I Have Already (by God's As­sistance) Giv'n-forth an Ex­position of Every Particular, in the Fourth and Fifth Chapters of the Revelation; and now come to Evince the CERTAINTY of it: by laying down such Theo­rems, or Propositions, of Un­questionable Verity, as will serve at Once both to Establish my own Exposition, and to Refell All O­thers Whatsoever.

(I.) The Church Describ'd in Rev. iv, and v. was not in Be­ing, when St. John Receiv'd the Vision. For the Vision is Expres­ly Entitl'd by the Spirit Him­self, Chap. iv. 1. Things that must be HERE AFTER. (II.) The Throne in those Chapters therefore, is not the Throne of God, in the Highest Heav'n; nor the Sitter on the Throne, God Almighty Himself in Per­son; (for These were not Things to Come, but have been the SAME from All Eternity:) but the Sitter on the Throne, is God Ruling in and by some Earthly Potentate; and his Throne is a Throne on EARTH. And Consequently, The Church in which this Throne is Set, and over which the Sitter on it does [Page 2]Preside, is a Church on Earth. (III.) Whereas they are said, Not to Rest Day and Night, saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Al­mighty; Which Was, and Is, and is to Come: It cannot hence be Concluded, That they should Ne­ver take any Rest in Sleep; nor that Always, when Awake, they should be saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, &c. but that they should Say it Every Day, and Every Night; or Every Morning, and Every Ev'ning; and That, Of­ten at Every Time; and very Observably; or to Some Such Sense, as That is. As, when S. Paul enjoyns Every Christian, to Pray without Ceasing, 1 Thess. v. 17. So, Eph. vi. 8. Act. xx. 31. Rom. i. 9. 1 Thess. i. 3. For it is a very Common Phrase; and Can Mean no other, but Con­stantly, at certain Returns of Time; or some Such Thing. (IV.) Neither ought it hence to be Inferr'd, That this Church was to make use of No Other Words, in her Addresses, but Holy, H, H; L, G, A, &c. But only, That she was to Use a Constant FORM, of Prayer and Praise; in which, One of the most Remarkable Things should be, her Glorifying the Blessed Trinity Only. For that this Church is here set forth, as Using a FORM, is Un­deniable. And therefore No Church that does not use a Form, of Glorifying the Blessed Trini­ty; (Nay, that does not use it Much, and very Observably,) can be the Church here Describ'd. For, How Odly would it look, to pretend to Give an Idea, of a Church that is a Profest Enemy of Forms; or that hardly Ever Mentions the Trinity Distinctly in their Prayers, by telling us, That they Rest not Day, and Night, Saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Al­mighty, which Was, and Is, and is to come? As on the Other side, it is the Very Characteristic of Our Church's Service. Insomuch that I cannot Forbear to say, That to him that is in Search, after the Church here Prefigur'd, That One Circumstance is Sufficient to Fore-stall his Judgment for the Church of England. (V.) There is No Necessity, That they should use Those Very Words neither; It is Enough, if the Words be LIKE them. For Identity is not Requir'd in Visions, but Like­ness Only. Thus a City, in Pro­phecy is call'd a Woman; a Ty­rant, a Beast; &c. Because of their Near Resemblance, as to those Things the Prophecy Respects in them; as, the Parturiency of the One, and the Savageness of the Other. It is therefore, for the Fulfilling of the Prophecy we are Speaking of, Sufficient, if the Church gives Glory to the Blessed Trinity in Words LIKE These, Holy, H, H; L, G, A: Which Was, and Is, and is to Come; Such, for Example, as [Page 3]are These of Our Church, Glo­ry be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; As it Was in the Beginning, Is Now, and Ever shall be, World without end. Where we see the Words [As it Was, Is now, and ever shall be,] Perfectly to Correspond to Those in the Type, [Which Was, and Is, and is to Come.] And (in the Former