nigh unto thee in thy mouth and in thy heart that thou mayest do it 15. v. See I have set before thee this day life and good and Death and Evil. The Covenant we see here in the 6. v. was the promised Covenant in which God would Circumcise their heart and the heart of their Seed that they should love the Lord their God with all their Heart and with all their Soul that they may live and do all his Commandments As it is said in the 8. v. But now it is the knowledge of the Covenant is put into our mouths and in our hearts And therefore he saith that they and we may do it For he saith I have set before thee Life and Good Death and Evil. 16. v. In that I Command thee this Day to love the Lord thy God to walk in his ways and to keep his Commandments and his Statutes and his Judgments that thou mayest live And when a Lawyer asked our Saviour Christ what he should do to inherit Eternal Life Luke 10.26,27,28,29 He said unto him what is written in the Law How readest thou 27. v. And he answering said Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy strength and with all thy mind and thy Neighbour as thy self 28. v. And he said unto him thou hast answered right this do and thou shalt live And the Lord saith in Mat. 22.40 On these two Commands hang all the Law and the Prophets And when the young Man in the Gospel came to our Saviour and asked him What he should do to inherit Eternal Life The Lord said unto him â—eep the Commandments as in Matth. 19.17 By all which we see that the Law of God should 〈◊〉 the Rule of our Lives in all things And Moses in his Song Deut. 31.30 also goes on in his former way of speaking in that he includes the adopted Seed with the Natural Seed of Abraham And in the 31. chap. and last ver it is said Moses spake in the ears of all the Congregation of Israel the Words of this Song until they were ended Wherein he saith Give ear O ye Heavens and I will speak and hear O Earth the words of my mouth We also here see that Moses terms the Princes of Israel and the People to be the Heavens and Earth To whom the Words of this Song to the half part of the 21. ver do particularly belong In which he makes mention of those things which were to come upon them as tho they had been already past And from the half part of the 21. verse to the 25. verse he speaks of that degenerate Root of Gall and Wormwood of whom God said in the latter part of the 21. v. to Israel I will move them to Jealousie with those that are not a people I will provoke them to Anger with a foolish Nation Now St. Paul directeth these very Words in his Epistle to the Romans Rom. 10.19 as knowing they were the foolish Nation vvith vvhom Israel should be moved to Jealousie and provoked to Anger vvithal First moved to Jealousie in that the Messias vvas preached and offered to them to bring them into covenant vvith God Secondly Anger in that they brought on them that miserable destruction vvhich remains to this day Novv vvhen St. Paul vvrote this Epistle to the Romans but sevv of them had received the Gospel But he to bear vvitness to the truth and knovving that it vvas that Nation vvhich by God vvas termed to be the foolish Nation A foolish Nation in that vvhen they had received the Knovvledge of the Truth they abode not in the commandment delivered to them by vvhich Christ and the Promises are attainable The which was made with their Fathers at Mount Sinai when they came out of the Land of Egypt that they should not worship other Gods nor make unto themselves any Graven Images that they should not commit Idolatry nor Blasphemy Murder Breach of the Sabbath Adultery Fornication and Theft all which and much more is their continual practice And their Theft is in taking the peoples substance for their Pardons and Indulgences for there is none that can forgive sins but God only These horrible crying sins with their unsatiable blood-thirsty cruelty to the Saints and Servants of God By which their willful and abominable Disobedience excludes them from the mercy promised in and through Christ and will bring upon them all those intolerable Curses which are here pronounced against their Land and themselves they being that Root of Gall and Wormwood against whom those worser Curses did particularly belong Novv that this Foolishness vvas meant by their falling off Paul makes it further evident by vvhat he vvrote to the Galathians In vvhich he says O foolish Galathians who hath bewitched you that you should not obey the Truth Novv vve see here that he terms these Foolish upon the same account as the other vvere so termed But here he rehearseth not the Words of God by Moses because they related not unto them but unto the former For in the follovving Verse of Moses his Song God saith of this Foolish Nation Deut. 32.22,23,24 For a fire is kindled in mine Anger and shall burn unto the lowest Hell and shall consume the Earth with her increase and set on fire the Foundations of the mountains 23. v. I will heap mischiefs upon them I will spend mine arrows upon them 24. v. They shall be burnt with hunger and devoured with burning heat and with bitter destruction I will also send the Teeth of Beasts upon them with the poyson of Serpents of the dust Now we know that these Judgments here set down were not inflicted on Israels Land but we see them evidently made out in this Roman Esaus Land vvhich is that root of bitterness And vvhereas God saith a Fire is kindled in mine Anger vvhich shall burn to the lovvest Hell by vvhich vve may plainly see that there is more than one Hell And this Word of his gives us fully to understand vvhence this Fire comes that does thus consume the Foundations of the Mountains that it is the Anger of God vvhich causes it vvhich Fire extends it self dovvn to the lovvest Hell and riseth upvvard into the Earth the vvhich conumes the Earth vvith her increase by those Torrents or Rivers of Fire the vvhich proceed from the Foundations of those Mountains the vvhich Mountains God hath set as Signs for these several hundred years as a mark for the fulfilling of these Prophesies and to inlighten the thinking Christians that they might know to vvhom these Judgments did appertain and also that they might make preparation for the Lord. Novv vvhereas God saith in the 24. v. I will also send the Teeth of Beasts upon them with the Poyson of Serpents of the Dust The meaning of which vvords is much like to vvhat Isaiah saith
to be the Host of Heaven There is also a material City and a City of People There is a sea of Waters and a sea of People There is a flood of Waters and a flood of People There is raging Waves of the Sea and raging Waves of the Sea of Mankind There is real Wandering stars and figurative Wandring stars There is the Animal Beasts and the Beast of People There is an Earthly City and a City that comes down from Heaven There is a Tabernacle of Man's Pitching and a Tabernacle which the Lord shall pitch and not Man There is natural Waters and spiritual Waters There is the Whirl-wind in the Air and the Whirl-wind of Afflictions There is real fire and figurative fire which is the Anger of Almighty God But God to let us understand that Hell-fire is as well a material fire therefore saith it is a Lake of Fire that burneth with Brimstone There is a real sword and a figurative sword There is a real Vine-yard and figurative Vine-yard There is real shepherds and figurative shepherds There is real Horses and Figurative Horses There is old Babilon and figurative Babilon There is a real Esau and a figurative Esau There is the real Land of Esau and the figurative Land of Esauh There is a real Assyria and a figurative Assyria Also this following Treatise gives an Account of three Worlds three Evers Three Generations three Times three Days There is the Natural Day the Day of a Year and a day of a thousand Years There is also three sorts of Sabbaths spoken of First The seventh Day Sabbath 2dly The seventh Years Sabbath 3. The seventh seventh Years Sabbath in which all things were restored to their right owners the which figures out to us the great Jubile or Sabbatism of Rest and Restitution of all things by Christ when he again comes And also in the great Jubel Sabbath there is one thing very remarkable that is that the Jubel Year was not fixton the seventh seventh Year the which would have been on the forty ninth year But leaving the forty ninth year was placed on the fiftieth year which seems to signify the change of the Sabbath to all when the Lord again comes accordingly our eighth Day otherwise called the First Day is now the Sabbath for in the fourth Commandment God saith the seventh Day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God But when in the following words God blessed the Day it is the the Sabbath Day God nominates the blessing to and therein not mentioning the seventh day when he blessed the Day but only the Sabbath the All Wife God hath left himself scope for the alteration or change of the day Now what is writ in the Holy Word is the Posts of Wisdoms doors Prov. 8.34 at which we should wait always with earnest Prayers fervent Affection and Self-resignation of our own understanding By which means what is here set down in this little Manual hath been attained that all the Praise and Glory may be of God The which Advice is in the word Learn not to thine own understanding but fear the Lord and depart from evil For who by their own Wisdom can find out God And David cries out Psal 119.18,99,100,101,102 Open thou mine Eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy Law And indeed there is wondrous things contained in it And he saith I have more understanding than all my teachers for thy testimonies are my meditation I understand more than the Antients because I kept thy Precepts I have refrained my feet from evil that I might keep thy word I have not departed from thy Judgments for thou hast taught me And indeed without seeking to God to teach us as David did there is no understanding the hidden misteries and sigurative Speeches that are contained in his word And by the word we understand the Lord spoke to the Jews altogether in Parables for it is said without a Parable spake he not unto them because for their Sins he was laid in Sion as a stumbling stone so as these Parables when opened by the Key of the Word it will altogether appear contrary to what we have hitherto apprehended concerning the Coming of the Lord whose coming is to Judg the World and restore Israel THIS following Treatise sheweth what iâ— the World that is to be destroyed And the Heavens and Earth that is to be burnt Where the Land of Idumea is whose smoke will always ascend With an account when the great Judgments mentioned in the Revelations will be pour'd out upon the Earth Also when all the Jews will be called in And what is the New Heavens and Earth And of the new Jerusalem that comes down from Heaven where the Glorious Tabernacle is to be pitcht And what is the Sea that shall be no more And what will be the World that is to come How the Mountains came to be fir'd With a Prophecy of Luther's when the Lord shall come to Judg the World As also with an account what Belief is or aâ— a true Soul-saving Faith And also it treats of Election and the several sorts of it as the very Elect and a conditional Election and to others a day of Grace And by the Word proving there are several Worlds and so several Foundations by which it is clearly proved that there was none reprobated before the Foundation of the material Heavens and Earth And how Christ dwells in us by his Spiritâ— It gives an Account of the Tree of Knowledg of good and evil A Key found out which the Lord had hid in his Word until such time that he would have the Secrets therein contained reveal'd So as thereby Preparation for the coming of the Lord may be made in our Hearts And what is here set down in this Little Book has been attain'd by fervent desire and self-resignation of my own Vnderstanding and by Prayers and Tears and many a waking Night An Alarm to the world of the near Approach of the day of Judgment BY a clear Information of the certain near approach of the Coming of the Lord that we may make Preparation for him before it be too late That we cry not to the Rocks and Mountains Rev. â— to fall on us to hide us from the Face of â—im that sitteth on the Throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. For that great Day of his Wrath to the Wicked is just at hand Which Day will be a Day of Glory to the Saints and Wrath to the Wicked Liver Therefore let every one strive to make their Peace with the Son before they perish from the way for his Wrath is already kindled But then it will evidently appear that the Heb. 5.9 Lord is the Author of Eternal Salvation unto all them that obey him And then as it is said 2 Thes 1.10 He shall come to be glorified in his Saints and to be admired in all them that believe Which Belief is to believe in him and his Word so
in it that cannot be by reason in the Bowels or Heart of the Earth will be the Devils and all the Damned And man is now said to dwell on the Face of the Earth and not in it And therefore this New Earth wherein is said will dwell Righteousness is as I have here shewed you but as to the outward Fabrick of Heaven and Earth they will be wholly renewed and we know what the Word calls a New Creature is but a Renewed Creature So this Heaven and Earth will be renewed except that part unto which God has denounc'd that dreadful Curse against the which will stand as a Remembrancer of the Ages to come as the Lake of Sodom has been a standing Witness in this our World of God's sore displeasure against Sin But the Prophet Isaiah in the 30th Chapter informs us how the Excellency of the Heavens and Earth will appear in ver 25. he saith There shall be upon every high Mountain and upon every high Hill Rivers and Streams of Waters in the Day of the great slaughter when the Towers fall 26. Moreover the Light of the Moon shall be as the Light of the Sun and the Light of the Sun shall be sevenfold as the Light if the seven days in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people and healeth the stroke of their wound Now he here tells us again when the Earth is to be so replenished or renewed that it is in the day of the great slaughter when the Towers fall He also tells us That it is the Day in which the Lord will bind up the breach of his People and heal the stroke of their wound And then will the Light of the Moon be as the Light of the Sun and the Light of the Sun shall be sevenfold as the Light of Seven Days Isa 30.27,28,29,30,31 Behold the Name of the Lord cometh from far burning with his Anger and the burden thereof is heavy his Lips are full of Indignation and his Tongue as a devouring fire 28. And his Breath an overflowing stream shall reach to the midst of the Neck to sift the Nations with the Sive of Vanity and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people causing them to err Because they have no delight in the waies of the Lord therefore they will be snared that they may be taken 29. But Israel shall have a Song in the night as when a holy solemnity is kept and gladness of heart as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the Lord to the mighty one of Israel 30. And the Lord shall cause his glorious voice to be heard and shall shew the lighting down of his arm with the indignation of his anger and with the flame of a devouring fire with scattering and tempest 31. for through the voice of the Lord shall the Assirian be beaten down which smote with a rod. By the Assirian here is comprehended Israels enemies which now holds them in bondage as the Assirian did formerly And Isa speaking of Israel in the 29 Chap. v. 5 c. Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like the small dust and the multitude of thy terrible ones shall be as chaff that passes away Yea it shall be at an instant suddenly v. 6. Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of Hosts with Thunder and with Earthquake and great noise with storm and Tempest and Flame of devouring fire v. 7. And the multitude of all the Nations that fight against Ariel even all that fight against her and her munition and that distress her shall be as a dream of a night vision v. 8. And it shall be as when a hungry man dreameth and behold he eateth but he awaketh and his Soul is empty Or as when a thirsty man dreameth and behold he drinketh but he awaketh and behold he is faint and his Soul hath appetite So shall the multitude of all the Nations be that fight against mount Sion v. 9. Stay your selves and wonder Cry ye out and cry they are drunken but not with wine they stagger but not with strong drink v. 10. For the Lord hath poured out upon you the Spirit of deep Sleep and hath closed your eyes the Prophets and your Rulers and Seers hath he covered 11. v. And the Vision of all is become unto you as the words of a Book that is sealed which when men deliver to one that is learned saying read this I pray thee and he saith I cannot for it is sealed v. 12. And the book is delivered to him that is not Learned saying read this I pray thee and he saith I am not Learned Now of certain this Scripture doth in a particular manner point to us Christians that are now in the latter day for the beginning of the Chapter treats of the Destruction of Jerusalem And the 5. v. downward speaks of the Destruction of the World and Israels Enemies with the extraordinary Stupidity that they should then lie under And the Prophet in v. 11. hath hinted it fully to us Wherein he tells us the vision of all is become as a book that is sealed That is wherein is comprehended the destruction of the world the restoration of the Jews and the Glory of Christs Kingdom And Isa Saith in the 65. Chap. v. 17. For saith the Lord Behold I create new heavens and a new earth And the former shall not be remembred nor come into mind v. 18. But be you glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create For behold I create Jerusalem a rejoycing and her people a joy Whereby you may see plainly that this new heavens and earth will be at the restoration of the Jews And in the 19th Verse the Lord saith I will rejoice in Jerusalem and joy in my people and the Voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her nor the voice of crying V. 20. There shall be no more thence an Infant of Days nor an Old Man that hath not fill'd his Days for the Child shall die an hundred Years old but the sinner being an hundred Years old shall be accursed V. 21. And they shall build Houses and inhabit them and they shall plant Vineyards and eat the Fruit of them V. 22. They shall not build and another inhabit they shall not plant and another eat for as the days of a Tree are the days of my People and my elect shall long injoy the work of their hands V. 23. They shall not labour in vain nor bring forth for trouble for they are the Seed of the blessed of the Lord and their off-spring with them v. 24. And it shall come to pass that before they call I will answer and whilest they are yet a speaking I will hear Now we must not take this sinner here spoken of neither to be in Jerusalem nor one of Israel but of some of those Nations that were saved which afterwards their Seed may fall off For in Jer. 31.33,34,35,36,37,38,40 There
