The 8th Argument spiritual Babel is represented as a City en riched by a long commerce Eighthly Moreover doth a City become rich in three years and a half What kind of commerce then must that of this Antichristian Empire be that shall make the fortunes of her merchants in so little a time The H. Spirit borrows these figures from what is done and seen inhumane life 'T is seen therein that Cities become rich and powerful by long commerce But never were any of them seen to attain to a surprizing greatness by two or three years commerce Lastly A City and an Empire that are raised and destroyed in three years and a half have not time to gather together voluptuous things The 9th Argument spiritual Babylon is represented as having enjoyed a long peace and to enjoy them It must always fight to conquer to grow greater or to defend it self If the Antichristian Empire lasts but three years and a half this is not too much to establish its greatness by sword and by fire and to repell that force that must destroy it Of necessity Antichrist and his adherents must always be in violent motion in trouble and in war. Whereas the description of spiritual Babylon imports the possession of a long peace during which she must heap together both all the riches and all the pleasures of the World. The 10th Argument the ruin of the Babylonish Empire according to its description in the 19th Ch. cannot be wrought in three years and a half The 19th Chapt. is the last where in the ruin of this Empire is described to us We there see him who is called the faithful and the true and the Word of God i. e. J. Christ that prepares himself for the combat that causes the armies of Heaven to follow him that calls all the birds of Heaven and all the beasts of the Earth to the slaughter that gives battels that obtains the victory that casts the beast and the false Prophet into the lake of fire and brimstone For this alone more is necessary than three years and a half For an Empire so vast so large and so strong as that of Antichrist must be is not destroyed in a few days CHAP. II. The last Argument against the Chimaera of three years and half taken from the time during which the Temple was prophan'd by Antiochus Four quite different times set down for that in Daniels Prophecies An explication and a reconciling of those four times An application of these four times to the Kingdom of Antichrist and the ruin of that Kingdom I Draw my last Argument against this chimerical duration of three years and a half from the most famous of all the types of Antichrist viz. Antiochus Epiphanes 'T is he that persecuted the Church that oppressed it that defiled the Temple that caused the daily sacrifice to cease for the space of three natural years and a half Wherein it is evident that God hath set him as a type of Antichrist who during the space of three prophetical years and a half was in like manner to seize on the Church to fill the Temple of God with Idols and make the pure service of God the continual sacrifices of praises and prayers which God hath reserved for himself alone to cease Now we must remember this maxime which we have already advanced in the fore-going Chapter viz. that types are oenigmatical and short pictures of great events great in their extent as well as in their qualities Types are short pictures in a little This maxime is evident it hath no need of proofs And according to this principle seeing the times must be short as well as the other strokes it is clear that contracted years cannot be better represented than by days not by months for a month is the revolution of the Moon and consequently it can't be proper to represent the revolution of the Sun which is a quite different Star. But the day and the year are the revolutions of the Sun the year is the great revolution the day the little one If one would represent in short the great revolution of the Sun one can't do it better than by the small revolution of the same Star. And thence I conclude that the oppression of the Church by Antiochus who was the type having lasted 1260 little revolutions of the Sun they must represent so many of the great revolutions of the same Star. I spend a Chapter on this last proof because in the duration of the oppression of the Jewish Church by Antiochus Epiphanes there are considerable difficulties which spring from the differences of the Prophecies of Daniel and the events such as the first book of the Macchabees represents them to us I hope that the clearing these difficulties about the duration of the persecution of Antiochus will give us such light into the duration of the Kingdom of Antichrist as will please the curious Four times noted by Daniel for the duration of Antiochus's persecution We must therefore observe that the Prophet Daniel describes the time of the duration of the persecution that was to befall his nation in four different manners First of all he saith in the eighth Chap. after having spoken of Antiochus Epiphanes under the embleme of the little horn C. 8. v. 13. Then I heard one Saint speaking and another Saint said unto that certain Saint that spake How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice and the transgression of desolation to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot And he said unto me unto 2300 days then shall the Sanctuary be cleansed v. 14. Daniel reassuming the affair of Antiochus in the eleventh Chapter and continuing it in the twelfth observes three time Cap. 12. v. 6 7. And one said to the man clothed in linnen which was upon the waters of the river How long shall it be to the end of these wonders And I heard the