Clause) Father, Son, and H. Ghost, Answer as Directly to Lord, God, Almighty; and Glory, to Holiness. For God is said to be Glorious in Holiness, Exod. xv. 11. For as the Usual Notion of Holiness in Scripture, is Sepa­ration: So the Glory of God is, that Nothing can be Compar'd to him, Esai. xl. 18. xlvi. 5. (VI.) The Sealed Book is That, whose Visions are Distinctly Set-down, in the Sixth, and Following Chapp. This is Plain to Sense (VII.) By Op'ning the SEALS of this Book, is Meant Explaining it. There is No Other Sense of Op'­ning the Seals of Any Book, throughout the Scripture. For Sealing Always singnifies Con­cealing the Sense of a Mystery; and Op'ning is Explaining it. For which, see Dan. ix. 24. and xii. 4. Esai. xxix. 11. Luk. xxiv. 32. Acts xvii. 3. And I am very well Assur'd, there is No One Place to the Contrary. I do not say, That Barely to O­p'n a Book, is to Explain it: but to Op'n the SEALS of a Book; or to Op'n the Text, or Writing, of a Book: for the Seals are Always upon the Text; and Not upon the Cover, Paper, or Parchment of a Book. And if the Book we are speaking of, had been Sealed only with Wax, Lead, or Ir'n, &c. What Need­ed All That Ceremony, (Set­forth so Particularly, and Pom­pously, in the vth. Chapter) a­bout the Loosing of its Seals, when Every Mechanic could have done it? But it is There Affirm­ed, That No one in Heav'n, nor in Earth, nor Ʋnder the Earth, could do it. What? Not Break, or File, or Cut, or some way or other Get-off, a Seal from a piece of Parchment? That's strange indeed! (VIII.) It is not God's Giving his Son the Reve­lation, that is Describ'd in Rev. v. For That was Done Before the Vision was Exhibited to S. John. But the Vision of Rev. v. is Ma­nifestly a Part of those things, which the Spirit Entitles, Things that were to come to pass AFTER Chap. iv. 1. (IX.) The Vision therefore of Rev. v. is a Prefi­guration of the Circumstances, that were to Accompany the Ex­plaining of the Said Book; when the Time was Come for it. Which is an Indisputable Result from the Two next-foregoing Theorems. (X.) The Precise Time for the Fulfilling of Rev. v. 5. is That, wherein the First No­tice was to be giv'n, of the True Way of Expounding the Book. [Page 4]For when upon Loud Proclama­tion made, No One in All the World was Found Able to Do it, to the Great Grief of such as Earnestly Desir'd it, Weep not, (sa [...]s one of the Elders;) Be­hold, the Lion of the Tribe of Ju­da, &c. hath Prevail'd to Op'n the Book; that is, He hath O­p'n'd it by Mee. For if he meant Only, That Christ Could Do it, if he Would; it is Gratis Dictum. And one might as well say, of the hitherto-Unintelligible Parts of Ezekiel, That Christ hath Pre­vail'd to Op'n Them too. But we are ne'er the Wiser for it Yet. The Elder's Meaning there­fore must be This; Behold, The Lion of the Tribe of Juda, &c. hath Instructed ME to Op'n the Book, and Loose its Seals. (XI.) Mr. MEDE is the Pers'n, that gave the First Notice of the Book's Op'ning, Anno. 1632. and made a very Considerable Progress in it. And is Consequently That Elder Spok'n of Rev. v. 5. For This, we have the Testimony of Mons. Jurieu, Accomp. of Scrip. Proph. Part. I. Chap. VIII. Joseph Mede, in my Opinion, is the First that Ʋnderstood Any thing of the Sealed Book. We have also the Concurrent Evidence of All Pro­testant Interpreters (excepting H. Grotius, and Dr. Hammond, De­serted by All Protestants, and Rejected ev'n by Monsieur de Meaux Himself, in his Explica­tion of the Apocalyps, Pref. pag. 62.) that have Joyn'd their Suffrage with him. But This Proposition can be No Otherwise Demon­strated, than by Aswering Any Man's Objections, that Dissents from us, which he will find E­now, that will be Ready to En­gage in. But Thus much is Cer­tain, That, (if Mr. Mede be not the First;) Whoever Is, or shall be the First, is the Elder There Mentioned; I Mean in Rev. v. 5. And Consequently, of the Num­ber of the 24 