about empty and useless in the wild Air. If you will not make it the seat and habitation of the Just in the blessed Millennium what will you make it How will it turn to account What hath Providence design'd it for We must not suppose New Worlds made without counsel or design And as on the one hand you cannot tell what to do with this New Creation if it be not thus employ'd so on the other hand it is every way fitted and suited to be an happy and Paradisiacal habitation and answers all the natural Characters of the Millennial state which is a great presumption that it is design'd for it But to argue this more closely upon Scripture-grounds S. Peter says the Righteous shall inhabit the New Heavens and the New Earth 2. Pet. 3. 13. Nevertheless according to his promise we look for New Heavens and New Earth WHEREIN DWELLETH RIGHTEOUSNESS that is a Righteous People as we have shewn before But who are these Righteous People That 's the great question If you compare S. Peter's New Heavens and New Earth with S. Iohn's Apoc. 21. 1 2. it will go far towards the resolution of this question For S. Iohn seems plainly to make the Inhabitants of the New Ierusalem to be in this New Earth I saw says he New Heavens and a New Earth and the New Ierusalem descending from God out of Heaven therefore descending into this New Earth which he had mention'd immediately before And there the Tabernacle of God was with men ver 3. and there He that sat upon the Throne said Behold I make all things New Referring still to this New Heavens and New Earth as the Theatre where all these things are acted or all these Scenes exhibited from the first Verse to the eighth Now the New Jerusalem state being the same with the Millennial if the one be in the New Heavens and New Earth the other is there also And this interpretation of S. Iohn's word is confirm'd and fully assur'd to us by the Prophet Isaiah who also placeth the joy and rejoycing of the New Ierusalem in the New Heavens and New Earth Chap. 65. 17 18. For behold I create new Heavens and a new Earth and the former shall not be remembred but be you glad and rejoyce for ever in that which I create for behold I create Ierusalem a rejoycing and her people a joy Namely in that New Heavens and New Earth Which answers to S. Iohn's Vision of the New Ierusalem being let down upon the New Earth To these Reasons and deductions from Scripture we might add the testimony of several of the Fathers I mean of those that were Millenaries For we are speaking now to such as believe the Millennium but place it in the present Earth before the Renovation whereas the ancient Millenaries suppos'd the regeneration and renovation of the World before the Kingdom of Christ came As you may see in Irenaeus Iustin Martyr Tertullian Lactantius and the Author ad Orthodoxos And the neglect of this I look upon as one reason as we noted before that brought that doctrine into discredit and decay For when they plac'd the Kingdom of the Saints upon this Earth it becâ—me more capable of being abus'd by fanatical spirits to the disturbance of the World and the invasion of the rights of the Magistrate Civil or Ecclesiastical under that notion of Saints And made them also dream of sensual pleasures such as they see in this life Or at least gave an occasion and opportunity to those that had a mind to make the doctrine odious of charging it with these consequences All these abuses are cut off and these scandals prevented by placing the Millennium aright Namely not in this present Life or on this present Earth but in the New Creation where Peace and Righteousness will dwell And this is our first Argument why we place the Millennium in the New Heavens and New Earth and 't is taken partly you see from the reason of the thing it self the difficulty of assigning any other use of the New Earth and its fitness for this and partly from Scripture-evidence and partly from Antiquity The second argument for our opinion is this The present constitution of Nature will not bear that happiness that is promis'd in the Millennium or is not consistent with it The diseases of our Bodies the disorders of our Passions the incommodiousness of external Nature Indigency servility and the unpeaceableness of the World These are things inconsistent with the happiness that is promis'd in the Kingdom of Christ. But these are constant attendants upon this Life and inseparable from the present state of Nature Suppose the Millennium was to begin Nine or Ten Years hence as some pretend it will How shall this World all on a sudden be metamorphos'd into that happy state No more sorrow nor crying nor pain nor death says S. Iohn All former things are past away But how past away Shall we not have the same Bodies and the same external Nature and the same corruptions of the Air and the same excesses and intemperature of Seasons Will there not be the same baâ—â—enness of the ground the same number of People to be fed and must they not get their living by the sweat of their brows with servile labour and drudgery How then are all former evils past away And as to publick affairs while there are the same necessities of humane Life and a distinction of Nations those Nations sometimes will have contrary interests will clash and interfere one with another whence differences and contests and Wars will arise and the Thousand Years Truce I am afraid will be often broken We might add also that if our Bodies be not chang'd we shall be subject to the same appetites and the same passions and upon those vices will grow as bad fruit upon a bad Tree To conclude so long as our Bodies are the same external Nature the same The necessities of humane Life the same which things are the roots of evil you may call it a Millennium or what you please but there will be still diseases vices wars tears and cries pain and sorrow in this Millenuium and if so 't is a Millennium of your own making for that which the Prophets describe is quite another thing Furthermore if you suppose the Millennium will be upon this Earth and begin it may be ten or twenty years hence How will it be introduc'd how shall we know when we are in it or when we enter upon it If we continue the same and all Nature continue the same we shall not discern when we slip into the Millennium And as to the Moral state of it shall we all on a sudden become Kings and Priests to God wherein will that change consist and how will it be wrought St. Iohn makes the First Resurrection introduce the Millennium and that 's a conspicuous mark and boundary But as to the modern or vulgar Millennium I know
more critical examination than this Discourse will easily bear There is another remarkable Discourse in Iob that contains many things to our present purpose 't is Chap. 38. where God reproaches Iob with his ignorance of what pass'd at the beginning of the World and the formation of the Earth Vers. 4 5 6. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the Earth Declare if thou hast understanding Who hath laid the measures thereof if thou knowest or who hath stretched the line upon it Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastned or who laid the corner-stone All these questions have far more force and Emphasis more propriety and elegacy if they be understood of the first and Ante-diluvian form of the Earth than if they be understood of the present for in the present form of the Earth there is no Architecture no structure no more than in a ruine or at least none comparatively to what was in the first form of it And that the exterior and superficial part of the Earth is here spoken of appears by the rule and line appli'd to it but what rule or regularity is there in the surface of the present Earth what line was us'd to level its parts But in its original construction when â—it lay smooth and regular in its surface as if it had been drawn by rule and line in every part and when it hung pois'd upon the Deep without pillar or foundation stone then just proportions were taken and every thing plac'd by weight and measure And this I doubt not was that artificial structure here alluded to and when this work was finisht then the morning Stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy Thus far the questions proceed upon the form and construction of the first Earth in the following verses 8 9 10 11. they proceed upon the demolition of that Earth the opening the Abysse and the present state of both Or who shut up the Sea with doors when it brake forth as if it had issu'd out of a womb Who can doubt but this was at the breaking open of the Fountains of the Abysse Gen. 7. 