of the Great City That is they are compassed about with their Enemies of them it is said They ascended up in a Cloud and their Enemies beheld them as in Rev. 11.12 They being chose for the Glorious Tabernacle as the first Churches were For it does appear that all that are raised are not raised to the Glorious Tabernacle as I shall elsewhere prove And also when St. Paul wrote this Epistle and that of the first of the Thessalonians they were in a continual expectation of the coming of Christ insomuch that they thought he would return in their Day But when St. Paul by further Revelation found that the coming of Christ would not be so sudden he then acquainted the Church therewith as in 2 Thess 2.2,3 That ye be not soon shaken in mind nor be troubled neither by Spirit nor by Word nor by Letter as from us though the Day of Christ were at hand 3. Let no man deceive you by any means for that Day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the Son of Perdition Now by what is here said it is evident that the Lord was daily expected of them till after this time that the Apostle acquainted them with the contrary Now that there will be a Spiritual Change upon all the Elect when Christ comes is certain by all the New Covenant Promises And also Esdras saith chap. 6.26 And the men that are received shall see it who have not tasted Death from their birth and the heart of the Inhabitants shall be changed and turned into an other meaning Now whereas the Lord said in Mat. 24.40 Then shall two be in the Field the one shall be taken and the other left two women shall be grinding at the Mill the one shall be taken and the other left but he does not here tell us how But in Verse 31. he saith He shall send his Angels with a great Sound of a Trumpet and they shall gather together his Elect from the Four winds But the Lord saith nothing in the Three Evangelists of their being caught up in the Clouds but only where the Carcase is there will the Eagles be gathered together Now this gathering together from the Four Winds doth comprehend all the Elect that will be upon the Earth at Christ's coming As the faithful Christians whom the Lord shall so find and the twelve Tribes of Israel and those other promised Elect whom the Lord will call in with them Now into these Four Winds was Judah Levy and Benjamin scattered And from these Four Winds will the Lord gather them As for the Ten Tribes they will come out of one place as in Esdras 13. where it is said they went into a far Countrey where never man dwelt Verse 45. For through that Countrey there was a great way to go namely of a Year and an half and the same Region is called Arsareth Then dwelt they there until the latter time Which in the fore part of the Chapter is when Christ comes Now in that Christ and his Apostles spake of these things darkly it was because there was a Secret in it which by this manner of speaking it has remain'd veil'd to us that the calling in of Israel should be at his second coming At which time all the wicked Christians will be cast out for as there was a secret under the Law that was veiled from the Jews so this has been a secret vail'd under the Gospel from the Christians that Israel were comprehended under the Elect. And by the Heavens and Earth that are to be destroyed is meant the wicked Powers and People and then will the material Earth be restored and renewed And whereas the Lord saith in Luke 17.31 In that day he which shall be upon the House top and his stuff in the House let him not come down to take it away and he that is in the Field let him likewise not return back Remember Lot 's wife Now the will of the Lord is such that all his should by his word and the signs be inlightned of his coming And the Lord here gives warning that they should not hanker at that day after their stuff So as to setch any thing out of the house by which words it doth appear they might have knowledge they should use such things but that they should not then regard them but to keep on praying till they are delivered out of the danger by the Angels as Lot was out of Sodom And that we should not be unmindful so to do we have given us the sad remembrance of Lots wife This warning is only to the believers for them that believe not and them that have not the word it signifies nothing to them Therefore it is said of Israel and the promised Elect Isa 66.20 Isa 60.6 That they shall be brought to Jerusalem otherways as upon Horses Camels Litters and the like and these are said to come in multitudes and to bring their Silver and Gold with them But Christ saith of the others there shall be two in one bed the one shall be taken the other left two grinding at the mill one taken and the other left Luke 17.44,45 That is the true Christians must be thus taken and the Elect being all gathered to the holy Land but the wicked are left to partake of those dreadful Judgments which the Lord will pour upon the Earth after he comes As in Rev. 9. Chap. Now there was a necessity of a secresy in these things as to the Heavens and Earth and of the calling in of Israel and Christs second coming And the Lord foreseeing that the apprehensions of the suddenness of his again coming would be a means to keep the Christians in obedience to him and love and affection one to the other and from being greedy of the lucre of this world but that they should alwaies live as waiting for their change for the Lord foretold us that when they should begin to think he delayed his coming they would then eat and drink with the drunken and smite their fellow Servants which in a dreadful manner they have already done but the Lord after his Ascension gave to St. John a certain knowledg of his return which was comprehended under two Heads The time of the Witnesses Prophesying and the Beasts Reigning For the Lord saith v. 11.3 I will give Power to my two witnesses and they shall Prophecy a thousand two hundred and threescore days cloathed in sackcloth And in Rev. 13.5 There is mention made of the Beast to whom the Devil gave Power and he was to continue forty and two Months Now by this Beast it doth not only appear to be the Pope but also it may be meant by the first great Councils that did Afflict the Church Now the Witnesses Prophesying a thousand two hundred and sixty days cloathed in Sackcloth is exactly the two and forty Month the Beast is to Reign For two and forty Months Reckoning thirty days to
Scripture And the like is in Dan. 7.27 And in 2 Tim. 4.8 It is said The Crowns are given in that day to all them that love his appearing For now it is said in Rev. 6.9 The Souls are under the Altar Now in the next place we are to take notice who are those that do chiefly fall under this everlasting Punishment mentioned by St. Paul in 2 Thess 1.6,8,9 which in especial manner appears to be those rhat were the Afflictors of the the Servants of God as in Verse 6. Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompence Tribulation to them that trouble you By which we see these will be the great sharers of his Wrath when the Lord comes as in verse 8. In flaming fire taking Vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ 9. VVho shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power Now altho he saith this of them that know not God Now those are said not to know God that in works deny him in not obeying the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ Now this word was more particularly directed to them that would not have a practical Knowledg of God and of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ as to be obedient thereunto Now that this Condemnation did not extend to all that had not the knowledg of God and of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is evident for in his words there is not all expressed for he did not say of all them that knew not God and all them that knew not the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ but to them chiefly that knew it and would not obey it for the Lord saith he that knoweth not his Masters Will and doeth it not shall be beaten with fewer stripes For St. Paul also knew that the Jews that neither did know nor obey the Gospel were to be called in at the coming of the Lord is evident by what is said in Rom. 11.25,26 That when the fulness of the Gentiles be come in then all Israel should be saved He saith according as it is written in Isa 59. read there from the V. 14. to the end of the Chapter in which is contained Christ's coming to Judgment and the Redemption of his People and it is at that time when he comes to Mount Sion That he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob. And then will the rest of the promised Elect be gathered in Now when the Lord was upon the Earth he did not in the plain Letter of the Word either bid us pray for Jerusalem or the Conversion of the Jews but in the Second and Third Petitions of that Prayer that he taught us they are both included Where he saith Thy Kingdom come thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven For the Lord knowing that Israels time to be restored would not be until his Second Coming at which Time should be the Restitution of all Things And then will the Kingdoms of this World become the Kingdoms of our God and of his Christ And then will Israel be restored and the promised New Covenant made with them And then will the Will of the Lord be done on Earth as it is done in Heaven and this the Lord would have us to pray for before we ask our daily bread for the Time was not so absolutely determined but that the days may be shortned And the Lord said to Esdras Pray for few days unto you And Christ in Matth. 24.22 saith For the Elect's sake those days shall be shortned And St. Peter speaking of Christ's second coming in Acts 3.19,20,21,22,23 Repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. 20. And he shall send Jesus Christ which before was preached unto you 21. VVhom the Heavens must receive until the times of restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began 22. For Moses truly said to the Fathers a prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren like unto me him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you 23. And it shall come to pass that every Soul which will not hear that prophet shall be destroyed from among the people Here the Apostle absolutely tells us The Lord will again come and then will the Times of Restitution be the which he saith hath been declared by all the Prophets and by them I here prove the same unto you And in 2 Esdras 11.37 And I beheld and lo as it were a roaring lion chased out of the wood And I saw that he sent out a mans voice unto the eagle and said V. 38. Hear thou I will talk with thee and the highest shall say unto thee V. 39. Art not thou it that remaineth of the four beasts whom I made to reign in my world that the end of their times might come through them V. 46. That all the earth may be refreshed and may return being delivered from thy violence and that she may hope for the judgment and mercy of him that made her Now we have all of us been under a very great mistake as to our Lord 's coming to judgment taking his coming to judg the World for that last and final Judgment spoken of in Rev. 20.12 wherein the Dead both small and great shall stand before the Throne of God At which time the Sea and Hell and Death shall deliver up their Dead which are in them But when Christ comes to Judg the World there is mention made of no such thing But whereas St. Paul saith in the 2 Tim. 4.1 That the Lord Jesus Christ shall judg the quick and the dead at his appearing and his Kingdom Here we must not forget whom the Lord calls Dead it is also them that are dead in sin and it is those Dead wirh the living Saints and restored Jews that he will first Judg. And whereas it is said in his Kingdom pray take notice of the word Kingdom which Kingdom would be but of a short continuance were it but for a natural day therefore it is said that he must Reign till he hath put all his Enemies under his feet which is till the last general Judgment when the Sea Hell and Death shall deliver up their Dead Now as to what our Lord saith concerning his coming Matth. 25.31 when the Son of man shall come in his glory and all the holy Angels with him Then shall he sit upon the Throne of his glory V. 32. And before him shall be gathered all Natiions and he shall seperate them one from another as a Shepherd divideth his Sheep from the Goats Now whereas the Lord saith he shall fit upon the Throne of his Glory which words argue a continuance of some considerable time upon his Throne And the Lord here
and lying wonders in that they say Lord Lord have we not Prophesied in thy name and in thy name cast out Devils and in thy Name done many wonderful works All which does fully make out it is those that makes a profession of Christ but in their Works deny him which are here in a more particular manner shut out And in the Revelations it is said The Vine is first trod in the Wine-press of God's wrath Mat. 25.30 VVhere the Lord in the parable of the three men to whom the Talents were given it was he that improved not his Talent whom the Lord commanded should be cast into outer darkness there shall be weeping and gnashing of Teeth The Lord also saith in Luke 19.12,14,15,27 A certain Nobleman went into a far Countrey to receive for himself a Kingdom and to return 14. But his Citizens hated him and sent a Messenger after him Saying we will not have this man to reign over us 14. And it came to pass when he was returned having received the Kingdom The Lord saith Verse 27. But those mine Enemies which would not that I should reign over them bring hither and slay them before me Now as to whom this Sentence of Condemnation is passed it doth also in a particular manner figure out the Christians to us in that they have the knowledge of the Lord and would not have him to reign over them And the Lord doth not here make mention of the crying sins of the Times for the Scriptures do fully make manifest that they shall have their part in the Lake that burneth with Fire and Brimstone which is the second death Rev. 21.8 But the Lord to undeceive them that think they shall be happy when indeed they shall be miserable Therefore it is said That it is not him that confesseth the Lord with his mouth and in his works deny him and that it is not onely the shuning the doing evil Which so few does now adays But we must also learn to do well for if we Christians are not found ready with grace in our hearts at his coming we shall be shut out like the foolish Virgins from those heavenly nuptials with the Lord the Bridegroom of Souls Now whereas the Lord saith in Mat. 13.34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43 All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables and without a parable spake he not unto them 35. That it might be fullfilled which was spoken by the prophet Saying I will open my mouth in parables I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world And in the 36th Verse 't is made mention of the Disciples coming to the Lord saying Declare unto us the parable of the Tares of the field 37. He answered and said unto them He that soweth the good Seed is the Son of Man 38. The Field is the world the good Seed are the Children of the Kingdom but the Tares are the Children of the wicked One. 39. The Enemy that soweth them is the Devil the Harvest is the end of this world the Reapers are the Angels 40. As therefore the Tares are gathered and burnt in the fire so shall it be in the end of this world 41. The Son of Man shall send forth his Angels and they shall gather out of his Kingdom all things that offend and them that do iniquity 42. And cast them into a Furnace of Fire there shall be wailing and gnashing of Teeth 43 Then shall the Righteous shine forth as the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father Now here we see this is the Interpretation of the Parable wherein we are to take notice that the Tares are the Seed of the Wicked One and according to the saying of St. Peter the World that is to be burnt Pray take notice where this Kingdom is from whence all things that offend and do Iniquity is to be pluckt out you see it is here upon this Earth Now by this you may more clearly see which are the Heavens and Earth which are to be destroyed by the fiery indignation of the Lord's Displeasure And we ought to take notice of the Words of the Lord in that he saith he would open his Mouth in Parables and he would utter things that have been kept secret from the Foundation of the World Which is That the Glory of the Righteous shall be when the Wicked World shall be destroyed Whose Executioners are said to be the Angels For although these things were hinted to them in Old Time by the Prophets yet Israel apprehended them not no more than that of Christ coming to suffer And like us that have been ignorant in these great matters as to the Sayings of Christ and his Apostles And whereas the Lord saith The Righteous shall shine forth as the Sun in the Kingdom of his Father he also saith in John 10.30 I and my Father are one Now seeing that Christ and the Father are One the Kingdom that is the Son 's must be the Father 's also And it is said Rev. 11.15 The The Kingdoms of the world are become the Kingdom of our God and of his Christ And in Psal 9.16 The Lord is known by the judgment which he executeth the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands Verse 17. The wicked shall be turned into Hell with all the Nations that forget God Verse 18. For the needy shall not always be forgotten the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever Now Christ by these words Wheat Sheep and Elect thereby leaves himself scope for to take in whom he pleases at his coming the which will be those people which the Prophets have prophesied of with the poor that are said to be fetch'd in at the coming of the Lord. But by what the Lord saith it is evident that there will be something found in them to distinguish them from the Wicked of the World But as for the Christians that forget God they must look to be turned into Hell as it is said Now it is these and the like places that have cast a Veil over our Faces or Apprehensions in taking the Elect which is to be called in at the coming of the Lord for the Saints which attend him from Heaven and for the Witnesses that meet him in the Clouds of Glory the which then will descend from Heaven and is the place which the Lord said he would prepare for them and then come again and receive them to himself Joh 14.3 This being the Tabernacle which the Lord shall pitch and not man 1 Pet. 1.4,5 Of which I shall speak more in another place But as for those that were before mentioned The Lord there saith it is all the Nations that shall be gathered before him And it is evident that the Saints in Henven are not termed the Nations neither the Damned that are in the infernal Regions And also the Wicked is to be gathered out of this Kingdom of his And therefore this Kingdom of his must be upon the Earth