Elders, Rev. iv. 4. And the Church, he is a Member of, is That, whose Establishment is Predicted, Rev. iv. (XII.) Be­fore the Reformation No Man Understood the Book. This is So Apparent; that the Contra­ry is not, I believe, so much as Pretended by Any Man what­soever. (XIII.) The Sealed Book therefore, whose Op'ning is Pre­figur'd, Rev. v. Said to be Writ­t'n Within, and on the Back-side, is a Book in the Form We Now have them; and Not, in a ROLL; as Books were Wont to be Made-up in S. John's time. Of which Book, the Outside-writing is the Text; as it lies before Us in These Days; and is Read by E­very Child at School, as soon as he can Speak. But the Sense con­tained Under That, is the Inside-writing; which is Found Only in the Skilful Interpreter. The Seal is the Mysterious Expressi­on. And whereas the Whole Book is indeed but One Continu­ed [Page 5]Mystery All along; the Holy Spirit, by Dividing it, (as his Usual Manner is) into Sev'n Parts, makes, as it were, Sev'n Myste­ries of it; which He Calls, (ac­cording to the Use of Scripture in Such Cases,) Seven Seals. This I Observe, with respect to the Learned, and Ingenious, but yet Needless, Fancy, of those, who have tak'n the Pains to Excogi­tate a Way, How a Roll might be Seal'd with Sev'n Seals, so that the Op'ning of the First, might not at the Same Time Disclose the Vision of the Second. As if, at the Time, when the Vi­sion was to be Explain'd, the Fa­shion for Books, was to be in Rolls. (XIV.) The Lamb Revi­ved after Slaughter, Standing in the midst of the Throne; who Came, and Took the Book, out of the Hand of the Sitter on the Throne, Chap. v. 6, 7. Cannot be Christ in Pers'n, who Comes not to Any Earthly Throne, (as the Throne we Speak of is;) but it is Christ, in Some Good King, who was to be Slain, as was his Master; and to Rise again in a Figure, (as Isaac is said to have Done, Heb. xi. 19.) and as our Good King Charles the Martyr Did, in his Son of the Same name; when he was restor'd, as it were to Life again, Anno, 1660. Such kind a of Resurrection, is No Stranger to the Prophets; for which see Ezek. xxxvii. 11.-14. Rom. xi. 15. Now Whoever First was to Op'n the Book, his Performance was to be Seconded with such a Resur­rection, Rev. v. 5.6. Which, as it Never Happen'd in the World Be­fore; So we may Hope, that there will Never be Occasion for Such Another. And if there should Not, the Book must have been Op [...]n'd Before the Restauration of King Charles The Second. (XV [...].) Also, Before the Op'ning of the Book, there was to be a Loud Proclamation, by a Strong ( [...], Mighty, or Powerful) Angel, for Any one to come and Op'n the Book, that Could. Which, Be­fore Mr. Mede's Op'ning it, was made by King James I. Accord­ing as I have Shew'd at large, in my Exposition of Chap. v. All which things, with a Great Ma­ny More, Conspire to Fix the Honour, of Shewing the Way to Op'n It, upon Mr. Mede; and Consequently, That, of being the Church Prefigur'd in Rev. iv, and v. upon This Church of Ours. For indeed (to Sum-up All in short) upon This Hypothesis, not only the Exposition of the said Two Chapters; but also, of the Three Foregoing ones, and of Every Particular in them, Runs Strangely Smooth, and Natural, and Ev'ry way Unexceptionable; as I have made Appear, by a Thorow-Exposition, I have Publish'd, of them. Which, if the Hypothesis had been Wrong, would have [Page 6]been As Impossible at least, for Me to have done; as it has been for All Other Interpreters, (Men of as Great Learning, Wit, and Fancy, as the World afford­ed,) who have Proceeded on a Wrong Hypothesis. But instead of That, I have Shewn the Sev'n Epistles, and the Fourth and Fifth Chapters, to be a Prophecy of the Church, from the Beginning, to the Times We live in, by Such a Clear, and Solid Expli­cation, of Ev'ry Type and Pas­sage in them, as may Defie All Opposition; and which Cannot Reas'nably be Ascrib'd, to Any thing but its TRUTH.