11. when the waters gusht out as out of the great womb of Nature and by reason of that confusion and perturbation of Air and Water that rise upon it a thick mist and darkness was round the Earth and all things as in a second Chaos When I made the cloud the garment thereof and thick darkness a swadling band for it and brake up for it my decreed place and made bars and doors Namely taking the words as thus usually render'd the present Chanel of the Sea was made when the Abysse was broke up and at the same time were made the shory Rocks and Mountains which are the bars and boundaries of the Sea And said hitherto shalt thou come and no further and here shall thy proud waves be stay'd Which last sentence shows that this cannot be understood of the first disposition of the waters as they were before the Flood for their proud waves broke those bounds whatsoever they were when they overflow'd the Earth in the Deluge And that the womb which they broke out of was the great Abyss the Chaldee Paraphrase in this place doth expresly mention and what can be understood by the womb of the Farth but that Subterraneous capacity in which the Abyss lay Then that which followeth is a description or representation of the great Deluge that ensu'd and of that disorder in Nature that was then and how the Waters were setled and Bounded afterwards Not unlike the description in the 104 Psalm vers 6 7 8 9. and thus much for these places in the book of Iob. There remains a remarkable discourse in the Proverbs of Solomon relating to the Mosaical Abysse and not only to that but to the Origin of the Earth in general where Wisdom declares her antiquity and pre-existence to all the works of this Earth Chap. 8. ver 23. 24 25 26 27 28. I was set up from everlasting from the beginning ere the Earth was When there were no Deeps or Abysses I was brought forth when no fountains abounding with water Then in the 27. verse When he prepared the Heavens I was there when he set a Compass upon the face of the Deep or Abysse When he established the Clouds above when he strengthned the fountains of the Abysse Here is mention made of the Abysse and of the Fountains of the Abysse and who can question but that the Fountains of the Abyss here are the same with the Fountains of the Abyss which Moses mentions and were broken open as he tells us at the Deluge Let us observe therefore what form Wisdom gives to this Abyss and consequently to the Mosaical And here seem to be two expressions that determine the form of it vers 28. He strengthned the fountains of the Abysse that is the cover of those Fountains for the Fountains could be strengthned no other way than by making a strong cover or Arch over them And that Arch is exprest more fully and distinctly in the foregoing verse When he prepar'd the Heavens I was there when he set a Compass on the face of the Abysse we render it Compass the word signifies a Circle or Circumference or an Orb or Sphere So there was in the beginning of the World a Sphere Orb or Arch set round the Abyss according to the restimony of Wisdom who was then present And this shews us both the form of the Mosaical Abyss which was included within this Vault and the form of the habitable Earth which was the outward surface of this Vault or the cover of the Abyss that was broke up at the Deluge And thus much I think is sufficient to have noted out of Scripture concerning the Mosaical Abyss to discover the form place and situation of it which I have done the more largely because that being determin'd it will draw in easily all the rest of our Theory concerning the Deluge I will now only add one or two general Observations and so conclude this discourse The first Observation is concerning the Abyss namely That the opening and shutting of the Abysse is the great hinge upon which Nature turns in this Earth This brings another face of things other Scenes and a New World upon the stage And accordingly it is a thing often mention'd and alluded to in Scripture sometimes in a Natural sometimes in a Moral or Theological sence and in both sences our Saviour shuts and opens it as he pleaseth Our Saviour who is both Lord of Nature and of Grace whose Dominion is both in Heaven and in Earth hath a double Key that of the Abyss whereby Death and Hell are in his power and all the revolutions of Nature are under his Conduct and Providence And the Key of David whereby he admits or excludes from the City of God and the Kingdom of Heaven whom he pleaseth Of those places that refer to the shutting and
II. The Birth of the New Heavens and the New Earth from the second Chaos or the remains of the Old World The form order and qualities of the New Earth according to Reason and Scripture CHAP. III. Concerning the Inhabitants of the New Earth That natural reason cannot determine this point That according to Scripture The Sons of the first Resurrection or the heirs of the Millennium are to be the Inhabitants of the New Earth The Testimony of the Philosophers and of the Christian Fathers for the Renovation of the World The first Proposition laid down CHAP. IV. The Proof of a Millennium or of a blessed Age to come from Scripture A view of the Apocalypse and of the Prophecies of Daniel in reference to this Kingdom of Christ and of his Saints CHAP. V. A view of other places of Scripture concerning the Millennium or future Kingdom of Christ. In what sence all the Prophets have born Testimony concerning it CHAP. VI. The sence and testimony of the Primitive Church concerning the Millennium or future Kingdom of Christ from the times of the Apostles to the Nicene Council The second Proposition laid down When by what means and for what reasons that doctrine was afterwards neglected or discountenanc'd CHAP. VII The true state of the Millennium according to Characters taken from Scripture Some mistakes concerning it rectified CHAP. VIII The Third Proposition laid down concerning the Time and Place of the Millennium Several arguments us'd to prove that it cannot be till after the Conflagration and that the New Heavens and New Earth are the true Seat of the Blessed Millennium CHAP. IX The chief employment of the Millennium DEVOTION and CONTEMPLATION CHAP. X. Objections against the Millenniâ—m answer'd With some conjectures concerning the state of things after the Millennium and what will be the final Consummation of this World The Review of the whole Theory THE THEORY OF THE EARTH BOOK III. Concerning the Conflagration CHAP. I. The Introduction With the Contents and Order of this Work SEEING Providence hath planted in all Men a natural desire and curiosity of knowing things to come and such things especially as concern our particular Happiness or the general Fate of Mankind This Treatise may in both respects hope for a favourable reception amongst inquisitive persons seeing the design of it is to give an account of the greatest revolutions of Nature that are expected in future Ages and in the first place of the Conflagration of the World In which Universal Calamity when all Nature suffers every Man 's particular concern must needs be involv'd We see with what eagerness Men pry into the Stars to see if they can read there the Death of a King or the fall of an Empire 'T is not the fate of any single Prince or Potentate that we Calculate but of all Mankind Nor of this or that particular Kingdom or Empire but of the whole Earth Our enquiries must reach to that great period of Nature when all things are to be dissolv'd both humane affairs and the Stage whereon they are acted When the Heavens and the Earth will pass away and the Elements melt with fervent heat We desire if possible to know what will be the face of that Day that great and terrible Day when the Regions of the Air will be