AN Appeal most Humble, YET Most Earnestly by the Coming OF OUR Lord Jesus Christ, AND Our Gathering together unto HIM, Even Adjuring the CONSIDERATION OF THE Most Contrary Minded, Who love HIS Appearing: Concerning the Scripture on due Compare, Speaking Expresly, or Word for Word.
Of the Thousand Years State of the Saints; The Dead Raised First, and of The Living, The Remaining Chang'd in it.
And of the Wicked-Dead-Raised, the Gog Magog under it.
By T. B.
[...]
THE ADVERTISEMENT TO THE READER.
MY first Intention was only by way of Proposal, concerning the Saints in the 1000 Years Kingdom of Christ; But finding Scripture-Evidence Rising so high concerning the Wicked-Dead, the Gog Magog of the 1000 Years also Raised, but to a State of Death, and so call'd still, The Dead. It Gave me the Boldness to Raise my Proposal to an Appeal; My Assurance in These Things is, that the Spirit by laying its words in one Scripture, to its words in other Scriptures, speaks [...] Expresly, or word for word of These Things; so that the Ring of Truth concerning the Resurrection Broken between, especially, the Apostle Paul, and the Apocalyptic Apostle, by laying Them together, meets, and Ʋnites; which is the Greatest Assurance that can be Given; Thus It is concerning the Saints; And thus It is concerning the Wicked Dead, the Gog Magog Raised to Condemnation.
Whoever would disprove what I have Asserted, I expect, He should not only perplex what I have said, with Ensnaring Questions; For so Things most clear, most certain may be perplex'd, but either lay down by the same Scripture Contexture a contrary, or different Scheme, or at least shew this Inconsistent with Scripture, or with it self.
A most Humble, and (I cannot but hope) A most Modest Proposal to the Reverend Pastors, and to All others that dissent from, or doubt of the Thousand Years Kingdom of Christ, and will give Leave to Scripture-Search, and Consideration concerning it.
THE Proposal is this: I will here single out Three Arguments, Taken from Plain, Doctrinal, Apostolical, and from Prophetical Scripture in Compare; and which may seem of all other most disputable; and if They can be made Good, They will undeniably prove the Thousand Years Kingdom: And if They can be made void; They shall stand a Witness against me, that I am not able to make Good the Thousand Years Kingdom of Christ, I have so earnestly endeavour'd to Assert.
And that They may be more Clearly, and with All Brevity seen in their Force I will offer Them in the most Argumentative Order, and Form, I can Conveniently for General understanding compose Them into.
Argument 1.
If the New Heaven, and New Earth, the Scripture speaks of, be prepar'd for the Thousand Years Reign of Christ, and of his Saints, so as to Begin, when that Begins, and to End, when that Ends; Then there must be a Thousand Years Kingdom of Christ; But so It will be Found by a Compare of the most Litteral Consequences from Doctrinal, and Prophetical Texts compar'd: Therefore so it must be.
I will here Anticipate one Evasion; Seeing All Prophetical Scriptures of the Old Testament, particularly the mention of the New Heaven, and New Earth, Esay 65. 17, and c. 66. 22. are so positive; and that in the New Testament, There is mention of the Regeneration, viz. of All Things, Matth. 19. 28. of Times of Refreshing; or Resouling of All Things; of the Time of the Restitution of All Things at the Coming of Christ; For the Heavens must Receive Him, till then; And that this Restitution was spoken of by the Mouth of All his Prophets, since the World began, Acts 3. 19, 20, 21. and that the Apostle, Rom. 8. 19. &c. plainly Asserts the Restoration of the Creation, (Translated Creature) in which Heaven, and Earth, must needs be; Seeing All this is so; No one shall Fly off, and say; All this is but Allegory, Metaphor, and Figure; For with such, There can be no Argument on Scripture Text held.
Having thus premis'd, I carry on the Argument.
If the Apostle John saw, together with the Holy City, prepared as a Bride, a New Heaven, and New Earth, and that the Former First Heaven, [Page 2] and the First Earth, were pass'd away; which City will presently Appear to have a Thousand Years Peace, and Glory; Then the New Heaven, and New Earth Begin, when the Thousand Years State of the Holy City Begins. But so He Asserts; I saw a New Heaven, and a New Earth, and the First pass'd away, Revel. 21. 1. and then to make it most Emphatical, He says; I John saw the Holy City, v. 2. So that it is not to bee supposed Any One will deny the Holy City, and the New Heaven, and the New Earth to be Together, according to the Apostle John, besides the Great Concurrences of Reason, that such a Glorious State, if Any should have a New Heaven, and a New Earth. Thus They Began together
When any one Compares this with the Apostle Peter's Positive Assertion of a New Heaven, and Earth, wherein Righteousnese shall dwell at the Day of Christ; and that a Day with the Lord is as a Thousand Years; and sees here a City, (as will be seen) of a Thousand Years State of Peace, and, as secur'd from Sathan, of Righteousness; They must be very Averse to Compare of Scripture, that will not suppose them to Expound and Illustrate one Another, and would Absolutely discourage All Compare of Scripture, which I cannot once suppose of such Friends of Scripture, as I direct unto.
Now that this very New Heaven, and New Earth, and no other Fly away, after a Thousand Years State of Peace, and Righteousness Granted to this City, in a Security from Sathan, and so end alike; I Go on undeniably to prove.