The Only Objections, worth the Mentioning, that are come to My Knowledge, are These. Obj. 1. We have No Nocturnal Service; and therefore cannot be said, not to Rest Day and Night, Say­ing, Holy, H, H; &c. Ans. 1. We account, as from Midnight to Noon, Morning: So from Noon to Midnight again, Night. Thus, at Any Time After Noon, we are Taught to Pray, Light'n our Darkness, &c. and Defend us from All Perils and Dangers of This NIGHT. Ans. 2. By Day and Night (as by Ev'ning and Morning, Gen. i. 5, 8, &c.) in sen­su Conjuncto, by a Hendiadis, may be Meant a Natural Day of 24 Hours; Call'd also [...], 2 Cor. xi. 25. And so the Sense will be, That Every 24 Hours, (or Every Day,) they Fail not Oft'n to Rehearse the said Hymn.

Obj. 2. Neither is England Large enough, nor the Pers'ns, I mention­ed as Concern'd in the Prophecy, of Eminent Regard enough (for Grandeur, Fame, or Piety,) for the Spirit to Intend in This Ad­mirable Vision. Ans. Then Ought it to be shown, That I have ei­ther Misinterpreted, or Misappli'd the Words, or some Considera­ble Part of them. For if, With­out Either of These Faults, the Words be Granted to be Well A­dapted to a People, that was not Intended by the Author; Whose Honour, pray, will That Reflect upon? Such Objections therefore as These, that have No Founda­tion in the Prophecy, are Mere Prejudices. For, Why is not the Church of England Large e­nough? Only because we Fan­cy so. For, Where does the Pro­phecy Require, either a More Ex­tensive Church, than This of England, to be Fulfill'd in? Or, more Eminent and Renowned Pers'ns (in their several Stations) than were Queen Elizabeth, King James I. King Charles I. and II. and (for an Elder) than Joseph Mede? But Particularly, as for King Charles II. it is Plain, that He had Piety Enough, to Answer All His Part in the Prediction, to the Full; and with That, let Every one, that pretends to Rea­s'n, Rest Satisfi'd. For it cannot be Deni'd, but that King Charles II. [Page 7]with All his Faults, was, in the Hands of CHRIST, a Noble Instrument of our Political RE­DEMPTION. And if we think his Private Conversation to have been hardly Suitable to That High Character; yet since, at the Same Time, we Cannot but Confess the Prophecy to be Ac­complisht in him; give me leave to Remember you, That God some­times, in the Unsearchable Depths of his Wisdom and Justice, is Found to have made, of the Chief Stones in his Edifice, Stones of Stumbling; at which however, it Becomes not Us (nay, it is very Dangerons for us) to he Offend­ed. From which Danger we can only be Secure, in Taking our Measures from the Word of God; and Not from our Own Delu­sive Fancies and Prej [...]dices. And, May Our New Jerusalem, in This, take Warning by the Old one. For it is grown too Plausible and Popular a Humour (because so well Attemper'd to Most Mens Capacities, or Designs) to Vilifie Prophetic Speculations, upon Af­fected Ignorances, and Misappre­sions. Wherein we are not a lit­tle Uncharitable, upon many Ac­counts. But Especially, in respect of Those, who Otherwise might be Converted by them, from the Error of their ways. As, in Par­ticular, in respect of Non-Con­formists, and Separatists; to whom it would be a Singular Piece of Service, to have it Made-out Clearly to them, That the Church of England, By Law Establisht, is the Church Predicted of in the Fourth and Fifth Chapters of the Revelation: That they Perish not in their Dividing Practices, and Unchristian Strifes, and E­mulations. For Our Sectaries do More than cry, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, &c. And yet ev'n That, is by the Apostle Term'd [...], Division, Se­dition, Faction; Envying, or E­mulation, Strife, Contention, 1 Cor. i. 11, 12. iii. 3, 4. and Said to be (in its Own Nature) Dam­nable, Gal. v. 20, 21. According­ly the Same Apostle lays a Grie­vious Curse upon Such Make­bates, 1 Cor. xvi. 22. If Any Man Love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema, Maran-atha. For he had most Earnestly Be­sought them, Chap. i. 10. BY THE NAME OF OƲR LORD JESƲS CHRIST, to Speak All the Same Thing; and that there be No Divisions among them; but Perfect Concord, in the Same Mind, and in the Same Judg­ment. With respect to which, in the end of the Same Epistle, (as is said Already) he, in his Zeal for the Churches Unity, does Solemnly Denounce Anathema, Maran-atha, upon all Those Per­s'ns, with whom, for want of LOVE to the LORD JE­SƲS CHRIST, his Obtesta­tion should prove Ineffectual.