nothing but mingled Flame and Smoak and the habitable Earth turn'd into a Sea of molten Fire But we must not leave the World in this disorder and confusion without examining what will be the Issue and consequences of it Whether this will be the End of all Things and Nature by a sad fate lie eternally dissolv'd and desolate in this manner or whether we may hope for a Restauration New Heavens and a New Earth which the Holy Writings make mention of more pure and perfect than the former As if this was but as a Refiner's fire to purge out the dross and courser parts and then cast the Mass again into a new and better Mould These things with God's assistance shall be mattâ—r of our preâ—ent enquiry These make the genâ—ral â—â—bject of thiâ— Treatise and of the remaining parts of this Theory of â—he Earth Which now you see begins to be a kind of Prophecy or Prognostication of things to come as it hath been hitherto an History of things pass'd of such states and changes as Nature hath already undergone And if that account which we have given of the Origin of the Earth its first and Paradisiacal form and the dissolution of it at the Universal Deluge appear fair and reasonable The second dissolution by Fire and the renovation of it out of a Second Chaos I hope will be deduc'd from as clear grounds and suppositions And Scripture it self will be a more visible Guide to us in these following parts of the Theory than it was in the former In the mean time I take occasion to declare here again as I have done heretofore that neither this nor any other great revolutions of Nature are brought to pass by Causes purely Natural without the conduct of a particular Providence And 't is the Sacred Books of Scripture that are the records of this Providence both as to times past and times to come as to all the signal Changes either of the Natural World or of Mankind and the different Oeconomies of Religion In which respects these Books tho' they did not contain a Moral Law would notwithstanding be as the most mystical so also the most valuable Books in the World This Treatise you see will consist of Two Parts The former whereof is to give an account of the Conflagration and the latter of the New Heavens and New Earth following upon it together with the state of Mankind in those New Habitations As to the Conflagration we first enquire what the Antients thought concerning the present frame of this World whether it was to perish or no whether to be destroyed or to stand eternally in this posture Then in what manner they thought it would be destroy'd by what force or violence whether by Fire or other ways And with these opinions of the Antients we will compare the doctrine of the Prophets and Apostles to discover and confirm the truth of them In the second place We will examine what Calculations or Conjectures have been made concerning the time of this great Catastrophe or of the end of this World Whether that period be defineable or no and whether by Natural Arguments or by Prophecies Thirdly We will consider the Signs of the approaching Conflagration Whether such as will be in Nature or in the state of Humane Affairs but especially such as are taken notice of and recorded in Scripture Fourthly Which is the principal point and yet that wherein the Ancients have been most silent What Causes there are in Nature what preparations for this Conflagration Where are the Seeds of this Universal Fire or fewel sufficient for the nourishing of it Lastly In what order and by what degrees the Conflagration will
and not to the Angels In the second chapter to the Hebrews ver 5. he says For unto the Angels hath he not put in subjection the WORLD TO COME So we read it but according to the strictest and plainest Translation it should be The habitable Earth to come Now what Earth is this where our Saviour is absolute Soveraign and where the Government is neither Humane nor Angelical but peculiarly Theocratical In the first place this cannot be the present World or the present Earth because the Apostle calls it Future or the Earth to come Nor can it be understood of the days of the Gospel seeing the Apostle acknowledges ver 8. That this subjection whereof he speaks is not yet made And seeing Antichrist will not finally be destroy'd till the appearance of our Saviour 2 Thess. 2. 8. nor Satan bound while Antichrist is in power during the reign of these two who are the Rulers of the darkness of the World our Saviour cannot properly be said to begin his reign here 'T is true He exercises his Providence over his Church and secures it from being destroy'd He can by a power paramount stop the rage either of Satan or Antichrist Hitherto shall you go and no further As sometimes when he was upon Earth he exerted a Divine Power which yet did not destroy his state of Humiliation so he interposes now when he thinks fit but he does not finally take the power out of the hands of his Enemies nor out of the hands of the Kings of the Earth The Kingdom is not deliver'd up to him and all dominion and power That all Tongues and Nations should serve him For S. Paul can mean no less in this place than that Kingdom in Daniel Seeing he calls it putting all things in subjection under his feet and says that it is not yet done Upon this account also as well as others our Saviour might truly say to Pilate Ioh. 18 36. my kingdom is not of this World And to his Disciples The Son of man came not to be ministred unto but to minister Matt. 20. 28. When he comes to receive his Kingdom he comes in the clouds of Heaven Dan. 7. 13 14. not in the womb of a Virgin He comes with the equipage of a King and Conquer or with thousands and ten thousands of Angels not in the form of a Servant or of a weak Infant as he did at his first coming I allow the phrase 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or in the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The World to come is sometimes us'd in a large sence as comprehending all the days of the Messiah whether at his First or Second Coming for these two Comings are often undistinguish'd in Scripture and respect the Moral World as well as the Natural But the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Orbis habitabilis which S. Paul here uses does primarily signifie the Natural World or the Habitable Earth in the proper use of the word amongst the Greeks and frequently in Scripture Luke 4. 5. and 21. 26. Rom. 10. 18. Heb. 1. 6. Apoc. 3. 10. Neither do we here exclude the Moral World or the Inhabitants of the Earth but rather necessarily include them Both the Natural and Moral World to come will be the seat and subject of our Saviour's Kingdom and Empire in a peculiar manner But when you understand nothing by this phrase but the present moral World it neither answers the proper signification of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nor of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the first or second part of the expression And tho such like phrases may be us'd for the Dispensation of the Messiah in opposition to that of the Law yet the height of that distinction or opposition and the fulfilling of the expression depends upon the second coming of our Saviour and upon the Future Earth or habitable World where he shall Reign and which does peculiarly belong to Him and His Saints Neither can this World to come or this Earth to come be understood of the Kingdom of Heaven For the Greek word will not bear that sence nor is it ever us'd in Scripture for Heaven Besides the Kingdom of Heaven when spoken of as future is not properly till the last resurrection and final judgment Whereas This World to come which our Saviour is to govern must be before that time and will then expire For all his Government as to this World expires at the day of Judgment and he will then deliver up the kingdom into the hands of his father that he may be all in all Having reigned first himselfe and put down all rule and all authority and power So that S. Paul in these two places of his Epistles refers plainly to the same time and the same reign of Christ which must be in a future World and before the last day of Iudgment and therefore according to our