The Flying away of whatever Heaven and Earth, It was, was at the same Time with the White Throne, (as it were Blancking All into the High Spirituality of the Eternal State) and at the same Time, that there was no place Found for Them; and therefore for no other such after them;and at the same Time, that John saw the Dead, Small and Great stand before God, and that Death and Hell, and whatever was not written in the Book of Life, were cast into the Lake: This Conjunction of These Things I am Assured none can deny, that shall but with the Least observation Read Revel. 20. 11. &c.
If then Death, and Hell, were cast into the Lake, then certainly Sathan, the Prince of the Power of Death, if whatever was not Written in the Book of Life, was cast into the Lake, then certainly Sathan, for whom the Lake was prepar'd, must needs be at this Time Cast into the Lake; But for what Reasons the Beast and False Prophet were there before Him, I have elsewhere declar'd.
Sathan's casting into the Lake must needs be after the Thousand Years, as is express, Revel. 20. 7. &c. and will be more argu'd immediately; if then the Heaven and Earth that were in Being, when Sathan was cast into the Lake, were the Heaven and Earth that Fled from the White Throne, as is prov'd; It must needs be that Heaven, and Earth that were in Being after the Thousand Years, that Fled.
And if the Heaven, and Earth that Fled, were the Heaven and Earth that were in Being at the Thousand Years end, They must be the Heaven and Earth that were in Being during the Thousand Years; who can so much as Imagine other? And If They were the Heaven and Earth during the Thousand Years, They must be the Heaven and Earth during the Holy City.
For the City, cap. 20. and cap. 21. must needs be the City New Jerusalem, [Page 3] which as call'd Holy, c. 21. So it was the Camp of the Saints, secur'd from Sathan's Approach, during the Thousand Years: And so Righteousness dwelt in it, c. 20 9. And it is the Beloved City, c. 20. 9. Because it is the Bride the Lamb's Wife, c. 21. 9, 10.
Now this Beloved City, and Camp of the Saints, had had a State of Peace and Righteousness for a Thousand Years, while Sathan was in Prison, and Gog and Magog stir'd not; All which Time the Saints Above sat on Thrones, and Reigned with Christ a Thousand Years; and the Partakers of the First Resurrection on Earth were Blessed, and Holy, and were Priests of God, and of Christ and Reigned with Him a Thousand Years, and so were for ever Holy, and Blessed; For over such, the Second Death hath no Power.
If then the Heaven, and Earth that were in Being during the Thousand Years of the Holy City, be the Heaven and Earth that Fled, when Sathan was cast into the Lake after the Thousand Years, as hath been shown; These must be the Heaven and Earth that John saw together with the Holy City; And so they must be the New Heaven, and the New Earth that He saw, c. 21. 1. and not the First; and there can be no more, except a New Creation be Piled on this New Creation, and New Heaven and Earth that Fled away: So They End with the 1000 Y.
Argum. 2.
If according to Prophecy, concerning the Thousand Years Reign of Christ, with his Saints of the First Resurrection, and his Saints, Partakers of the First Resurrection, There must by the Apostolical Plain Doctrine be a space of Time between the Time of the Saints Dead in Christ, Rising first, who Answer to the Saints of the First Resurrection; and the Saints Chang'd, who Answer to the Partakers of the First Resurrection; and the Time of these Chang'd Saints being Caught up; This space by Prophecy must be the Thousand Years Reign of Christ with his Saints? But such a space will in the Apostles plain Doctrine be found; Therefore It must by Prophecy be the space of the thousand years; and so the thousand years Kingdom of Christ will be Fully Assured from hence.
If the Apostles plasn Doctrine be, That there are two Sorts of Saints, and no more at the Resurrection viz. The Saints Raised Incorruptible, and the Saints who shall not Sleep, but be Chang'd; Chang'd in opposition to Dying, farr below the priviledge of being Chang'd; Chang'd in distinction from being Rais'd Incorruptible, a priviledge above being Changed, when Incorruptible is not Added, And if these make up the We All of Saints, even The Living, The Remaining Rescued from the perdition of the Wicked Dead, and preserved under Guards of Life, Then These are two Sorts of Saints, vix. Principals in the First Resurrection, and Partakers of the First Resurrection; Seeing To be the We All is to be Saints or Holy: To be the Living is to be Partakers, To be Chang'd but not Incorruptible is to be no more than Partakers; To be Hi Zontes, The Living, Hi Perilipomeni, or the Preserved is to be Blessed, For over Such the second Death hath no power. But All These Things are expressly written. 1. Cor. 15. 51, 52. 1. Thess. 4 14 &c. and Revel. 20. 4, 5, 6. And Both these Sorts of Saints Live and Reign with Christ a thousand years: So There is a thousand years Kingdom.
2. If the Saints, The Living, the Remaining, who dye not, but are Chang'd, are Chang'd in the Atom of Time, the very same Moment in [Page 4] the very Twinckle of an Eye with the Saints Raised, 1 Cor. 15. 51, 52. and yet The Saints Dead in Christ Rise First, and the Saints, The Living, and the Remaining are not Caught up till an Epita (not to be Translated [Then] but [Afterwards] which Epita is so Translated [Afterward] 1 Cor. 15. 23. and leaves Room to almost 1700 Y. since Christs Resurrection; If All This be, Then there may be such a space as the 1000 Y. from the Raising the Dead Saints, Changing the living Saints; before The living, The Remaining Saints are Caught up: and the Ama Translated [Together] shall not signify Together in Time, but pariter, or Alike, (as it must needs be Rom. 3. 12.) with the Dead Saints raised, and with Christ Above, (who cannot be say'd to be 1 Thess. 5. 10. and elsewhere Caught up at all; For Christ Brings Them with Him,) much lesse, Together, with the Saints Rising, For this would Contradict the Apostles Proton, or First, of the Saints rising; and his Epita, or Afterward, of the Living Remaining Saints caught up. All this we find express. 1 Thes. 4. 14. &c.
