very favourable to the Christians 6 And I heard a Voice 13 in the midst of the Four Beasts i. e. from Christ in his Apostolical Church Chap. 5. 6. say A 15 Measure of Wheat for a penny and Three Measures of Barley for a penny i. e. let exact care be observed about necessary Food for eating and see thou hurt or diminish not the Oil and the Wine i e. let no Fraud be used in Drinks and 16 Medicines 15 A Famine cannot be here described because that scarcity could not be great where Barley and Wheat were not wanting nor even Wine and Oyl which are rather the Comforts of Life than the Necessaries And therefore this Verse refers to the strict Justice and diligent Care observed by Severus and Alexander about publick Provisions for which they are signally remarkable in History But this Voice being heard so remarkably amongst the Four Beasts that is as spoken by Christ who is represented as in the midst of them Chap. 5.6 seems to intimate something relating to Christ's Church and that very remarkable which I shall endeavour to explain by what is offered by Dr. Beverley a Person of deep thought and of great insight in these matters He thinks then that by the Ballances in the Rider's hand is figured Christ's weighing the Churches Purity in the exact Ballances of the Sanctuary according to what is prophesied of him by Ezekiel Chap. 25.9 10-25 that he the Prince shall take care in the New Jerusalem state there prefigured that their Oblations or Worship shall be exact according to the Old Standard of the Sanctuary from which they had swerved of which Worship or Daily Service Wheat Oyl and Wine are the Symbols they being the constant Attendants of the Daily Sacrifice as appears from Exod. 29.40 Numb 28.7 Barley also denoting the Christian Oblation in the Sacrament and their Praises and Thanksgivings because Barley was used in no Oblation except in that of the suspected Wife Numb 5.15 but in the Oblation of the First Fruits of their Harvest Lev. 23.9 which was a Type of the Christian Eucharistical Oblations as Mr. * Book 1. Disc 51. and in his Christian Sacrifice Mâ—de has shewn And 2dly He thinks that the whole Time of the Seals is as it were weighed in the Two Scales of this Ballance the one half of it being run out at the time when these Ballances appeared to wit A. D. 235. when Alexander Severus's Death put an End to this Seal for the first Seal beginning at the Resurrection A. D. 33. if you add to that 202 years the Moyety of the whole Seals the first half-Time will fall upon the year 235. the other half extending to 437 where he dates the beginning of the 1260 Years of the Apostasie which will be made out more fully in the Process of these Annotations 16 Wine and Oyl were also used in the curing of Wounds and for Medicines Isa 1.6 Luke 10.34 7 And when he had opened the fourth Seal I heard the Voice of the foâ—rth Beast 17 say come and see what Judgments God will bring upon the Heathen Empire for their impenitence 17 The Church continues still Apostolical because the Living Creature still speaks although the Thunder or mighty Power and Efficacy of the Gospel was departed from it And the Apostolical Ministry here calls upon him to consider the Obstinacy and Impenitency of the Pagan Empire notwithstanding the Gospel had been preached amongst them for so long a time and that therefore God had resolved utterly to destroy them after he had tried whether he could reclaim them by his severe Judgments amongst whom yet he preserved a Remnant of Christians to be a Holy Seed according to God's Denunciations in a parallel Case Ezek. 14 12-23 Now the voices of the living Creatures or of the Apostolical Representatives of the Christian Church still continuing we may reasonably conclude that the Ephesine or Apostolical Succession lasted during these four first Seals amongst the Apostolical Ministry of which Succession we may justly reckon not only the Apostles and Apostolical Men but the Primitive Writers and Witnesses of these times from Justin Martyr to Origen who by their Apologies exemplary Lives and Deaths and Learned Writings Justified the Christian Religion confuted Judaism and Paganism and called upon the Empire to Repent many of them foreteling its fall and the rise of Antichristianism upon it and speaking plainly concerning the Thousand Years Kingdom of Christ for which see Mr. Mede Dr. Burnet's Theory of the Earth and Dr. Cressener 8 And I looked and beheld a 18 pale Horse i. e. great slaughter and mortality