my name Now what is here said it is certain it was spoken for the time that is to come in which God will be magnified in Israel For at that time it is evident the ways of Israel did not please the Lord as to the capacity they were then in And although the Seed of Jacob had the Oracles of God and the Temple yet they had not the promised new Covenant made with them as to be put into a Capacity not to offend but through sin might become as obnoxious to God as any People And Israel saying wherein hast thou loved us Now God said was not Esau Jacob Brother and I loved Jacob and hated Esau That is God had chosen Jacob as the figure of the world to come to whom the most high hath promised to establish an everlasting covenant with his Seed at that time and it is this other world in which is comprehended the love of God to Israel here in this world Esau was a Kingdom before Israel and remained so after Israel as it is said in Obadiah verse 12. Therefore this Esau here spoken of in Malachy could not be the real Esau And also though the people of Esau were destroyed yet God has not curst the Land to be an Habitation for evil creatures For in Obadiah 19. it is said They of the South shall inherit the Mount of Esau But the Inheritance of this figurative Esau is for ever to lie waste for the Dragons of the Wilderness according to the saying of Isaiah and St. John in the Revelations to fullfil the Scriptures Now whereas St. Paul saith Rom. 11.25 For I would not brethren that you should be ignorant of this Mystery lest ye should be wise in your own conceit that bliwdness in part is happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in Verse 26. And so all Israel shall be saved as it is written Isa 59.20 There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. Verse 27. For this is my covenant unto them when I shall take awaytheir sins Verse 28. As conterning the Gospel they are enemies for your sake but as touching the Election they are beloved for the Fathers sake Now whereas St. Paul saith that blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in And the Lord himself saith in Luke 21.28 That Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled That is that Jerusalem shall not be restored until the Gentile power is quite vanquished destroyed or extirpated And that will not be till the Lord cometh at which time all Gentile power will be destroyed and laid low And whereas it is said in Isaiah 60.10 That the Sons of strangers shall build thy walls and their Kings shall minister unto thee That is those that are Kings at the coming of the Lord which are and may be converted shall become serviceable and minister to Israel And whereas St. Paul saith until the Gentiles be come in That is the fullness or the greater Number of the Gentiles be come in Rom. 11.25,26,27,28,29 So then all Israel shall be saved As it is written there shall come out of Sion the Deliverer and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob for this is my Covenant unto them when I shall take away their sins Here we see that the Apostle did not say that the Lord was come out of Sion that should turn away ungodliness from Jacob but that he would make this promise good to them when he again comes to Sion And in Isa 52.17 at the latter end the Lord speaks of putting on Garments of Vengeance for cloathing in which he will judge his Enemies and at the same time he will deliver Israel as the Apostle saith And in verse 28. he saith concerning the Gospel they are Enemies for your sakes but as touching the Election they are beloved for their fathers sakes For he there tells us 29. The gifts and calling of God are without Repentance Which is as much as to say that they cannot be forgotten of God Here we see St. Paul bears his Witness as to God's making good his promises to Israel and that we are not taken in as to disappoint them of their Inheritance at the Restitution of all things But that then they shall be again taken in and the Everlasting Covenant be made with them according as God has before promised to them Rom. 11.30 For although through their unbelief we are taken into mercy whereby their Number is diminished yet the Covenant that God has by Oath promised to make with them even with both the Houses of Jacob at that time of Restitution they cannot be disappointed of For we that are taken in to be of the Seed of Abraham in and through Christ we must come in as of the Lyon of the Tribe of Judah of which Race Christ came And St. Paul speaking of the conversion of the Jews Rom. 11.15 saith What shall the receiving of them be but life from the dead And the Patriarch Levy in his last will and Testament foretold his Sons that they should call him Heretick that goeth about to renew the Law by the power of the highest and in the end they should kill him out of hand as they think not knowing that he shall rise again and so shall ye receive his innocent blood wilfully upon your own heads For his sake shall your holy place be left desolate which you shall have defiled by utter forswearing and your dwelling shall not be clean but you shall be curst among the Heathen and despair shall vex you till he visit you again And he further saith then will God raise up a new Priest unto whom all the Lords words shall be opened and he shall execute true Judgment upon the Earth many days And his Star shall rise in Heaven as a King shall he shew forth the light of knowledge in the open Sunshine of the day and he shall be magnified over all the world and be received and shine as the Sun upon the Earth and drive away all darkness and there shall be peace upon all the Earth In his days the Heavens shall rejoyce the Earth shall be glad the clouds shall be merry the knowledge of the Lord shall be poured out upon the Earth as the waters of the Seas and the Angels of Glory that are in the Lords presence shall rejoyce in him The Heavens shall be opened and out of the Temple of Glory shall sanctification come upon him with the fathers voice as from Abraham the father of Isaac and the Glory of the highest shall be spread out upon him and the Spirit of understanding and sanctification shall rest upon him whereof he shall give abundantly and mightily to his children in truth for evermore and there shall none succeed him from Generation to Generation World without end In his Priesthood all sin shall come to an end and the
shall inherit the Earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace 12. The wicked plotteth against the just and gnasheth upon him with his Teeth 13. The Lord shall laugh at him for he seeth that his day is coming 22. For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the Earth and they that are cursed of him shall be cut off Therefore it is said He that giveth to the Poor lendeth to the Lord. And the Lord calleth the Poor his Brethren And the Apostle saith 1 Cor. 1.27 God hath chosen the foolish things of the World to confound the Wise and God hath chosen the weak things af the world to confound the things that are mighty 28. And the base things of the World and the things that are despised hath God chosen yea and things which are not to bring to nought things that are You see in these last words of the verse that St. Paul had a reference for the time to come And as the Lord at his first coming did chuse the mean and low things of the Earth So at the Lord's second coming it does appear that he will then chuse them also as part of his Elect when he again comes 29. That no flesh should glory in his presence That is It is not their Wisdom Grandeur or Greatness that made them acceptable with God Of which Hanath Prophesieth in 1 Sam. 2.8 He raised up the Poor out of the dust and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghil to set them among Princes and to make them inherit the Throne of Glory for the Pillars of the Earth are the Lords and he hath set the World upon them 9. He will keep the feet of his Saints and the wicked shall be silent in darkness for by strength shall nâ— man prevail 10. The Adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces out of Heaven shall he thunder upon them the Lord shall judg the ends of the Earth and he shall give strength unto his King and exalt the Horn of his Anointed And therefore he saith in 1 Cor. 1.30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus who of God is made unto us Wisdom and Righteousness and Sanctification and Redemption 31. That according as it is written he that glorieth let him glory in the Lord. And Jeremiah saith Jer. 9.23,24 Thus saith the Lord let not the wise man glory in his wisdom neither let the mighty man glory in his might let not the rich man glory in his riches But let him that glorieth glory in this that he understandeth and knoweth me that I am the Lord which exercise loving Kindness Judgment and Righteousness in the Earth for in these things I delight saith the Lord. This Chapter as well as the forementioned to the Corinthians has a reference to the second Coming of Christ at which time he will exercise Loving Kindness Judgment and Righteousness in the Earth Now it does fully appear by Scripture who are the Elect that will be received into mercy when the Lord again comes That it is the Antient People of God the Jews with part of those people or nations which Isaiah makes mention of in the 60. c. 6. 7. v. And the poor which have not uncapacitated themselves for Mercy There is also then a Blessing promised to the Meek Psal 37.11 They shall inherit the Earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of Peace which cannot be till the Lord again comes That is those meek that have not had the Opportunity of more knowledg And the Merciful that have shewed mercy to Gods Elect if they have not been guilty of the evils against which the Lord hath pronounc'd that dreadful sentence Rev. 21.8 That they shall have their part in the Lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second Death But I hope God of his infinite mercy hath here caused the true meaning of his Word to break forth to be the means of saving of thousands of poor Papists and Turks And I hope it will awaken thousands of our Nations that are asleep in security before they sleep that sleep of Eternal Death But as for them that are willfully ignorant there remains for them no hopes of Mercy For God saith Prov. 1.24,25,26,27,28 Because I have called and ye refused I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded 25. v. But ye have set at nought all my Counsel and would none of my Reproof 26. v. I will also laugh at your Calamity I will mock when your Fear cometh 27. v. When your Fear cometh as Desolation and your destruction cometh as a Whirlwind when distress and anguish cometh upon you 28. v. Then shall they call upon me but I will not answer they shall seek me early but they shall not find me According to the saying of the Lord in St. Luke That they shall then strive to enter in but shall not be able That is as soon as the Lord appeareth they will be seeking to him for Mercy for this Scripture doth particularly relate to the latter Day but then it will be too late Prov. 1.29 For that they hated Knowledge and did not chuse the Fear of the Lord. Whilst the door of Mercy is open to us whereby to make our Calling and Election sure For when the Lord comes to Judgment we must then give an account of our Stewardship and as we are found so will our Sentence be whether for Blessedness or Misery Now the Lord Christ with the Apostles speaks in the same method as God aforetime spake by his Prophets in that they do mention those things which are to come as though they were already done And also in that they mention or joyn those things together which are done or shortly to be done with those things which are of a long continuance before they will be accomplisht And having proved it in several places before I shall here make mention but of Two The first is the foregoing words of the Apostle wherein he makes mention of those call'd in at Christs first coming with the promised Elect which shall be received into mercy at his second coming And also Christ himself mentioneth the destruction of Jerusalem with that of the destruction of the world as tho they were to have been at one and the same time That thereby we might the better understand the writings of the Prophets and Moses as to their joyning things together which admits of great distance of time between For as to the Covenant that God made with Israel the Christians were included therein also As being Ahrahams seed by Christ And therefore when Moses speaks of Israels Land he there speaks of what will become of the Christians Land That is the Land where the pretended head of the Church is who walk with Israel according to the imagination of their own hearts Which woe is pronounced to that Land that it shall become brimstone and salt and burning Also those Prophesies of Christs first coming are joyn'd with his second coming and
the Work to be his own And as for most of the great Judgments spoken of in the Revelations they will be upon the Earth after the Lord comes And as for the drying up the River Euphrates it was never given us by Christ or his Apostles as a sign before his coming Neither was the Fall of Babylon given us as a sign before the coming of the Lord. But if Babylon does fall before the coming of the Lord it will be upon the Discovery of the great Delusions that is now made manifest being accompanied with the Angry Face of Heaven in the Earthquakes and fiery Mountains that have been amongst them But if the City as well as the Beast do remain till the Lord come at which time Dan. 7.11,12 The Beast will be destroyed and given to the burning flame and then the rest of the Beast or Kings will have their Dominion taken away Yet their Lives will be prolonged for a Season and a Time Then may the Kings that gave their Power to the Beast when they become sensible of the intolerable Vengeance that they are fallen under then may they make good that which is said in Rev. 17.16 And the Ten Horns which thou sawest upon the Beast these shall hate the Whore and shall make her desolate and naked and shall eat her flesh and burn her with fire Now in the destruction of this City there is no other mentioned but them that had given their Power to the Beast And what is faid here and in Daniel and what the Lord in Matth. 22.8 where he speaks concerning his Invitation to us by the Gospel it doth not appear to be after the Lord comes for it is said in the 5. v. They made light of it and went their ways one to his Farm another to his Merchandise 6. v. And the remnant took his Servants and intreated them despightfully and slew them 7. v. But when the King hear'd thereof he was wrath and sent forth his Armies and destroyed those Murderers and burnt up their City Now we here have had the Call of the Gospel and neglected it But it has and is the Roman Power that does take the Servants of Christ and use them despightfully and slay them for which it is said that the King sent his Armies and destroyed those Murderers and burnt up their City Now the Murderers being said to be destroyed when the City is burnt up whereby it doth more clearly appear to be after the Lord comes And the Lord hath inform'd us of this City by St. John in Rev. 17. That it is mistical Babylon as in the 5. v. And upon her forehead was a Name written Mistery Babylon the great the Mother of Harlots and abominations of the Earth Here the Lord mentions this City under the Name of a Woman And in the following verse it is said And I saw the Woman Drunk with the Blood of the Saints and with the Blood of the Martyrs of Jesus and when I saw her I wondred with great admiration And in Rev. 18.1 I saw an angel come down from Heaven 2. And he cryed mightily with a strong Voice saying Babylon the great is fallen is fallen and is become the habitation of Devils and the hold of every foul Spirit and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird This being the same as Isaiah saith in Isa 34.10 and so to the end And in the forementioned Chapter of the Revelations 3. v. For all Nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her Fornication and the Kings of the Earth have committed fornication with her And in the 4. v. And I heard another voice from Heaven saying come out of her my People that ye be not partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her plagues 5. v. For her sins have reached unto Heaven and God hath remembred her iniquity 6. v. Reward her even as she rewarded you and double unto her double according to her works in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double 7. v. How much she hath glorified her self and lived deliciously so much torment and sorrow give her for she saith in her heart I sit a Queen and am no Widow and shall see no sorrow 8. v. Therefore shall her Plagues come in one day Death and Mourning and Famine and she shall be utterly burnt with fire for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her Now that we might not be mistaken as to the City her Merchandise makes it clearly out where it is said in Rev. 18.13,17,18 She makes Merchandise of the Souls of men And in the 17. c. by the Angels words we are fully assured which this City is For in the 18. v. he saith The Woman which thou sawest is the great City which reigneth over the Kings of the Earth Now by this demonstration here it is fully made evident that this City here mentioned is Rome in that no City under the face of the whole Heavens can be said to Reign over the Kings of the Earth but Rome and she doth by her Pope and Cardinals and the rest of her Crew which are there situated And also of this City or Woman it is said in Rev. 17.4 She was arrayed in Purple and Scarlet Colour and decked with Gold and Precious Stones and Pearls having a Golden Cup in her Hand full of Abominations and the filth of her Fornications This Cup being another clear proof that it is Rome that is here ment for it is said in the Cup is the abomination and the filth of her Fornications The which she sets up as a God and Worships and with which she commits Spiritual Fornication And now having shewed you who this City is I leave her to her near approaching Judg. Now as to what is said in Zachariah chap. 12.7 v. The Lord also shall save the Tents of Judah first that the Glory of the House of David and the Glory of the Inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnifie themselves against Judah Now the house of David came of the Tribe of Judah and they were the Chief of that Tribe and yet here 't is said that they should not magnifie themselves against Judah and therefore underneath these Words appears there 's something veil'd and the true Christians come in by the Lyon of the Tribe of Judah and therefore it does appear to be these of Judah that will de saved first of whom Christ saith Two shall be in one Bed the one shall be taken and the other left two Women grinding at the Mill the one shall be taken and the other left whilst Israel and the promised Elect come in Multitudes And in Zach. 12.8,9,10 verses it is said In that day shall the Inhabitants of Jerusalem and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David and the house of David shall be as God as the Angel of the Lord before them 9. v. And it shall come to pass in that day that I will seek to destroy all the