man clothed in linnen which was on the waters of the river when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven and swore by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time times and a half It is plain this signifies one year two years and half a year three years and a half So then you see the second time The third is observed in the same Chapt. C. 12. v. 11. And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away and the abomination that maketh desolate set up there shall be 1290 days Lastly The fourth time is found in the following verse Blessed is he that waiteth v. 12 and cometh to the 1335 days See then four different numbers Two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings 2300. A time times and half a time 1260. that make three years and a half and days One thousand two hundred fourscore and ten days 1290. And lastly 1335. one thousand three hundred and thirty
To find out the mystery of the seven seals the seven Trumpets we must here again bring in that observation which we a little before made in the foregoing Ch. viz. that the Revelation contains enigmatically the Epitomy of the history of the fourth Monarchy that is to say of the Roman Empire a Monarchy which according to Daniel's Prophecy must last till the coming of the Kingdom of J. Christ on the Earth i. e. to the end of the reign of Antichrist It is clear that the Holy Spirit was to insist only on this fourth Monarchy without considering the other states Empires of the world because 't is that only that Daniel spoke of after the three first Beasts whose reign was certainly past in St. John's time Moreover 't is under this fourth Monarchy in the extent of its dominions that the Christian Church hath receiv'd its seat its rule That Christianity that is found beyond the extent of the Roman Empire is almost nothing And therfore 't is that the Counsells which were assembled from the several parts of the Roman Empire are called Oecumenical as representing the Universal Church Now 't is certain that all the Prophecies have a Mediate or an immediate Relation to the Church So that they ought to insist only on those states in which the Church hath been nourisht brought up There is a third Reason why these Prophecies cannot be understood but of the Roman Empire viz. because the reign of Antichrist which is the greatest affair that happens in the Church which must happen there was to make a part a continuation of this Roman Empire For Antichristianism is the Roman Empire continued This principle which I was willing to repeat here because of its importance will serve to answer those that say to us How know you that the Prophecies of the Revelation do not refer to China or Tartary This objection doth not seem to me to be worthy of understanding persons This being supposed that the Revelation enigmatically contains the history of the Roman Empire continued The principal Catastrophes happening in the Roman Empire are istinctly noted in the Revelation it must also be necessarily supposed that principal great Changes that happened in this Empire are described in large Characters with some note of distinction in the Revelation Otherwise the H. Spirit would not act according to his profound wisdom if in making a history of an Empire he should omit to mark the great Catastrophes that are to happen therin or if he should hide them make them to pass without any character of distinction among the other less events We must therfore consider what are the principal events that have happen'd in the Roman Empire See here they are 1. The fall of Paganism when the Roman Emperours became Christians This is so great an affair that 't is impossible to suppose that the Holy Spirit should have taken no notice of it 2. The fall of the Temporal Roman Empire when 't was divided into ten Kingdoms 3. The erecting a new Roman Empire or rather the continuation of the same under the rule of Antichrist 4. The Birth of the Saracen Empire by the Arabians that come to afflict the Roman Empire in its Eastern branch i.e. the Empire of Constantinople 5. The power of the Turks that come to finish the destruction of the Greek branch of the Roman Empire to lay desolate the Latin Empire See the five great events that have changed the face of the word of the Empire Wherefore I am perswaded these must be found in the Revelation with Characters of distinction Let us suppose therefore that in all the places where there is a notable distinction there we must find one of these notable events The First distinction is found at the end of the sixth seal After the opening this seal there happens a great Earthquake the sun is eclypsed the moon becomes red as blood the stars fall Afterwards the vision of the seals is interrupted by a new vision that comes between in which an Angel marks the elect among the twelve Tribes twelve thousand of every Tribe After which the Holy Spirit returns to the seventh seal under which nothing is done besides the distribution of the seven Trumpets to seven Angells that must sound the successively 'T is clear this is an Epocha a point on which the H. Spirit would have our thoughts to dwell This first Character of distinction must to all appearance be affixed to the first distinct event that happens in the Roman Empire that is the fall of Paganism So that in the opening of the sixth seal we must find the fall of the Pagan Religion The Second very observable distinction is found at the fourth Trumpet There the third part of the sun is in like mannereclypsed the moon the stars suffer the like diminution in their light After which the process of the Trumpets is