and his Name that sat thereon was Death and Hell or the grave followed with him as his Attendant and power was given unto them over the fourth 19 part of the Earth i. e. the Roman Empire to kill with the Sword i. e. by War and with Hunger i e. by Famine and with Death i. e. by the Pestilence Jer. 9.21 and with the Beasts of the Earth 18 The State of the Empire from Maximin to Diocletian that is from A. D. 235. to A. D. 284. is here plainly Characterised For 1. Maximin was a Thracian whose Countrey lay Northward according to the Station of the Fourth Beast the Eagle 2. In that small space of time there were above Twenty Emperours not reckoning the Thirty Tyrants under Gallienus most of them very short-lived and coming to untimely Ends which is very appositely represented by Death's sitting upon a pale Horse instead of a Rider 3. Besides the persecution of the Christians the whole Roman Empire was then grievously harrass'd by Cruel and Barbarous Emperours by Civil VVars and Forreign Invasions the Persians and Asiatick Scythians breaking in upon the Eastern part of the Empire and the Goths about the same time invading the Western after a most terrible manner about the beginning of the Reign of Gallus A. D. 251. (a) Pagi in Baron or 252. as Zozimus observes 4. In this Period there was a dreadful Plague that lasted for Fifteen Years together which beginning in Aethiopia went through most of the Provinces of the Roman Empire upon the occasion of which Cyprian wrote his Books de Mortalitate and against Demetrian where that Holy Gospel-Witness attributes that Mortality to the impiety and persecution of the Pagans and not to the Innocent Religion of the Christians and seriously exhorts the Heathens to a speedy Repentance And there was a Famine also as Dionysius (b) Euseb 7.22 Alexandrinus testifies who lived at that time After which Desolations it was a frequent thing in those Countries for the Wild Beasts to ravage and to break in into their very Cities and commit great Slaughters which is a Judgment threatned in Scripture Lev. 26.22 Deut. 32.24 Ezek. 14.15 19 The Roman Empire seems to be called the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Fourth of the Earth because it was the Fourth Earthly Monarchy prophesied of by Daniel after which the Heavenly Kingdom was
things in his Kingdom of Glory But of this more on the Three last Chapters 15 I know thy works and thy whole state and condition that thou art neither cold i. e. neither void of all zeal for that Philadelphian glorious State of my Kindom which is now withdrawn from the very new Earth Rev. 20.11 nor hot i e. nor fervently zealous for it according to the extraordinary Love which that State requires I 35 would that I may speak after the manner of men thou wert cold for then being destitute of all Love which is the Life of a Christian Church thou wouldest be in a deadly state and fitted for destruction or 36 hot for then the vehement flame of thy Love would have been irresistible â—nd unextinguishable and all things here below would have been utterly contemned in respect of me Cant. 8.6 7. 35 Christ does not wish that they were cold simply and absolutely but comparatively that they were rather so than in such a State of Indifferency which was dangerous to themselves and more troublesome and displeasing in some respects unto himself And the whole Expression is taken from the manner in which Men are wont to express themselves when any thing is displeasing unto them and is not to be too Rigorously insisted upon in every part of the Similitude 36 By Heat and Fire is meant Divine Love in Scripture and by Coldness on the contrary is meant the absolute privation of it which is the Death of the Soul whose Life consists in the Love of God and Christ This appears from several Expressions especially in the Book of Canticles where Chap. 8.6 7. the Spouse which is Christ's Church in its most lovely Philadelphian State in his Kingdom represents the Love it has for him by a strong vehement flame or heat such a one as can be kindled only from the Lord as the Words may be translated and which could not possibly be extinguished nor could be translated from him to any other but perfectly contemned and rejected all Earthly things when they stood in competition with him Now this being the Love which the Spouse had for Christ in its perfect State which is elegantly set forth in that Book the Heat which is here wanting in this Laodicean State must be such a fervent one as that was which was in the foregoing State which was vehement heavenly overcoming all Difficulties and preferring Christ and things above beyond all Earthly things whatsoever yea counting them as dross and dung when compared with Christ See Grotius and Dr. Patrick on Canticles 8.6 7. 