Nations that come against Jerusalem 10. v. And I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of Grace and Supplications and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his onely Son and shall be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his first born Here in these verses the Lord tells us that at the restoration of Jerusalem the weak Saint shall be as the house of David and the house of David shall be as God That is as David was King over them so will Christ the Lord who is as God And then shall they see him whom they have pierced As also it is said in Rev. 1.7 Behold he cometh with the Clouds and every eye shall see him and they also which pierced him and all the Kindreds of the Earth shall wail because of him Now it will be when the Lord comes in the Clouds of Heaven that they shall see him whom they have pierced And the people shall mourn apart as in Zach. 12.12 The land shall mourn every Family apart the Family of the house of David apart and their wives apart the Family of the house of Nathan apart and their wives apart 13. v. The Family of the house of Levy apart and their wives apart the Family of Shinei apart and their wives apart all the Families that remain every Family apart and their wives apart Here we see there is no mention made of the Mourning of them of Juda which is spoken of in the 7. v. by which it does more plainly appear to be the true Christians they coming in by the Lyon of the Tribe of Judah And it is said in Esdras 5.8 There shall be a confusion also in many places and fire shall be oft sent out again Which Word of the Lord is made good by the often repeated fires that he has lately sent out of Mount Etna and Vesivius And it is now according to what is said in Esdras 5.12 At the same time shall men hope and nothing obtain they shall labour but their ways shall not prosper And also it is said in Esdras 6.24 At that time shall Friends fight one against another like Enemies and the Earth shall stand in fear with those that dwell therein the Springs of the Fountains shall stand still and in three hours they shall not run Now whereas it is said the Earth shall stand in fear with those that dwell therein Which Earth is the Earth of people which stands in fear of those Armies which are amongst them And as for the Springs of the Fountains standing still they did so at Taurmins and thereabouts in the year 1694. And also the Springs of Water were stopt for some time in Jamaica in the great Earthquake This Book of Esdras has been laid aside because they apprehended not the Restoration of the Jews should be at the Judgment of this World and their Glory to be in the Renewed Heaven and Earth at Christ's Second Coming Although it is all along declared to be so both in the Old and New Testament but in some places more veil'd Now this Esdras is the same which is called Ezra in that Book set down in the Bible before Nehemiah For in Ezra 10th chap. the 9 16 and 17. verses is exactly the same with that in the first Book of Esdras the 9th chap. 5 6 16 and 17. verses As to the difference of the Name the Prophets are not in the New Testament named as they are in the Old Testament Now since the Signs are come which the Lord hath given us to prepare our Hearts for him that thereby we may be continually upon our Watch longing and waiting for his coming and that we may be found of him in peace and not of the Tares that are said in the Parible to be bound in bundles and cast into the Fire of Hell I shall now here speak of the new Jerusalem which is spoken of in Rev. 21.1 wherein St. John saith He saw a new Heaven and a new Earth For he tells us that the first Heaven and the first Earth were passed away And in the 6. c. from the 13. v. to the 17. he tells us there of Stars falling the Heavens being rolled together and also every Mountain and Island were moved out of their places and the Kings of the Earth and the great men the Rich Men the chief Captains the mighty men every bound man and every free man hid themselves in Dens and Rocks of the Mountains and said to the Rocks and Mountains fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the Throne and from the wrath of the Lamb for the great day of his wraâ—h is come and who shall be able to stand I shall not here inlarge upon it because I have already proved it unto you what are the Heavens that will be rolled together whilst the Kings of the Earth for some time remain upon the Earth to be ruled with a rod of Iron till dashed to pieces like a Potters Vessel That is those wicked Kings that have been the Afflictors of the Servants of Christ and so continue without repentance until the Lord comes Here we may see that the writings of this Book by this place and others has been very much misplaced in that they have set down the great day of the Wrath of the Lamb and the destruction of the World before the rice of the Beast And in the 14. chap. from the 15. v. to the 20. it treats of the Earth being Reaped and also the Vine of the Earth being reaped was cast into the Wine-press of the wrath of God which Wine-press was trod without the City Thus the Earth with the Vine of the Earth being reaped are the Heavens and Earth which are said to pass away And in the 20. v. it is said the Wine-press is trod without the City And in Rev. 22.14,15 it is said Blessed are they that do his Commandments that they may have right to the tree of Life and may enter in through the Gates into the City For without are Dogs and sorcerers and Whoremongers and Murderers and Idolaters and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie This City here mentioned being the City spoken of in the 14. c. at the 20. v. Where the Wine-press is said to be trod without the City And the 14. chap. is much misplaced by reason it is set before the Fall of Babilon And also the two last Chapters are misplaced which treats of the New Jerusalem in that they have placed them beyond the final and last Judgment For this New Jerusalem being the City without which the Wine-press was trod And without which were Dogs and Sorcerers Now had this City been after the final Judgment it would not have been said without were whoremongers and Idolaters Sorcerers and the like for such being in Hell have then no such term for then they
the Holy Jerusalem descending out of Heaven from God Here he does not say that it did descend down upon the Earth Neither in the same Chap. at the 2. v. He doth but say he saw it coming down from God out of Heaven but he did not say that he saw iâ— upon the Earth And as to what the Lord saith Rev. 3.12 Where he speaking of the New Jerusalem which cometh down out of Heaven from my God By these places we see there is no mention made of its being seated upon the Earth But it is certain that it will come down out of Heaven And the Psalmist speaking of Christ Glorious Kingdom in the Psalm 68.33,34,35 To him that rideth upon the Heavens of Heavens which were of old Lo He doth send forth his voice and that a mighty voice 34. Ascribe the strength unto our God his excellency is over Israel and his strength is in the Clouds 35. O God thou art terrible out of thy Holy places The God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power unto his people blessed be God Here we see the strength and Glory of the Lord in the time of his Kidgdom is said to be in the Clouds The which is plain there is something more comprehended in it than we have hitherto apprehended The which Isaiah doth fully make appear in Isa 4.4,5,6 When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the Daughters of Sion and shall have purged the Blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the Spirit of Judgment and by the Spirit of burning And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of Mount Sion and upon all her Assembles a Cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming Fire by night for upon all the glory shall be a defence And there shall be a Tabernacle for a shadow in the day time from the Heat and for a place of refuge and for a Covert from the Storm and from the Rain In the first of these Verses the Prophet tells us when this Glory shall be Revealed which will be at the time when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the Daughter of Sion by the Spirit of Judgment and by the Spirit of burning This appears to be the Baptism St. John speaks of where he saith Mat. 3.11,12 He that cometh after me is mightier than I whose shoes I am not worthy to bear he shall baptise you with the Holy Ghost and with Fire Whose fan is in his hand and he will throughly purge his Floor and gather his Wheat into his Garner but he will burn up the Chaff with unqueuchable Fire Now it is said that Christ Baptised none but after his Ascension the Disciples were Baptised with the Holy Ghost But then Christ did not gather his Wheat into his Garner neither then did he burn up the Chaff with unquenchable Fire therefore this has a more special reference to the Lords second coming at which time he will throughly purge his Floor and gather his Wheat into his Garner and then it is that he will burn up the Chaff with unquenchable Fire And whereas the Prophet saith Isa 4.5,6 That the Lord will Create upon every dwelling place of Mount Sion and upon all her assemblies a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming Fire by Night These words does not only take in the dwelling Places of Mount Sion but all her Assemblies the which comprehends all Israel whose Dominions accoring Scripture is larger than whatever they have yet had in possession over which this glorious cloud here spoken of will be extended which does fully appear to be the Tabernacle spoken of in Heb. 8.2 Which the Lord shall pitch and not man According to which Isaiah saith in the 6. v. And there shall be a Tabernacle for a shadow in the day time from the Heat and for a place of refuge and for a covert from the Storm and from the Rain Now the Cloud that Isaiah speaks of being like unto flaming Fire and I cannot conceive that there could be a more fit resemblance than Gold that is like to clear Glass to the appearance of flaming Fire And it is said Rev. 21.18 The City was pure Gold like unto clear Glass And in the 21. v. And the Street of the City was pure Gold as it were transparent Glass Now Isaiah saith in the 4. c. at the 6. v. That the Tabernacle should be a shadow from the Heat and a place of Refuge and a Covert from the Storm and from the Rain Under which the Elect will be secured from the Judgments that will be poured upon the Earth after the Lord comes Here you see in this Rev 21. he saith that the Street of the City was pure Gold like to Transparent Glass And here by this one street he comprehends the Pavement of the whole City the which being over the Heads of the Children of Israel will appear though of the Colour of Gold yet it is said to be so clear as to look like Transparent Glass so that Israel underneath this Tabernacle may all see the Glory that is there Revealed And in Isa 60.1 Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee Now the City that St. John speaks of in the 21 c. 2. v. He therein comprehends the raised Saints but herein the same chap. at the 18. and 21. v. he there speaks of the outward fabrick or glorious Mansion for in Scripture the People are termed a City as well as a material Building is so termed And St. John saith in the forementioned Chapter after he had related the coming down of the City He then speaks of the Glory of the same Rev. 21.11 Having the glory of God and her light was like a stone most precious even like a Jasper clear as Cristal 12. And had a Wall great and high and had twelve Gates and at the Gates twelve Angels and names written thereon which are the Names of the twelve Tribes of the Children of Israel And St. John saith c. 21. 15. v. And he that talked with me had a Golden Reed to measure the City and the gates thereof and the Wall thereof 16. And the City lieth four square and the length is as large as the breadth and he measured the City with the Reed twelve thousand furlongs the length and the breadth and the height of it are equal Now we see by the large extent of this City which according to account of eight furlongs to a Mile to be fifteen hundred Miles not only in length but that the breadth and heighth thereof are equal this being the Tabernacle which the Lord shall pitch and not Man and then will the Lord make good his Promise to Israel that there shall be a Tabernacle for a shadow in the day time from the heat and for a place of Refuge and for a covert from the storm and from the rain And in Isaiah it is said Isa 60.1.2
Arise shine for thy light is come and the Glory of the Lord is risen upon thee For behold darkness shall cover the Earth and gross darkness the People but the Lord shall rise upon thee and his Glory shall be seen upon thee For as the Lord is said in Numb 14.14 to be over Israel in a Cloudy Pillar when he delivered them out of Egypt which was but a Figure of the great deliverance to come at which time the Lord will be in the Clouds and his Spouse his chief raised Saints with him This Tabernacle Covert or City is said to be twelve thousand furlongs not only in length and breadth but the same in heighth by which it does appear that the top thereof may reach to Heaven and that the Heavens may remain open above it as it was when it descended until this Glory that shall be Revealed be drawn up again and that the Throne of God in the highest Heavens may be placed over Mount Sion That as it is said in Gen. 28.12 That the Ladder which Jacob saw set upon the Earth the top of which reached to Heaven and that the Angels of God did ascend and descend upon it and the Lord God stood above it By which it doth appear that this Ladder will prove the white Clouds and that the Top of them will reach to Heaven whilst one part of them may extend so low as Mount Sion and these appear to be the Ladder upon which the Angels ascended and descended upon the Son of Man as the Lord saith John 1.51 Hereafter ye shall see Heaven open and the Angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man The which words of the Lord in saying that you shall see the Heavens open doth seem to signify the continuance of their remaining open for some time And St. John saith Rev. 21 22. He saw no Temple in this City which came down from Heaven for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the Temple of it 23. And the City had no need of the Son neither of the Moon to shine in it for the Glory of God did lighten it and the lamb is the Light thereof Now if the Heavens be open over this City and the Throne of God just above it as it is said of the Ladder God stood at the top of it then must the Glory of God inlighten this City as well as the Lamb is the light thereof And according to all these places of Scripture it doth so appear to be neither can it properly be said that there is a distinction of Glory between the Father and the Son for Christ saith to the Father in John 17.5 Glorify thou me with thine own self with the Glory which I had with thee before the World was Therefore where the Glory of the Son is there is the Glory of the Father also And St. John speaking of the Angel saith Rev. 22.1 He shewed me a pure River of water of Life clear as Crystal proceeding out of the Throne of God and of the Lamb. Now we read nothing of the Holy Ghost but whereas it is said This River proceeded out of the Throne of God and of the Lamb and it is said of the Spirit to proceed from the Father and the Son and the Lord termeth the Holy Spirit to Water in John 4.14 But whosoever drinketh of the Water that I shall give him shall never thirst but the Water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of Water springing up into everlasting life And the Lord farther saith in John 7.38 He that believeth on me as the Scripture hath said out of his Belly shall flow Rivers of Living Water 39. But this spake the Lord of the Spirit which they that believe on him should receive And in Isa 44.3 God saith I will pour Water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground I will pour my Spirit upon thy Seed and my blessing upon thy Off-spring And in Psal 46.4 There is a River the streams thereof shall make glad the City of the most High Therefore this River here spoken of the which proceedeth from the Throne of God and of the Lamb must be meant of the Spirit And it is said of this Heavenly City Rev. 22.3 There shall be no more Curse but the Throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it 4. And they shall see his Face and his Name shall be in their foreheads These words shew that the Saints will always be about the Throne both in the time that is to come and also in Eternity And to what Isaiah saith in the 60. c. which treats of the Heavenly Jerusalem and also of the new Earthly one For it is there said the Lord shall rise upon thee 3. v. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light and Kings to the brightness of thy rising By which it does appear that the Gentiles and Kings that is as many of them as have had an interest in Christ and are departed this World shall come to the brightness of their Rising or Glory the which is in the Jerusalem which comes down from Heaven And from the 4. v. of the same Chap. to the 18. it treats of them that are to be call'd in with the Jews at the second coming of the Lord. But it is said 9. v. Surely the Isles shall wait for me Now this waiting could not be at Christ's first coming for then the Isles had no knowledg of the Lord and therefore could not be said to wait for him they knew not And in the 19. and 20. verses of this 60. chap. speaking of the Heavenly Jerusalem where it is said The Sun shall be no more thy light by day neither for brightness shall the Moon give light unto thee but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light and thy God the Glory 20. Thy Son shall no more go down neither shall thy Moon withdraw it self for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light and the days of thy mourning shall be ended And in the 21. v. it speaks of the People of Israel Thy People shall be all righteous they shall inherit the Land for ever the branch of my planting the work of my hands that I may be glorified 22. v. A little one shall become a thousand and a small one a strong Nation I the Lord will hasten it in his time Here the Prophet speaks of the People of Israel who in a more peculiar manner belongeth to this City that they should be all righteous and that they shall Inherit the Land for ever and that they should multiply therein and increase and that this should be in its time which will be at the Restitution of all things and then will there be a new Earthly Jerusalem built upon her own heap as Jer. 30.18 And then as the Lord sath Isa 54.12 I will make thy windows of Agates and thy Gates of Carbuncles and all thy Borders of pleasant Stones According to this Tobit