interrupted by a new Vision viz. that of an Angel that flies in the midst of heaven cries three time Wo to the inhabitants of the Earth because of the three last Trumpets which are yet to sound This is an evident distinction this second distinction must signify to us the second distinct event in the Roman Empire viz. its fall division among ten Kings which came to pass after Valentinian the 3d. in the middle of the fifth Age. The making a new Vision a new Angel crying Wo there times go before the sounding the 5th Trumpet is also a mark of distinction for that 5th Trumpet which signifies to us that 't is an event greatly distinguisht in the history of the Roman Empire And this third distinction can't be applied to any thing but the third notable event that befalls the Roman Empire viz. the Birth of the Saracen Empire by Mahomet his Successors that did so cruelly afflict the Roman Empire in the Empire of Constantinople which was the greatest the most noble part of these ten into which this Empire was divided The Empire of the Turks at the bottom is but a branch of the Arabian Saracen Empire Wherfore it doth not deserve so great a distinction as the other great events of which we have just now spoken And yet the H. Spirit is content to distinguish it by a very long description The fifth sixth Trumpet contain an entire Chapter whereas the four first Trumpets were finisht in 6. or 7. verses which signifies that this fifth and sixth Trumpet must be concerning great Affairs and Evils of a long duration As for that great Event which was to happen in the Roman Empire which wereckon'd for the third viz. the Erection of a new Roman Empire or the continuation of the same Empire under the new Name of the Pope and the Roman Church 't is so great an Affair that the Holy Spirit would not bring it into the first part of the Revelation He hath reserved it to make it the Subject
fain find the invocation of Saints but 't is not there Praep. Evan. l. 12. c. 11. Eusebius only uses the word honour which doth not import either invocation or adoration 't was only out of a design to honour the memory of the Martyrs that they assembled at their tombs But the ignorant people surprised with the deceit of some false miracles which the Devil wrought at those tombs from a simple honour immediately proceed to a religious worship and a few years after the Pastors suffer'd themselves to be carried down the torrent they gave way to it and laboured to establish this false devotion Saint Basil in the East and Saint Ambrose in the West are the most ancient Fathers in whom we find the footsteps of the invocation and intercession of the Saints As for the corruption of the manners of the Clergy and people it began to be great at the very same time Corruption of manners began also in the fourth Age. The Church being become Queen of the World by the means of her Emperors clothed her self with its luxury and followed all its manners covetousness unchastity debauchery were introduced into the Sanctuary We need only to see what St. Jerome who lived in that time saith of Rome and the Roman Clergy and of the Ecclesiasticks in general in his days He represents Rome as already become a Babylon Panla Eustochium ad Mercellam Go out of Babylon my people saith he for she is fallen Babylon the great she is become a habitation of Devils and a dwelling place of unclean spirits 'T is true there is the Holy Church c. But the pride grandure power c. that are found in that City agrees not with the life and tranquillity of Monks The same Author saith that the Princes of the Church lived in deliciousness and imagined they did preserve their purity in the midst of mighty repasts and lascivious actions Elsewhere he saith Comment in Mic. cap. 2. that the Ecclesiasticks did kiss and caress the Ladies stretcht forth their hands to them to receive their presents They observed the tempers of women they caused great estates to be given to themselves and their covetousness became so odious Ad Nepotianum that the Christian Emperors forbad the Ecclesiasticks the receiving Legacies by Will whilest Whores and Comedians were permitted so to do Lastly It is certain that so it was that Pride was establisht in the Church in this and the following age The Pride of the Bishops and particularly of the Bishops of Rome encreased in the same Age. Then it was that the Bishops who till that time had been all equal through pride made themselves Arch-Bishops and Patriarchs Patriarchs that are diminutive Popes and consequently petty Antichrists Above all the pride of the Bishops of Rome began to be very plain 'T was in the fourth age that that noble Roman Consul lived who said make me Bishop of Rome and I will be a Christian St. Jerome Ammian Marcellin These Bishops caused themselves to be carried in a Litter kept sumptuous tables had great equipages and lived like the great ones of the World. 