deductions in the New Heavens and the New Earth CHAP. III. Concerning the Inhabitants of the New Earth That Natural Reason cannot determine this point That according to Scripture The Sons of the first Resurrection or the Heirs of the Millennium are to be the Inhabitants of the New Earth The Testimony of the Philosophers and of the Christian Fathers for the Renovation of the World The first Proposition laid down THUS we have setled the True Notion according to Reason and Scripture of the New Heavens and New Earth But where are the Inhabitants you 'l say You have taken the pains to make us a New World and now that it is made it must stand empty When the first World was destroyed there were Eight Persons preserv'd with a Set of Living Creatures of every Kind as a Seminary or foundation of another World But the Fire it seems is more merciless than the Water for in this destruction of the World it does not appear that there is one living Soul left of any sort upon the face of the Earth No hopes of posterity nor of any continuation of Mankind in the usual way of propagation And Fire is a barren Element that breeds no living Creatures in it nor hath any nourishment proper for their food or sustenance We are perfectly at a loss therefore so far as I see for a new race of Mankind or how to People this new-form'd World The Inhabitants if ever there be any must either come from Heaven or spring from the Earth There are but these two ways But Natural Reason can determine neither of these sees no tract to follow in these unbeaten paths nor can advance one step further Farewel then dear Friend I must take another Guide and leave you here as Moses upon Mount Pisgah only to look into that Land which you cannot enter I acknowledge the good service you have done and what a faithful Companion you have been in a long journey from the beginning of the World to this hour in a tract of time of six thousand years We have travel'd together through the dark
regenerate and rise into a Spiritual Life 'T is said here The rest of the Dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished That implyes that at the end of these thousand years the rest of the dead did live again which according to the Allegory must be that after a thousand years all the wicked will be regenerate and rais'd into a Spiritual Life These absurdities arise upon an allegorical exposition of this Resurrection if apply'd to single Persons But Dr. Hammond a Learned and worthy Divine but one that loves to contract and cramp the sence of Prophecies making this First Resurrection allegorical applies it not to single Persons but to the state of the Church in general The Christian Church he says shall have a Resurrection for a thousand years that is shall rise out of Persecution be in a prosperous condition and an undisturb'd profession of the true Religion for so long a time But this agrees with the Prophecy as little as the former If it be a state of the Church in general and of the Church then in being why is this Resurrection apply'd to the Martyrs Why are they said to rise seeing the state they liv'd in was a troublesome state of the Church and it would be no happiness to have that reviv'd again Then as to the Time of this Resurrection of the Church where will you fix it The Prophet Daniel places this Reign of Christ at or after the dissolution of the fourth Monarchy and S. Iohn places it a thousand years before the last Day of Judgment How will you adjust the Allegorical Resurrection of the Church to these limits Or if in point of time you was free as to Prophecy yet how would you adjust it to History Where will you take these thousand years of happiness and prosperity to the Church These Authors suppose them past and therefore must begin them either from the first times of the Gospel or from the time of Constantine Under the first Ages of the Gospel were you know the great Persecutions by the Heathen Emperours Could those be call'd the Reign of Christ and of His Saints Was Sathan then bound or was this Epoclâ—a but a thousand years before the Day of Judgment And if you begin this Resurrection of the Church from the days of Constantine when the Empire became Christian how will you reckon a thousand years from that time for the continuance of the Church in peace and purity for the reign of Christ and of his Saints must necessarily imply both those Characters Besides who are the rest of the Dead that liv'd after the expiration of those thousand years if they begun at Constantine And why is not the Second Resurrection and the Day of Judgment yet come Lastly You ought to be tender of interpreting the First Resurrection in an Allegorical sence left you expose the second Resurrection to be made an allegory also To conclude The words of the Text are plain and express for a literal Resurrection as to the First as well as the Second and there is no Allegorical interpretation that I know of that will hold through all the particulars of the Text consistently with it self and with History And when we shall have prov'd this future Kingdom of Christ from other places of the Apocalypse and of Holy Writ you will the more easily admit the literal sence of this place Which you know according to the receiv'd rule of Interpreters is never to be quitted or forsaken without necessity But when I speak of confirming this Doctrine from other passages of Scripture I do not mean as to that definite time of a thousand years for that is no where else mention'd in the Apocalypse or in Scripture that I know of and seems to be mention'd here in this close of all things to mind us of that type that was propos'd in the beginning of all things Of Six days and a Sabbath Whereof each Day Comprehends a thousand years and the Sabbath which is the Millennial state hath its thousand According to the known Prophecy of Elias which as I told you before was not only receiv'd amongst the Iews but also own'd by very many of the Christian Fathers To proceed therefore to other parts of S. Iohn ' s Prophecies that set forth this Kingdom of Christ. The Vision of the Seven Trumpets is one of the most remarkable in the Apocalypse and the Seventh Trumpet which plainly reaches to the end of the World and the Resurrection of the Dead opens the Scene to the Millennium Hear the sound of it The seventh Angel sounded and there were great voices in heaven saying The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign for ever and â—ver And the four and twenty Elders which sat before God on their Seats fell upon their faces and worshipped God Saying We give thee thanks O Lord God Almighty which art and wast and art to come because thou hast taken to thee thy great power and hast reigned And the Nations were angry and thy wrath is come and the time of the Dead that they should be judged and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the Prophets and to the Saints and them that fear thy Name small and great and shouldest destroy them that destroy the Earth c. This is manifestly the Kingdom of Christ and with this is joyn'd the Resurrection of the Dead and the rewarding of the suffering Prophets and Saints as in the 20th Chapter This is that mystery of God that was to be finish'd in the days of the voice of the seventh Angel as is said in the 20th Chap. ver 7. As he hath declared to his servants the Prophets Namely the mystery of this Kingdom which was foretold by the Prophets of the Old Testament and more especially by Daniel as we shall see hereafter The New Ierusalem as it is set down Apoc. 21. 2 3 4 5 6 7. is another instance or image of this Kingdom of Christ. And the Palm-bearing Company Chap. 7. 9 c. are some of the Martyrs that shall enjoy it They are plainly describ'd there as Christian Martyrs ver 14. And their reward or the state of happiness they are to enjoy ver 15 16 17. is the same with that of the Inhabitants of the New Ierusalem Ch. 21. 2 3 4 c. as upon comparing those two places will easily appear Furthermore at the opening of the Seals Chap. 5. which is another principal Vision and reaches to the end of the World there is a prospect given us of this Kingdom of Christ and of that reward of his Saints For when they sing the new Song to the Lamb ver 9 10. they say Thou art worthy to take the Book and to open the Seals thereof For thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy bloud And hast made us unto our God Kings and Priests and we shall reign on the Earth