which Gloriously was made true on Luther for in the year 1515 he began to sing and so Powerfully Preached and Wrought and Fought as since the Apostles times none hath done the like yet notwithstanding in despight of the Papists whom valiently in open fight he Encountred he lived many years afterwards and in the year 1546 departed in Peace on his bed Now in that God terms the Wicked to the Heavens and Earth and the World thereby he leaves man scope to come to Repentance whosoever so does they are then neither termed the Heavens nor the Earth nor World that is here spoken of that is to be destroyed 〈…〉 So I hope 〈…〉 by the breaking forth of the Light of Knowledg of the Coming of the Lord and by the fresh publication of the Gospel there may be Millions of Souls brought home so as to prepare for the coming of the Lord so that it may be only those that have hardned themselves in all Iniquity are to be left of God to hardness of heart and blindness of mind which may chiefly prove the Heavens Earth and World which will be destroyed by whom is chiefly included the incorigible Babilouians or Romanists whereas the Lord saith Should he find Faith on the Earth I could wish the Earth here spoken of by the Lord did only as will chiefly include those cruel Babilonians which have acted their Cruelty to the Servants of Christ and such as have given themselves up to wilful sin whereby they are left of God to hardness of Heart and blindness of mind but that all the rest of Mankind and especially them that bear the outward Name of Christ may depart from iniquity or otherwise they being they that will else fall underneath the severest Judgments And that all Mankind would seek unto God as Nineveh did and that also all them that fear his Name would stand in the gan for the People and so the 〈◊〉 of People that is to be destroyed may be â—…minished and the servants of Christ 〈…〉 creased So that Darkness might only fall on that Earth of People that hath excluded themselves from his Mercy but that the 〈…〉 mankind may keep off the Judgments 〈◊〉 against them by their Repentance as Nineveh did so that the Destruction which was threatned to be in forty days was turned to forty days of years in which Time those who were the chief Mourners were remov'd by Death and so now if we by the fresh breaking forth of the clear light of the Gospel with the Voice of the Bridegroom 's coming we so awake as to prepare for it we shall have as good success as Nineveh had for thereby the Earth of the Wicked will be decreased and the Servants of Christ increased And in that Luther doth say There shall be a Voice of the Bridegroom 's coming according to what the Angel said to Daniel altho not in the same words but to the same effect as in Dan. 12.4 But thou O Daniel shut up the words and seal the Book even to the time of the end many shall run to and fro and knowledg shall be-increased This fully shows that knowledg shall be increased at the time of the end which end is now just approaching and knowledge breaking forth at the Coming of the Lord thereby to make preparation for his coming But my Soul is troubled when I think of the Words of the Lord concerning the willful miscarriage of the Christians after they have Notice of his Coming for he saith in Luke 14.17 He sent his Servants at Supper-time to say to them which were bidden Come for all things are now ready 18. v. And they all with one accord began to make excuse being eager after the advantage of this World Here we see these might have came had they not been wanting to themselves for which the Anger of the Lord was kindled against them And here we see by the Lord as well as by Daniel and Luther that there would be notice given at the end of the time of his Coming of which the Lord saith is just at Supper-time And the Lord also said Dan. 12.9,10 And he said go thy way Daniel for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end Which plainly shews there was a Secret in it which was not to be revealed till now the end of the time And also the Lord saith in the tenth verse Many shall be purified and made white and tried but the wicked shall do wickedly and none of the wicked shall understand but the wise shall understand And whereas it is said none of the wicked shall understand that is those that have given themselves to work iniquity shall be left of God to hardness of heart and blindness of mind And whereas it is said the Wise shall understand it is meant by them that truly fear the Lord for the fear of the Lord is said to be the beginning of Wisdom and these are those that shall not be in darkness at that day but that the signs with the opened revealed Will of God in his Word shall now alarm them to prepare for his coming Now between these there is a third sort which by the Watchmans Warning they might have the advantage of making preparation For the Watchman is set upon the Watch-Tower to warn all And if the Wicked Man die without Warning although he die in his iniquity yet his Blood will God require at the Watchmans hand according to the Word of the Lord in Ezek. 33.6,7,8 14,15 But if the Watchman see the sword come and blow not the Trumpet and the people be not warned if the Sword come and take any person from among them he is taken away in his iniquity but his blood will I require at the Watchmans hand 7. So thou O Son of Man I have set thee a Watchman unto the House of Israel therefore thou shalt hear the Word at my mouth and warn them from me 8. When I say unto the Wicked O wicked man thou shalt surely die if thou dost not speak to warn the Wicked from his way that wicked man shall die in his iniquity but his blood will I require at thine hand For the Lord saith in the 14th verse When I say to the Wicked thou shalt surely die if he turn from his sin and do that which is lawful and right 15. v. he shall surely live he shall not die By this we also see that if God doth say to the Wicked thou shalt surely die yet that threatning was of force no longer than the man remained sinful But as for those sinners who by their continual custom in sin God has left to hardness of heart and blindness of mind they cannot come to amendment of Life And God saith according to this in Ezek. 33.13 When I shall say to the Righteous that he shall surely live if he trust to his own Righteousness and commit iniquity all his Righteousness shall not be remembered but for his iniquity that he
hath committed he shall die for it According to this is the Words of Christ in the Gospel where he saith He that believeth in me shall be saved the which Words includes no longer than they so continue believing which belief must be a practical belief the which is to believe in Christ and his Word so as to live in Obedience thereunto for it is said Without Holiness no man shall see the Lord. And between Holiness and Righteousness it is hard to make a distinction But as to what the Lord saith John 5.24 was spoken for the time to come when God shall have committed all Judgment to the Son for which time this was spoken that is those that then shall be found believers are then passed from Death to Life so as they shall never come into condemnation And as for the Sheep that so securely stand of whom Christ saith none can pluck them out of my Fathers Hand is spoken of those that are Christs standing Witnesses thorough the World they being those very Elect of whom Christ said it was impossible to deceive and of whom it is said in the Revelations they follow the Lamb wheresoever he goeth This being clearly proved where I have spoken of the very Elect I do but here mention it that thereby we may know that we do not so securely stand but as St. Paul saith in Hebrews We like Israel having a Promise of entering into life should take heed lest any of us should sall short of entering into that promised Rest therefore he advises us to make our Calling and Election sure and Christ also invites sinners to come to Repentance and if we are not wanting to our selves Christ will not be wanting to us And by the Watchmans Warning there may be great part of the people saved from the near approaching danger by what God saith in Ezekiel for there is but few Soldiers but when they have the warning given them but they will seek to deliver themselves and God saith in Ezekiel 33.5 He that taketh warning shall deliver his Soul Methinks this promise should make us with life and vigour laborious to gain life for our souls so as we may be delivered from the near approaching danger for that we are in the time in which the Lord will come is certain The which time will be according to that of the Children of Israel with signs and wonders the which we have seen what the Lord foretold should be before his coming And now with the Prophet Daniel's Vision made good to us so that knowledg shall be increased by the unsealing of the Book at the now time of the end the which will occasion great running to and fro so as knowledg may be increased to prepare for the coming of the Lord according to which the Lord saith in Luke 14.17 That he sent forth his Servants at supper time to say to them that are bidden come for all things are now ready The which gives us also certain information that Light should break forth as thereby warning should be given for preparation to be made for the coming of the Lord to Judg the World and give rewards to the Righteous the Old World had by Noah warning given them whom the Scripture terms a Preacher of Righteousness but because they would not believe and amend therefore they were destroyed And the Lord saith in Mat. 25.6 At midnight there was a cry made behold the Bridegroom cometh go ye out to meet him Which shows in midst of the Night of darkness as to the coming of the Lord that light will break forth so as the cry of the Voice of his Ministers may be heard to warn the People for to prepare to meet the Bridegroom yet upon the Wicked unbelieving World it will come as a Thief in the Night And also as to the Day and Hour no man knoweth Now whereas God saith in Isaiah That that day shall come as a snare upon all flesh Yet as I have already proved the word all in Scripture doth not signify the whole but the major part Now as to what is faid in Rev. 14.6 And I saw another Angel flying in the midst of Heaven having the everlasting Gospel to Preach unto them that dwell on the Earth to every Nation Tongue and People 7. Saying with a loud voice fear God give glory to him for the hour of his Judgment is come and worship him that made Heaven and Earth the Sea and the Fountains of Water This appears to be after the Lord comes in the Clouds with his Saints and Angels and that as the Christians that were before bidden and sent to by his Servants at Supper time to come to his Supper So it doth appear that those that knew him not may afterwards be invited by the Angel by which means Israel and the Promised Elect may be brought in For John Baptist first Preached Christ to the Jews before he was made publick to the World Afterwards when he was made publick the Lord sent his Disciples to Preach the Gospel to the Gentiles Now this being most agreeable to the word and what I apprehend 't will be but however the Ministers may press forward for a publication of the Gospel every where but if they find not blessed success to forbear and to bestow their Labour amongst the Christians and Turks and such as have the Knowledg of God who must stand or fall as their Master finds them but as for the Jews and promised Elect if they come not in they will be sure to be received into Mercy after the Lord comes as many as have not estranged themselves from God by wicked Practices Now whereas the Lord saith in Daniel 12.11 And from the time the daily Sacrifice shall be taken away and the Abomination that maketh desolate set up there should be a thousand two hundred and ninety days And in the following Verse 't is said Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days Here is 45 days of years difference between this and the forementioned number And it is said that he is blessed that waiteth and cometh to the last Number of the Thousand three hundred and five and thirty days Now this being the exact number of years Israel knew after they were delivered out of Egypt before they had Conquered their Enemies so as to be settled in the Land of Canaan for they lay forty years in the Wilderness and five years they were Conquering their Enemies before they peaceably settled in the Land of Canaan Now the like time being mentioned in Daniel whereby it doth appear from the time of the visible signs of the Lord 's Coming till the time he comes and also until the time that all the wicked are cut of doth seem to be the exact number of years because the Lord saith he that waiteth and cometh to the five and forty days of years beyond the forementioned Number are said to be blessed which Argues by
Maker 〈◊〉 Heaven and Earth and all things â—…rein contained whether visible or inâ—…ble and that out of the Gen. 2.7 dust of the â—…und God created Man and breathed inâ—… him the breath of life and thereby â—…n became a Gen. 28. living Soul and was plac'd 〈◊〉 God in Gen. 1.26,27 Eden the Garden of God in â—…oly happy blessed State and God â—…ve them Power over the Fish of the 〈◊〉 the Fowl of the Air and the Beast 〈◊〉 the Field and over all the Earth and over every thing that creepeth on the Earth And Man should have so continued in this blessed and happy State Gen. 2.17 never to have known decay sickness forrow or death had he not there sinned against his great Creator and his most liberal Benefactor Gen. 3.4,5 in that they did adhere to the Enemy of God which is the Devil and believed what he said and did not believe the God of Truth for which they were turn'd out of Paradise Gen. 3.23 and became more vile and miserable than all Creatures that have their Being upon Earth and so 't would have succeeded to his unborn Posterity Job 14.4 Psal 51.5 Job 4.8 for now their Natures became corrupt so as Righteousness and Holiness and Wisdom which was the Image of God stampt upon them now had left thâ—m and was quite defaced in them and they became 〈◊〉 like the Prince of Darkness which is â—…e Devil who for his Pride and Rebelâ—â—n against God he and his Adherents were cast out of Heaven and from glorious Angels became Devils in Hell and are kept in Chains of Darkness unto the Judgment of the Great Day of God who are to be punished eternally in Hell-fire Joh. 3.44 Joh. 3.8 Jude 6. 2 Pet. 2.4 But God looking on Mankind in their forlorn and miserable Condition with an eye of pity and compassion gave them a word of Comfort which was That the Gen. 3.15 Seed of the Woman should bruise the Serpent's head which is the Devil and God said that he would put enmity between the seed of the Woman and the seed of the Serpent And in that God had compassion on Mankind rather than upon the fallen Angels so as to send them a Saviour Luk. 2.11 Mat. 1.21 There was this reason the fallen Angels were the principal and alone Causes of their own Rebellion but Mankind was stirr'd up to it through the subtil Insinuations and Lyes of the Devil Gen. 3.1 and therefore Mankind had a Tender of Grace offered them if we receive it according to the condition as it is offered us which is with Repentance towards God and Faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ with Love and Obedience to him to whom all the Prophets bear witness â—…aring he should be born of a Virgin 〈◊〉 speaking of his Sufferings and of his Death and of his Rising again Act. 20.21 Act. 4.12 Act. 3.23,26 Isa 7.14 Isa 53. Ps 16.10 Act. 2.24 13.34 I believe in this Lord Jesus Christ â—hat he is the onely begotten Son of God who gave himself to satisfie Divine Justice and to make Reconciliation for poor â—ost and undone Creatures which were dead in Trespasses and Sins through that â—f Adam's Transgression Joh. 1.14 Joh. 10.15,18 Eph. 2.1 Heb. 9.14 2 Cor. 3.5 Gen. 6.5 Rev. 3.17 Rom. 7.15 Job 4.20 Isa 30.33 2 Pet. 2.4,5 whereby our Nature became so corrupt that we have â—est us neither Strength to stand 〈◊〉 Willâ—… striâ—… nor 〈…〉 〈…〉 in which woful condition we should have spent some few Days here and after which been plunged into Hell it self for ever and there to have been tormented with the Devil and damned Spirits Luk. 16.32 Jud. 7. Isa 5.15 Deut. 32.22 Joh. 1.1,2,3 without any redress had not the Son of God the second Person in the Trinity who to fulfil his Fathers promise and for the wonderful Love he bare to his Creatures he left the Throne of his Fathers Glory where he had been from all Eternity and did vouchsafe to take upon him the means of our Flesh and therein was conceived by the Power of the Holy Ghost in the Womb of the Virgin Mary Matt. 1.20,21 Luk. 1.30,31,32 but born of her without sin and when he came into the World he then suffered the Miseries of this Life the Wrath of God and the cursed Death of the Cross that through Death he might destroy him that had the Power of Death which is the Devil and deliver them who through the fear of Death were all their Life-time subject to bondage Luk. 23.35,36 Luk. 23.33 and 44 45 46. Heb. 2.14,15 and the Lord of Life was buried descended into Hell and continued under the Power of Death till the third Day Luk. 24.6,7 in which he rose again from the Dead as a triumphant Victor over Sin Death and Hell and after his Resurrection he was seen oâ— all his Apostles 1 Cor. 15.5,6 and of above 500 Brethreâ— at once and remained upon the Earth for the space of forty Days and then he went to Mount Olivet with his Disciples and more Witnesses Act. 1.3.9,10,11,12 and from thence he ascended up into Heaven and now sitteth at the Right-hand of God the Father and there maketh intercession for the Saints according to the Mind of God Heb. 1.3 Joh. 12.41 Rom. 8.34 Heb. 6.7.25 I believe also that assuredly there is Life and Salvation to be had through our Lord Jesus Christ if we come to him by faith and repentance so as to confess and forsake our sins and believe in him and his word so that we unfeignedly love and fear to offend him we shall be beloved of him and made eternally blessed by him through his perfect Righteousness which shall be imputed to us who is able to preserve us in time and in Eternity I believe in the Holy Ghost that he is the Sanctifier of our Natures whereby our Wills are renewed so as to desire to serve the living God in truth and in sincerity and also in time of trouble he doth often administer comfort and consolation to the Saints Acts 20.21 and 3.19 John 14.21 Joh. 8.31 Jer. 23.6 Rom. 8.14 1 Cor. 3.15 Gal. 5.16 1 Cor. 1.22 Joh. 5.26 I believe there is a Holy Catholick Church a member of which is every sincere hearted Christian throughout the World that worships the Lord in spirit and truth for our blessed Lord saith John 4.23,24 that the Father seeketh such to worship him I believe there will be the Resurrection of the Body and Life everlasting for the Righteous and eternal Damnation for them that go on in their wicked Ways I believe also that the Lord will come in the last Day in the Clouds of Heaven to render vengeance to his Adversaries and those that know not God and will not obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 15.21,22 Joh. 5.28,29 Col. 1.18 Matt. 25.46 John 11.24 Acts 1.11 2 Thess