I am not therefore of Their Mind, who give-out, That the Fomenters of Unreas'nable Di­visions, may be Sav'd: Ground­ing themselves upon 1 Cor. iii. 12,-15. For the Apostle does not say, (as They Imagin,) That the Builders of Ill DOCTRINS shall be Sav'd; but, of III Per­s'ns. For the Building he is There Treating of, are Pers'ns. He Explains himself so, Expres­ly, ver. 9. YE are God's Hus­bandry: YE (Pers'ns, Not Do­ctrines.) are God's Building. A­greeably in the Next Verses, CHRIST (says he) is the Foundation. The Foundation there­fore, wee see, and Whole Stru­cture, are not Doctrines, but Pers'ns. Whereof Some are Gold, and Some Stubble. But tho' the Stubble be Burnt, yet the Build­er shall be Sav'd; if he were not in Fault. But This, in Building of Dividing Errors, (which is indeed, Destroying, or Pulling-Down, and Not, Building,) Can­not Rightly be Affirm'd. I am Sure S. Paul, in That Place, is very Far from So Saying. Be Zealous therefore, Brethren, and Repent; and Joyn your selves, with All Alacrity, to the Com­munion of That Heav'nly Church, which, in the Fourth and Fifth Chapters of the Revelation (and I might Add, the Tenth, and Many More, as will Appear Here­after,) is Adorn'd and Honour'd with So Glorious a Testimony from the Spirit of Prophecy.

Lastly, Ev'n such as will not Believe without a Sign from Heaven, might hence Receive In­credible Satisfaction. For the Revelation, Set in its True Light, (as Now it is,) What is it but A STANDING SIGN from Heav'n, A PERMA­NENT and PERPETU­AL MIRACLE? For therein is Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory, Conspicuously Re­veal'd from Heav'n, for Sixteen Hundred Years ago, to have set in Order, the Grand Affairs, and Revolutions, of the most Con­siderable Parts of His Empire in the World; from its Beginning, to our Own Times, Inclusively. Which Consider'd, with What Conscience can any Man Deny the Being, or the Providence of God? or, that the Scriptures are his Genuine Oracles? (among which he finds the Revelation, to be So ( [...],) Self-Evident, and to Carry the Authority of the Others, Shining in it;) or Call in Question Any Point, or Article (Especially of the Prime, and Fundamental ones) of Our Religion? For it is not Possible to be Objected against the Reve­lation, (as was of Old, by Por­phyry, against Part of Daniel's Prophecy,) That it was Compo­sed After the Things were Done. Hieron. Praef. Com. in Dan. And yet it is as Plainly, and as Ful­ly Accomplisht, as if it had been So Indeed; or, as if the Histo­ries [Page 9]of More than 1600 Years, had All been Writt'n Purpose­ly, in Favour of a Prophecy but Newly Ʋnderstood; and yet in Every bodies Hands So Long Before.

And Can we make a Trivial Matter, Sirs, of Such Discove­ries? Which are, in True Esteem, the Glory of Christianity; and which, if Duly Cultivated, and Improv'd, (as they both Might, and Ought to be,) would Equal the Condition of Our Times, to That of the First Ages of the Church; as to the Certainty, that we might Gain Thereby, of our Religion; and the Proof, they would enable us to Make of it. And let No Man Here Cry-out upon the Strength of Imaginati­on; till he has Well Weigh'd the Assertion, and Knows himself Able to Confute it. For, How Easily are the Mists of Fancy, Dispell'd by the Light, and Warmth of Sound Reas'n? For My Part, I am very Sensible [...] (I Bless God for it) That the Wis­dom of the Spirit, has So Con­triv'd the Texture of This Pro­phecy, that a Foreign Expositi­on of it may as Easily be Blown away, as a Loose Feather. A Lock, with so Many Substantial Wards to it, is not to be Pickt. Which is the True Cause, that not One of the Admirers of H. Gr. or Dr. Hammond, has at Any time Appear'd, in Vindication of Their Expositions; they are so Mani­festly, and so Grosly Faulty. And so All Others Needs must be, that Err, (as They do) in the Main Subject of the Vision. For a Conclusion therefore of this Paper, I Heartily Commend it, to the Good Blessing of the Great God our Saviour; To Whom be All Glory for Ever. Amen.