the Holy Ghost the third Person in Trinity and shall be until the King of that Kingdom appears again to personate his distinct Office with the Father and the Holy Spirit who have always an intrinsecal co-operation with him What I further apprehend concerning their joynt-acting in and concerning this Kingdom I will offer to consideration though such speculations may perhaps appear Novelties For sometimes great Fires are kindled by little obscured sparks and my Rush-candle may perhaps occasion the enlightning of many Torches hereafter when my snuff is burnt out There is an Interweaving of many dark expressions in the Apoculypse of St. John concerning this and other sublime Mysteries to him delivered wherein things preceding have relation to things following and some things following to those which precede by way of supplement as I conceive and some also having reference both to what was precedent and subsequent Thus under correction I apprehend and that among such the binding of Sathan for a thousand years is one having respect as well to the restraining of him from setting up his Mystery of Iniquity until the LET should be taken away which was before the Bottomless Pit was opened as a relation unto the time wherein he should be restrained a thousand years from deceiving the Nations after the BEAST the false Prophet and the whole Mystery of Antichristianism should be destroyed by the coming of Christ to personate his Kingship upon earth For it was a thousand years after our Saviours Ascention and after the Roman Empire was at highest and began to decline before the Beast which arose out of it could ascend to his height which consumed all the number of years alotted to that Empire until the Beast last mentioned arose This time was enigmatically presignified by M. the first and greatest Numeral belonging to that Empire the remainder of their Numerals to wit DCLXVI presaged the time alotted to the second Beast the last Relick of that Monarchy mystically represented by that part of Daniel's Image which was composed of Iron and Clay For though I must confess I have no Precedent for what I declare my Judgement to be nor any other warrant but what hath been spoken to my own heart in private I do conceive which I have heretofore published effect upon several occasions that God though it seems they took no notice of it gave that Empire a Mysterious hint in their own Numerals how long it should last after it was at highest both in the main of its first Institution and in that which should arise out of it until the total extirpation thereof branch and root All the said Numerals joyned together in order beginning at the greatest and ending at the least being these M.D.C.L.X.V. and I make one thousand six hundred sixty six The thousand years were consumed before the second Beast which is the Mystery of Iniquity was compleated and then that usurped the whole power of his Predecessor and the remaining Numerals make up DCLXVI which is the number of a Man to wit the Mystical man of sin and will be the whole time limited as I conceive for his wicked Raign after he came to his highest exaltation and as I take it we are to begin to reckon this double number from Christs death and passion or Ascention not from his Birth because the Roman Empire was not at his highest till then and declined not until it had Crucified the Lord of Life And if so we may guess within a short time how long that Mystery may continue if we knew certainly how many years Christ lived upon the earth and if Chronologers have rightly computed preceding times from his Birth till this year 1665 and that time as I have already said may be about four or five and thirty years yet to come I will not so absolutely determine it as once heretofore I did being a little-over heated with Zèal upon occasion given to treat of that time For Christ having intimated that a compleat certainty of it is not revealed to any man in the flesh I wave that peremptory expression though I still believe it will be about that time and perhaps God sometimes permitteth such casual slips when they are not purposed to keep his Children quiet when they desire things before they can be had as we do our Children by suffering them to please themselves with uncertain harmless hopes When the number of the Beast is finished I do believe there will be a space of time in which that which is truely Good shall be as well made known at Evil hath now been almost six thousand years and that the time thereto allotted is that seventh Mysterious Day or Sabbath which the Lord our GOd hallowed when he had finished his six days works and that the Jewish sabbaths of dayes and years were but Types of the great sabbath separated from the other six parts of time and sanctified by GOD for himself and his chosen people to rest in and is called a Day by him with whom A thousand years is but as yesterday it being usual in holy scripture to signifie many years and times consisting of many ages by the denomination of a day or days as in Daniel a time of many Generations then to come by 1335 dayes Dan. 12. 