BOOK IV.

_Concerning the New Heavens and New Earth, AND Concerning the Consummation of all Things._

CHAP. I.

_The Introduction; That the World will not be annihilated in the last Fire: That we are to expect, according to Scripture and the Christian Doctrine, new Heavens and a new Earth, when these are dissolv’d or burnt up._

We are now so far advanc’d in the Theory of the Earth, as to have seen the End of two Worlds; one destroy’d by Water, and another by Fire. It remains only to consider, whether we be yet come to the final Period of Nature; the last Scene of all Things, and consequently the utmost Bound of our Enquires: Or, whether Providence, which is inexhausted in Wisdom and Goodness, will raise up, from this dead Mass, new Heavens and a new Earth; another habitable World, better and more perfect than that which was destroyed: That, as the first World began with a Paradise, and a State of Innocency; so the last may be a kind of Renovation of that happy State, whose Inhabitants shall not die, but be translated to a blessed Immortality.

I know ’tis the Opinion of some, that this World will be annihilated, or reduc’d to nothing, at the Conflagration, and that would put an End to all farther Enquiries. But whence do they learn this? From Scripture or Reason, or their own Imagination? What Instance or Example can they give us of this they call _Annihilation_? Or what Place of Scripture can they produce, that says, the World, in the last Fire, shall be reduc’d to nothing? If they have neither Instance nor Proof of what they affirm, ’tis an empty Imagination of their own, neither agreeable to Philosophy, nor Divinity: Fire does not consume any Substance; it changes the Form and Qualities of it, but the Matter remains. And if the Design had been _Annihilation_, the employing of Fire would have been of no Use or Effect: For Smoke and Ashes are at as great a Distance from _Nothing_, as the Bodies themselves out of which they are made. But these Authors seem to have but a small Tincture of Philosophy, and therefore it will be more proper to confute their Opinion from the Words of Scripture, which hath left us sufficient Evidence, that another World will succeed after the Conflagration of that we now inhabit.

The Prophets, both of the Old and New Testament, have left us their Predictions concerning _new Heavens and a new Earth_. So says the Prophet _Isaiah_, ch. lxv. 17. _Behold I create new Heavens and a new Earth, and the former shall not be remembered, or come into Mind_; as not worthy our Thoughts, in comparison of those that will arise when these pass away. So the Prophet St. _John_ in his _Apocalypse_, when he was come to the End of this World, says, _And I saw a new Heaven and a new Earth: For the first Heaven and the first Earth were passed away, and there was no more Sea, Apoc. xxi. 1._ Where he does not only give us an Account of a new Heaven and a new Earth in general; but also gives a distinctive Character of the _new Earth_, that it shall have _no Sea_. And in the _5th Verse_, he that sate upon the Throne says, _Behold I make all_ Things _new_: which, consider’d with the Antecedents and Consequents, cannot be otherwise understood than of a new World.

But some Men make Evasions here, as to the Words of the Prophets, and say, they are to be understood in a figurative and allegorical Sense; and to be apply’d to the Times of the Gospel, either at first or towards the latter End of the World; so as this _new Heaven and new Earth_, signify only a great Change in the moral World. But how can that be, seeing St. _John_ places them after the End of the World? And the Prophet _Isaiah_ connects such Things with his new Heavens and new Earth, as are not compatible to the present State of Nature, _ch. lxv._ However, to avoid all Shuffling and Tergiversation in this Point, let us appeal to St. _Peter_, who uses a plain literal Style, and discourses downright concerning the natural World. In his _2d Epist._ and _3d Chap._ when he had foretold and explain’d the future Conflagration, he adds, But we expect _new Heavens and a new Earth, according to his Promises_. These Promises were made by the Prophets; and this gives us full Authority to interpret their _new Heavens and new Earth_ to be after the _Conflagration_. St. _Peter_, when he had describ’d the Dissolution of the World in the last Fire, in full and emphatical Terms, as _the passing away the Heavens with a Noise; the melting of the Elements, and burning up all the Works of the Earth_; he subjoins, _Nevertheless_ (notwithstanding this total Dissolution of the present World) _we, according to his Promises, look for new Heavens and a new Earth, wherein dwelleth Righteousness_. As if the Apostle should have said, Notwithstanding this strange and violent Dissolution of the present Heavens and Earth, which I have describ’d to you, we do not at all distrust God’s Promises, concerning new Heavens and a new Earth, that are to succeed these, and to be the Seat of the Righteous.

Here’s no room for Allegories, or allegorical Expositions, unless you will make the Conflagration of the World an Allegory: For, as Heavens and Earth were destroyed, so Heavens and Earth are restored; and if, in the first Place, you understand the natural material World, you must also understand it in the second Place; they are both Allegories, or neither. But to make the Conflagration an Allegory, is not only to contradict St. _Peter_, but all Antiquity, sacred or prophane. And I desire no more Assurance, that we shall have new Heavens and a new Earth, in a literal Sense, than we have that the present Heavens and Earth shall be destroyed in a literal Sense, and by material Fire: Let it therefore rest upon that Issue, as to the first Evidence and Argument from Scripture.

Some will fancy, it may be, that we shall have new Heavens and Earth, and yet that these shall be annihilated: They would have these first reduc’d to nothing, and then others created, spick and span new, out of nothing. But why so, pray, what’s the Humour of that? Lest Omnipotency should want Employment, you would have it to do, and undo, and do again; as if new-made Matter, like new Cloaths, or new Furniture, had a better Gloss, and was more credible. Matter never wears; as fine Gold, melt it down never so often, it loses nothing of its Quantity: The Substance of the World is the same, burnt or unburnt, and is of the same Value and Virtue, new or old; and we must not multiply the Actions of Omnipotency without Necessity. God does not make, or unmake things, to try Experiments: He knows beforehand the utmost Capacities of every thing, and does no vain or superfluous Work. Such Imaginations as these, proceed only from want of true Philosophy, or the true Knowledge of the Nature of God and of his Works, which should always be carefully attended to in such Speculations as concern the natural World. But to proceed in our Subject.

If they suppose Part of the World to be annihilated, and to continue so, they philosophize still worse and worse: How high shall the Annihilation reach? Shall the Sun, Moon, and Stars be reduc’d to nothing? But what have they done, that they should undergo so hard a Fate? Must they be turn’d out of Being for our Faults? The whole material Universe will not be annihilated at this Bout, for we are to have Bodies after the Resurrection, and to live in Heaven. How much of the Universe then will you leave standing? or how shall it subsist with this great _Vacuum_ in the Heart of it? This Shell of a World is but the Fiction of an empty Brain; for God and Nature, in their Works, never admit of such gaping Vacuities and Emptinesses.

If we consult Scripture again, we shall find that that makes mention of a _Restitution_ and _Reviviscency_ of all Things, at the End of the World, or at the Coming of our Saviour. St. _Peter_, whose Doctrine we have hitherto follow’d, in his Sermon to the _Jews_, after our Saviour’s Ascension, tells them, that he will come again, and that there will be then a _Restitution of all Things_, such as was promised by the Prophets. _The Heavens_, says he, _must receive him until the Time of Restitution of all Things; which God hath spoken by the Mouth of his holy Prophets, since the World began, Acts iii. 21._ If we compare this Passage of Saint _Peter’s_, with that which we alledged before, out of his Second Epistle, it can scarce be doubted but that he refers to the same Promises in both Places; and what he there calls a _new Heaven_, and a _new Earth_, he calls here a _Restitution of all Things_: For the Heavens and the Earth comprehend all, and both these are but different Phrases for the Renovation of the World. This gives us also Light how to understand what our Saviour calls the _Regeneration_ or _Reviviscency_, when he shall sit upon his Throne of Glory, and will reward his Followers an hundred-fold, for all their Losses in this World, besides everlasting Life, as the Crown of all, _Mat. xix. 28, 29._ I know, in our _English_ Translation, we separate _the Regeneration_ from _sitting upon his Throne_, but without any Warrant from the Original. And seeing our Saviour speaks here of bodily Goods, and seems to distinguish them from _everlasting Life_, which is to be the final Reward of his Followers; this _Regeneration_ seems to belong to his Second Coming, when the World shall be renew’d or regenerated, and the Righteous shall possess the Earth.

Other Places of Scripture that foretel the Fate of this material World, represent it always as a _Change_, not as an _Annihilation_. St. _Paul_ says, _The Figure of this World passeth away, 1 Cor. vii. 31._ The Form, Fashion, and Disposition of its Parts, but the Substance still remains: As a Body that is melted down and dissolv’d, the Form perishes, but the Matter is not destroyed. And the Psalmist says, the Heavens and the Earth shall be _chang’d_, _Psal. cii. 26._ which answers to this Transformation we speak of. The same Apostle, in the eighth Chapter to the _Romans_, ver. 21, 22, 23, 24. shews also, that this _Change_ shall be, and shall be for the better, and calls it a _Deliverance of the Creation from Vanity and Corruption_, and a Participation of the _glorious Liberty of the Children of God_; being a sort of _Redemption_, as they have a _Redemption of their Bodies_.

But seeing the _Renovation_ of the World is a Doctrine generally receiv’d, both by antient and modern Authors, as we shall have Occasion to shew hereafter, we need add no more, in this Place, for Confirmation of it. Some Men are willing to throw all Things into a State of _Nothing_ at the Conflagration, and bury them there, that they may not be oblig’d to give an Account of that State of things that is to succeed it. Those who think themselves bound in Honour to know every thing in Theology that is knowable, and find it uneasy to answer such Questions and Speculations as would arise upon their admitting a new World, think it more advisable to stifle it in the Birth, and so to bound all Knowledge at the Conflagration. But surely so far as Reason or Scripture lead us, we may and ought to follow, otherwise we should be ungrateful to Providence, that sent us those Guides, provided we be always duly sensible of our own Weakness: And, according to the Difficulty of the Subject, and the Measure of Light that falls upon it, proceed with that Modesty and Ingenuity, that becomes such fallible Enquirers after Truth, as we are. And this Rule I desire to prescribe to my self, as in all other Writings, so especially in this; where, though I look upon the principal Conclusions as fully prov’d, there are several Particulars, that are rather propos’d to Examination, than positively asserted.

CHAP. 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._

Having prov’d from Scripture, that we are to expect _new Heavens_, and a _new Earth_, after the Conflagration; it would be some Pleasure and Satisfaction to see how this new Frame will arise, and what Foundation there is in Nature for the Accomplishment of these Promises. For, though the Divine Power be not bound to all the Laws of Nature, but may dispense with them when there is a Necessity; yet it is an Ease to us in our Belief, when we see them both conspire in the same Effect. And in order to this, we must consider in what Posture we left the demolish’d World, what Hopes there are of a Restauration. And we are not to be discourag’d, because we see Things at present wrapt up in a confus’d Mass; for, according to the Methods of Nature and Providence, in that dark Womb usually are the Seeds and Rudiments of an Embryo-World.

Neither is there, possibly, so great a Confusion, in this Mass, as we imagine: The Heart, an interior Body of the Earth, is still entire; and that Part of it that is consum’d by the Fire, will be divided, of its own accord, into two Regions. What is dissolv’d and melted, being the heaviest, will descend as low as it can, and cover and inclose the Kernel of the Earth round about, as a molten Sea or Abyss; according as it is explain’d and set down in the precedent Book. But what is more light and volatile, will float in the Air; as Fumes, Smoke, Exhalations, Vapours of Water, and whatsoever terrestrial Parts can be elevated and supported by the Strength of Fire. These, all mingled together, of different Sizes, Figures, and Motions, will constitute an opake Cloud, or thick Region of Darkness round the Earth; so as the Globe of the Earth, with its Atmosphere, after the Conflagration is finished, will stand much-what in the Form represented in this Scheme.

[Illustration: The regions of the Earth, a series of concentric Circles, with A. A. denoting the Lower Region.]

Now as to the lower of these two Regions, the Region of melted Matter, A. A. we shall have little Occasion to take Notice of it; seeing it will contribute nothing to the Formation of the new World. But the upper Region, or all above that Orb of Fire, is the true Draught of a Chaos; or a Mixture and Confusion of all the Elements, without Order or Distinction. Here are Particles of Earth, and of Air, and of Water, all promiscuously jumbled together by the Force and Agitation of the Fire. But when that Force ceases, and every one is left to its own Inclination, they will, according to their different degrees of Gravity, separate and sort themselves after this manner: First, the heaviest and grossest Parts of the Earth will subside, then the watery Parts will follow; then a lighter sort of Earth, which will stop, and rest upon the Surface of the Water, and compose there a thin Film or Membrane. This Membrane or tender Orb is the first Rudiment, or Foundation of a new habitable Earth: For, according as terrestrial Parts fall upon it, from all the Regions and Heights of the Atmosphere, or of the Chaos, this Orb will grow more firm, strong, and immoveable, able to support it self and Inhabitants too. And having in it all the Principles of a fruitful Soil, whether for the Production of Plants, or of Animals, it will want no Property or Character of an habitable Earth. And particularly, will become such an Earth, and of such a Form, as the first paradisaical Earth was, which hath been fully describ’d, in the first and second Books of this Theory.

There is no occasion of examining more accurately the Formation of this second Earth, seeing it is so much the same with that of the first; which, is set down fully and distinctly, in the fifth Chapter of the first Book of this Theory. Nature here repeats the same Work, and in the same Method; only the Materials are now a little more refin’d, and purg’d by the Fire: They both rise out of a Chaos, and that, in effect, the same in both Cases; for though in forming the first Earth, I suppos’d the Chaos or confus’d Mass, to reach down to the Center, I did that only for the Ease of our Imagination; that so the whole Mass might appear more simple and uniform. But in reality, that Chaos had a solid Kernel of Earth within, as this hath; and that Matter which fluctuated above in the Regions of the Air, was the true Chaos, whose Parts, when they came to a Separation, made the several Elements, and the Form of an habitable Earth, betwixt the Air and Water. This Chaos, upon Separation, will fall into the same Form and Elements; and so, in like manner, create or constitute a second _Paradisaical_ World.

I say, a _Paradisaical_ World; for it appears plainly, that this new-form’d Earth must agree with that primigenial Earth, in the two principal and fundamental Properties. First, it is of an even, entire, uniform, and regular Surface, without Mountains or Sea. Secondly, that it hath a straight and regular Situation to the Sun, and the _Axis_ of the _Ecliptick_. From the Manner of its Formation, it appears manifestly, that it must be of an even and regular Surface. For the Orb of liquid Fire, upon which the first Descent was made, being smooth and uniform every where, the Matter that fell upon it would take the same Form and Mould: And so the second or third Region, that were superinduc’d, would still imitate the Fashion of the first; there being no Cause or Occasion of any Inequality. Then as to the Situation of its _Axis_, this Uniformity of Figure would determine the Center of its Gravity to be exactly in the Middle, and consequently there would be no Inclination of one Pole, more than another, to the general Center of its Motion; but, upon a free Libration in the liquid Air, its _Axis_ would lie parallel with the _Axis_ of the Ecliptick where it moves. But these Things having been deduc’d more fully in the second Book about _Paradise_ and the _primigenial Earth_, they need no further Explication in this Place.

If Scripture had left us several distinct Characters of the _New Heavens_, and the _New Earth_, we might, by comparing with those, have made a full Proof of our Hypothesis. One indeed St. _John_ hath left us in very express Terms; _There was no Sea there_, he says: His Words are these: _And I saw a New Heaven, and a New Earth; for the first Heaven and the first Earth were passed away; AND THERE WAS NO MORE SEA_. This Character is very particular, and you see it exactly answers to our Hypothesis; for in the new form’d Earth, the Sea is cover’d and inconspicuous, being an Abyss; not a Sea; and wholly lodg’d in the Womb of the Earth. And this one Character, being inexplicable upon any other Supposition, and very different from the present Earth, makes it a strong Presumption that we have hit upon the true Model of the _new Heavens_ and _new Earth_ which St. _John_ saw.

To this Sight of the _new Heavens_ and _new Earth_, St. _John_ immediately subjoins the Sight of the _new Jerusalem_, _ver._ 2. as being contemporary, and, in some respects, the same Thing. ’Tis true, the Characters of the _new Jerusalem_, in these two last Chapters of the _Apocalypse_, are very hard to be understood; some of them being incompatible to a _terrestrial_ State, and some of ’em to a _celestial_; so as it seems to me very reasonable to suppose, that the _new Jerusalem_, spoken of by St. _John_, is two-fold: That which he saw himself, _ver._ 2. and that which the Angel shewed him afterwards, _ver._ 9. For I do not see what need there was of an _Angel_, and of _taking him up into a great and high Mountain_, only to shew him that which he had seen before, at the Foot of the Mountain: But however that be, we are to consider, in this Place, the terrestrial new _Jerusalem_ only, or that which is the _new Heavens_ and _new Earth_. And as St. _John_ hath joined these two together, so the Prophet _Isaiah_ hath done the same thing before, _Chap._ lxv. 17, 18. when he had promised _new Heavens and a new Earth_, he calls them under another Name, _Jerusalem_; and they both use the same Character in Effect, in the Description of their _Jerusalem_. _Ver._ 19. _Isaiah_ says, _And I will rejoice in_ Jerusalem, _and joy in my People, and the Voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her_, _nor the Voice of crying_, _Apoc._ xxi. 3, 4. St. _John_ says also in his _Jerusalem_, _God shall dwell with them, and they shall be his People: And he shall wipe away all Tears from their Eyes; and there shall be no more Death, neither Sorrow, nor Crying, neither shall there be any more Pain._ Now in both these Prophets, when they treat upon this Subject, we find they make frequent Allusions to _Paradise_ and a _paradisaical_ State; so as they may be justly taken as a Scripture Character of the _new Heavens_ and the _new Earth_. The Prophet _Isaiah_ seems plainly to point at a _paradisaical_ State, throughout that Chapter, by an universal Innocency, and Harmlesness of Animals; and Peace, Plenty, Health, Longevity or Immortality of the Inhabitants. St. _John_ also hath several Allusions to _Paradise_, in those two Chapters where he describes the new _Jerusalem_, Ch. xxi. and Ch. xxii. And in his Discourse to the seven Churches, in one Place (Ch. ii. 7.) _To him that overcometh_ is promised, _to eat of the Tree of Life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God_. And in another Place (Ch. iii. 12.) _To him that overcometh_ is promised, _to have the Name of the new_ Jerusalem _writ upon him_. These I take to be the same Thing, and the same Reward of Christian Victors; the _new Jerusalem_, or the _new Heavens_ and _new Earth_, and the _Paradise of God_. Now this being the general Character of the _new Earth_, that it is _paradisaical_; and the particular Character that it _hath no Sea_; and both these agreeing with our Hypothesis, as apparently deducible from those Principles, and that Manner of its Formation which we have set down; we cannot but allow, that the Holy Scriptures, and the natural Theory agree in their Testimony, as to the Conditions and Properties of the _New Heavens_ and _New Earth_.