upon the Foundation of the Apostles and Prophets Jesus Christ himself being the chief Corner-stone In whom all the Building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy Temple in the Lord In whom you also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit Whereas he hete speaks of growing is to shew us that the building is not yet compleated which Temple or Building will be compleated when the New Jerusalem from Heaven shall be revealed as in Rev. 3.12 the Lord saith Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the Temple of my God and he shall go no more out and I will write upon him the Name of the City of my God which is the New Jerusalem which cometh down out of Heaven from my God and I will write upon him my New Name Now St. Paul saith Ephes 2.6,7 That God hath raised them up together and made them sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus Now it is certain they were not at that time set with Christ in Heavenly Places therefore spoken for time to come as his words in the following verse make out where he saith verse 7. That in the Ages to come he might shew the exceeding Riches of his Grace in his kindness towards us through Jesus Christ Here St. Paul doth absolutely declare that God will shew forth the Riches of his Grace in his kindness towards them in the Ages to come Now it is evident that there has not been such exceeding kindness shewed forth to them in the Ages that are past St. Peter saith that Christ came in the last times Therefore it is as Balaam said of Israel According to this time it shall be said of Jacob what hath God wrought That is when Israel shall again be restored and the Glory of the Saints be revealed in that Tabernacle which the Lord shall pitch and not Man Then it is that the exceeding riches of his Grace will be manifested to those Ages that are now to come And that is the time when Christ again comes of which St. Paul saith Whom he did foreknow them he also called That then the Lord will call them of whom he had a foreknowledge of as by a promise from the Father And then it is that will be made good which Moses said of God to Israel in Deut. 7.9 Know therefore that the Lord thy God he is God the faithful God which keepeth Covenant and Mercy with them that love him and keep his Commandments to a Thousand Generations Here Moses saith God will keep Covenant and Mercy to a Thousand Generations with them that love him And as yet we cannot well reckon up an Hundred Generations from the first Creation of Mankind for from Adam to Christ St. Luke reckons up about sixty Generations Therefore this keeping Covenant and Mercy hath its Extent to the other World which is the New World or New Earth of people which is to come in whom as St. Peter saith will dwell Righteousness and here as Moses hath it will love God and keep his Commandments the meaning of which is both one and the same thing And what Moses saith makes it farther clear that it is when the Lord again comes at which time he saith verse 10. the Lord will repay them that hate him to their Face to destroy them he will not be slack to him that hateth him he will repay him to his Face That is when the Lord cometh then will be their visible destruction for he will then repay them to their Face according to what the Psalmist saith Psal 58.10 And St. Paul speaking of the Glory which the then Church should receive at the coming of the Lord saith to the Ephesians Chap. 1.12 That we should be to the praise of his Glory who first trusted in Christ V. 13. In whom ye also trusted after that ye heard the word of Truth the Gospel of your Salvation In whom also after that ye believe ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of Promise Now if they were Sealed when they received that Holy Spirit of Promise then was their Calling and Election confirm'd to them and this Holy Spirit of Promise was the giving the Holy Ghost the which was also for the Establishing of the first Christian Churches and to confirm the truth of the Gospel But he saith in v. 14. The Spirit is the earnest of their Inheritance until the Redemption if the purchased possession unto the praise of his Glory By which we see although the Debt and Purchase was paid yet the Redemption or Purchase was not yet in possession of him by whom it was purchased And St. Peter saith in c. 2.9,10 They were a chosen Generation or Royal Priesthood an Holy Nation a peculiar people that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light V. 10. Which in time past were not a people but are now the People of God which had not obtained Mercy but now have obtained mercy The which words of St. Peter does make it plainly appear that they were not chosen before the foundation of this material Earth was laid for then it could not have been said they had not received Mercy if they were predestinated to it before the First Creation And therefore the forementioned words of St. Paul must have its reference to the New Heavens and Earth and the foundation of that World to come of which World they are already chosen to be the Kings and Priests of in that Glorious Tabernacle and to be of the New Jerusalem which comes down from Heaven and then will they reign over that New World and the Foundation of it is Israel from whom will arise many Generations and continue for ever and then as it 's said in Dan. 7.27 The Kingdom and the greatness of the Kingdom under the whole Heaven shall be given to the people of the Saints of the most high whose Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom and all Dominions shall serve and obey him Now whereas St. Peter saith in the 2. c. 9. v. They were a chosen Generation a Royal Priesthood an holy Nation You may be sure that they are chosen so for time to come and that this speaking of his is after the Scripture way of speaking in that he mentions things that are so come as tho they were already done and the Saints which are in Heaven in Rev. 5.10 say Thou hast made us unto God Kings and Priests and we shall reign on the Earth Here the Saints speak according to our method in that they neither say they did Reign or do Reign on the Earth but that they shall Reign on the Earth the which will be in the World to come then are they to be Kings and Priests of it for which they were chosen before the World was that is now to come for the same Apostle tells us Heb. 2.5 That unto the Angels hath God not put into subjection the World to come whereof we speak And
decreed their Works and so concluded them as finisht from the Foundation of the World To which I answer It was from the Foundation of thar World that then was a laying in Israel which the Twelve Tribes were then the Foundation of And not that their Works were finished or they condemned from the foundation of the Material Heavens and Earth For in Esdras 3.17 And it came to pass that when thou leddest his Seed out of Egypt thou broughtest them to Mount Sinai Verse 18. And bowing the Heavens thou didst set fast the Earth and movedst the whole World and madest the Deeps to tremble and troubledst the men of that age That is the world that is to come was establisht in the twelve Tribes which in the Hebrews is mention'd as the foundation Which people now being scattered throughout the face of the Earth when they are again gathered at the coming of the Lord with the Glory that shall then be revealed with the dead that shall be raised will be the world that is to come of which the Apostle speaks And of which he saith they were chosen before the foundation of the world was which world is yet to come as I have show'd you And the Angel further telleth 2 Fsdras 7.11,12,13,14 Which Angel by the word appears to be Christ He saith because for their sakes I made the world And when Adam transgressed my statutes then was decreed that now is done V. 12. Then were the entrances of this world made narrow full of sorrow and travel They are but few and Evil full of Perils and very painful V. 13. For the entrances of the Elder World were wide and sure and brought immortal fruit V. 14. If then they that live labour not to enter these strait and vain things they can never receive those that are laid up for them We see here that the Angel does absolutely declare to Esdras when the decree was past in which the entrance into blessedness was made strait or hard to be attain'd that it was after the fall of Adam and that now we must labour or else we cannot receive the good that is laid up for us which saying is like that of the Lords in Rev. 3.10 because thou hast kept the word of my patience I also will keep thee from the hour of Temptation which shall come upon all the World to try them that dwell upon the Earth V. 11. Behold I come quickly Hold that fast which thou hast that no man take thy Crown V. 12. Him that overcometh will I make a Pillar in the Temple of my God and he shall go no more out We here plainly see by the words of the Lord both to Esdras and St. John that there is a part required of us the which is to be performed by us that no man take thy Crown That is as much as to say if thou perform not the condition another shall take thy Crown which was prepared for thee for I can raise me a People another way Of which God hath left us several Examples As first when Israel sinned God would have destroyed them and made of Moses a great Nation Where then would their absolute Election have been for in Exod. 32. where God saith unto Moses in the 7th verse Go get thee down for thy People which thou broughtest out of the Land of Egypt have corrupted themselves V. 8. They turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them They have made them a Molten Calf and have Worshiped it and have Sacrificed thereunto and said these be thy Gods O Israel which have brought thee up out of the Land of Egypt V. 9. And the Lord said to Moses I have seen this People and behold it is a stiff-necked People V. 10. Now therefore let me alone that my wrath may wax hot against them and that I may consume them and I will make of thee a great Nation But by Moses's earnest Prayer the fierce Anger of the Lord was asswaged And therefore in the 14th v. it is said The Lord repented of the Evil which he thought to do unto his People Now these are the Elect and chosen People of God whom he had Called Enlightned and put them into a capacity of Obedience and made them sensible what his Will and Pleasure was But they continued not in their Obedience but were quickly turn'd aside and therefore the Lord said they have corrupted themselves Of which also St. James saith chap. 1.13,14,15 Let no man say when he is tempted I am tempted of God for God cannot be tempted with evil neither tempteth he any man Verse 14. But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed Verse 15. Then when lust hath conceived is bringeth forth fin and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death By which we may plainly see that all Evil proceeds from our own hearts and the inbred corruption that is within them being stirr'd up thereunto by the subtil Instigations of the Devil and by the Traps and Gins and Snares that he still lays in our way and the World heedlesly are taken in them And how many after they know the Ways of God yer how few of them do industriously lay forth themselves to serve him as they do the World the Flesh and the Devil Rom. 6.16 But we are his Servants to whom we obey whether of sin unto death or of Obedience unto Righteousness And in Heb. 4.16 it is said Let us come boldly unto the Throne of Grace that we may obtain mercy and find Grace to help in time of need The which if we do and so continue to do God hath promised that he will never leave us nor sorsake us as Heb. 13. wherein he instructs us how to order our Conversation aright thereby to become partakers of the promise In Heb. 13.1,2,3,4,5,6 Let brotherly love continue Verse 2. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers for thereby some have entertained Angels unawares Verse 3. Remember them that are in Bonds as bound with them and them that suffer adversity as being your selves also in the body Verse 4. Marriage is honourable in all and the Bed undefiled but Whoremongers and Adulterers God will Judge V. 5. Let your Conversation be without Coveteousness and be content with such things as you have for he hath said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee In this latter part of the Verse he speaks of singular Persons whereas he saith the Lord will never leave thee that is we must each of us search our own Hearts to know whether we walk in a Resignation of our wills to his will and also to go out of our selves to fetch strength from him And then it is he hath promised That he will never leave us nor forsake us V. 6. So that we may boldly say the Lord is my helper and I will not fear what man shall do unto me That is every one that doth so walk may say particularly for himself That the
to himself Herein is not comprehended how God doth deal with some particular persons but to the general carrying on of the Church in the World Now whereas St. Paul saith in Rom. 3,9 For we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles that they are all under sin 10. v. As it is written there is none Righteous no not one And he faith in Eph. 2.3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in time past in the lust of the Flesh fulfilling the desires of the Flesh and of the mind and were by Nature the Children of wrath even as others Tho through sin both Jews and Gentiles are all of them fallen under the Curse and so the wrath of God yet our natures are not alike estrang'd from God Now in Acts 18.9,10 Spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a Vision be not afraid but speak and hold not thy peace 10. v. For I am with thee and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee for I have much people in this City That is People or much ground capable to receive Seed so as to bring forth Fruit. And as there is several sorts of ground so the Lord tells us there is two sorts of Seed But not that God did Reprobate Man before the Foundation of the material heavens and Earth to Damnation but that the Devil hath since so twisted himself into the Nature of great part of Mankind that he is as it were become one with them Therefore the Lord put forth Matt. 13.24 Another Parable unto them saying the Kingdom of Heaven is likned unto a Man which sowed good Seed in his Field 25. v. But while men slept his Enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way 26. v. But when the blade was sprung up and brought forth fruit then appeared the Tares also 27. v. So the Servants of the Housholder came and said unto him Sir didst not thou sow good seed in thy Field from whence then hath it Tares 28. v. He said unto them an enemy hath done this The Servants said unto him wilt thou then that we go and gather them up 29. v. But he said nay lest while ye gather up the tares ye root up also the wheat with them 30. v. Let both grow together until the Harvest and in time of Harvest I will say to the Reapers gather ye together first the Tares and bind them into bundles to burn them but gather the wheat into my barn Here is a clear demonstration that the Tares are a false Seed of the Devils sowing And the Lord speaks of them in Isa 57.3 But draw near hither ye Sons of the Sorcerers the Seed of the Adulterer and the Whore 4. v. Against whom do ye sport your selves against whom make ye a wide mouth and draw out the tongue are ye not Children of Transgression a seed of Falshood Here we see that a false Seed comes in much this way and what is here spoken of by the Lord has a more particular reference to the Christians who are guilty of these things and in especial manner to the Romans by whom all those abominable wickednesses are allowed and that this was spoken to the Christians it doth appear in the foregoing Chapter Isa 56. from the 7. v. to the end by reason God speaketh of the gathering of the out cast of Israel and that he then will gather others with them and it is evident Israel hath never since been gathered And at that time it is said That all the Beasts of the Field and Forrest should come to devour And that could not be to Devour Israel for it is said they are then to be restored and it is made farther evident in that it is said The Watchmen are all blind and so treating of the same effect in the next Chapter as I have set down in the 3. and 4. v. Now as to what St. Paul saith 1 Cor. 4.7 For who maketh thee to differ from another and what hast thou that thou didst not receive now if thou didst receive it why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it That is the good ground before it receiveth Seed will bring forth Weeds as the other doth Thorns but when the good ground does receive Seed there is presently a difference in the growth of the Fruit in that of the good ground from that of the Thorny yet nothing to be boasted of because all that is good in them came from that hand that gave the Seed or else they might for ever have remained the Children of wrath as well as others Therefore the lower we set in our own Estimation the higher we rise in God's Now whereas Christ saith in John 6.44 No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him That is at first God must draw the Heart to Christ that the Soul might be convinc'd that he was the Christ And in the Apostles time there was given the Holy Ghost to bear witness to the World the truth thereof Neither can any now come to Christ except the Father draw him And in the visible Church of Christ there is a three-fold drawing of God First By the Invitation of his word and by way of Reproof Instruction and Exhortation Secondly There is the reproof of the Spirit of God which we commonly call the checks of Conscience Thirdly There is the good Motions of the Spirit of God all these being the drawings of God to bring us home to him through Christ to Repentance This being the ordinary way of God's Working in his Church And Israel having these drawings of God therefore he calls out to them by his Prophets for to come to Repentance because â—e had put them in a capacity so to do giving them power to do that part for themselves but when through their continual resisting the good Spirit of God and in refusing to be obedient to his word And then it is God leaves them And therefore St. Stephen said to them Acts 7.51 Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears ye do always resist the Holy Ghost as your Fathers did so do ye And then it is as it is said they that are accustomed to do evil cannot learn to do well That is when through their own resisting they weary out the good Spirit of God so as he leaves them to themselves But whilst God calls Israel to come to Repentance there was a door of Mercy open to them Therefore God saith in Ezekiel 33.11 Say unto them as I live saith the Lord God I have no pleasure in the Death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live Turn ye turn ye from your evil ways for why will ye die O house of Israel Here it is evident by the Word of God that when he thus invited them there was a door of Mercy open to them but when God would not shew Mercy to his people Israel then doth God neither call on them to Repentance