12. and in the Revelation 11 by 1260 days and in the same Chapter by three day and a half and it signifies the whole time of Christs Kingdom upon earth in that place where it is said Abraham desired to see his day and saw it For he fore saw it by Faith 24. Six days of a thousand years apiece as I conceive was alotted for the men of this VVorld to prosecute therein those works which they thought they had to do and were alotted both for their Probation and to acquite as aforesaid that experimental knowledge which was desired by our First-parents And in that space of time both good and evil men who were Vicegerents or Subjects either of the Kingdom of God or of the Prince of this world were permitted to be active for their several Interests according to their distinct inclinations and to pursue them so far forth as that good or evel which was in them would extend But neither the Righteousness which was in the best is sufficient in it self to perfect their desired Kingdom nor the wickedness which is in the worst enongh to establish their Dominion because the restraining power of him who is the Supream Governour of all things would not permit the Adversaries of his Kingdom to be so wicked as they would have been in acting destructively thereunto though the wickedness of their Will wanted nothing to compleat of demonstrate their personal untighteousness of that perfection of Evil which was in them But when the great Sabbaths of years is come in which the supream Kings of both are to manifest and exercise their Powers in another mode then heretofore or at this present to wit during the last thousand years or seventh part of time
gathering ought as Bees do from flowers growing without me but spinning out like the Silk-worm that onely which God had stored up within me And having put into words that which was as it were distilled out of my heart by fire as were my Remembrances to this Nation in the great Pestilence this time forty years I do now as a Testimonial of my thankfulness bequeathe it to my friends by whose Charity I was then and heretofore seasonably furnished with such necessaries as have hitherto preserved me and mine from likely rnine and in the first place offer it for a Thank-Oblation to God who enabled me to finish it during those few days which I might probably have conceived would have concluded my life GOD the Father GOD the Son GOD the Holy Ghost one Eternal Deity always joyntly co-operating intrinsecally by invisible workings and distinctly in what is externally personated by a triple manifestation thereof to our humane Capacities sanctifie me and all my thoughts words and actions to his glory now and for ever Amen THE PREFACE OF The LORDS PRAYER Offering many Particulars to consideration pertinent to other Duties an Objects of our Christian Faith as well as to the true understanding and right use of that Prayer without imposing upon any ought more then he shall conscientiously believe till convinced by better informatiion which the Author humbly prays all his Readers to remember for prevention of uncharitable Prejudice Matthew 6. 9. After this manner pray ye or as it is written Ink. 12. 2. When ye pray say Our Father which are in Heaven hallowed be thy Name Thy Kingdom come thy Will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Give us this day our daily bread And forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil For thine is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory for ever Amen OUr blessed Redeemer having in the words next preceding these reprehended these who used such vain Repetitions in praying as the Heathens did who thought to be heard for their much babling or that God else knew not or would not heed their wants It pleased him for preventing such practices and misapprehensions to leave this Catholick Form and Pattern of Prayer and Praise to his Apostles and his Church for all future Generations including therein one conditional Petition not grantable without performance of that condition required to wit the forgiveness of our sins which condition is both Affirmatively and Negatively declared in these words next following If you forgive men their Trespasses then will your heavenly Father forgive you But if you forgive not them then will not your heavenly Father forgive you This precaution is heedfully to be observed at all times lest our Prayers be turned into sin and we imprecate a Curse upon our selves instead of a Blessing For God is Love and whosoever brings a Petition into his Presence with a malitious or implacable heart toward his Brother or Neighbour shall have all his suits rejected and his sins even his sins formerly forgiven recharged upon him and be laid in prison until he hath pay'd the utmost farthing of his debts That qualification for Prayer is in this Generation very defective in a great number And perhaps it proceeds from a want of Charity in this kinde whereof their own consciences accuse them that so many have neglected the use of this Prayer even because they cannot forgive as they would be forgiven and