Seeing then by the Apost. a Space there must be, and Prophecy says expresly, the Dead Saints, Living and Reigning with Christ on Thrones a 1000 Y. was the First Resurrection, and that the Reign of the Partakers of the First Resurrection, Blessed and Holy, and on whom the Second Death hath no Power, is a Reign with Christ also of a 1000 Y. It must be a 1000 Y; So Christ must needs have a Kingdom of a 1000 Years.
Argum. 3d.
If the Saints Raised Sitt on Thrones with Christ, as above, a 1000 Y. and There is a City and Cittadell of Saints on Earth for a 1000 Y. and who after are made to Sitt on Christ's Throne, in his Kingdom, ere the end, according to Prophecy; and that According to the Apostle; The Saints chang'd, The living and The Remaining are on Earth, while Christ, and the Raised Saints are above; and this for some space of Time; Then how clear a proof is there of the 1000 Years Kingdom of Christ in the New Heaven Inhabited by the raised Saints, and in the New Earth, Inhabited by the rising Remaining Saints? But so it is according to the Prophecy, and Doctrine of Scriptures, Such a Kingdom therefore There shall be.
1. It is never said in Scripture, Christ shall come down on Earth, at his second Coming; But He is the Epouranios, the Lord from Heaven; The Heavenly; not Earthy, as the First Adam, As He went up to Heaven in a Cloud, so He shall be seen Coming in a Cloud; Then indeed out of sight; But now Every Eye shall see him, as Above, Those places, Job. 19. 25. Zech. 14. 4. that seem to Favour Christs standing upon the Earth at the last day; The Hebrew Word may better be Translated Above the Earth, or Over it, He indeed Descends into the Lower Heaven; His Glory as the Sun's Reaching down to the Earth; so This, 1 Thess 4. 17. Represents Him in the Clouds, and in the Air, where his Throne and Tribunal must needs then be.
2. The Raised Saints are there with Him, shining as the Firmament, and as the Stars, even as the Sun, Reigning with Him in the Air, viz. the New Heaven above, a 1000 Y. as Ana in Anastasis may well signifie.
3. The Living, and the Remaining Saints, as the Kings of the Earth, the Nations of the Saved, walking in the Light of, and Bringing their Glory to the Jerusalem Above, Healed with the Leaves of the Tree of Life, Reign in the Beloved City, and in the Cittadel of the Saints, as with Christ always in their Eye a 1000 Y. and at last are Caught up to Christ in the Air, into a Like State with the Sts. Above, and are made to sit down on his Throne in His Kingdom Above, where He Resides the 1000 Y.
And thus the New Heaven, and the New Earth are Inhabited, during the Thousand Years Kingdom of Christ, according to both Apostolic Doctrine, and Prophecy.
When at the End These Living Remaining Saints are Caught up. Then They put on perfect Incorruption and Immortality; and the Triumphal Song over Death is Sung. For it is Swallowed up in Victory; Sathan, the Dead, and Death and Hell, who had been Condemned to Lye as the Footstool of Christ's Feet at the Beginning of the 1000 Y. are now cast into the Lake, so the Last Enemy Death is Brought to Nought; The Kingdom in a General Rendezvouz, or Meeting of Saints, spoken of also, 1 Thess. 4. 17. is deliver'd up to God, and the Father All in All; and so All Saints are Outo, in that very Posture and State of that Meeting, Ever with the Lord, with God, and with Christ.
A Continuation of Arguments from the Spirits Speaking [...], expresly in Scriptures, concerning the Dead, and of Gog and Magog, by way of Further Illustration of the 1000 Years Kingdom.
Arg. 4.
IF it be declar'd in Plain Scripture, that the Seed of the Woman shall Break the Serpent's Head, as Gen. 3. 15. and that God will Bruise Sathan under the Saints Feet shortly, Rom. 16. 20. and that most Express Prophetic Scripture tells us, that during the 1000 Years, wherein Christ Reigns with his Dead Saints Rais'd, Living, and Sitting on Thrones; and with his Saints, Partakers of the First Resurrection; Sathan lyes Chain'd, Seal'd, Bound, and Imprison'd for all that 1000 Years; All which, so many, and so Emphatical Expressions speake the utter Impossibility of his Annoying the Holy City for that 1000 Years; If All this be, It is then certain, that Christ, as He shall Appear the Glorious Second Adam, the Seed of the Woman, and the Lord from Heaven also, hath a Kingdom of a 1000 Years; wherein as Referring to that Promise, Sathan, Call'd Remarkably the Old Serpent, Rev 20. 1. Lyes under Him with his Head Broken by Him; and that in this Kingdom, Coming according to the Apocalyptic Phrase, [...] Quickly, God Bruises Sathan under the Saints Feet, who Reign while He is so Bound, and Imprison'd these 1000 Years also.
Now that which Justifies the most Solid, and Substantial Sense of Sathan's Binding, and for a 1000 Years, under an utter Impossibility of Annoying the Divine Kingdom for those 1000 Years, is; That Both the Binding, and the 1000 Years, must Bear a proportion to the Loosing Sathan for a Little Season after the 1000 Years Expir'd, and to the Casting Sathan into the Lake; which must needs signifie an utter Impossibility of his Action, except as within his own Lake, against the Divine Kingdom for ever; as All must needs Acknowledge; If then the Binding: Chaining, Imprisoning, Sealing Sathan in such an Imprisonment for a 1000 Years, Bear a proportion to the Casting Sathan into the Lake, He must be under an utter Impossibility of Acting against the Beloved City, and Camp of the Saints, or the Divine Kingdom for that 1000 Years, as He shall be, when in the Lake to Eternity; And if the 1000 Year Bear a proportion to the Little Season of his being Loosed after Them, then that Little Season must be but a Little part of a 1000 Years.