From what hath been said in this and the precedent Chapter, it will not be hard to interpret what St. _Paul_ meant by his _habitable Earth to come_; Τὴν οἰκουμένην τῆς μέλλουσαν; πατὴρ τοῦ μέλλοντος αἰῶνος, _Isai. ix. 6._ which is to be subjected to our Saviour, 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 Sovereign; and where the Government is neither Human, 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 destroyed till the Appearance of our Saviour, (_2 Thess. ii. 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, _Ephes. vi. 12._ ’Tis true, he exercises his Providence over his Church, and secures it from being destroyed: He can, by a Power paramount, stop the Rage either of Satan or Antichrist; _Hitherto ye shall go, and no farther_. 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_; Ch. vii. 13, 25, 26. That _all Tongues and Nations should serve him_. For St. _Paul_ can mean no less in this Place than that Kingdom in _Daniel_, _Heb. ii. 8._ 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_, _Joh. xviii. 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. xx. 28._ When he comes to receive his Kingdom, he comes in the Clouds of Heaven (_Dan. vii. 13, 14._) not in the Womb of a Virgin. He comes with the Equipage of a King and Conqueror: 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 αἰὼν μέλλων, or in the _Hebrew_ עולם הבא, _the World to come_, is sometimes used in a large Sense, as comprehending all the Days of the Messiah, whether at his first or second coming, (for these two comings are often undistinguished in Scripture) and respect the moral World, as well as the natural. But the Word οἰχομένη, _Orbis habitabilis_, which St. _Paul_ here uses, does primarily signify the natural World, or the habitable Earth, in the proper use of the Word amongst the _Greeks_, and frequently in Scripture, _Luke iv. 5._ and _xxi. 26._ _Rom. x. 18._ _Heb. i. 6._ _Apoc. iii. 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 μέλλουσα, nor of οἰκουμένη, of the first or second Part of the Expression; and tho’ such like Phrases may be used 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 Sense, 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 therefore that Time, and will then expire. For all his Government as to this World, expires at the Day of Judgment, _1 Cor. xv. 24_, _&c._ and _he will then deliver up the Kingdom into the Hands of his Father, that he may be all in all_: Having reigned first himself, _and put down all Rule and all Authority and Power_. So that St. _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 Judgment_, 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 settled the true Notion, according to Reason and Scripture, of the _new Heavens_ and _new Earth_: But where are the Inhabitants, you’ll 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 Track to follow in these unbeaten Paths, nor can advance one Step farther. Farewell 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 travelled together thro’ the dark Regions of a first and second _Chaos_; seen the World twice shipwreck’d: Neither Water, nor Fire, could separate us; but now you must give place to other Guides.

Welcome, _Holy Scriptures_, the Oracles of God, a Light shining in Darkness, a Treasury of hidden Knowledge; and where _Human Faculties_ cannot reach, a seasonable Help and Supply to their Defects. We are now come to the utmost Bounds of their Dominion; they have made us a New World, but, how it shall be inhabited, they cannot tell; know nothing of the History or Affairs of it. This we must learn from other Masters, inspir’d with the Knowledge of Things to come: And such Masters we know none, but the holy Prophets and Apostles. We must therefore now put our selves wholly under their Conduct and Instruction, and from them only receive our Information concerning the moral State of the future habitable Earth.

In the first place therefore, the Prophet _Isaiah_ tells us, as a Preparation to our farther Enquiries, _The Lord God created the Heavens, God himself that formed the Earth, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited, Isa. xlv. 18._ This is true, both of the present Earth and the _future_, and of every habitable World whatsoever. For to what purpose is it made habitable, if not to be inhabited? That would be, as if a Man should manure, and plough, and every Way prepare his Ground for Seed, but never sow it. We do not build Houses, that they should stand empty, but look out for Tenants as fast as we can; as soon as they are made ready and become tenantable. But if Man could do things in vain, and without Use or Design, yet God and Nature never do any thing _in vain_; much less so great a Work as the making of a World; which if it were in vain, would comprehend ten thousand Vanities or useless Preparations in it. _We_ may therefore, in the first place, safely conclude, _that the new Earth will be inhabited_.

But _by whom will it be inhabited_? This makes the second Enquiry. St. _Peter_ answers this Question for us, and with a particular Application to this very Subject of the _new Heavens_ and _new Earth_: They shall be inhabited, he says, by the _Just_ or the _Righteous_. His Words which we cited before, are these; when he had described the Conflagration of the World, he adds, But we _expect new Heavens and a new Earth, WHEREIN DWELLETH RIGHTEOUSNESS_. By _Righteousness_ here, it is generally agreed, must be understood righteous Persons; for Righteousness cannot be without righteous Persons. It cannot hang upon Trees, or grow out of the Ground; ’tis the Endowment of reasonable Creatures. And these righteous Persons are eminently such, and therefore call’d Righteousness in the Abstract, or purely righteous without Mixture of Vice.

So we have found Inhabitants for the _new Earth_, Persons of an high and noble Character; like those describ’d by St. _Peter_, (_1 Eph. ii. 9._) _A chosen Generation, a royal Priesthood, an holy Nation, a peculiar People._ As if into that World, as into St. _John’s_ _new Jerusalem,_ nothing impure or unrighteous was to be admitted, _Apoc. xxi. 27._ These being then the happy and holy Inhabitants; the next Enquiry is, _Whence do they come?_ From what Off-spring, or from what Original? We noted before, that there was no Remnant of Mankind left at the Conflagration, as there was at the Deluge; nor any Hopes of a Restauration that Way. Shall we then imagine that these new Inhabitants are a Colony wafted over from some neigbouring World; as from the Moon, or Mercury, or some of the higher Planets? You may imagine what you please, but that seems to me not imaginary only, but impracticable: And that the Inhabitants of those Planets are Persons of so great Accomplishments, is more than I know; but I am sure they are not the Persons here understood; for these must be such as inhabited this Earth before. We look for _new Heavens_ and _new Earth_, says the Apostle: Surely to have some Share and Interest in them, otherwise there would be no Comfort in that Expectation. And the Prophet _Isaiah_ said before, I create _new Heavens_ and a _new Earth_, and the former shall come no more in Remembrance; but be _YOU glad and rejoyce for ever in that which I create_. The Truth is, none can have so good Pretensions to this Spot of Ground we call the Earth, as the Sons of Men, seeing they once possessed it; and if it be restor’d again, ’tis their Propriety and Inheritance. But ’tis not Mankind in general that must possess this new World, but the _Israel of God_, according to the Prophet _Isaiah_; or the _Just_, according to St. _Peter_; and especially those that have suffer’d for the Sake of their Religion. For this is that _Palingenesia_, as we noted before, that _Renovation_, or _Regeneration_ of all Things, where our Saviour says, those that suffer Loss for his Sake, shall be recompensed, _Matth._ xix. 28, 29.

But they must be then raised from the Dead. For all Mankind was destroyed at the Conflagration: and there is no Resource for them any other way, than by a Resurrection. ’Tis true: and St. _John_ (_Apoc._ xx.) gives us a fair Occasion to make this Supposition, _that_ there will be some raised from the Dead, before the general Day of Judgment. For he plainly distinguisheth of a _first_ and _second_ Resurrection, and makes the first to be a thousand Years before the second, and before the general Day of Judgment. Now, if there be truly and really a two-fold Resurrection, as St. _John_ tells us; and that a Thousand Years Distance from one another: It may be very rationally be presum’d, that those that are raised in the first Resurrection, are those _Just_ that will inhabit the _New Heavens_ and _New Earth_; or whom our Saviour promis’d to reward in the Renovation of the World.

For otherwise, who are those _Just_ that shall inhabit the _New Earth_, and whence do they come? Or when is that Restauration which our Saviour speaks of, wherein those that suffer’d for the Sake of the Gospel shall be rewarded? St. _John_ says, the _Martyrs_, at this first Resurrection, shall live again, and reign with Christ: Which seems to be the Reward promis’d by our Saviour, to those that suffer’d for his sake, and the same Persons in both Places. _And I saw the Souls of them_ (says St. _John_) _that were beheaded for the Witness of Jesus, and for the Word of God; and which had not worshipped the Beast, &c. and they lived and reigned with Christ a Thousand Years_, Apoc. xx. 4. These, I say, seem to be the same Persons, to whom Christ had before promis’d and appropriated a particular Reward. And this Reward of theirs, or this Reign of theirs, is upon _Earth_; upon some Earth, new or old, not in Heaven. For, besides that we read nothing of their Ascension into Heaven after their Resurrection; there are several Marks that shew, it must necessarily be understood of a State upon Earth. For _Gog_ and _Magog_ came from the _four Quarters of the Earth_, and besieged the _Camp of the Saints, and the beloved City_, ver. 9. That Camp and that City therefore were upon the Earth. And _Fire came down from Heaven, and devoured them._ If it came down from Heaven, it came upon the Earth. Farthermore, those Persons that are raised from the _Dead_, are said to be _Priests of God and of Christ, and to reign with him a thousand Years_, ver. 6. Now these must be the same Persons with the _Priests_ and _Kings_, mention’d in the fifth Chapter, ver. 10. which are there said expressly _to reign upon Earth_, or that they should _reign upon Earth_. It remains therefore only to determine, _what Earth_ this is, where the _Sons of the first Resurrection_ will live and reign. It cannot be the present Earth, in the same State, and under the same Circumstances it is now: For what Happiness or Privilege would that be, to be called back into a mortal Life, under the Necessities and Inconveniencies of sickly Bodies, and an incommodious World; such as the present State of Mortality is, and must continue to be, till some Change be made in Nature. We may be sure therefore, that a Change will be made in Nature, before that Time, and that the State they are rais’d into, and the Earth they are to inhabit, will be, at least, _Paradisaical_; and consequently can be no other than the _New Heavens_ and _New Earth_, which we are to expect after the Conflagration.

From these Considerations, there is a great Fairness to conclude, both as to the Characters of the Persons, and of the Place or State, that _the Sons of the first Resurrection_ will be Inhabitants of the _New Earth_, and reign there with Christ a Thousand Years. But seeing this is one of the principal and peculiar Conclusions of this Discourse, and bears a great Part in this last Book of the Theory of the Earth, it will deserve a more full Explication, and a more ample Proof, to make it out. We must therefore take a greater Compass in our Discourse, and give a full Account of that State which is usually call’d the _Millennium_; the Reign of the Saints a Thousand Years, or the Kingdom of Christ upon Earth. But before we enter upon this new Subject, give me leave to close our present Argument, about the _Renovation of the World_, with some Testimonies of the antient Philosophers, to that purpose. ’Tis plain to me, that there were among the Antients several Traditions, or traditionary Conclusions, which they did not raise themselves, by Reason and Observation, but received them from an unknown Antiquity. An Instance of this is the _Conflagration of the World_; a Doctrine as antient, for any Thing I know, as the World it self; at least as antient as we have any Records, and yet none of those Antients that tell us of it, give any Argument to prove it. Neither is it any Wonder, for they did not invent it themselves, but receiv’d it from others without Proof, by the sole Authority of Tradition. In like manner the _Renovation of the World_, which we are now speaking of, is an antient Doctrine, both amongst the _Greeks_ and _Eastern_ Philosophers: But they shew us no Method _how_ the World may be _renew’d_, nor make any Proof of its future Renovation; for it was not a Discovery which they first made, but receiv’d it with an implicit Faith, from their Masters and Ancestors: And these traditionary Doctrines were all Fore-runners of that Light which was to shine more clearly at the Opening of the Christian Dispensation; to give a more full Account of the Fate and Revolutions of the natural World, as well as of the moral.

The _Jews_, ’tis well known, held the _Renovation_ of the World, and a _Sabbath_ after Six Thousand Years; according to the Prophecy that was current among them; whereof we have given a larger Account in the precedent Book, _Chap._ v. And that future State they called עולם הבא, _Olam Hava_, or the _World to come_, which is the very same with Saint _Paul’s habitable Earth to come_, ἡ οἰκουμένη ἥ μέλλουσα, _Heb. ii. 6._ Neither can I easily believe, that those Constitutions of _Moses_ that proceed so much upon a _septenary_, or the Number _seven_, and have no Ground or Reason, in the Nature of the Thing, for that particular Number. I cannot easily believe, I say, that they are either accidental or humoursome, without Design or Signification; but that they are typical, or representative of some _Septenary_ State, that does eminently deserve and bear that Character. _Moses_, in the History of the Creation, makes six Days Work, and then a Sabbath: Then, after six Years, he makes a _Sabbath-Year_; and after a Sabbath of Years, a Year of Jubilee, _Levit. xxv._ All these lesser Revolutions seem to me to point at the grand Revolution, the great _Sabbath_ or _Jubilee_, after six Millenaries; which, as it answers the Type in point of Time, so likewise in the Nature and Contents of it; being a State of Rest from all Labour, and Trouble, and Servitude; a State of Joy and Triumph, and a State of _Renovation_, when Things are to return to their first Condition and pristine Order. So much for the _Jews_.

The Heathen Philosophers, both _Greeks_ and _Barbarians_, had the same Doctrine of the _Renovation_ of the _World_ current amongst them, and that under several Names and Phrases; as of the _Great Year_, the _Restauration_, the _Mundane Periods_, and such-like. They suppos’d stated and fix’d Periods of Time, upon Expiration whereof there would always follow some great Revolution of the World, and the Face of Nature would be renewed: particularly after the Conflagration, the _Stoicks_ always suppos’d a new World to succeed, or another Frame of Nature to be erected in the Room of that which was destroyed. And they use the same Words and Phrases upon this Occasion that Scripture useth. _Chrysippis_ calls it _Apocatastasis_ (_Lact._ l. 7. c. 23.) as St. _Peter_ does, _Acts_ iii. 21. _Marcus Antonius_ in his _Meditations_, several times calls it _Palingenesia_, as our Saviour does, _Matt._ xix. 28. And _Numenius_ hath two Scripture words, _Resurrection_ and _Restitution_, (_Euseb. præp. Ev._ l. 7. c. 23.) to express this Renovation of the World. Then as to the _Platonicks_, that Revolution of all Things hath commonly been call’d the _Platonick_ Year, as if _Plato_ had been the first Author of that Opinion; but that’s a great Mistake; he receiv’d it from the _Barbarick_ Philosophers, and particularly from the _Ægyptian_ Priests, amongst whom he liv’d several Years, to be instructed in their Learning. But I do not take _Plato_ neither to be the first that brought this Doctrine into _Greece_: For, besides that the _Sibylls_, whose Antiquity we do not well know, sung this Song of old, as we see it copy’d from them by _Virgil_ in his fourth Eclogue; _Pythagoras_ taught it before _Plato_, and _Orpheus_ before them both; and that’s as high as the _Greek_ Philosophy reaches.

The _Barbarick_ Philosophers were more antient; namely, the _Ægyptians_, _Persians_, _Chaldeans_, _Indian Brackmans_, and other Eastern Nations. Their Monuments indeed are in a great measure lost; yet from the Remains of them which the _Greeks_ have transcribed, and so preserv’d in their Writings, we see plainly they all had this Doctrine of the _future Renovation_. And to this Day the Posterity of the _Brackmans_ in the _East-Indies_ retain the same Notion, _that_ the World will be renew’d after the last Fire. You may see the Citations, if you please, for all these _Notions_, in the _Latin_ Treatise, _Ch._ v. which I thought would be too dry and tedious to be render’d into _English_.

To these Testimonies of the Philosophers of all Ages, for the future Renovation of the World, we might add the Testimonies of the Christian Fathers, _Greek_ and _Latin_, antient and modern. I will only give you a bare List of them, and refer you to the _Latin_ Treatise (_Chap._ ix.) for the Words or the Places. Amongst the _Greek_ Fathers, _Justin Martyr_, _Irenæus_, _Origen_: The Fathers of the _Council of Nice_, _Eusebius_; _Basil_; the two _Cyrils_, of _Jerusalem_ and _Alexandria_: The two _Gregories_, _Nazianzen_ and _Nyssen_; St. _Chrysostom_, _Zacharias Mitylenensis_; and of later Date, _Damascen_, _Oecumenius_, _Euthymius_, and others. These have all set their Hands and Seals to this Doctrine. Of the _Latin_ Fathers, _Tertullian_, _Lactantius_, St. _Hillary_, St. _Ambrose_, St. _Austin_, St. _Jerome_; and many later Ecclesiastical Authors. These, with the Philosophers before-mention’d, I count good Authority, sacred and prophane; which I place here as an Out-guard upon Scripture, where our principal Force lies. These three united, and acting in Conjunction, will be sufficient to prove this first Post, and to prove our first Proposition, which is this; _That after the Conflagration of this World,_ _there will be new Heavens and a new Earth; and that Earth will be inhabited._ (Propos. I.)

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._

We have given fair Presumptions, if not Proofs, in the precedent Chapter, that the Sons of the first Resurrection will be the Persons that shall inhabit the _new Earth_, or the World to come. But to make that Proof complete and unexceptionable, I told you, it would be necessary to take a larger Compass in our Discourse, and to examine what is meant by _that Reign with Christ a thousand Years_, which is promis’d to the Sons of the _first Resurrection_, by St. _John_ in the _Apocalypse_; and in other places of Scripture is usually call’d the _Kingdom of Christ_, and the Reign of the Saints: And by Ecclesiastical Authors, in Imitation of St. _John_, it is commonly styled, the _Millennium_. We shall indifferently use any of these Words or Phrases; and examine, first, the Truth of the Notion and Opinion, whether, in Scripture, there be any such an happy State promised to the Saints under the Conduct of Christ; and then we will proceed to examine the Nature, Characters, Place and Time of it. And I am in hopes when these Things are duly discuss’d and stated, you will be satisfied that we have found out the true Inhabitants of the _new Heavens_ and _new Earth_; and the true Mystery of that State which is called the _Millennium_, or the Reign of Christ and of his Saints.

We begin with St. _John_, whose Words in the xxth Chapter of the _Apocalypse_, ver. 1, 2, 4, 5, 6. are express, both as to the first Resurrection, and as to the Reign of those Saints that rise with Christ for a Thousand Years; Satan in the mean Time being bound, or disabled from doing Mischief, and seducing Mankind. The Words of the Prophet are these; _And I saw an Angel come down from Heaven, having the Key of the bottomless Pit, and a great Chain in his Hand. And he laid hold on the Dragon, that old Serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him a Thousand Years. And I saw Thrones, and they sat upon them, and Judgment was given unto them; And I saw the Souls of them that were beheaded for the Witness of Jesus, and for the Word of God, and which had not worshipped the Beast, neither his Image, neither had received his Mark upon their Foreheads, or in their Hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand Years. But the rest of the Dead lived not again until the thousand Years were finished. This is the first Resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first Resurrection; on such the second Death hath no Power, but they shall be Priests of God, and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand Years_. These Words do fully express a Resurrection, and a Reign with Christ a thousand Years. As for that particular Space of Time, of a _Thousand Years_, it is not much material to our present Purpose: but the Resurrection here spoken of, and the Reign with Christ, make the Substance of the Controversy, and in effect prove all that we enquire after at present. This Resurrection, you see, is call’d the _first Resurrection_, by way of Distinction from the second and general Resurrection; which is to be placed a Thousand Years after the first. And both this first Resurrection, and the Reign of Christ, seem to be appropriated to the Martyrs in this Place: For the Prophet says, _The Souls of those that were beheaded for the Witness of Jesus, &c. they lived and reigned with Christ a Thousand Years_. From which Words, if you please, we will raise this Doctrine; that _those that have suffer’d for the Sake of Christ, and a good Conscience, shall be raised from the Dead a Thousand Years before the general Resurrection, and reign with Christ in an happy State_. This Proposition seems to be plainly included in the Words of St. _John_, and to be the intended Sense of this Vision; but you must have Patience a little as to your Enquiry into Particulars, till, in the Progress of our Discourse, we have brought all the Parts of this Conclusion into a fuller Light.