16 So then or therefore after all this long debate within my self what I should do with thee which art so troublesome and uneasy to me this is the conclusion of the whole matter that because thou art 37 luke-warm and neither cold as some of the other Church-states were which I have therefore destroyed nor hot to the degrees of the state of the new Jerusalem so that I cannot pitch my Tabernacle any longer with thee nor take thee up unto me except thou overcomest the evils of this State by following my counsels and hearkning to my rebukes Rev. 20.11.21 2 3. I will I speak still after the manner of men because of your infirmity spew 38 thee out of my mouth i. e. I will wholly rid me of the uneasiness I have been under and will have neither thee nor any other Church-state any more upon Earth 37 By Lukewarmness is not meant an indifferency to all Religion but an indifference to that higher Heavenly State of Love and Glory which Philadelphia was raised to For it is plain from a diligent compare of this Prophecy that after the Philadelphian State of a Thousand Years there is to be another Church state which is called Rev. 20.9 The Camp of the Saints and the Beloved City which must be this State of Laodicea because it is the only one that remains after the Philadelphian and therefore its Lukewarmness must be such as is consistent with the Love of God for else the Members of it could not have been said to be loved by Christ Verse 19. and is only so in respect of the higher Fervors of the Philadelphian State which is the Holy (a) Canticl â— 6 7. Rev. 20 11.21 2 3. City which comes down from Heaven like a Bride with a most vehement Flame of Love for Christ her Husband and after a Thousand Years of True Glory was translated or fled away with Christ into Heaven into a Glorious State of Eternity whereas this State is described as being on the Earth Rev. 20.9 and as retaining too much Love to the Glories and Enjoyments of their Earthly State although the Lustre of the Presence of Christ manifested during the Thousand Years was withdrawn and as not having such a vehement Love for being with Christ as to contemn all the Gold and Riches which are mentioned in the next Verse and all the Worldly substance of its Earthly State for a Heavenly State with Christ which it would have done if it had had the Love of the Spouse in the Canticles 38 This is a Metaphor from lukewarm Water which provokes Vomiting and casts off from a sickly Stomach what loads it and is nauseous or uneasie to it and is used in Scripture (a) Levit. 18.25 28.20 22. Jerem. 9.19 Ezek. 36.13 to signifie the utter dispeopling of a Nation in which sense it seems here to be taken for the total removal of this and all other such like Church-States as being uneasie to Christ because of their imperfections who would now be no more contented with any State but a Heavenly Perfect and Vnchangeable one such a one as no Waters could quench nor any Floods drown and which was to be set as a Seal upon his Heart Canticl 8.6 7. And accordingly Christ is here representented as uneasie under this State rather than angry with it and as deliberating and at last resolving what to do with it which is intimated by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Illative Particle noting a Conclusion drawn from Premises deliberated of and considered and the Result is That he could not indeed destroy them in his Anger by Fire from Heaven as he would their Enemies the Nations Rev. 20.9 because he had a Love for them and they were not cold in their Love to him neither could he take them in the State they were in unto himself in Heaven and therefore he was at last resolved to spew all Earthly Church states out of his Mouth and have no more such upon Earth by reason of the Imperfections and Corruptions they were subject to when left to themselves and his more immediate presence was withdrawn from them 17 And this will I do because 39 thou sayest I am still as rich as I was before and in the possession of the same Glorious State and not only so but I am encreased with Goods and which is more have need of nothing but am in a perfect self-sufficient State