therefore are afraid to speak in that Form of words not considering that God remembers that condition though they mention it not in their prayers nor peradventure observe that though God sets before us his Love and free forgiveness to be a Pattern whereto he requires conformity as near as possible we can he is not so severe as to expect our forgiveness should equal his in perfection but onely in that proportion which our finite and frail nature is capable of This Hint is proper to the Fifth Petition yet not impertinently here offered to remembrance because peradventure some may meet it here upon the threshold who will never look further into the Book 2. The Texts of Holy Scripture prefixed to this Prayer contain a Precept or Injunction teaching how to pray it For the Evangelist Matthew saith After this manner pray ye and St. Luke says When ye pray say thus Our Father c. whereof little more need to be said then what the words and authority of the Author sufficiently explains and warrants to take away all scruple of praying both in the same words and according to their Genuine sence in such other words as the Spirit of God shall dictate unto our understandings upon such occasions as are offered for the two Evangelists by the words afore-specified the one biddding us to pray in this manner and the other to say thus makes this assertion doubtless and they are very ignorant who shall either suspect the lawful use of a Form so authorized or that the help to Devotion thereby intended was not as well vouchsafed to direct and inlarge our conceptions in whatsoever is pertinent to the duty of Prayer as to restrain us from vain Tautologies or other superfluous impertinencies 3. As it is hinted in my preceding Preamble our humane Capacity is not capable of spiritual Objects or to communicate them intelligibly to each other unless they are imbodied in some sensible Form Therefore in that respect this may be called the Body of Prayer and I finde it consists of a Preface six Petitions and an Epilogue or Conclusion The Preface is comprehended in these words Our Father which art in Heaven in which there are several particulars observable first that this Prayer is not singly personated by this word MY but by the Pronoun Collective OUR comprehending many persons mysteriously incorporated which implies that it is not to be offered up to God by Individual persons or congregations with respect to themselves onely or to their personal duties or necessities but with regard also to the whole Catholick Church-Militant and to the necessities of every member thereof in being or in a potentiality of being yea in some respects with regard to those Saints whose quondam visible being is at an end for a while considering their Resurrection to life Eternal with all the Priviledges of the Everlasting Kingdom petitioned for in this Prayer belonging to the Quick and Dead and concerns their Bodies now in the Grave no less then their bodies who yet live and therefore they are to be comprehended In our Prayers in such respects with those also who were or shall be as well as on the behalf of our selves and of those who yet live in regard they are Objects of the Universal Faith Charity and Resurrection as well as we and their Resurrections no less necessary to be pray'd for then the Kingdom to come though both will come to pass notwithstanding we pray not for them This Doctrine will not be justly offensive to
it will then evidently and universally appear whether of the two is most powerful and that neither the Evil which is it the worst men or the Good which is in the best men could thitherto or shall at that day do any works of their own which they think they had to do that will be prevalent to those evili or good ends which they proposed to establish their respect 〈◊〉 Kingdoms For then will be the Day of his Power whose Kingdom was lirerally prophesied of in the 110 Psalm and the Will of his willing ones be accepted instead of working Their King alone be the able to conquen all his Adversaries letting loose the Devil to use the utmost of his Usurped power will break the Head of Malignity together with all the Kings of the opposing Kingdoms and then his Subjects the Spiritual seed of the true Abel and Abraham by Faith who for the most part of the former six thousand years have been subjected in their temporary concernments to Cain and his Successors and ever since his time been persecuted in relation to their worship of God and their King shall be totally set at liberty for ever and rest and Reign with him in that Kingdom judging those Kings and Nations by whose Tyranny they were oppressed and against whom the Supream-Judg of that Kingdom which they despised and we pray for shall pronounce this sentence of Condemnation Depart ye cursed into everlasting fire 25. But though we believe there is such a Kingdom to come shall fully know the nature of it whose it is what advantages we may have by it which are innumerable and intimated in this Evangelical promise Seest first the Kingdom of God and all other things shall be Ministred unto