In the mean time there is but one Way, that I know of, to evade the Force of these Words, and of the Conclusion drawn from them; and that is, by supposing that the _first Resurrection_ here mention’d, is not to be understood in a literal Sense, but is allegorical and mystical, signifying only a Resurrection from Sin to a spiritual Life: As we are said to be _dead in Sin_, and to be _risen with Christ_, by Faith and Regeneration. This is a manner of Speech which St. _Paul_ does sometimes use, as _Eph._ ii. 6. and ver. 14, and _Col._ 3. 1. But how can this be applied to the present Case? Were the Martyrs dead in Sin? ’Tis they that are here rais’d from the Dead: Or, after they were beheaded for the Witness of Jesus, naturally dead and laid in their Graves, were they then regenerate by Faith? There is no Congruity in Allegories so apply’d. Besides, why should they be said to be regenerate a Thousand Years before the Day of Judgment? or to reign with Christ, after this Spiritual Resurrection, such a limited Time, a Thousand Years? Why not so to Eternity? For in this allegorical Sense of _rising_ and _reigning_, they will reign with him for everlasting. Then, after a Thousand Years, must all the Wicked be regenerate, and rise into a Spiritual Life? ’Tis said here, _the rest of the Dead lived not again, until the Thousand Years were finished, ver._ 5. That implies, 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 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 Sense 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 undisturbed 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 Saint _John_ 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_ Emperors; could those be call’d the Reign of Christ and of his Saints? Was Satan then bound? Or was this _Epocha_ 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_, (ver. 5.) that lived after the Expiration of those thousand Years, if they began 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 Sense, lest 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 proved this future Kingdom of Christ from other Places of the _Apocalypse_, and of Holy Writ, you will the more easily admit the literal Sense 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_, Book III. Ch. v. which, as I told you before, was not only receiv’d among the _Jews_, but also own’d by very many of the Christian Fathers.

To proceed therefore to other Parts of St. _John’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, Ch. xi. 15, 16, 17, 18. _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 ever. 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 joined the Resurrection of the Dead, and the rewarding of the suffering Prophets and Saints, as in the xxth _Chapter_. This is that _Mystery of God that was to be finished in the Days of the Voice of the seventh Angel_, as is said in the xxth 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 Jerusalem_ (as it is set down, _Apoc._ xxi. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.) is another Instance or Image of this Kingdom of Christ. And the _Palm-bearing Company_, Chap. vii. 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 Jerusalem_, Ch. xxi. 2, 3, 4, _&c._ as, upon comparing those two Places, will easily appear. Farthermore, at the Opening of the _Seals_, Chap. v. 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 Blood; and hast made us into our God Kings and Priests, and we shall reign on the Earth._ This must be the same State, and the same Thousand-Years-Reign mention’d in the xxth _Chap._ where ’tis said, (_Ver._ 6.) the Partakers of it _shall be Priests of God, and of Christ, and shall reign with him a Thousand Years_.

Another completory Vision, that extends it self to the End of the World, is that of the _Seven Vials_, Chap. xv. and xvi. And as at the Opening of the Seals, so at the pouring out the Vials, a triumphal Song is sung, and ’tis call’d the _Song of Moses and of the Lamb_, Ch. xv. 3. ’Tis plainly a Song of Thanksgiving for a Deliverance, but I do not look upon this Deliverance as already wrought, before the pouring out of the Vials, tho’ it be plac’d before them; as often the grand Design and Issue of a Vision is plac’d at the Beginning: It is wrought by the Vials themselves, and by their Effusion, and therefore upon the pouring out of the last Vial, the Voice came out of the Temple of Heaven, from the Throne, saying, _Consummatum est_; _It is done_, Ch. xvi. 17. Now the Deliverance is wrought, now the Work is at an End; or, _the Mystery of God is finished_, as the Phrase was before, concerning the 7th Trumpet, _Chap._ x. 7. You see therefore this terminates upon the same Time, and consequently upon the same State, of the _Millennium_; and that they are the same Persons that triumph here, and reign there, _Chap._ xx. you may see by the same Characters given to both of them, _Ch._ xv. 2. Here, those that triumph, are said _to have gotten the Victory_ over the Beast, and over his Image, _and over his Mark, and over the Number of his Name_, Ch. xx. 4. And there, those that reign with Christ, are said to be those _that had not worshiped the Beast, neither his Image, neither had received his Mark upon their Foreheads, or in their Hands_. These are the same Persons therefore, triumphing over the same Enemies, and enjoying the same Reward.

And you shall seldom find any _Doxology_ or _Hallelujah_ in the _Apocalypse_, but ’tis in Prospect of the Kingdom of Christ, and the Millennial State: This is still the Burthen of the sacred Song, the Complement of every grand Vision, and the Life and Strength of the whole System of Prophecies in that Book: Even those _Hallelujahs_ that are sung at the Destruction of _Babylon_, in the xixth Chapter, _ver._ 6, 7. are rais’d upon the succeeding State, _the Reign of Christ_. For the Text says, _And I heard as it were a Voice of a great Multitude, and as the Voice of many Waters, and as the Voice of mighty Thunders, saying, Hallelujah_: FOR THE LORD 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 appears plainly to be the _new Jerusalem_, if you consult the 21st _Ch. ver. 2. And I _John_ saw the Holy City, new _Jerusalem,_ coming down from God out of Heaven_, PREPARED AS A BRIDE ADORNED FOR HER HUSBAND. ’Tis, no doubt, the same Bride and Bridegroom, in both Places; the same Marriage or Preparations for Marriage, which are compleated in the Millennial Bliss, in the Kingdom of Christ and of his Saints.

I must beg your patience a little longer, in pursuing this Argument throughout the _Apocalypse_; As towards the latter End of St. _John_’s Revelation, this Kingdom of Christ shines out in a more full Glory; so there are the Dawnings of it in the very Beginning and Entrance into his Prophecies. As at the Beginning of a Poem, we have commonly, in a few Words, the Design of the Work, in like Manner Ch. i. 5, 6. St. _John_ makes this Preface to his Prophecies, _From Jesus Christ, who is the faithful Witness, the first begotten of the Dead, and the Prince of the Kings of the Earth; unto him that loved us, and washed us from our Sins in his own Blood; and hath made us Kings and Priests unto God and his Father; to him be Glory and Dominion for ever and ever, Amen. Behold, he cometh in the Clouds, &c._ In this Prologue the grand Argument is pointed at, and that happy Catastrophe and last Scene, which is to crown the Work, the Reign of Christ and of his Saints at his second Coming. He hath _made us Kings and Priests unto God_; this is always the Characteristick of those that are to enjoy the Millennial Happiness, as you may see at the Opening of the Seals, Ch. v. 10. and in the Sons of the _first Resurrection_, Ch. xx. 6. And this being joined to the Coming of our Saviour, puts it still more out of Doubt. That Expression also, of being _washed from our Sins in his Blood_, is repeated again both at the Opening of the Seals, _chap. v. 9._ and in the _Palm-bearing_ Company, _chap. vii. 14._ both which Places we have cited before, as referring to the Millennial State.

Give me Leave to add farther, that as in this general Preface, so also in the introductory Visions of the _seven Churches_, there are, covertly or expresly, in the Conclusion of each, glances upon the _Millennium_; as in the first to _Ephesus_, the Prophet concludes, _chap. ii. 7._ _He that hath an Ear, let him hear, what the Spirit says to the Churches_: TO HIM THAT OVERCOMETH, WILL I GIVE TO EAT OF THE TREE OF LIFE, WHICH IS IN THE MIDST OF THE PARADISE OF GOD. This is the Millennial Happiness which is promised to the Conqueror; as we noted before concerning that Phrase. In like manner in the second to _Smyrna_, he concludes, _chap. ii. 11._ _He that overcometh, shall not be hurt of the second Death._ This implies, he shall be Partaker of the _first Resurrection_, for that’s the Thing understood; as you may see plainly by their being joyn’d in the _xxth Chapter ver. 6._ _Blessed and holy is he that hath Part in the first Resurrection; on such the second Death hath no Power, but they shall be Priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand Years._ In the third to _Pergamus_, the Promise is, _chap. ii. 7._ _To eat of the hidden Manna, to have a white Stone, and a new Name written in it_: But seeing the Prophet adds, _which no Man knoweth, saving he that receiveth it_, we will not presume to interpret that new State, whatsoever it is, _chap. ii. 26, 27._ In _Thyatira_, the Reward is, _To have Power over the Nations_, and to have the Morning Star; which is to reign with Christ, who is the Morning Star, in his Millennial Empire: Both these Phrases being us’d in that Sense in the Close of this Book, Ch. iii. 5. In Sardis the Promise is, _To be cloathed in white Raiment, and not to be blotted out of the Book of Life_. And you see afterwards the _Palme bearing_ Company are cloathed in _white Robes_, Ch. vii. 9, 14. and those that are admitted into the _new Jerusalem_, Chap. iii. 12. are such as are _written in the Lamb’s Book of Life_, Ch. xxi. 27. Then as to Philadelphia, the Reward promised there does openly mark the Millennial State, by the _City of God_; _new Jerusalem which cometh down out of Heaven from God_, compar’d with Ch. xxi. 2. Lastly, to the Church of _Laodicea_ is said, Ch. iii. 21. _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. xx. 4._ _Matt. xix. 28._ _Dan. vii. 9, 13, 14._ So all these Promises to the Churches aim at one and the same thing, and terminate upon the same Point: ’Tis the same Reward express’d in different Ways; and seeing it is still fix’d 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 ivth and vth _Chapter_, 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 Difficulty, and dubious Interpretation, coucht under those Schemes. Wherefore having made these Observations upon the Prophecies of St. _John_, 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. ii._ and that of the four Beasts, _Chap. vii._ 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 destroyed; and the Kingdom shall not be left to other People, but it shall break in Pieces, and consume all those Kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever, Ch. ii. ver. 44._ This may be verified, in some measure, by the first coming of our Saviour in the Days of the fourth Kingdom, when his Religion, from small Beginnings, in a short Time over-spread the greatest Part of the known World. As the _Stone cut out without Hands_, became a great _Mountain, and filled the whole Earth, ver. 34, 35._ but the full and final Accomplishment of this Prophecy cannot be till the second coming of our Saviour. For not till then will he, _Ver. 35_, _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, _Ch. vii. ver. 13._ 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 Antient 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 destroyed_. Accordingly, he says, _Ver. 21, 22._ _The last Beast, and the little Horn, made war against the Saints, until the Antient 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 Judgment 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, Chap. vii. ver. 28. Chap. xii. ver. 13. Here is the Upshot and Result of all; here terminate both the Prophecies of _Daniel_ and St. _John_, 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. _John_ 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 farther 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 Sense all the Prophets have borne 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, the other at his Left, when he came into his Kingdom, _Matt._ xx. 21. 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, (_Matt._ xix. 28.) 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 Jesus 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_ vii. 9. and _Apocal._ xx. 4. and therefore mark the same Time, and the same State. And seeing, in those Places, they plainly signify the Millennial State, or the Kingdom of Christ and of his Saints, they must here signify the same, in this Promise of our Saviour to his suffering Followers. And as to the Word _Palingenesia_, which is here translated _Regeneration_, ’tis very well known, that both the _Greek_ Philosophers, and _Greek_ Fathers, use that very Word for the _Renovation of the World_; which is to be, as we shall hereafter make appear, at or before the Millennial State.

Our Saviour also, in his Divine Sermon upon the Mount, makes this one of his _Beatitudes_, _Blessed are the Meek, for they shall inherit the Earth_: But _how_, I pray, or _where_, or _when_, do the Meek inherit the Earth? Neither at present, I am sure, nor in any past Ages. ’Tis the great ones of the World, ambitious Princes and Tyrants, that slice the Earth amongst them; and those that can flatter them best, or serve them in their Interests or Pleasures, have the next best Shares: But a meek, modest and humble Spirit, is the most unqualified Person that can be, for a Court, or a Camp; to scramble for Preferment, or Plunder. Both he, and his self denying Notions, are ridicul’d, as Things of no Use, and proceeding from Meanness and Poorness of Spirit. _David_, who was a Person of an admirable Devotion, but of an unequal Spirit; subject to great Dejections, as well as Elevations of Mind; was so much affected with the Prosperity of the Wicked in this World, that he could scarce forbear charging Providence with Injustice. You may see several Touches of a repining Spirit in his _Psalms_, and in the lxxiiid _Psalm_, compos’d upon that Subject, you have both the Wound and the Cure. Now this Beatitude pronounc’d here by our Saviour, was spoken before by _David_, _Psal._ xxxvii. 11. the same _David_, that was always so sensible of the hard Usage of the Just in this Life. Our Saviour also, and his Apostles, preach’d the Doctrine of the Cross every where, and foretell the Sufferings that shall attend the Righteous in this World. Therefore neither _David_, nor our Saviour, could understand this _Inheritance of the Earth_, otherwise than of some future State, or of a State yet to come. But as it must be a future State, so it must be a terrestrial State; for it could not be call’d the _Inheritance of the Earth_, if it was not so. And ’tis to be a State of _Peace_, as well as _Plenty_, according to the Words of the _Psalmist_, _But the Meek shall inherit the Earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of Peace_. It follows therefore from these Premisses, that both our Saviour, and _David_, must understand some future State of the Earth, wherein the _Meek_ will enjoy both Peace and Plenty; and this will appear to be the future Kingdom of Christ, when, upon a fuller Description, we shall have given you the Marks and Characters of it.

In the mean time, why should we not suppose this Earth, which the Meek are to inherit, to be that _habitable Earth to come_, which St. _Paul_ mentions (_Heb._ ii. 6.) and represents as subject to our Saviour in a peculiar Manner, at his Disposal, and under his Government, as his Kingdom? Why should not that Earth be the Subject of this Beatitude, the promis’d Land, the Lot of the Righteous? This I am sure of, that both this Text and the former deserve our serious Thoughts; and tho’ they do not expresly, and in Terms, prove the future Kingdom of our Saviour, yet upon the fairest Interpretations they imply such a State. And it would be very uneasy to give a satisfactory Account, either of the _Regeneration_ or _Renovation_, when our Saviour and his Disciples shall sit upon Thrones; or of that _Earth_ which the _Meek shall inherit_: Or, lastly, of that _habitable World_, which is peculiarly subject to the Dominion of Jesus Christ, without supposing, on this side Heaven, some other Reign of Christ and his Saints, than what we see, or what they enjoy, at present.

But to proceed in this Argument, it will be necessary, as I told you, to set down some Notes and Characters of the Reign of Christ and of his Saints, whereby it may be distinguish’d from the present State and present Kingdoms of the World: And these Characters are chiefly three, _Justice_, _Peace_, and _Divine Presence_ or Conduct, which uses to be called _Theocracy_. By these Characters it is sufficiently distinguish’d from the Kingdoms of this World; which are generally unjust in their Titles or Exercise, stain’d with Blood, and so far from being under a particular Divine Conduct, that Human Passions and Human Vices are the Springs that commonly give Motion to their greatest Designs: But more particularly and restrainedly, the Government of Christ is oppos’d to the Kingdom and Government of Antichrist, whose Characters arc diametrically opposite to these, being _Injustice_, _Cruelty_, and _human or diabolical Artifices_.

Upon this short View of the Kingdom of Christ, let us make Enquiry after it amongst the Prophets of the _Old Testament_; and we shall find, upon Examination, that there is scarce any of them, greater or lesser, but take notice of this mystical Kingdom, either expresly, or under the Types of _Israel_, _Sion_, _Jerusalem_, and such-like. And therefore I am apt to think, that when St. _Peter_, in his Sermon to the _Jews_, _Acts_ iii. says, all the holy Prophets spoke of _the Restitution of all Things_, he does not mean the Renovation of the World separately from the Kingdom of Christ, but complexly, as it may imply both. For there are not many of the old Prophets that have spoken of the Renovation of the _natural_ World, but a great many have spoken of the Renovation of the _moral_, in the Kingdom of Christ. These are St. _Peter_’s Words, _Acts_ iii. 19, 20, 21. _Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your Sins may be blotted out, when the Times of refreshing shall come from the Presence of the Lord. And he shall send Jesus Christ which before was preached unto you; whom the Heavens must receive until the Times of RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS._ The Apostle here mentions three Things, the _Times of refreshing_, the _second coming_ of our Saviour, and the _Times of Restitution of all Things_: And to the last of these he immediately subjoins, _which God hath spoken by the Mouth of all his holy Prophets, since the World began_. This _Restitution of all Things_, I say, must not be understood abstractly from the Reign of Christ, but as in Conjunction with it; and in that Sense, and no other, it is the general Subject of the Prophets.

To enter therefore into the Schools of the Prophets, and enquire their Sense concerning this Mystery, let us first address our selves to the Prophet _Isaiah_, and the royal Prophet _David_; who seem to have had many noble Thoughts or Inspirations upon this Subject. _Isaiah_, in the lxvth Chapter, from the xviith Verse to the End, treats upon this Argument; and joins together the Renovation of the natural and moral World, as St. _Peter_, in the Place fore-mentioned, seems to do: And accordingly the Prophet, having set down several natural Characters of that State, as Indolency and Joy, Longevity, Ease, and Plenty, from _ver._ 18. to the 24th, he there begins the moral Characters of Divine Favour, and such a particular Protection, that they are heard and answer’d before they pray. And lastly, he represents it as a State of universal Peace and Innocency, _ver._ 23. _The Wolf and the Lamb shall feed together_, &c.

This last Character, which comprehends _Peace_, _Justice_ and _Innocency_, is more fully display’d by the same Prophet, in the xith Chapter, where he treats also of the Kingdom of Christ. Give me leave to set down his Words, ver. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. _But with Righteousness shall he judge the Poor, and reprove with Equity, for the Meek of the Earth: and he shall smite the Earth with the Rod of his Mouth, and with the Breath of his Lips shall he slay the Wicked. And Righteousness shall be the Girdle of his Loins, and Faithfulness the Girdle of his Reins. The Wolf also shall dwell with the Lamb, and the Leopard shall lie down with the Kid; and the Calf and the young Lyon, and the Fatling together, and a little Child shall lead them. And the Cow and the Bear shall feed, and their young Ones shall lie down together; and the Lyon shall eat Straw like the Ox. And the sucking Child shall play on the Hole of the Asp, and the weaned Child shall put his Hand on the Cockatrice-Den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy Mountain; for the Earth shall be full of the Knowledge of the Lord, as the Waters cover the Sea._ Thus far the Prophet. Now if we join this to what we noted before, from his lxvth Chapter, concerning the same State, ’twill be impossible to understand it of any Order of Things, that is now, or hath been hitherto in the World; And consequently it must be the Idea of some State to come, and particularly of that which we call the future Kingdom of Christ.