Now who can say? There hath been ever yet such an Efficacious Foreprizal of the Action of Sathan against the Beloved City, and Camp of the [Page 6] Saints, as will Agree with the Seed of the Woman, Breaking his Head, or God Bruising Sathan under the Feet of the Saints shortly, or with his Chaining, Imprisoning, or Sealing, so as to Bear a Proportion to his casting into the Lake? Or how can the Time, viz. from Constantine, Generally pitch'd upon for the 1000 Years, be that Time? wherein Both Antichrist, and Mahomet, have Rag'd so against the Church of Christ; And how could the Time since those 1000 Years ended, viz. about 1300 A. D. be without Great unreasonableness, call'd the Time of Sathan's Loosing, which hath been the very Time of the Gospel Rising out of the Apostasie, first in the Bohemian Testimony, and since by the Reformation! How can it be call'd a Little Time, compar'd with the 1000 Years? when it is almost Half a 1000 Years already; besides what may be expected of such a State, as the present is; according to such Apprehensions, as Give no Credit to the Assigning of any Time according to Prophecy, that might be short.
I Appeal therefore to Any Considering Person, whether this be not Equal to the Spirit's speaking expresly, when by plain, and Prophetic Scripture compar'd; Christ shall have a Kingdom of a 1000 Years, which is yet to come; and that after the End of that 1000 Years Kingdom, within a very Little Time, how Little we can't express, seeing Scripture hath not, Sathan shall for ever be Thrown into the Lake.
Argum. 5.
If there be a State of the Wicked, Dead before the Kingdom of Christ, and Destroyed by the Fire of his Coming; and yet Rais'd to a State of suffering, that according to plain Doctrinal Scripture, may be a 1000 Y. and according to Prophetic Scripture must be a 1000 Years, and then the Lake; Then It is certain, There is such a 1000 Years Kingdom of Christ.
1. If according to both sorts of Scripture, There must be a Rising of the Wicked, or Ʋnjust, that have done Evil at the very same Time, that the Just, and that They that have done well, Arise, and in Conjunction with Them; and that They with Them shall make an Appearance before the Tribunal of Christ; Then that must be in some State, and for some Time, or space of Time, whatever State, or Space that shall be; And seeing the Just Arise at the Coming of Christ, and at his Kingdom 1 Cor. 15. 23. The Ʋnjust must then Arise also; This being a General Principle, and Article of Faith, I only Refer to the Scriptures, most Evidently proving it. Eccles. 12. 14. Dan. 12. 2. John 5. 29. Acts 24. 15. Mat. 25. 31. 2 Cor. 5. 10. Revel. 11 18.
And according to my Judgment, when by the Sixth Voice, Rev 14. 18. (For there had been Five before it;) The Earth is Reap'd by Him, that had on his Head the Golden Crown in the Raising the Dead Saints, and Changing the Living; In the Seventh Voice, (by which Seven Voices in that Chap. I understand the Seven Thunders open'd) the Clusters of the Vine of the Earth are Gather'd, and Thrown into the Wine-press of the Wrath of God; that is; The Wicked are Raised to Condemnation, and to Everlasting punishment; which by Comparing Rev. 16. 14. and c. 19. 10. 15. is done at the Battel of Armageddon, when Christ with the Armies of Heaven, viz. the Raised Saints on White Horses in Linnen, White and Clean, expressing the Purity of [Page 7] Spiritual Bodies of the Resurrection, Following Him, in Righteousness Judgeth, and maketh War on all the Wicked, and Treadeth the Wine-press of the Wrath of God, into which They are cast.
And yet Because the Wicked Rise thus to Shame, and to Contempt, and to this Everlasting Punishment, their Resurrection is Counted, as no Resurrection; neither in Doctrinal, nor in Prophetic Scripture: The Resurrection Absolutely spoken of, is by our Lord styl'd; The Resurrection of the Just, Luke 14 14. and c. 20. 36. The Children of God are only Accounted the Children of the Resurrection: The Apostle Paul in those Two Great Discourses of the Resurrection, 1 Cor. 15. and 1 Thess 4. 13. so Frames the Doctrine of it, as to Apply it only to the Saints, who are Christs at his Coming, and to the We All of the Saints Changed, v. 23. v. 51. 52. and to Those whose who Sleep in, or through Jesus, Rising first, and to the Living, the Remaining, who are Chang▪d in the same Moment with the Saints Rais'd; afterward, viz. the 1000 Years after, Caught up to Them, and into a Like State with Them, 1 Thess. 4. 13. &c. and so the Apostle Leaves the Wicked wholly out in Both.
Agreeably Prophecy, as if They were not Rais'd, calls the Remnant, Slain with the Sword of Him that Sat on the Horse, Rev. 19. 21. as in that very word, the Rest, or Remnant, (and in the same Sense with Slain) of the Dead, c. 20: 5. viz. The Remnant, or Rest, because not cast into the Lake, as the Beast, and False Prophet, but only Slain; The Dead, because Slain, and neither Saints of the First Resurrection, nor Saints Partakers of it; Both which Lived, and Reigned with Christ a 1000 Years; But the Dead Lived not for the 1000 Years, that the Saints Reigned; and yet to shew They were an Appendage to the First Resurrection as Rais'd, though but to Death; till They were nam'd, It is not said, This is the First Resurrection, Then it is, and They are set in the middle of both sorts of Saints; What Greater Evidence can there be of the 1000 Years Kingdom, then the plain Scriptures, Leaving the Wicked out of the High Discourses of the Resurrection, and Prophecy in Agreement, calling them the Dead, as neither Principals, nor Partakers of the First Resurrection, but Assigning one and the same 1000 Years, to the State of the Principals, to the State of the Dead not Living, and to the Partakers in the First Resurrection, and the Reign with Christ Concurrent with it!