'T was at this time also that they began to ascribe to themselves the primacy over other Bishops Therefore bribery and violence began to be used to climb up into that see In less than an Age this torrent of pride superstition and corruption swelled to such a degree that it became exceeding plain in the 450 year superstition was already advanced to the degree of idolatry corruption was very high and pride very great In the fifth age superstition was advanced to the degree of Idolatry To know to what degree idolatry was already advanced in the middle of the fifth age we need read but the 8th book of Theodoret de Curandis Graecorum affectionibus He saith the Christians called the Martyrs their Physicians and their Protectors The Temples of the Martyrs saith he are remarkable for their greatness and their magnificence they are filled with all sorts of ornaments and they diffuse abroad the splendor and glittering of their beauty We assemble there not only one two three four or five times a year but we celebrate feasts therein very often yea and every day we sing in them the praises and hymns of the God of the Martyrs They that are well desire the Martyrs to preserve them in health and they that have any disease desire of them to be cured of it Men and barren Women ask Children of them and they that have them desire them to preserve um They that take a Voyage pray to the Martyrs to accompany them in the way and also to guide them and they that return in health thank them for it confessing that 't is from them they have received that benefit Not that they look on the Martyrs as Gods but pray to them as divine men and invocate them as their intercessors with God. Now that they who pray devoutly and with faith receive that which they desire appears plainly enough by the gifts which they present them with acquitting themselves of their vows which are the marks of the health which they have recovered For some hang up figures of eyes others of feet others of hands made of gold and silver All these things exposed to view shew that diseases have been cured seeing they have been given by those that have been cured These things I say shew how great is the vertue of the Martyrs and of their Tombs The great corruption of manners in the fifth age If any would be assured of the degree to which corruption of manners was advanced in the same age he may read Salvian Bishop of Marseilles Speaking concerning the excellency of the territory of Aquitain l. 7. de Provid and that abundance wherein its Inhabitants lived he saith that as they surpassed all others in riches they surpassed them also in vices that never was there any where seen more infamous pleasures that their life was exceeding filthy and that discipline was entirely corrupted This is saith he the returns they have made to God for his holy liberality He confesses the inundations of the Barabarians that had spoiled them of their goods could not take away their vices from them and that they remained unchaste to that degree that the very Barbarians were scandalized at their impurities For the Goths suffer'd not among themselves either impurity fornication or adultery Spain said he is lost in the same vices if not in greater Speaking of the people of Africa he saith that the City of Carthage was full of abominations that there was no place nor street without a Whore-house All the streets were full of snares and baits as so many ditches of impurity in such a manner that they who disliked these sorts of crimes could not prevent their falling into them All the Inhabitants of that great City were plunged into the filthy mire of those infamous debauches They breathed from one
the first day God said Let there be Light and there was Light. The first day answers to the first Period of the Church which lasted from Adam untill Abraham 1. By what did the first day begin by Light. Jesus Christ the Messiah is the Light which inlightens every man that comes into the World 'T is from him that the Creation of the intelligible World takes its beginning from the first moment that Light hath shined in that famous Oracle The seed of the woman shall bruise the Serpents head The first day hath two parts It was Evening and it was Morning the Light of the Evening was the first but the dimmer of the two the Light of the Morning was the second but the clearest The knowledge of Christ began by that Oracle The seed of the woman c. The Period ended in Abraham by the same Light viz. the knowledge of the same Messiah but proposed less obscurely in that prophecy And in thy seed shall all the Nations of the Earth be blest This was the Morning for the Light began to increase 2. By whom was this Light produced By the Word of God His Eternal Word He said i. e. by this Eternal Word by his infinite Wisdom by the fruit of this understanding that God manifested to Adam and Abraham this Light to conduct and guide them 3. This Light preceded the Creation of the Sun. This knowledge of a Redeemer was given to the first World before the Messiah its Sun was produc't before the Word was incarnate 4. The Light which appeared on the first day is originally the same with that which was put into the Sun The seed of the woman revealed to Adam is the same with the word made flesh many ages after 5. The Light of the first day was doubtless obscure its seat in the illuminated Waters was not yet well prepared the Earthly parts were not separated and the Light could not have a very free passage through that thick matter In the first Period of the Church knowledge was but dim People were not yet well disposed to receive it it had not yet entred into them 6. After all to what purpose was the Light of the first day to enlighten a Chaos The Church before Abraham was without form and an unformed Mass To what end also was the Knowledge of the first Period from Adam untill Abraham to inlighten a Chaos and that Chaos was not only in the World but in the Church it self for then the Church had no form she had no Pastors no Priests no Flocks no Assemblies no Solemn days appointed no Sacraments no Holy Scripture no Discipline no Censures Every head of a family was both Prophet and Priest of his own house Here was an Idolatrous family there just by was another family where God was worshipt It was a true Chaos so the Iews say well that the Church was two thousand years be thohou in