The same pacifick Temper, Innocency and Justice, are celebrated by this Prophet, when the _Mountain of the Lord shall be established in the Top of the Mountains_, Chap. ii. 2, 4. _And he shall judge amongst the Nations, and shall rebuke many People; and they shall beat their Swords into Plow-shares, and their Spears into Pruning-hooks. Nation shall not lift up Sword against Nation, neither shall they learn War any more._ And as to Righteousness, he says, in the xxiiid Chapter, _Behold a King shall reign in Righteousness, and Princes shall rule in Judgment_, &c. These Places, I know, usually are apply’d to the first coming of our Saviour; the Peaceableness of his Doctrine, and the Propagation of it thro’ all the World. I willingly allow this to be a true Sense, so far as it will go: But ’tis one thing to be a true Sense to such a Degree, and another thing to be the final Sense and Accomplishment of a Prophecy. The Affairs of the first and second coming of our Saviour are often mingled together in the Prophecies of the _Old Testament_; but in that Mixture there are some Characters whereby you may distinguish what belongs to his first, and what to his second coming; what to the Time when he came to suffer, and what to the Time when he shall come to reign. For Instance, in these Prophecies recited, though there are many Things very applicable to his first coming, yet that _Regality_ which is often spoken of, and that universal Peace and Innocency that will accompany it, cannot be verified of his coming in the Flesh, seeing it is plain, that in his State of Humiliation he did not come as a King, to rule over the Nations of the Earth, (_Matt._ xx. 21. _Luke_ xxiii. 42.) And he says himself expresly, _That his Kingdom is not of this World_, John xviii. 36. And the Prayer of _Salome_, and of the good Thief upon the Cross, suppose it not then present, but to come. Then as to the Establishment of _Peace_ in his Kingdom, it does not at all appear to me that there is more Peace in the World now, than there was before our Saviour came into it; or that the Christian Parts of the World are more peaceable than the Unchristian. Therefore these great Promises of a _pacifick Kingdom_, which are express’d in Terms as high and emphatical as can be imagin’d, must belong to some other Days, and some other Ages, than what we have seen hitherto.

You’ll say, it may be, ’Tis not the Fault of the Gospel that the World is not peaceable, but of those that profess it, and do not practice it. This is true, but it does not answer the Prophecy; for that makes no Exception, and by such a Reserve as this, you may elude any Prophecy. So the _Jews_ say, their _Messiah_ defers his coming beyond the Time appointed by Prophecy, because of their Sins; but we do not allow this for a good Reason. The _Israelites_ had their promised _Canaan_, tho’ they had render’d themselves unworthy of it; and by this Method of interpreting Prophecies, all the Happiness and Glory promised in the Millennial Kingdom of Christ may come to nothing, upon a pretended Forfeiture. Threatnings indeed may have a tacit Condition; God may be better than his Word, and, upon Repentance, divert his Judgments; but he cannot be worse than his Word, or fail of Performance, when, without any Condition express’d, he promises or prophecies good Things to come: This would destroy all Assurance of Hope or Faith. Lastly, this Prophecy concerning pacifick Times or a _pacifick Kingdom_, is in the lxvth Chapter of _Isaiah_, subjoin’d to the _Renovation of the Heavens and the Earth_, and several Marks of a Change in the natural World; which Things we know did not come to pass at the first coming of our Saviour; there was no Change of Nature then, nor has been ever since: And therefore this happy Change, both in the natural and moral World, is yet to come.

But, as we said before, we do not speak this exclusively of the first coming of our Saviour, as to other Parts of these Prophecies; for no doubt that was one great Design of them. And in the Prophecies of the Old Testament, there are often three Gradations, or gradual Accomplishments; the first, in some King of _Israel_, or some Person or Affair relating to _Israel_, as National only: The second, in the Messiah at his first coming: And the last, in the Messiah, and his Kingdom at his second coming. And that which we affirm and contend for, is, that the Prophecies fore-mentioned have not a final and total Accomplishment, either in the Nation of the _Jews_, or at the first coming of our Saviour; and this we abide by.

The next Prophet that we mention’d as a Witness of the future Kingdom of Christ, is _David_; who, in his _Psalms_, seems to be pleas’d with this Subject above all others: And when he is most exalted in his Thoughts and prophetical Raptures, the Spirit carries him into the Kingdom of the Messiah, to contemplate its Glory, to sing Praises to its King, and triumph over his Enemies, _Psal._ lxviii. _Let God arise, let his Enemies be scattered; Let them also that hate him flee before him: As Smoak is driven away, so drive them away; at 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 _Ægypt_, and bringing the _Israelites_ into the Land of _Canaan_; but when he is once upon the Wing, he soars to an higher Pitch (_ver._ 18.) 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, _ver._ 32, _&c._ The xlvth _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 St. _John_, _Apoc._, xix. 7, 8. and _chap._ xix. 2, 9. Namely, after the Destruction of _Babylon_, in the _New Jerusalem_’s 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 xixth Chapter of Saint _John_. Here the Prophet says, _Gird 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. _Psal._ xlv. 3, 4, 6. There St. _John_ says, having describ’d a Conqueror 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_, Apoc. xix. 15, 16. 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._ ii. _Psal._ ix. _Psal._ xxi. and xxiv. and xlvii. and lxxxv. and cx. 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 Instances and Grounds they may sometimes respect the State of _Israel_, or the Evangelical State; but the Eye of the Prophet goes farther; this does not terminate his Sight: His Divine Enthusiasm reaches into another World; a World of _Peace_, and _Justice_, and _Holiness_; of Joy, and Victory, and Triumph 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 verify St. _Peter_’s Words, in that fore-mention’d Place, _Acts_ iii. 21. _viz._ That all of the _Holy Prophets since the World began_, have spoken of the Restauration of all Things at the second coming of Christ. I say, to verify this Assertion of St. _Peter_, we must suppose, that, where the Prophets speak of the Restauration and future Glory of _Judah_ and _Jerusalem_, 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 Sense, and under these Forms, have spoken of this Kingdom; in foretelling the Restauration of _Jerusalem_ and _Sion_; and happy Days, Peace, Plenty, and Prosperity to the People of _Israel_.

Most of the Prophets, I say, from _Moses_ to _Malachi_, have spoken of this _Restauration_. _Moses_, in the xxxth of _Deut._ ver. 4, 5, 9. _David_ also in many of those _Psalms_ we have cited: _Isaiah_, besides the Places fore-mentioned, treats amply of this Subject, _chap._ li. and in several other Places. So likewise the Prophets _Ezekiel_, _Daniel_, _Hosea_, _Joel_, _Amos_, _Obadiah_, _Micah_, _Zephaniah_, _Haggai_, _Zachary_, _Malachi_: All these have, either expresly, or under the Types of _Jerusalem_ 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. _John_, the Christian Church is still represented, as under Persecution and Distress, till the Fall of Anti-christ, and the millennial Kingdom; ’tis 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. _John_ says (_Apoc._ x. 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 _Jerusalem_ should be us’d in a typical or allegorical Sense, seeing we often find such Applications of it in the New Testament; as _Gal._ iv. 26. _Heb._ xii. 22. _Apoc._ iii. 12. And ’tis very natural that _Jerusalem restor’d_, should signify the same thing as _new Jerusalem_; and therefore that St. _John_, by his _new Jerusalem_, intended the same thing, or the same State, that the antient Prophets did by their Restauration of _Jerusalem_. And it neither can be understood in a literal Sense, 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 alledged 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 Virtue and Innocency shall be in the Throne, and Vice and vicious 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 wrote 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 least give plain Marks of a terrestrial State. Wherefore, the only Question that remains, is this, _Whether_ these happy Days are past already, or to come? Whether this blessed State of the Church is behind us, or before us? Whether our Predecessors have enjoyed it, or our Posterity is to expect it? For we are very sure that it is not present. The World is full of Wars, and Rumours of Wars; of Vice and Knavery, of Oppression and Persecution: and these are things directly contrary to the Genius and Characters of the State which we look after.

And if we look for it in Times past, we can go no farther back than the beginning of Christianity. For St. _John_, the last of the Apostles, prophesied of these Times, as to come; and plac’d them at the End of his System of Prophecies; whereby one might conclude, that they are not only within the Compass of the Christian Ages, but far advanc’d into them. But however, not to insist upon that at present, where will you find a thousand Years, from the Birth of Christianity to this present Age, that deserves the Name, or answers to the Characters of this _pure_ and _pacifick_ State of the Church? The first Ages of Christianity, as they were the most pure, so likewise were they the least peaceable; continually, more or less, under the Persecution of the Heathen Emperors; and so far from being the Reign and Empire of Christ and his Saints over the Nations, that Christians were then, every where, in Subjection or Slavery; a poor, feeble, helpless People, thrust into Prisons, or thrown to the Lions, at the Pleasure of their Princes or Rulers. ’Tis true, when the Empire became Christian under _Constantine_, in the fourth Century, there was, for a time, Peace and Prosperity in the Church, and a good Degree of Purity and Piety; but that Peace was soon disturb’d, and that Piety soon corrupted. The growing Pride and Ambition of the Ecclesiasticks, and their easiness to admit or introduce superstitious Practices, destroy’d the Purity of the Church. And as to the Peace of it, their Contests about Opinions and Doctrines, tore the Christians themselves into Pieces; and, soon after, an Inundation of barbarous People fell into Christendom, and put it all into Flames and Confusion. After this Eruption of the _Northern_ Nations, _Mahometanism_ rose in the _East_; and swarms of _Saracens_, like Armies of Locusts, invaded, conquer’d, and planted their Religion in several Parts of the _Roman_ Empire, and of the Christianiz’d World. And can we call such Times the Reign of Christ, or the Imprisonment of Satan? In the following Ages, the _Turks_ overran the _Eastern_ Empire and the _Greek_ Church, and still hold that miserable People in Slavery. Providence seems to have so order’d Affairs, that the Christian World should be never without a WOE upon it, lest it should fancy it self already in those happy Days of Peace and Prosperity, which are reserv’d for future Times. Lastly, whosoever is sensible of the Corruptions and Persecutions of the Church of _Rome_, since she came to her Greatness; whosoever allows her to be _Mystical Babylon_, which must fall before the Kingdom of Christ comes on, will think that Kingdom duly plac’d by St. _John_ at the End of his Prophecies, concerning the Christian Church; and that there still _remains, according_ to the Words of St. _Paul_, (Heb. iv. 9.) _a Sabbatism to the People of God_.

CHAP. IV.

_The Sense 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._

You have heard the Voice of the _Prophets_ and _Apostles_, declaring the future Kingdom of Christ: Next to these, the _Primitive Fathers_ are accounted of good Authority; let us therefore now enquire into their Sense concerning this Doctrine, that we may give Satisfaction to all Parties; and both those that are guided by Scripture alone, and those that have a Veneration for Antiquity, may find Proofs suitable to their Inclinations and Judgment.

And to make few Words of it, we will lay down this Conclusion; _That the millennial Kingdom of Christ was the general Doctrine of the Primitive Church, from the Times of the Apostles to the_ Nicene _Council_, inclusively. St. _John_ out-liv’d all the rest of the Apostles, and towards the latter end of his Life, being banish’d into the Isle of _Pathmos_, he wrote his _Apocalypse_; wherein he hath given us a more full and distinct Account of the millennial Kingdom of Christ, than any of the Prophets or Apostles before him. _Papias_, Bishop of _Hierapolis_, and Martyr, one of St. _John_’s Auditors, as _Ireneus_ testifies, _Iren. Lib 5. c. 33._ taught the same Doctrine after St. _John_. He was the familiar Friend of _Polycarp_, another of St. _John_’s Disciples; and either from him, or immediately from St. _John_’s Mouth, he might receive this Doctrine. That he taught it in the Church, is agreed on by all Hands; both by those that are his Followers, as _Irenæus_; and those that are not Well-wishers to this Doctrine, as _Eusebius_ and _Jerome_.

There is also another Channel wherein this Doctrine is traditionally deriv’d from St. _John_, namely, by the Clergy of _Asia_; as _Irenæus_ tells us in the same Chapter. For, arguing the Point, he shews that the Blessing promis’d to _Jacob_ from his Father _Isaac_, was not made good to him in this Life, and therefore he says, _without doubt those Words had a farther Aim and Prospect upon the Times of the Kingdom:_ (so they us’d to call the millennial State) _when the Just rising from the Dead, shall reign; and when Nature renew’d and set at Liberty, shall yield Plenty and Abundance of all things; being blest with the Dew of Heaven, and a great Fertility of the Earth according as has been related by those Ecclesiaticks or Clergy, who saw S._ John, _the Disciple of Christ; and heard of him WHAT OUR LORD HAD TAUGHT CONCERNING THOSE TIMES_. This you see, goes to the Fountain Head: The Christian Clergy receive it from St. _John_, and St. _John_ relates it from the Mouth of our Saviour.

So much for the original Authority of this Doctrine, as a Tradition; that it was from St. _John_, and by him from Christ. And as to the Propagation and prevailing of it in the Primitive Church, we can bring a Witness beyond all exception, _Justin Martyr_, cotemporary with _Irenæus_, and his Senior. He says, _that himself, and all the Orthodox Christians of his Time, did acknowledge the Resurrection of the Flesh_ (suppose the first Resurrection) _and a thousand Years reign in_ Jerusalem _restor’d_, or in the new Jerusalem, _Dial. with_ Tryphon _the Jew_. _According as the Prophets_ Ezekiel, _and_ Isaiah, _and others, attest with common Consent_. As St. _Peter_ had said before, _Acts_ iii. 21. _That all the Prophets had spoken of it._ Then he quotes the lxvth _Chapter_ of _Isaiah_, which is a Bulwark for this Doctrine, that never can be broken. And to shew the _Jew_, with whom he had this Discourse, that it was the Sense of our Prophets, as well as of theirs, he tells him, that _a certain Man amongst us Christians, by Name_ John, _one of the Apostles of Christ, in a Revelation made to him did prophesy, that the faithful Believers in Christ should live a thousand Years in the_ New Jerusalem; _and after that should be the general Resurrection and Day of Judgment_. Thus you have the Thoughts and Sentiments of _Justin Martyr_, as to himself; as to all the reputed Orthodox of his Time; as to the Sense of the Prophets in the Old Testament, and as to the Sense of St. _John_ in the _Apocalypse_; all conspiring in Confirmation of the millennary Doctrine.

To these three Witnesses, _Papias_, _Irenæus_ and _Justin 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. _John_ directs the Epistle to that Church, _Apoc._ iii. 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 wrote many Books, as you may see in St. _Jerome_; and, as he notes out of _Tertullian_, _was by most Christians reputed a Prophet_ (_De Script. Eccles. Dogm. Eccl._ c. lv.) He was also a declar’d _Millennary_, and is recorded as such, both by _Jerome_ 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 _Millennarian_, 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 Footsteps of the Orthodox of those Times; that is, of the _Millennarians_.

So much for the first and second Centuries of the Church. By which short Account it appears, that the millennary 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_. ’Tis 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. _Jerome_ gives an Account of it: (_De Script. Eccles._) 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, _and 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_, (_Vid._ Hieron. _Epist._ 28. _ad_ Lucinium.) 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 ’tis all we desire. And we have little reason to question his Testimony in this Point, seeing it is back’d by others of good Credit; and all 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 millennary Doctrine, propos’d after a Christian Manner, unless such Hereticks as denied 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 Ægyptius_, _Cyprian_, and, at the End of it, _Lactantius_; all openly professing, or implicitly favouring, the millennary 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 Sense than as the _Seventh Day_ represents the _seventh Millennary_, in which the Renovation of the World and the Kingdom of Christ, is to be. As to _Tertullian_, St. _Jerome_ reckons him, in the first place, amongst the _Latin Millennaries_. 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 millennary Opinion in his Tracts against _Marcion_, and against _Hermogenes_. St. _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 Millennary_ the consummation of all, is wholly according to the Analogy of the millennary Doctrine. As to the two Bishops, _Victorinus_ and _Nepos_, St. _Jerome_ vouches for them: The Writings of the one are lost, and of the other so chang’d, that the Sense 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_, (Book vii.) 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 Centuries 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 Time of _Constantine_’s Empire. But however, the Fathers of that Council are themselves our Witnesses in this Point; for in their _Ecclesiastical Forms_ or _Constitutions_, in the Chapter _about the Providence of God_, and _about the World_, they speak thus: _The World was made meaner, or less perfect, providentially; for God foresaw that Man would Sin: Wherefore we expect new Heavens and a new Earth, according to the holy Scriptures, at the Appearance and Kingdom of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ._ And then, as _Daniel_ says (chap. vii. 18.) _The Saints of the most High shall take the Kingdom, and the Earth shall be pure, holy, the Land of the Living, not of the Dead._ _Which_ David _foreseeing by the Eye of Faith_, cries out, (_Psal._ xxvii. 13.) _I believe to see the good Things of the Lord, in the Land of the Living. Our Saviour says, happy are the Meek, for they shall inherit the Earth_, Mat. v. 5. _And the Prophet_ Isaiah _says_, (Chap. xxvi. 6.) _the Feet of the meek and lowly shall tread upon it_. So you see, according to the Judgment of these Fathers, there will be a Kingdom of Christ upon Earth; and moreover, that it will be in the _new Heavens_ and the _new Earth_: And, in both these Points, they cite the Prophets, and our Saviour in Confirmation of them.

Thus we have discharg’d our Promise, and given you an account of the Doctrine of the _Millennium_, or future Kingdom of Christ, throughout the three first Ages of the Church, before any considerable Corruptions were crept into the Christian Religion. And those Authorities of single and successive Fathers, we have seal’d up all together, with the Declaration of the _Nicene_ Fathers, in a Body. Those that think Tradition a Rule of Faith, or a considerable Motive to it, will find it hard to turn off the Force of these Testimonies: And those that do not go so far, but yet have a Reverence for Antiquity and the Primitive Church, will not easily produce better Authorities, more early, more numerous, or more uncontradicted, for any Article that is not fundamental: Yet these are but Seconds to the Prophets and Apostles, who are truly the Principals in this Cause. I will leave them all together, to be examin’d and weigh’d by the impartial Reader. And because they seem to me to make a full and undeniable Proof, I will now, at the Foot of the Account, set down our second Proposition, which is this, _That there is a millennial State, or a future Kingdom of Christ and his Saints, prophesied of and promised, in the Old and New Testament; and receiv’d by the Primitive Church as a Christian and Catholick Doctrin._ (Propos. I.)

Having dispatch’d this main Point; to conclude the Chapter and this Head of our Discourse, it will be some Satisfaction possibly to see, _How_ a Doctrine so generally receiv’d and approv’d came to decay, and almost wear out of the Church, in following Ages. The Christian millennary Doctrine was not call’d into Question, so far as appears from History, before the middle of the third Century; when _Dionysius Alexandrinus_ wrote against _Nepos_, an _Ægyptian_ Bishop, who had declar’d himself upon that Subject. But we do not find that this Book had any great Effect; for the Declaration or Constitution of the _Nicene Fathers_ was after; and in St. _Jerome_’s Time, who wrote towards the End of the fourth Century, this Doctrine had so much Credit, that he, who was its greatest Adversary, yet durst not condemn it, as he says himself; _Quæ licet non sequamur, tamen damnare non possumus; quia multi Ecclesiasticorum virorum & martyres ista dixerunt: Which Things or Doctrines_, speaking of the Millennium, _tho’ we do not follow, yet we cannot condemn; because many of our Churchmen, and Martyrs have affirmed these things_. And when _Apollinarius_ reply’d to that Book of _Dionysius_, St. _Jerome_ says, that, _not only those of his own Sect, but a great Multitude of other Christians did agree with_ Apollinarius _in that particular: Ut presagâ mente jam cernam, quantorum in me rabies concitanda sit; That now I foresee, how many will be enrag’d against me, for what I have spoken against the millennary Doctrine_.