Argum. 6.
If Gog and Magog can by Scripture be Cleared to be these very Dead, slain with the Sword of Christ's Mouth, and so in the State of the Dead the 1000 Years, and then making their last Attempt, and so cast into the Lake; This will still Compleat the proof of the 1000 Years Kingdom; But there will be Found a Cloud of both Witnesses, Prophetical and Doctrinal Scripture Probabilities; and one Great Proof of Scripture Doctrinal, and Prophetical Compar'd, that will conclude, it must be so.
Let then the Scripture Correspondencies, both Prophetical first, to which this Figure first belongs, and then the Doctrinal be just nam'd, as Probabilities, and then the more conclusive Argument weigh'd. The [Page 8] First Rudiments of this Image are Found in Ezekiel, which, whatever Litteral Sense it may have, serves this Apocalyptical Image, with these Great Correspondencies: 1. Gog Magog is a Confluence of Nations: 2. They Appear in Battel: 3. They come up against a People Rescued from the Sword, and of Ʋnwall▪d Villages: 4. The Vengeance and Fury of God comes up as in his Face upon Them: 5. Their Death, and Graves are made most Monumental. Ezek. c. 38. c 39. Proportionably in the Revelation; Although Their Name is Conceal'd in the First; Yet I lay their Appearance both in the Battle of Armageddon, c. 6. 14. &c. and in this Battle, wherein They are named, c. 20. 8 &c. and so first they are a confluence of Nations, the Kings, and the whole World, c. 16. Kings, Captains Great Small, c. 19. 18. &c. Gather'd under the Beast, and False Prophet Both, and under the Dragon, by Spirits of Devils, c. 16. But when the Beast and False Prophet were cast into the Lake, c. 19. They are Rallied under the Dragon, Sathan only, c. 20. and their Number, to shew their Confluence is as the Sand of the Sea; Their City being a Hammonah, as Ezek. 39. 16. 2. Their Appearing in Battle is plain, and it is their Appearance under the mighty Efficacy of Spirits of Devils, or Sathan, in all their Malice against the Divine Kingdom. 3. They come against the Kings of the East, viz. (as I understand) the Saints, the Living, the Remaining, Rescued from the Sword of Him that sat on the Horse, and on Ʋnwalled Cities, viz. these Saints, before the New Jerusalem came down, and now again after the 1000 Years, when the New Jerusalems Glory, as Walls and Bulwarks of Salvation was Retir'd. 4. The Vengeance of God is alike describ'd every where, Ezek. 38. 21. &c. Sword, Fire, and Hail, Rev. c. 16. c 19. Fire, c. 20. 5. 9. As their Graves in their Hamon-Gog, and Hammonah, are Ezek. 39. so Their being Slain, call▪d the Dead, cast into the Lake, is in the Revelation
The Correspondencies of Doctrinal, and Prophetic Scripture Inducing a probability, that Gog Magog are the Wicked rais▪d, are, that there is a distance of Time between the Enemies of Christ, being made his Footstool, and their being Finally destroy'd: The Man of sin made up of the Beast, and False Praphet, 2 Thess. 2. 3. Rev 17. 8. 11. c. 19. 21 goes first into Perdition, and is cast into the Lake at Christ's very Appearance, no Antichristian Church, or Kingdom being any more possible; But the Three other Great Enemies of Christ, Sathan, Wicked Men, Hell and Death are first the Footstool of Christ, according to Psal. 110. Heb. 1 13. c. 10. 13. All Rule, Authority and Power are not Finally destroy'd, or under the Catargesis, till the very End; Death is the Last Enemy, so destroyed just before the Kingdom Given up, 1 Cor. 15. 24, 26. And the very date of this Time is, when the We of All of Saints, the Living, the Remaining are caught up to Christ into a like State with the Saints raised First with Him in the Clouds, and so put on Absolute Immortality, and Incorruption; Then the Triumphal Song over Dearh is sung; and so All Saints are ever with the Lord in the Clouds, or Air of the New Heaven, and in the Kingdom deliver'd up to God All in All. 1 Cor. 15. 51. &c. 1 Thess. 4. 13. The Occasion of the Great [Page 9] Mistake in this matier is, that the Changing, and the being caught up, are not distinguish'd; The changing into Bodies of Paradise, or of a Participation of the First Resurrection, is indeed at the same Moment with the Saints rising First; There is an Epita, an Afterward of a 1000 Years, before They are caught up.