21. 2. Lastly to the Church of Laodicea is said To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my Throne And that is the usual phrase to express the dignity of those that reign with Christ in his Millennial Kingdom as you may see Apoc. 20. 4. Mat. 19. 28. Dan. 7. 9 13 14. So all these promises to the Churches aim at one and the same thing and terminate upon the same point 'T is the same reward express'd in different ways and seeing 't is still fixt upon a victory and appropriated to those that overcome it does the more easily carry our thoughts to the Millennium which is the proper reward of Victors that is of Martyrs and Confessors Thus you see how this notion and mystery of the Millennial Kingdom of Christ does both begin and end the Apocalypse and run thorough all its parts As the Soul of that Body of Prophecies A Spirit or ferment that actuates the whole mass And if we could thoroughly understand that illustrious Scene at the opening of this Apocalyptical Theatre in the 4th and 5th Chap. I do not doubt but we should find it a Representation of the Majesty of our Saviour in the Glory of his future Kingdom But I dare not venture upon the explication of it there are so many things of difficult and dubious interpretation coucht under those Schemes Wherefore having made these observations upon the Prophecies of St. Iohn we will now add to them some reflections upon the Prophecies of Daniel That by the agreement and concurrence of these two great Witnesses the Conclusion we pretend to prove may be fully established In the Prophecies of Daniel there are two grand Visions that of the Statue or Image Chap. 2. and that of the four Beats Chap. 7. And both these Visions terminate upon the Millennium or the Kingdom of Christ. In the Vision of the Statue representing to us the four great Monarchies of the World successively whereof by the general consent of Interpreters The Roman is the fourth and last after the dissolution of the last of them a fifth Monarchy the Kingdom of Christ is openly introduc'd in these words And in the days of these kingdoms shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroy'd and the kingdom shall be left to other people but it shall break in pieces and consume all those kingdoms and it shall stand for ever This may be verified in some measure by the first coming of our Saviour in the days of the 4th Kingdom when his Religion from small beginnings in a short time overspread the greatest part of the known World As the stone cut out without hands became a great mountain and filled the whole Earth But the full and final accomplishment of this Prophecy cannot be till the second coming of our Saviour For not till then will he break in pieces and consume all those kingdoms and that in such a manner that they shall become like the chaff of the Summer threshing floor carried away by the wind so as no place shall be found for them This I say will not be done nor an everlasting Kingdom erected in their place over all the Nations of the Earth till his Second Coming and his Millennial Reign But this Reign is declared more expresly in the Vision of the four Beasts Chap. 7. For after the destruction of the fourth Beast the Prophet says I saw in the night Visions and behold one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven and came to the Ancient of days and they brought him near before him 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 destroy'd Accordingly he says ver 21 22. The last Beast and the little Horn made war against the Saints until the Ancient of days came and judgment was given to the Saints of the most High and the time came that the Saints possessed the kingdom And lastly in pursuit still of the same argument he concludes to the same effect in fuller words ver 26 27. But the Iudgment shall sit and they shall take away his dominion to consume and to destroy it unto the end And the kingdom and 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 Here is the end of the matter says the Prophet Here is the upshot and result of all Here terminate both the Prophecies of Daniel and St. Iohn and all the affairs of the Terrestrial World Daniel brings in this kingdom of Christ in the conclusion of two or three Visions but St. Iohn hath interwoven it every where with his Prophecies from first to last And you may as well open a Lock without a Key as interpret the Apocalypse without the Millennium But after these two great Witnesses the one for the Old Testament the other for the New we must look into the rest of the Sacred Writers for tho' every single Author there is an Oracle yet the concurrence of Oracles is still a further demonstration and takes away all remains of doubt or incredulity CHAP. V. A View of other places of Scripture concerning the Millennium or future Kingdom of Christ. In what sence all the Prophets have born Testimony concerning it THE Wife of Zebedee came to our Saviour and begg'd of him like a fond Mother that her two Sons might sit one at his right hand th' other at his left when he came into his Kingdom Our Saviour does not deny the supposition or general ground of her request that he was to have a Kingdom but tells her The honours of that Kingdom were not then in his disposal He had not drunk his Cup nor been baptiz'd with his last Baptism which were conditions both to him and others of entring into that Kingdom Yet in another place our Saviour is so well assur'd of his interest and authority there by the good will of his Father that he promises to his Disciples and followers that for the losses they should sustain here upon his account and for the sake of his Gospel they should receive there an hundred fold and sit upon Thrones with him judging the Tribes of Israel The words are these And Iesus said unto them verily I say unto you that ye which have followed me in the Regeneration or Renovation when the Son of man shall sit in the Throne of his glory ye also shall sit upon twelve Thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel These Thrones in all reason must be understood to be the same with those which we mention'd in the foregoing Chapter out of Daniel and the Apocalypse and therefore mark the same time and the same
of the Messiah to contemplate its glory to sing praises to its King and triumph over his Enemies Psal. 68. Let God arise let his enemies be scattered Let them also that hate him flie before him As Smoke is driven away so drive them away as wax melteth before the fire so let the wicked perish at the presence of God But let the Righteous be glad c. The plain ground he goes upon in this Psalm is the Deliverance out of Aegypt and bringing the Israelites unto the Land of Canaan But when he is once upon the wing he soars to an higher pitch from the type to the Antitype To the days of the Messiah the Ascension of our Saviour and at length to his Kingdom and Dominion over all the Earth The 45th Psalm is an Epithalamium to Christ and the Church or to the Lamb and his Spouse And when that will be and in what state we may learn from S. Iohn Apoc. 19. 7 8. and ch 21. 