We may therefore conclude that in St. _Jerome_’s Time the Millennaries made the greater Party in the Church; for a little Matter would not have frighted him from censuring their Opinions. St. _Jerome_ was a rough and rugged Saint, and an unfair Adversary, that usually run down with Heat and Violence, what stood in his Way. As to his Unfairness, he shews it sufficiently in this very Cause, for he generally represents the millennary Doctrine after a _Judaical_, rather than a _Christian_ Manner. And in reckoning up the chief Patrons of it, he always skips _Justin Martyr_; who was not a Man so obscure as to be over-look’d: And he was a Man that had declar’d himself sufficiently upon this Point; for he says, _Both himself and all the Orthodox of his time, were of that Judgment_, and applies both the _Apocalypse_ of St. _John_, and the lxvth Chapter of _Isaiah_, for the Proof of it; as we noted before.

As St. _Jerome_ was an open Enemy to this Doctrine, so _Eusebius_ was a back Friend to it; and represented every thing to its Disadvantage, so far as was tolerably consistent with the Fairness of an Historian. He gives a slight Character of _Papias_, without any Authority for it; and brings in one _Gaius_, that makes _Cerinthus_ to be the Author of the _Apocalypse_ and of the _Millennium_ (_Eccles. Hist._ _l._ iii. _c._ 32.) and calls the Visions there, Τερετολογίας, _monstrous Stories_. He himself is willing to shuffle off that Book from _John_ the _Evangelist_ to another _John_ a _Presbyter_; and to shew his Skill in the Interpretation of it, (_l._ 3. _c._ 32. _de vit. Constan._) he makes the _new Jerusalem_ in the xxith Chapter to be _Constantine’s Jerusalem_, when he turn’d the Heathen Temples there into Christian: A wonderful Invention. As St. _Jerome_ by his Flouts, so _Eusebius_, by sinister Insinuations, endeavour’d to lessen the Reputation of this Doctrine; and the Art they both us’d was, to misrepresent it as _Judaical_. But we must not cast off every Doctrine which the _Jews_ believ’d, only for that Reason; for we have the same Oracles which they had, and the same Prophets; and they have collected from them the same general Doctrine that we have, namely, that _there will be an happy and pacifick State of the Church, in future Times_. But as to the Circumstances of this State we differ very much: They suppose the _Mosaical_ Law will be restor’d, with all its Pomp, Rites, and Ceremonies: whereas we suppose the Christian Worship, or something more perfect, will then take Place. Yet St. _Jerome_ has the Confidence, even there where he speaks of the many Christian Clergy and Martyrs that held this Doctrine; has the Confidence, I say, to represent it, as if they held that _Circumcision_, _Sacrifices_, and all the _Judaical_ Rites, should then be restor’d. Which seems to me to be a great Slander, and a great Instance how far Mens Passions will carry them, in misrepresenting an Opinion, which they have a Mind to disgrace.

But as we have Reason to blame the Partiality of those that opposed this Doctrine; so, on the other Hand, we cannot excuse the Patrons of it from all Indiscretions. I believe they might partly themselves make it obnoxious; by mixing some things with it, from pretended Traditions, or the Books of the _Sybills_, or other private Authorities, that had so sufficient warrant from Scripture; and things, sometimes, that Nature would not easily bear. Besides, in latter Ages, they seem to have dropt one half of the Doctrine, namely, the _Renovation of Nature_, which _Irenæus_, _Justin Martyr_, and the Antients, join inseparably with the _Millennium_: And by this Omission, the Doctrine hath been made less intelligible, and one Part of it inconsistent with another. And when their Pretensions were to reign upon this present Earth, and in this present State of Nature, it gave a Jealousy to temporal Princes, and gave occasion likewise to many of Fanatical Spirits, under the Notion of Saints, to aspire to Dominion, after a violent and tumultuary Manner. This I reckon as one great Cause that brought the Doctrine into Discredit. But I hope by reducing of it to the true State, we shall cure this and other Abuses for the future.

Lastly, It never pleas’d the Church of _Rome_; and so far as the Influence and Authority of that would go, you may be sure it would be depress’d and discountenanced. I never yet met with a Popish Doctor that held the _Millennium_; and _Baronius_ would have it to pass for an Heresy, and _Papias_ for the Inventor of it; whereas, if _Irenæus_ may be credited, it was receiv’d from St. _John_, and by him from the Mouth of our Saviour. And neither St. _Jerome_, nor his friend Pope _Damasus_, durst ever condemn it for an _Heresy_. It was always indeed uneasy, and gave Offence to the Church of _Rome_; because it does not suit to that Scheme of Christianity, which they have drawn. They suppose Christ reigns already, by his Vicar, the Pope; and treads upon the Necks of Emperors and Kings: And if they could but suppress the _Northern Heresy_, as they call it, they do not know what a _Millennium_ would signify, or how the Church could be in an happier Condition than she is. The _Apocalyse_ of St. _John_ does suppose the true Church under hardship and Persecution, more or less, for the greatest Part of the Christian Ages; namely, for 1260 Years, while the Witnesses are in sack-cloth. But the Church of _Rome_ hath been in prosperity and Greatness, and the commanding Church in Christendom, for so long, or longer, and hath rul’d the Nations with a Rod of Iron; so as that Mark of the true Church does not favour her at all. And the _Millennium_ being properly a Reward and Triumph for those that come out of Persecution, such as have liv’d always in Pomp and Prosperity, can pretend to no Share in it, or Benefit by it. This has made the Church of _Rome_ have always an ill Eye upon this Doctrine, because it seem’d to have an ill Eye upon her; And as she grew in Splendor and Greatness, she eclips’d and obscur’d it more and more; so that it would have been lost out of the World as an obsolete Error, it it had not been revived by some of the Reformation.

CHAP. VII.

_The true State of the Millennium, according to Characters taken from Scripture; some Mistakes concerning it examin’d._

We have made sufficient Proof of a millennial State, from Scripture and Antiquity; and upon that firm Basis have settled our second Proposition. We should now determine the _Time_ and _Place_ of this future Kingdom of Christ: not whether it is to be in Heaven, or upon Earth; for that we suppose determin’d already; but whether it is to be in the present Earth, and under the present Constitution of Nature, or in the _new Heavens_, and _new Earth_, which are promis’d after the _Conflagration_: This is to make our _third Proposition_: And I should have proceeded immediately to the Examination of it, but that I imagine it will give us some Light in this Affair, if we enquire farther into the true State of the _Millennium_, before we determine its Time and Place.

We have already noted some _moral_ Characters of the millennial State; and the great _natural_ Character of it is this in general, that it will be _Paradisaical_; free from all Inconveniencies, either of external Nature, or of our own Bodies. For my part, I do not understand, how there can be any considerable Degree of Happiness without _Indolency_; nor how there can be _Indolency_, while we have such Bodies as we have now, and such an external Constitution of Nature. And as there must be _Indolency_, where there is Happiness; so there must not be _Indigency_, or want of any due Comforts of Life: For where there is _Indigency_, there is Solicitude, and Distraction, and Uneasiness, and Fear; Passions that do as naturally disquiet the Soul, as Pain does the Body. Therefore Indolency and Plenty seem to be two essential Ingredients of every happy State; and these two, in Conjunction, make that State we call _Paradisaical_.

Now the Scripture seems plainly to exempt the Sons of the _new Jerusalem_, or of the _Millennium_, from all _Pain_ or _Want_, in those Words, _Apoc._ xxi. 4. _And God shall wipe away all Tears from their Eyes: And there shall be no more Death, neither Sorrow, nor crying; neither shall there be any more Pain: For the former Things are passed away._ And the Lord of that Kingdom, _He that sat upon the Throne_, said, _Behold I make all Things new_, ver. 5. This Renovation is a Restauration to some former State; and I hope, not that State of Indigency and Misery, and Diseasedness, which we languish under at present; but to that pristine _Paradisaical_ State, which was the Blessing of the first Heavens and the first Earth.

As Health and Plenty are the Blessings of Nature; so, in Civil Affairs, _Peace_ is the greatest Blessing: And this is inseparably annex’d to the _Millennium_; an indelible Character of the Kingdom of Christ. And by _Peace_, we understand not only Freedom from Persecution upon religious Accounts, but that _Nation shall not rise up against Nation_, upon any Account whatsoever. That bloody Monster, _War_, that hath devoured so many Millions of the Sons of _Adam_, is now at length to be chain’d up; and the Furies, that run throughout the Earth, with their Snakes and Torches, shall be thrown into the Abyss, to sting and prey upon one another: All evil and mischievous Passions shall be extinguished; and that not in Men only, but even in brute Creatures, according to the Prophets. _The Lamb and the Lion shall lie down together, and the sucking Child shall play with the Basilisk._ Happy Days, when not only the Temple of _Janus_ shall be shut up for a thousand Years, and the _Nations shall beat their Swords into Plowshares_; but all Enmities and Antipathies shall cease, all Acts of Hostility, throughout all Nature. And this universal Peace is a Demonstration also of the former Character, _universal Plenty_; for where there is a Want and Necessitousness, there will be quarrelling.

Fourthly, ’Tis a Kingdom of Righteousness, as well as of Peace: these also must go together: For unrighteous Persons will not live long in Peace, no more than indigent Persons. The _Psalmist_ therefore joins them together; and _Plenty_, also, as their necessary Preservative, in his Description of the Kingdom of Christ, _Psal._ lxxxv. 10, 11, 12. _Mercy and Truth are met together: Righteousness and Peace have kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the Earth, and Righteousness shall look down from Heaven. Yea, the Lord shall give good, and our Land shall yield her Increase._ This will not be a Medley-State, as the present World is, good and bad mingled together; but _a chosen Generation_, _a royal Priesthood_, _an holy Nation_, _a peculiar People_. Those that have a Part in the first Resurrection, the Scripture pronounceth them _Holy_ and _Blessed_; and says, _The second Death shall have no Power over them._ Satan is also bound and shut up in the bottomless Pit, and has no Liberty of tempting or seducing this People, for a thousand Years: but at the End of that Time, he will meet with a degenerate Crew, separate and Aliens to the holy City, that will make War against it, and perish in the Attempt. In a word, those that are to enjoy this State, are always distinguish’d from the Multitude, as People redeemed from the Earth, (_Apoc._ v. 9.) that have wash’d their Robes, and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb; and are represented as Victors over the World; with such other Characters as are incompatible to any but the Righteous, _ch._ vii. 14. _ch._ xiv. 3, 4. _ch._ xxi. 27.

Fifthly, This will be a State under a peculiar divine Presence and Conduct. It is not easy indeed to determine the Manner of this Presence; but the Scripture plainly implies some extraordinary divine Presence to enlighten and enliven that State. When the _new Jerusalem_ was come down, St. _John_ says, _Apoc._ xxi. 3. _And I heard a great voice out of Heaven, saying, behold the Tabernacle of God is with Men; and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his People; and God himself shall be with them, and be their God._ And the like is promis’d to the Palm-bearing Company, _ch._ vii. 19. where they are admitted to the Privileges of the _new Jerusalem_. When our Saviour was incarnate, and vouchsafed to dwell amongst the Children of Men, the same Phrase is us’d by this same Author, ἐσχήνωσε. _Joh._ i. 14. _The Word was made Flesh, and tabernacled amongst us; and we beheld his Glory_, &c. We read it, _He dwelt amongst us_, but render’d more closely, it is, _He_ set his _Tabernacle amongst us_. And that which the _Hebrews_ call the שכינה _Shekinah_, or _divine Presence_, _Maimon. Mor. Nev. par._ 1. _c._ 25 comes from a Word of the like Signification and Sound with the _Greek_ Word here us’d. Therefore there will be a _Shekinah_ in that Kingdom of Christ; but as to the Mode of it, I am very willing to confess my Ignorance.

The last Character that belongs to this State, or rather to those that enjoy it, is, that they are _Kings and Priests unto God_. This is a Character often repeated in Scripture, and therefore the more to be regarded. It occurs thrice in the _Apocalypse_ in formal Terms, _ch._ i. 6. _ch._ v. 10. _ch._ xx. 6. And as to the Regal Dignity apart, that is farther exprest, either by the _Donation of a Kingdom_, as in _Daniel_’s Phrase, _chap._ vii. 18, 22, 27. Or by _placing upon Thrones_, with a judicial Power; which is the New Testament Style, _Mat._ xix. 28. _Luke_ xxii. 29, 30. _Rev._ xx. 4. These two Titles, no doubt, are intended to comprehend the highest Honours that we are capable of; these being the highest Dignities in every Kingdom; and such as were by the Antients, both in the _East_ and in the _West_, commonly united in one and the same Person; Their Kings being Priests, like _Melchisedeck_, or, as the _Roman_ Emperor was, _Pontifex Maximus_. But as to the sacerdotal Character, that seems chiefly to respect the Temper of the Mind; to signify a People dedicated to God and his Service, separate from the World, and from secular Affairs, spending their time in Devotion and Contemplation, which will be the great Employments of that happy State. For where there is Ease, Peace, and Plenty of all Things, refin’d Bodies, and purified Minds, there will be more Inclination to intellectual Exercises and Entertainments; which they may attend upon, without any Distraction, having neither Want, Pain, nor worldly Business.

The Title of _King_ implies a Confluence of all Things that constitute temporal Happiness. ’Tis the highest thing we can wish any in this World, to be a King; So as the _Regal_ Dignity seems to comprehend all the Goods of Fortune, or external Felicity, and the _Sacerdotal_, the Goods of the Mind, or internal; both which concur in the Constitution of true Happiness. There is also a further Force and Emphasis in this Notion _of the Saints being made Kings_, if we consider it _comparatively_, with respect to what they were before in this World; where they were not only mean and despicable, in Subjection and Servility, but often under Persecution, abus’d and trampled upon by the Secular and Ecclesiastical Powers. But now the Scene is chang’d, and you see the reverse of Providence, according as _Abraham_ said to the Rich-Man; _Son, remember that thou in thy Life time receivedst thy good things, and likewise_ Lazarus _evil things: But now he is comforted, and thou art tormented._ Now they are set upon Thrones and Tribunals, who were before arraigned as Criminals, and brought before tyrannical Judicatures: They are now Laws and Law-givers to themselves, in a true State of Royal Liberty, neither under the Domination of evil Men, nor of their own evil Passions.

Some possibly may think, that this high Character of _being made Priests_ and _Kings to God_, is not general to all that enjoy the _Millennium_; but a Prerogative belonging to the Apostles and some of the chief Martyrs, who are eminently rewarded for their eminent Services. But Scripture as far as I perceive, applies it to all that inherit that Kingdom. _The redeemed out of every Kindred, and Tongue, and People, and Nation_, are made _Kings and Priests to God, and shall reign on the Earth_, Apoc. v. 9, 10, And in the xxth _chap. ver._ 6. all the Sons of the first Resurrection are made _Priests of God, and shall reign with him a thousand Years_. Here is no Distinction or Discrimination thus far: Not that we suppose an unversal Equality of Conditions in the millennial State; but as to all these Characters which we have given of it, I do not perceive that they are restrain’d or confin’d by Scripture to single Persons, but make the general Happiness of that State, and are the Portion of every one that is admitted into the _new Jerusalem_.

Others possibly may think that this Privilege of the _first Resurrection_ is not common to all that enjoy the millennial State. For tho’ St. _John_, who is the only Person that hath made express mention of the _first Resurrection_, and of the _thousand Years Reign of_ Christ, does join these two as the same thing, and common to the same Persons; yet I know there are some that would distinguish them as things of a different Extent, and also of a different Nature. They suppose the Martyrs only will rise from the Dead, and will be immediately translated into Heaven, and there pass their _Millennium_ in celestial Glory; while the Church is still here below, in her _Millennium_, such as it is: A State indeed better than ordinary, and free from Persecution, but obnoxious to all the Inconveniences of our present mortal Life, and a Medley of good and bad People, without Separation. This is such an Idea of the _Millennium_, as, to my Eye, hath neither Beauty in it, nor Foundation in Scripture. That the Citizens of the _new Jerusalem_ are not a miscellaneous Company, but a Community of righteous Persons, we have noted before, and that the State of Nature will be better than it is at present. But, besides this, what Warrant have they for this Ascension of the Martyrs into Heaven at that Time? Where do we read of that in Scripture? And in those things that are not Matters of natural Order, but of divine Oeconomy, we ought to be very careful how we add to Scripture.

The Scripture speaks only of the Resurrection of the Martyrs, _Apoc._ xx. 45. but not a Word concerning their Ascension into Heaven. Will that be visible? We read of our Saviour’s Resurrection and Ascension, and therefore we have Reason to affirm them both. We read also of the Resurrection and Ascension of the _Witnesses_, (_Apoc._ xi.) in a figurative Sense; and in that Sense we may assert them upon good Grounds. But as to the Martyrs, we read of their Resurrection only, without any thing exprest or imply’d about their Ascension. By what Authority then shall we add this new Notion to the History or Scheme of the _Millennium_? The Scripture, on the contrary, makes mention of the Descent of the _new Jerusalem_, _Apoc._ xxi. 2. making the Earth the Theatre of all that Affair: And the Camp of the Saints is upon the Earth, _ver._ 9. and these Saints are the same Persons, so far as can be collected from the Text, that rose _from the Dead, and reign’d with Christ_, and were _Priests to God_, _ver._ 4, 5, 6. Neither is there any Distinction made, that I find, by St. _John_, of two sorts of Saints in the _Millennium_, the one in Heaven, and the other upon Earth. Lastly, the four and twenty Elders, _chap._ v. 10. tho’ they were _Kings_ and _Priests unto God_, were content to reign upon Earth. Now who can you suppose of a superior Order to these four and twenty Elders? Whether they represent the twelve Patriarchs and twelve Apostles, or whomsoever they represent, they are plac’d next to him that sits upon the Throne, and they have Crowns of Gold upon their Heads, _chap._ iv. 4. _ch._ xi. 16. There can be no Marks of Honour and Dignity greater than these are; and therefore seeing these highest Dignitaries in the Millennium or future Kingdom of Christ, are to reign upon Earth, there is no Ground to suppose the Assumption of any other into Heaven, upon that Account, or upon that Occasion.

This is a short and general Draught of the millennial State, or future Reign of the Saints, according to Scripture. Wherein I have endeavour’d to rectify some Mistakes or Misconceptions about it; that viewing it in its true Nature, we may be the better able to judge, when and where it will obtain: which is the next Thing to be consider’d.

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 the new Earth are the true Seat of the blessed_ Millennium.

We now come to the third and last Head of our Discourse; to determine the _Time_ and _Place_ of the _Millennium_. And seeing it is indifferent, whether the Proofs lead or follow the Conclusion, we will lay down the Conclusion in the first Place, that our Business may be more in View; and back it with Proofs in the following Part of the Chapter. Our third and last Proposition therefore is this, _That the blessed Millennium, Propos. 3._ (properly so called) _according as it is describ’d in Scripture, cannot obtain in the present Earth, nor under the present Constitution of Nature and Providence; but it is to be celebrated in the new Heavens and new Earth, after the Conflagration._ This Proposition it may be, will seem a Paradox or Singularity to many, even of those that believe a _Millennium_: We will therefore make it the Business of this Chapter, to state it, and prove it, by such Arguments as are manifestly founded in Scripture and in Reason.