According to this, The Enemies of Christ, as the Footstool of his Feet, Bear up the State of his Sitting on the Throne for the 1000 Years, viz. Sathan Chain'd, Bonnd, Imprison'd, and Seal'd up. The Wicked, as Gog Magog in such an Infinite Number, Exil'd in the Four corners of the New Earth, Appear, but cannot stir against the Beloved City, and Camp of the Saints for the 1000 Years: Death, as not cast into the Lake, hath an Appearance, and a possibility of Action, in that the Living Remaining Saints, in having but a part, and not the Full yet in the First Resurrection, have not put on Immortality and Incorruption; yet so Heal'd with the Leaves of the Tree of Life, They shall not dye; Death cannot Fasten, though It shews its Fangs. When Christ does, as it were, Take off his Feet from his Footstool; from all his Three Enemies, in order to Give up the Kingdom, They Every one Rise, as into Action; Sathan the Prince, the Gog Magog, the Dead under Him, viz. Condemn'd, and so in the State of Death; and Death and Hell under their Prince; All these move to their utmost Activity against the Holy City, but as in Anticipation to the Lake, or a present Description of it, Fire comes down from Heaven; Sathan long ago Condemn'd is without any New Judgment cast into the Lake: The Judgment of Gog Magog the Dead, from all the Receptacles of Death, is Recollected, and Ratified in their being All Judg▪d: And Death and Hell are cast into the Lake with Them. This is the Final Catargests, destroying, and putting All the Enemies of Christ, that had been his Footstool the 1000 Y. quite Below under his Feet.
The Conclusive Argument from the Compare of Doctrinal and Prophetical Scripture, That Gog Magog are the wicked dead rais'd, is this; According to all Scripture, the Wicked are Rais'd with the Servants of Christ, all at a Time; The Resurrection is yet peculiar to the Saints, Because the Wicked are Rais'd to Condemnation, and so to Death. All Ʋngodly Men, whether Dead before, or Found Alive at Christ's Coming, are under the Perdition of the Fire of the Day of Judgment, and of Christ's coming; according to the Apostle Peter, Ep. 2. c. 37. according to the Apostle Paul, 2 Thess. 1. 8. and so There are none, The Living, The Remaining, but Saints. Then according to Prophecy, whatever is not Partaker of the First Resurrection, to which, nothing is Second, but the Second death, must be under that Second Death, Beginning with that very First Resurrection; so the Wicked dead rais'd, not partaking of that First Resurrection, Immediately Begin to have their part in the Lake, which is the Second death, though not cast into it, Revel. 21. 8. as the Living Saints in the First Resurrection, though not caught up into it; Gog Magog then call'd the Nations, and in so vast a Number as the Sand of the Sea, must be the Dead, having their part, though [Page 10] not the full in the Lake; For there are no Earth none else but the Nations of the saved; But Gog does not for the 1000 Years Annoy the Holy City, being Exil'd in the Four corners, even as the Wine-press is Trod 1600 Furlongs without the Holy City, or Camp; shewing the Four square Vengenance, Issuing from the Four square Holy City, on the Wicked without it, The Saints above Equal to Angels, with the Lamb, Behold their Torment, and are Satisfied with their Flesh, viz. Rejoyce in the Vengeance; The Saints below, as it were Burying Gog, Ez. 39. 11, 12. in Israel, nigh the Holy City, go out to Behold their Carcases; For without are Those Dogs, Going round about this City, Esay. 66. 24. Psal. 59 14. Rev. 14. 20. c. 22. 15.
Concerning the Gog Magog, as the Dead Rais'd to Comdemnation, I have this Remarquable to Add, that when at the Final Doom, They are said to stand before God, Rev. 20. 21. The Earth is not said to Give up any Dead. The Sea had (as Grotius and Piscator Render it) Given up its Dead long before, viz. at the Beginning of the 1000 Years; when, as hath been prov'd, the New Heaven and New Earth entred, and There was no more Sea: Why then does not the Earth give up its Dead, as well as the Sea? viz. Because the Sea giving up its Dead, wh [...] the Old Earth Burnt, became in its Four corners The Common Death, or State of the Dead, and the Hades, or Hell of Them: So Hades, or Hell, and Death Alone, Give [...] up the Dead, and are cast with Them into the Lake. This Assures, Earth is not meant by Death and Hades; except the Old, as Burnt, and Becoming the Seat of the Dead, and so cast into one Common Lake: For when Gog came on the New Earth to Cover it, Fire from Heaven then Rescued that Earth, and devour'd Them; So Death and Hades, or Hell, had all the Dead, for the Sea had before Given up its Dead to that Hades, Death and Hell, which is the Hamon Gog, or Hammonah of Gog Magog, Slain, and Buried in Israel, viz. without the Gate, and Camp of the Holy City, as Malefactors of Old: Sathan, for whom the Lake was first prepar'd, is cast into it, without the Formality of a Judgment, as to his own place; The Dead; on whom the Judgment was at the 1000 Years Begun, is at their end Compleated. The New Jerusalem, Seated in the New Heaven, and New Earth, upon their Flying, Re-Ascends to God, from whom it Descended; So the Kingdom is deliver'd up to God All in All, and the Saints are for ever with the Lord, with God in Christ.
A SUMMARY Of Arguments for the 1000 Y. Kingdom: By T. B.
Argument 1. IF the New Heaven and the New Earth be a Palace for Christ, the King of Glory, and for his Saints in Glory with Him; Beginning with the Thousand Years, and Flying away within a Little space, after They are Ended; when the Kingdom is Delivered up, and the New Jerusalem Re-ascends to God; Then there must be such a Thousand Years Kingdom; But so It is, by plain Doctrinal, and by the Prophetical Scriptures of the Revlation compared: Therefore There must be such a Kingdom.