2 9. Namely after the destruction of Babylon in the New Ierusalem glory The words and matter of the two Prophets answer to one another Here in this Psalm there is a Fight and Victory celebrated as well as a Marriage and so there is in that 19th Chapter of S. Iohn Here the Prophet says Gâ—rd thy sword upon thy thigh O most Mighty with thy glory and thy Majesty And in thy Majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things Thy Throne O God is for ever and ever The Scepter of thy Kingdom is a right Scepter c. There S. Iohn says having describ'd a Conquerour on a white Horse Out of his mouth goeth 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 Almighty God And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a Name written KING of KINGS and LORD of LORDS This is the same glorious Conqueror and Bridegroom in both places and this Victory is not gain'd nor these Nuptials compleated till the second coming of our Saviour In many other Psalms there are reflections upon this happy Kingdom and the triumph of Christ over his Enemies as Psal. 2. Psal. 9. Psal. 21. and 24. and 47. and 85. and 110. and others In these and such like Psalms there are lineaments and colours of a fairer state than any we have yet seen upon Earth Not but that in their first instanâ—es and grounds they may sometimes respect the state of Israel or the Evangelical state but the eye of the Prophet goes further this does not terminate his sight His Divine Enthusiasm reaches into another World A World of Peace and Iustice and Holiness of Joy and Victory and Trumph over all the wicked and consequently such a World as neither we nor our Fathers have yet seen This is an account of Two Prophets David and Isaiah and of what they have more openly declar'd concerning the future Kingdom of Christ. But to verifie S. Peter's words in that foremention'd place Act. 3. 21. viz. That all the Holy Prophets since the World began have spoken of the Restauration of all things at the second coming of Christ. I say to verifie this assertion of S. Peter's we must suppose that where the Prophets speak of the Restauration and future glory of Iudah and Ierusalem they do under those Types represent to us the glory and happiness of the Church in the future Kingdom of Christ. And most of the Prophets in this sence and under these forms have spoken of this Kingdom In foretelling the Restauration of Ierusalem and Sion and happy days peace plenty and prosperity to the People of Israel Most of the Prophets I say from Moses to Malachy have spoken of this Restauration Moses in the 30th of Deut. ver 4 5 9. David in many of those Psalms we have cited Isaiah besides the places foremention'd treats amply of this subject Chap. 51. and in several other places So likewise the Prophet Ezekiel Daniel Hosea Ioel Amos Obadiah Micab Zephany Haggai Zachary Malachy All these have either expresly or under the Types of Ierusalem and Sion foretold happy days and a glorious triumph to the Church of God And seeing in the New Testament and in the Prophecies of St. Iohn the Christian Church is still represented as under persecution and distress till the fall of Antichrist and the Millennial Kingdom 'T is then and not till then that we must expect the full accomplishment of these Prophecies The Restauration that St. Peter says was spoken of by all the Prophets and the mystery which St. Iohn says Apoc. 10. 7. was declared by his Servants the Prophets and would be finish'd under the Seventh Trumpet which ushers in the Kingdom of Christ. It would be too long to examine all these places in the Prophets which you may consult at leisure However it cannot seem strange that Ierusalem should be us'd in a typical or allegorical sence seeing we often find such applications of it in the New Testament as Gal. 4. 26. Heb. 12. 22. Apoc. 3. 12. And 't is very natural that Ierusalem restor'd should signifie the same thing as New Ierusalem and therefore that S. Iohn by his New Ierusalem intended the same thing or the same state that the ancient Prophets did by their Restauration of Ierusalem And if neither can be understood in a literal sence which I believe you will not contend for they must both be interpreted of the future happiness and glory of the Church in the Kingdom of Christ. But to conclude this point wholly as to Scripture If we make reflection upon all the passages alledg'd in this and the foregoing Chapter whether out of the Old or New Testament we must at least acknowledge thus much That there are happy days at one time or other Days of Peace and Righteousness of Joy and Triumph of external Prosperity and internal Sanctity when Vertue and Innocency shall be in the Throne and Vice and vitious Men out of power or credit That there are such happy days Prophesied of in Scripture and promised to the Church of God Whether you call this the Reign of Christ and of his Saints or by any other name it is not material at present to determine let the title be what you will as to the substance it cannot be denied to be a general Doctrine of Prophetical Scripture And we must not imagine that the Prophets writ like the Poets feigned an Idea of a Romantick state that never was nor ever will be only to please their own fancies or the credulous people Neither is it the state of Heaven and eternal life that is here meant or intended For besides that they had little or no light concerning those Notions in the Old Testament The Prophets generally in their description of this happiness either express the Earth or at
of our Prophets as well as of theirs He tells him that a certain Man amongst us Christians by name Iohn one of the Apostles of Christ in a Revelation made to him did prophesie that the faithful believers in Christ should live a thousand years in the New Ierusalem and after that should be the general Resurrection and day of Iudgment Thus you have the thoughts and sentiment of Iustin Martyr as to himself as to all the reputed Orthodox of his time As to the sence of the Prophets in the Old Testament and as to the sence of St. Iohn in the Apocalypse All conspiring in confirmation of the Millenary Doctrine To these three Witnesses Papias Irenaeus and Iustin Martyr we may add two more within the second Age of the Church Melito Bishop of Sardis and St. Barnabas or whosoever was the Author of the Epistle under his name This Melito by some is thought to be the Angel of the Church of Sardis to whom St. Iohn directs the Epistle to that Church Apoc. 3. 1. But I do not take him to be so ancient However he was Bishop of that place at least in the second Century and a Person of great Sanctity and Learning He writ many Books as you may see in St. Ierome and as He notes out of Tertullian was by Christians reputed a Prophet He was also a declar'd Millenary and is recorded as such both by Ierome and Gennadius As to the Epistle of Barnabas which we mention'd it must be very ancient whosoever is the Author of it and before the third Century seeing it is often cited by Clemens Alexandrinus who was himself within the second Century The genius of it is very much Millenarian in the interpretation of the Sabbath the promis'd Land a Day for a thousand years and concerning the Renovation of the World In all which He follows the foot-steps of the Orthodox of those times that is of the Millenarians So much for the first and second Centuries of the Church By which short account it appears that the Millenary Doctrine was Orthodox and Catholick in those early days For these Authors do not set it down as a private opinion of their own but as a Christian Doctrine or an Apostolical Tradition 'T is remarkable what Papias says of himself and his way of Learning in his Book call'd The Explanation of the Words of the Lord as St. Ierome gives us an account of it He says in his Preface He did not follow various opinions but had the Apostles for his Authors And that he consider'd what Andrew what Peter said what Philip what Thomas and other Disciples of the Lord. As also what Aristion and John the Senior Disciples of the Lord what they spoke And that he did not profit so much by reading Books as by the living voice of these persons which resounded from them to that day This hath very much the air of Truth and Sincerity and of a Man that in good earnest sought after the Christian Doctrine from those that were the most Authentick Teachers of it I know Eusebius in his Ecclesiastical History gives a double Character of this Papias in one place he calls him A very eloquent Man in all things and skilful in Scripture and in another he makes him a Man of a small understanding But what reason there is to suspect Eusebius of partiality in this point of the Millennium we shall make appear hereafter However We do not depend upon the Learning of Papias or the depth of his understanding allow him but to be an honest Man and a fair Witness and 't is all we desire And we have little reason to question his testimony in this point seeing it is backt by others of good credit and