And to prevent Mistakes, we must premise this in the first Place; that tho’ the blessed _Millennium_ will not be in this Earth; yet we allow that the State of the Church here, will grow much better than it is at present. There will be a better Idea of Christianity, and according to the Prophecies, a full _Resurrection of the Witnesses_, and an _Ascension_ into Power, and the tenth Part of the City will fall; which things imply ease from Persecution, the Conversion of some Part of the Christian World to the reformed Faith, and a considerable Diminution of the Power of Antichrist. But this still comes short of the Happiness and Glory wherein the future Kingdom of Christ is represented; which cannot come to pass till the _Man of Sin_ be destroyed, with a total Destruction. After the Resurrection of the Witnesses, there is a third _WOE_ yet to come; and how long that will last, does not appear. If it bear proportion with the preceeding _WOES_, it may last some hundreds of Years. And we cannot imagine the _Millennium_ to begin till that _WOE_ be finished: As neither till the _Vials_ be pour’d out, in the xvth _chap._ which cannot be all pour’d out till after the Resurrection of the Witnesses; those _Vials_ being the last Plagues that compleat the Destruction of Antichrist. Wherefore allowing that the Church, upon the Resurrection and Ascension of the Witnesses, will be advanc’d into a better Condition, yet that Condition cannot be the millennial State; where the Beast is utterly destroy’d, and Satan bound, and cast into the bottomless Pit.

This being premis’d, let us now examine what Grounds there are for the Translation of that blessed State into the _new Heavens_ and _new Earth_; seeing that Thought, it may be, to many Persons, will appear new and extraordinary. In the first Place, we suppose it out of Dispute, that there will be _new Heavens_ and a _new Earth_ after the Conflagration. This was our first Proposition, and we depend upon it, as sufficiently prov’d both from Scripture and Antiquity. This being admitted, how will you flock this _new Earth_? What use will you put it to? ’Twill be a much nobler Earth, and better built than the present; and ’tis a pity it should only float 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 _paradisaical_ 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: St. _Peter_ says, the Righteous shall inhabit the new Heavens and the new Earth: 2 _Pet._ iii. 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 St. _Peter_’s new Heavens and new Earth with St. _John_’s _Apoc._ xxi. 1, 2. it will go far towards the Resolution of this Question: For St. _John_ seems plainly to make the Inhabitants of the _new Jerusalem_ to be in this _new Earth_. _I saw_, says he, _new Heavens and a new Earth_, and the _new Jerusalem 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 the 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 St. _John_’s Word is confirm’d and fully assur’d to us by the Prophet _Isaiah_; who also placeth the Joy and Rejoicing of the _new Jerusalem_ in the new Heavens and new Earth, Chap. lxv. 17, 18. _For behold I create new Heavens and a new Earth; and the former shall not be remembred: but be you glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create; for behold, I create_ Jerusalem _a Rejoicing, and her People a Joy_: Namely, in that new Heavens and new Earth; which answers to St. _John_’s Vision of the new _Jerusalem_ 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 Millennaries: For we are speaking now to such as believe the _Millennium_, but place it in the present Earth before the Renovation; whereas the antient _Millennaries_ suppos’d the Regeneration and Renovation of the World before the Kingdom of Christ came: As you may see in [1]_Irenæus_, [2]_Justin Martyr_, [3]_Tertullian_, [4]_Lactantius_, and [5]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 became more capable of being abus’d, by fanatical Spirits, to the Disturbance of the World, and the Invasion of the Rights of the Magistrates, 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 ’tis taken partly, you see, from the Reason of the Thing itself, 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 of a sudden, be metamorphos’d into that happy State? _Apoc._ xxi. 4. No more _Sorrow, nor crying, nor Pain, nor Death_, says St. _John_: _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 Barrenness 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 human 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 human 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 _Millennium_; and if so, ’tis a _Millennium_ of your own making, for that which the Prophets describe, is quite another thing.

Farthermore, 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. _John_ 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 not how ’tis 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 ’tis 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 joining 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 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 Cholick 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 persuaded that such a State as our present Life, where an aking Tooth, or an aking 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 Virtue, and all its Wisdom, are not able to stop these little Motions, or to support them with Tranquillity: I can never persuade my self, I say, that such a State was design’d 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 and 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 _Daniel_, in the Place mention’d before, _chap._ vii. 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 Languages, 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 Character of Universality is given to the Kingdom of Christ by _David_, _Psal._ ii. and _Psal._ lxxii. _Isaiah_ ii. 2. 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._ xix. 20.) before the Millennium comes on, _chap._ xx. This, _being cast into a Lake of Fire burning with Brimstone_, must needs signify utter Destruction: Not a Diminution of Power only, but a total Perdition and Consumption. And that this was before the Millennium, of the Beast and false Prophets 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 ’tis said, he is thrown into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone, _where the Beast and the false Prophets are_, Apoc. xx. 10. They were there before, it seems; namely, at the beginning of the Millennium; and 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._ xviii. and xix.) 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 Millstone thrown into the Sea; and that he shall be found no more at all, _chap._ xviii. 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 Prophesies, and particularly, in that upon this Destruction, the _Hallelujah_’s are sung, _ch._ xix. and concluded thus, _ver._ 6, 7. _Hallelujah, for the God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, 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 the 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._ ii. 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 destroyed before the coming of our Saviour; and that will not be till the End of the World. For St. _Peter_ says, _Acts_ iii. 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._ i. 7, 8. ’tis 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 Old Testament. As to the _Apocalypse_, _Babylon_, the Seat of Antichrist, is represented there as destroy’d by Fire, _ch._ xviii. 8, 18. _ch._ xiv. 11. _ch._ xix. 3, 20. And in _Daniel_, when the Beast is destroy’d, _ch._ vii. 11. _His Body was given to the burning Flame._ Then as to the other Prophets, they do not, you know, speak of Antichrist or the Beast in Terms, but under the Types of _Babylon_, _Tyre_, and such-like; and these Places or Princes are represented by them as to be destroy’d by Fire, _Isa._ xiii. 19. _Jer._ ii. 25. _Ezek._ xxviii. 18.

So much for this third Argument; the fourth Argument is this; the future Kingdom of Christ will not be till the Day of Judgment and the Resurrection; but that will not be till the End of the World: Therefore, neither the Kingdom of Christ. By the Day of Judgment here, I do not mean the final and universal Judgment; nor by the Resurrection, the final and universal Resurrection; for these will not be till after the Millennium. But we understand here the first Day of Judgment and the first Resurrection, which will be at the End of this present World; according as St. _John_ does distinguish them, in the xxth _chap._ of the _Apocalypse_. Now that the Millennium will not be till the Day of Judgment in this Sense, we have both the Testimonies of _Daniel_ and of St. _John_. _Daniel_, in _chap._ vii. _ver._ 9, _&c._ _ver._ 26, _&c._ supposes the Beast to rule _till Judgment shall sit_, and then _they shall take away his Dominion_, and it shall be given to the People of the Saints of the most High. St. _John_ makes an explicit Declaration of both these, in his xxth _chap._ of the _Apocalypse_, which is the great Directory in this point of the Millennium; he says there were Thrones set, as for a Judicature, _ver._ 4. Then there was a Resurrection from the Dead, and those that rise, reigned with Christ a thousand Years: Here’s a judicial Session, a Resurrection, and the Reign of Christ joined together. There is also another Passage in St. _John_ that joins the Judgment of the Dead with the Kingdom of Christ; ’tis in the xith Chapter, under the seventh Trumpet; the Words are these, ver. 15. _And 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 ever, And the four and twenty Elders, &c. And the Nations were angry, and thy Wrath is come, and the time of the Dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldst give Reward unto thy Servants the Prophets, and to the Saints, and them that fear thy Name._ Here are two things plainly express’d and link’d together, _The judging of the Dead_, and the _Kingdom of Christ_; wherein the Prophets and Saints are rewarded. Now as the _judging of the Dead_ is not in this Life, so neither is the Reward of the Prophets and Saints in this Life; as we are taught sufficiently in the Gospel, and by the Apostles, _Mat._ xix. 28. _1 Thess._ i. 7. 2 _Tim._ iv. 8. 1 _Pet._ i. 7. and _ch._ v. 4. Therefore the Reign and Kingdom of Christ, which is joined with these two, cannot be in this Life, or before the End of the World: And as a farther Testimony and Confirmation of this, we may observe that St. _Paul_ to _Timothy_ hath joined together these three things; the _Appearance of Christ_, the _Reign of Christ_, and the _judging of the Dead. I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead, at his appearing, and his Kingdom_, 2 Tim. iv. 1.

This might also be prov’d from the Order, Extent and Progress of the Prophesies of the _Apocalypse_; whereof some are such as reach to the End of the World, and yet must be accomplish’d before the Millennium begins, as the Vials. Others are so far already advanc’d towards the End of the World, as to leave no room for a thousand Years Reign; as the Trumpets. But because every one hath his own Interpretation of these Prophesies, and it would be tedious here to prove any single Hypothesis in Contradistinction to all the rest, we will therefore leave this Remark, to have more or less Effect, according to the Minds it falls upon; and proceed to our fifth Argument.

Fifthly, The _new Jerusalem_ State is the same with the millennial State; but the _new Jerusalem_ State will not be till the End of the World, or till after the Conflagration; therefore neither the Millennium: That the _new Jerusalem_ State is the same with the Millennium, is agreed upon, I think, by all Millennaries, ancient and modern: _Justin Martyr_, _Irenæus_ and _Tertullian_, speak of it in that Sense; and so do the latter Authors, so far as I have observed. And St. _John_ seems to give them good Authority for it; in the xxth _chap._ of the _Apocalypse_, he says, the _Camp of the Saints_, and _the beloved City_ were besieg’d by Satan and his gigantick Crew at the End of the Millennium: That _beloved City_ is the _new Jerusalem_, and you see it is the same with the Camp of the Saints, or, at least, contemporary with it. Besides, the Marriage of the Lamb was in, or at the Appearance of the _new Jerusalem_, for that was the _Spouse of the Lamb_, Apoc. xxi. 2. Now this Spouse was ready, and this Marriage was said to be come, at the Destruction of _Babylon_, which was the Beginning of the Millennium, _chap._ xviii. 7. Therefore the _new Jerusalem_ run all along with the Millennium, and was indeed the same thing under another Name. Lastly, what is this _new Jerusalem_, if it be not the same with the millennial State? It is promis’d a Reward to the Sufferers for Christ _Apoc._ iii. 12. and you see its wonderful Privileges, _chap._ xxi. 3, 4. and yet it is not Heaven and eternal Life; for it is said to come down from God out of Heaven, _ch._ xxi. 2. and _ch._ iii. 12. It can therefore be nothing but the glorious Kingdom of Christ upon Earth, where the Saints shall reign with him a thousand Years.

Now as to the second Part of our Argument, that the _new Jerusalem_ will not come down from Heaven till the End of the World; of this St. _John_ seems to give us a plain Proof or Demonstration; for he places the _new Jerusalem_ in the _new Heaven_ and _new Earth_, which cannot be till after the Conflagration. Let us hear his Words, _Apoc._ xxi. 1, 2. _And I saw a new Heaven and a new Earth, for the first Heaven and the first Earth were passed away, and there was no more Sea. And I John saw the holy City, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of Heaven; prepared as a Bride adorned for her Husband._ When the new Earth was made, he sees the _new Jerusalem_ coming down upon it; and this Renovation of the Earth not being till the Conflagration, the _new Jerusalem_ could not be till then neither. The Prophet _Isaiah_ had long before said the same thing, though not in terms so express; he first says, _Behold I create new Heavens and a new Earth, wherein you shall rejoice_: Then subjoins immediately, _Behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing_, Isa. lxv. 17, 18. This rejoicing is still in the same Place; in the _new Heavens_ and _new Earth_, or in the _new Jerusalem_. And St. _John_, 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 St. _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, St. _Peter_ declares in his Sermon, _Acts_ iii. 21. and that the coming of our Saviour will not be till the End of the World, or till the Conflagration, both St. _Paul_ and St. _Peter_ signify to us, _1 Thess._ i. 7, 8. _2 Pet._ iii. 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 signify, 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 St. _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.

Footnote 1:

_Lib. 5. ch. 32, &c._

Footnote 2:

Dial. _cum_ Tryph.

Footnote 3:

_Contra Marc._

Footnote 4:

_Lib. 7._

Footnote 5:

_Quest. & respon. 93._

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 not 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 Sense, 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 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 lots 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 Ecstasy, and fills it with a Joy that is not to be express’d. 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_, _Apoc. xxi. 3_. 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 _Jerusalem_, _Psal. lxxxiv._ are but Shadows of this _New Jerusalem_, and of the Glory that will be in those Solemnities, _Psal. lxxxvii._ 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 People, and Nation: When, with their Palms in their Hands, they triumph over Sin and Death, and Hell, and all the Powers of Darkness; can there be any thing, on this side Heaven, and a Choir of Angels, more glorious or more joyful?

But why did I except Angels? Why may not they be thought to be present at these Assemblies? In a Society of Saints and purified Spirits, why should we think their Converse impossible? In the Golden Age, the Gods were always represented, as having freer Intercourse with Men; and before the Flood, we may reasonably believe it so. I cannot think, _Enoch_ was translated into Heaven without any Converse with its Inhabitants before he went thither: And seeing the Angels vouchsafed often, in former Ages, to visit the Patriarchs upon Earth, we may with Reason judge, that they will much more converse with the same Patriarchs and holy Prophets, now they are risen from the Dead, and cleans’d from their Sins, and seated in the _New Jerusalem_. I cannot but call to mind, upon this Occasion, that Representation which St. _Paul_ makes to us, of a glorious State and a glorious Assembly, too high for this present Earth: ’Tis, (_Hebr. xii. 22_, _&c._) in these Words: _But you are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the City of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable Company of Angels; to the general Assembly and Church of the First-born, which are written in Heaven; and to God the Judge of all, and to the Spirits of just Men made perfect._ This, I know, several apply to the Times and State of the Gospel, in Opposition to that of the Law; and it is introduc’d in that manner; but here are several Expressions too high for any present State of Things; they must respect a future State, either of Heaven, or of the Millennial Kingdom of Christ: And to the latter of these Expressions agree, and have a peculiar Fitness and Applicability to it. And what follows in the Context, _ver. 26, 27, 28_. _About shaking the Heavens and the Earth once more_; removing the former Scenes, and bringing on a new Kingdom that cannot be shaken: All this, I say, answers to the Kingdom of Christ, which is to be establish’d in the new Heavens and new Earth.

But to proceed in their publick Devotions; Suppose this August Assembly, inflam’d with all divine Passions, met together to celebrate the Name of God, with Angels intermixt, to bear a Part in this holy Exercise: And let this Concourse be, not in any Temple made with Hands, but under the great Roof Heaven, (the true Temple of the most High,) so as all the Air may be fill’d with the chearful Harmony of their Hymns and Hallelujahs: Then, in the height of their Devotion, as they sing Praises to the Lamb, and to him that sits upon the Throne, suppose the Heavens to open, and the Son of God to appear in his Glory, _Apoc. v. 11._ with thousands and ten thousands of Angels round about him; that their Eyes may see him, who, for their Sakes was crucified upon Earth, now encircled with Light and Majesty. This will raise them into as great Transports as human Nature can bear: They will wish to be dissolv’d, they will strive to fly up to him in the Clouds, or to breathe out their Souls in repeated Doxologies of _Blessing, Ch. v. 13. and Honour, and Glory, and Power, to him that sits upon the Throne, and to the Lamb, for ever and ever_.

But we cannot live always in the Flames of Devotion; the Weakness of our Nature will not suffer us to continue long under such strong Passions, and such Intenseness of Mind. The Question is therefore, What will be the ordinary Employment of that Life? How will they entertain their Thoughts, or spend their Time? For we suppose they will not have that multiplicity of frivolous Business that we have now; about our Bodies, about our Children; in Trades and Mechanicks; in Traffick and Navigation; or Wars by Sea or Land. These things being swept away wholly, or in a great Measure, what will come in their Place? How will they find Work or Entertainment for a long Life? If we consider, who they are that will have a Part in this first Resurrection, and be Inhabitants of that World that is to come, we may easily believe that the most constant Employment of their Life will be CONTEMPLATION. Not that I exclude any innocent Diversions, as I said before; the Entertainments of Friendship, or ingenuous Conversation; but the great Business and Design of that Life is Contemplation, as preparatory to Heaven and eternal Glory. _Ut paulatim assueseant capere Deum, L. 5. c. 32._ as _Irenæus_ says, that they may, by Degrees, enlarge their Capacities, fit and _accustom themselves to receive God_. Or, as he says in another Place, _That they may become capable of the Glory of the Father_; that is, capable of bearing the Glory and Presence of God; capable of the highest Enjoyment of him, which is usually call’d the _Beatifical Vision_; and is the Condition of the Blessed in Heaven.

It cannot be deny’d, that in such a Millennial State, where we shall be freed from all the Incumbrances of this Life, and provided of better Bodies and greater Light of Mind: It cannot be doubted, I say, but that we shall then be in a Disposition to make greater Proficiency in the Knowledge of all Things, divine and intellectual; and consequently of making happy Preparations for our entring upon a further State of Glory: For there is nothing certainly does more prepare the Mind of Man for the highest Perfections, than Contemplation, with that Devotion which naturally flows from it, as Heat follows Light. And this Contemplation hath always a greater or less Effect upon the Mind according to the Perfection of its Object; so as the Contemplation of the divine Nature is, of all others, the most perfective in it self, and to us, according to our Capacities and Decree of Abstraction. An _immense Being_ does strangely fill the Soul; and Omnipotency, Omnisciency, and infinite Goodness, do enlarge and dilate the Spirit, while it fixily looks upon them. They raise strong Passions of Love and Admiration, which melt our Nature, and transform it into the Mould and Image of that which we contemplate: What the Scripture says of our _Transformation_ into the divine Likeness; what St. _John_ and the _Platonists_ say of our _Union_ with God; and whatever is not cant in the _mystical Theology_, when they tell us of being deified; all this must spring from these Sources of Devotion and Contemplation: They will change and raise us from Perfection to Perfection, as from Glory to Glory, into a greater Similitude and nearer Station to the divine Nature.

The Contemplation of God and his Works comprehends all Things; for the one makes the uncreated World, and the other the created: And as the divine Essence and Attributes are the greatest Objects that the Mind of Man can set before it self; so next to that are the Effects and Emanations of the Divinity, or the Works of the divine Goodness, Wisdom and Power in the created World. This hath a vast Extent and Variety, and would be sufficient to entertain their Time, in that happy State, much longer than a thousand Years; as you will easily grant, if you allow me but to point at the several Heads of those Speculations.

The Contemplation of the _created World_ divides it self into three Parts; that of the _intellectual_ World; that of the _corporeal_; and the Government and Administration of both, which is usually call’d _Providence_. These three, drawn into one Thought, with the Reasons and Proportions that result from them, compose that GRAND IDEA, which is the Treasury and Comprehension of all Knowledge; whereof we have spoken more largely in the last Chapter of the second Book of this _Theory_, under the Name of the _Mundane Idea_. But at present we shall only mention such Particulars, as may be thought proper Subjects for the Meditations and Enquiries of those who shall enjoy that happy State which we now treat of.