Arg 2. If All Saints be Saints Dead in Christ Rising first, or of the First Resurrection; Or Saints, Styled The Lrving, The Remaining, not Dying, but Chang'd in the very Moment of that First Resurrection; so putting off this Low State of Body, but not immediately Caught up to Christ; nor Immediately putting on the Incorruption and Immortality of the First Resurrection, but Secured for it by this Change; as being Partakers of the First Resurrection, over Whom the Second Death shall have no power. And if there be a Thousand Years between this Change at the Time of the Saints Rising first, before the Time of these Living, these Remaining Saints being Caught up; All which Time the Saints of both Kinds Reign with Christ; Then there Must be such a Thousand Years Kingdom of Christ. But so all this is by plain Doctrinal, and by the Prophetical Scripture of the Resurrection Compar'd; Therefore there must be such a Kingdom.
Argum. 3. If Christ, and the Saints of the First Resurrection are in the Palace of the New Heaven above, as on Thrones, and their Glory shining down on the New Earth below; and the Saints, the Living, the Remaining Chang'd, are in the Paradise of the New Earth below, and walk in the Light of the New Jerusalem Above; and so Each in this Thousand Years, Reign with Christ; and at the End the Saints below, are Caught up Alike with the Saints Above, Then there must be a Thousand Years Kingdom of Christ: But so it is by the Compare of plain Doctrinal and of Prophetical Scripture in the Revelation; Therefore such a Kingd. must be.
Arg. 4. If Satan the Old Serpent Bound, must Lie a 1000 Years, having his Head Broken by the Second Adam, the Seed of the Woman, and Bruised under the Feet of Saints shortly; and then be Loosed for a Little space before he be Cast into the Lake, which can never yet have been: Then there must be a Kingdom of a Thousand Years to Christ and his Saints. But so by plain Doctrinal Scripture and the Prophetical Scripture of the Revelation, It must be; Therefore there must be such a Kingdom of a Thousand Years.
Argum. 5. If the Dead Wicked Raised, as at the same Time with the Saints of the First Resurrection, and with the Saints chang'd; and yet being Raised to Condemnation, are neither counted Principals nor Partakers of the First Resurrection, but the Dead still; who with Death it self must be the Footstool of Christ's Feet, Sitting on an Exalted Throne Above Them, and as Ashes under the Soals of the Saints Feet for a Thousand [Page 2] Years, before They are Finally after the 1000 Y. Destroyed, and Cast into the Lake; Then there must be such a Thousand Years Kingdom of Christ: But so It must be by plain Doctrinal Scripture, and by the Prophetical Scripture of the Revelation Compard. Therefore such a Kingdom must be.
Argum 6. If the Gog-Magog in the Revelation, of which Ezekiel's Prophecy is a Great Type, c 38. c. 39. that stirs not for the Thousand Years of Satan Bound under the Reign of Christ with his Saints, against the Beloved City and Camp of the Saints; but at the End of the Thousand Years, makes a short Assault, is no other than the Wicked Dead Rais'd, and Lying at the Fotstool of Christ on his Throne for a Thousand Years, then Judg'd and Cast into the Lake with Death and Hell; Then there must be such a Thousand Years Kingdom of Christ: But so it must needs be by plain Doctrinal and the Prophetical Scripture of the Revelation Compar'd. Therefore such a Kingdom must be.
And thus according to both plain and Doctrinal, and Prophetical Scripture; The last Enemy Death shall be subdued, with Satan its Prince, and all its Dead; and in the New Heaven and Earth flying away, the Kingdom is Delivered up, and God All in All.
By way of Addition upon All This.
Inferential Argum. If at the Reformation, Beginning by Luther, A. D. 1517. The Last 180 of the 1200 Years, Assigned to the Tyranny of Antichrist, and to the Witnesses in Sackcloth, Began, and so at the Ending of those 180. A.D. 1697. Daniel's Fourth Monarchy is at an End, and the Kingdom of the Stone and of the Son of Man, Filling the whole Earth shall Begin; and the Kingdoms of this World shall be Proclaimed to be the Kingdoms of the Lord, and of his Christ, in order to a 75 Y. Preparation to the Glorious Kingdom of the Thousand Years. Then the Time is so near that it ought to call us off from this World to a Faith in, Earnest Prayer for, and Preparation for this Kingdom: But this hath been Argued on Great Scripture Grounds; Therefore so we ought to be Affected, Loving this Kingdom, and Appearance of the Lord Jesus Coming Quickly.
AMEN.
| Ver. 4. I saw Thrones, and They sate upon Them. | Viz. The Armies of Heaven, cap 19. 14 Prophets, Saints, Small, Great, Fearing God Rewarded, cap. 11 18. |
| Peculiarly John saw the Souls of the Beheaded for the Witness of Jesus, and the Word of God. | Viz. The Souls of the Slain for the Word of God, and the Testimony of Jesus, under the Pagan Empire, cap. 6. 9. Then in white Robes, as Spirit, Now Living and Reigning in Bodies of Glory; as Intimated then. |
| Most peculiarly, Those who had not worshipped the Beast, &c. | Viz. The Witnesses He kill'd, cap. 11. 7. His Image caus'd to be kill'd, c 13 15. viz. The Rest of Fellow Servants, Brethren, to be kill'd, c. 6 11. |
| V. 5. The Remnant, or Rest of the Dead Lived not, &c. | Viz The Remnant slain with the Sword of Christ's Mouth, being Kings, &c. Small, Great, cap. 19. 21. The Dead judg'd, and Those destroy'd, who destroy'd the Earth, cap. 11. 18. |
| V. 6. Blessed and Holy is he that hath his part, &c. They Lived and Reigned. | Viz. The Nations of the Saved; Kings of the Earth, c. 21. 24. Healed with the Leaves of the Tree of Life, cap. 22. 2. |
An ANSWER is Desired to a DISCOƲRSE Annex'd.