the great River 21 Euphrates i. e. hindered by Divine Restraint and the Providential course of things from making any considerable Progress in the parts of the Roman Empire beyond that River 19 The Bad as well as Good Spirits which God makes use of are called in Scripture Angels which in this Book are put to denote the Men and Instruments used by and under them in their executing the Commands of God And because there is great Reason to believe as I shall shew hereafter that the Turkish Potentacy is meant in this place which immediately followed the Saracenical I shall therefore endeavour to give you a brief Account of its Original and Progress The Turks called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by (a) Lib. 4. pag. 232. Mela 1. ult Plin. 6 7. Herodotus and Turcae by Mela and Pliny are by all Accounts a Northern People called therefore The King of the North Dan. 11.40 as the Saracens are The King of the South because they lie Southward of Palestine They were Orignally Natives of Tartary which is called Turchestân by the Eastern Writers and is a Countrey of a vast Extent reaching from the River Volga to the extreme East consisting of Two sorts of Tartars the Eastern or Mogul Tartars lying above China beyond the Mountain Imaus or Emodus and the Western Tartars on this side Imaus whose Language is different from the former and from these latter came the Turks as appears from their Language the Ground of which is Tartar and those Tartars also which inhabit the lesser Tartary upon the Black or Euxin Sea called the Crim Tartary or Tartaria Precopensis from a great Dike near which its Chief City stands Crim signifying a great Bank with a Ditch in the Tartar Language as Precop does in the Polish who were originally of the same Race with the Turks although they are now a mixt people because their Prince is by Compact to succeed the Grand Signior upon defect of Heir Male which the Turks would not have consented to if they had not been of the same Line Now the Turks made their Excursions from all parts at first some of them from beyond a Tanais where those Turks seem to have lived who sent an Embassy to Justin Junior and were employed by Heraclius against the Persians when he sailed through the Euxin Sea into Georgia and by degrees into Armenia but the greatest and most Famous Body of them came from Mawaralnà hra or the Regions beyond the River Oxus and from that part of it above the Caspian Sea which is particularly denominated from them Turchestân the Chief Seat whereof is Samarchand from whence they were called into Persia and not from Armenia as Abul-Pharajai and Elmacinus both testifie who make frequent mention of them and their Kings long hefore their setling in Persia They at first fell into Chorasân a Countrey lying betwixt Persia and India and ravaged some parts of (b) Petav. Rationar Tempor 9 7. Persia about A. D. 625. and afterwards (c) Abul-Phar pag. 115 116. assisted the Persians against the Saracens about A. D. 643. About (d) Sabellic Ennead 9. lib. 2. A. D. 800. they made great Incursions through the Portae Caspiae which is a narrow Passage near Derbent which signifies in the Persian Language a streight betwixt Mountains called by the Turks Demir Capi or the Iron Gate near the Caspian Sea betwixt Armenia and Persia and is part of that vast Ridge of Hills at least 1500 Miles long which runneth from West to East from Armenia to India where the Branches of it run several ways one great one of them separating the hithermost Tartary from that above China or the Mogul Tartary and is called Imaus these Hills receiving different Names in the different Counteies through which they run sometimes being called Mount (b) Nicephor Bryenn pag. 21. Du Cange in Not. ad Calcem Cinnami pag. 299. Excerpt e Legat. pag. 106. ed. Paris Leunclav Histor Mussulm pag. 22 23. Elmacin pag. 332. Abul-Phar pag. 222. Abul-Pheda per Gravium Knoll's History of the Turks Taurus sometimes Mount Caucasus and near Tartary Imaus Through this Natural Barrier of Nations there is a Narrow Passage which the Turks passed and possessed themselves of the Northern part of Armenia called perhaps from them Turcomania From whence and about the same time some of them went and settled in Caramania in Asia Minor anciently called Cilicia whilst others of them who were Stipendiaries to the Saracenick Chaliphs prevailed mightily at Bagdâd betwixt the Year 863. and 900. insomuch that although they had been often slain in great Numbers and were driven out of