imagination of the Thoughts of his Heart was only evil continually Then the Lord said in the 6. v. It repented him that he had made man on the Earth And therefore for Man's sinfulness God destroyed them from off the Earth only saving Noah whom God had found to walk uprightly before him Gen. 6.9 And after the Flood from Noah's three Sons sprang three seeds And Saran getting footing into the Heart of Ham so as to make a mockery of his Father as in Gen. 9.22,25 For which he Cursed him and so his Off-spring taking after him proved a Viperous Brood and thereby became more estranged from God than the other two Seeds although afterwards they all almost fell from God yet still the Race of Ham was the worst because of their second Fall in their Father Ham and the Prince of darkness got farther footing in them and so they became the more forsaken of God And so when God chose Israel to bring them into the Land of Canaan they were to drive out the Cananites out of that Land and they were not to make any mixt Marriages with them But when Israel did break the Command of God by their mixt Marriages with them contrary to the command of God they were drawn away by them to their Abominations And when Israel became guilty of the like sins they also became forsaken of God Now we see that these two Worlds had each of them three Seeds And St. Paul faith Rom. 11.25,26 Blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in And so all Israel shall be saved as it is written there shall come out of Sion the Deliverer and shall turn away ungodlinss from Jacob. And then it doth appear the mercy shall return to the Seed of Shem. As to those Heathen Nations which are the Promised Elect spoken of in Isaiah And the third Seed will be the young Children of the Wicked Brood which shall be left to remain as in Joel 3.8 where I have already shewed you that Israel shall then sell them for Servants This being clear by the word of God And Noah in his Blessing and Cursing his Children had his reference to the World to come and not to this present time for it is said Gen. 9.24 And Noah awoke from his Wine and knew what his younger Son did unto him 25. v. And he said cursed be Canaan a Servant to Servants shall he be unto his Brethren 26. v. And he said blessed be the Lord God of Shem and Canaan shall be his Servant 27. v. God shall enlarge Japhet and he shall dwell in the Tents of Shem and Canaan shall be his Servant Now the History of the Bible makes it appear that all along the Seed of Ham was those that bore the greater sway and was the most flourishing People as in Gen. 10. And so on to Nebucadnezâ—…er they of that stock of Ham being still in great Power At last they were the People that destroyed Israel and therefore were not servant of Servants to Israel only those few that were taken off in the Land of Canaan whilst the rest remained Lords of the World till Cyrus his time And in the Prophesy of their Destruction by the Medes The Lord there terms them to be the Heavens and Earth which Heavens the Lord said he would shake and remove the Earth out of her place Isa 13.13 to 17 v. The which was when the Earth of that People was removed out of their place which Earth was the People And afterward they became a scattered People Now neither the People or Mahomet did come of the Loyns of the foregoing Kings of their Country And by the Prophesy of Noah they are some of the stock of that old Root Ham for their Priests Friers Monks Jesuits Cardinals and Popes are chosen from among all the World And the Prince of Darkness knew where to raise part of his old stock to play a new game with And Mahomet also appears to be one of the same Race And by these Two Satan hath corrupted almost the whole Christian World But the wonderful Subtilty of the Devil was in obliging the Followers of that False Prophet and Impostor Mahomet to Morality Whilst the pretended Vicar which the Devil set up for the Vicar of Christ gave liberty to all manner of Wickedness which either Man or Devil could invent either by his Licenses Pardons or Indulgences if money were in the case And the Devil knowing that Christ was to come but not knowing that he was to come to suffer therefore said Mat. 8.29 Art thou come hither to torment us before the time By these words it is clear the Devils knew that the Lord was to come to torment them but that it was then before his time and they receiving not their torment then they know that he is to come again But the Devil has caused the Pope and his Adherents to deny it which is the Reason we have all been so involved in Darkness coming out of the dregs of Popery And the Prince of Darkness causing Mahomet to tell the people that he would return the more to take us off from the expectation of the coming of the Lord by the false Impostors pretending thereunto and by the Pope's denying of it For the Devil carrieth on his Kingdom by a Mystery in iniquity And now when the Lord cometh the Children of these forementioned will not be taken away with their wicked Parents but will as I have elsewhere shewed you then be saved to be sold for Servants to those Nations that are said by the Prophet Joel 3.8 shall be Servants to Israel And then will the blessing and cursing of Noah be fulfilled concerning his Sons When this Ham is become servant of servants then also shall those of Japhet which are found in Christ dwell in the Tents of Shem and so be made partakers of the promised New Covenant with Israel whilst some others of the Heathen Gentiles are spared to see the Glory and partake of the Mercy but the great Mercy will then return on that Race that Abraham came of for Egypt and Syria are then taken into Covenant and given to Israel for Daughters though not by the same Covenant Now there being these Three Seeds part of them left again for the other World with some of the Gentile Race of whom comes Mesheth and Tubal and it is these will prove the Gog and Magog when the Devil again is loosed and the Glory of the Lord not so visible amongst them Then he will perswade them and what others he can deceive with them to go up and plunder Jer usalem of the wonderful Riches that then will be there for which Attempt every one that will be in the Conspiracy shall be utterly cut off as in Zech. 14.12 And this shall be the Plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem Their Flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet and
were clothed in white robes therefore the four Beasts there spoken of do appear to be the raised Saints and also they are there said to be round about the Throne and in the midst of the Throne and they are said to have Wings which shews they are exalted above the Earth But in the 7th Chap. the Beasts are not there said to have Wings neither to be round about the Throne nor in the midst of the Throne but they are there said to Worship before the Throne that is before the glorious Tabernacle where the Throne of God will be Rev. 21.21 And the Pavement of the glorious Tabernacle will be like Rev. 4.6 a Sea of glass as clear as Cristial so that his People that are then left upon the Earth may through the Sea of Glass behold the infinite Glory of the Lord and the Glory of the Angels and raised Saints that are with him Now that the Lord doth term the People of this World beasts is evident by what the Angel said Esd 11.39 Art not thou it that remaineth of the Beasts whom I made to reign in my Woold â—hat the end of their times might come through them Now these Beasts spoken of here are the wicked of the World which have had the Government and the end of these evil times will come through them But the Beasts spoken of in the two forementioned Chapters of the Revelations in the 4th Chap. the beasts are the raised Saints And in the 7th chap. the Beasts are those Saints that are left upon the Earth And St. John saith Râ—… 14.1,2,3 I looked and lo a Lamb stood on Mount Sion and with him an hundred forty and four thousand having his Fathers Name written in their Foreheads And I heard a Voice from Heaven as the voice of many Waters and as the Voice of a great Thunder And I heard the Voice of Harpers Harping with their Harps And they Sung as it were a new Song before the Throne and before the four Beasts and the Elders and no man could learn that Song but the hundred and forty and four thousand which were Redeemed from the Earth By the hundred forty and four thousand is meant the very Elect. The which certain number of Israel doth appear to be found in Christ at his coming although we have not known them And this Song which they sung which no man could learn it might be because they were taken away from the Earth and therefore from among Men for the raised Saints are not called Men. And it is said of them in Rev. 14.4,5 These are they which were not defiled with Women for these are Virgins These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth These were redeemed from among men being the first fruits unto God and the Lamb. Now in Heaven we are not to think there is distinction of Age or Sex and therefore it being said they were not defiled with Women when they were upon the Earth was that they were not guilty of Idolatrous Worship for Idolatry in Scripture is often termed Fornication and Adultery So these not only having kep themselves from Idolatry but in all other things they had lived Exemplary Lives as in Rev. 14.5 In their mouth was found no guile for they are without fault before the Throne of God And Esdras saith in 2 Esdras 2.42,43,44,45,46,47 I Esdras saw upon Mount Sion a great people whom I could not number and they all praised the Lord with Songs 43. v. And in the midst of them there was a young man of bigh stature taller than all the rest and upon every one of their heads he set Crowns and was more exalted which I marvelled at greatly 44. v. So I asked the Angel and said Sir what are those 45. He answered and said unto me these be they that have put off mortal cloathing and put on the immortal and have confessed the Name of God Now are they crowned and receive Palms 46. v. Then said I to the Angel What young person is it that crowneth them and giveth them Palms in their hands 47. v. So he answered and said unto me it is the Son of God whom they have confessed in the World Then began I greatly to commend them that stood so stiffly for the Name of the Lord. Novv this Mount Sion is the Glorious Tabernacle which shall be Revealed when the Lord again cometh and where the raised Saints and those Saints which are changed from mortal to immortal shall be Crowned Now as to the word of the Lord which Nathan brought to David is in the 2 Sam. 7.8 Now therefore so shall thou say unto my servant David thus saith the Lord of hosts I took thee from the Sheep-cote from following the sheep to be ruler over my people over Israel 9. And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest and have cut off all thine Enemies out of thy sight and have made thee a great name like unto the name of the great men that are in the Earth 10. Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more as before-time In this last verse here is that which is very remarkable in it in that the Lord saith Moreover I will appoint a place for my People Israel and in that God said that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more neither should the Children of wickedness Afflict them Now at that time were they in Canaan settled and Conquerers over all their Enemies round about yet at this time the Lord esteems it not a place of their own because for their sins they should be removed thence but God terms it a place of their own when that time is come in which they shall remove no more And as to what the Prophet saith concerning Solomon 2 Sam. 7.13 He shall build an house for my Name and I will establish the Throne of his Kingdom for ever 14. I will be his Father and he shall be my Son If he commit iniquity I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the stripes of the Children of men 15. But my mercy shall not depart away from him as I took it from Saul whom I put away before thee And thine house and thy Kingdom shall be established for ever before thee thy throne shall be established for ever This promise we here see that it hath its Reference to David and Solomon in that they were not cast off upon their Offending as Saul was and so to Christ in time to come at which time his Throne shall be established forever which ever is the ever of the World to come This being according to what the Angel told Mary Luke 1.32 He shall be great and shall he called the Son of the highest and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his Father David 33. And he shall
reign over the house of Jacob for ever and of his kingdom there shall be no end Now as to what the Pen-man of Psal 99. saith in the rehearsal of the message sent by Nathan to David which has its special Reference to Christ beginning at the 27. v. of Psal 89. Also I will make him my first born higher than the Kings of the Earth 28. v. My mercy will I keep for him for evermore my Covenant shall stand fast with him 29. v. His seed also will I make to endure for ever and his Throne as the days of Heaven 30. v. If his Children forsake my Law and not walk in my Judgment 31. v. If they break my Statutes and keep not my Commandments 32. v. Then will I visit their Transgressions with a Rod and their iniquity with stripes 33. v. Nevertheless my loving kindness will I not utterly take from him nor suffer my faithfulness to fail 34. v. My Covenant will I not break nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips 35. Once have I sworn by my Holiness that I will not lie unto David 36. v. His Seed shall endure for ever and his Throne as the Sun before me This being peculiarly meant by Christ in the time of his glorious Kingdom and that to us and the body of the Jewish Church it belongs not in that God Christ St. Peter and St. Paul do declare the contrary for St. Paul saith Heb. 6.5,6 If we wilfully fall away after we have tasted the good word of God and of the Powers of the World to come the Apostle saith we cannot be Renewed again by Repentance And therefore this Promise is not made to us And also now God proves and tries his and here in this world commonly God's best Saints suffers the greatest Afflictions And as the Apostle saith Hebrews 12.6 For whom the Lord loveth he chastneth and scourgeth every Son whom he receiveth 7. If ye endure Chastening God dealeth with you as Sons For what Son is he whom the Father chasteneth not 8. But if ye be without Chastisement whereof all are partakers then are ye Bastards and not Sons And after all if we fall away as in Heb. 10.26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledg of the truth there remaineth no more Sacrifice for sins 27. v. But a certain fearful looking for of Judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the Adversaries But when this promise was made annext to this Threatning there is no Afflictions threatned to them that do well Now Israel at their first entring into the Land of Canaan was upon their Obedience promised Prosperity and Plenty of all things as in Deut. 28. but we by the Gospel are promised no such thing but on the contrary sorrow affliction and persecution and if we hold out to the end we shall receive a Crown of Life which the Lord the righteous Judg shall give at that day unto all them that Love his Appearing 2 Tim. 4.8 not only to the raised Saints but unto them that he will find so at his coming for when we are put past the power of the Second Death and all sin and sorrow done away then we receive a Crown of Life And the Lord saith of them that keep his sayings John 5.24 That they shall never see death and if so after sin and sorrow is gone then it is we have the Crown of Life When Christ again comes to take the Kingdom then Israel will be so fixt in the Lord as they shall not sin against him And for the thousand years that the Glory of the Lord is more eminently visible and Satan bound up then shall all the Families of the Earth be blessed in Christ But after that time when the Eminent Glory of the Lord is not so Visible and Satan again loosed then will he seek for the new Brood of the young ones that was left of the old Stock and who these young ones are said to be I have already told you was sold by Israel and so scattered upon the Earth and he will draw off as many of the Gentiles as he can with them with the chief Prince of Meshech and Tubal which are of the Race of Japhet as in Gen. 10.2 and in 1 Chr. 1.5 which will be the Gog and Magog spoken of in Ezek. 38.2 Son of Man set thy face against Gog the land of Magog the chief Prince of Meshech and Tubal and Prophesy again him And in Rev. 20.8 There is Gog and Magog again spoken of Now after Satan has deluded these to their Destruction then it is said Zac. 14.16 It shall come to pass that every one that is left of all the Nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King the Lord of Hosts and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles Now these here spoken of that are left of all the Nations that came against Jerusalem are those that came not up to Fight against Jerusalem for as many as went up to Fight against Jerusalem of all the Nations as many as were left of them will be destroyed by the Plagues that are set down in the 12. v. of the same chap. and after the Destruction of Gog and Magog the Devil is said to be cast into Hell for ever and for ever which signifies it will be a long time before the final Judgment because there is mention made of two evers For the next World consisteth of one ever Now after the destruction of these forementioned Enemies of Israel the Lord saith in Zach. 14.17 And it shall be that whosoever will not come up of all the Families of the Earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King the Lord of Hosts even upon them shall be no Rain Here we see God threatens them but with a Temporal Punishment So when this glorious time is come that Christ and his People hath the Supreme Power then will this Promise in the 89. Psalm be of force to the People of the World to come For altho Israel will be so secured in the Lord that they cannot sin against him Yet the other promised Elect will not so securely stand And here finding in Zachariah but a Temporal Punishment threatned after that last overthrow I therefore do believe that the words in the Psalms hath a reference to that time to come For where this Chastisement is spoken of in that Psalm it is also said in the 29. v. That his Throne shall continue as the days of Heaven And now this particular Throne of Christ is not for he is said to sit now on the Throne of his Father as in Heb. 10.12,13 But this man after he had offered one Sacrifice for sins for ever sate down on the right hand of God From henceforth expecting till his Enemies be made his Footstool The ever here Spoken of is meant of the ever of this World which World is the wicked People and when the ever of their time is