the Chaos and two thousand years under the Law. The Patriarchs made their Feasts as they thought fit on what day they pleased and invited whom they pleased 7. God made the distinction between the Night and the Day He separated the Light from the Darkness for he is the Author of that distinction that is between the World and the Church between the good and bad yet 't is not said that he made the night because God is not the Author of Evil. 8. He made this distinction from the first day because from the beginning of the World and in all ages there is a separation between those who are of God and those who are of the Devil 9. He made that separation of that Light and Darkness of the Night and the Day but he blessed it not he saith not and He saw that it was good In like manner God doth not bless and approve the separation of the World from the Church tho he hath made that distinction because it carries with it in respect of the World curses crimes and miseries 10. He began with the Evening which belongs to the Night and is apart of it because he draws light out of darkness begins the composition of the Church by some degrees of imperfection The Mysteries of the second days the first division of the People In the second day God made the Firmament or Expansum that it might separate the waters from the waters Here begins the second Period of the Church which lasted from Abraham untill Moses let it be remembered that Waters alway signify People 't is necessary it should be so that the Spirit of God may be uniform and like unto it self If the Waters are People the work of separating the Waters must signify the division of the People 1. In the first day the Waters were mixt and confounded both among themselves and with the Earth so in the first Period from Adam untill Abraham the People were confused and mixt one with another God had not yet made choice of any certain peculiar People Among all Nations there were some Holy and some who were Enemies of God were to be found every where 2. But in the second day God began the work of the separation of the Waters i. e. that in the second Period should begin the distinction of the People He took Abraham drew him out of his own Country set him apart and gave him the seal of his Covenant 3. But this work of the division of the waters was effected in two days this work of the division of the People is also accomplisht in two Periods from Abraham unto Moses from Moses unto Christ 4. The separation of the Waters made on the second day was but imperfect God only separated the Waters which were above i. e. the Clouds from the Waters which were beneath i. e. the Seas The distinction of People in the second Period from Abraham unto Moses was but imperfect for we must not imagine but that God did preserve some Elect from Abraham unto Moses besides those in the family of the Patriarchs to think he did not is injurious to the mercy and wisdom of God. There were then at that time some of the faithfull scattered in all places But as the family of Iacob became a great People so by little and little the Spirit of God withdrew from other Nations From the time of Moses there was yet some little remainder of that Spirit among other Nations as is evident by Balaam who was 't is true a very wicked man but yet was not a false Prophet But when the race of Abraham became a great People and had a Country apart to themselves then the Spirit of God withdrew altogether from the other Nations and then was made a perfect division of the People 5. In the separation of the Waters that was made on the second day the Waters which were above i. e. the Clouds were nothing in comparison with those beneath i. e. the Seas So in the second Period wherein was a division of the People the
not contemporary with 'em the seven seals carry the Prophecy almost as far as the fall of Paganism unto Constantine the first Christian Emperor The seven Trumpets divide the rest of the Time between Constantine and his Christian Successors to the end of the World. And the seventh Trumpet that sounds here is the beginning of the last Period which comprehends the fall of the Empires of the World and particularly that of the Antichristian Kingdom or the Papacy The seventh Angel sounded and there were great voices These are voices of Acclamation and joy That Thunders and Lightnings are joyned to those voices signifies the preaching of the Gospel And the four and twenty Elders who sat before God on their seats fell upon their faces and worshipped God saying we give thee thanks O Lord God Almighty c. 'T is the Song and subject matter of thanksgiving wherewith the Holy People should praise God during the reign of a thousand years when God shall have subdued all their Enemies Observe here that the four and twenty Elders appear alone and begin the Song whereas in the first Vision the living Creatures begun the Song and the Elders followed ' em 'T is not to exclude the living Creatures and the Ministry in the last Period of the Church but to signify that then the People shall be so filled with the Divine Spirit that they shall not need to wait the inspiration and assistance of the Holy Ministry to ingage them to praise God and perform holy duties The Nations were angry and thy wrath in come i. e. the Nations of the Antichristian People have executed their malice and fury and thou hast avenged it by destroying their Empire 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 This doth not signify the last judgement or the last Resurrection 'T is the first Resurrection the Deliverance of the Church her coming to the expected Kingdom This is set forth after