As to the intellectual World, excepting our own Souls, we know little, in this Region of Darkness where we are at present, more than bare Names: We hear of Angels and Archangels, of Cherubins and Seraphins, of Principalities and Powers, and Thrones, and Dominions: We hear the Sound of these Words with Admiration, but we know little of their Natures; wherein their general Notion, and wherein their Distinction consists; what peculiar Excellencies they have, what Offices and Employments, of all this we are ignorant; only in general, we cannot but suppose that there are more Orders and Degrees of intellectual Beings, betwixt us and the Almighty, than there are Kinds or Species of living Creatures upon the Face of the Earth; betwixt Man their Lord and Master, and the least Worm that creeps upon the Ground; nay, than there are Stars in Heaven, or Sands upon the Sea-shore. For there is an infinite Distance and Interval betwixt us and God Almighty, and all that is fill’d with created Beings of different Degrees of Perfection, still approaching nearer and nearer to their Maker. And when this invisible World shall be open’d to us, when the Curtain is drawn, and the Celestial Hierarchy set in order before our Eyes, we shall despise our selves, and all the petty Glories of a mortal Life, as the Dirt under our Feet.

As to the corporeal Universe, we have some Share already in the Contemplation and Knowledge of that; though little in Comparison of what will be then discover’d. The Doctrine of the Heavens, fixed Stars, Planets and Comets, both as to their Matter, Motion and Form, will be then clearly demonstrated; and what are Mysteries to us now, will become matter of ordinary Conversation: We shall be better acquainted with our neighbouring Worlds, and make new Discoveries as to the State of their Affairs. The Sun especially, the great Monarch of the planetary Worlds; whose Dominion reaches from Pole to Pole, and the Greatness of his Kingdom is under the whole Heaven: Who sends his bright Messengers every Day through all the Regions of his vast Empire; throwing his Beams of Light round about him, swifter and farther than a Thought can follow: This noble Creature, I say, will make a good part of their Study in the succeeding World. _Eudoxus_, the Philosopher, wish’d he might dye like _Phaeton_, in approaching too near to the Sun, provided he could fly so near it, and endure it so long, till he had discover’d its Beauty and Perfection. Who can blame his Curiosity? Who would not venture far to see the Court of so great a Prince, who hath more Worlds under his Command than the Emperors of the Earth have Provinces or Principalities? Neither does he make his Subjects Slaves to his Pleasure, or Tributaries to serve and supply his Wants: On the contrary, they live upon him, he nourishes and preserves them; gives them Fruits every Year, Corn, and Wine, and all the Comforts of Life: This glorious Body, which now we can only gaze upon and admire, will be then better understood. A Mass of Light and Flame, and ethereal Matter, ten thousand times bigger than this Earth; enlightning and enlivening an Orb that exceeds the Bulk of our Globe, as much as that does the least Sand upon the Sea-shore, may reasonably be presum’d to have some great Being at the Centre of it; but what that is we must leave to the Enquiries of another Life.

The _Theory of the Earth_ will be a common Lesson there; carried through all its Vicissitudes and Periods from first to last, till its entire Revolution be accomplish’d. I told you in the Preface, the _Revolution of the World_ was one of the greatest Speculations that we are capable of in this Life; and this little World where we are, will be the first and easiest Instance of it, seeing we have Records, Historical, or Prophetical, that reach from the Chaos to the End of the new Heavens and new Earth; which course of Time makes up the greatest part of the Circle or Revolution. And as what was before the Chaos, was but, in my Opinion, the first Remove from a fixed Star, so what is after the thousand Years Renovation, is but the last Step to it again.

The _Theory of human Nature_ is also an useful and necessary Speculation, and will be carried on to Perfection in that State. Having fix’d the true Distinction betwixt Matter and Spirit, betwixt the Soul and the Body, and the true Nature and Laws of their Union, the original Contract, and the Terms ratified by Providence at their first Conjunction, it will not be hard to discover the Springs of Action and Passion; how the Thoughts of our Mind and the Motions of our Body act in dependance one upon another. What are the primary Differences of Genius’s and Complexions, and how our Intellectuals or Morals depend upon them? What is the Root of Fatality, and how far it extends? By these Lights they will see into their own and every Man’s Breast, and trace the Foot-steps of the divine Wisdom in that strange Composition of Soul and Body.

This indeed is a mix’d Speculation, as most others are, and takes in something of both Worlds, intellectual and corporeal; and may also belong in part to the third Head we mention’d, _Providence_: But there is no need of distinguishing these Heads so nicely, provided we take in, under some or other of them, what may be thought best to deserve our Knowledge now, or in another World. As to _Providence_, what we intend chiefly by it here, is the general Oeconomy of our Religion, and what is reveal’d to us in Scripture, concerning God, Angels, and Mankind. These Revelations, as most in Sacred Writ, are short and incompleat; as being design’d for Practice more than for Speculation, or to awaken and excite our Thoughts rather than to satisfy them. Accordingly, we read in Scripture of a Triune Deity; of God made Flesh in the Womb of a Virgin; barbarously crucified by the _Jews_; descending into Hell; rising again from the Dead; visibly ascending into Heaven; and sitting at the Right Hand of God the Father, above Angels and Archangels. These great things are imperfectly revealed to us in this Life; which we are to believe so far as they are revealed, in hopes these Mysteries will be made more intelligible in that happy State to come, where Prophets, Apostles and Angels, will meet in Conversation together.

In like manner, how little is it we understand concerning the _Holy Ghost_? that he descended like a _Dove_ upon our Saviour, _Mat. iii. 16._ Like cloven Tongues of Fire upon the Apostles the Place being fill’d with a rushing mighty Wind, _Acts ii._ That he over shadow’d the blessed Virgin, and begot the Holy Infant, _Mat. i. 18._ That he made the Apostles speak all sorts of Tongues and Languages _ex tempore_, and pour’d out strange Virtues and miraculous Gifts upon the Primitive Christians, _Luke i. 35._ These things we know as bare Matter of Fact, but the Method of these Operations we do not at all understand. Who can tell us now, what that is which we call INSPIRATION? What Change is wrought in the Brain, and what in the Soul, and how the Effect follows? Who will give us the just Definition of a _Miracle_? What the proximate Agent is above Man, and whether they are all from the same Power? How the Manner and Process of those miraculous Changes in Matter may be conceiv’d? These Things we see darkly, and hope they will be set in a clearer Light, and the Doctrines of our Religion more fully expounded to us, in that future World. For as several things obscurely express’d in the Old Testament, are more clearly reveal’d in the New; so the same Mysteries, in a succeeding State, may still receive a farther Explication.

The History of the Angels, good or bad, makes another Part of this providential System. Christian Religion gives us some Notices of both Kinds, but very imperfect; what Interest the good Angels have in the Government of the World, and in ordering the Affairs of this Earth and Mankind? What Subjection they have to our Saviour? And what Part in his Ministry? Whether they are Guardians to particular Persons, to Kingdoms, to Empires? All that we know at present, concerning these Things, is but conjectural. And as to the bad Angels, who will give us an Account of their Fall and of their former Condition? I had rather know the History of _Lucifer_, than of all the _Babylonian_ and _Persian_ Kings; nay, than of all the Kings of the Earth. What the Birth-right was of that mighty Prince? What his Dominions? Where his Imperial Court and Residence? How he was depos’d? For what Crime, and by what Power? How he still wages War against Heaven, in his Exile? What Confederates he hath? What is his Power over Mankind, and how limited? What Change or Damage he suffer’d by the Coming of Christ, and how it alter’d the Posture of his Affairs? Where he will be imprison’d in the _Millennium_; and what will be his last Fate and final Doom? whether he may ever hope for a Revolution or Restauration? These things lie hid in the secret Records of Providence, which then, I hope, will be open’d to us.

With the Revolution of _Worlds_, we mention’d before the Revolution of _Souls_; which is another great Circle of Providence, to be studied hereafter: We know little here, either of the Pre-existence or Post-existence of our Souls. We know not what they will be, till the loud Trump awakes us, and calls us again into the corporeal World. Who knows how many Turns he shall take upon this Stage of the Earth, and how many Trials he shall have, before his Doom will be finally concluded? Who knows where, or what, is the State of Hell? Where the Souls of the Wicked are said to be for ever? What is the true State of Heaven? What our celestial Bodies? and, what that sovereign Happiness that is call’d the _Beatifical Vision_? Our Knowledge and Conceptions of these things are, at present, very general and superficial; but in the future Kingdom of Christ, which is introductory to Heaven it self, these Imperfections, in a great measure, will be done away; and such Preparations wrought, both in the Will and Understanding, as may fit us for the Life of Angels, and the Enjoyment of God in eternal Glory.

Thus you see in general, what will be the Employment of the Saints in the blessed _Millennium_: And tho’ they have few of the trifling Businesses of this Life, they will not want the best and noblest of Diversions. ’Tis an happy thing when a Man’s Pleasure is also his Perfection; for most Men’s Pleasures are such as debase their Nature. We commonly gratify our lower Faculties, our Passions, and our Appetites; and these do not improve, but depress the Mind; and besides they are so gross that the finest Tempers are surfeited in a little time. There is no lasting Pleasure but _Contemplation_; all others grow flat and insipid upon frequent Use; and when a Man hath run thorow a Set of Vanities, in the Declension of his Age he knows not what to do with himself, if he cannot Think; he saunters about, from one dull Business to another to wear out time; and hath no Reason to value Life, but because he is afraid of Death: But Contemplation is a continual Spring of fresh Pleasures. Truth is inexhausted, and when once you are in the right Way, the farther you go, the greater Discoveries you make, and with the greater Joy. We are sometimes highly pleased, and even transported, with little inventions in Mathematicks, or Mechanicks, or natural Philosophy; all these things will make part of their Diversion and Entertainment in that State, all the Doctrine of Sounds and Harmony, of Light, Colours, and Perspective, will be known in Perfection: But these I call Diversions, in comparison of their higher and more serious Speculations, which will be the Business and Happiness of that Life.

Do but imagine, that they will have the Scheme of all humane Affairs lying before them, from the Chaos to the last Period; the universal History and Order of Times; the whole Oeconomy of the Christian Religion, and of all the Religions in the World; the Plan of the Undertaking of the Messiah, with all other Parts and Ingredients of the Providence of this Earth: Do but imagine this, I say, and you will easily allow, that when they contemplate the Beauty, Wisdom and Goodness of the whole Design, it must needs raise great and noble Passions, and a far richer Joy than either the Pleasures or Speculations of this Life can exite in us; and this being the last Act and Close of all human Affairs, it ought to be the more exquisite and elaborate, that it may crown the Work, satisfy the Spectators, and end in a general Applause; the whole Theatre resounding with the Praises of the great Dramatist, and the wonderful Art and Order of the Composition.

CHAP. X.

_Objections against the Millennium, answer’d. With some Conjectures concerning the State of Things after the Millennium; and what will be the final Consummation of this World._

You see how Nature and Providence have conspir’d, to make the _Millennium_ as happy a State, as any terrestrial State can be: For, besides Health and Plenty, Peace, Truth, and Righteousness will flourish there, and all the Evils of this Life stand excluded. There will be no ambitious Princes, studying Mischief one against another, or contriving Methods to bring their own Subjects into Slavery; no mercenary Statesmen to assist and intrigue with them, no Oppression from the Powerful, no Snares or Traps laid for the Innocent, no treacherous Friends, no malicious Enemies, no Knaves, Cheats, Hypocrites; the Vermin of this Earth, that swarm every where. There will be nothing but Truth, Candor, Sincerity and Ingenuity; as in a Society or Commonwealth of Saints and Philosophers: In a Word, ’twill be _Paradise restor’d_, both as to Innocency of Temper, and the Beauties of Nature.

I believe you will be apt to say, if this be not true, ’tis pity but it should be true: For ’tis a very desirable State, where all good People would find themselves mightily at ease. What is it that hinders it then? It must be some ill _Genius_; for Nature tends to such a Renovation, as we suppose; and Scripture speaks loudly of an happy State to be some time or other on this side Heaven: And what is there, pray, in this present World, Natural and Moral, if I may ask with Reverence, that could make it worth the while for God to create it, if it never was better, nor ever will be better? Is there not more Misery than Happiness? Is there not more Vice than Virtue in this World? As if it had been made by a _Manichean_ God. The Earth barren, the Heavens inconstant; Men wicked and God offended: This is the Posture of our Affairs, such hath our World been hitherto, with Wars and Bloodshed, Sickness, and Diseases, Poverty, Servitude and perpetual Drudgery for the Necessaries of a mortal Life. We may therefore reasonably hope, from a God infinitely good and powerful, for better Times and a better State, before the last Period and Consummation of all Things.

But it will be objected, it may be, that, according to Scripture, the Vices and Wickedness of Men will continue to the End of the World; and so there will be no room for such an happy State, as we hope for, _Luk. xviii. 8_. Our Saviour says, _When the Son of Man cometh, shall he find Faith upon the Earth?_ They shall _eat and drink and play_, as before the Destruction of the _old World_, or of _Sodom_, (_Luke xvii. 26_, _&c._) and the Wickedness of those Men, you know, continued to the last. This Objection may pinch those that suppose the Millennium to be in the present Earth, and a thousand Years before the coming of our Saviour; for his Words seem to imply that the World will be in a State of Wickedness even till his coming. Accordingly Antichrist or the _Man of Sin_, is not said to be destroy’d till the coming of our Saviour, _2 Thess. ii. 8_. and till he be destroy’d, we cannot hope for a Millennium. Lastly, The coming of our Saviour is always represented in Scripture as sudden, surprizing and unexpected; as _Lightning_ breaking suddenly out of the Clouds, (_Luke xvii. 24._ and _ch. xxi. 34, 35_.) or as a _Thief in the Night_, _1 Thess. v. 2, 3, 4._ _2 Pet. iii. 10._ _Apoc. xvi. 15._ But if there be such a Fore-runner of it as the millennial State, whose Bounds we know, according as that expires and draws to an End, Men will be certainly advertis’d of the approaching of our Saviour: But this Objection, as I told you, does not affect our Hypothesis, for we suppose the Millennium will not be till after the coming of our Saviour, and the Conflagration. And also that his coming will be sudden and surprising; and that Antichrist will continue in being, tho’ not in the same degree of Power, till that time: So that they that place the Millennium in the present Earth, are chiefly concern’d to answer this first Objection.

But you will object, it may be, in the second Place, that this Millennium, wheresoever it is, would degenerate at length into Sensuality, and a _Mahometan Paradise:_ For where there are earthly Pleasures and earthly Appetites, they will not be kept always in order without any Excess or Luxuriancy; especially as to the Senses to Touch and Taste. I am apt to think this is true, if the Soul have no more Power over the Body than she hath at present, and our Senses, Passions, and Appetites be as strong as they are now: But according to our Explication of the Millennium, we have great Reason to hope, that the Soul will have a greater Dominion over the Resurrection-Body, than she hath over this; and you know we suppose that none will truly inherit the Millennium, but those that rise from the Dead: Nor do we admit any Propagation there, nor the Trouble or Weakness of Infants. But that all rise in a perfect Age, and never die; being translated, at the final Judgment, to meet our Saviour in the Clouds, and to be with him for ever: Thus we easily avoid the Force of this Objection. But those that place the Millennium in this Life, and to be enjoy’d in these Bodies, must find out some new Preservatives against Vice, otherwise they will be continually subject to Degeneracy.

Another Objection may be taken from the personal Reign of Christ upon Earth, which is a thing incongruous, and yet asserted by many modern Millennaries; that Christ should leave that Right-Hand of his Father, to come and pass a thousand Years here below, living upon Earth in an heavenly Body: This, I confess, is a thing I never could digest, and therefore I am not concern’d in this Objection; not thinking it necessary that Christ should be personally present and resident upon Earth in the Millennium. I am apt to believe that there will be then a celestial Presence of Christ, or a _Shekinah_, as we noted before; as the Sun is present to the Earth, yet never leaves its Place in the Firmament; so Christ may be visibly conspicuous in his heavenly Throne, as he was to St. _Stephen_, _Acts vii. 55, 56_. and yet never leave the Right Hand of his Father. And this would be a more glorious and illustrious Presence, than if he should descend, and converse amongst Men in a personal Shape: But these things not being distinctly reveal’d to us, we ought not to determine any thing concerning them, but with Modesty and Submission.

We have thus far pretty well escap’d, and kept our selves out of the reach of the ordinary Objections against the Millennium: But there remains one, concerning a _double Resurrection_, which must fall upon every Hypothesis, and ’tis this. The Scripture, they say, speaks but of one Resurrection; whereas the Doctrine of the Millennium supposes two; one at the Beginning of the Millennium, for the Martyrs, and those that enjoy that happy State, and the other at the End of it; which is universal and final, in the last Day of Judgment. ’Tis true, Scripture generally speaks of the Resurrection in gross; without distinguishing first and second; and so it speaks of the _Coming_ of our Saviour, without Distinction of first or second yet it does not follow from that, that there is but one coming of our Saviour, so neither that there is but one Resurrection. And seeing there is one place of Scripture that speaks distinctly of two Resurrections, namely, the _xxth chap._ of the _Apocalypse_, that is to us a sufficient Warrant for asserting two; as there are some things in one Evangelist that are not in another, yet we think them authentick if they be but in one: There are also some things in _Daniel_, concerning the _Messiah_, and concerning the _Resurrection_, that are not in the rest of the Prophets; yet we look upon his single Testimony as good Authority. St. _John_ wrote the last of all the Apostles, and as the whole Series of his Prophecies is new, reaching through the latter Times to the Consummation of all Things; so we cannot wonder if he had something more particular reveal’d to him concerning the Resurrection: That which was spoken of before in general, being distinguish’d now into _first_ and _second_, or particular and universal, in this last Prophet. _See Mr. Mede._ Some think St. _Paul_ means no less, when he makes an _Order_ in the Resurrection; some rising sooner, some later, _1 Cor. xv. 23, 24_, _1 Thess.. iv. 14, 15_, _&c._ but whether that be so or no, St. _John_ might have a more distinct Revelation concerning it, than St. _Paul_ had, or any one before him.

After these Objections, a great many Queries and Difficulties might be propos’d relating to the Millennium: But that’s no more than what is found in all other Matters, remote from our Knowledge. Who can answer all the Queries that may be made concerning _Heaven_, or _Hell_, or _Paradise_? When we know a Thing as to the Substance, we are not to let go our Hold, tho’ there remain some Difficulties unresolv’d; otherwise we should be eternally sceptical in most Matters of Knowledge. Therefore, tho’ we cannot, for Example, give a full Account of the Distinction of Habitations and Inhabitants in the _future Earth_; or, of the Order of the _first Resurrection_, whether it be perform’d by degrees and successively, or all the Inhabitants of the _new Jerusalem_ rise at once, and continue throughout the whole Millennium: I say, tho’ we cannot give a distinct Account of these, or such like Particulars, we ought not therefore to deny or doubt whether there will be a _new Earth_, or a _first Resurrection_. For the Revelation goes clearly so far, and the Obscurity is only in the Consequences and Dependences of it; which Providence thought fit, without farther Light, to leave to our Search and Disquisition.