you if we do our formally seek it for carnal ends only it will nothing avail us when it comes openly into the Earth until it comes into our hearts also A Dominiou is there to be exercised and it is the first place into which the Kingdom of Heaven enters upon Earth Every Saint hath a Kingship there to be managed whereby he must have a Probation and be prepated for a Throne in that which will Universally appear that will be performed by cherishing those Virâ—â—â—â— which may make his Microcosme or little World a true Province of that large Kingdom expected and by subjecting to Reason and to the Evangelical Laws all those natural Desires Passions and Affections which have been Rebellious and Repugnant to the Purity and Justice thereof subduing and keeping them under by a spiritual Militia We ought therefore to endeavour it diligently and to take heed that we let not in the kingdom of the Devil instead of Christs or admit into us the Kingdoms of this world For most men are deluded with false appearances in this case whereof I have had had experiments a long time in relation to my self and if I shall be credited may say much to prevent those fallacies in others Hear then with seriousness what I shall now express to that purpose I will begin with some of those deceivable Marks whereby very many think they are made Children of God and Inheriters of his Heavenly Kingdom before they have any evidences thereof but such as these ensuing whose invalidity let them consider They had an Initiation into the Kingdom by being Baptized with water in the Name of the Father Son and the Holy Ghost and had God-fathers and God-mothers who for obtaining that Priviledg promised many things in their Names to be performed on their behalf But so were many thousands who being heedless of such promises seem by their Lives and Conversations to be Children of the Devil and belonging to this kingdom They have been outwardly partakers of the Lords Table so was Judas by what seems a probability thereof as well as the rest of the Apostles yet we know he was reprobated They have done Miracles so did Simon Magus Jannes Jambres and others yet were Impostors They have caft out Devils in Christs Name so did some to whom he will say I know ye not They have Prophecied concerning him so did Balaam and Caiaphas They have builded goodly Temples so did Herod whose like was not in the world yet he was a Tyrant and murthered the innocent Children and John the Baptist They have maintained many such Priests and Prophets as they affected so did Jezabel yet was a Strumpet and became Dogs meat They were frequent hearers of them who preached the Gospel so are many who are no Doers of what they hear and some who came but to intrap the Ministers of God as others did to insnare Christ or else came to see and be seen or more to be reputed Religious then with sincere Devotion They have been Preachers of the Gospel and Assertors of the Truth so have not a few been who held and professed it in unrighteousness or preached rather to uphold contention then to edifie their hearers and who through neglect of endeavouring mortification in themselves have been Reprobates when they preached Salvation to others They have fasted much given Alms and said many long Prayers so do Hypocrites and so did the hypocritical Scribes and Pharisees oft devouring VVidows houses under those pretences They have undergone severe penances and grievously afflicted themselves so did the Priests of Baal heretofore and so do many superstitious Romanists and others at this day They have been sufferers so have Malefactors been Innocent Heathens and in finite numbers who probably 〈◊〉 evidence within themselves or sence of the Kingdom we pray for Other such-like Marks I could enumerate wherewith multitudes are deluded VVe must therefore finde out better Marks to ascertain us That the Kingdom of God is within us and these that follow will also be such demonstrations thereof as if we be not Traytors to our selves may make it unquestionably known to be within us 26. If the Kingdom of Christ be within us we shall feel that we love him who is King thereof with all our hearts yea more then our selves we shall be obedient to all his Commands and Laws to our utmost power Zealous of his Honour and of magnifying his Name and maintaining all the Prerogatives of his Kingdom even to the loss of our lives if need be and sorry when we fail therein through infirmity we shall love our selves no more then to make it a true Rule whereby to measure out the love we owe unto our Neighbours and Brethren VVe shall always have as well a charitable Love for our Enemies as an affectionate love for our Relations and square out all Actions by the Evangelical Law of that Kingdom VVe shall do good for evil bless them that curse us pray for them who persecute us forgive as we would be forgiven be merciful to all Gods creatures according to their kinds use them with sobriety and thankfulness and be afflicted for it in our hearts when we are knowingly or ignorantly defective in these of any other duties as soon as