the same manner in the 20th Chapter of the Apocalyps as hath been already seen The Time of the Dead to be judged he saith not the Living and the Dead or all the Dead but speaks of the Church which lay as dead during the reign of Antichrist and shall rise again when that Kingdom is destroyed The Dead shall be judged And how 't is God will reward the faithfull and the Church by giving them Peace and a Kingdom 'T is a judgement of Grace and of Beneficence He speaks not of eternal Rewards as appears by what follows and to destroy those who destroyed the Earth Which is not a proper term to signify eternal punishments wherein nothing is destroyed men continue under them for ever so that the ruin of the Antichristian Empire must be here meant V. 19. Chap. 11. And the Temple of God was opened in Heaven and there was seen in his Temple the Ark of his Testament The Ark is the sign of God's Covenant with the Iews so this Prophecy of the Ark in the Temple of God signifies the recalling of the Iews The Temple of God was open The Church shall be open to all Nations all People shall resort to it and among others we shall see that People who derive their Glory from the Ark of the Covenant CHAP. XXIV The Characters of the Kingdom of the Church Eight are certain and five doubtfull What shall happen after this Kingdom What is meant by Gog and Magog There shall probably be a lesser kind of Antichrist a little before the end of the World. HAving confirmed the Truth of this Reign of Christ upon Earth we ought now to consider the Nature and Characters of it they may be divided into two Classes some that are doubtful and others certain It is fit that we begin with the certain We are not to reckon among the Characters of this Reign either the fall of the Babylonish Empire or the conversion of the Iews or the conversion of the remaining Gentiles For these three things are to go before it They can never be brought about but with confusion and Tumult The Popish Empire cannot fall but it must cost blood and make a mighty noise The conversion of the Iews must needs be attended with great Commotions among the People and it may be violent contradictions 'T is likewise impossible to conceive that the Conversion of the Gentiles can be brought about without the utmost endeavours of the Devil to hinder it he will raise all his forces every where to hinder the last establishment of this Kingdom of Christ as he did in the first Ages of the Christian Church So that we cannot doubt but he will cause great opposition not only by words but it may be blows Now this cannot belong to the Kingdom of Christ whereof the principal Character is Soveraign Peace Insomuch that we thus conceive of it 1. The Papal Empire shall fall 2. After that some years will be necessary to abolish Sects and Parties and compose the differences among Christians 3. That after this many Heathen Nations and the Iews shall be converted for it cannot be thought that they should be converted while Christians are so much at variance among themselves and seeking the destruction of one another 4. After the Conversion of the Iews the remainder of the most remote Nations shall also be converted Now for all this there must be time for should we think that God will act in a more miraculous manner in this than in the establishment of the first Christian Church Wherefore as the Christian Church was near an hundred years in its first setling no less will be necessary perfectly to resettle it and then shall that blessed Kingdom come which we expect not but that there is some probability that God may begin to compute the thousand years from the fall of Antichrist even before the Conversion of the Iews and Gentiles and so the fall of the Antichristian Kingdom and the Conversion of the Nations may in some sort be comprehended within the Reign of Christ for a thousand years But when we speak here of the Kingdom of Christ we speak of it as in its perfection which will not be till after these things are come to pass An extraordinary effusion of the Spirit the first certain Character Chap. 2.28 29. The first certain Character of this reign of Christ is the plentifull effusion of the Spirit of God upon men The Prophecy of Ioel to this purpose is one of those which is but in part accomplisht hitherto I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh and your Sons and your Daughters shall prophecy your old Men shall dream dreams and your young Men see visions also on the servants and the hand-maid in those days will I pour out my Spirit That lesser effusion of the Spirit which the first Christians experienc't is not enough to fill up the
Sense of this Prophecy 1. Because that did not extend very far the number was not great of those who did pertake of it 2. That did not last but a little while for even before the death of the Apostles the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit became rare So that what was then was properly but a presage and type of that large effusion of the Spirit which should be in the last Period of the Church not that all men shall then become Prophets and be inspired but all shall be assisted and led by an extraordinary and all-powerfull influence of the H. Spirit The second Character great Holiness 2. From this first Character will arise a second viz. great Holiness Great in respect of the degrees and of the extent of it In respect of degrees for such as shall then be Holy shall be incomparably more so than any are now who are reputed such and as to the extent of it because the number of Holy persons shall be greater Nevertheless 't is not to be understood as if men shall