also because there is no counter-evidence nor any witness that appears against him For there is not extant either the Writing Name or Memory of any Person that contested this doctrine in the first or second Century I say that call'd in question this Millenary Doctrine propos'd after a Christian manner unless such Hereticks as deny'd the Resurrection wholly or such Christians as deny'd the Divine Authority of the Apocalypse We proceed now to the Third Century Where you find Tertullian Origen Victorinus Bishop and Martyr Nepos Aegyptius Cyprian and at the end of it Lactantius All openly prosessing or implicitly favouring the Millenary Doctrine We do not mention Clemens Alexandrinus contemporary with Tertullian because he hath not any thing that I know of expresly either for or against the Millennium But he takes notice that the Seventh Day hath been accounted Sacred both by the Hebrews and Greeks because of the Revolution of the World and the Renovation of all things And giving this as a reason why they kept that day Holy seeing there is not a Revolution of the World every seven days it can be in no other sence than as the Seventh Day represents the seventh Millenary in which the Renovation of the World and the Kingdom of Christ is to be As to Tertullian S. Ierome reckons him in the first place amongst the Latin Millenaries And tho' his Book about the Hope of the Faithful as also that about Paradise which should have given us the greatest light in this affair be both lost or suppress'd yet there are sufficient indications of his Millenary opinion in his Tracts against Marcion and against Hermogenes S. Cyprian was Tertullian's admirer and inclines to the same opinion so far as one can judge in this particular for his period of Six Thousand Years and making the Seventh Millenary the Consummation of all is wholly according to the Analogy of the Millenary Doctrine As to the Two Bishops Victorinus and Nepos S. Ierome vouches for them The Writings of the one are lost and of the other so chang'd that the sence of the Author does not appear there now But Lactantius whom we nam'd in the last place does openly and profusely teach this doctrine in his Divine Institutions and with the same assurance that he does other parts of the Christian Doctrine For he concludes thus speaking of the Millennium This is the doctrine of the Holy Prophets which we Christians follow This is our wisdom c. Yet he acknowledges there that it was kept as a mystery or secret amongst the Christians lest the Heathens should make any perverse or odious interpretation of it And for the same or like reason I believe The Book of the Apocalypse was kept out of the hands of the Vulgar for some time and not read publickly lest it should be found to have spoken too openly of the fate of the Roman Empire or of this Millennial State So much for the First Second and Third Century of the Church But by our conclusion we engag'd to make out this proof as far as the Nicene Council inclusively The Nicene Council was about the year of Christ 325. and we may reasonably suppose Lactantius was then living at least he came within the
not how 't is usher'd in Whether they suppose a visible resurrection of the Martyrs and a visible Ascension and that to be a Signal to all the World that the Jubilee is beginning or whether 't is gradual and creeps upon us insensibly or the fall of the Beast marks it These things need both explication and proof for to me they seem either arbitrary or unintelligible But to pursue our design and Subject That which gives me the greatest scandal in this doctrine of the vulgar Millennium is their joyning things together that are really inconsistent a natural World of one colour and a moral World of another They will make us happy in spight of Nature as the Stoicks would make a man happy in Phalaris his Bull so must the Saints be in full bliss in the Millennium tho' they be under a fit of the Gout or of the Stone For my part I could never reconcile pain to happiness It seems to me to destroy and drown all pleasure as a loud noise does a still voice It affects the Nerves with violence and over-bears all other motions But if according to this modern supposition they have the same Bodies and breath the same air in the Millennium as we do now there will be both private and Epidemical distempers in the same manner as now Suppose then a Plague comes and sweeps away half an hundred thousand Saints in the Millennium is this no prejudice or dishonour to the State Or a War makes a Nation desolate or in single Persons a lingring disease makes life a burthen or a burning Fever or a violent Colick tortures them to death Where such evils as these reign christen the thing what you will it can be no better than a Mock-Millennium Nor shall I ever be perswaded that such a state as our present life where an akeing Tooth or an akeing Head does so discompose the Soul as to make her unfit for business study devotion or any useful employment And that all the powers of the mind all its vertue and all its wisdom are not able to stop these little motions or to support them with tranquillity I can never perswade my self I say that such a state was designed by God or Nature for a state of happiness Our third argument is this The future Kingdom of Christ will not take place till the Kingdom of Antichrist be wholly destroy'd But that will not be wholly destroy'd till the end of the World and the appearing of our Saviour Therefore the Millennium will not be till then Christ and Antichrist cannot reign upon Earth together their Kingdoms are opposite as Light to darkness Besides the Kingdom of Christ is universal extends to all the Nations and leaves no room for other Kingdoms at that time Thus it is describ'd in Danielâ—s in the place mention'd before Chap. 7. 13 14. I saw in the Night visions and behold one like the Son of man came with the Clouds of Heaven and came to the Ancient of days And there was given him dominion and glory and a Kingdom that all People Nations and Language should serve him And again ver 27. And the Kingdom and 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 dominion shall serve and obey him The same characterâ— of universality is given to the Kingdom of Christ by David Isaih and other Prophets But the most direct proof of this is from the Apocalypse where the Beast and false Prophet are thrown into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone Chap. 19. 20 before the Millennium comes on ch 20. This being cast into a Lake of fire burning with brimstone must needs signifie utter destruction Not a diminution of power only but a total perdition and consumption And that this was before the Millennium both the order of the narration shows and its place in the Prophecy And also because notice is taken at the end of the Millennium of the Beast and false Prophet's being in the Lake of fire as of a thing past and formerly transacted For when Satan at length is thrown into the same Lake 't is said He is thrown into the Lake of fire and brimstone where the Beast and false Prophet are Apoc. 20. â—0 They were there before it seems namely at the beginning of the Millennium land now at the conclusion of it the Devil is thrown in to them Besides the Ligation of Satan proves this point effectually For so long as Antichrist reigns Satan cannot be said to be bound but he is bound at the beginning of the Millennium therefore Antichrist's reign was then totally expir'd Lastly the destruction of Babylon and the destruction of Antichrist go together but you see Babylon utterly and finally destroy'd Apoc. 18. and 19. before the Millennium comes on I say utterly and finally destroy'd For she is not only said to be made an utter desolation but to be consum'd by fire and absorpt as a Milstone thrown into the Sea and that he shall be found no more at all Chap. 18. 21. Nothing can express a total and universal destruction more effectually or more emphatically And this is before the Millennium begins as you may see both by the order of the Prophecies and particularly in that upon this destruction the Hallelujah's are sung Chap. 19. and concluded thus ver 6. 