Chorasana they yet Rallied their Forces under Tugrol or Togrul-Beg (a) Du Cange ad calcem Cinnami pag. 300. called Tangrolipix and by several other Names by the Greeks who came from the Countries beyond the River Gihon or Jihun which is the same with Oxus as (b) Pag. 222. Du Cange ibid. Abul-Pharajai distinctly affims and passed that River and not Araxes which divides Armenia from Media except those Two Rivers are confounded by the Greeks as Du Cange thinks This great Captain together with the rest of his Brethren of the Family of the (c) Elmacin lib. 3.7 pag. 331. Abul-Phar 226 227. Leunclav Histor Musul pag 69 Niceph. Bryen pag. 21. Du Cange ubi supra Seljukidae who began to be Famous about A. D. 1038. being called into the Assistance of the Persians at last conquered them taking Ispahan about A. D. 1050. and having embraced Mahometism the Religion of that Countrey they proceeded so far as to conquer Bagdad A. D. 1055. and to put an end to the Empire of the Saracens in those parts Betwixt the years (d) Du Cange ad Calcem Cianam pag. 316. Histor Byzant illustrat pag. 354-358 1070 and 1080. they made great progress in Asia Minor some of the Family of the Seljukidae who came thither from Persia fixing their Imperial Seat at Iconium who are from thence called the Sultans of Iconium and are distinguished from the other Turkish Sultans who Reigned in Asia the Great whose chief Seats were in Persia where Tangrolipix * Elmac. pag. 342. died A. D. 1063. and at Bagdad But the (a) Tyrius de Bello sacro lib. 5. 6. Abul-phar pag. 242. Christians in the Holy War about A. D. 1097. having broken their power in those parts and what through the Divisions which arose amongst the Sons of Cutlumuses (b) Abul-phar pag. 245 290 312. the Cousin German of Tangrolipix and the first who made considerable Inroads into Asia Minor about A.D. 1108 We hear little considerable of the Actions of these Sultans until their Credit and Power came to be advanced by Sultan Aladdin Caicobad who was made Sultan A. D. 1219. and died about A. D. 1236. In the mean time the Eastern Turkish Empire mightily encreased especially under the Arms of Saladin (c) Abul-phar pag. 264-276 Fuller 's Holy War lib. 2. Chap. 35
observes one of the most Illustrious Events which has come to pass and not to be parallell'd since the Apostles times which none can think of without astonishment and the utmost degrees of admiration and wonder there being in it great Discoveries made of God's Almighty Power and admirable Counsels which being designed as the Creation and all his providential Works are chiefly with reference to his Son's Kingdom he hath been pleased to give us Visible Marks and Characters of it in the Reformation such as are 1. The Agreement and Consent which there was in the Substantials of Doctrine at first betwixt the Reformers Vnity (a) John 17 11-23 Eph. 4.3 4. in truth being a Mark of Christ's Kingdom and one of the most powerful external means to convert the World For this great Work was begun about the same time in two distant places by Luther in Germany and by Zuinglius at Zurich and although they held no Communication with one another Zuinglius on purpose abstaining from reading of Luther's Books when they began to be common amongst them yet they differed in no Doctrine of any very considerable moment as the French Historian (b) Pag. 946. Mezeray confesses concerning the Protestants in general but in that of the Sacrament where also their difference was not so great but that they both (c) Sleidan pag. 97 121 159. edit Anglic. agreed in the Substance of the Article that Christ's Body was taken spiritually with the Heart and not corporally with the Mouth and resolved at a Conference they had about it to refrain from all Contention concerning the manner how Christ was present in the Sacrament Whereby it came to pass that the people amongst whom Luther 's Writings were at last common by hearing and reading of them did see the same Spirit in both of them according to the Scriptures and did submit the more willingly to the Truth although it seemed something New to them which was Zuinglius's Design in abstaining from reading of Luther's Books as (a) Melchior Adam Vita Zuingl pag. 28. Melchior Adamus particularly testifies in his Life 2. The Reformation began on a sudden with a surprise and at unawares when men were most secure and were the least prepared for it which are the Signs of the coming of Christs Kingdom in Scripture Matth. 