then be altogether without sin for they must dye There must therefore be some remainders of sin even the Holy Apostles did not cease to be Men by being Saints The like shall be in reference to men in this last Period Neither is it to be hop't that all men without exception shall then be holy but 't is credible that the number of the Good shall exceed that of the Wicked as much as 't is now inferior to it By Good men I intend not those who are commonly called Honest men of such there is yet a considerable number in the World but such as shall be distinguisht by an extraordinary Piety and Holiness The number of such is now but very small but the greatest part of Men shall then be so And for the Men of another Character they shall then be as rare as now they are common This great Holiness of Men in those days is abundantly proved by the many Prophecies already mentioned and which certainly have not hitherto been fullfilled The third Character Purity of worship Doctrine 3. From thence follows a third Character viz. Purity of worship and Doctrine Corruption in Religion follows the corruption of manners God cannot permit that any Church which is greatly corrupted in manners should for any long time preserve Purity of Doctrine and worship and therefore we find in the Papacy that natural conjunction of a great Idolatry with a great corruption in manners So on the other hand God cannot suffer that a Church that is eminent for Holiness should decline from the Purity of Religion wherefore we may be confident that the Church in its last Period shall not admit any alteration in the purity of its worship or of its Doctrine or in any thing of its Religion There shall no Heresy be received in that Church and I am perswaded that Pelagianism which is now so common shall be quite extirpated for then all men shall be full of God and perceive and acknowledge him in every thing Whereas the Pelagians who prevail in so many places do not see and own him any where but make a God of Man by making him Independent These men are far enough from having a right Idea of a Being infinitely perfect I dare say that God is not much in those men who feel and perceive so little of God. 4. Character Great Peace 4. The fourth Character of this Reign of Christ is a Soveraign Peace This is plainly revealed by many express Prophecies That the Wolf shall feed with the Lamb and swords be turned into plough-shares and men shall not hurt or destroy one another The Art of War which sprung from Hell shall return thither Nothing but the corruption and wickedness of the World doth now make it necessary The Devil of Covetousness and of Ambition the spirit of Revenge and the like shall return to the bottomless pit whence they came And it shall no more be a point of honour to know how to massacre mankind to storm Towns and gain Battels and destroy Countries and cover the Fields with dead Bodies 5. Character Deep Humility 5. This shall be a Kingdom of Humility All those vain Titles which now serve for ornament and pride shall then be vanisht Brotherly Love shall make all men equal not that all distinction and all dignities among men shall cease This Kingdom is no Anarchy there shall be some to govern and others to obey But Government shall then be without Pride and Insolence without Tyranny and without Violence Subjects shall obey their Rulers with an humble spirit and Governors shall rule their Subjects with a spirit of meekness and gentleness 6. Character The abolishing of unlawfull vain Arts. 6. All those Arts which now serve the Pride and Vanity of mankind shall then be abolisht 'T is a mysterious and deep design of God that his Providence permits the Reign of Vanity in the place of Charity which is retired and gone What a multitude of People are maintained by this Reign of Vanity for how could the Poor subsist without the vanity of the Rich who will have stately Houses gawdy furniture pompous garments of Gold Silk Point Lace and fanâ—â— deliciously and keep many attendants and domestick Servants by all these doth subsist that great Company of Artificers Goldsmiths Painters and those that work in Tapistry in Stuffs of Wool Gold and Silk Cooks Pastry-men Architects Taylors and such as make Point and Lace c. These comprehend above three quarters of the World and all these must dye of hunger if the several branches of humane vanity were not as so many secret and under-ground chanels whereby Divine Providence distributes food and nourishment to so many persons They therefore who would cut off all this Vanity before the season of returning Charity do confound the times and Characters of the different Periods of the Church These are the Vanities of the World and while the World reigns they must have their course but 't is certain withal that assoon as the Reign of Charity shall return all these shall be quite banisht 7. Character The return of Charity 7. And this is the seventh Character of the reign of Christ on Earth that fervent charity shall be restored and supply all the necessities of inferior persons By this a thousand Channels shall be opened for the relief of the Poor like those of vanity And they who now live upon the Vanity of worldly men shall then live upon the charity of the Saints Inferiors are now vain and proud as well as Superiors they learn and derive their vanity from that of those above 'em and as Diogenes trampled under his feet the Houshold-stuff and pride of Plato with a greater Pride and his so oftentimes the Pride and vanity of those who grow rich by the vanity of others is greater than that of the Rich themselves It shall not then be thus Every man shall