7. Hallelujah for the God omnipotent reigneth Let us be glad and rejoyce and give honour to him for the marriage of the Lamb is come and his wife hath made her self ready This I suppose every one allows to be the Millennial state which now approaches and is making ready upon the destruction of Babylon Thus much for the first part of our argument That the Kingdom of Christ will not take place till the Kingdom of Antichrist be wholly destroy'd We are now to prove the second part That the Kingdom of Antichrist will not be wholly destroy'd till end of the World and the coming of our Saviour This one would think is sufficiently prov'd from St. Paul's words alone 2 Thess. 2. 8. The Lord shall consume the man of sin who is suppos'd the same with Antichrist with the Spirit of his mouth and shall destroy him with the brightness of his coming He will not then be destroy'd before the coming of our Saviour and that will not be till the end of the World For St. Peter says Act. 3. 21. The Heaven must receive him speaking of Christ until the times of restitution of all things that is the renovation of the World And if we consider that our Saviour's coming will be in flames of fire as the same Apostle St. Paul tells us 2 Thess. 1. 7 8. 't is plain that his coming will not be till the Conflagration in which last flames Antichrist will be universally destroy'd This manner of destruction agrees also with the Apocalypse and with Daniel and the Prophets of the
terms so express He first says Behold I create new heavens and a new earth wherein you shall rejoyce Then subjoyns immediately Behold I create Ierusalem a rejoycing This rejoycing is still in the same place in the New Heavens and New Earth or in the New Jerusalem And S. Iohn in a like method first sets down the New Earth then the New Jerusalem and expresses the mind of the Prophet Isaiah more distinctly This leads me to a Sixth Argument to confirm our Conclusion The time of the Restitution or Restauration of all things spoken of by S. Peter and the Prophets is the same with the Millennium But that Restauration will not be till the coming of Christ and the end of the World Therefore neither the Millennium That this Restitution of all things will not be till the coming of our Saviour S. Peter declares in his Sermon Act. 3. 21. and that the coming of our Saviour will not be till the end of the World or till the Conflagration both S. Paul and S. Peter signifie to us 1 Thess. 1. 7 8. 2 Pet. 3. 10. Therefore it remains only to prove that this Restitution of all things spoken of here by the Apostle is the same with the Millennium I know that which it does directly and immediately signifie is the Renovation of the World but it must include the Moral World as well as the Natural otherwise it cannot be truly said as S. Peter does there that all the Prophets have spoken of it And what is the Renovation of the Natural and Moral World but the New Jerusalem or the Millennium These Arguments taken together have to me an irresistible evidence for the proof of our Conclusion That the Blessed Millennium cannot obtain in the present Earth or before the Conflagration But when Nature is renew'd and the Saints and Martyrs rais'd from the Dead then they shall reign together with Christ in the New Heavens and New Earth or in the New Jerusalem Satan being bound for a Thousand Years CHAP. IX The chief employment of the Millennium DEVOTION and CONTEMPLATION WE have now done with the substance of our Discourse which is comprehended in these Three Propositions I. After the Conflagration of this World there will be New Heavens and a New Earth and That Earth will be inhabited II. That there is an happy Millennial state Or a future Kingdom of Christ and his Saints prophesied of and promis'd in the Old and New Testament and receiv'd by the Primitive Church as a Christian and Catholick Doctrine III. That this blessed Millennial state according as it is describ'd in Scripture cannot take place in the present Earth nor under the present constitution of Nature and Providence But is to be celebrated in the New Heavens and New Earth after the Conflagration These Three Propositions support this Work and if any of them be broken I confess my design is broken and this Treatise is of no effect But what remains to be spoken to in these last Chapters is more circumstantial or modal and an error or mistake in such things does not wound any vital part of the Argument You must now therefore lay aside your severity and rigorous censures we are very happy if in this Life we can attain to the substance of truth and make rational conjectures concerning modes and circumstances where every one hath right to offer his sence with modesty and submission Revelations made to us from Heaven in this present state are often incompleat and do not tell us all as if it was on purpose to set our thoughts a-work to supply the rest which we may lawfully do provided it be according to the analogy of Scripture and Reason To proceed therefore We suppose as you see the new Heavens and the new Earth to be the seat of the Millennium and that new Creation to be Paradisiacal Its Inhabitants also to be Righteous Persons the Saints of the most High And seeing the ordinary employments of our present Life will then be needless and superseded as Military affairs Sea-affairs most Trades and Manufactures Law Physick and the laborious part of Agriculture it may be wonder'd how this Happy People will bestow their time What entertainment they will find in a state of so much ease and so little action To this one might answer in short by another question How would they have entertain'd themselves in Paradise if Man had continued in Innocency This is a revolution of the same state and therefore they may pass their time as well now as they could have done then But to answer more particularly besides all innocent diversions ingenuous conversations and entertainments of friendship the greatest part of their time will be spent in Devotion and Contemplation O happy employment and next to that of Heaven it self What do the Saints above but sing Praises unto God and contemplate his Perfections And how mean and despicable for the most part are the employments of this present Life if compar'd with those Intellectual Actions If Mankind was divided into ten parts nine of those ten employ their time to get bread to their belly and cloaths to their back And what impertinences are these to a reasonable Soul if she was free from the clog of a Mortal Body or if that could be provided for without trouble or loss of time Corporeal Labour is from need and necessity but intellectual exercises are matter of choice that please and perfect at the same time Devotion warms and opens the Soul and disposes it to receive Divine Influences It sometimes raises the mind into an heavenly ecstasie and fills it with a joy that is not to be exprest When it is pure it leaves a strong impression upon the heart of Love to God and inspires us with a contempt of this World having tasted the pleasures of the World to come In the state which we speak of seeing the Tabernacle of God will be with men we may reasonably suppose that there will be greater effusions and irradiations of the Holy Spirit than we have or can expect in this region of darkness and consequently all the strength and comfort that can arise from private devotion And as to their publick Devotions all beauties of Holiness all perfection of Divine Worship will shine in their Assemblies Whatsoever David says of Sion and Ierusalem are but shadows of this New Ierusalem and of the glory that will be in those Solemnities Imagine what a Congregation will be there of Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Christian Martyrs and Saints of the first rank throughout all Ages And these all known to one another by their Names and History This very meeting together of such Persons must needs create a joy unspeakable But when they unite in their praises to God and to the Lamb with pure hearts full of divine Love when they sing their Hallelujahs to him that sits upon the Throne that hath wash'd them in his blood and redeem'd them out of every Kingdom and Tongue and