Scripture mentions one Thing, at the End of the Millennium, which is a common Difficulty to all; and every one must contribute their best Thoughts and Conjectures towards the Solution of it: ’Tis the strange Doctrine of _Gog_ and _Magog_, _Apoc. xx. 8, 9_. which are to rise up in Rebellion against the Saints, and besiege the holy City, and the holy Camp: And this is to be upon the Expiration of the thousand Years, when Satan is loosen’d; for no sooner will his Chains be knock’d off, but he will put himself in the Head of this Army of Giants, or Sons of the Earth, and attack Heaven, and the Saints of the most High: But with ill Success, for there will come down Fire and Lightning from Heaven, and consume them. This, methinks, hath a great Affinity with the History of the Giants, rebelling and assaulting Heaven, and struck down by Thunder-Bolts: But that of setting Mountains upon Mountains, or tossing them into the Sky, that’s the poetical Part, and we must not expect to find it in the Prophecy. The Poets told their Fable, as of a thing past, and so it was a Fable; but the Prophets speak of it, as of a Thing to come, and so it will be a Reality: But how and in what Sense it is to be understood and explain’d, every one has the Liberty to make the best Judgment he can.

_Ezekiel_ mentions _Gog_ and _Magog_, _ch._ xxxviii. and xxxix. which I take to be only Types and Shadows of these which we are now speaking of, and not yet exemplify’d, no more than his Temple. And seeing this People is to be at the End of the _Millennium_, and in the same Earth with it, we must, according to our Hypothesis, plant them in the future Earth, and therefore all former Conjectures about the _Turks_, or _Scythians_, or other _Barbarians_, are out of Doors with us, seeing the Scene of this Action does not lie in the present Earth: They are also represented by the Prophet, as a People distinct and separate from the Saints, not in their Manners only, but also in their Seats and Habitations; for (_Apoc. xx. 8, 9._) they are said to come up from the four Corners of the Earth, upon the Breadth of the Earth, and there to besiege the _Camp of the Saints and the beloved City_: This makes it seem probable to me, that there will be a double Race of Mankind in that _future Earth_; very different one from another, both as to their Temper and Disposition, and as to their Origin: The one born from Heaven, Sons of God, and of the Resurrection, who are the true Saints and Heirs of the _Millennium_. The other born of the Earth, Sons of the Earth, generated from the Slime of the Ground, and the Heat of the Sun, as brute Creatures were at first: This second Progeny or Generation of Men in the future Earth, I understand to be signified by the Prophet under these borrowed or feigned Names of _Gog_ and _Magog_: And this Earth-born Race, increasing and multiplying after the Manner of Men, by carnal Propagation, after a thousand Years, grew numerous, as the Sand by the Sea; and thereupon made an Irruption or Inundation upon the Face of the Earth, and upon the Habitations of the Saints; as the barbarous Nations did formerly upon Christendom; or as the Giants are said to have made War against the Gods: But they were soon confounded in their impious and sacrilegious Design, being struck and consum’d by Fire from Heaven.

Some will think, it may be, that there was such a double Race of Mankind in the first World also: _The Sons of Adam, and the Sons of God_; because it is said, _Gen. vi._ _When Men began to multiply upon the Face of the Earth_, that _the SONS OF GOD SAW THE DAUGHTERS OF MEN, that they were fair, and they took them Wives of all that they lik’d._ And it is added, presently, _ver. 4._ _There were Giants in the Earth in those Days; and also after that, when the Sons of God came in unto the Daughters of Men, and they bare Children to them; the same became mighty Men, which were of old, Men of Renown._ Here seem to be two or three Orders or Races in this Ante-diluvian World. _The Sons of God; the Sons and Daughters of Adam_; and a third Sort arising from the Mixture and Copulation of these, which are call’d _Mighty Men of old_, or Heroes. Besides, here are Giants mention’d, and to which they are to be reduc’d, it does not certainly appear.

This Mixture of these two Races, whatsoever they were, gave, it seems, so great Offence to God, that he destroy’d that World upon it, in a Deluge of Water. It hath been matter of great Difficulty to determine, who these _Sons of God_ were, that fell in Love with and married the Daughters of Men. There are two Conjectures that prevail most; one, that they were Angels; and another, that they were of the Posterity of _Seth_, and distinguished from the rest, by their Piety, and the Worship of the true God; so that it was a great Crime for them to mingle with the rest of Mankind, who are suppos’d to have been Idolaters: Neither of these Opinions is to me satisfactory. For as to Angels, good Angels neither _marry, nor are given in Marriage_, _Mat. xxii. 30._ and bad Angels are not called the _Sons of God_. Besides, if Angels were capable of those mean Pleasures, we ought in Reason to suppose, that there are Female Angels, as well as Male; for surely those Capacities are not in vain through a whole _Species_ of Beings. And if there be Female Angels, we cannot imagine, but that they must be of a far more charming Beauty than the dowdy Daughters of Men. Then as to the Line of _Seth_, it does not appear that there was any such Distinction of Idolaters and true Worshipers before the Flood, or that there was any such thing as Idolatry at that time, nor for some Ages after. Besides, it is not said, that the Sons of God fell in Love with the Daughters of _Cain_, or of any degenerate Race, but with the Daughters of _Adam_; which may be the Daughters of _Seth_, as well as of any other: These Conjectures therefore seem to be shallow and ill-grounded. But what the Distinction was of those two Orders, remains yet very uncertain.

St. _Paul_ to the _Galatians_, (_chap. iv. 21, 22_, _&c._) makes a Distinction also of a double Progeny; that of _Sarah_, and that of _Hagar_: One was born according to the Flesh, after a natural Manner; and the other by the divine Power, or in virtue of the divine Promise. This Distinction of a natural and supernatural Origin, and of a double Progeny; the one born to Servitude, the other to Liberty, represents very well either the Manner of our present Birth, and of our future, at the Resurrection; or that double Progeny and double manner of Birth, which we suppose in the _future Earth_. ’Tis true, St. _Paul_ applies this to the Law and the Gospel; but typical Things, you know, have different Aspects and Complexions, which are not exclusive of one another; and so it may be here. But however, this double Race of Mankind in the future Earth, to explain the Doctrine of _Gog_ and _Magog_, is but a Conjecture; and does not pretend to be otherwise considered.

The last Thing that remains to be considered and accounted for, is the Upshot and Conclusion of all; namely, what will become of the Earth after the thousand Years expir’d? Or after the Day of Judgment past, and the Saints translated into Heaven, what will be the Face of Things here below? There being nothing expresly reveal’d concerning this, we must not expect a positive Resolution of it: And the Difficulty is not peculiar to our Hypothesis; for though the _Millennium_, and the final Judgment, were concluded in the present Earth, the Quære would still remain, _What_ would become of this Earth after the last Day? So that all Parties are equally concern’d, and equally free, to give their Opinion, _What_ will be the _last State and Consummation_ of this Earth: Scripture, I told you, hath not defin’d this Point; and the Philosophers say very little concerning it. The Stoicks indeed speak of the final Resolution of all things into _Fire_, or into _Ether_: which is the purest and subtlest sort of Fire: So that the whole Globe or Mass of the Earth, and all particular Bodies, will, according to them, be at last dissolv’d into a liquid Flame. Neither was this Doctrine first invented by the Stoicks; _Heraclitus_ taught it long before them, and I take it to be as ancient as _Orpheus_ himself; who was the first Philosopher amongst the _Greeks_: And he deriving his Notions from the _Barbarick_ Philosophers, or the Sages of the _East_, that School of Wisdom may be look’d upon as the true Seminary of this Doctrine, as it was of most other natural Knowledge.

But this Dissolution of the Earth into Fire, may be understood two Ways; either that it will be dissolv’d into a loose Flame, and so dissipated and lost as Lightning in the Air, and vanish into nothing; or that it will be dissolv’d into a fix’d Flame, such as the Sun is, or a fix’d Star. And I am of Opinion, that the Earth after the last Day of Judgment, will be chang’d into the Nature of a Sun, or of a fix’d Star, and shine like them in the Firmament: Being all melted down into a Mass of æthereal Matter, and enlightning a Sphere or Orb round about it. I have no direct and demonstrative Proof of this I confess, but if Planets were once fixed Stars, as I believe they were, their Revolution to the same State again, in a great Circle of Time, seems to be according to the Methods of Providence, which loves to recover what was lost or decay’d, after certain Periods, and what was originally good and happy, to make it so again, all Nature, at last, being transform’d into a like Glory with the Sons of God, (_Rom._ viii. 21.)

I will not tell you what Foundation there is in Nature, for this Change or Transformation from the interiour Constitution of the Earth, and the Instances we have seen of new Stars appearing in the Heavens. I should lead the _English_ Reader too far out of his Way, to discourse of these things: But if there be any Passages or Expressions in Scripture, that countenance such a State of things after the Day of Judgment, it will not be improper to take Notice of them. That radiant and illustrious _Jerusalem_, describ’d by St. _John Apoc._ xxi. _ver._ 10, 11, 12, &c. compos’d all of Gemms and bright Materials, clear and sparkling, as a Star in the Firmament: Who can give an Account what that is? Its Foundations, Walls, Gates, Streets, all the Body of it, resplendent as Light or Fire? What is there in Nature, or in this Universe, that bears any Resemblance with such a Phænomenon as this, unless it be a Sun or a fix’d Star? Especially if we add and consider what follows, _ver._ 23. That _the City had no need of the Sun, nor of the Moon to shine in it_, _ver. 25_. And that _there was no Night there_. This can be no terrestrial Body; it must be a Substance luminous in it self, and a Fountain of Light, as a fix’d Star: And upon such a Change of the Earth, or Transformation, as this, would _be brought to pass the Saying that is written_, DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY. Which indeed St. _Paul_ seems to apply to our Bodies in particular, _1 Cor. xv. 54_. But in the eighth Chap. to the _Romans_ he extends it to all Nature, _ver. 21_. _The Creation it self also shall be deliver’d from the Bondage of Corruption, into the glorious Liberty of the Sons of God._ And accordingly St. _John_, speaking of the same Time with St. _Paul_ in that Place to the _Corinthians_, namely, of the general Resurrection and Day of Judgement, says, _Death_ and _Hades_, which we render Hell, _were cast into the Lake of Fire, Apoc. xx. 14._ This is their being _swallowed up in Victory_, which St. _Paul_ speaks of; when _Death_ and _Hades_, that is, all the Region of Mortality, the Earth and all its Dependences, are absorpt into a Mass of Fire; and converted, by a glorious Victory over the Powers of Darkness, into a luminous Body and a Region of Light.

This great Issue and Period of the Earth, and of all human Affairs, tho’ it seem to be founded in Nature, and supported by several Expressions of Scripture; yet we cannot, for want of full Instruction, propose it otherwise than as a fair Conjecture: The Heavens and the Earth shall flie away at the Day of Judgment, says the Text, _Apoc. xx. 11_. _And their Place shall not be found._ This must be understood of our Heavens and our Earth; and their _flying away_ must be their removing to some other Part of the Universe, so as their Place or Residence shall not be found any more here below. This is the easy and natural Sense of the Words; and this Translation of the Earth will not be without some Change preceeding, that makes it leave its Place, and, with a lofty Flight, takes its Seat amongst the Stars.——There we leave it; having conducted it for the Space of seven thousand Years thro’ various Changes, from a _dark Chaos to a bright Star_.

_FINIS._

A REVIEW Of the SACRED Theory of the Earth,

And of its

PROOFS:

Especially in Reference to

SCRIPTURE.

_LONDON_: Printed for J. HOOKE in _Fleet-street_.

A Review.

To take a _Review_ of this _Theory_ of the _Earth_, which we have now finish’d, we must consider, first, the Extent of it, and then the principal Parts whereof it consists: It reaches, as you see, from one End of the World to the other; from the first Chaos to the last Day, and the Consummation of all Things. This probably, will run the length of seven thousand Years; which is a good competent Space of Time to exercise our Thoughts upon, and to observe the several Scenes which Nature and Providence bring into View within the Compass of so many Ages.

The Matter and principal Parts of this _Theory_ are such things as are recorded in Scripture: We do not feign a Subject, and then discant upon it, for Diversion; but endeavour to give an intelligible and rational Account of such Matters of Fact, past or future, as are there specified and declared. What it hath seem’d good to the Holy Ghost to communicate to us, by History or Prophecy, concerning the several States and general Changes of this Earth, makes the Argument of our Discourse: Therefore the Things themselves must be taken for granted, in one Sense or other, seeing, besides all other Proofs, they have the Authority of a Revelation; and our Business is only to give such an Explication of them, as shall approve it self to the Faculties of Man, and be conformable to Scripture.

We will therefore first set down the Things themselves, that make the subject Matter of this _Theory_; and remind you of our Explication of them: Then recollect the general Proofs of that Explication, from Reason and Nature; but more fully and particularly shew how it is grounded upon Scripture. The primary _Phænomena_ whereof we are to give an Account, are these five or six.

I. _The Original of the Earth from a Chaos._

II. _The State of Paradise, and the antediluvian World._

III. _The universal Deluge._

IV. _The universal Conflagration._

V. _The Renovation of the World, or the new Heavens and new Earth._

VI. _The Consummation of all Things._

These are unquestionably in Scripture; and these all relate, as you see, to the several Forms, States and Revolutions of this Earth. We are therefore oblig’d to give a clear and coherent Account of these _Phænomena_, in that Order and Consecution wherein they stand to one another.

There are also in Scripture some other Things, relating to the same Subjects, that may be call’d the secondary Ingredients of this _Theory_, and are to be referr’d to their respective primary Heads. Such are, for Instance,

I. _The Longevity of the Ante-diluvians._

II. _The Rupture of the great Abyss, at the Deluge._

III. _The appearing of the Rainbow after the Deluge, as a Sign that there never should be a second Flood._

These things Scripture hath also left upon Record, as Directions and Indications how to understand the ante-diluvian State, and the Deluge it self. Whosoever therefore shall undertake to write the _Theory_ of the _Earth_, must think himself bound to give us a just Explication of these secondary _Phænomena_, as well as of the primary; and that in such a Dependance and Connexion, as to make them give and receive Light from one another.

The former Part of the Task is concerning the World behind us, Times and Things past, that are already come to Light: The latter is concerning the World before us, Times and Things to come; that lie yet in the Bosom of Providence, and in the Seeds of Nature. And these are chiefly the _Conflagration_ of the World, and the _Renovation_ of it. When these are over and expir’d, then _comes the End_, as St. _Paul_ says, _1 Cor. xv._ Then the _Heavens and the Earth fly away_, as St. _John_ says, _Apoc. xx._ Then is the _Consummation_ of all Things, and the last Period of this sublunary World, whatsoever it is: Thus far the Theorist must go, and pursue the Motions of Nature, till all Things are brought to Rest and Silence: And in this latter Part of the _Theory_, there is also a collateral Phænomenon, the _Millennium_, or thousand Years Reign of Christ and his Saints upon Earth, to be consider’d. For this, according as it is reported in Scripture, does imply a Change in the natural World, as well as in the Morals and therefore must be accounted for in the _Theory_ of the _Earth_: At least it must be there determin’d, whether that State of the World, which is singular and extraordinary, will be before or after the Conflagration.

These are the Principals and Incidents of this _Theory_ of the _Earth_, as to the Matter and Subject of it; which, you see, is both important, and wholly taken out of Scripture: As to our Explication of these Points, that is sufficiently known, being set down at large in four Books of this Theory; Therefore it remains only, having seen the Matter of the Theory, to examine the Form of it, and the Proofs of it; for from these two things it must receive its Censure. As to the Form, the Characters of a regular Theory seem to be these three; _Few and easy Postulatums; Union of Parts_; and _a Fitness to answer, fully and clearly, all the Phænomena to which it is to be apply’d_.

We think our Hypothesis does not want any of these Characters: As to the first, we take but one single _Postulatum_ for the whole Theory, and that an easy one, warranted both by Scripture and Antiquity; namely, _That this Earth rise, at first, from a Chaos_: As to the second, _Union of Parts_, the whole Theory is but one Series of Causes and Effects from that first Chaos. Besides, you can scarce admit any one Part of it, first, last, or intermediate, but you must, in Consequence of that, admit all the rest. Grant me but that the Deluge is truly explain’d, and I’ll desire no more Proof for all the Theory: Or, if you begin at the other End, and grant the _new Heavens_ and _new Earth_ after the Conflagration, you will be led back again to the first Heavens and first Earth that were before the Flood. For St. _John_ says, that _new Earth_ was without a _Sea_, _Apoc. xxi. 1_. And it was a _Renovation_, or _Restitution_ to some former State of Things: There was therefore some former Earth without a Sea; which not being the present Earth, it must be the ante-diluvian. Besides, both St. _John_, and the Prophet _Esaias_, have represented the _new Heavens_ and _new Earth_, as _paradisiacal_, according as it proved, _Book IV. Chap. 2_. And having told us the Form of the new-future-Earth, that it will have _no Sea_, it is a reasonable Inference that there was no Sea in the _paradisiacal Earth_. However, from the Form of this future Earth, which St. _John_ represents to us, we may at least conclude, that an _Earth without a Sea_ is no Chimæra, or Impossibility; but rather a fit Seat and Habitation for the Just and the Innocent.

Thus you see the Parts of the Theory link and hold fast one another, according to the Second Character: And as to the third, of being _suited to the Phænomena_, we must refer that to the next Head of _Proofs_. It may be truly said, that bare Coherence and Union of Parts is not a sufficient Proof; the Parts of a Fable or Romance may hang aptly together, and yet have no Truth in them: This is enough indeed to give the Title of a just Composition to any Work, but not of a true one; till it appear that the Conclusions and Explications are grounded upon good natural Evidence, or upon good Divine Authority. We must therefore proceed now to the third thing to be consider’d in a Theory, _What_ its Proofs are? Or the Grounds upon which it stands, whether Sacred or Natural?

According to natural Evidence, things are proved from their Causes or their Effects; and we think we have this double Order of Proofs for the Truth of our Hypothesis: As to the Method of Causes, we proceed from what is more simple, to what is more compound, and build all upon one Foundation. Go but to the Head of the Theory, and you will see the Causes lying in a Train before you, from first to last; and tho’ you did not know the natural History of the World, past or future, you might, by Intuition, foretel it, as to the grand Revolutions and successive Faces of Nature, through a long Series of Ages. If we have given a true Account of the Motions of the Chaos, we have also truly form’d the first habitable Earth; and if that be truly form’d we have thereby given a true Account of the State of _Paradise_, and of all that depends upon it; and not of that only, but also of the universal Deluge. Both these we have shewn in their Causes; The one from the Form of that Earth, and the other from the Fall of it into the Abyss: And tho’ we had not been made acquainted with these things by Antiquity, we might, in Contemplation of the Causes, have truly conceiv’d them as Properties or Incidents to the first Earth. But as to the Deluge, I do not say, that we might have calculated the Time, Manner, and other Circumstances of it: These things were regulated by Providence, in subordination to the moral World; but that there would be, at one Time or other, a Disruption of that Earth, or of the great Abyss, and in Consequence of it, an universal Deluge; so far, I think, the Light of a Theory might carry us.

Farthermore, in Consequence of this Disruption of the primæval Earth, at the Deluge, the present Earth was made hollow and cavernous, [_Theor.