24 36-51 1 Thes 5.3 For Leo (b) Father Paul's History of the Council of Trent pag. 4 5.9 Fascicul rerum expetend passim Bishop of Meauxe's History of Variat pag. 1 â— the tenth was then Pope a most Voluptuous Libertine as loose in his Religion as his Manners whose Example also was followed by almost the whole Clergy who were then as the Popish Writers of those Times unanimously confess very ignorant and very vicious And the Church also was then at ease and quiet the Schism as Father Paul speaks being absolutely extinguished and no considerable Adversary appearing When all on a sudden whilst the Pope was at rest in his House and flourishing in his Palace dissolved in Ease and Luxury the Reformation broke out to his great astonishment and disquiet at an unexpected time and by an Accident very observable his Factors being then busie in selling Indulgences to supply his excessive Prodigality and to raise a Portion for his Sister All which came to pass according to what the Scripture has assured us That when Men say Peace and Safety then sudden Destruction cometh upon them and that the coming of the Son of Man shall be when Men are eating and drinking marrying and giving in marriage and so was it at this his remarkable coming 3. The Reformation proceeded from small beginnings and yet made a wonderful progress in a short time notwithstanding the most powerful Endeavours to the contrary being sometimes carried on by Men who designed nothing less and by Means and to Ends unthought of even by those who begun it Which are plain Characters of the Kingdom of Heaven in (a) Matth. 13. Mark 4.26 27. Scripture which is likened to a Grain of Mustard-Seed the least of all Seeds which yet when it is grown up is the greatest of all Herbs and to Seed sown in the ground which springs and grows up and yet the Sower himself knoweth not how For (b) Father Paul's Hist of Counc of Trent pag. 6-12 15 17. 71. Sleidan in Prefat pag. 31. Luther was a Person of no great Fame or Interest who designed at first only to preach against the Scandalous Abuses of Indulgences and was carried on contrary to his Expectation from one Controversie to another and against his first Inclinations and Resolutions chiefly by the forward Oppositions of his Adversaries he having often professed that he was ready to let the Cause fall if his Enemies would but permit him And if some few (c) Father Paul's Hist pag. 20-23 Bishop Burnet's Histor Reform part 1. pag. 255. things had been at first granted which Pope Hadrian was inclinable to but was diverted from his purpose by others it is generally thought that a stop had been put to the Reformation But God ordered things otherwise making the sins of Men subservient to his Will as is apparent from the Actions of Henry the Eighth who intended (d) Fox's Rook of Martyrs Vol. 2. pag. 273. Vol. 3. pag. 92. nothing less at first than the throwing of the Pope's Power and seems in all his Actions to be lead on by Providential Circumstances to do that which he least designed But as its Beginnings were mean and contemptible so was its Progress (e) Sleidan 133. 160. Basnage Histoir de la Religion pag. 421. wonderful for by the year 1532. Seven Princes and Twenty Four Cities had received Luther's Doctrine and as Erasmus tells us it had spread all over Germany and had stretched it self from the Ocean as far as Switzerland Neither did it contain it self only within Germany but the sound of it reached Sweden and Denmark the former receiving the Reformation A.D. 1525. the latter A. D. 1537. and its progress was so sudden and so swift rouzing the whole World as Erasmus speaks of it out of its Lethargy that I could never think of it without reflecting upon the Question made by our Honest Martyrologist John (a) Vol. 2. pag. 80. Fox viz. how it should come to pass that although the Romish Bishop hath had great Enemies and Gainsayers continually from time to time both speaking and working preaching and writing against him yet notwithstanding never any could prevail before the coming of Luther To which weighty Question although he gives there several good Conjectural Resolutions as he calls them yet the Chief Reason is to be assigned to the Thunders and Voices which were then uttered and to the wonderful Efficacy which prophetical Times and Seasons have upon the Affairs of Christ's Church it being Necessary as Father (b) History pag. 4. Paul judiciously observes upon this very occasion for the effecting of any thing that the time come