expired then will his Foes be made his Footstool And then as to what is said of the Glorious Kingdom of Christ in Psalm 89. will then be made manifest as in 27. to 37. v. Also I will make him my First-born higher than the Kings of the Earth My mercy will I keep for him for evermore and my Covenant shall stand fast with him His Seed also will I make to endure for ever and his Throne as the days of Heaven If his Children forsake my Law and walk not in my Judgments If they break my Statutes and keep not my commandmandments Then will I visit their transgression with the Rod and their iniquity with Stripes Nevertheless my loving kindness will I not utterly take from him Nor suffer my Faithfulness to fail My Covenant will I not break nor alter the things that is gone out of my Lips Once have I sworn by my Holiness that I will not lie unto David His seed shall endure for ever and his Throne as the Sun before me It shall be established for ever as the Moon and as a faithful witness in Heaven Selah Here we see that these Promises hath only a reference as to the time of Christ's glorious Kingdom and in the former part of the Psalm it has a reference to David and Solomon and whether or no this promise now in this time hath any further reference as to the Natural Seed of David is uncertain but because of Manassah I am apt to think it might have a further reference to a Line in his Seed and the promise concludes in a single person in that it is said my loving kindness will I not take from him that is Not from David Solomon and Christ when he bore the sins of the World Now the Church is no where mentioned as He but always term'd a She they or them and so in this promise is neither included the Body of the Church in this time or in that time that is to come for then is Israel and as many of us as shall become new Creatures will then be put into such a capacity as never to offend any more and therefore to receive no more stripes but the promise is not so then to Egypt and Syrria therefore to them and others after the Thousand Years there is but upon their offending threatned a temporal punishment as in Zach. 14.17,18 And whereas St. John saith 1 John 5.18 We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself and that wicked one toucheth him not This he speaks of them whom Christ terms his very Elect who does not wilfully commit sin and who are so secured in Christ that they cannot fall away and also their diligence is so imployed in the ways of God as it is said of them They keep themselves so as the evil one toucheth them not accordingly it is said of them which are to be sealed for the glorious Tabernacle Rev. 14.4 That they followed the Lamb wheresoever he goeth And also 5. v. They were without fault before the Throne of God Therefore if we would know our Election and Calling let us examin our selves how closely we walk with God since it is those that securely stand that keep themselves as the evil one touch them not That is they improve all the grace that God has given them as they are not wanting to themselves but that we do not all so securely stand as I have fully proved by Christ and all the Apostles it being yet but a conditional Covenant but so if we will not be wanting to our selves God will never leave us nor forsake us but as for tryals we must expect But St. Paul saith If we once have the knowledg of the Truth and a belief and delight in the ways of God and then wilfully fall away he then saith There remains no hope Heb. 6.4,5,6 For it is impossible for those that were once inlightned and have tasted of the Heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost And have tasted the good word of God and the Powers of the World to come if they shall fall away to renew them again by repentance seeing they Crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to open shame And also he farther saith in Heb. 10.26 to the 31. If we sin wilfully after we have received the knowledg of the Truth there remaineth no more Sacrifice for sin But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the Adversaries He that despised Moses's Law died without mercy under two or three witnesses Of how much sorer punshment suppose ye shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden under foot the Son of God and hath counted the blood of the Covenant wherewith he was Sanctified an unholy thing and hath done despight unto the Spirit of Grace For we know him that said Vengeance belongeth unto me I will recompence saith the Lord. Accordingly it is said in 2 Pet. 2.20,21 The Sin against the Holy Ghost AS to the sin against the Holy Ghost in the Regenerate is one thing and in the unregenerate it is another thing Now we see by those Scriptures before mentioned that wilfully and presumptiously to Sin after we are once Regenerated as to have the knowledg of the Truth so as to tast the good word of God and the Powers of the World to come That is to have a belief in his Word and the experience of the love of God to our Souls after which to fall away and sin wilfully by the words of the Apostles it clearly appears to be the Sin against the Holy Ghost in that he saith They Crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh for which there remains no more Sacrifice for sin but a fearful looking for of Judgment in Fiery Indignation which shall consume the Adversary But to the Unregenerate or outward Church that have not had the saving Knowledg of God they have far larger extent before sin in them is termed the sin against the Holy Ghost which is as far as to the absolute renouncing God and Christ as Witches do or to do a thing in despight to the Spirit of Grace as Julian the Apostate did when he threw dust into the Air in despite and said thou hast overcome me thou Galilean And as to what St. Peter saith of the false Teachers they are in much the like condition for he saith in the 2. chap. 3. ver Through Covetuousness shall they with feigned words make Merchandise of you whose judgment now of a long time lingreth not and their damnation stumbreth not And if we continually check Conscience till it is mute that thereby God leaves them to blindness of Mind and hardness of Heart we have little reason to think that it will prove any other than the sin against the Holy Ghost Now there has been some that I have read of that has been drawn in to sell themselves to the Devil for some
the rest therefore he cries out of the Wonderful things that is contained in his Law Novv were these Judgments that are here set down pronounced against the Land of the thirsty Drunkard with good Liquor I doubt there would not be much Land left either in Canaan or Christendom free from these Plagues here specified as well as Sicily and Naples for we need not doubt but most of the foresaid Land at one time or other hath had such owners But altho the Drunkard that Loves good Liquor is threatned with the wrath of God and Hell yet there is not this remarkable Curse threatn'd to their Land And there is nothing in the Word of God that is insignificant but hath its time to be made Evident And now is the near Approach of Israel's restoration it being now the time that the Whirlwinds are gone forth as in Jer. 30.22 Behold the whirl-wind of the Lord goeih forth with fury a continual whirl-wind which shall fall with pain upon the Head of the wicked The fierce anger of the Lord shall not return until he hath done it until he hath performed the intents of his heart In the latter days ye shall consider it BLessed News unto the Jews And to them that are Circumcis'd in Heart and Ear And unto them that will amend Blessedness doth them attend But unto them that will not hear Grief and Horror will be their share THE Figurative SPEECHES BY WHICH God has Veiled his Secrets Contained in His WORD Until the end of the Time which is the time determined by Him that they should be revealed And now by the Assistance of GOD The Scriptures being Opened by the Key of the Word the Secrets therein contained are made as plain to the understanding as a Riddle when unfolded By M. Mersen London Printed and Sold by John Clarke at the Bible in the Old Change John Guillim in Bishops-gate-street over against the Royal James Mrs. Mitchel at the Crown and Cushion in Westminster-hall and Mr. Garin over against the Crown Tavern in the Strand the corner of St. Clements Church Yard 1697. Christian Reader THis Book being done in hast is not so well done as it ought to have been yet therein is made manifest both the Wisdom of God and the Power of God And when I Writ this Book there was a dread stood over me as a Caution that I should not do the Work of the Lord negligently And there is but two or three things in it wherein I did lean to my own understanding or received Opinion without seeking to God concerning it And since in those things God by his Word hath made it plain to me that I was mistaken in them for I then thought that all that laid hold of the offered Mercy according as it is tendred in the Gospel was also termed the Elect as well as those that were fore-chosen and so then not reckoned with the World But afterwards I found by the Word that such were but in Covenant Neither did I then understand that the Christians when spoken of in the Old Testament in which they are often mentioned were all there termed Heathen both good and bad which since by the Word I have fully proved in another Treatise And likewise then I did not so well understand that the Lord by the Law and Gospel speaks but in a peculiar manner to them that are under it For the Heathen fall not under the same severe Condemnation as the wicked Christians will when the Lord again comes And therefore no such necessity to warn them for the Coming of the Lord whom they now know not but they may find Mercy according to the Word And it is the promise of God that Israel shall be restored when the Lord again comes as is fully proved in the following Treatise from the Prophets and Apostles As for such as find fault with my quoting of Esdras saying that he was not mentioned either by Christ or any of the Apostles To which I answer Neither were several other of the Prophets that are spoken of in the Old Testament But if any say he is not mentioned there they assert that which is false For Ezra in the Old Testament is the same Person which in the Apocrypha is called Esdras For in Ezra Chap. 10. the 9 16 17. Verses is exactly the same with that in 1 Esdras 9. Chap. 5 6 17. Verses And also as in Nehemian 2.4 the like is again said in the 1 Esdras 9.40,42 By which places it is fully made appear That it was one and the same man who after the Captivity caused Israel to put away their strange Wives being met together at Jerusalem on the Twelfth day of the Ninth Month at which time was the great Showre of Rain And also he stood upon a Pulpit of Wood and Read the Law to all the People on the First day of the Seventh Month. As to the difference of the Name the one was taken out of the Hebrew the other out of the Caldean Tongue But as for our Ancient Expositors who placed not his Prophesies among the Prophets it was because themselves erred from the Truth For they newly coming from under the darkness of Popery and so did not rightly understand the Scriptures for they apprehended that none but the Elect could be saved But now it is fully proved by the Word that all that are found in obedience are Heirs to the promise whether Elect or not Elect. They likewise have denied the Restitution of all things which God by the mouth of all his holy Prophets hath declared Acts 3.21 and so likewise by Esdras After I Writ this Book I found there was several other places in Scripture in controversie which was not in this Treatise answered which made me defer the finishing of it till such time as God had innabled me to make plain those other places which were in dispute which by Gods assistance I have accomplished Oh! that we would improve the knowledge of the Truth to our Souls Eternal Advantage is the Prayer of your Friend and Servant in Christ M. M. ERRATA PAg. 3 l. 5. from the bottom in Revelations blot s. p. 6 l. 2. r. Hosts p. 41. l. 8. f. 4. r. 14. l. 9. f. 1. r. 2. p. 55. l. 17. f. is r. are p. 66. l. 24. f. beast r. beasts p. 69. l. 16. f. doth r. do p. 97. l. 13. blot by p. 104. l. 24. r. book p. 108. l. 9. r. written p. 116. l. last r. be p. 117. l. 1. blot saith p. 119. l. 24. r. Hannah p. 131. l. 14. r. meant l. 16. r. for the that p. 133. l. 20. r. Vesuvius p. 134 l. 3. r. Tanrmins p. 135. l. 25. r. rest p. 137 l. 28. r. speaking p. 141. l. last r. kingdom p. 155. l. 5. r. exterminated p. 169. l. 8. r. accepted l. 16. blot of The TABLE OF the World that Perished p. â— Figurative Heavens and Earth p. â— Elements p. â— Rise of the Beast p. 12
in as much as there is no Wicked in Heaven And from the Foundation of the World was Paradice prepared which does appear to be destroyed by the Flood However the place where it was is said to be the Land which the Lord careth for Deut. 11.12 and which he gave to the Seed of Abraham as in Gen. 17.8,9 I will give unto thee and thy Seed after thee the Land wherein thou art a Stranger all the Land of Canaan for an everlasting possession and I will be their God Verse 9. And God said to Abraham thou shalt keep my Commandments therefore thou and thy Seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting Covenant to be a God unto thee and to thy Seed after thee Here God in the 8th Verse gives the Land to Abraham and his Seed for an everlasting Inheritance upon a conditional Covenant which was in verse 9. That God said to Abraham Thou shalt keep my Covenant therefoee thou and thy Seed after thee in their generations The which they did not do and therefore received the threatned Curse but not the blessing But God's promise was to Abraham in the forementioned Chapter Gen. 17.7 That he would establish his Covenant with him That is with himself and his Seed after him in their Generations for an everlasting Covenant But it is not to be a conditional Covenant as the former was The which God hath so often rehearsed that it should be confirmed to them by the mouths of all his Prophets and as God did promise Abraham and to his Seed the Land for an everlasting possession and since this Covenant is to be made with Abraham and his Seed together then it must be at the Resurrection made good at which time will be the Restitution of all things Now God saith in Ezek. 5.12 That he would scatter Israel into all the Winds and from one End of the Earth to the other From these places is the Lord said to gather his Elect at his coming And God himself saith I will gather Israel and others with him And in Isaiah 43.4,5,6,7,8 The Lord saith in verse 4. Since thou wast precious in my sight thou hast been honourable and I have loved thee therefore will I give men for thee and people for thy Life Verse 5. Fear not for I am with thee I will bring thy Seed from the East and gather thee from the West Verse 6. I will say to the North give up and to the South keep not back bring my Sons from far and my Daughiers from the ends of the Earth Verse 6. Every one that is called by my Name for I have created him for my Glory I have formed him yea I have made him Verse 8. Bring forth the blind people that have eyes and the deaf that have ears Now Israel God saith that he created him for his Glory and these are the Elect in a more particular manner for whom the Kingdom was prepared from the Foundation of the World And as in some places the Reigns of David and Solomon are intermixt and Christ's first and second coming are intermixt so is here their Deliverance by Cyrus with that of their final and last Deliverance by Christ when he comes to judge the World The which the foregoing Words of the Lord doth make fully out For when they returned out of the Babylonish Captivity they were not gathered from the East West North and South Neither were they honourable because they were under another Nation Neither did they appear to the Glory of God when they murdered the Lord of Life for which they have been a scatter'd people ever since throughout the Face of the whole Earth Now God foreseeing the ignorance of his people as to the time to come therefore saith Bring the blind people that have Eyes and the deaf that have Ears for they apprehend not the sayings of the Most High as to the time of their Restoration And the Lord saith 2 Esdras in the sixth chap. verse 5,6,7,8,9,10 That ere the present years were sought out and or ever the inventions of them that now sin were turned before they were sealed that have gathered Faich for a Treasure Then did I consider these things and they were all made through me alone and through no other by me also they shall be ended and by none other Verse 7. Then answered I and said What shall be the parting asunder of the Times or when shall be the first and the beginning of it that followeth Ver. 8. And he said unto me From Abraham unto Isaac when Jacob and Esau were born of him Jacob's hand held first the heel of Esau Verse 9. For Esau is the end of the World and Jacob is the beginning of it that followeth Verse 10. The hand of Man is between the heel and the hand Here in the V. 7. Esdras was desirous to know what should be the parting asunder of the times and when should be the end of the first and the begining of that which followeth in answer to which God lets him understand by the following words that Esau and Jacob were the figure of both worlds And God said unto him when Esau and Jacob were born Jacobs hand held first the heel of Esau For Esau is the end of the world and Jacob is the begining of that which followeth and the hand of man is now between the heel and the hand That is the time of man now is signified to be between the heel and the hand by which is meant labour sorrow and darkness for the head is excluded as not being plac'd between the heel and the hand Therefore they of this world walk in darkness labour and mischief But the Glory is reserved for the other world Jacob. Where the head is with the Body In which is wisdom Glory excellency and greatness Now whereas it is said Jacobs hand held first the heel of Esau That is that the Glory of the other world will come in before this our sinful world is gone off And as I formerly shewed you by Isaiah God figured out to us the Roman Babylon so God here comprehends this wicked world by Esau and that which is to come by Jacob. So this place in Mal. 1.2,3,4,5,6 Doth make it fully out for God saith in V. 2. I have loved you saith the Lord yet ye say wherein hast thou loved us was not Esau Jacobs brother saith the Lord yet I loved Jacob. V. 3. And I hated Esau and laid his Mountains and his heritage wast for the Dragons of the Wilderness V. 4. And they shall call them the border of Wickedness a people against whom the Lord hath indignation for ever V. 5. And your eyes shall see and ye shall say the Lord will be magnified from the borders of Israel V. 6. A Son honoureth his father and a Servant his Master if then I be a father where is mine honor and if I be a Master where is my fear saith the Lord of Host unto you O Priests that despise