Some Short Additional Remarks, taking off what may seem to Weaken the former ARGUMENTS.
Rem 1. THE New Jerusalem Revel. 21. Can neither be the State of Saints in the Highest Heavens to Eternity, As Some; Nor any Excellent State of the Church on Earth, As Others would suppose: It cannot be the State in Heaven; For the New Jerusalem is first by the Apostle Paul, said to be Above, Galat. 4 26. and to be the Heavenly Jerusalem, Heb. 12. 22. Then Three times in the Revelation, It is said to Come down from God out of Heaven. Not only from Heaven, but from God out of Heaven, Chap. 3. 12. Chap. 21. 2. and Vers 10. And upon it, The Tabernacle of God is said To be with Men. Now if this were a Going up to God into Heaven, the Apostle had Inverted all; And what he says, is a Coming down, must be a Going up: As if One should Look up, and say, Oh Earth, and Look down, and say, Oh Heaven; And whereas on this Account, He says, The Tabernacle of God is with Men, It should rather be said, The Tabernacle of Men is with God. When therefore plain Doctrinal Scripture says, the New Jerusalem is Above, and the Prophetick Scripture says, It comes Down from God Out of Heaven, What can be more Assuring? It is not the Going Up of Saints to Heaven.
On the other side, If it were a State of Saints in Glory on Earth, Distinct from the Saints in Heaven; How does the Apostle say, in that, Gal. 4. The Jerusalem Above is the Mother of us All; And so the Bride, the Lamb's Wife? Whereas the Jerusalem on Earth would be the Bride, the Lamb's Wife; and so the Mother: And how did he say, You are come to the Heavenly Jerusalem, and to the Spirits of just Men made perfect? viz. In Bodies of Glory Coming Down from the Mansions in the Father's House, into the Place of the New Jerusalem, Christ went to prepare for them, and to Receive them in unto himself, Even in the Kingdom he went to receive, Joh. 14 2. with Luke 19 This is the Mystery of Marriage between Christ and his Church, which He Presents to Himself without Spot or Wrinckle, or Any such Thing; Which therefore can be no Other than the General Assembly, and Church of the First Born, even of all Saints written in Heaven, both Above and Below, who are the Bride and the Lamb's Wife.
Re 2. Whereas Some would have the Proton or First applyed to the Saints Rising, 1 Thess. 4 16, 17. and the Epita, or Afterward, Applyed to the Saints, The Living, the Remaining Caught up, to be words only of Order, without Distance of Time, as they are used. 1 Cor. 12. 28. Of First Apostles, &c. Afterward Miracles. I urge it cannot be so; For upon this very Supposal, First and Afterward, must signifie either Difference of Order, of Time, or Both: When then Difference of Order cannot be, there [Page 12] must be Difference of Time; But the Saints Rising, and being Caught up, are All of One Order, being Both Alike Saints; even the Saints changed and Caught up are the Wee All, of Saints, and also alike Happy; For We are ever with the Lord: So the First and the Afterward being not of Order must have the same Force to Distinguish Time; viz. of the 1000 Y. as They Distinguish now near 1700 between Christ the First Fruits, and His at his Coming in the Resurrection; and the Natural First, the Spiritual Afterward; viz. From the Beginning of the World, to the Kingdom of Christ, 1 Cor. 15. v. 23. and v 46. And hereupon indeed follows a Distance of Order; Saints Raised Incorruptible, of the First Resurrection; Saints Chang'd, Partakers of the First Resurrection; Not putting on Absolute Incorruption, Till Caught up; Yet on whom the Second Death hath no power.
Rem. 3. Whereas by our Translation, and general Interpretation, The Living, The Remaining, are supposed to mean Those who in ordinary Providence happen to Remain Alive at the Coming of Christ: It will by Four Geat Reasons appear; A State, Order, and Generation of Saints is Intended.
1. The Word Lipomeni, joyned with peri, signifies Left under some Special Designation and Care: So These Saints; In regard of Saints, with Christ Above are Left to Inhabit the New Earth Below; In regard of the World of Ʋngodly are Left; viz. Reserved, Guarded from the Perdition of Fire.
2. The Order in the Original is not, Remaining Alive, or Living; but Living, Remaining, or Left: Whereas, if Remaining Alive, had been only meant, Remaining had most Naturally come First in the Greek, as in the English.
3. To shew a High Sense; The Apostle says not barely, Living Remaining, but with an Article to Each, Each Is made Emphatick and Distinct; As if He had said, The Living, The Left.
4. To give both Certainty and Stronger Impression; It is doubled in the same Words, the same Order, with the same double Article, The Livers, The Left, The Livers, The Left.
Rem. 4. Whereas the Changing hath been generally understood to be in order to be Caught up; It is much otherwise; For the changing, and not changed Incorruptible, is in order to a Participation of the Kingdom of God, (as even the Living, the Remaining) on the New Earth, before Caught up Incorruptible, to a Full Enjoyment Above; which present Flesh and Blood cannot have. For upon that very occasion, the Apostle shews the Great Mystery of some being chang'd, 1 Cor. 15 40. Now if Their Changing were only to be Caught up, That needed not; For being caught up, were it self the highest Change, as in Enoch, Elias, our Lord; And yet changing and being caught up, cannot be the same; For the changing is at the same Twinkling of an Eye, with the Dead Saints Raised. The Catching up not till Afterward; Not to meet Christ with the Saints he brings with him, and to come down on Earth, (for that could not be, All being in one Twinkle nor does Christ so come down) but to be for ever with him, after having been The Livers, The Left of a Thousand Years space of Christ's Kingdom.